ToP (Tour of Porirua) continues, with some 20+ caches to be placed all around our great city of Porirua.
Porirua History
(with thanks to Wikipedia)
The name "Porirua" has a Māori origin: it may represent a variant of pari-rua ("two tides"), a reference to the two arms of the Porirua Harbour. In the 19th century the name designated a land-registration district that stretched from Kaiwharawhara (or Kaiwara) on the north-west shore of Wellington Harbour northwards to and around Porirua Harbour. The road climbing the hill from Kaiwharawhara towards Ngaio and Khandallah still bears the name "Old Porirua Road".
In the late 1940s state planning envisaged Porirua becoming a satellite city of Wellington with state housing. The name Porirua was first applied to a council in 1961 when Makara County, to the west of Wellington, was abolished, the mostly rural western part becoming the Makara Ward of Hutt County and the rapidly growing eastern urban portion (including Titahi Bay) becoming the Borough of Porirua. Four years later the population was officially estimated at over the 20,000 threshold then necessary for Porirua to be declared a city. Since then Porirua has grown to a city population approaching 51,000, with state housing no longer in the majority. Major territorial additions to the city occurred in 1973 and 1988 as part of the reduction and eventual abolition of Hutt County.
Porirua is largely formed around the arms of the Porirua Harbour and the coastline facing out to Cook Strait and the north-eastern parts of the South Island. Most of the populated areas of Porirua are coastal: Camborne, Karehana Bay, Mana, Onepoto, Papakowhai, Paremata, Pauatahanui, Plimmerton, Pukerua Bay, Takapuwahia, Titahi Bay and Whitby all have direct access to coastal parks and recreation reserves. Several suburbs without direct coastal access, including Aotea, Ascot Park and Ranui Heights, have substantial portions with good views over the harbour. Elsdon, formerly known as Prosser Block, lost access to the harbour as a result of reclamation work, especially during the 1960s. Much of the existing city centre, north of Parumoana Street and east of Titahi Bay Road, was built upon this landfill.
Camborne
Camborne is a sought after suburb in Porirua, although those not native to the area don't even know when they are near it. The suburb stretches from the east side of SH 59 (the former SH 1), up and over the hill, to the main boat landing for the inner Pāuatahanui Harbour.
Camborne was developed over roughly a 35 year period from the 1960's and into the 1990's. It was named after Camborne, a town in Cornwall, English, and most of the street names are Cornish in honour of this heritage, and as a desire of the developer, Mr. Arthur Cornish. However the main street, Pope Street, was named after William George Pope (AKA Bob), a respected resident of Plimmerton (suburb to the north).
Camborne is a strictly residential suburb, with all of the local stores being part of Mana, Paremata or Plimmerton. There are no community halls or dedicated church buildings listed in Camborne.
Camborne Walkway and Boatsheds
One of the most idyllic tracks in the Wellington area, the walkway is popular with joggers and dog owners (dogs must be leashed) as well as regular perambulators. This track takes you along the shores of Pāuatahanui Inlet with iconic boat sheds and lovely bird songs along the way. It's mostly flat and suitable for all ages and fitness levels. This is soon to be connected to the remaining walkways being constructed to form part of Te Ara Piko, the walkway encircling the Pāuatahanui Inlet.
The iconic boatsheds were begun in the area in 1949, before the suburb began to form itself, and are rated veryu highly (along with the other boatsheds in the Porirua area). Poet Sam Hunt lived at Boatshed No.5 in the 1990s.
The Cache
You are looking for a camouflauged Eclipse Tin. Bring your own writing utensil. Online logs that do not match the logbook will be deleted unless previously arranged with the CO.
Also make sure that you note the code in the logbook, as you will need this for some of the caches later on in the series.