Bored Steam (Central Plateau ) Traditional Geocache
Taupotiger: I am unable to drive now, so I can no longer maintain this cache.
Bored Steam (Central Plateau )
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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Turnoff @ S38°37.514 E176°05.416 - follow your nose up the valley (easy drive) to 456m above sea level A great place to view the steam field
The Wairakei Power Station, the world’s second geothermal power station, and the first to utilise flash steam from geothermal water as an energy source to generate electricity, was commissioned in 1958 and was completed in 1963. Wairakei lies on an active volcanic zone about 250 kilometres (km) long and 50 km wide, except at both ends where it narrows to 15 km. The power station is built beside the Waikato River, 10 km north of Taupo, and uses the steam from wells drilled in the nearby Waiora Valley. Over 50 wells are at present in production, with an average depth of over 610 metres (m), the deepest being some 1500 m. The scheme is based on the tapping of a vast underground water system that has been heated by very hot, perhaps molten, rocks. Steam is produced by drilling to release the great pressure on the very hot water, causing it to boil. The boiling water-steam mixture is brought to the surface and separated, with the ‘dry’ steam being piped to the power station’s turbines, and the hot water discharged into silencers where a drop in atmospheric pressure causes some of it to flash into the large clouds of steam, producing the spectacular displays seen in the steam fields. Wairakei Power Station consists of two powerhouses, now with installed capacities of 67.2 megawatts (MW) and 90 MW respectively. Wairakei supplies enough electricity to satisfy about 5 per cent of the North Island’s electricity needs. I recently removed all the wellhead equipment from several redundant bores located directly below the viewing area here. The cache is a 1 litre systema box, containing the usual goodies. Beware the muggles are watching. A high muggle area, please be discrete. Replace cache just as you find it.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Uvqqra haqre n cvrpr bs ibypnavp qroevf ( Oebja fpbevn)