The Tuia Mātauranga Pōkai Whenua GeoTour follows the footsteps of early explorers of Aotearoa New Zealand taking you to places where leaders of the past searched for food, resources and ways to adapt and survive in this new land.
Use the Pōkai Whenua GeoTour as your classroom to explore the stories of the past, in the present, to preserve what is unique in Aotearoa New Zealand for the future.
Collect the codewords to get the Geocoin puzzle pieces
To be able to complete this GeoTour and receive your special Geocoin collectable, remember to take a note of the codeword placed in the cache. This will need to be recorded in your passport which can be downloaded here.
63 of the 150 Pōkai Whenua GeoTour caches will contain a randomly placed special FTF token (a replica of the Tuia Mātauranga GeoTour commemorative coin). This is yours to keep! If you find more than one, you might consider leaving it for the next person who finds the cache.
Traditional rock art was created by Māori throughout the early and late periods of occupation and can be found in locations around the North and South Islands, but the majority of these sites can be found in the Canterbury region. The term rock art is generally used to describe markings on natural rock surfaces, particularly on large immovable rocks. In New Zealand rock art is most commonly located on the walls of rock shelters, although it can also be found on cliff faces and solid rock formations (Figure 1).
Figure 1: An artist’s impression of Māori resting at a rock art site
Rock art was produced using raw materials found in the landscape, such as kōkōwai (red ochre) and charcoal, which were than applied to the rock surface. This technique is particularly popular in Canterbury where there are large limestone outcrops, the light coloured stone providing a perfect canvas for the darker pigment. The natural shape of these outcrops has aided in the survival of many of the drawings as most of these shelters have an overhang that protects the art from the elements, animals and water seepage.
Traditional art works take on many shapes and forms; symmetrical curves, spirals, human figures, depictions of mythical creatures, god-like forms (tiki) bird-like creatures (manaia) and animals, fish and birds seen in everyday life (Figure 2). Māori would travel to these inland sites when they journeyed through the area on seasonal rounds for mahinga kai (food gathering), sheltering in the rock outcrops as they went. Many of these artworks appear to have been drawn during the early period of occupation as there are depictions of birds that went extinct within the first 100 years of Māori arrival, including moa and the Haast eagle.
Figure 2: Rock art from the Waikari site showing fish, kuri and human figures
Visiting the rock art site
There are literally hundreds of rock art sites across the country, but only a few are publicly accessible. From the cache location head west along the track until you reach the site access. The site is located on private farmland, which is closed to the public between 1 August and 1 October due to lambing season. The walk takes approximately 90 minutes return. Sensible shoes are recommended for the walk as you will be crossing farmland and walking over hills. Beware of animals that may be grazing within the paddocks.