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.
The beautiful Lake Manapouri has had many names.
The Waitaha explorer Rākaihautū when digging the lake with his kō named it Roto-Ua on account of the persistent rain that troubled his party. It is thought that Tamatea named it Moturau after their waka, Takitimu, capsized at Te Waewae Bay. Moturau is possibly after the daughter of Rakapatere or may refer to the many islands left in the lake by the glacier.
Māori story explains how Lake Manapouri was created by the tears of two sisters, Moturua and Koronae, who were daughters of a local chief. Koronae journeyed deep into the forest one day only to become stranded after a fall. Her sister Moturua went looking for her. When she found Koronae she realised that she could not be rescued. Moturua lay with Koronae until they died, their tears creating Lake Manapouri - anxious or sorrowful heart, the grief of the two sisters. While Manapōuri is the Māori name for Shallow Bay, it is now used for the lake, possibly a mistake by an explorer or surveyor.
Māori have a long history in the area. There is evidence of occupation at most inlets, beaches and islands. The eastern end was a favoured food gathering area for Māori. Kiwi, kākāpō, weka, kererū, pūtangitangi (paradise shelduck), pārera (grey duck), teal, shags, gulls and eels were plentiful, and cabbage trees grew along the lake edge. At the head of Circle Cove and on one of the Holmwood Islands the eel trappings channels, dug centuries ago, are still visible. In 1852, explorers Charles J Nairn and W H Stevens are believed to be the first Europeans at Manapouri.
Glaciers formed Lake Manapouri<during the last Holocene. The lake is New Zealand’s second deepest lake measuring 444 metres (1,457 ft) deep. Though Lake Manapouri is 178 metres (584 ft) above sea level, the bottom lays 267 metres (876<ft) below sea level carved deep by glaciers. The lake has four arms, North, South, West and Hope with the smaller indentations of Shallow Bay and Calm Bay.
Lake Manapouri contains 33 islands, 22 of these wooded. Lying close to the centre of the lake is the largest island Pomona Island. Other large islands include Holmwood, Rona and Mahara Islands.
The small settlement of Manapouri lies on the eastern shore, population approx 228.
