Manawatu rail: Whakarongo Traditional Geocache

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Hidden : 5/29/2013
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

One of a series of simple, easy to find, caches at railway stations in and around the Manawatu.

Welcome aboard the Government Railways' service to Napier! Last stop Terrace End, next stop Ashhurst.

Stoney Creek was another settlement of Scandanavians in the Palmerston area (the other being at Karere). They were brought in under Vogel's 1869 public works scheme to build roads, railways and fell the bush to improve internal infrastructure with a £10M loan from London. A railway station was built to service the settlement of Stoney Creek in 1891, when the line through the gorge to the Wairarapa and Hawkes Bay was built. The name Whakarongo was chosen by the local Rangitini Māori (yes, Rangitini, not Rangitane). Although the area had been known as Stoney Creek for some time - Stoney Creek School had been operating at least as far back as 1880 and in 1883 it had 43 students - the railway station name resulted in a change of name of the whole area.
"Whakarongo" means 'to listen' or 'to obey'. As most Māori place names are a contraction of a descriptive event in the area, this is probably a bad translation. I originally thought it might be simply that the railway company came and listened to the opinions of the local Māori, but cacher Bob Jolly has a more likely explanation - that it is based on a Māori listening post that was here, listening out for tribes chanting as they come down the river through the gorge.

Note: Tracks are for trains. There is no need to get close to the rail line.


Whakarongo Station, 1941.

References:
DigitalNZ: "Whakarongo Railway Station"
ourregion.co.nz: "The Scandinavian Immigrants of Manawatu"
Manawatu Times, 13 October 1880
Manawatu Times, 15 October 1883

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Abg dhvgr srapr

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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