Reservoir #1 Bridge (Wellington) Porirua, North Island, New Zealand
By trancer96 on 03-Jun-17. Waypoint GC7690A

#2 for today. Bridge is in fine form regardless of the Track Closed warning. TFTC

Awesome hide

#206. Love Bridge caches. This one deserves a fav point. No trolls under bridge gets a fav point. TFTC.

It's day twenty-four of this months Wheel of Challenges challenge, the streak, and today I needed to find a cache. So I found this one.

One of the few areas in the Wellington region that I still have some reasonably accessible caches left in, I had been saving this one up for just such an occasion. As we draw near the end of this months challenge it is now time. A short walk to this one, not much longer than last nights. This time the coordinates of both the phone and GPSr were spot on, but at first I didn't trust them. Once I had eliminated the places where the cache was not, a more careful observation revealed where the cache was hiding, safe and well.

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Thanks to trancer96 for placing and maintaining this cache. I enjoy each and every cache I find, and it is only with CO's like this creating them and placing them out in the world that this wonderful game continues.

[DGSc-Bulk] tagging to help me generate a list for GC30AD8 - DGSc Challenge.

Instant favorite

Glorious afternoon to be caching in an area that I've ignored for too long. Having read previous logs, I had a shrewd idea where the hide would be. Sure enough, I soon spotted something that wasn't right, and made the find. All good in cache, tftc!

Stopped here to check up on this cache.

There is a new "Track closed" sign just beyond the stream crossing. There is NO discernible reason why the track is closed. No slips, no damaged bridge, the track is as good as it ever was. Ironically the most treacherous bit is the stream crossing just BEFORE the sign. So I won't archive this cache based on that alone. If you see a REAL reason to archive it (or even a reason why the track is "closed") then I will reconsider. Otherwise I suggest cautiously ignoring the sign.

Loved this. A very clever hide!!! Nice handiwork

Wow what an amazing hide, well done. My partner ended up finding and I'm not sure if i would have! Great work, you need to be super thorough here.

Well Engineered! TFTC

Creative hide!

very sneaky hide tftc

No luck today.

Knee a bit sore after all the steps! Give aquick look only.

Next time.......

After reading what kind of container I would be looking for I had a strong suspision of where I'd find this one, sure enough first place I checked and there it was. Nearly dropped it in the stream due to not expecting to find it first try. TFTC

Trash

Very clever hide enjoyed looking for this one TFTC!

Out on a club walk and found with livingk. A July day with 18C, some sun and no wind, its a delight to walk these tracks. TFTC

Found with lots of us looking. Great cache. Enjoyable hunt. All in good order. TFTC

With the days drawing towards their shortest, it can be harder to get out and about for a good bout of caching. I knew I needed to get one really solid day in during May, so put the call out to see if anyone else would be interested in a raid on Tawa.
A few parties showed interest, but in the end it was just The Seagnoid and I that parked up at Brasenose Place and then spent over 9 hours tramping a basic 'Figure of 8' along the bushwalks that border Broken Hill Road and on to the slopes of Colonial Knob Scenic Reserve, getting over 40 caches each with just a couple of DNF's along the way.

A surprisingly quick find here, helped by the Hint and the fact that I have a similar cache of my own. We were soon back on our way again after signing the log and replacing it all back exactly as found.

Thank you for setting up and maintaining this cache FP given for the well executed cache.

Nice hide, easily spotted, except, I oopsed and it was Twig who realised what we were looking at.

After trolling Facebook looking for a place to live, I saw that TwigNZ was looking to a group to do the Tawa "figure 8". I had a spare day, so why not. After 9 hours we found over 40 caches on the slopes beside and up to Colonial Knob. I completed today's objectives (find a cache for my streak find 3 caches to get my finds to 10 finds per date, a puzzle and an "other" for my puzzle and other dot days) and also found some archived caches, a cache released today (third to find), a geocacher, hardly any people and three trees (also some more trees...).

Very clever cache - TFTC

Thanks trancer96 for placing this cache

We rode straight past it and then after Ascension looked for it on the way back down - nice hide!!

Emily and Hummmus had not seen one like this before

I love these sorts of hides - well designed! Very cool. Many thanks for the effort here

Found after coming down the hill from reservoir 2. Nicely done indeed! TFTC

My favourite cache find so far! Beautifully put together. After a while looking, I had to start thinking to get this one. Thanks for the great cache.

No luck today

Clever Hide! TFTC

What a clever cache. Love this sort of cache. Many thanks

Spent a while searching - should have found it sooner as I've seen a cache or two like this before. Great hide, TFTC

Clever clever!

Stopped by for a maintenance check on the way by. None required or performed. Just photographed the log.

Sanitizers in hand, it was time for our first geocaching outing post lockdown. It was great to be able to travel a little further afield as our local neighbourhood had been comprehensively covered in our bubble walks! Having been along this track before coming the other way, I knew where to strike off the marked path and soon made it to GZ where it didn’t take long to work out the sneaky hide. TFTC

A quick find this time thanks A well executed variation on this general principle
Last time I was looking out for this type of hide but obviously was not very observant and rapidly ran out of alternative lines of investigation Thanks trancer96

Sneaky hide. Found before RedEcho did. Tftc.

What a clever spot, I'd already superficially checked this location but eagle eye MightMicra spotted the discrepancy after some 10 minutes of hunting. TFTC.

It has been a very long time that I've been suggesting to Mrs B that we should do a walk on Colonial Knob (many years) and well over a year I think since I've also wanted to come over to this part of the Wellington region to look for some of CO's caches. At long last Mrs B agreed to combine the two ambitions and we arrived at the car park by the entrance to the landfill and donned our walking gear. We got a bit lost at the start: the correct route to take is not well signposted, but we eventually worked out we needed to drop down a steep bank to cross the stream to reach the track up to this cache. This was the first of two I'd planned: caching according to FPs awarded is my preference these days, though I have to also find a smattering of boring caches so I have an FP available to award, if a good cache turns out to be worthy of another .

It was a bit of a huff and puff track to get here. The website we'd visited that told us about Colonial Knob said the track was graded 'Easy: Walking Track'. We'd both disagree with that one: we wouldn't have wanted to do this track in sneakers, but luckily had tramping boots on (required for the unexpected stream crossing for starters). And the grade in many places is certainly not easy either.

Once the Garmin dinged to say we were at GZ I started looking carefully. Previous logs indicated this one would be hard to spot. I told Mrs B what I was looking for and as is so often the case, her eagle eyes spotted the discrepancy that was the cache before mine did. A nice hide: we've found several of these before and it still took a few minutes searching, but for anyone who hasn't seen one before I'm not surprised they register a DNF. I was going to award it my FP for the day...until I found the next one by CO on our journey today (Ascension), which trumped this. Sorry trancer96, this cache deserves one, but I'm being very sparing with them. Many thanks for providing such a good cache to give me the sixth and final needed in the '321 Go' souvenir campaign.

Did with Crystal Fairy.

Logging caches from a while ago. Did this with the entire extended family on a walk around Colonial Knob. They loved this type of unique cache. Did with MycroMan and Ezratar. Thanks for the cache.

Walked right past the cache and had to backtrack down the hill however it was worth it. I carefully read the description and hint so I knew I was looking for something special and maybe more importantly where I didn't have to look. It would be a very clever muggle who spotted this one - very well made. FP.

now that I'm a premium member I am able to award favourite points, so I'm awarding some to the more memorable and enjoyable caches that I've found, added a favourite point for this one for the great hide

Spent way too long looking for this one! It eventually got the best of us & we had to leave for the next... another day!

Nice quick find with woolwood9 today.
Trying to get a few finds before the rain comes through.
Enjoyed the walk around, this was another good hide - I looked the wrong side, woolwood9 found the container.

*Thanks for putting this good cache out. SL*

Nice day out looking for caches with tmann421 today
Managed to keep ahead of the looming rain clouds
Enjoy these clever hides making it a bit more of a challenge
*Thanks for the placement*

hooray success today, a very clever hide, TFTC

had a hunt but it was too well hidden for me to find and I couldn't spend any more time searching as I wanted to get on with my walk, no doubt I'll be back another time to try and find it as I hate to be beaten!

Crafty little hide. Didn't bring a pen but can email the CO a pic of the logbook if requested.

Well this was certainly a devious cache! The GPS was pointing me in one particular place, but referring to the hint didn't reveal any hiding spots. After moving to a different spot, I spied something interesting - very clever and well-hidden! Signed the log and headed down the track - it was good to cross the stream in the daylight this time! TFTC+FP

No did not have the smarts to spot this one today My phone battery was on its last legs and the gps would not settle Must come back for this one Thanks anyway

An enjoyable evening stroll up to this cache. Co-ords were spot on and thanks to the hint we found this one quite quickly. A clever hide and worthy of a favourite point.

TFTC

Enjoyed the walk up with Just-Lookin. We found it quickly. What a cool hide.

TFTC

Find #3005. Spent some time picking up some random caches not yet found on my map. Last time I was here, gps reception was atrocious but now armed with more knowledge and wisdom, the cache was an easy find. Nice hide. SL TFTC

As mention by others the coords were spot on - they seemed to be wrong but once the cache was spotted after the 3rd look all became clear. Worth a FP from us for something a bit different and well hidden.

Well, I wasn't heading for this cache today, but we passed this one on the way to where we thought the other was. I ran out of time to search , so decided to try for this one on the way back to the car. All I will say is, trust your GPS - the coordinates were spot on for me. TFTC. 599m car to cache accumulated towards the DGSc Distance Challenge.

10 years plus of caching experience helped me out here. I had an idea but I wasn't at all sure of it so I was pleasantly surprised to uncover the treasure. I reckon this is as good as it gets when it comes to this type of hide.

One of four caches found in these parts on our Sunday afternoon walk. Made jolly hard work of finding this one but we got there eventually. Don’t need to even put a foot off the bridge to get to the goodies! Worth a favourite. #1965. TFTC.

Successful morning completing a loop over Colonial Knob nabbing a few caches along the way
Awesome hide, didnt take too long as the hint narrowed it done

A nicely executed hide but pretty quickly spotted. I've seen this style of hide a few times but this one is particularly well done.
Thanks very much for the cache. FP awarded.

Used the hint here which narrowed down the hiding techniques considerably. Found after a few minutes search. Unfortunately this is as far as I got on the track because I left it so late - only a couple of days after the shortest day and it was starting to get dark in the trees by 4.30; I didn't even have my phone with me for emergency lighting - the only sensible thing to do was turn around and come back some other time for the rest up here.

TFTC!

this one took much longer than expected but a very well put together cache, enjoyed the hunt and Dad made the find after a lengthily search, fav point from us cache all in good order

In Wgtn catching up on family and friends. Sunday to myself so its a walk around Colonial Knob to keep me busy.
I spent ages here hunting for this elusive one before finally snagging it. Cheers

Nice hide. Missed it on 1st sweep. Engaged the brain. Helped no end. Thanks

Having walked the Spicer Forest circuit from Tawa, got to this valley and completely lost satellite reception. The gps put me on Duncan Street in Tawa so no hope of pinning down the location of this one. but I knew I was in the right spot from the description, but the cache completely eluded me. There's not much holding this bridge up any more.

Mr 2 loved this too!!

#4812. I decided to do a short trip this afternoon to pick up some caches in the Colonial Knob area. Looks like a new bunch of caches have shown up since I last cleaned out the area. Headed up the steep track to one cache and back down hill to this one. The hint helped here so I gave the bridge a careful look and spotted something out of place. And yep that's the cache. Very well hidden indeed. Signed the log and replaced the cache as found. Thanks for the cache trancer96. Favourite for this one as it was so well disguised.

A straightforward find despite the clever hide. TFTC

Got it on the way back from No More Steps.. GPS right but brain took over. A bit of a search and gold. All good here. Worth a FP. TFTC

Went to this one twice in the same day. Couldn't find it the first time but on the way back from No More Steps found quickly. Very clever hide. Like this one.

It's been a while since I've walked this track, so good to have an excuse of a few new caches around here to come back and see how the area has changed. I guessed what sort of hide I was looking for but missed it on the first pass as my GPS seemed to be suggesting it would be closer to the other end. All sorted once I put the GPS back in my pocket and used my eyes.
TFTC.

Looking for this cache today might not have been my smartest idea. The path was very wet and slippery from the large amount of rain we have had recently. However, I got there in the end. It took me a little while to find the cache. It is very nicely hidden but still easily accessible. The hint was very useful. Thanks for the cache.

Nice hide! Was a bit of a slippery walk on both sides of the bridge after some heavy rain but all good in the end. Thanks

Found today on the way back from No More Steps. Thank you!

Cache # 759

Did today with Astro Hunter. Clever hide. Thanks.

Cache # 1,297

Cache # 3,832 - Once I realised the correct trail, and made it across the stream, it was a pleasant walk to the GZ. A few minutes search and I had the nicely hidden cache in hand. TNLNSL. TFTC!

Consecutive caching day # 1,510

Thats a tricky little hide - nicely done! TFTC

I enjoyed a nice late afternoon ramble through the reserve this afternoon. Found the container after a brief search. Probably would have been a bit embarrassing if I hadn't found it. TFTC

Called here to make a slight design change to a part of the cache which wasn't satisfactory. Although I had planned this straight after placement and it's only been a week I wasn't expecting so many finds between then and now (based on a previous cache I had the area) and thought it might have been OK in the meantime. Thanks to those who PM'd me about the problem.

Ingenious hide! Do I have a spare FP?! TFTC trancer96.

Surprisingly, I found the cache in the first place I looked. A minor maintenance issue meant took a bit of ingenuity and a lot of fiddling to retrieve the cache from its hide - tweezers or long-nosed pliers would have made this a trivial problem. Otherwise, everything in good order.

TFTC

Decided to take advantage of some good weather and go for a walk in the park here this afternoon. Found this one after a short search, a very nicely set up hide! Signed log, TFTC

A nice walk on a track that would now rarely be used. All was quiet. A nicely hidden container. All in order. TFTC

Published

3rd to find, an early start today and was going past the area so popped in for a couple of quick finds of the recent hides here. All good with the find on a track I never been on before.

TFTC

#9189. Second to find. After our walks in Porirua yesterday, we did not expect to return to the Colonial Knob Walkway again so soon. But the publishing of what looked like to be an interesting cache prompted another walk in this area. The tracks and GZ were all quiet during the visit. Quick find. Yes a very nice hide indeed. The cache was in good condition, all nice and dry inside. Took nothing, left nothing, signed log.

Thanks for the placement and for bringing us to this site, and …

.T h a n k s. .f o r. .t h e. .c a c h e.
.M a u r u u r u. .k o e. .n u i. .a t u. .h o k i. .t e. .k e t e r o k i.

### Historical note on the reservoirs ###

It is quite a mystery as to how the two reservoirs were numbered. Based on some information we found, these two reservoirs were associated with Porirua Hospital, but the dam of what is now called Reservoir #2 was dated 1893, but that of Reservoir #1 was dated later in 1912!

The two dams were built on separate streams on the east side of Colonial Knob, both being tributaries of Mitchell Stream which joins the Porirua Stream further down to flow into Porirua Harbour. The two mass earth dams holding the reservoirs were similar to (but on a smaller scale than) the lower dam at Karori that supplied water to Wellington at that time.

In 1893 a tract of land was purchased by the Porirua Asylum to construct a new waterworks system. This involved the construction of a water reservoir behind an earth dam near the foot of Colonial Knob. This first reservoir (now called “#2”) was fed from the northeast stream of the catchment. It could hold approximately 4.5 million litres of water; this was gravity fed via a 200 mm bore pipe to two large concrete water tanks that were built into the ground on high points of hospital land near the old Main Building. The land around the reservoir was nearly all clear felled when the reservoir was constructed, save for a stand of native bush that was preserved.

By 1912, the hospital had increased to nearly 2,000 patients and staff and was effectively a "small township within the Borough of Porirua". The size of the hospital put considerable demand on the supply from the reservoir and the lack of water in dry seasons caused considerable anxiety for the hospital management. To increase the quantity and improve the security of the supply, a second reservoir (now called “#1”) was formed in that year on the south branch of the stream running off Colonial Knob.

At the completion of both reservoirs, the water catchment area comprised 80 acres of securely fenced native bush as well as 200-300 acres of rough hill country that was used for grazing sheep and cattle. Because of the risk of contamination of the water, the sheep were removed and the cattle restricted, and 30 acres above the main reservoir, which was bare of vegetation, was planted in trees.

The two reservoirs supplied water for the hospital until the late 1950s and for many years provided a favourite walk for staff and patients. Although the reservoirs are now decommissioned for water supply, they remain a highlight in a popular local walk around the Colonial Knob area.

While both are now overgrown, the 1893 dam still holds a body of water, and the concrete fluming that forms the spillway is still intact and carrying water. There is a cylindrical concrete intake structure still intact, with the remains of a rail system joining it to the true right bank. The face of the dam has a concrete sheathing.

The 1912 dam has been severely breached and perhaps half of it (on the true right side) remains; the bed of its lake is overgrown with the stream still flowing through it.

Below both dams there are significant remains of concrete foundations supporting cast iron pipework that fed the water down the valley to the hospital.

Found more to come