Trig 7510

Trig 7510 (16143)

A rather battered trig in Kaitoke Regional Park near Upper Hutt. A short run on a very pleasant trail from the old SH2, undulating through pine forest, before popping out into the open a few hundred metres before the trig.

Trig B0P2

Trig B0P2 (16098) enveloped in gorse.

James and I had tried to find this trig earlier in the year, but failed. This time we picked the trail right and made our way through the bush to the trig. A trail was through the trees was marked with trapper’s ribbons and travel was easy until within a few metres of the trig. The trig itself was enveloped in gorse, and it took a bit of manoeuvring to manage to get the photos.

Name plate.

Pink ribbon marking the trail through the bush.

Mt Victoria No. 3 and No. 4 (Davenport)

View from Mt Victoria across Davenport naval base
to central Auckland.

A chance to pick up two survey markers on at the Mt Victoria gun emplacement in Davenport, Auckland: trig A5WN and survey pin C5EH on the gun emplacement.

Brass plaque for A5WN (Mt Victoria No. 3).

A5WN on the side of the carpark. C5EH is behind
the bushes to the right of the trig.

View up the inside of A5WN.

One of the Mt Victoria guns.

Brass plaque for C5EH (Mt Victoria No. 4).

View across the top of the disappearing gun to
Rangitoto. C5EH is just out of shot on the concrete
at the bottom left.

Dramatic views across to Browns and Motuihe Islands

Old cemetery at the base of Mt Victoria.

Across the harbour the HMAS Sydney was in port on the final leg of her farewell tour.

Mt Cecil

Looking down over the transmission lines and
logged over forest.

A short hike with the sole purpose of tagging the Mt Cecil trig near Upper Hutt. This was the first time I had been in through here since the large-scale logging of the area, and some of the logging roads had changed significantly from before the logging. The trig, however, is on a grassy knoll in an unlogged area. Being relatively remote the trig suffers from little damage other than a few bullet holes.

Trig 8201 (Cecil)

Bullet hole damage.

Rimutaka Hill Rd Summit

AC6D (K 39 / Rimutaka Hill Summit) marker post

A tramping track from the summit of the Rimutaka Hill Road heads north into the Tararuas; went for a short walk to see what was there - a few good little climbs on the track - and then came back to the car. Found the marker post for AC6D (K 39 / Rimutaka Hill Summit) right by the track entrance.

Mt Te Aroha at night

Mt Te Aroha TV transmitter at night, on
the site of old survey mark 1319 (567
Te Aroha)

A night time ascent of the tramping track up Mt Te Aroha, to support Kim Allan on the last leg of a long (120km+) training run for Spartathlon.

A small group of us departed Te Aroha domain on dusk, and it was soon dark as we headed up through the bush. Spectacular views over the plains at the few view points, and even more spectacular views as the TV tower came into view, lit-up and looking for all the world like the Eiffel tower. The track gets very steep in places near the top, and gave the impression that it would feel very exposed in daylight. A strong, cold wind was blowing on the top, so while I photographed the trig, Kim and the others started back down the road. I caught up with the others and we jogged back down Tui Rd to meet Simon at the furthest point that the car could reach.

A note of historical interest, the original survey mark 1319 (567 Te Aroha) is listed as:
"STATION DESTROYED 1965 FOR THE ERECTION OF A T.V. TRANSMISSION TOWER."

Whether the TV tower now counts is a debatable point. It is not officially a survey mark, but it stands where 1319 once stood.

View from Whakapipi over Te Aroha and the plains
after sunset

Trig with TV transmitter behind

Brass plaque and survey mark A38P

Map

Trig A38P (Te Aroha No. 2)

A5XX Mt Richmond (Auckland)

There are four Mount Richmond's in New Zealand, and this is the least impressive of the lot: a small hill just 47.93m above sea level. Nonetheless it requires a smidgen mor exercise to get to than Mt Eden or One Tree Hill, with a short walk up the hill behind the rugby league club at the Mount Richmond Domain.

Trig A5XX (Mt Richmond No. 2) on the crater rim.

Brass plaque for A5XX

Mt Eden Survey Marks

Trig beacon 1328 and obelisk on Mt Eden

One side of the obelisk with plaques

The survey mark 1328

The bronze plaque for 1328 (16 Mount Eden SO
52129), on a wet dull day with strong camera flash
reflections.

Mt Eden marks the centre of the Auckland region, at least as far as surveying is concerned. Next to a somewhat non-standard trig beacon stands an obelisk marking the initial station for the triangulation of Auckland in 1872. One of the plaques on the obelisk commemorates this:

This obelisk was first erected by
Stephenson Percy Smith,
Chief Geodetic Surveyor,
on the 17th day of August 1872
as initial station for the triangulation
of the Auckland province, instituted by
Captain Theophilus Heale
Inspector of Surveys.
"Prudens Futuri"

Below that plaque is another commemorating the centenary of the foundation of the Auckland Provincial Surveyors Association, founded approximately seven years prior to the commencement of the triangulation of the region:

To commemorate the founding,
on 22nd June 1865, of the
Auckland Provincial
Surveyors Association.
This plaque was placed
by the Auckland branch
of the New Zealand
Institute of Surveyors
22nd June 1965.

Another face of the obelisk had two plaques, but one has been removed. The remaining plaque states:

This plaque is to celebrate the third century of
surveying in the Auckland area. In this coming
century, the Auckland branch of the NZ Institute of Surveyors will strive to contribute to the growth and prosperity of our region.

This historic monument was restored in March 2001 by the Auckland branch of the NZ Institute of Surveyors, in partnership with the 1998-2001 Eden Albert Community Board.

Cover for C5LG (Mt Eden No. 2)

There is also another survey mark on Mt Eden: C5LG (Mt Eden No. 2), hidden under a cast iron cover 43m east of 1328. The cover was easy enough to find, but it was a wet day so I didn't bother lifting the lid.

One Tree Hill Obelisk

A5Y0 (One Tree Hill Obelisk)

One Tree Hill is one of the more impressive survey markers in New Zealand, not because of the absent one-tree but because of the large obelisk on the summit. The obelisk constitutes Trig A5Y0 (One Tree Hill Obelisk). There is no difficulty in getting to this one - the public can drive right up to the base of the obelisk.

Trig B145 (Hamilton)

In Hamilton to visit LIC for work, and happened to see this trig as I drove back into town.

Trig B145 (854 No. 2 / Cobham)

Trig 1116

A drive from Christchurch to Methven for work, what could one do but stop at this opportunistic trig on a glorious frosty morning. Note the concrete post with "BM" for "Bench Mark" beside the trig beacon.

Trig 1116 (Lyndhurst)

Bronze plaque

Skyline Trig

Trig A39U (Skyline Queenstown)

In Queenstown for work, and even had to go up the Skyline gondola, so what else could one do? It'd be rude not to...

Wind sock

Trig B0NV (Stokes Valley)

An easy one, just a short track through the scrub at the edge of Stokes Valley. Looks like there's lots of tracks in there for future exploration.

First view through the scrub

View of the Hutt River

All the details: "trig" B0NV (16092)

Three Trigs

AHLP (Waimarino)

The beacon beside SH4

Location: about 1km south of National Park on State Highway 4

Red/brown lichen emphasises the lettering

Bronze plaque

VGOB (Chateau Observatory)

A modern GNS Science radio beacon

Location: Whakapapa Village

Bronze plaque

Located outside the GNS "Observatory" at
Whakapapa Vilage

1231 (Mt Stewart)

4m beacon

A very clean information plate

Concrete plinth with compass circle

Bronze plaque