Special Hunt #2 Debrief - Paraparaumu

Special Hunt #2 Debrief - Paraparaumu
Coin found on 25 April 2015, at 2:30PM by Kat, Falyn & Rachel

After a winner-less month, finally, a happy ending!
A question I get asked a lot is, "How many people are taking part in this?". Due to the fact you can view my Twitter account without needing to log in or follow, my answer is always "I don't know".
But, if blog hits are anything to go by, we got over triple the amount of hits than any other hunt event! Sure it was still less than 200, but hey, recognition!
I know there's at least a couple of players out there desperate to find out how close their guesses were, so let's get straight into the debrief!
-Huntmaster Orion

*Spoiler Alert*
Answers have been hidden inside a grey background. To read them, simply highlight the text with your cursor... like that.

The Clues - Solutions and Explanations

#TheHuntPPU Clue 1 » Make tracks near the rails.

I typically start off with a vague clue like this one. Perhaps I might have confused a few players with multiple definitions of "tracks" or "rails"... Ultimately, though, the coin was near the Kapiti Miniature Railway, not the Main Trunk Line, as some people may have guessed.

#TheHuntPPU Clue 2 » I've got some intel coming in… but I can't make heads or tails of it. Can you? http://ow.ly/i/awoYZ

I intentionally made this clue a picture for two reasons.
First, the clue is written in another language, so if I had typed it out you could have just googled it. Secondly, I could turn it sideways!
Turning the picture 90 degrees clockwise, the clue 川口 is Japanese for "river mouth".

#TheHuntPPU Clue 3 » West of the expressway.

The Kapiti Expressway has been a political subject for years, if not decades. Due to the construction that finally started on the road, this clue was just me trying to make a topical reference.

#TheHuntPPU Clue 4 » Along a road that changes its name four times.

In the Paraparaumu township there is a continuous road that goes through five names: Rosetta Road, Matatua Road, Wharemauku Road, Marine Parade, and Manly Street. That's four name changes. The coin was along one of these roads, or rather, along this one road.

#TheHuntPPU Clue 5 » It's hard to describe exactly where I am today, but the clues should lead you to the same area. http://ow.ly/i/awpY8

It's the Clue 5 picture clue! This was the clue that led this hunt's winners right to the clue box, although they weren't the first group there - two families looked around, but just didn't look down... but maybe they were just there for the view. I did hear one of the kids saying they were looking for a "large metal thing", though...

The Unpublished Clues
Still stuck? Before you check the answer below, here are the clues I would have published if the coin hadn't been found.

#TheHuntPPU Clue 6 » A tunnel built in 2003.

This tunnel was brought to you by the Kapiti Miniature Railway.

#TheHuntPPU Clue 7 » 250 & 260.

In the area are the termini of two local bus routes, the 250 and 260.

#TheHuntPPU Clue 8 » Up from the dell, across the road from a boundary.

I was at the top of a hill above a place the Miniature Railway calls "The Dell". Across the street from the park is a restaurant called Boundary.

Answer - The Coin's Location
As always, the final clue will always tell you exactly where the coin is. This hunt, the coin was hidden at the Marine Gardens lookout, Raumati Beach.

Congratulations to Kat, Falyn & Rachel for winning this Special Hunt!

Twitter Practice Clue
I released a practice clue before the hunt. Here's the answer.

» 1, 2, 3, Ocean!

These are the names of four neighbouring streets in Paraparaumu, although the first three are actually translated from Maori: Tahi, Rua, Toru, and Ocean Roads are all along Marine Parade.

Unused Draft Clues
In the hunt writing process, some clues get scrapped because they didn't fit in with the rest, were too vague, too difficult, or for other reasons. Only one clue didn't make the cut:

» Now that's a big blue duck!

This clue got scrapped because it doesn't exist anymore. The children's pool at Marine Gardens used to be in the shape of a duck, but it has now been replaced with a "splash area". As I was hiding the coin I had to write a new Clue 8 as a quick replacement, although it never got used anyway. I guess that's what you get when you use a years-old satellite image from Google Earth to do your planning...

Upcoming Hunts
And so ends my holiday in Wellington. It was nice; we must do this again sometime.
I now find myself back in Auckland, and I definitely want to do the next hunt before the end of June. I've been told I have a habit of hiding the coin in parks and gardens so I'll need to think about it a little harder...
As always, if you're following @hunt_clues on Twitter you'll be among the first to know what I'm up to, and if a hunt is happening in your area!

So long for now.
-Huntmaster Orion