Vancouver 2011

Gazing out through a gap in the haze, from "Canada Day" located in one of the delightful tree lined streets in the suburbs, across to the heart of Vancouver. This cache was all broken - possibly by the creatures of the night - raccoons maybe. I hope it is repaired and replaced to be available to other visitors like me.

What a lovely city! I'll be back, with my GPS, to find more caches and enjoy the hospitality and sites of Vancouver.

South of the Bombay Hills

"Lake Waikare"

"Stoned in Meremere"

"Pokeno Park"

Heading Home

"Lion's Lookout" and "Dome Valley". We stopped for a few minutes break to find each of these caches as we travelled back home. We also stopped at "Springs Flat Bridge" to add the small magnetic cache to our list of done-its!

Russell

"Flagstaff Hill"

What a climb! We weren't alone as we climbed to the top of Russell for a fantastic view from the sundial. A quick find before heading down to catch the ferry back to Paihia.

On our trip to Paihia, Waitangi and Russell we learned a lot about the history of the settlement and the importance of this area in the early days of European settlement and colonisation of New Zealand.

Farmer Stan's Seat and Queen's View Seat - Russell

Farmer Stan's Seat and Queen's View Seat - these caches belong to the students at Russell School. How neat that the students check these caches and can find out where all the visitors to these caches come from - all over the world, we're sure.

We walked around Russell after the ferry ride across from Paihia. The hilly climbs rewarded us with great views. We also visited a lovely little church with very old churchyard cemetery down behind the shops.

From Waitangi to Haruru Falls

"Why Tangi?"

On this misty day we watched gulls dive into the water near the bridge and bring up fish from between the boats at anchor. A good magnetic cache, but you were right - there were lots of other people at the car park enjoying the view from the shelter of their cars. Care was needed.

Amazing Haruru Falls near "Boathouse View". This waterfall had a huge volume of water flowing over it. A spectacular sight.

Paihia

"A View to Die For" We did not disturb the long term residents here but did walk around a look at the many interesting looking grave site decorations and then sit and take in the view of Paihia from a high point.

Tomb of Memories: A beautiful church now stands where the original raupo church once stood. It was the first church ever built in New Zealand. It opened for Divine Service on Sunday, September 21st, 1823.

The church cat greeted us and followed us around the grounds.

From Cambridge to Te Aroha

Te Aroha Power Station - near the base of the mountain on Hamilton Street is this old relic of days gone by. Our first magnetic cache.

Welcome to Cambridge from Hamilton - busy road entering Cambridge.

The Base and Gordonton

Gone But Not Forgotten - "The Base" - Hamilton North.

This cache was an easy find. A little way from the hurly burly of the current very busy "Base". However, we are sure the extensions will reach here soon.
We found Bark Simpson under some lovely shady oaks at Gordonton. These old trees must date back to the time of the original settlers coming to the area. These are planted at the old school site which was on the main road through Gordonton.

Morrinsville Revisited

Morrinsville Recreation Grounds - we took a walk along the Piako River. We saw a lovely waterfall. The area was very quiet with no-one else in sight.

It's a sign, Morrinsville is seen as we drove towards the town. As we searched for this cache on the wee hill right beside the railway line, we had a good view of the visitors driving into the town. It is a very public spot so we tried to pretend we were just sitting around enjoying the view.

Two finds in Matamata

We found 2 caches on this trip to Matamata.

Driving through peaceful Tom Grant Drive and then at the Hobbiton shop in Matamata.
Outside Hobbiton was a wee bit tricky because there were lots of people coming and going so we had to think hard and search carefully using the clues from the website. Auntie Michelle was with us and she couldn't stop laughing at how secretive we were so we didn't give the cache away.

Waihou River Crossing

On the road out of Paeroa, heading north towards Netherton, we found our next cache. The bridge crosses the Waihou River just where the Ohinemuri River flows into it. The cache is at this memorial site where there is a large monument and an old canon. There is a place to launch a boat here too.

Time to Reflect - Ngarua

This day, there was someone working inside this quaint little church at Ngarua so we parked outside the gates and searched around the posts as the clues said. An easy find.

Oaks and the mighty Gum

Murray Oaks:

On the road between Morrinsville and Te Aroha we found the cache beneath a very large, old oak tree. We are learning lots about trees because lots of the hides are near, in or under trees, roots or stumps. This was near the road so we sat and ate our lunch - Subway and a milkshake. Yum!

Look up to the Mighty Gum - Paeroa

The top of the Memorial Hill is a popular place because from there you get a great view of the Waikato. Down below is the Ohinemuri River and Paeroa town. Across the river stretches the Hauraki district farmlands. This cache is so small and so well hidden!!!

Howarth Memorial Wetlands - Te Aroha

While on a cycling training session, we found this cache in the Howarth Memorial Wetlands. The photo clues were a great help as the area is quite big and there were lots of gorse, ponga and flax bushes.

We also had to be careful to not let anyone else see us while we hunted around and under trees and bushes. We made out we were having a water stop and a bite to eat from our backpack. Sneaky! There were lots of little things inside the cache. We are now hooked! Where to next?

Introduction to "Geocaching"

Raglan: December 2010

While at a "sustainability forum" at Raglan, I was introduced to geocaching by a colleague. On this occasion we found 2 caches but I wasn't a member then so will need to revisit at some time in the future with my co-geocacher (grandson Ethan) to be able to officially register our find.

Beautiful views from this site.

Fountain of Youth

Fountain of Youth:

First find for us was in Matamata. At this point we did not have a GPS so found, with difficulty, using the online clues.
We spent some time at the fountain, had a lovely picnic lunch and then hunted in earnest. Such a tiny container in a big park!