Gone West (Auckland) Cornwallis, North Island, New Zealand
By Sp8sm8 on 05-Apr-08. Waypoint GC1AX9X

Missing again

Could we get a maintenance check here.

Made quick work of the require information, well thats a lie, I counted the words about 4 times. Found GZ and all the things that matched the hint. For a cache that doesnt get found much, there are some serious geotrails. Sadly no cache to be found.

Had a good look but no luck for me today.

A nice little multi but sadly no find at the final. We did find part of the original ammo can though as well as a few empty bottles and then we found a mint tin which we thought may be the cache but no, someone had drilled holes in it and used it as a bong. Obviously a few undesirables hang out here in this beautiful spot. As it has had another dnf since it was replaced, I wonder if it's been muggled again. A shame as this is a beautiful place and my first visit here.

Spent a bit of time searching around the likely suspects but came up empty handed.

Back in business, sadly no longer an ammo can.

Box Broken

Found it in a pretty obvious spot, think a muggle had found it and moved it (and left illicit goods in it, which I ditched so kids wouldn't find). I put it back where I found it as I'm not sure where it's supposed to be.

Kane, Taidgh and I found it after only a quick look around. Tftc

Found by Ma n Me. what a great spot. TFTC

After a very disappointing DNF for my first cache of the day, I was hoping upon hoping that this one would be giving me a smiley. I took my notepad with me, jotted down all the required info, sat down in the shade away from the unbearable heat while working out some needed co-ords to proceed further. I finally came up with a set that seemed very close by, walked to them and found this magnificent view!! I knew then I must be close, back tracked a little and soon found the huge cache. Contents nice and dry, no worries there sp8sm8. Quite relieved to have found this and a def fav from me for it's cleverness.

This monument was quite a surprise and very sad. Cache lid needs some attention. T4tc

Thanks for bringing us here. What a view!

Had a great Christmas and found a few caches around huia

We came out for the beach, spent sometime and went to go checkout the monument (geocache or not), I had this saved in my phone on offline mode so we tried the multi. We definitely wouldn't have come down this path to check out the view if not for geocaching, thanks for that. The unbroken view was incredible!

No luck here today,searched the area but no luck,got so many cuts.
But lovely views

Along here with Kw12 but no luck, Theres been a lot of tree trimming around the edges lately making searching a bit difficult in places. Hope the cache hasnt been buried. Will watch others success. Awesome spot though.

Mark and I decided to go for a walk up to the monument as we had driven past it on the way to the beach. As there was a geocache there we thought we would have a look for it as well. Turns out that was a great idea! What a lovely view. TFTC

Wowzers that was cool. And the view was amazing. Seb, Max and Tobi dog

Awesome view lots of stash for the littleun's to swap

Great multi which I enjoyed today geocaching in the area. Loved the view and special the view from GZ. The container is not closing well any longer and needed some persuasion to stay closed. TFTC

Found originally as part of Rebel98 team, now created own account, re-logging as rustynz

Did some of the solve from home, then confirmed on arrival. Love how cachers share these special places. Took in the views, avoided some gorse and cuttygrass. Celebrated when I found the ammo can. Thanks again for the hide.

What a beautiful spot, could just imagine sitting there watching the sunset, did not even know this littkle spot of paradise was there. Thank you for sharing it with me.

Did my calculations from home, and confirmed when we arrived at the Monument. Its another beautiful place to visit, and the Manukau is putting on a show! A little bit of debris from the storm when on our way to GZ, after a short search the cache was ours! Sat taking in the views, celebrating the find, and reflecting on the verse. Thanks for the adventure and bringing us here.

Great little spot. Could've stayed here a while. Didn't venture far enough into the bush from the track to begin with but an easy spot as soon as I did. TFTC

Another fantastic but cool day to walk up to this amazing spot. Great views of the Manakau Heads from the seat near the cache. Solved the puzzle although one of us had to climb up close to read the Gone West inscription as it has faded a lot. No problems locating the cache provided we did not try to bash our way through the scrub. Good hint thanks. Cache container is difficult to close but so far the contents are dry. Thanks for bringing us to this interesting spot.

Did not even know this memorial existed, beautiful spot, enjoyed the peace and views from the seat but alas no cache, solved puzzle but do not know how or even if you can enter co ordinates on the phone app. Tried using the clue but alot of clearing work has been done, but without a functioning gps could have been in wrong place. Will go back with a proper gps

Great multi in a fantastic location. Good to learn a bit more about history and has given me and idea for a multi of my own.

Decided to get some caches in the Cornwallis area now that I finally had some good weather. A very tragic story at this site - very moving and well deserving of a monument. Thx for bringing me here. Parked the car at the beach carpark and walked up. Had the figures I needed and it was a quick stroll to gz. Quick find thanks to the hint andn log signed. Lovely view from here. As per previous logs the container does not quite close properly - might need some attention before winter comes. TNLN
TFTC

I've been in this area countless times but had never been to this monument before. I am so glad that I did as it was well worth the visit. The only down side was trying to correctly read some of the wording and I had to triple check my calculations. The other minor issue was that I had left the other Dabsta's in the car and had promised that I would be quick while I collected this cache. Unfortunately finding the cache took a little bit longer than expected. This was also complicated by some muggles near the GZ smoking some suspicious smelling substances!

After using my caching nose and rereading the hint, I eventually found the cache! Wahoo and a fav from me! TFTC!

After being muggled out at the nearby beach cache, I tried my luck here. A quick stroll up to the monument and after checking out the view it was down to business (although more about the view in a moment). "Gone West" was a bit tricky to read - maybe it was the angle of the sun, I don't know, but I practically had to get up there and read it by feel! Got the numbers and then proceeded to read all the rest of the text on the monument. Has anyone else noticed that the "promise" by the council back when this park was gifted, was to maintain the land such that there were uninterrupted views? The only view available now is in the direction of the harbour mouth - poor show, council. A bit of cutting back of some extremely unendangered manuka and gorse and the views here could be ten times as good.

Anyway, a quick calculation and I was off in the direction of the cache. A great area for the final, but like others before me, it took me a while to spot the well hidden cache. My GPS wanted me to go around in a different direction, also kind of matching the description, but no cache to be found there. I did leave a little bit of blood behind having stabbed myself in the hand with the stick I was prodding about with.

The cache container's lid wasn't quite closed properly, and I couldn't do much better, as the mechanism has somewhat rusted meaning the latch does not spring closed and stay there, however, the cache contents are nice and dry so it all seems to be functioning just fine. I tried to free the rusted part, but only managed to bend it a little bit so it's slightly better than before but still not properly sealing. I'm sure it will be fine though.

Great views from near the final GZ and a great cache to collect on such a nice day for Get Outrdoors Day, Go Geocaching Day, or whatever day it is! TFTC!!!

This was my first multi - spent ages scrabbling around in the undergrowth (walked passed and stepped over it several times) sure I put the coordinates in wrong. Finally, ten minutes before the gates closed, we found it. Awesome collection!! Signed the log and ran back to the car - so late we bumped into the guard who was standing by the car (who said he was relieved to see us as hadn't wanted to walk to the monument!) loved this spot - took heaps of photos of the view!! Tftc

On our return journey from Whatipu and must say we were a little out of puff, but the beckoning monument, looked worth the effort. And it was. What a magnificent monument. We were glad that the numbers came together really easily and it was off to GZ another wee surprise too, great views. Took a moment to get our bearings and start a search in the likely area, carefully!! and yes we were rewarded with the find. Well placed out of the way. SL. TFTC.

Found orginally as part of phasevisitor team, now created own account, re-logging as yorkshirekiwi83.

Headed out for my birthday today, exploring the area between Titirangi and Whatipu.

Walked up to the monument and quickly worked out the final co-ordinates. Had a bit of an explore to find the cache, but it was eventually found. Cache and contents still in great condition, considering the last find was July 2011.

A nice pleasant spot and wonderful views up here. We enjoyed this cache and have added as a favourite.

TFTC sp8sm8!

Headed out for my birthday today, exploring the area between Titirangi and Whatipu.

Walked up to the monument and quickly worked out the final co-ordinates. Had a bit of an explore to find the cache, but it was eventually found. Cache and contents still in great condition, considering the last find was July 2011.

A nice pleasant spot and wonderful views up here. We enjoyed this cache and have added as a favourite.

TFTC sp8sm8!

Great views but could not find the cache. Have taken photos of the faces of the monument so that I can redo the numbers for the next visit.

This entry was edited by trampingkiwi on Saturday, 30 March 2013 at 06:44:18 UTC.

Loved this multi and the views were certainly the icing on the cake. TFTC

Not being a native of NZ finding out what a Manuka tree became of vital importance as the GPS decided to be very undecided. After a 20 min search with a Geovirgin the GZ was located. This is a cool cache with lots of goodies. Visiting NZ from the UK to play with Waitakere brass band at their recent venture at the NZ brass band championships. TFTC TNLN SL

First ever find with 2BrassNuts from the UK.

This is one of the things that keeps me caching. Coming to spots with history like this one. I imagine that the 25 April would have quite a number of people here. Thanks.

Wow the view from here are amazing - a nice spot hidden away just off of the beatne track - TFTC and the view...

What a spot for a memorial to a lost son. Even a seat to sit & contemplate! Swapped cache items.

Very clever bit of maths here!

What an amazing view!!! I've often seen the monument but haven't ever visited it. We came on an awesome winters day and the view was fantastic.TFTC Kiwi Racer #4/5 - Finn "The Red Evo II " out.

Just over a month ago I visited my GP having the usual checkup and mentioned that I was going Geocaching after this visit. After explaining what caching was all about he asked what area I intended to visit to which I replied "out Huia way". He mentioned that there was a memorial to an ancestor of his out that way by the name of Spragg. I said that probably there was a cache there. Sure enough there is.

Came out here with a Nepalese colleague who was interested to find out what caching was all about. She enjoyed the adventure.

In: TB.

Cheers for the cache.

What a great place and lovely views.We loved the inscription on the memorial. Cache was one of the best we have found with its contents, thank you. Took travel bug and did some swaps TFTC

Awesome views; especially at the final location. The cache contents were also the most interesting we've come across so far. Perfect place to finish for the afternoon and then grab an ice cream at Huia.

Awesome view, never knew that was there. Great place for a cache and nice contents too! Left Bad Andy Geocoin and took what looks to be a home made movie called Ghost Fleet, nice!

Had an issue with this one on the first run - using geocachinglive on my phone I didn't realise that the coordinates were one decimal short on my display. This put the supposed final in a heavy section of bush a bit of a distance away from the actual spot. After a bit of a wander through what may have once been a track 30 years ago we decided to recalibrate and managed to find what we were looking for without too much hassle. Awesome stash, and the best views I've seen in ages. TFTC

Out with Greenblat. Counted the big one several times.

Huge monument. The final took us to a lovely view too.

Nice cache with interesting contents. TNLN

TFTC

Out with OG Phatazz today. Now that's my size of container and well stocked with intersting stuff too. T4TC

Interesting history at this spot. And even more amazing views from near the cache site. Thanks for bringing us here - its the sort of place you overlook unless someone tells you about it.
Dropped Yellow Jeep TB.

# 208

Nice little multi. solved the questions with ease and headed off for a quick find. TFTC

Out: RCMP Cst. Eager Beaver TB

Found this one with adnshe whilst on a day trip to Huia.

Didn't take nor leave anyhting

TFTC
xplorz

Out caching with Xplorz in the Huia area.
No idea this place existed. Interesting history.
Made the calcs and found the cache without too much drama.
Amazing views from the nearby seat.
Left RCMP Eager Beaver TB
TFTC

fifth of 10 caches today for Team GeoDutch!

TNLNSL, TFTC, TTFN

Beautiful location and views!

One of many caches found today by the Team Geodutch (see previous log)

Yep, another enjoyable cache - loved the main attraction, picked up Custers TB, Thanks nick, great spot.

Cheers, and no Im not Obsessed....

I was acquainted Wesley's nephew Bob many years ago (he was very elderly then) so the monument had extra meaning for me. Thanks for bringing me here, and for the enjoyable puzzle, hide and of course the views. TNLN, cheers!

Bit of spare time before the grand-daughter's birthday party so took the scenic route. Never visited this memorial before - how very interesting, and great views as well. Nice cache hide, great stuff thanks. TFTC

All the monument is worth a read. The explanation to 'Gone West' is that the Waitakere Ranges were considered to be a muddy hellhole by the early settlers. The memorial says that dying at the front in WW1 would be a clean death compared to this 'muck and clangour'. Little did they know that Flanders fields were an unimaginably worse hellhole...
- poncho
- rocket
- geocoin
+ wet wipes set
+ TB

#882. Stopped at the carpark at the bottom of the hill and walked to the beach first. Very pretty and secluded beach although looks to be a bit of a favourite with doggy people. Thought about bush bashing to the summit - but only for a minutes.
Jumped back into the car and headed to the monument. Yep, great view of the heads. Well spotted Sp8sm8. Swapped TB's. TFTC.

(1296)
Agree with M@, an awesome spot for a cache. First time we have seen the entrance from this prospective. Awesome views, thanks for bringing us here.
TNLNSL, TFTC

Great place for a cache! The view straight down to the mouth is awesome. Also a very clear view of the Huia Bank at low tide. There was even a stationery kayaker right off the point, seemingly looking right up at me!
+ Cinderella TB
- Lego TB
Cheers Sp8sm8 - M@

No publish logs by 1 pm,started to wounder what was going on.
Did not need a lot of persuasion to saddle up once more and head west for the Waitakere,s.On arrival at GZ the GPS was dancing around a fair bit, but after a fair bit of prodding and poking a familiar clunk was heard.
This would be one or the best views I have seen of this harbour and a FTF as a bonus.
TFTH.
Uplifted Geo Coin.
Left T/B

Published

Crickey that was quick, two logs written and the cache was published!

Better drop the coin in.