Weta Hotel (Onekaka@Nelson/Marlborough) Onekaka, South Island, New Zealand
By beltfamily on 17-Jan-09. Waypoint GC1KRT5

Great walk but unfortunately the container had leaked and was very soggy. Thanks for the fun

Found it! But very soggy inside the container

Thanks but it was super wet inside

Trouve ! / Found it ! La bote compltement prit l'eau et tout est tremp, limite moissi l'intrieur. J'ai sorti autant d'eau que je pouvais mais il faudrait tout scher pendant des heures... Une maintenance est prvoir... Je n'avais rien sur moi pour a...5301me cache trouve.Merci beltfamily pour la cache The box completely took water and everything is soaked, moldy inside. I took out as much water as I could but it would be necessary to dry everything for hours... Maintenance is to be expected... I had nothing on me for that...5301th cache found.Thank you beltfamily for the cache

Log book soaked.. will aim to replace

Ran right past it

cool find, the log is soaked through unfortunately, so couldn't sign it

Found with teenz04 on a holiday mission from Wainui. Lovely walk that we otherwise wouldn’t have known about. Couldn’t find the weta motel though. Cache contents very wet, tried to dry out as best we could. TFTC!

What a beautiful little walk in a spot we would have otherwise driven straight past. Thanks for this hide.
No sign of the Weta hotel though

I tried, but the trail is just too water logged right now, literally a stream at the moment. Don't have my boots with me

Was just starting to rain again as we pulled up so Andy put his fleece on and headed off while I stayed dry in the car. He found the cache and dropped in some rtr paper for future users. tftc

#6629

Found it! Unfortunately the log book was too saturated to write in. Traded a trinket. TFTC

GPSr jumping around a bit, but eventually found the tree with root that looks like an L, and then behind a punga was the cache. Not unexpectedly give the torrential rain over recent months, the cache was full of water. Emptied and dried as best able. The double bags had done some good, and log, although wet, was useable. Thanks beltfamily for another cache.

Due to the heavy rain our original plans were restricted so we utilised the limited WIFI at our accommodation to peruse the top 31 activities of Golden Bay, we were pleased to see we had tackled 28 of them already and the other two were not quite in line with our budget and timeframe so Washbourne Reserve which came in at 31 we hadn't been to before. Parking was non-existent but there was a little bit of parking just down the road so we headed for the reserve. The trail was more of a stream for the first 300 metres until we managed to get up a little higher. GPSr jumping around a bit, but eventually found the tree with root that looks like an L, and then behind a punga was the cache. Not unexpectedly given the torrential rain over recent months, the cache was full of water. Emptied and dried as best able. The double bags had done some good, and log, although wet, was useable. Thanks beltfamily for another cache.

L

Nice little walk, albeit very wet at the start, and a quick find. TFTC!!

Thanks for the cache. Great double bagging of the log book

Quick find. With Crickethawea

Great. Another nice easy find with judithrichards. Thank you

Quick find once we read the hint properly. Water in container but log fine. TFTC

Found with MrsC on our NZ travels from UK. Quick find and good location

Found with mr c on our travels from the UK thank you

Thank you, great quiet place to took my parents (mr & mrs washbourne) on their first cach hunt

Boxing Day cache #2. Intact. TFTC

Pushing on further into this wonderful native bush.

A quick cache find thanks largely to the spot-on hint.

I'd love to explore more but I have numbers to get today.

Thanks

#1972

No hotel to see but the track was wet and fun to walk down. Tftc

A lovely wee piece of bush - lots of painted rocks around the area. tftc

I continued onwards for200m after finding this cache, through a fence and over a river, but could find no Weta Hotel.

Oh well, at least I found the cache.

The travelling fox is satisfied =-_-=

WE are keen geocachers on holiday from Tauranga and grabbing a few smileys as we go. Nice easy find thanks to the good clue. Went on to the fence too, but didn't see any weta motels. Have seen these in the Nth Is and they are very popular with wetas. TFTC

Wow, a beltfamily cache! Once we looked for a micro in Nelson and went few times to the cache site. But no luck. And then we had emailed the beltfamily and got help! It must be eight years ago or so! Today was it more easy, no help was necessary.
TFNC! C&M alias DRQN

Found with the aid of torchlight on our way home after a walk to Druggen Dam and surrounds. TFTC.

It was our last find for the day and in darkness. We did overcome the slippery roots across the track and the water challenges. TFTC

Love the untouched native bush around here. TFTC

Came over the hill from Mot today to pick up a few caches. Hoped for a swim too as it was a hot day but the wind was blowing hard at the coast.

I read this cache name in the semi dark of the forest and had a good look for wekas but couldn't see any. It is only at home rereading the name I now see my error.
TFTC.

Easy find. We were unable to get to the actual weta hotel though, as there was a fence across the track.

The clue really helped.thanks. great walk.

The clue really helped.thanks. great walk.

This cache has been on the "to do list" everytime I've headed this way for ages but for one reason or another I haven't stopped. Having an afternoon doing a few of those caches today. I really enjoyed the short wander in the lovely bit of bush thanks. TFTC #6963

Easter Sunday, and day #3 of our 4 day long weekend trip to Golden Bay.
Thanks for the parking co-ords, as it's easy to miss the entrance to the reserve. A very pleasant walk through the bush and an easy find at the final with the good hint (immediately consulted the hint as reception wasn't great). Happy to report that the cache and contents are still in great condition 6 years after placement.
There were heaps of bright orange toadstools dotted around the track. Will upload a photo later. TFTC.

#9305. It was appropriate to find this one a few days after finding Weta Motel. A nice walk through the reserve (attended by a number of fantails) and a quick find. TFTC.

A quick easy find with the hint. We didn't go to look for the weta hotel after reading previous logs which indicated it is no longer there. TFTC

Found with Kiwioscy

Found with Kiwioscy

Loved the purse with coins from other countries. Good idea. Well provisioned cache. Fun

Nice bush walk, heard lots of bird song but only saw 3 wood pigeons TFTC

#2418

Lovely walk through the bush tftc

This entry was edited by Nanzie on Tuesday, 21 October 2014 at 07:38:53 UTC.

Found on a day's exploration around the region, letting the geocaches lead me to all the interesting places. Another interesting spot that I have passed quite a few times but never investigated.. A pleasant walk through the bush - a bit weedy near the highway but much better further in. The cache was a quick find. Walked on as far as the fence but no weta hotel (I see now from previous logs that it's not there any more but there's several of them at the Zealandia sanctuary in Wellington near where I live so I'm familiar with them) then re-traced steps to the road. Signed log, TFTC

Enjoyed the walk to GZ but was unaccompanied by any piwakawaka's this morning. TFTC, #6080

Nice walk after a couple of cheeky pints at the mussel inn. Shame the weta hotel is no longer. TFTC

Day 4, Find no.8 . Family Holiday time!
B5 feeling unwell again, so Mum stayed with her in the car, while the boys went off for an adventure. N7 made the find. TSLS.
TFTC Beltfamily!

Despite driving past on a semi-regular basis I haven't stopped to walk in here for years, and that's such a shame so thank-you for choosing this spot to hide a cache .. Easy to find and it's still in great dry condition .. Son swapped for another small dino toy & I retrieved the White Jeep TB that's been there for a month - chain on it was broken so I'll attach another before moving it on

Thanks for the hunt!

Dropped off White Jeep travel bug.

Raced in to find this cache just as the sun was going down...didn't take the time to check out the weta hotel ;-( Thanks from this Canadian!

A lovely walk through regenerating bush. Got some great photos along the way. TFTC

Great to see this regenerating piece of bush protected for posterity. - - - Many healthy young rimu that will soon be competing to determine which will be the "kings of the forest." Thanks for bringing us here.

I came to the cache with my sister who is visiting from England (geojaxx) and left a TB named after a word my daughter used to say as a toddler - atchiabatchi.
I live next to the reserve and can confirm that the weta hotel is no longer here as it became rotten but it is still a nice place to walk - the cache description may need changing to stop people looking for the weta hotel, which they will not find. TFTC

Found while on holiday from England and visiting my sister in Onekaka.
My GPS was not getting a signal under the trees and we reached the fence across the path (where she told me the weka hotel used to be) and my GPS was still saying we had to go on further - so we ignored it completely and retraced our steps 50 metres and spotted the clue item easily and the good sized cache.

I left some English coins in the purse inside the cache which is collecting coins from various countries. Took nothing.
TFTC.

Beautiful landscape, nice walk and easy found perfect day TFTC

Cache easy find, but didn't find the Weta motel & knew what to look for as have seen them else where. TFTC

found it with integersmirk during Easter holiday, but fogot to log it, sorry! .TFTC

(Apologies for late log) Took a bach for Easter just around the corner, had to take the chance for a jog out to this one. Nice track, nearly got sprung whilst signing log - good job you can hear people coming from a wee way away! TFTC

Pleasant walk through bush, although spoiled a little at first by sound of two nearby chainsaws.
Took car; left East Timorese coin purse with 2 foreign coins - please add more.

Enjoyed the bush walk. Cicadas have taken over from the birds at the moment. A great selection of young and old trees. Didn't stay st the hotel - bed bugs!!! TNLM TFTC

Walked in with the 3 junior Team McNeill members, not really prepared for a wet and muddy track. Once the addition of crucial "swishy sticks" was completed, all were on board and completed the walk into the GZ.

A quick find once there and really enjoyed the exercise on a blustery, squally day.

TFTC

Roofless weta is getting wetter. Thanks beltfamily

Found along with Mr KE, not that he was any help. Had seen this reserve numerous times while passing good to stop and have a look.

Visited the cache on the way to show the grandchildren the Weta Hotel. Well worth the visit as there were some residents at home. -TB
TFTC

nice walk left nothing took nothing
found the weti hotel with two residents.

Found with Grumpy Ant. This was a very special wee walk. The bird life is amazing. We brought the Floridians back the next day just to show them how magic it was plus giving them a look at their first Weta's.
Picked up a coin.
TFTC

Found with marchwood, what a lovely little walk. Lots of bird life. Swapped trackables.
TFTC

Found with moneydork and rediguna

A nice wee walk.
Dropped off some geocoins.

Lovely bush walk. Pretty easy find. Went and visited the hotel and saw 2-3 occupants. Cheers Gav [6877]

The team really loved this one the walk in was full of bird life singing to us and the deer prints in the mud. the hotel made junior happy. glad to finally do this one. Picked up tb tftc

A lot of squelching a fair bit of puddle and mud hopping but still a great track and a lovely walk to stretch our legs signed log thanks for the cache

A great little stroll into this one even if a wee bit wet underfoot in places. Was a welcome stretch of the legs after a drive accross the hill. TFTC

Wow! What a find. Was more like swimming, than walking, up the track after the thunder storm the night before, but the kids loved the wet bush. Saw 3 tuis doing a "dive bomb air show" above us, and an old kereru beside the track, obviously on his way out. Enjoyed the hotel too! Thanks, loved it!

What a lot of fun, great hotel

4267 Great piece of bush, enjoyed our walk, many thanks.

TFTC

Lovely easy bush walk to visit the hotel. Felt like a Private Investigator with a flash camera bursting into a hotel bedroom and taking photos. Captured evidence of 2 occupants in a compromising situation in one room. TNLN. Thanks for the cache beltfamily.

Our first find for our weekend in golden bay two bugs at the hotel TFTC

We all agreed there was just enough time for one more cache before dinner and dusk. Of course it gets darker in the bush a bit earlier, so there was just enough light to do this one without torches. The coords seemed a bit out to me, but the others were closer, and Mrs Yeetrees obliged by finding the cache. Then a quick visit to the hotel to check on the two occupants, no room service required (fortunately). Next off to the Mussel Inn for dinner and to slake the caching thirst.
TFTC.

This was our last cache before heading out for dinner, we arrived at GZ just on dusk, also realised how quickly it get dark once you are in the bush. A quick find at GZ with Mrs Yeetrees doing the honours, hint was bang on, then a quick detour to check at the hotel where we found a couple of residences at home. Mrs Yeetrees just loves to see weta’s as she thinks they are just the cutest thing. TFTC TNLNSL (1719)

A quick find was made using the hint. My last find of the day before heading to the Mussel Inn for liquid refreshments, and an excellent evening meal.

Thanks to Yeetrees for becoming the dedicated driver so I cold enjoy a couple of cold ones with my dinner. Gee the world sure looks like a different place from the back seat. TNLN SL TFTC

Warm here today. One weta home today

Great walk - in the rain!!!! We were completely soggy by the time we got back to the van. We had a very brief look in the hotel, but I don't think that anyone was in residence. We called it a day after this and headed to Pohara to dry out.
TNLN TFTC
(I don't think there was a coin in here - but it was such a quick visit I can't be absolutely sure.)

Didn't know what a Weta was before we came to NZ and now we even know their hotel . We really enjoyed the little walk through this piece of native bush. Thx for bringing us here, greetings from Germany, Team Loopi

Enjoyed the walk through to the hotel but no residents when we were there. A quick find by one of the team

Great spot with wonderful regenerating rimu. Plenty of guests in situ as well!

Great area with lovely regen rimu and plenty of guests in residence!!

Took TB Montana Bear nice bush walk in evening. TFTC

Lovely bush walk. There were two 'customers' in the hotel in the middle of the day. We loved the construction - and better than our old coal bin at home in Christchurch. TFTC. Long-John

Last find for the year for us. Very lovely native reserve which we often visit. Inhabitants doing well. TFTC

Nice cache, and nice hotel, i didnt expect something like it

great cache met the locals at the hotel wonderful TFTC

Early afternoon walk but it had been raining a lot so very wet underfoot. Rain threatened again as the cache was found so didn't risk a look at the end of the track. TFTC, Biggles.

An early morning walk very wet underfoot. Enjoyed checking out the residents at the Weta Hotel. TFTC

beautiful nature and a great day!

TFTC!

Lovely little walk with loads of puddles after a period of heavy rain. Our 2-year old loved the walk, the hunt, and the cache. Thank you.