Tawa Tawa Tawa (Wellington) Kingston, North Island, New Zealand
By huhugrub on 16-May-09. Waypoint GC1RC0D

This geocacher reported that the cache might be missing.

Visited again on an extremely gusty evening, this time armed with proper prickle protection on all limbs. Had a forensic search in a wide area through all kinds of vegetation but I fear this one has been blown away.

Solved the coords quickly enough, and not surprised it's popular this beautiful evening! Been a while since last found and I suspect the gorse is making it that much harder to locate (especially in a t shirt).

A quick solve before coming here, followed by a nice after work stroll to GZ. Never been here before, shall have to explore a bit more when I have more time. Took longer than it should to find the cache as I was searching a bit more off piste originally. Log book is rather fragile and damp, but still usable if youre gentle. Thanks huhugrub #1198

A nice multi cache. I'd never been to this reserve before, very impressive views. The cache was a nice quick find, logsheet is a little damp but signable, TFTC

Figured out the coordinates a few years ago, but had struggled to find the cache. Saved this cache for a Leap Day special. Cache all good though a little damp. Put the log into a new zip lock bag. Fantastic view from here. @peadub and I even spotted a karearea flying with a mouse in its beak! TFTC.

After collecting the coordinates a while ago, we popped up today to get a leap day cache. All good at the moment, but the gorse is trying its best to grow back. Tftc.

Oooweee! A day out without the kids, and gave ourselves the challenge of finding this one. Definitely staving off post covid brain fog trying to work out decimal minutes and the like...! Ultimately however we knew more or less where we needed to end up, and got to GZ with a bit of spidey sense, and without actually even looking at the clue! Logs are a bit damp, and spider set up a nice home within folds of parka. Awesome cache, thank you!

3 years ago in 2020....Here with family but we didn't find it that visit .
We were pretty close though.

Although I knew what to do I had a bit of trouble with this ache -I blame it on the rather cold wind so I couldn’t stand around for long working it out!! The CO was most kind at giving me a hint as to where I had gone wrong -then I was able to solve it.

Many thanks for bring me up here huhugrub. As usual, good views of the city and it is surprising the things you find in out of the way places!

Out and about with supernanny showing her parts of Wellington and finding caches.

Kia ora rawa atu for the cache huhugrub.

Had a dnf for the final while trying to do this multi many years ago with family...

Today, with the assistance of Matagouri and NZ_B, I came up trumps!

Thanks for this one...great monument .
Friendly horse here today too!

Worked out the co-ords a while ago while chasing a streak. We weren't familiar with decimal minutes so found working out WP1 was a bit of a mission. Came up here last night (after a big unsuccessful search for another cache) to be blown away looking for it. We were pretty much bang on, but missed it by that much. Returned today with loppers and gloves. Should have trusted our geosense more. Log paper is slightly damp and fragile but still signable. Feeling pretty good now (whoop whoop! ) and having a wee celebration! Off to relook for the other cache we missed last night. TFTC Huhugrub

I had solved this multi some time ago, but never got around to finding the final. Yesterday Ash and I headed off to get it, but it was just too hot. 35 degrees. Ash wasn't coping without shade so we aborted.
Today, as I was taking Ash for a walk and went up the Paekawakawa track from Island Bay to the water tank and realising I wasn't too far away again, decided it is worth a second go here. Just find the cache? Or actually sign the log? A quick check on the pocket computer confirms that this is a multi dot-day. I am not really trying to complete my multi dot-days - there are still quite a few of them - but I like to fit them in when I can. GZ is a really awkeard palce - no where near a track. I redo the projection and it still seems odd. Why would anyone put a pou there? I ended up walking to the published coords with Ash in tow and re-worked the multi from scratch - turns out I had some wrong figures for WP1, but not that would make much difference. But the final is still the same place (plus or minus that little error for WP1). I guess that is where it is. Ash and I set off down the track. By now the CO has probably realised what I have done wrong - there are only two errors that one can make. I did the worse of the two. No matter how careful I am to get those numbers the right way around - and I am always very careful - I can still swap them over. So I had GZ as 50m off the track in a valley. Rather than drop off the track and go down the steep side I decided we should continue down the track and walk up the valley. But the valley floor proved to be very flat and boggy - no one would put a pou here!! This MUST be wrong! For the fourth time I again check that I have the two numbers the right way around and now realise that I had it wrong this whole time. We are close to Happy Valley Road, so rather that make Ash climb all the way back up in this attrocious weather (28 degrees and brilliant sunshine), we walk back to Island Bay via the coast. Wet feet helps with the weather.
Later today, now with the numbers the right way around, and with the car as we have a number of errands, Ash and I are back. Parked at the published coordinates and found the cache pretty quickly. The gorse is growing a bit, next person should bring some loppers.

This cache turned out to be a bigger mission that it needed to be. But as always, glad to have knocked the bugger off. Another multi dot-day ticked off, only one hundred and ten to go. That's going to be a few years work...

I was up this way getting the final for a puzzle cache and decided I'd walk the full loop around the Tawatawa "amphitheatre" This cache turned up on the map so I sat on the stile near the published coordinates and did the necessary calculations Just as I finished a bloody great rat casually strolled past my boots across the path and into the scrub on the far side It was around 7pm so I decided to get a move on in case his mates came out looking for him
I'd done all the calculations so decided to give WP1 a miss The final was an easy find thanks The paper log sheets are both very damp and fragile but I managed to sign ok
Thanks huhugrub for the cache but not for the little wildlife encounter

I took a different approach to this by starting way down on Happy Valley Road then completed the multi on the way back.My computed coords did indeed get me to within 2 metres which only became apparent when I finally believed them. By assuming a margin of error I looked around some other places first before finding the right way to get to GZ. It was windy as hell up there and considerable effort was required to prevent anything blowing away. Nice to come to another new viewpoint and via a track I hadn't been on. TFTC.

As I was in the area for another cache, I took the opportunity to collect the required information here, and despite my calculations taking me dead center of the significant feature at the final location a bit of geosense led me to the most likely spot for the cache, and there it was. Safe and dry, TFTC

My 300th find Found! Found with pup. I have glanced at this one a few times in the past and today was the day I finally decided to persevere with the calculations. I managed to come up with a near perfect checksum for the final. As others have noted I think a bit of rounding might be required.

We parked down on Morton St, definitely not the quickest or easiest route but there was another cache on the way so it was worth the effort. On the way up we saw quail, tui, magpie, fantail and possibly kakariki? 3 or 4 birds with red/green colouring. If only I'd brought my SLR camera, I could have snapped a good photo of them.

The sun was on its way out as we approached GZ which made for some great photos, a really breathtaking view. The Cache was protected by many small gorse plants, much to pups disappointment. A shame that this area will likely be overrun with gorse if it doesn't get tamed regularly. I actually climbed right over the cache before realizing I'd gone too far. Cache is safe and secure. Thanks for bringing me to this spot, the nearby sculpture is beautiful as was the walk up. Pup will sleep well tonight!

Checked cache. Yes, there are some gorse about, but final GZ remains accessible. The cache remains in place where it was hidden. Updated attributes and added to the additional hints.

Yay, second go after checking with CO that my calculations were correct. Still managed to find a LOT of gorse at GZ before finally hitting on the cache. Thanks, huhugrub!

Beautiful day, fantastic views this morning! Went through cache calculations, thought I'd solved, but, alas, no sign of the cache. Will think again and return another day.

Quite a coincidence that after two and a half years of no logged finds two people logged attempts on the same day! Maybe there have been unlogged DNFs. It is of course a good idea to log DNFs so that if there are any problems they can be attended to.

As the previous log was in the morning they were ahead of me. I was here mid afternoon but the beautiful conditions were the same as those they describe. You can't beat Wellington on a good day!

My checksum on the south was only one out and I suspected this may simply have been rounding. I have since checked my projection with another tool which confirms the difference was in the least significant digit. The East checksum came out correct.

The indicated GZ looked likely but unfortunately it was not reachable owing to quite thick gorse on the approach. This may explain the lack of logged attempts!

Quite conceivable that after two and a half years gorse could have grown so much it impedes the access. Even though I was wearing jeans trying to traverse it was just too painful.

Checking with the CO whether my solution is correct.

Out for a bit of a romp round the tracks and hills in this part of the city. Fascinating, my first visit in this area. Really enjoyed it.
I can't believe that it has taken me this long to make a find on this cache which was hidden in 2009! Pleased to be logging this now.
Cache was a straightforward find are a bit of maths and walking. True to coordinates and the description and hint.
All in order, log signed and then safely re-hidden.
I visited here with team cacher zboy wonder.
TFTC
The Turtle strikes again!

Great spot for a multi, all good at GZ, TFTC

I had solved this ages ago when I last came up here. I couldn't find the cache then as I didn't want to be fighting through the gorse while I had the kids with me. After running an errand today I had some time so decided to pop up by myself for another go. Went straight to the GZ and found the cache immediately. All good here, if cold and blustery. TFTC

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My 2 Geokids and I needed to blow away the cobwebs so this was a fantastic opportunity. We have lived in Brooklyn for 11 years but never been up to this reserve so thank you for placing it here! This is why I love geocaching, fresh air, beautiful views and adventures. We took the very long way back and were out walking for an hour with dogs, horses, steps and forest walk on the way, great stuff, and well deserved fish and chips for tea! All good at GZ. I had attempted triangulation and bearings but the boys weren't very patient so I got us roughly where I thought and then had a good old traditional hunt which turned up the cache in an obvious spot. Thank you for not making it too hard!
We took the trackable with us as the cache hadn't been visited for about 6 months so we thought he might need a new view.

Replaced outer bag. It's now black.

I was surprised by the ease with which I was able to complete this mission. I have always been sceptical about the accuracy of my Monterra's compass but I had a go at re-calibrating it to give me the best chance of obtaining a good result. I quickly figured out the first part and made my way to WP1 which seemed to be a site that fitted the description wording. I then carried out the projection exercise, aware that I would need to make a small adjustment, hoping that it would get me somewhere close to the cache site. As I approached where I was being directed to, I spied a possible hiding spot which seen become a very likely one. I was astonished to find the projection was completely accurate with my calculated final location being the six metres that I had to make allowance for. The outer protection is not in good shape but otherwise everything is all good.

This was a great place to visit with fantastic views on a clear day. Since it didn't take me long to find this cache, it was good to have a stroll around some other tracks to search for more caches. TFTC, huhugrub.

Half way point of the 10 M's in 10 D's and going strong, a park I've wandered around a couple of times but never realized the significance of the sculpture. TFTC

M5 on our way to 10 multis on 10 consecutive days.

Found with TregearP on a cold and crepuscular afternoon as it was starting to rain.

Information gathered quickly and after a bit of number crunching we were soon on our way.

Found the cache somewhat exposed. Completed formalities and gathered some more of the material used for camouflage and replaced as found but no longer exposed to casual passers by.

All in good order, and perfectly dry inside. Outer bag a little worse for wear, but still able to wrap the cache to give an additional outer skin.

Thanks for bringing use here - TFTC.

Geokitten007 and Adventurebear and I decided we wanted a souvenir! So we gave this a go and it worked!
Sorry for the late log - I'm reliant on Beanadventures to help me with the computer (she logs on her phone !)
TFTC.

Out adventuring with Adventurebear007 and Beanadventures. We surprised ourselves with this one!
TFTC
Sorry for the late log - I'm only allowed limited computer time!

We don't normally look at multi caches as we struggle with them! But today we were prepared to try to earn a souvenir! Great spot, thanks for the cache.

First time we tried this we failed miserably. Knew it was a dnf due to skills lacking and so decided to finish it today now we know what we are doing. Beautiful spot. Tftc

10-day multi streak challenge, day #7. A quick calculation at the start to get the location of the first waypoint, then the GPSr did the hard work calculating the location of the final and saved me a walk. An easy find at GZ - the calculated coordinates were spot on - and then a pause to admire the sculpture.

TFTC

Woo! This spot gives me vertigo! Tftc!

A lovely calm day for a walk on the city to sea walk A great view of the earthworks on our nephew's section in Happy Valley. Never been up here before TFTC

a blustery spot today. Fortunately between showers. Didnt know this sculpture was here . TFTC

Can't believe how much I went back and forwards trying to get this right! Though strangely it wasn't because of the solution - that all seemed to fall into place very nicely once I got the general direction correct. Like the previous finder I managed to get to WP1 which gave me coordinates for the final that were spot on. A straight forward find. TFTC!

Woot! My calcs for WP1 were slightly off, which put final in middle of bush. Day 2 Ⅰ braved the gorse to get accurate WP1, and rest was easy. TTFC!

Out caching with Yeetrees and we thought we could find this cache and the other one in the neighbourhood before having to head back into town. Noted the information at the trail head and head out. Made a slight mistake in the calculations which put us further out to begin with but Yeetrees had a chat with the CO and we were soon back on the right track to finding the hide.
Good views out towards the south. Thanks for the walk, bring me to this advantage point and for the cache.

I would like to say that it was precision calculations and expert navigation that found me this cache, but in reality it was a combination of 'cache sense' and blind luck! Everything in excellent condition thank you, and it was beautiful up here this evening, even if I didn't find the cache I was aiming for today....

No horses up here today, lovely day for a walk with Wafflekitties TFTC

Didn't take long to track the cache down. I've never been here before so thanks for bringing us here! The geodogs loved it and got to meet a few other dogs but didn't see any horses around.
TFTC

Easy to find this one. Swapped the shoe key ring for a 50 pence piece from the UK.

#1224. I worked on solving this multi from home after I had checked on the track noticeboard previously. Thought I had some coordinates calculated but they seemed to be in a place I wasn't keen on visiting. Checked with the CO and confirmed they were wrong. Then discovered I had made a silly mistake with the maths. So redid the calculations and came up with something that looked more promising and got the OK from the CO. Headed out there tonight and soon had the cache in hand. The logbook was dry. Took one swag item to help with closing the lid. Headed across country to the pouwhenua to take some night shots. Then back to the car. Quite a neat view from up here at night. TFTC

Quick find on a blustery dog walk with Yosser and canine companions. Will expand log later as I'm already late for work

Steep learning curve on this one! Working out how to calculate bearings and distances on my phone. Got there after an hour and will be much faster next time!

First puzzle cache so I was a bit nervous. Took me a while as I figured out how to work the gps in new ways but got there in the end. Many thanks! #27

A little local knowledge helped with this one and even then it took a bit of searching. Wonderful evening to be up on the ridge and stunning views all around Wellington. TFTC With Owhiro Ray and Rosie the cachehound.

Cache # 2,260 - took advantage of a brilliant and almost windless Wellington morning to do my cache of the day here. Always looked a bit intimidating via the description, but enjoyed every aspect of this one, needing to think critically several times along the way. The sculpture is wonderful, and I enjoyed WP1 as well. Replaced rock on top - would have thought that was part of the original cache, but thanks to the previous cacher for putting it there. Certainly worth a favourite point for a well thought out cache in a beautiful location. TNLNSL. TFTC!

Great little hill and sculpture we never knew was here! please to report the new cache is safe and sound. we placed a rock on top of it after signing the log to try and conceal it a bit more. hope the horses don't get into it! Also enjoyed the bath watering troughs on the way. TFTM and thank for keeping this one going!!

Temporarily disabling until replacement can be organised ...

All good to go.

Replaced with a 200 ml container.

Found on my Saturday morning run. It was a beautiful Wellington day and the views were absolutely stunning! Made a rather stupid miscalculation in the puzzle (as I often seem to do), but didn't take long to figure out and correct. My final ABC checksum was one off, but still seemed to be the correct coordinates. The find was rather straight forward, as the container has been muggled. TFTC!

Unfortunately, the cache has been muggled. I found an unhidden green camo'ed Sistema container, but the lid and all the contents have disappeared .

A quick find today after a failed recon mission some weeks ago for the multi streak challenge. realised the error of my ways as I'd done the projection calculation from a previously calculated GZ instead of WP1. Enjoyed the extended walk on that day, but more pleasant search today with many four legged friends in close proximity. Great clear views across the strait. TFTM

Nice find while in Wellington before the CITO event.

Cannot believe it has taken me so long to do this multi-cache - really enjoyed the locations
Soon had the cache found.

SL Left TB TFTC

A great spot to take in the veiws even with the cloud today. No problems working out the coordinates and the final was a quick and easy find.

Grabbed Thunderbird Travel Tag

TFTC

Out and about very early in the morning, a quick find.

Thanks for the cache huhugrub

Worked out the co-ordinates last year but could not find the cache. Spotted my mistake as soon as I got home but didn't get back until today. This time it was an easy find, dropped TB. The wind was blowing hard and cold carrying away the sound. Despite this we paused on the way back to take in the magnificent view allowing two muggles to come up behind us unobserved. The lady only said "excuse me" but boy did the wife scream

Followed the track up the hill.
Hadn't plan to come this far up, but thats where the track took me.
Figured I would have a look at the numbers and go home to try and decipher the numbers.
As I walked along I realised I could probably resolve the final and get the cache while I was nearby.
Made my way to the final, and easily spotted the cache.
Covered up a little more before I left.

I'm staying nearby for the week in Wellington so wandered up this lovely sunny evening to do this multi. Got myself to the waypoints and GZ with a minimum of fuss. Fantastic views from the final location. Thanks!

Easy find after a bit of thinking, not sure how managed to miss it the first time. Dropped off travel dolphin TB. TFTC

This entry was edited by chris121b on Sunday, 09 September 2012 at 01:55:02 UTC.

As this one has been my closest unfound for a while, I decided to tackle it. Turns out to have been much, much easier than I first feared. Collected the required info yesterday, calculated some likely looking coordinates and returned tonight to find the final. Very cold and quiet up here at night, with sparkling lights in all directions. Wasn't sure I had the right spot, but a second wave of my torchbeam showed me a likely location. TFTC

Second attempt brought success. We're not very good at these type of cache hide but with a bit of skill and a lot of luck, we managed to stumble across the cache. We had the added bonus of having the farrier present giving the local horses new shoes which was fascinating for us city folk. TFTC

What a spot! Beautiful views today and Soooooo much wind! Was a fun cache. Left a shark- fitting for the sea views!

We had never been here before, or even driven through Vogeltown, so a day of firsts. StreetWalker did the projection to short-circuit the multi and after an ineffectual initial search, (it was extremely gusty up there today), found it on the second pass.
We were the first finders in 6 month - this cache deserves more visits as the views are stupendous, and it is a short and easy walk.
TFTC.

#3182. Great area; well worth a cache. Missed the cache first time round in the obvious spot, only to find it on a second check a bit later (I blame the wind; it was very strong today). TFTC.

This entry was edited by StreetWalkerNZ on Saturday, 14 January 2012 at 08:29:35 UTC.

While walking around the park below I spotted the likely final location for this one. Got to the listed coordinates and worked out the answers (though I was briefly confused about how to do it) and found the cache. Great views from up here.

+TB

Nice to find time this afternoon to tick this one off the list after non productive prior visits. Grabbed it before the little blue hen started scratching about in the vegetation. Nice views. TFTCSL I note the walkway from Ohiro Rd is now signposted to connect. Glad the start point was on high.

Stopped to admire the view and let Bkj97 beat me to the cache. Good spot for a cache. T4TCSL

Easy find. TFTC

The cache has gone missing. Replaced and relocated the final a small distance away. Updated distance and bearing to final.

Changed clues to WP1 due to new signage. Thanks bkj97 for the alert.

That was close, I had this one on my list of possibles to attempt today as I have some trackables that I want to get to caches in this area, and I would have had the old information!
But was delayed by the fact that I was (unawares and unsuccessfully) racing a certain person by the name of huhugrub for a first to find elsewhere, and decided to do some other caches (which took a while and both ended up DNF!) before heading out this way, and didn't get this far.today.
Thanks for updating, looking forward to testing my skills on this one.
Sorry should not have been a DNF log for this one, must be force of habit lol.- corrected.

5178 Had no idea the boundary of Tawa extended this far south . Awesome views on a brilliant day, took lots of photos, including a friendly equine guardian near GZ, TFTC.

On my last day in Wellington I did a 33km hike through the beautiful area south of the city. Starting in Berhampore I ascended to the "City to Sea" walk, then followed that to the Oku reserve, descended to the sea, followed the coast to the Red rocks and the southern tip where the seals are. Then climbed the mountain until the Hawkins Radome, descended via the turbine to Brooklyn, and via Mt. Cook to Newtown, from where I walked back to Berhampore. Despite the bad predictions the weather turned out great: very sunny but nicely cool due to the wind. On the way I collected a few on the geocaches; this one was among them.

Really a great place for a multi. The scenic views are amazing.

I did do the first two stages and got coordinates very near the stone sculpture. The formula allows basically only four possible locations for the final, but they are all in pretty much inaccessible terrain. Strange for a T2 cache. I tried the one possibility that looked the most plausible and got stung by these terrible prickely yellow-blossomed bushes (these things must be the Nemesis of NZ cachers...), but found nothing. Now that I see in the other logs that the coordinates for the final are 30m off, there's no wonder I did not find the cache. I don't really understand how coordinates can be off in a location like this, where the skies are open and reception could not be better. So I don't think it's my mistake that I did not find the cache; and since I won't be coming back to Wellington anytime soon (if ever) I will be so bold as to log this cache as a found, even though I did not find the final cache. I hope that's okay.

Photos will follow soon (I am currently in Australia, and Internet access for a reasonable price is actually a problem here...)

Had been waiting for a decent day to do this one and today was certainly the day for it. Great spot with spectacular views and friendly neighbours! TFTC

Solved - with much help from Cumbyrocks - and now sorted. Super-quick find at ground zero, even though our co-ordinates were about 30m out. Love the expressions on Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata's statue plus surrounding view; will definitely return here soon.

This entry was edited by kjwx on Thursday, 24 June 2010 at 02:48:09.

I don't know why this cache doesn't get found more often - it offers a fantastic vantage point over the harbour entrance. It was a beautiful clear day today, everywhere except over the airport. Spectacular view of the fogbound airport in the middle of an otherwise nearly cloudless day!
I was pleasantly surprised that after the required sums I navigated exactly to the cache for an easy find.
TFTC.

Nice spot. We walk past here often in the summer. TFTC.

Jr taybee has this own account how am logging this old find under his new Username (Jr taybee) was log as part of taybee team

had same time between jobs so round to do this cachs 3rd to
find it no wind there to day thank for the cache must bring the others here on a clear day ..

Called in this afternoon and watched the weather go from sunny and fairly calm to cold, grey and windy over about 30 minutes while I was there. Didn't read the instructions properly at the start and used only the Frobisher St time to calculate the X component of WP1 so I was about 40 metres out but it was good enough and the spot I was heading for was obvious. I did go right to the WP! structure, there was a reasonable path through the gorse and the coordinates were dead on. once I corrected my mistake. Ended up very close to GZ after going for the required distance and direction - had a look around without doing the last part of the puzzle and was right next to ithe cache at one stage but still managed to miss it. So I worked out the final bit of the puzzle (easy) and then went straight to the cache. Great view, interesting sculpture, haven't been along here for many years. Signed log, TFTC!

Swapped TBs:
- Flip Flop NZ TB
- Official trackable LogBook GC
+ Dotty Spanner TB (going to Australia?)

2ndTF. There are some people who would say I was committed to Geocaching, while others would say I should just be committed. After doing this cache this morning I think I would probably agree with the latter. I had no trouble with the calculations despite my somewhat flaky math skills, a quick sighting with my trusty Silva compass and I was heading in the right direction. Thankfully I made a quick find as it was blowing a gale here this morning. The view in all directions was great though despite the wind, another interesting spot I had no idea existed. TNLN SL 0750hr TFTC

Whoopee!!!!! , FTF, I saw this come up and thought that this would be a bit off fun to hone my triangulation skills. Wow what do you know it worked, had a bit off fun with the maths initially and then realised where I had gone wrong, sorted it out within seconds and then a bit of projection with the GPS and bingo, off to the final, co-ordinates were spot on once I had checked my bearings, yes a great view but a little bit windy, cool views of the surrounding landscape, took Mike-Key Mouse TB and dropped off Flip Flop NZ TB and Official trackable LogBook Geocoin, TFTC SL (738)

Published

Dropped off Mike-Key Mouse of Ohio TB (wanting to go to a Disney park).