The Crossing Starts Here Tongariro National Park, North Island, New Zealand
By XenaCommander & Technokitten on 22-May-11. Waypoint GC2WVZK

Couldnt find it

cold weather, we get back without hiking all the trail. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --French version below-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --Short late log but more complete now that we are back home.Our vacation will take us to the other side of the world to the land of the Maoris. After many, many hours of flying, a passage through China on the way there and through the United States of America on the way back, we will finally arrive in Christchurch which will be the starting point of our journey.We will enjoy the beaches of the Pacific Ocean and we will go back towards the North Island via State Highway 1. To combine business with pleasure, we will take regular breaks and small detours according to the caches that seem the most accessible to us.With a little more than 3500 km in 20 days, we will have discovered many facets of this island which is soothing. We will have to come back because there are so many places that we have not done . In broad strokes, the path will go from Christchurch to the Kaikoura Peninsula then towards Picton for the crossing to Wellington.New island, new road, and by State Highway 2 we go towards Hastings and Napier. We will leave the seaside for several days to go to Tongariro and Taupo. We will continue north towards Rotorua and Hamilton (without forgetting a detour via Hobbiton ) A detour to the Coromandel Peninsula and finally the almost north of the island with Whangarei and Waitangi to learn the history of this country.There will only be a few days left to spend towards Auckland and its suburbs before taking the plane back to the grayness of our European autumn.The majority of the boxes will be found, we have abandoned those where our English was lacking and where we could not understand the clue. Thanks to all the owners who brightened up our path, who took us to incredible places (that's also geocaching)In short, we had a great vacation, saw beautiful places that simply ask us to come back. We learned a lot about the history of this country and its traditions, it's a great motivation for our destinations.-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --Petit log en retard mais un peu plus complet maintenant que nous sommes rentrs la maison. Nos vacances vont nous emmener lautre bout du monde au pays des Maoris. Aprs beaucoup, beaucoup dheures davion, un passage par la Chine laller et par les Etats-Unis dAmrique au retour, nous arriverons enfin Christchurch qui sera le point de dpart de notre priple.Nous profiterons des plages du de locan Pacifique et nous remonterons en direction de lile du nord via la State highway 1. Pour joindre lutile et lagrable, nous ferons des pauses rgulires et de petits dtours au gr des caches qui nous semble les plus accessibles. Avec un peu plus de 3500 km en 20 jours, nous aurons dcouverts pleins de facettes de cette ile qui est apaisante. Il nous faudra revenir car il y a tellement dendroit que nous navons pas fait . Dans les grand traits, le chemin ira de Christchurch la pninsule Kaikoura puis direction Picton pour la traverse vers Wellington.Nouvelle ile, nouvelle route, et par la State Highway 2 nous remontrons en direction de Hastings et Napier. Nous laisserons le bord de mer plusieurs jours pour aller au Tongariro et Taupo. Nous continuerons vers le nord en direction de Rotorua et Hamilton (sans oublier un dtour par Hobbiton ). Un crochet pour la pninsule de Coromandel et pour finir le presque nord de lile avec Whangarei et Waitangi pour apprendre lhistoire de ce pays. Il ne restera que quelques jours passer vers Auckland et sa banlieue avant de ne reprendre lavion pour retourner dans la grisaille de notre automne europen.La majorit des boites seront trouves, nous avons dlaisser celles o notre anglais faisait dfaut et ou que nous narrivions pas comprendre lindice. Merci tous les poseurs qui ont gay notre chemin, qui nous ont emmen dans des endroits incroyables (cest aussi cela le geocaching)Bref, nous avons pass de superbes vacances, vu des endroits magnifiques qui demandent simplement que lon revienne. Nous avons appris beaucoup de chose sur lhistoire de ce pays et de ces traditions, cest une grande motivation pour nos destinations.

I didnt look long due to the rain. Looks like new decking here though. Not sure if that played a factor in my DNF or not

Hop parfait avant le dpart

Too many muggles around. Couldn't search for it.

Thomas found it YYYAYAYYYAYAY

We found it

Yo

Yo

After getting the shuttle it was a nice quick find in the ore dawn light- off we go! TFTC!

On our sixth day in New Zealand we walk the beautiful Tongariro Crossing Alpine trail. This nice cache lay on our way.TFTCHennesAt the end comes the poem of the day.New Zealand By James K. Baxter (for Monte Holcroft)These unshaped islands, on the sawyers bench,Wait for the chisel of the mind,Green canyons to the south, immense and passive,Penetrated rarely, seeded onlyBy the deer-cullers shot, or else in the northTribes of the shark and the octopus,Mangroves, black hair on a boxers hand.The founding fathers with their guns and bibles,Botanist, whaler, added bones and namesTo the land, to us a bridleAs if the id were a horse: the swampy townsLike dreamers that struggle to wake,Longing for the poets truthAnd the lovers pride. Something new and oldExplores its own pain, hearingThe rains choir on curtains of grey mossOr fingers of the Tasman pressingOn breasts of hardening sand, as actorsFind their own solitude in mirrors,As one who has buried his dead,Able at last to give with an open hand.

4-week family trip through NZ - Find #89!Start of today's hike along the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. After a few minutes of search, I finally understood the meaning of the hint , and there was the cache .TFTC!

We were about to start the Tongariro crossing on one of the best days this year. Lots of people milling about gz. They were too busy taking selfies to notice us as we zoomed in for a quick find here. TFTC

Found with Dali87 within our famous trip around New Zealand. Thanks for nice cache ....................................................................... TB Koumesovo geopivo DDEV7M

Left our Basecamp of Rotorua to explore the cacheline around Ruapehu and central BoP with Kre8ive, stunner of a day with not a cloud in site! TFTC! #6 for today.

Out for a central north island mission with Reschedule. Circling around Ruapehu today. Find 6 of the day.TFTC

Today wasn't a very good day to attempt the crossing. Maybe better luck tomorrow .We looked for this geocache instead.Thanks for hiding.TftcGreetings from Belgium

Forgot this one this morning. But probably wouldnt have found it because it was still dark. Had to go back after finishing the crossing and found it quickly. Tftc.

Nice, thank you

Thanks.Forgot to bring a pen

On our start to the crossing! Tftc!

Found it

Nice

I could log it just before starting the crossing. TFTC

Here from the U.S. I found this when we dropped our kids off for their long hike. Thanks!

Today we walked the famous alpine crossing. It was a crowdy hike , cause so many people have the same idea at this day. We enjoyed the walk and on our way we grabbt this little one and signed it . Tftc from macajoh

We started here full of vigour for the day ahead. Roll forward 8 hours - broken but what a fantastic adventure Quick find at GZ

Here on holiday with family and had a short walk up the track. Very busy. Nice to have a cache while here. TFTC

A quick find between muggles - interesting to see the area... 'maybe' Mr L will return one day to do the crossing - definitely not Mrs L though - her knees just wouldn't cope.

Found at the start of the crossing. I havent found other caches due to lack of internet connection. Not used to that anymoreSpectacular views. Very nice hike.

With the sun just rising above the summit of Nguruhoe maunga we shouldered our packs and headed off onto the Crossing. But not before I held the group up to grab this perfectly positioned cache. The container looks a little worse for wear, but the contents were in good shape. Thanks for a smiley so early in the day.

Aprs un aller retour aux 3 lacs, je log rapidement celle ci. Quelle vue la haut!!! Tftc

Found this one. During my trip to Australia and New Zealand. Thanks for the cache.

I found this geocache today and signed the logbook. Thanks for this cache and it's maintaining.

Thanks so much for placing a cache here . All good..

TFTC. Just taking a look around the start so we can do the crossing in March

TFTC another day of not getting up the ski field because of the wind. There was a mad little Piwakawaka follow me here in this wind and snow!

tftc

Thanks from Maintenance is needed

This geocacher reported that the container is damaged.

Greetings from the Czech Republic and Thanks For This Cache.
Díky za keš.
17:51
Moje 5107

We are on our long-awaited journey around the world in 99 days. Second try after canceling in 2020.
Our third stop after Los Angeles and Hawaii is New Zealand.

This time was of course used to find some geocaches here.
Today we did the Tongariro Crossing and while that time we were searching for the Traditional **The Crossing Starts Here**

Thank to the Hints and the good coordinates the little box was found quickly!
After signing the logbook there is a new smile on our geocaching map!

At least we would like to take this opportunity to thank XenaCommander for creating and maintaining this Traditional.

Greetings from Nuermberg/Germany
**Wild_Bee_**

P.S. To save space in the logbooks, we not only enter in sequence, but also in empty spaces between.
_
Thank you for the cache - जियोकैश के लिए धन्यवाद - Vielen Dank für den Cache - Gracias por el caché - Merci pour le cache - Grazie per la cache - Obrigado pelo Cache - Bedankt voor de cache - Tak for cachen - Hvala na predmemoriji - Takk for cachen - Kiitos välimuistista - Tack för cachen - Спасибо за кеш - Díky za mezipaměť - Dzięki za skrytkę - Önbellek için teşekkürler - Dankie vir die kas - Asante kwa kache - ขอบคุณสำหรับแคช - 感謝您的緩存 - キャッシュをありがとう - ޝުކުރިއްޔާ - Terima kasih atas cache

Quick find and off we go!!! Tftc!

Quick find at the beginning of an exciting day. TFTC
Greetings from

Found it this morning on what is considered the busiest day of the year, being Easter Saturday. The weather is okay, but strong winds at the summit seemed to have discouraged a few today. Managed to grab and sign in between the arriving buses. Today marks my official longest days of caching streak, now standing at 14 days. My previous record was 13 days, back at the beginning of 2012. Lid os missing of the container and the log is slightly damp, but still signable.
Thanks for this cache, will get the rest one day doing the Crossing again.

Quick find at the start of the trek! TFTC

Quick find today thanks

C'est un voyage que je voulais réaliser absolument dans ma vie et c'est chose faite.
3 semaines à parcourir la Nouvelle Zélande façon trekking sur les 2 îles de Christchurch à Auckland en passant par Queenstown, Milford Sound, la côte ouest, le PN Abel Tasman, le Tongariro et Rotorua. Un magnifique pays peuplé de gens très accueillants et souriants.

Aujourd’hui, c’est le 17ème jour du périple qui nous amène à National Park, dans la région Manawatu Wanganui, sur l’île du nord. Au programme de la journée : Le Tongariro Alpine Crossing, au cœur du parc national du même nom, classé au patrimoine mondial de l’UNESCO. Le soleil n’est pas au rendez-vous et nous devons effectuer une grande partie de la randonnée au milieu des nuages, balayés par un fort vent froid. Des conditions difficiles, mais qui ne nous ont pas empêchées d’effectuer le parcours en intégralité.

J’attends que le troupeau de moldus démarre la balade, pour pouvoir chercher la boîte tranquillement. Trouvée sans difficulté grâce à l’indice additionnel.

Merci pour la cache.

En route pour l aventure !
La boîte est rapidement trouvée à l endroit précis
Merci pour cette belle découverte !

TFTC! On a trip with my school

A very quick find this morning at the start of our crossing. Took 6h 45min in total. Legs ache now. Thanks

spent 6 great weeks in New Zealand with my ?? The start was a bit bumpy (Cyclone Gabrielle) but then it got better and better. We travelled to both islands and discovered a lot. We photographed and filmed many beautiful things, but most of it stayed in our hearts.Almost everywhere we stopped, a cache was already waiting for us. Most of the caches are well maintained and easy to find.With mostly very nice weather, we saw a lot of this impressive island. In many places, caches were waiting for us, which were sometimes easy and sometimes difficult to find. This cache was also included and was successfully signedWe puzzled a lot in advance and the tours ?? were well prepared So this box was also well found.now I have another on my personal cache card.many thanks to [^] **XenaCommander & Technokitten** [^] for the effort and the cache and greetings from Germany ???? TFTF**Geistercacher**#34280

I'm not doing the whole crossing, just couple hours. Quick find, tftc!

Exploring Tongariro National Park. Checking out the start of the Alpine Crossing.

What a lovely place. Found with the first lsb cache here.

Found as we visited the Tongarino crossing. Thanks for the cache.

We were on one of the first shuttle buses out here at about 6:15am so thankfully no muggles! The sunrise colours lighting up the mountains were beautiful.
Cache is a quick find but the logbook is a bit mushy and the container is missing a lid.
TFTC!

General:
Traveling through the North Island with the family. No option to walk the crossing with the kids. But my wife was generous enough to let me go alone today, thank you! What a great hike it was! The weather was cloudy but still plenty of good views, guarded from too much sun and just a little breeze, lovely hiking conditions. And then to top it off some nice geocaching to be done along the way, making it a perfect day

Specific:
Easy quick find thanks to hint and some pics of others. Wasn't going to wait for all muggles to go, since that's impossible here. Just pretended to tie my laces while grabbing this one

TFTC. May need a new container +logbook.

Good hide. After loosing the pen on the way to the springs. We get to the car and picked up a new one. Finaly signed. Tftc!

Greetings from McAllen, TX USA in the Rio Grande Valley. We are visiting the Tongariro National Park today. Nice little hide. Stopped here for a stretch while a few of our group took a short walk up the Alpine Crossing.
May sign small logs TPRGV. TFTC!

Bloody brilliant!!! Took ages for muggles to clear but determined i was. TFTC

Tak a jde se,děkuji za bodík:)

Start of the day, start of the caches ! The weather is amazing today

We needed the hint here but eventually found it, tftc

Had to wait for the Muggles to clear out before I could come grab this one, but I took advantage of the area and did some pre-crossing stretching.

Found it without much issue, the lid has come off but the log is still dry and signable.

The weather looks beautiful, so now it’s time to start the walk!

Clever find. The hint was intriguing…

Missed it on our first pass but felt it second time round. Time to crack on with the walk. Thanks for the cache

A quick find at the start of the Northern Circuit. Very quiet here today - tftc

Very lucky to get a quiet moment on the track to grab this cache. It's a stunning day and the track is busy.
Quick find.
Tftc

Quick find on ths first day of the Tongariro Northern Circuit. Tftc.

In the North Island with a school trip, got a bit of down time so time for a bit of caching.

Walking the Tongariro Crossing to the mid point, up Tongariro itself and then back to the carpark - Great weather and views.

Did this at the finish!!

Great day for a run

TFTC

Thanks for placing a cache here, we were fit and happy as the fog disappear when we reached tyhe car park. Our shuttle driver was surprised, after 2 days bad weather, there were only 3 buses, not even full, and no queue for the toilets. The day looked great, and we were happy. Nice easy find, using the hint, no one looked at us, we then started walking...

After a leisurely 5 hour walk from Whakapapa Village I was at Mangatapopo Hut and pleased to be able to dump my pack in my bunk.

A half hour stroll from the hut to the car park to warm down. No one was at the trailhead and the cache was a quick find.

Thanks XenaCommander
#3737

Logged using Cachly.

Thanks for these caches XenaCommander & Technokitten Quick find while Tracy had a pit-stop...

Great location for a cache
Now for the Alpine Crossing!!

Hint very helpful. Came for what I thought was a quick nip of the SH to check out the start of the trail. Was just about to leave and thought we'd check for caches. Great hint. Tftc

On our way to Taupõ after a day at the Snow. Must say this cache spot was way colder than on the Ruapehu.. mustve been the wind!

Whilst not undertaking the Crossing today due to time, weather and fitness, my muggle hubby decided to show me the start and finish. Truly amazing terrain and I am looking forward to taking on this challenge in the coming Summer. TFTC!

I wanted to claim this find last month when starting the crossing but with about 100 people around this was not possible,
Back this weekend to complete the crossing again but due to the crap weather it was not going to happen so instead I drove out to claim the find.
Cache looking a bit rough and jammed packed with damp paper to a have to photo log this one
Thanks for another smile

Was doing the PWGT GeoTour and as the forecast was for clear blu skies took the opportunity to do the crossing. Quick find at 8:30am once the muggls had set off.

With Gap (of Fap and Gap)... Easter weekend is upon us. We’ve been looking forward to this holiday - it’s a chance to take a big swipe at the PWGT2 caches. We’re also keen to pick off some interesting hides and avenge one or two previous DNFs... Heading home today - clearly, this is the most organised leg of the weekend.

We were reminded that we found this cache in late February, but had forgotten to log it. We visited in the late afternoon, when a lot of the Tongariro Crossing traffic had cleared - otherwise, this place would have been Muggle Central. Thanks XenaCommander and TechnoKitten and TFTC.

Found with bkj97 while on the mission to complete the Tongariro Crossing. Mission accomplished. A glorious day for a walk. Thanks for the cache to start our day.

Frosty morning before setting off on our trek. Tftcsl

March has been such a busy month, but not so much with getting out and about to indulge in finding some caches for myself. So what better way to remedy this than have a few days away in an area not previously cached out?
Cue a weekend of touring around the Tongariro National Park in good company. Exactly what I needed, and a weekend that would see me find over a hundred caches, including getting my 4000th.

I knew this would be a long day, both starting and finishing in the dark, but I hadn't quite expected to be out caching for 16 hours straight lol. But it was a very productive and interesting day, so it was all worth it in the end.

I hadn't visited this location since I actually walked the Tongariro Crossing about 12 years ago, so it was good to get back here again although this time just as a cacher. No problems finding the cache thanks to the Hint, and encountering no issues with the container or the contents, the log was quickly signed.

Thanks for setting up this cache.

Found whilst out with Team SEAC. Thanks for the cache

Team SEAC had decided a few months ago to attempt the Tongariro Crossing. Not JUST because there were caches here but to get us all out and about.

We all trained doing various longer and longer (read more and more caches) walks building up to this day.

We were dropped off at the start at 7 am and even then there were a lot of people starting the track at this time.

The first cache was easily found and to save paper was signed Team SEAC.

TFTC

Team SEAC is hiking the Tongariro Crossing today. Once the shuttle stopped, we were all over this cache. So far, everyone is all smiles and raring to go. TFTC.

After months of planning and training walks the day finally arrived! A group of 14 from the Team SEAC crew turned up to knock this walk off. We had the perfect weather for it, lockdown had lifted in time and we were ok to travel so we were excited to see what was in store.

It was harder than I had anticipated so it took a little longer than we expected it would do but the main point is WE DID IT!!

Thanks for the cache which was found as the ranger muggled us....oops.

In town with my good friends from Team Seac to do the Tongariro Crossing. For most of us this was the first time doing the crossing. Really enjoyed the walk and want to do it again. Sorry for generic logs. Log was signed "Team Seac" or "Seac" to save room on the logs.

Today was the day a team of caches from Auckland were here to conquer the mountain trail known as Tongariro crossing.

Many training tramps and adventures had been done and dusted in order to gain the required fitness and test gear needed to make the trip enjoyable.....and enjoyable it was....amazing scenery, a great group of people, and perfect weather......

Arrived by shuttle, took photo's, then off we trudged.....

TFTC.

Members of Team SEAC had been doing various walks with the goal of doing the Tongariro Crossing. Mr. HeMaLuDy and Purply travelled down to National Park to join the other 12 members of our group, some who are muggles but all are aware of our caching habit. Today was the day. A nice quick find with several muggles around and then the group photo. We set of full of vim and vigor, looking forward to our day. Today was a day filled with amazing sights and great experiences. Unfortunately Mrs. HeMaLuDy and Darthcacher1 were unable to attempt the walk today. They intend to make the crossing at a later date. Log signed Team SEAC to save space. TFTC.

what a good time to visit hereend of day nobody aroundgood hint and cache soon found

Staying at Turangi camp, bought back memories of the great fun MEGA time here a few years ago and decided to travel the Sky Waka, a great day ad no snow, never seen the mountain without snow before. It was a bit cold for us northerners but the views were worth it. On our way down the road enjoying the mountain landscape we stopped for a few caches with Dodge1923. We then travelled along the road to the start of the crossing -not walking it today but enjoying the scenery. GZ soon found. Fav for the location. TFTC

Been a few years since we completed the crossing with a group of cachers. Took a slight detour to grab this cache on the way past. No problem with the find and not a muggle insight TFTC.

First of the day and a simple find. Not too many people here, but we saw some folks in casual attire, while others were well prepared. TFTC XenaCommander.

Day 5 of a trip around the bottom half of the North Island, and today it’s the Tongariro Crossing. We left early and got dropped off at the start by 6.30am. Got underway on a day that turned out to be a stunner. Sun all day, little wind, comfortable 15 degrees or so at the top. We took some great photos and enjoyed some stunning scenery. Found all traditional caches along the route as well. Picked up at 2.30pm at the other end, then back to our digs in Owhango, where we found a small handful of others, just for the hang of it.

Located with Ricardinho
TFTC

The weather forecast looked good and I had a day up my sleeve - what better excuse than to finally knock off the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. Caught a 7.00 shuttle and managed to collect this cache before the next group arrived. Quick find and off I went. Had a blast. TFTC.

Hadn't realized this wasn't logged and was 'stuck' in our offline 'finds'. Good to start an adventure with a log. Had a little help from one of the rangers too ??Epic trip, beautiful weather, hardly anyone on the track. TFTC

That start of a stunner of a day... No better way to start than by getting a cache too. Note to others there is a new DoC sign. Thanks for the tip from the parking warden TFTC

Stunning find thanks!