Essons Valley (Nelson/Marlborough) Picton, South Island, New Zealand
By bumandworker on 12-Oct-12. Waypoint GC3YGYC

Discovering this nice valley, started by finding this one, tftc!

spend some time before found it. All is in place-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --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 wasn't a cacher when KR got this over 10 years ago. It took a while as he couldn't remember GZ. Looking in the wrong place with a potential audience didn't help. Tried again on the way out when there was nobody around and still looked for the wrong hint item. When someone pointed out what I was after, it was much easier. A favorite point as this was the end of a great day, and also I once worked with a father and son with that surname who were lovely people. Thank you bumandworker

I was surprised to see that StreetWalkerNZ had found this cache, while I hadn't, and wondered what he was doing in Picton without me... It all became clear when he read his log. At the time we were living in Petone and were planning on attending the first NZ Mega in Dunedin over Labour Weekend 2012. He had left early to spend time in the Chch office, driving down while I flew down a few days later to join him chch. This cache still had a FTF up for grabs when he drove of the ferry, so of course he had to make a wee detour to look for it. Now over 11 years later, I am finally here to make the find myself.I looked at where the GPSr was pointing, and spotted something that needed further investigation, but it was well over 2 terrain so SW was sent up to retrieve. Finally have my name in the log book. TFTC.

#14,717. Decided I had time today to walk up to the old dam before I caught the ferry back to Wellington in the afternoon. The track has a sign saying its closed but it doesn't seem to apply to the dam walk but rather the side track which was closed off. Quite a few locals walking up and down here today. Near GZ I ducked off up the slope and into the trees. Found the old fenceline and followed the wires along until I spied the cache container. Signed the logbook and replaced the cache as found. All good here, Thanks bumandworker for hiding the cache here.

Headed up to Picton for some caching, coffee, a swim and a picnic. The list was getting longer. After spending the afternoon caching on the Port Underwood road this was a little detour on the way home. Thanks for the smiley.

After this mornings buzz down to Clarence, we took a walk up here for another handful. First one here, easy too.

Decided to do a walk up to the dams today. Couldn't drive as far as the roads marked on the maps but the walking was easy anyway. Got to this cache and there was one tree marked by the sun so Andy went to it and hit gz. But it wasn't actually gz despite what the gps said. He had a look around while I was on muggle watch and reading back through the logs. One mentioned following the old fenceline so that is what Andy did and came across the cache. tftc#7114

Eluded us today.

One last walk in Picton before heading west. Also one last cache. Took me a wee while to find because my phone was not pinpointing GZ very well. Finally found it though! Thanks for the hide bumandworker!

Tftc easy find. Great day to go for a walk

Tftc

How good

Time for a wee family summers holiday; Kaikoura, Picton and Nelson.
Unpacked at Picton & now for a small afternoons walk up a valley (much to the horror of the kids!); just because. Nice one. Thanks!

Quick a busy track here, despite the indifferent weather today. Managed to nip in for a quick find before continuing up the track.
TFTC

Waited for GPS to settle, then soon had the cache in hand. A beautiful valley walk, sheltered from a strong SE wind, light drizzle keeping all others at bay.
Cache safe and dry. TFTC.

Nice stroll with the whanau to humphries dam on a nice sunny day. TFTC

Nice (last few) geocaches in essons valley. Up to 2022, may it be better than the last two years. TFTC!

How spoilt the people here are for walking tracks. I look forward to exploring further when I move here permanentley. An easy find once it settled down. Tftc.

2 likely spots but no cache found. Only a splinter for my trouble .

Day #3 of our top of the south island road trip with kjr..after out queen Charlotte trip was cancelled
After a walkup to the lookout we continued up to the dams .. gonna be a great day..
Quik find tftc

Heading on a geo adventure with BCD to the top of the South Island...Picton, Blenheim, Havelock and Nelson.

Day 3
Exploring around Picton some more before heading to Blenheim. Lovely morning walk up to the lookout then the dam TFTC

Nice walk up the vallley.
Nice clues.

Found where it said it would be

Nice day for a walk in this lovely area tftc

Thanks for putting out this cache for woolwood9 and I to visit!
SL **tm/ww NZ** (may just be a black smudge on wet or plastic logs)
*Another good cache located - now onto the next one!*

Last day of our 3 week geocaching trip in the South Island, picked this one up on the way to the ferry. Nice walk to this one!

Nice to be away on another geocaching trip with tmann421, travelling to a few places in the upper South Island.
All logs signed tm/ww NZ
TFTC

A short getaway to catch up with family on the Mainland and drive some roads not travelled before.
After dropping redants at the ferry enough time for a few caches around Picton.
Last cache for the day, not sure why it hasn't been found in a while, possible co-ords out a bit. Widened search back along old fence and found cache.
TFTC bumandworker.

TFTC

We were in the port of Picton New Zealand for the day on Holland America's Amsterdam. Our main goal was to hike the "Tirohanga Track" and try to find the three caches that are along the track.

"Tirohanga Sit Up (Nelson/Marlborough)" and "Tirohanga Track (Nelson/Marlborough)" each had two DNFs as their most recent logs and were last found on 1/1/18 and 2/25/18, respectively. So we were not sure what we would see. "Tirohanga warmup (Marlborough)" - this cache was recently found though.

All three are there ; however the two first mentioned above had water in the container, but the logs were dry. We poured out the water and dried things off. The wall/hike on the Track was fantastic!!! All three caches get a Big FAV from us for the COs taking us there.

We did three caches in the city, on our way to the start of the track. After the track, we walked through the outskirts of the city and found 7 more caches, making it 13 on the day.

Thank you to bumandworker for 5 of the caches, No Fixed Aboder for 3, taybee nz for 2, and the other three COs for their efforts and for their caches.
***************
This cache: Quick Find by Salts

I had a couple of hours to fill in before picking some people up from the Ferry. What else was there to do but a bit of caching. Took a while to find, there were enough clues though to encourage me to keep looking. TFTC

Took a bit of post hunting but got there eventually! TFTC

Under a rock took a but of hunting but found it

We were wondering what we were going to do to qualify for the latest hidden creatures challenge. We have been streaking for a couple of years so our supply of caches around Nelson are starting to thin out. We decided to come over to Marlborough for the weekend to make up the numbers we needed. We had noticed there were many park and grab type caches in this area so this is where we decided to target.
It was getting dark by the time we set off to find this one. So we were armed with torches and a good spirit for a bit of night time adventure. A nice easy wander up to GZ then the fun began. Thankfully GK soon found the post and the log was signed.
Thanks for placing this cache, it is an area we might come back to and explore a bit more one day. And of course thank you for the smilie

A family 'tramp' up to the dam. The children and I came up here late last year to learn about pest trapping and to clear the traps along the line here. No time for caching on that day. Today we came back with Dad and the dog - we were even joined by a random dog called Lucy. A lovely walk up and back. No trouble with the cache here. TFTC.

Great clue....had to search a number of nature's posts! Tftc

Finally found the right post. TFTC.

Quick find thanks to the good clue. Cache is all good. TFTC.

Quick find thanks to the good clue. Cache is all good. TFTC.

The owner of the backpackers I stayed in in Picton recommended the stroll to the dam. So off I went and of course searched for the cache while in Essons Valley. Then I followed the track to Humphries Dam. Nice place, very quiet.
Thanks a lot for the hide, bumandworker!

today was another nice day for our holiday trip in new zealand were we of course also found some caches along the way in Picton.

This is one of them. thank you for maintaining this cache.

1st grab of a family walk to the dam.

TFTC

20:15
FITW ambertron9000, Ginger Ninja

Went out to the track to scout for potential dinner and camping spots as our ferry was early next morning. Cache took some time to locate, bush bashing on the slope.
Definitely had our dinner here but did we camp here afterwards as well? Who knows...

Thanks for the cache and greetings from Latvia!
#4537

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[facebook.com/HMRoads](https://www.facebook.com/HMRoads/) <-- The Road Less Travelled to the Place Furthest Away --> [hmroads.com](http://hmroads.com/en/)
(Or "Why did we go to The Chathams and what did we do on Pitt Island")

New port, new caches. Perhaps T=3?

Took us a while but with more eyes made it easier! Love geocaching with friends

Found it slightly away from the gps but took us 10 mins of good looking. Few of us working together helped TFTC

Firat DNF in NZ Found the geotrail and had the clues but couldn't find the goods. Bugger. TFTH though.

Took about 10 minutes of searching, but finally on expanding the search area slightly we found a spot that fitted the hint. Some muggles passed while I signed the log and Jojo kept watch. Bad timing as they were just about the only ones we saw on the way to both dams, but all good in the end anyway. Thanks B&w

A little bit more adventure for the weekend, we thought we'd head out this way and see what we could find. Had no idea this wee path was here but it was a lovely walk.

GPS had us trying to go in all sorts of different directions, depending on whose phone we were looking at. Finally stood back and looked a bit more critically at it, found a geotrail, and from there it was easier to find what we were looking for.

Nicely hidden!

Found with FluffyUnicorn02, PotterFan16279, and crman1. TFTC

Out with the family again today and this was first on our list, being the furthest from the house. A nice walk out to GZ where the boy and I were a bit too far outside the box in our thinking. Meanwhile the girls, with a bit more critical thinking, were able to find it a bit more quickly. Picked up a trackable while here.

Found with coastalmartinis, FluffyUnicorn02, and PotterFan16279. TFTC

I'm not much of one for getting dirty or going where there might be bugs so I tend to shy away from a lot of caches and let one of the boys stick their hands in....but I was brave today. And nothing jumped out at me.

Found with coastalmartinis, crman1, and PotterFan16279. TFTC

Enjoyed the walk out to this cache and managed to not fall in any water...which made the folks happy. The girls found the hiding spot before we did. Nice hide!
Found with coastalmartinis, FluffyUnicorn02 and crman1. TFTC

Another flying visit to Picton. Needed a cache find today, so headed up the track to this one. Out with PDH_NZ, Very pleasant walk. Took a moment to get our bearings and then soon located. No worry with muggles today, we had the place to ourselves. Left Pathtag and TB. SL. TFTC.

Day 2 of an upper South Island holiday from Rotorua with sveppi. Arrived in Picton just before dinner. Set up tent and ate at nearby holiday park. Feel like a bit of a stroll so we set off to find a couple. By the time we reach the start of the track it's dark, but we have a headlamp. Sveppi saw a cat or a possum cross the path in front of us and gave me a fright when she alerted me of this ( I don't like the dark). At GZ spotted the geotrail but not sure how far we have to go. Followed the hint and found easily.

On holiday in the South Island and setup camp in the nearby camp grounds. Found this on a dark walk after dinner. TFTC

Yah we found it after the gps sent us half way up the hill. Look carefully for clues others have been there before and the post is an actual post but a natural one. Tftc

GPS was jumping a bit but at the end found it with The-Shredder. TFTC Skyryser

Found this one after some searching along with Skyryser. TFTC The-Shredder

After the find I can confirm the hint It had left me guessing till then. Thank you Bumandworker

With many cars at the beginning of the track we thought we would meet more people but no problems in this area.
Thank you bumandworker.

TFTC

I enjoyed the little walk in bright sunshine a lot. And I was the only one around, so no problem in looking for the cache. Thank you for placing it in this quiet and peaceful area!

great hide on family walk up essons valley. TFTC

A short wander around and the cache was in hand, now on with the walk

TFTC

Quickly found after a short scramble. Log damp. TFTC

Out for a stroll with the dog. Quick easy find. TFTC

Never managed to find the one that used to be here ( although I never really tried too hard as it was at the start of my geocaching career ) - glad to be able to log a smile here now. Spent a lot of time here when I was younger, and I still love coming back these ways. Thanks for placing!

A nice day out walking the dogs and getting a couple of caches. Replaced log bag here, otherwise all good. Picked up TB to move along as well. TFTC

Found. Beautiful walk

When I woke up this morning I hadn't decided on which caches I would go for. Decisions, decisions. In the end I decided to go for a walk to blow some of the cobwebs away and then go for some of the easier ones.

This was a nice starter especially after finding some of the hint items before the cache.

In: TB.

Cheers for the cache.

Found it even tho the gps made me walk half way up the hill ... Lovely spot TFTC

This entry was edited by RAYZR01 on Thursday, 01 October 2015 at 10:06:27 UTC.

[green] After catching up with the two Taybees and a walk around some of my caches around Whites Bay yesterday, we all headed over to one of the Sounds peninsulas to do a bit more caching. I stayed the night at their place in Picton and so we all tackled Essons Valley this morning. This is more my kind of caching! Out in the bush!

Once again the weekend chores were done before midday on Saturday so NZDi and I packed a picnic lunch and headed to Picton to pick up a few caches. The first area targeted was Essons Valley and the two dams that provide Picton with its water supply, then it was on to Shelley Beach and Bob's Bay to get a few more.

This was the first cache of the day and I was unsure what the hint meant, but once I saw the 'Angherf cbfg' it all became clear.

TFTC B&W

Found with Kiwimykl, refer to his log for details.

Popped out to find a cache to fill a dot day. Was staying at the end of the road so got up early before catching the ferry. Took a little while to locate, but got there in the end.

Nice quiet friday morning - need a walk somewhere different.
Easy find with no one around.
TFTC

Headed up Essons valley to escape the heat. On first try the GPS wanted to take me 19m uphill through a jungle. After watching the granddaughters at the stream I tried again. The container was soon found much closer to the gravel road, but my GPS was still pointing 12m uphill. Liked the hint, TFTC.

Today is catch the ferry back home day so quite excited to be heading to Picton in the first place. Also received a text this morning fro Interislander saying my ferry will be leaving an hour later than originally scheduled so what to do with an extra hour up my sleeve? Only one thing for it really, grab at least a couple of these dam/reservoir caches which sit unfound on my map.
Parked at the end of the track and a quick plan to go to Barnes Dam, heading left and gradually up on this finally quite warm Summers day. No problems with the find here, hint was totally logical Captain and easily grabbed despite a nearby picnicking muggle family.
Replaced as found and T F T C b&w, penultimate b&w cache of the year!

clearing up picton area this one have to call taybee nz in to help to find great spot
Sign log and cache in good order TFTC log by Gsak

TFTC, nice walk.

We initially looked for this cache on the way to the dams, but without success, so carried on, as we had a ferry deadline to meet. On our return we tried again, and eventually located something which led us to the hint, then a quick find. TFTC

An enjoyable little stroll into the valley. TFTC

A nice walk while I wait for the ferry to arrive.

TFTC

Found a GSAK page of unlogged finds from Feb 2014 this was one of them, sorry for the late log. I wonder how many caches I've found and forgotten to log over the years.... maybe a hundred, maybe more easier these days with logging from the field on my phone. TFTC

Enjoyed the walk up to this cache, as we had a little time to spare before catching the ferry. TFTC

It's always a pleasure to come up the valley. This was Sista K's second find for the day TFTC

Find #226 for the BAMMJams - Mr BammJam and the mini-BammJams went bush-bashing, while I stood 'look-out' on the path. A couple wandered past and glanced at the bush where the rest of the family was, so I casually said "Oh, you know, young kids that need to use the toilet while out on a walk!" They chuckled and carried on their way

However! The cache was easily found - good hint. The mini-BammJas chose a stone wrapped in wire to take out of the cache, and put a dice in. TFTC.

No luck with this one, smart phone not working the best and too many people walking around.

Showed Solokrieger at a night caching run some NZ glowworms . TFTC

alpenmilch80 and I went for a walk in the dark so I could see some of the New Zealand glow-worms and we stopped by on the way to the dams for this cache, too.

We spend a few minutes looking for this cache in the dark but we found it, signed its log, placed it back where we found it and continued our walk to see the glow-worms

TFTC

Took GPS a while to settle then spotted that fitted the hint thanks for another B&W cache

#1272

Lovely secluded place. Left geocache GS3CAG

GPS decided it liked the area so much it would play a few games to keep me here longer. It lead me to a few places that fittied the hint as it bounced around but I knew I was on to the real thing when I got a bit deperate and started doing my own thing. TFTC #5195

Great walkway. Quick find. Well named hint. TFTC

In Picton for non caching reasons and spotted this new one not too far from the car. Must get back with Ellie and go to the dam as we have put that off too long. No problems finding the cache.
Thanks bumandworker for placing this cache.

#7143

Found on the way back home. TFTC.

Found on the way back home. TFTC.

Next time we have to walk up a bit further. TFTC

Mrs S had a trip planned and this walkway was the Picton part. Arrived with Sidewaze with enough time to complete the planned walk to both dams. Damp underfoot but otherwise a neat day to be on the tracks. Met one famiy group twice doing the same route as us but about an hour ahead. No problem with the find using the hint when it was correctly interpreted.
Thanks.