3rd Christmas Hide (Canterbury) Springfield, South Island, New Zealand
By Nosynel on 21-Nov-15. Waypoint GC67605

Today marks 6 years married to ThatDarnBear, and two of the older GeoKids volunteered to take UnicornLex on a Sister's Outing. So naturally, what do we do? We make a beeline out the door for an afternoon of Mad Caching !!Happy anniversary ThatDarnBear TFTC

GeoHubby (Slotheryn) and I are celebrating our wedding anniversary, and what better way to spend time together than go Geocaching. Springfield was our target today as there is a nice wee Letterbox cache for the Take a Stamp Thursday challenge, which I hope to sign at the Mega in Dunedin. We grabbed as many other caches as we could in the area, this being one.A quick find here. Thanks for the cache.

TFTC Found with andyfreya

Tftc

Possibly our last cache of the day as we are losing light. TFT smiley

Grabbed this cache while visiting Springfield, nice quick find here, cheers

Found within amazing trip around New Zealand.Thanks for nice cache ....................................................................... TB Koumesovo geopivo DDEV7M

Tftc

Typically it starts raining as we start caching. Luckily a quick spot grabbed and signed. TFTC

On our way back North we stayed the night in Springfield. Grabbed a coffee in the morning and headed out for a spot of caching before the long drive home! Nice quick find. TFTC

Just getting around to logging the caches I found while visiting New Zealand from the U.S. with LaFavorite Cacher. We had a great time traveling around the country seeing the sights and picking up some caches along the way.Thank you for being a part of our adventures!Note: LaFavorite Cacher has sent in the answers for any earthcaches or virtuals required for both of us.

GeoJayne and I had a great time in the Fox Glacier area. We are visiting from Atlanta in the U.S. We loved seeing the glacier, glow worms last night, and a delicious meal. What a grand combination! We got up early today to see the sun rise over Lake Matheson and then made our way to Springfield via Arthur's Pass. It was a long day, but a lot of fun.We lucked into some great weather today. There were clouds at the peaks of the mountains, no wind to speak of and a temperature of 10 degrees C (perfect temp for hiking AND driving!).This was a quick find after we had settled into our accommodations. Thank you for the smiley and the fun!

QEF in the rain tFTC and greetings from the UK

Found with Blue Jay on our first day driving around New Zealand. Today we drove from Christchurch to Hokitaki and saw from lovely scenery as well as picking up a few caches. This was one of them.TFTC. Toffee Man.

Quick find. Thanks for showing us this place, & for placing and maintaining this cache. The is our playground

Another quick find, thanks.

Nice quick find, between bursts of traffic tftc

No problem here apart from traffic! Thanks

Found on an epic caching day from Arthurs Pass to Christchurch. Taken us 6 hours to get to here so far. With Piwaka54! TFTC

Found with Nutty Nora. TFTC

Found it on our stay in Springfield.TFTCHilgenerSchatzsucher

That was a quick grab. TFTC.

Together with Travelser I'm going Down Under. We are driving around with a motorhome. After 7 weeks driving around through Australia we arrived the 2th November in New Zealand. For ten days we will cross the Northern Island and than for 2 weeks the Southern Island.During our trip we of course search for several caches. Most of them brought us to very nice spots, like this one.All the CO's, and in this case Nosynel, thanks for bringing us here and give our trip a special accent.

After traveling around Australia with Oopie for 7 weeks, we have now been traveling with the camper in New Zealand for 4 weeks. Along the way we will of course also visit various types of caches in beautiful places, including this one. Thanks CO for creating and laying this cache.

Je serais en effet bien rest plus longtemps mais la plage mappelle! Tftc

This weekend I decided to attend a caravan rally in Springfield.Another caravaner (and cacher, SteveT10) and I drove to this cache from the caravan park.Cheers for the cache, Nosynel.

A quick park and grab -thank you.FINALLY, and with humble apologies for being so late, I am catching up on my logging.Day 6 of The North Islanders in Canterbury tour with Liss Crew. We are targeting specific caches -oldies, and puzzles. Of course, there will be days of laughter.During our time here, all found caches were signed as NZL, regardless of whether either of us has found it previously, or with individual names for Challenge Caches according to whomever was claiming the find.Kia ora rawa atu for the cache Nosynel.

I'm from Paihia/Whangarei and I'm down in the South Island for 6 days with NZ_B on a geocaching trip. Logs mostly signed as NZL.I had a few goals for the trip and I was very pleased to achieve them all *50 or 60 puzzles for my diamond badge on project gc*40 caches to get to my 6000th find*19 South Island minutes to complete a challenge*but mostly a clean out of my ever growing solved puzzle list with 157 found on this trip. Monday we collected the windmill geoart on our way to Oamaru. Tuesday the focus was solved A2O puzzles, the sunflowers and other solved puzzles. Wednesday we headed back to Christchurch collecting challenges and more solved puzzles. Thursday's focus was the Smile series around Lake Ellesmere. Friday was the old Port Hills cache and puzzles in the Christchurch area. Today was our last day. Again a puzzle focus around the outer Christchurch area. We couldn't resist an easy park and grab on our way past. Thanks for this trad

I've done lots of your Christmas hides in Christchurch - Didn't realise they went so far afield! Seemed to need longer fingers for this one.

We stopped again in Springfield this afternoon after visiting Cave Stream and Castle Hill. The cache was a quick find. TFTH!

Found it buried in a bit of snow!

Found with ZEALOG on a caching adventure

Quick trip to Springfield whilst staying near Oxford. Easy find. Tftc

Found

Easy peasy!!!

**#18,004**
We had spotted a few other North Islanders make a personal 24hr find record so we took note of the general caches found and made a plan to try our luck, our previous best was 172, our aim was "more than Yeti", check out GC6PRMW once we have logged them all to see how we did...
A quick find of a "skindo special hide"

Another quick easy find. Tftc

A quick find on our way back to lyttelton. Tftc

Heading back East to the plains today. No worries here. TFTC

Returning from my sons stag do. Thanks for an easy to find one.

Found during our Holidays..TFTC !! Greetings from Germany ...

A quick U-turn and an even quicker find here. This is as far west as I'm heading. Time to make my way back into town.

TFTC Nosynel
Find number 4879

(Logs signed Rincewind3 or R3 if saving space. Occasionally signed BRN if caching as a team with *B*o&bronnie, *R*incewind3 and *N*otManlyJack)

Found it! A quick find on the drive across to the coast. TFTC!

Thanks for maintaining this cache Gracie and Mum I appreciate it.

On a daytrip to ChCh to do some labbing. We're stopping at a handful of maintenance along the way first.
Instead of having the log pushed to the bottom of the M&M tube again we decided to replace the container with a pill container. (as we always have spares in the car) this was easier than making a log to fit the long container. All good to go here again. Happy Caching

Log sheet was mushy. Photo attached.

This geocacher reported that the logbook is full.

Found cache but too wet to sign as paper too wet. Good clue

Well that was certainly an easy find. Roadside spraying has left the area bereft on any natural cover.

Quick find. Saturated with Kaz53

Yay. A other one found with Judith but log too wet to sign. Many thanks for the hide

Found while out on a tour of the West Coast with Thedbees. Log was a bit wet so it may need replacing. TFTC

Went on a road trip with my daughter CalumD out to the West Coast and collected this while passing. A quick and easy find. TFTC.

Put newspaper in as a bit wet

Good place to hide it paki paki tau Kia

-little Haggismuncher

Quick find here. Tftc

On a Geotour trip for the week.
All GT caches found for the day. Now to get the numbers ticking over before checking in to the Springfield motel.
A quick find here. Merry Christmas.
TFTC

Found it

Stopped to take our jerseys off. It is warming up a lot. Easy find.

Quick outing today as little miss three wanted to visit the doughnut playground. Thanks for the cache.

Nice quick find with Juju54 - TFTC

A quick find here with campmotherand ken today TFTC

Quick find
TFTC
646

Another quick find on Hwy 73. Tftc

Quick find. Container a little wet so dried a bit. TFTC

On our way to Castle Hill, stopped for a cache or two along the way. TFTC.

Thank you for this cache, Nosynel - I don't think that I have found many others (if any!) in this series - must have a look.
I have been driving eastwards from torrential rain on the Coast - had to stop several times before Otira because I jus couldn't see properly. Really enjoying the sun on this side of the Divide as I try to increase my finds on this date.

Out for a days caching with busy paws. The weather is becoming very miserable which we hope will improve once over Porters. Thanks for this cache Nosynel.

Found on the way to the coast. Thank you for the cache

Thanks for putting out this cache for woolwood9 and I to find!
SL **tm/ww NZ** (may just be a black smudge on the many wet or plastic logs)
*We soon had another good cache located!*

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

Simple find here. Thanks.

Down in Christchurch with the Squirrel, ABCDF4 and eyespyben. During Covid lockdown, we solved a load of puzzles and decided that this would be a good time to visit. We've enjoyed a few days of good weather and seeing the Canterbury countryside. The caches have been in varying states - some good, some not so much. Our time here has been a blast, and we'd like to thank all COs who have made this adventure possible. Thank you and TFTC.

With ABCDF4, eyespyben, and Gap (of Fap and Gap). Logging all finds as Team HRP (Huntly, Rotorua, Papamoa - Our hometowns)... During Covid-19 lockdown, we solved a truck load of puzzles around Christchurch - Canterbury region. No use thrashing the old grey matter for no cause - We decided we should make good on this handiwork...

There are lots of interesting trails and geoart surrounding Christchurch. What you aren’t told is how far flung some of these caches actually are. Some beforehand advice would have been great, so here are some of my notes... You’re welcome!

1. Mobile coverage is patchy, especially in those quiet, rural areas where it was most needed. Saving caches to offline might show that you are prepared and organised...
2. There are many dusty metal roads on the trails. The car will get messy, and your hair will feel like cardboard at the end of the day...
3. Suitable clothing and footwear are essential. You will climb in and out of hedges, gorse, and other rough stuff. You might get scratched, cut to shreds, and bleed a lot. It’s not advised to wear your brand new jacket on the day...
4. Take lots of food and drink. You’ll probably be head down, tail up and not realise you haven’t eaten until late afternoon. There are very few shops or gas stations out there...
5. Make sure that you secure keys and wallet and know where these are placed for easy retrieval. A full box of pens might be useful too, especially if you’re inclined to free some into the wild...
6. Know the difference between left and right, and north, south, east, and west. Turning right and heading north will not get you to South Christchurch quickly.
7. Look with girl’s eyes rather than boys eyes... Some caches haven’t been found in a while and you might have to get down on your knees to pray.
8. Always be prepared for misleading hints. This is what turns simple caches into D5/T5 hides... “Head height” could mean the cache is positioned at your toes.
9. Have a sense of humour and like the people you go caching with. It’s going to be a very long day, and you might want to hurt someone during the journey...
10. Make sure you can operate your phone/device and it doesn’t crash when you most need it...
11. Learn to cut and paste logs because you’re going to repeat this function so often when logging all of your finds.
12. Above all else, have fun and be kind...

No time to waste today - We each had caching jobs to do, and our day was mostly planned... A quick find... Thanks Nosynel and TFTC.

After puzzle solving in the Canterbury region along with ABCDF4 we were invited to join Fap (from Fap & Gap) and Squirrel Nutcase to a week long caching adventure in the Canterbury area. With flights and accommodation booked were off, all met up in ChCh. and many hard dusty Kms travelled and many caches found, I think the Squirrel has said it all in his brief. Many thanks for the placements and Cos for bringin us to the very pleasant areas we travelled in to your region

After puzzle solving in the Canterbury region along with EyeSpyBen we were invited to join Fap (from Fap & Gap) and Squirrel Nutcase to a week long caching adventure in the Canterbury area. With flights and accommodation booked were off, all met up in ChCh. and many hard dusty Kms travelled and many caches found, I think the Squirrel has said it all in his brief. Many thanks for the placements and Cos for bringin us to the very pleasant areas we travelled in to your region

Nice easy find on a great day out although rather cold. Spot go from the car so was quickly in hand. A bit damp but signable. TFTH

Quick

Found on a bike ride with Dad

A quick find and photo opportunity. Thanks for the cache.

A quick stop and find on our way to Greymouth on a road trip with Stretch0 -log signed - thanks for the cache

The perpetual Xmas that keeps coming back at ya. Quick snag and tag here. Cheers.

Friday today, we explored from Rangiora to Lake Lyndon

Its Queens Birthday weekend and The Seagnoid, Zara and I are heading out of town for a long weekend to Arthurs Pass, via Kaikoura. Had a fantastic weekend, seeing lots of new places, limestone formations, amazing views, awesome beech forest walks, but getting nowhere fast. Bloody cold at times with -3deg frosts but thankfully the snow stayed on the top of the highest mountains.. Enjoyed driving back via Lake Brunner, Murchison. An awesome few days exploring.

Nice precise coordinates here . How many Christmas hides are there?

Taybeedragon and I are on a five day extended Queen's Birthday weekend. Happy birthday marm! The plan was to cache the Arthur's Pass route, from Rangiora to Lake Buller. You would think four days was enough to do the 211 kilometers, but we didn't even manage the 130 to Arthur's Pass village before we had to pull the pin Monday lunchtime for the drive back to Blenheim. But on the way we saw some amazing views, strange geology, weird amounts of ice in the puddles, ice on the inside of our windscreen - it was that cold. Caves, wonderful beech forests, rather a lot of bridge barriers and even a cache or few. And there was blisters, sliding down icy grassy hills on our bums (what fun!) and rather a lot of walking. Many thanks to all the cache owners that made this such an amazing trip.

We are at level 2 so geocaching is permitted.

======== NZ Mega 2021 ========
Planning for the NZ Mega 2021 event is well underway. It will be held in Auckland over Labour Weekend, October 2021

Due to the government ordered Covid-19 lockdown, I will be doing my bit to #slowthespread. From 11.59pm on Wednesday 25 March 2020.

The virus can survive on plastic and paper for longer than three days

If you would like a geocaching related activity to do while you are observing the lockdown, I welcome messages about how to solve my puzzle caches - I am happy to give hints and tutorials so you have lots of new caches to find when this is over.

**Found on our February - March tour around the South Island. Logging back home in Auckland in Lockdown isolation**

After washout weather 4 years ago on the 29th February we have been keen to greatly increase our Leap Day Finds tally in 2020. To that end we made sure we were in Canterbury ready for some quick puzzle trails this morning, and determined to cache all day. We spent last night in Springfield, and started the day with a local puzzle find or two. No problem making the find here, thanks.

Working locally and after a late night yesterday, left a bit earlier day and went for a drive to grab some caches. Another park and grab. Tftc

Found on a three day caching journey over to the West Coast. We really enjoyed the challenging hours spent in solving the many puzzle caches and now the signing off on the log books. We had a great spell of weather as we traveled along the many roads in the area. Many thanks to the various cache owners for placing and maintaining their caches. TFTC

A quick easy find as we left Springfield. TFTC

It appears that someone has kindly replaced the log as since the needs maintenance and a complaint about the wet unsignable logbook nobody else has complained. A big thank you to the anonymous geocacher who replaced the logbook.

Out with 2Wombles hitting some caches and fun. Logged as 2CBs
Thank you for bringing me to this area Nosynel and for placing and maintaining 3rd Christmas Hide (Canterbury) geocache from Mr Cuddly Brick
Found on this awesome day the 9 December 2019.
Cache number # 2325
View and subscribe:
Mr Cuddly Bricks Geocaching Adventures Channel @
https://www.youtube.com/c/mrcuddlybrick

Track me at TrackMe
http://cuddlybrick.trackme.life/

Had arranged a big caching day out with Mr Cuddly Brick and this was the area we decided we wanted to head to. To clear out the new Smurfs caches, and other random caches that we passed. Logs were either signed 2wombles & MCB, or 2CB, or Mr Cuddly Brick depending on who had the pen at the time.

A perfect day for caching. Not too hot and not too cold!

Cache was a quick find here. Thanks for the cache

Away again on another 3 day mission with rustynz and Rebel98, This time Lyttleton, Christchurch, Greymouth, Punakaiki, Blenheim, Picton and Kaikoura are in our targets, mainly to collect the Geotour caches and to have a heap of fun!

Not remembering too much here I'm afraid, but we're off to Greymouth now, collecting caches along the way here and there before we get to a Geotour cache. Thanks Nosynel.

On a caching adventure with a group of Westies (rustynz, rebel98 & gorby)

We are on our way to Greymouth, collecting a few caches along the way. Thanks for the hide Nosynel

Log later

Quick find. Mountains covered, see the rain coming

s I was finding this cache a curious local pulled alongside for a chat. I replaced the wet log with RITR strip. The local knew where I was from and even the town where I went to school. A really nice chat with him before he headed off home after a handshake. T F T C nosynel, great view from here too.

Day 2 of my Canterbury caching visit and chance to complete some Geo-art, see where SH73 goes and pre-clear some caches along that route. Rounded up some horses, smurfs, angry birds, fresh breath mint tins and some other random caches as I travelled a few hundred KMs. Nothing as prolific as yesterday but a good healthy haul nontheless.

It's that time of year again when Marlborough residents get a double bubble, two 3-day weekends in a row and a chance to get out there and find some caches. Last weekend I headed over to Golden Bay with ricardinho and we managed a healthy numbers-boosting haul of 82 over 2 days. This weekend I'm planning on finding some already solved Canterbury caches and get me closer to a 5 figure finds number. At the start of today this was a 4 day, at the end it was a 127-day!!
The Saturday was planned to be a big day and to get over 100 caches in a day if possible and start converting those puzzle pieces into smiley faces. Success was achieved in that we found over 120 each. I personally found my missing Smurfs, Metal Mania, Glossary of Geocaching as well as a number of other solves and collateral Traditionals. The Canterbury weather turned it on and a good day was had with ric.nz driving and me navigating (sort of) Apologies for cut and paste but will add detail where remembered.

Labour weekend caching adventure. Thanks for the hide. Log soaked and unsignable.

Sodden wet but got a scribble on the sodden log book, these containers aren't great... needs maintained

This geocacher reported that there is a problem with this cache.