Kaipupu - pwakawaka (Marlborough) Shakespeare Bay, South Island, New Zealand
By Taybee NZ and the Seagnoid on 29-Nov-15. Waypoint GC67H98

Found on a great day with the Cruise group. Really enjoyed it out here

TARVG2014 and I hadn't decided on our plans for King's Birthday Weekend, but figured that we would fit in some caching. When we saw the event for a visit to the Kaipupu Sanctuary it was a no-brainer. An early start from Tasman to make the RV, but all went according to plan and it was good to see the group assembled. The caches themselves were all fairly straight forward although a bit of scrambling for a couple. The log was signed "KREWZ" or similar for the group. There were a few different spelling options proposed, so there might be some variability. Thanks to everyone who attended for making it such an enjoyable event, and especially to Agazo for organising. Thanks for the cache.

Four of us went up, up, up to this after the rest of the group had finished the tour. Plenty of busy piwaiwaka around today. Thank you COs

And on we strolled catching up on lots of events happening. And another one bagged and tagged. CheersAgazo organised a trip to Kaipupu. Its been years, 2017, since I was last here so yes time to go and get some more smiley faces. Our team of 18 signed as team KRUSE (Agazo, Ms_kr, SJT_NZ, Streetwalkernz, Richardino_nz, Troodles, PaoloB72, TARV2014, Sidewise, Bullertrout,, Isis_nz, Marchwood, Holymu, Hazardus,, Karma Print, Hinemoana, Taybee Dragon and Bullertrouts Bro)

A fun day out exploring Kaipupu and great turnout, thanks to all the cache owners and Agazo for organising the day.

We were in Picton to attend the Event, GCAQHRW Kaipupu Cruise which naturally meant we were visiting this sanctuary, a long held wish.On arrival at the jetty were were greeted by a lone seal basking on the steps.Soon enough we wandered off as a group to begin the hunt for caches, all of which were found and signed as a group with variations of kruze.Thank you taybee nz.

We had to wriggle some other commitments to attend this event. The destination had been on the bucket list for a long time and the opportunity to visit with a group of cachers was to much to resist. Somehow I became part of the "clockwise group" but the circular track prevents anybody getting lost and indeed we met about halfway. This time the cache was off-track but steeply up for a few metres. Mrs KR volunteered and made the find.

Out for a walk after our Kaipupu Cruise to the peninsula. Our group of 18 stretched out with a few taking the opposite direction. The group I was with signed the logs as Kruze for convenience.The caches were all relatively easy to find and in good order. Thanks for placing them so we could enjoy the sanctuary.

There are so many advantages of caching with a group, the first of course being that 18 pairs of eyes are always going to be more efficient than one pair of eyes. Then of course there is the matter of terrain. I was pleased that I didn't need to be the person retrieving the cache here. I saw lots of piwakawaka today but none right here. I think I saw equal numbers of pied and black ones which from my observations is about normal in the north of the South Island.

A nice quick find. Signed as Kreze, or Kruze or some variation. A lovely place for a wander, and the company was great too. Thanks for placing your cache. Ms_KR and I are off on cruise up to Nelson and Picton. Today we cruised to Kaipupu and had a good walk, then we walked up to Humphries dam. We had a good day, with good company, and fine weather all day.Occassionally signed MK+KR on cache logs, and apologies for the generic logs.Thanks to all CO's for publishing and maintaining their caches.

Visited as part of the great outing organised by Agazo. An island full of caches and cachers, what could be a better way to spend a beautiful winters day!! TFTC!!

Piwakawaka are so friendly and I really enjoy their company while caching. They used to be regular visitors to my garden at my previous house and I was very excited when a couple started visiting my new garden recently. Many characteristics of the piwakawaka were evident in our very social walk around the island today - friendly and sociable, lots of chatter, and curiosity. TFTC # 22,277

#23798. As we approached GZ I spotted some alternative coords in a log and used those to look for the cache. The cache was up a steep bank. All the options were steep, and just went for the least-worst option. A few metres above the track was a large tree, and I was pleased to spot the cache at it base. Good to make a find during the sanctuary event. Signed log as Kruze. TFTC.

Found with the Kaipupu cruise group on a mild winters day.The only birdlife I spotted (though did hear some other birds, just couldn't see them) was the dear wee piwakawaka. There were a few of them flittering around, looking for tasty bugs. I had hoped to spot a SI robin or two but maybe we were just too noisy and scared them away. TFTC.

Eighteen cachers had a great day at Kaipupu finding all the caches and doing some maintenance. With lots of people there never was a shortage of eagle-eyed searchers willing to risk life and limb to find the cache. We signed the log "Cruise" or something like that. TFTC.

What a great idea...hold an event to gather together some cachers with a similar goal...Kaipupu sanctuary. Having been in Marlborough for 15 or so years this has been a 'to-do' for the family. Unfortunately, due to sickness, the rest of the family couldn't attend. After the short boat ride, we were here.So many thanks to the out of town event CO for arranging this, and taking a few TB away. This was the second find for the day for me, the anticlockwise group, signing as Kruze or Cruze, depending on who actually signed the log.

Only two hours to do the loop so in a hurry. Previous logs helping as several a bit off track. Alternative coordinates best for this one.

Poor coordinates.Tftc.

Found together with JaapAndHar while attempting to find all the geocaches on the island. Unfortunately we werent able to find them all and ran out of time to search near the potential GZ with incomplete coordinates. Turns out three hours isnt sufficient.

Felt like I'd never been caching before with all the DNFs. Sheesh! At least I enjoyed the walk. Gorgeous day.

Quick find, I think, as they are all running into each other a little, logging while sitting back in the comfort of our beach apartment in Picton.
Saw lots of interesting things around the reserve today.

Quick find. TFTC

Tftc

We went off track, look at a few trees, saw some cool mushrooms, but after a while, I decided to return and leave that one for another time, we weren't getting close to anything, phone GPS was very poor under the trees and heavy cloud cover.

Thank goodness for Kaz53. Got it

Yes another smiley face. Easier to get than thought after reading activity

Mrs gonefishing and I are finishing up our holiday in the top of the South, trying to do new things we haven't done before. A wander around Kaipupu ticked all the boxes. Our own boat is back in Wellington this time, so we caught a water taxi. It seems that Arrow Water Taxis closed up shop due to the covid traffic light thing, so options are Beachcomber or Cougar. We chose Beachcomber and got a private hire for $80 for the boat, so $40 each for the two of us. Very helpful and were happy to accommodate our request to delay our pickup by 30 mins to allow completion of the final cache. It took exactly 3 hours to complete all caches, including revisiting 2 at the start because I forgot to collect the codes.

Will the recent DNFs, and one since replacement I wasn't too hopeful going into this one. But starting from the closest point on the track to GZ there looked to be a small geotrail going up the hill, so I started up. Stopping at the first tree to check where the GPS was indicating, I spotted the cache almost at my feet! A quick easy find, and first to sign the fresh logbook! The coords seemed a bit off, so I grabbed some, but no guarantees under the canopy. S41 16.624 E174 00.392

Overall, an excellent day's caching, and very happy to have found everything as they are not all easy. However, I am a bit conflicted about the amount of bush bashing off track to find most of these. Seems at odds with the values of a reserve?

TFTC

We were unable to locate it even though it has been recently replaced. We had the GPS down to 2M regularly and even 0M at one stage. We searched all the trees in about a 10M radius but in the end we have to call it quits

Cache Has Been Replaced

New cache installed. Same location.

A boat trip over to the ecosanctuary with Arandee. We did the loop but missed a couple of caches on the way. This was one of them. Considerable blood was spilled looking for the elusive cache. Harder than necessary really.

Headed into this one with considerable confidence but after 3 of is searching for 40 minutes we retreated. Blood and sweat was lost and no prize not happy. Caching with Jude_E.

Kimmy+co and I bush wondered for 45 minutes to no avail

Hayzz with us maintained our track line and ensured we were safe up on the hillside,
We needed some help and a more reliable GPS reading - next time right?

Not for the faint hearted. Go further down track till it’s only a short bush bash. I went in too early and it was not that safe!

Well back in Denmark again after my fourth visit to New Zealand. Luckily I also had time to go geocaching down under, and now it is time to long all my finds.
Cache found and logbook signed.
TFTC

The main event for me today was to find as many of the cache in the Kaipupu Wildlife Sanctuary as I could. I took a water taxi from Picton and gave myself plenty of time to walk around, look for caches and explore the tracks and trails. Apart from the caches, spotting a pair of penguins was a real bonus. A it of a scramble to GZ but an easy find once there. TFTC, Biggles.

Good hide!

Found with Maikenkids

Finally made it to Kaipupu with Annacons after a series of unfortunate events leading to cancelled trips - third time lucky. On this rainy afternoon we felt quite smug when we boarded our huge, largely empty boat, then watched a group of 40 file onto that boat from Kaipupu, leaving us with the place almost too ourselves.
We found this one without too much trouble and were on our way to get one more before we ran out of time and had to get our boat.

Saw for the logs that I needed to scramble and eventually found a place I could hang onto roots and scramble. Unfortunately Mr P, my usual scrambler is climbing some hill elsewhere today which means just one pair of eyes. Could not get the GPS to settle and mindful or the time of my water taxi pick up I had to give up on this one as well.

Getting the whole sequence. TFTC

My new eTrex Touch lost the GPS signal at this spot and we were not sure whether to trust our phones. This prompted me to fire up my old battered eTrex 30 which pointed straight to where we found the cache after a bit of a struggle up. I’m very disappointed with the new GPSr, might have a word to Garmin about it.

Thanks Taybee NZ and the Seagnoid.

A scramble to find this one. Tftc

Quick find. Stunning views here. Tftc

Spent a very enjoyable morning rambling around this reserve. A straightforward find here although a very steep climb to reach the cache. Signed log, TFTC!

Yup, bit of a scramble for this one, but found OK. the trend here seems to be me going off trail to get the cache and sveppi staying on the track waiting for me! TFTC

Find 4/7 while completing this track. Know the fantail well as we normally have one follow us in the bush. TFTC

Really enjoyed wandering around the Sanctuary, kayaked over from Picton. Found all the caches except the first one, but that was sufficient to find the mystery one Thanks for the big containers, easy to search today - only one other person on the island.

A bit of a scramble to get this one. Every time I thought I was there, there was just a little further to go. But eventually found, and all good. Had a good slip on the way down, out of view of the others thankfully. Great reading about the fantail on the cache page and signs around the sanctuary. Makes sense that they flit around you because of the insects you disturb, never thought of that. Learned something today TFTC.
Today was the day for the much talked about paddle across to Kaipupu. It has been a discussion at work for a few months now, and while we had mulled over motorised transport as an option, Andy was keen to get the canoes out. Joining us today was another workmate, Russell. It was a brisk start to the day (temperature wise), but the lack of wind and clear skies promised a great winter day. So it proved. We got to Picton marina at about 8.30am ish and put the canoes in - myself and Russ in the double, and Andy had his single Scimitar. After a few missteps regarding timing and rudders, we were on our way and just able to squeeze in front of the ferry departing to our left. Not much further on, Andy saw some activity of interest and headed off in pursuit toward Mabel Island. According to him it was a school of dolphins and what must have been a whale, with spouts 2 metres tall. I'll take his word for it. We were hugging the shore and turning toward the jetty and lost sight of him in the glare off the water. When we reconvened at the jetty, it was time for the walk.
The guys were after spotting wildlife, and we were not disappointed. I will decide not to mention here but will tell the CO when I next see him how cool that was. For me though, it was also about caches, and I am grateful for the patience of the other two who allowed me to indulge in this. No success with the multi at the jetty, and I missed another trad not much further up due to my self imposed time limit for searching. Success with the rest though, except the final, of course, which will require a few more numbers. So 6 from 9 on a tight schedule I am happy with, and the sanctuary is all I thought it would be. A fantastic spot, so more than happy to have another reason to come back. After a lap around the sanctuary, we then prepared to head home. By this stage another workmate had joined us - Dave and his wife, who are regular canoeists, had been on their own adventure and were waiting at the jetty for us. The trip home was even better. The water was so glass-like we detoured around Mabel Island, then drifted through a foaming mass of jellyfish on the way to the shore by Bob's Bay. The water was crystal clear. We could see the bottom of water that is 10-15 metres deep, with Andy commenting that he had never seen it that clear. We beached just before the next incoming ferry, then time for a quick chat, a spot of lunch from the Picton Bakery, and our morning/early afternoon here was done. All up a pretty magical day, thanks for all the caches out here Taybee and the Seagnoid, it's a great spot.

Our first attempt at the caches on Kaipupu Pt. We made good progress - 6 of the trads and, the first stage of the multi but we will have to return to complete. We ventured out today in search of Kiwi but to no avail. We did meet a lovely Little Blue Penguin though. A great run for the kids and caching with cachers Leo, Maea and Marlo who were very helpful. A wonderful day but might revisit in Summer! The piwakawaka is everyones favourite bird at our place at the moment. A new interest in ornithology has emerged and today we were not disappointed! TFTC

I have been wanting to come to this Island for a while. My birthday was coming up, so I thought- the kids will do what I want to do, so I investigated possible ways of getting there. The kayak hire place will only hire to/for people over 16yrs, so that ruled that out (and it would probably take too long with kids) The water taxi was going to be $80 for 1 adult or 4 adults, so I put a post on FB to see if any friends had a boat and would like to take us, or if someone would like to join us to share the cost. To my amazement, a friend messaged saying she would be happy to take us- YAY! This couple (and small child) had not geocached before, and one was a pure natural and found most of the caches!
It was a beautiful day, flat for the boat ride and sunny.
I am using my GPS, I am getting more familiar with the compass.
Good to see a big cache. I scrambled around to this one.
TFTC.

We had a Piwakawaka follow us some of the way. It was nice. TFTC

Found whilst checking the traps. TFTC

Tftc!

I almost lost the container! After I took out the log book and would like to put the container aside, I just accidentally let the container roll and it kept rolling down the hill! And I followed the container and rolled down as well... The container was stopped there just the other side of the track! Luckily there was no one passing by so it didn't hit anyone. I grabbed the container and back to GZ and finally log the cache. Just wondering if I really lost the container...

Found it

Number 4 a tricky one that took a bit more effort found after a bit of searching and going back to my bag to check the GPS success sign the log and off I go .... slipped down the hill on my butt laughed at myself and onto the next.... There are a pair of sunglasses up there somewhere that belong to me

I love fantails. I don't know about them being a messenger of death. On a number of occasions I have been at the point of walking away from trying to find a cache when one has flown up and I've asked it where the cache is and it's flown directly to the cache. They are such a busy wee bird but good luck trying to get one to sit still long enough to take a photo of one. No sign of one here today but then the gps took me straight to the cache and I didn't need any help. TFTC

#4493

Found with the Team RNZAF geocaching crew plus two (B&W, capperz, GH6710, Kiwimykl, Nightowl19, Raisin Pig and tS), refer to their logs for details.

TFTC taybee nz

Today is the day that the Woodbourne air base's Adventure Sports Club decided to hit the water. Three boats - one full of walkers/runners for the Queen Charlotte track and two full of geocachers: myself, capperz, gh6710, bumandworker, NZDi, Raisonpig, nightowl and kiwimykl. We arrived at our first cache just on dawn and finished up about 3pm. Probably sunburnt. I'll know tomorrow.
Man, I love the wildlife on those protected islands out in the sounds! Saw weka, robins, saddlebacks, bellbirds, kakariki, even the Spirit of New Zealand and a pod of four Hector's dolphins on the way back. And some fantastic views!
Not so much on Kaipupu though . Apparently robins where released here yesterday, but we didn't see any. Didn't see any fantails here eaither, although I did see them last time I was here.
This cache was placed by Taybee NZ during our big placement around the sanctuary. At long last I am back to claim a find on his cache!

A great trip out on the water with the regular work caching crew, and a couple of other familiar faces. Having cached out most of the outer Queen Charlotte sound, it was back here for these recently added caches in the Kaipupu reserve area. A water taxi load of cruise ship passengers was also visiting the area but went the other way. This cache was a bit further off the track than expected, and probably more so than necessary. Hopefully the geo trail doesn't cause any damage.
T F T C

A beautiful day out in the QC sound with a great bunch of other geocachers.
After grabbing a few in various bays and islands - we ended up here to circumnavigate this wonderful sanctuary. It was decided to go anticlockwise - as there was a small group of passengers off the nearby cruise ship here having a look round.
A little off track for some here - hope the vegetation is well looked after....Good views over the harbour here. TFTC taybee nz

The RNZAF Base Woodbourne Adventure Sports Club holds regular trips into the Marlborough Sounds mainly to cater for members who wish to tramp/walk/run the many tracks and walks available. However since geocaching has been included under the 'Adventure Sports' umbrella, these trips have become more popular. Today three boats headed out at 'Zero Dark Early' for a day on the sounds, one full of walkers and runners and two full of geocachers and their families and friends.

Today we collected a variety of caches, some on the mainland and others on various outlying islands mainly requiring boat access only, the caches on this 'mainland island' were the major attraction today and we were surprised at how many other boats turned up while we were there. There has certainly been a lot of work done to get this sanctuary predator free however the birdlife is yet to reestablish itself to the same level as Motuara Island which we visited earlier in the day, but I'm sure it won't be long before it does.

For a change I managed to participate in the hunt for this cache, maybe because the access was a little more physical, however it was another of our party who made the find. I have often had Piwakawaka follow me on tracks through the bush but not today.

TFTC taybee nz

Today is one of the regular Adventure sports club (including Geocaching as a sport) day ot by boat in the Marlborough Sounds. Launching out of Picton Harbour at 0700, or thereabouts, we set sail for a few cache sites. Headed off and grabbed a grand total of six T5 caches, visited Motuara Island for the fantastic wildlife that abounds there and had a great day in some really good company. Team cachers were GH6710, Kiwimykl, Raisinpig, Nightowl19, bumandworker, nzdi and of course the Seagnoid. We signed some or most logs as Team RNZAF plus 2 or similar. Really hot today and got to see some really cool things; Hector's dolphins, saddlebacks, robins, penguins, fish, Spirit of New Zealand sailing ship and so much more!
Headed here after a successful trip to the outer Sounds to grab the caches before the afternoon swells change the landscape (seascape) out there. Docked up and headed onto the tracks for a couple of hours of caching in this great weather. Surprisingly little birdlife evident today, just a coupe of bellbirds and fantails.
Heading round the track and taking it in turns to hunt/find and record the required final numbers.
T F T C t S

Surprised at the awesome views that we are coming across, cruise ship in port today, the wind is nice against the heat. Tftc added paracord keychain swag.

We limited our hunting time here, after a bit of a slip and slide decided to give up.

Kaipupu - pīwakawaka (Marlborough) was transferred from the Seagnoid to user taybee nz

Another one, and it's still a beautiful day!

Find some more of the caches round Picton, today it is mainly about water.
Started with paddle to here in flat calm, the wind (and waves) very soon picked up.
Found four caches before heading back to Picton.
Thanks for the cache..

[FTF] [Blue]taybee[/Blue] is caching again without [Blue]taybee nz [/Blue] as he is at school today
get the Published of the Caches on Kaipupu at 7:55am it the only free day I got So load the gps by 8.05 out the door by 8.08 and on the water tax by 8.30pm easy walk to Ground zero had to back track on this one to find the right Track to Get to Ground Zero had to have a rest here it was a good hunt was going to call it DNF but had to check out one more Spot and it was here on way back to the main walkway i we for a skate and stop after 6 mteres you may want to up the terrain on this one
Days total is six FTF's One DNF one Not Published [|)] and one Not Done [?] missing same numbers for the final and water taxi coming back to pick me up
All in good order, sign log book as[Blue] taybee [/Blue] TFTC Log by Gsak

Published