Hide an Seek (BoP) Lake Okareka, North Island, New Zealand
By N8t3n42 on 18-Oct-19. Waypoint GC8H465

Thanks

Wed spent a few hours caching round the lake on a day trip from Auckland and were ready to head back but couldnt resist a game of hide and seek before we left. After a lovely walk along the trail past the boat house it was a pleasant surprise to reach this little haven. What a magical spot to explore, and explore we did. Our hide and seek skills are a bit rusty and we didnt pay close enough attention to the hint, so ended up searching a few incorrect spots but we didnt want to give up. We took a moment to refocus and spotted something we really should have noticed in the first place and after that it was a nice quick find. What a great container to be rewarded with, its not often we find ones this large. A favourite point from us. Thanks for a great end to our visit to the area. Places like this are what we love about caching.

Took a while looking in all the places it wasn't. Had a rest and read the logs. Suddenly things were clearer and Mr B quickly had it in hand. What a beautiful spot!! For us it was 18 metres out

35m out is too far - needs the co-ords updated.

Definitely use the hint. Well hisen for the size of it was fun to find and swap a item out

*Good short trip away with woolwood9 finding some geocaches along the way!*We soon had the container located here and the log stamped. SL *tm/ww NZ*Thank you for the reason to visit this area. Nice walk searched a bit before noticing the co-ords are out.

Heading north with tmann421 for a few days.This was day two with plenty of miles for us to cover.Enjoyed the hide hereSigned log tm/ww NZTFTC

Found for second time- first time in lockdown 2020. Bigger than remembered. Fun find !

Tftc great large cache!

Yay

A slight tweak to coordinates would certainly be helpful, but reading the hint soon moves you away from the original location and towards the cache.

Sorry DNF.

The last 3 logs were Not helpful, but luckily Hinemoana's was! Coordinates 35m out from where cache was found. Wow, that was a large surprise! Sat on the nice bench, very close to GZ , to sign the log . What a beautiful reserve! TFTC

Spending Labour weekend 2023 in Rotorua. Decided to come for a late afternoon walk and collect some caches. Took a bit of a detour to try our luck at this one. Took some time to find this one. We looked in so many wrong places due to our poor GPS and misleading hints from some previous finders. Cant believe we missed such a big one. A great find and a very beautiful spot. What a wonderful get away spot. Pleased we walked a bit extra to get here.

Thanks it was fun to find but it was up a tree

Found up a tree, great fun

Wasn't were it said it was but awesome cache

Cool placement and cache, but not quite as advertised. One expects a traditional cache to be at the coordinates, and although they may not be exact, 35-ish m out is a bit too much. Additionally, given where the coords point, the seekers are more likely to head into the closer area, and trample over the vegetation there for some time, which would be best avoided. I spent about half an hour looking there, when I decided to give up and have a look at the view. Pity about the misleading coordinates and terrain rating, otherwise would be a definite favourite, location and hide and container.

️ Trouvée ! / Found it ! ️

Très surpris par l'emplacement de la cache mais belle surprise en la trouvant ️

4024ème cache trouvée.
Merci N8t3n42 pour la cache

Very surprised by the location of the cache but nice surprise when finding it ️

4024th cache found.
Thank you N8t3n42 for the cache

On ne pensait pas que ce pouvait être elle mise à cet endroit

Trouvée très facilement !!! Merci pour la découverte de ce très beau lieux !

What a great little reserve this is. We had some fun and watched the ducks and the duck boats on the lake. Possibly the biggest geocache we’ve found to date. TFTC

Good And Easy Find, Beautiful Walk With Kids. Left A Few Treasure For The Next

Nice walk after a stormy Cyclone night, greetings from Austria, TFTC

Certainly not in the position logged

Read the hint twice and will find it!

TFTC and greetings from Czechia Europe

Wow great spot.
Took a while to find. Read thw hint again. Then low nd behold. Once again good spotting by Mr PorknPuha.
A not so quick find, grab, sign and flee.
TFTC

Finally found it after a couple of tries

We went at night was a nice walk tho

got a road block on track today
large family group taking family photo's.
once near GZ i had to widen search area to find this good sized container.
TFTC

**#16,108**
Better go to specsavers?
How can we not find a big bucket cache?
Maybe our GPS coordinates were a bit out on this one today so spent time searching most of the likely spots in a big circle around GZ, almost completed the circle before the "found it!" was called out.
Then it took a bit of effort to get the lid off, well sealed onto the bucket, nice and dry inside!
TNLN TFTC!

Very good cache limb is gone but still good

After looking around the area found a really cool cache thanks

Awesome cache for 6 geokids to find in the rain. Dropped 2 trackables too. TFTC

Found it with TheThreeSmartyPants. TFTC. Biggest one we have found. GPS about 18 m out. Good clue.

We had a nice drive out to this reserve. The hint made sense when we got there because for both of us the GPS was either 16m or 20m out. It was great to find a decent sized cache for a change.
The lid wasn't on the cache when we found it, so we made sure it was secure when we left it.

After reading the log I thought this may take me sometime but no the cache was soon in hand.
What a beautiful tranquil spot.
TFTC

Well that took a lot longer than it should have. Lovely secluded reserve. Had the place to myself so had a good poke and dig around. looked a a lot of hint items with no luck. Read a bit more and kept looking finally gave up and went away. Came back and stood back, spotted another hint item, a fresh look in places I had already looked and easily spotted. Doh!

What a cool little reserve the walkway opens into. We spent a while searching for this one, GPS seemed to be jumping all over. A nice big cache. TFTC

Not a quick find on a cold Rotorua day but persistence paid off. Tftc

Found with Kauriforest. Despite the size, it was a challenge to find -definitely having two sets of eyes searching was an advantage. But this place is beautiful. A real hidden treasure, a big thanks to the cache owner for sharing this place with the GC community. Deserves a favourite!

Took ages to find. Distracted by the big limb. I used to have that sticker booklet.

Leaving Hamilton for Rotorua then Wellington I decide to target Large caches. I am only 8 finds before a badge upgrade. Not sure if I can get 8 on the way home but I should be able to get at least six. Picked up 4 today.
This is my last one. Parked at the end of the road and went for the short walk to GZ. A tree has topped across the lawn spoiling the coolness of the area - makes me want to come back with a chainsaw. I am surprised non of the locals have availed themselves of some free firewood.
Anyway, I spent a lot of time in the flax and toitoi, maybe a good 20 minutes before I decided my phone is really not putting me in the right place (it does that. Often seems to be 10m out) so I switched to geo senses and made the find immediatly.
+ big enough for treasure (duh!)
+ dry inside
+ nice place (despite the fallen tree taking over the grass)
= favourite!!

Big bucket is right! Cool to find. Thanks for the find.

An amazing find. Thank you.

Thank you, beautiful spot

Checked up on cache. Still where it was hidden. Thnks to those who respect the hide. Appreciated. Happy hunting.

Wow! What a big one!! Stunning place. TFTC

Found this a while ago and was looking in the map and had forgot to log it!! It was such a beautiful place in the secret garden.

Found with our caching friends Hex the Kiwi. GPS was about 15m off

A nice quick find while out walking with shoebs. Hard to miss a cache of that size . Thanks for the fun hide.

Ending our holiday in Rotorua and meeting some locals at an event we organised this morning. Had the afternoon free to enjoy some of the lakes. Couldn’t decide if the sky or the lake was more blue. Have previously searched for this cache without success. Knowing it was large and recently found I persisted today. Finally found it with my thought measuring 20m. No. Log all fine Thanks for the smiley and such a large cache.

Real nice walk had fun choosing what to swap

No luck today. I thought a big bucket would be easy as for the kids to find.

The biggest cache I think we ever found, ish that bucket was large! Not sure if it was exactly at the described location but still an easy find

Great cache - great day to be out - many thanks

Tftc

Lovely spot

School holidays, out walking with little people. What a fun find with tired kids... not what we where expecting. Love from us. Happy kids, happy parents... haha TFTF

Couldn't find it first time, been looking at the wrong place the entire time. Haha TFTC!

No luck today.

Never been here before so thanks for the find lovely spot. Was a while before we found it... the hint is what it is but not.

Found! Cool cache

Found Awesome spot very beautiful! Tftc

Hunted everywhere except where it actually is as couldn't find it. Need to get going so will try another day.

Omg it is massive never seen anything like it love the stuff inside tftc

Thank-you very much. I liked how big it is.

Awesome, my 10month old loved playing with toys for a little bit, took ages to learn to twist lid not pull lol

TFTC. Great spot out here.

Awesome big cache - took us a while to realise you twist it open and not pull it open

How about you all stop whining about the coords or how I've actually hidden it. Agin I made it like that therefore it stays like that. Just be happy theres a cache for you to find. I've made it so anybody can find and not just the ones who like to pay for everything In life. Talking about the ones who pay for the premium accounts so u have all access. Wht about the ones who cant afford premium. Yea didn't count on that did you .

Hmm, if the coordinates aren't supposed to be the hiding place then this really should be a mystery cache and not a traditional!

1Octember and I came along after dark to find this one - we wanted to get out of the house; a short drive and short walk were perfect. Knowing roughly how far from the posted coordinates the cache was, and also keeping in mind it was a T1.5, we hunted for about 20 minutes for the container. Found lots of things that seemed to match the hint but didn't really have anywhere to hide a large cache. About six minutes after I'd said "five more minutes" I took one last look in a place I didn't expect it to be - and there it was! After signing and returning the container we stood back, shone the torches around, and spotted what the hint referred to. One of those things that's hard to spot in the dark! (Despite the sky finally being clear and it nearly being a full moon, it really was dark in here.) TFTC.

Soon spotted the hint object and cache soon after. A really nice spot, thanks for bringing me here.
[#1018]

For everybody saying the coords are off. THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE OFF. I MADE THEM LIKE THAT DELIBERATELY. Like I'm Going to lead you straight to my cache. Thnk about the game of hide and seek. You dont go standing on the person your trying to find while yuor counting down . The coords bring you to the middle of the reserve. From there its up to you to go seeking the cache.

Wow that is one big bucket! Beautiful walk. We have been horse riding for Miss 6's birthday so thought we would get this one while out this way. Thanks!

Out geocaching after a horse ride. Loved this park and its large geocache. Nice hide. Thanks N8t3n42.

Sure is a big bucket.TNLN. thanks for the interesting walk and reserve. Took some nice photos

A good walk and I nice quiet place
I love it thanks

It was an early start in Rotorua today gearing up for the Community Celebration Event. But we still had a couple of hours to kill so we ventured out here to clear out a few strays. This cache was found quickly and in good condition but it wasn't a normal find. The coords were clearly out but after reading the hint we had a bit of a scan around we could see an obvious spot to check. The cache is a good size so in the end it wasn't too hard. Cheers N8t3n42 & TFTC

***

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Whilst attending the Event for First NZ outside the USA. Managed to get out and about today to get a few others in the area ticked off.

I am logging using the Cachly app template so please excuse generic logging along the way. It’s just my way of keeping track, but I do genuinely thank each and every one of you cache owners for taking the time and energy to place these caches. Many Thanks for bringing me here. Cheers.

Down in Rotorua for a weekend with friends spending the morning caching. After a short walk and entertainment from fantails and bellbirds we managed to locate this cache. Thanks for the hints and cache.

Great to find this after a previous dnf. I followed other logs - ignored the coordinates and looked for the strange branch. Not difficult to find after the ranch was spotted. Found with xmasbabe - has already been found today I notice! TFTC

So much destruction all around, and a few limbs, vague hint and co-ords out, a DNF today

Followed the co-ordinates and quickly decided they were more like guidelines than hard and fast rules. Looked around for a hint and quickly spotted a likely candidate which quickly bore fruit. A lovely walk out here on a lovely morning post-lockdown and...oh, the sweetness of the air! TFTC & FP.

Lockdown activity!! Good cryptic clue for the kids. TFTC

Never knew this Reserve was here. Just thought it was houses. Both of us enjoyed the location. No one else here so was quite peaceful today. Tftc

Nice day for caching. Found this with the whole family. TFTC

Found it with the help of 4 lovely minions we were introducing to geocaching. We've taken the travrl bug to move onto new locations, And have left another one in a nearby cache. Tftc!

It was hard to find at first but trust me the “broken limb” is not hard to find

. Took my mum for a walk to find this cache. We started off and were rewarded with a lovely walk and scenery We got near the GZ and tried to zero in and have to agree the coords are out quite a bit and the hints helps to make a wide range of options. Mum was losing interest and I had to tell her to take a seat while I PAF aha we were looking on the wrong side and the tree I had been attracted to at the beginning was the right option. The cache itself is not up and not camoed but under good cover. It is a great bucket and nicely stocked The coords shouldn’t be used to make a cache harder to find that should be up to the size, camo, position. TFTC

Amazing spot. Very peaceful. Nice to see the geocoin here. Thanks for the cache.

Some local kids were sunning themselves nearby so had to grab from the back out of view. Took a tb and left one.

Much quieter here than the other side.

Took a while but then had help from previous log look up!!staying here overnight on our nz trip. Lovely place. Left a trackable from uk tftc

Lovely location. Had to wait for a couple of teenage muggles to go for a dip before we could find it. Are we imaging a face in the break?? Tftc

What an awesome spot..felt like I was trespassing ..
The gardens now have had severe trampling...which is sad as the co ords are way out...and there is no large broken limb ...all gone ...but I guess if you look up and hard you can see where its was...eventually got it...and really frustrating as I had been past it more than once thanks for the effort in setting this cache and bringing me to this special place

I knew this spot was here but we usually travel in our motor home and wasnt sure if there was turning space at the end of the road. Today we had my car so this was a great opportunity to explore this beautiful spot. Gz bought me to the middle of the clearing. After searching one side I checked the hint. Looked around and saw evidence of the hint. And there was this huge cache!!! Thanks for bringing us here.

We spent a couple of nights at the campground in Okareka and had some time to kill. What a beautiful little spot! As with the other finders, we struggled for a while but eventually found a very well camouflaged bucket! Coordinates are off, but CO has noted this. Good use of ‘broken limb’.

Yes i know the cords are off. They are ment to be like that. So as not to make it easy for you to find it.

With the dog... We've been quite busy in the lead up to Christmas, but nothing cache-related. We felt the need to get out and maintain a couple of our caches before the axe swings on them. Job done, so what do we do next?

This hide was well out of our driving range, but we came for a visit nonetheless. This is a portion of the point we have never come to before - Who knew this location was here? The dog wasn't impressed to be excluded from the walk - She sat in the car and moped (set off the car alarm too)...

Well now - Got to ground zone and found myself standing in the clearing. This can't be right. I spent a few minutes examining several items while trying to apply the hint. It wasn't fun. I pulled up the previous log and determined that the coordinates were out... Great! The logged comments actually helped a lot and I was able to dismiss certain objects in favour of others. Finally, I arrived at a place where the hint could be loosely applied and spotted the cache quickly. Thanks N8t3n42 nad TFTC.

We decided to take a break from bathroom renovations and we needed to pick up a few last minute things from the supermarket so we came out here to find this new cache. It took us a long time, like Davidson Clan checking all available hint items. In the end the last one we had not actually considered to be a hint item but there was the cache, well hidden. Co-ords for us were about 21m from GZ. We did not even know this little park was here. It must be one of Rotorua's best kept secrets. Yay, find #4000.

Thanks for bringing us here N8t3n42.

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