Drive To Motunau River Mouth (Canterbury) Greta Valley, South Island, New Zealand
By Hello Mrs on 27-Dec-06. Waypoint GC100XE

I needed this cache to complete the "0-100 Cache Challenge Cache", GC5JJ7E. I needed a cache with 100 in the GC code and it appears there is this one and perhaps one or two in the north island. I got some of the information I required online beforehand, but also checked on our way out to the beach. But the sign required at Happy Valley Road was not there so had to guess those numbers. Luckily, once we were at the final waypoint, I made a guess of the numbers, then headed off for a walk looking for the hint object so soon had the cache in hand. Thanks for bringing us out here, and having a convenient cache for those of us working on the challenge.

Spending weekend - just had to find it Many Thanks LGM

Hunt successful - out on a days caching expedition to track down caches I've been wanting to do for a while - super handy when there's 2 cachers!

I had wanted to come up to Gore Bay for awhile, knotobsessed had told me about it before, so we opted to team up and get a few rural caches.This was the first of the day, once we got going. We had an issue at WP5 but were able to work out the likely numbers - and Jude_Es log helps too. I have never been down here, so it was great - and not long after knotobsessed made the find. Thanks for the multi and brinigng us here.TFTC TheWanglers, the cache was found in good order Signed, sealed and returned to GZ. 1 find(s) of 10 today, making this find #4644

A beautiful day to do this multi. I had managed to work out all the numbers at home but it was nice to confirm them as we drove along.Lots of boats being launched today so the little ramp was busy. The cache was a quick find. TFTC.

We have never been to Motunau Beach as we always had assumed it was an unsealed road. But I recently found out from a friend that the road is indeed sealed and it is an awesome place to visit. So we planned a day trip out here today and were not disappointed, what a great spot. We collected all the numbers on the drive in except for WP5. Many thanks to Jude_E for the photo for M and N! And my second guess for P after consulting the map lead us to a likely spot matching the hint. The cache was found in great condition. We enjoyed a swim afterwards in the lovely Sandy Bay, TFTC!

I thoroughly enjoyed the drive along this road. Although wp5 is completely different, I will include a couple of things that might help with that with my log. The limestone was fantastic to see. We need to keep this cache alive. Both previous COs are no longer active, but this drive is well worth doing. I had never seen Motunau Island in all my 68 years! Cell phone reception is limited out here but I established that in all likelihood the cache had been cleared again by a vigilant gardener. Have replaced as per hint. Tiny clear square container with pink clips. It may not last but worth a shot. Attaching some photos. Thanks for the cache creation, Hello Mrs. A great place to bring us.#9968

I have stopped at least twice in the past and taken a photo at the first waypoint for future reference. I knew some of the information was missing at some of the others but that the cache was still able to be found from what Sidewaze had said after her visit. Very popular spot today for the fisherfolk and others enjoying sitting down by the water on the various seats. Searched several options before having another idea and of course that was where I found the cache. I'll be back another day for the earthcache. Thanks for keeping this one alive trifolia argentea # 18,904

Like Sidewaze (the previous finder) we could not locate the info required at WP5. As the description suggested the cache was near the foreshore we searched in a few likely places with the cache located in the second-last area we set aside to check; TFTC

On 4 May 2019 I dropped by and signed the challenge cache: GC5JJ7E 0-100 Cache Challenge (Kapiti) Mystery Cache which requires one to find caches with numbers from 0-100 in their GC code. I wrote:
I completed this challenge ages ago, all but the elusive 100. Have developed a plan which I hope to put into action to rectify that so dropped by today to sign the log. Hmm, long story short, it seems this place is in a bit of a blind spot in my caching journeys, not because of failures to plan but because of failures to get my plans right. I almost got it wrong again today with my accommodation phoning and asking when I was going to arrive. What's the rush, there are 24 hours in a day I'll be there when I'm ready!
So, I turned down the road to Motunau river mouth. I very carefully collected numbers along the way, knowing full well that P was missing but I realised that was easy to fill in. What actually happened was I didn't find ANY numbers at the turn-off to Happy Valley. So, continued to WP6. Plugged in the numbers I had managed to find. Um, too much info missing. Looked around for a likely place for a green seat and voila, soon I was signing the log. Thanks so much for setting up this cache Hello Mrs and thanks to trifolia argentea for replacing it. Cache is in an awesome spot.
I'm so pleased for this challenge cache without which I doubt I would have driven down this road and breathed in the amazing geology, topography and agricultural features of the area. I was surprised by the numbers of houses at the end of the road. A veritable community many of whom were out and about enjoying the evening.

We made the drive to Motunau Beach today for International EarthCache Day, and enjoyed a fund fossil fossick there. We collected this as well. Prior to planning our journey, we saw that the cache was likely no longer there, and knowing that the CO is no longer active we have contacted him and brought a replacement dark plastic screw top container - slightly smaller than the original. Landscaping work has been done here, which is no doubt the reason it went missing. We have replaced it under stones as per hint. TFTC!

This geocacher reported that the cache might be missing.

I got all the required info and even worked out the number on the missing sign. The GZ looked good as there was a green seat and some trees behind it. But though I gave the area a good search I didn't not come up with the cache. The CO needs to check this one out.

On a fossil hunt with a van load of boys for mr11s birthday. I spotted this multi just as we were driving up to fossil point so a quick pen and paper grab, juggling descriptions and way points, making notes as we drove. Didn't stop on the drive in (just slowed down a bit a few times) and got totally confused once, but two educated guesses later I worked out a reasonable final while the boys set off in the rain. Plugged it into the gps - nope, that didn't work. Bit of a tweak and tried again. Waited a bit for the rain to clear and then a quick detour to the new final while the boys carried on fossicking. Yup, right this time. Signed, swapped and back at way point 6 before the hunters had even noticed I'd gone. Tftc.

Got by with a little help from my friends

Even with one clue now missing it was possible to work out the final co-ordinates.... it helped that there were 10 other geocachers already there signing the log to confirm that we had the right place... anyone would think there was an event on! Even better, as a bonus it was the last number (100 in the GC code) that I needed to qualify for the 0-100 Cache Challenge in Kapiti. TFTC with waypoints that were easy to locate along the road - especially liked the Footrots Flats stop.

My first multi! Like a few others, I couldn't find a P, but got there in the end, with some collaboration. Thanks!

On a great day out to Motunau beach, and this one was conveniently on the way. Found with Geomum007 and Troodles and Streetwalker. TFTC and part of a memorable day,

Driving to an event and picked up the numbers required but couldn’t find the P but it didn’t matter as it was obvious what number was needed. Cache was a quick find

This one was worked out on the way by SWAT and Busy paws while I did the driving. Great to see a good turnout for the Earthcache walk today. TFTC.

Awesome multi along the way, no signage for the River mouth (P), but figured it out when working on the co-ords. SonofAnarchy went and found it and left it for me to return to the spot

Collected this after attending the nearby event hadn't been out this way before, was cool. Cheers for the cache

Found with SonofAnarchy, Vallenesca and GeoMurph on the way to the Earthcache day event, Couldnt find the number for P, but solved with help from other folks

Found with Purdie269, Vallenesca and GeoMurph on the way to the Earthcache day event. Vall managed to get the info required despite my crazy driving. Spotted easily once arrived at GZ, tyfc

Found with Vallenesca, SonOfAnarchy and Purdie269. Helped Vall get the numbers required, despite SonOfAnarchy's crazy driving

Did this on our way to event at Motunau and then the Earth cache. This was a fun multi to break the journey going in. We couldn't find 'P' but did a guesstimate. We happily found the cache and then went and joined the others at event. Thanks for the work and fun of this Multi cache Hello Mrs.

Found with StreetWalkerNZ, Geomum and Busy paws as we headed towards the nearby event.
I had used google street view to find some of the numbers, which were confirmed on the drive. P was missing but it was pretty easy to guess what it was. Cache was a quick find.
My first visit to Motunau - what took me so long? Really pleased to finally do this multi as have driven past the starting co-ordinates many times in the past. TFTC.

Found with Karma Reprint 9 years ago, (before I was a cacher), so I was pleased to log it today. Thanks.

#18712. We didn't get to this cache before leaving Chch in 2010, and it's taken us quite a while to finally get here. Enjoyed the drive from SH1, and made a quick find at GZ. TFTC.

Thanks Hello Mrs for constructing and placing this cool multi cache

It was going well until I couldn't find a sign for P.
I guessed but as that must be quite a winding road so once at the beach I used deduction to find a gz that matched the hint

Voila - a very conveniently placed cache considering I needed a P. Also very helpfull as I needed a cache with 100 in the GCcode for a 1-100 Challenge cache and this was a nice diversion on my drive from Picton to ChCh today.

TNLNSL TFTMC

Ooops I've done it again, made a purposeful trip into find a particular cache and then forgotten to log it.
This was a memorable cache that we came and did and then found on our way to Kaikoura when we were after the TMGT caches and needed to do some maintenance on one of our caches in the South Bay area.
This was our second trip in to this area and it was most enjoyable, we had to wait for people to move along as they were doing something near GZ that we knew would only take a few minutes, so we had a cup of tea and just watched and waited.
There was a boat that headed out to the nearby island, we thought it was much too rough to be taking a boat out but obviously they are a lot braver (or more fool hardy) than us.
Once the people we were waiting on, moved along there was no one else around so gk made a nice quick find, he signed the log and returned it as he found it.
Thanks for placing this cache and thank you for the smiley, apologies for the late log.

A bit of a "mad-cap" drive to Motunau late this afternoon with K C N - I've had the urge to claim this Multi for a while - and felt like an air-conditioned drive.
Thank you, Hello Mrs, for this well thought-out multi, and TW for maintaining it.
Unfortunately we made a basic error which saw us "all at sea"... but PAF'd & it was all sorted (a bit challenging with poor reception!).
We didn't have time to explore the nearby Earthcache - although we were there right at low tide. Sigh, such is life.

After getting a phone call from Kotuku-SI around 3.15 we arranged to drive up to claim this cache as she has driven past so many times. Thought we had right final gz but no we had to PAF. On way to gz had a dog growling and following me so turned at it and scared it growling back at it. Owners then got it under control. Found cache signed sealed and returned before heading home.

Out for a nice Sunday morning caching drive with the middle one. Very cool drive to the river indeed! TFTC!!

This cache was the sole reason for driving home to Nelson via Kaikoura. Its the only one I can find with 100 in the GC code which completes a challenge I've been working on in the North Island. I'm so pleased I made the effort to come this way. Its a beautiful place that I'd never have visited if it were not for caching. Cache was found quickly after having gone for a nice walk on the beach. Thanks for placing the cache Hello Mrs

#7539

17/02/2017 1:03:00 PM
7851
I needed to go out caching today - my sanity needed it - and I didn't want to deal with traffic along the way, so I decided that headed north seemed like a good idea.

A few to knock off - didn't find too many - did 7 though, which isnt too bad - then the baby woke up and decided she didn't like the idea of us caching, so back home it was!

I solved this ages ago, but was unable to make the find - turns out I stuffed up my maths - and when I did it at home I found the correct coords! That made more sense! And then finally today I made the find

TFTC!!

Found with Injeanious and The Burnsy - we signed the log as JeJeBu to save space. Today we enjoyed our drive out to Motunau, we picked up the info at the waypoints along the way - although couldn't find the info at waypoint 5 for the letter P we could still figure out where the cache was. We enjoyed watching boats attempting to land in low tide and get stuck on the bottom while sitting at the last way point. Cache was found easily. TFTC!

We managed to botch this one up a bit by misreading the clues, but no matter we still managed to figure out the coordinates and claim the cache. Thanks for the distraction on the drive to Motunau. Tftc.

After all these years living in Canterbury (like, 20 or so) I've never been to Motunau. So, off with the family, tents, family up the street and 6 kids for a weekend of fun here. A quick pull over here and there to collect the info required (Whoops, someone stole the P sign?) then wandered down from the campground to collect the last bit and watch some really expensive boats! A quick bit of maths, a short wander and success. Cheers for the cache, glad to finally get out here!

At the moment Pfote and me are on a work and travel backpacking trip through the world. After more than two years in Australia we took the chance to be so close to New Zealand, which is the farthest place on earth from our home. So we hopped over and will travel at least most of the south island in the upcoming months.

Even we couldn't get any GPS signal since Waikari we tried this multi. Doing it old school with following every turn in the road and comparing with the map to find the right spot was a really nice experience - gives me the idea for my next letterbox..
Found all the values but P, as there seems to be no sign anymore. Luckily it works without fairly easy and after correcting a typo the box was found.

TFTC and greetings from Germany.

--- This log is trackable! ---
-- Feel free to discover --
-- Please mention, in which cache you've seen this code: --
-- QR3BZF --

--- Dieser Logeintrag ist trackbar ---
-- und darf discovert werden! --
-- Bitte erwähne, in welchem Cache du diesen Code gesehen hast: --
-- QR3BZF --

Came along this interesting cache. Collecting the numbers was warm and comfortable.
So I reached gz soon and could log!
Thanks for this one

Took a drive out here for a look.
Interesting afternoon and a few caches as a bonus. Picked up the info on the way out and did the sums during lunch stop in the camping area. Worked out perfectly, thanks.

Found this with quinella today - I stopped in all the right places. Rather windy today!! Tftc

A nice spot for lunch

JDScout was keen to go for an adventure with me today. I suggested coming out this way and he agreed.
Poor JDSCOUT coped with all the stops and gathering of information. He didn't moan once. We had our lunch at Mutinau and then searched for the cache.

Drive To Motunau River Mouth (Canterbury) was transferred from Hello Mrs to user TheWanglers

A pleasant little multi with a nice end, thanks

Have held off on doing this one so today was the day

This cache has been sitting on my unfound list ever since I started caching in 2007 despite untold numbers of times I have driven past the starrting point on SH 1. We had a whole afternoon to spare today so decided to do a circuit from Greta Valley to Motunau to Nape Nape to Hurunui River Mouth then back to Domett, and this cache was high on the priority list. No problems with the waypoints except for the value of P - the sign appears to have gone but it was easy to deduce P and also to calculate it by plugging the destination into the Nuvi GPSr in the vehicle. A quick find at GZ - signed log, thanks for an enjoyable cache and it's good to get it off the unfound list at last!

#1 of 9 today. I've been wanting to do this cache for a few years now but we just never got out this way. Today the only goal was to visit Motunau and Napenape so a spot of caching was in order, too. Easily found all the necessary info and then found the cache while the boaties were sorting themselves out (& looking the other way). Thanks for the journey

Sevren was here before and he already found this cache.so its easy for me to find where the cache hide.tftc

We had a couple of late nights with the wee cachelets and the cunning plan was to go for a drive today to get them to have a wee sleepy in the car. Hmm, cachelet two fell asleep as we started to collect the third wp for this cache. We got to wp5 and couldn't see the distance to the Hurinui River Mouth but guess correctly for P. We made it down to the picnic tables and cachelet two was sound asleep. We worked out the final coords and 'hey it's just there'. I went fossicking for paua shells with cachelet one and we had a great time. Cachelet two woke up after about a 45min sleep and we headed back towards the main road to search out an ice cream. We quickly made a cache grab and signed the log. The coords were bang on. We opted to go back to Greta Valley and not Cheviot because we'll save that for another day. Great outing and lovely day.
Thanks for the cache.
#1369

A horrible wet day made a lot better with an activity along that windy road. Quick find in the end and a chance to look over this windswept but popular village. Thank you.

Found the cache, looks like we are the first in 9 months. Enjoyed the drive out from SH1, only number missing was the number of kms to Hurinui as a number of others have noted. But still a quick find on a lovely Sunday afternoon, the first of a group of finds from Motunau to Nape Nape today. TFTC

Tried this two years ago - and have still no idea why we failed. This time it was a quick find, TFTC

Fifth find of the day. This one's been on our radar for some time, but we never got round to it. Enjoyed the hunt and got sprung by Uramuppet at GZ... Can't have been sneaky enough. Nice to meet some fellow cachers though. TFTC.

Great little multi. Nice to meet pwh29 ... you can only look at the same area of mud for so long ... and then we knew! TFTC

Came out to Motunau for a picnic lunch and a days adventuring with the family. Wps quick to find on the drive in (with the same exception as the recent - easy to guess though). On arriving at GZ tide was clearly turning for the worst as there was a mad rush by seemingly the entire southern hemispheres boating population to exit the water at Motunau boat ramp. Most fun to watch...and watch them come in over the bar. Waited until after our picnic, when the area had quietened, before collecting the final. Most fun. Wee Dude made the find, Thanks.

Enjoyed this trip - our first time in here. One sign missing at WP5 - used a map and some common sense to get the missing number. Quite a few muggles at GZ but too busy to notice what we were up to!!! TNLN. TFTC.

Brilliant thanks... Had a few problems when we couldn't find one of the sign posts - I think the one at Happy Valley showing kms to Hurunui river mouth has gone.. but we found the cache anyway.. Thanks

We finally took the time to do this cache today, and were pleased that we did.
+ a marble, - nothing.

Had trouble find the answer to one question. Took a drive to Happy Valley to get the answer. I went on a fishing trip from Motanau a few years ago. Pleased to see "Navigator" still there. Jet boats do not run out over the bar at five knots.

A nice multi which we have finally got around to doing after driving past many times over the years. Impressive cliffs across the river. As others have said, the Hurunui River Mouth sign has disappeared, but fortunately this information wasn’t essential. TFTC

Found without a problem.TFTC

You could almost classify this as a driveby, didn't need to stop till working out the final. Final location could be hard at the wrong time of day, but was fine today. Thanks for the drive.

One number was missing but as it turned out we didn't need it.

Enjoyed this multi. The road sign at WP5 is broken so had to take an educated guess. Found the cache easily. Thanks for the journey and a lovely few hours at the beach.

Called by and did a maintenance check. All ok.

The missing way points were not to critical and we were able to work them out and find the cache. It was a quiet spot although there seemed to be a lot of fishermen out in their boats. TFTC

A couple of the WPs need updating. WP3 - there appears to be no mention of the person, so had to guess.
WP5 there appears to be no distance sign, so used the GPS to route me there, and tell me how far!
Perhaps I missed them - but have noticed a few other loggers mentioning missing information too.

A wee detour on our way back from Cheviot. A couple of the WP's need amending but worked it all out ok. Took away 2 TB's and left a crab in the cache. TFTC

Found eventually - had to guess a few numbers, as WPs are wrong. Thanks.

Enjoyed doing this on a hot busy showday. TNLN, travel bug remains in the cache.

Missed clues and messed up some of the calculations but luckily managed to find the right place with the clue. Plenty of boaties coming and going today

Nice drive and multi

Nice drive and multi

(137) This is a fun easy multi, I must of missed one of the questions but pretty easy to figure that out.. No one around at this time of the day..So in and out real quick..
SL, TFTC.

worker has been based here for a week, so we can't say we were excited with the multi side of it !! good final

Hard work for the navigator just as he had decided to take a break from driving. TFTC.

Mr B did the hard work while I just drove and slammed on the brakes every few km's. Everything worked out fine and I made the find, a small contribution. First time and lot's more houses than I expected. TFTC

The drive down to the beach was nice and the calculations very easy. It was more of a challenge to log the cache safely as there were a lot of muggles around the cachesite. But eventually we were alone for a minute and managed to log and rehide quickly. Thx for this cache and greetings from Germany, Team Loopi

A quick find on the way to meet friends at the beach. As previously noted, the P8 sign is missing, but only a bit of brain work is equired to work it out. TFTC, TNLN.

I had a go at this last year but stuffed something up this time all went well apart for the missing sign at WP5 for P8 but didn't really need it so on to find the cache GPS spot on and no one around which was great for me, as it looks like a popular place.. TFTC

Nice easy find after a plesent drive into this quiet area today

Was a very quick drive to the river mouth not even coming to rest at one of the way points the info being gathered in quick order. Final location spot on and had no trouble with this multi all the way through.

Nice place. My gps coordinates put me a good 100m away though. Must do a trial on another geocach as this was my first.

took sum doing, but got their, lovely spot,don,t no about taking a boat over the bar, may be ok at high tied.

A coolish day at the beach. Cache was in good condition considering low number of recent visits. All wp quite easy to find. TFTH. TNLN

Called by today to check on the cache. All is in good condition. Gardeners have trimmed back the shrubbery at the location. Please take care to rehide the cache carefully.

What a lovely drive this was. Enjoyed the hunting and the puzzle. Was an easy find. Also found a travel bug. (522135). Kids had fun at the beach. Although the weather started to get a but drizzly.

Sorry this should have been in last entry.
Left TB 522135 Tweety Bird

Nifty

A very interesting drive, enjoyed the multi, unlike that jolden fella who thought it was too complicated. Whats he on.

Left TB

TFTC Hello Mrs

Nifty, Trish & friends

Yes this area is well worth the visit. For a multi the cache set up was rather more complicated than it needed to be for the same result.
TNLN TFTC

Cheers Jolden

A nice drive to the oceanside, and a good puzzle. A first multi-cache for scoop81 and I which we really enjoyed.

Despite my earlier misgivings, the road to the Hurunui Mouth and onto Manuka Bay and Gore Bay is well worth the detour on unsealed but sheep populated roads. TreMichLan and I enjoyed the challenge and the scenery. Limit One Blue Cod. Smells Fishily close to us!

A pleasant drive and an enjoyable multi that lead me to yet another place I have never visited before, a nice spot.
Bumped into BruceAndLisa here, rather remarkable as I had just FTF their first cache only about an hour beforehand.
TNLNSL, TFTC

The trail of waypoints leading to this cache was great fun! Met a fellow Geocacher at the cache who had coincidentally just found (FTF) our new cache at Nape Nape.. Removed a geocoin which will be placed in a new cache very soon.

11:50 AM. Our first New Zealand find! Took donkey TB and left compass/cross carabiner. Instead of returning to Hwy 1 on the same road, we found a real neat side road that took us back via Hurunui Mouth.

A pleasant detour on my way back to ChCh after a weekend SCUBA diving in Kaikoura. TFTC.

Made the detour in here on my way home after a couple of days in Blenheim. Most enjoyable detour off the main road to a very cool seaside settlement TFTC TNLNSL