Lovers Ensuite-Al fresco (Auckland) Whatipu, North Island, New Zealand
By glyn(the only one) on 07-Feb-07. Waypoint GC10V1A

Um, is this cache available at the moment? A log from the CO saying "Access closed" but the cache is enabled?

Access closed

This cache appears to be in the area indicated as included in the current rahui, according to the map at http://tekawerau.iwi.nz/sites/default/files/Waitakere%20Map%20Information.pdf

Please get back to me if you have further information to appeal this decision to disable the cache.

Regards,
Curglaff.

#816
Gorby and 3 steaming hot ladies at Lovers Ensuite... woooww.. what else needed for a story.. it was a nice stroll up to this sweet little waterfalls. I missed love of my life here though... BTW cache is all good here, and thanks for bringing us to detour.

Our group met at 7 am at a nearby event, we are on a loop, down the Buck Taylor track, following the Pararaha stream, until the Odlins timber track, and returning to the start at the Lone Kauri road carpark.

This is when I started to use my GPS, as I had been relying on the others to navigate us to the other caches. The trip to this beautiful spot was one of the most tricky in our walk so far. The rocks seemed to be extra slippery, and a few stumbles along the way. But so pleased I made the diversion. A beautiful spot hidden in an amazing valley. Pararaha is just amazing, its taken many years to get here, and today it is magical.

More photos at the Event page: http://coord.info/GC6AA8Y

Thanks for the hide

We took the side stream up to this cache. It started with a climb up a smooth rock. Everybody else just flew up, but I had to grab onto the cutty grass to pull myself up and paid the price with several cuts. TFTC.

Well we go to this branch stream and the fun began. Clambering up the steep and relatively slick face was a challenge for all of our group. And then it was discovered one of the group had lost some kit. Where? Here, or between here and the last main stop? So while half of Jag50 was off looking for the piece of lost equipment, Gorby was having fun guiding 3 married women to the Lovers ensuite - al fresco. Really fantastic and beautiful spot.

Met with a group of cachers (Gorby, Hariscree, Azargo, Vistra, rustynz, Jag50) at Groby's event early this morning and headed down the track, and back up the stream.

Well inbetween leaving the last cache and getting to this one I lost my gps, but thanfully others had the informations and we were able to find and sign the cache. TFTC

**For information on the 2016 New Zealand Geocaching Adventure being held in Turangi, go to...**
[2016 New Zealand Geocaching Adventure](http://www.nzgeocachingadventure.nz)

Out with nigelbarnes11 for a day of hiking and caching. Came down Buck Taylor track and up the paharaha valley. We had dry feet until this point but decided to just do it! Wet feet it is!! Gps was 27 metres off but we found it eventually! Tftc

Was out with two caching buddies today doing this awesome stream. I have walked this many times, on my own, several times with groups that I have organised, but today was the first time caching here and first time coming down stream, I have always thought it better going up stream, however... evilno9 and mike-miss were with me today, we arranged to meet at Lone Kauri carpark and cache downstream, then probably up Muir trk, Odlins Timber trk, Cowan's Pool etc back to our cars - which we did!! We reckoned between us we tramped almost 19km today and my legs were buggered afterwards.

Had a brilliant day today, caching, never taken this stream diversion before but very glad I did, what an awesome waterfall, we 3 sat and admired it for awhile before having to move on. Cache in good nick, Thanks G for placing.

Out for a wander in the Waitakeres with evilno9 and Gorbygorbachov for the day. We headed down the Pararaha gorge and then back via Muir / Walker Ridge / Odlins Timber Tracks and back to the car some 10 hours later and all up 19km. A very memorable day and what is arguably the most scenic place in the Waitakeres. My first mission down the Pararaha and loved every minute of it.

For me, this is what geocaching is all about! Loved the diversion off the Pararaha up this side stream. What a picturesue little spot this is! We found the cache, signed the log and took in the surroundings before moving on with our mission. We could have spent more time here but we had a big day ahead of us. Thanks for pointing out this spot glyn and TFTC!

One of twenty or so finds during an amazing day out in the Waitakeres today in the company of FMZ, 11hpg11, HKCB, IamMrWalker, Cats&Dragons and our tour guide, Paultaps, on our 15-16km circuit which, with a bit of car shuffling, saw us start off at Odlin’s track, drop into the Parahara gorge, find our way down the stream into Parahara Bay for a bite of lunch before a crazy part-wade, part-swim adventure through the swamps and then wind our way back to Karekare via the lower end of Buck Taylor track, with a few brave souls in the group taking the more direct route up and over Baldy, and then up and over Mt Zion on the the Zion Hill track.

As usual, Cats&Dragons had done most of the planning for the day’s caching mission, this time aided and abetted by Paultaps, and I was just naively following along. I’ve long since learnt not to ask too many questions when missions like this are being planned, other than maybe getting a rough idea of where we're going. I’ve found it better, with my somewhat cautious nature, not to know exactly what crazy adventure I’ve signed up to although I know from past experiences that a day with this caching crew means I’m going to get muddy, wet, tired, sore, covered in enough scratches and bruises for muggle friends to wonder if I’ve been attacked and that I’ll have a massive amount of fun in the process. Today was no exception: explored so many awesome spots that I would never have visited on my own, with such amazing scenery, fantastic company and a lot of laughs along the way. A day I won’t forget in a long time. Good times!

As is becoming the norm on our group caching trips, we chose an abbreviation of our caching names to save on log-book space and, if we’re honest, coz it’s also part of the fun debating which sequence of everyone’s initials to use: finally settled on 1HICK for the motley crew from the mighty Tron plus or minus an F, as and when required for our brave Auckland accomplice. A few of the group had found this one before but were happy to follow the rest of us as we headed up the side-stream to GZ to begin our search. I like the story of the CO's lawyer mate and his fiancee and, having now seen the beautiful pool and 'ensuite' waterfall, can see that it could be a really romantic place. However, being there with six other hot and sweaty cachers was not that conducive to romance ... and that was before the 'bro-mance' boys decided to brave a shower (pics uploaded)! The cache was signed & safely returned; another great spot that I wouldn't have discovered without caching, a fav from me too, TFTC

This cache was found on another memorable 'mission' in the company of fellow Hamiltonians 11hpg11, HKCB, CatsandDragons, Kiwi69 and Aucklanders Funkymonkeyzone and Paultapps. We signed the logs (F)1HICK to save on log space and as its become a custom for us to try and come up with anachronisms for our trips together.

This trip came about after Zorgon told 11hpg11 and I about one of his most memorable/ favorite days Geocaching in this area. A suggestion here and there and before you know it C&D had organised us to replicate that trip and had expanded on it. I was new to the area and was blown away by how amazing it was. I really enjoyed the variety in the tracks, views and locations. It was a long, challenging day in which we collected in excess of 20 caches, 10 of those T4 (or higher) and it took me out of my comfort zone which also made it one of the most memorable. Experiences like these are best shared and I was lucky enough to do so with a great bunch of people.

This was really fun to get to, and the pay off of a great waterfall that would have otherwise missed just added to a great adventure. I grabbed something to eat while C&D and HKCB enjoyed a 'moment'. The only downer was I managed to drop my GPS on a rock and mark the screen. A great placement G-2, thanks for bringing us here.

It has only been a couple of weeks since I was last in the area collecting a few other caches so back here once again to see what else we can find in the way of small plastic boxes in the Bush. This time we are caching as F1HICKS being made up of FMZ, Paultaps, 11HPG11, kiwis69, HKCB, iammrwalker, Cats&Dragons.

This was always going to be a long and interesting day, possibly due to the many little sidebars that we took to find other caches nearby as it seemed a shame to pass them up. By the end of the day we had covered approx 15-16kms through some very different landscapes than what we normally find in the Waikato.

This was I think the first little side diversion of the day (not t be the last) along the trail and it is always good to sit in see what the CO thought about when deciding to place a cache here (or maybe it was just a case of "I need somewhere to drop this cache as I can't be bothered carrying it any further). Others on the trip will have photographic evidence of HKCB and I in the ensuite. Must say wasn't at all keen on the water temperature from the shower head.
A very nice location a little off trail and a great spot to start out in the Parahaha Valley

Thanks for the placement

I was meant to be elsewhere, but this trip had been planned for a while. I almost pulled out in favour of race team responsibilities, but really glad I joined the team of 11HPG11, HKCB, iammrwalker, Cats&Dragons, kiwis69 and Paultaps. Had not been out for a good long hike in quite a while so this circuit definitely took its toll on my legs - not so much on the day, but 3 days afterwards I'm still feeling it in my thighs.

Our route took us down Odlins track to the Pararaha Stream where we turned off and headed downstream stopping off at various caches along the way. We stopped for lunch at the campground at the bottom and then swam across the swamp to the Pararaha Point Pa cache. Then, while some went for Baldy, the rest of us went up the Zion Hill track and spent a while chilling out at Zion's Pool where we waited for the others to join back up. From there we continued up to Mt Zion, and then onwards down to Karekare.

Just love this part of the world, and it's my second trip down here. Took the diversion up the side stream to this one even though I found it already (in fact it was one of only 2 caches in this whole gorge last time I came through). Beautiful spot. G-2, if you weren't dead*, I'd congratulate you once again on such an awesome spot for a cache. This is what caching is about.



*for tax purposes.

Another Hamilton mission, with some crazy keen cachers. Today I teamed up with FMZ, myself, HKCB, Iammrwalker, Catsanddragons, Kiwis69 to form the team F1HICK. We were also kept company by the wonderful guide/guinea pig Paultapps.

What a perfect little spot, thanks for bringing us here and sharing with us this private ensuite. HKCB and Catsanddragons 'volunteered' to be the lovers (they didn't need much coaxing!) and went for a private shower together while we signed the log and had a little bit of a break. Enjoyed this cache greatly, would have loved to spend more time here. Definitely a fav!

Out for another mission with 11HPG11, Kiwis69, Cats&Dragons, IamMrWalker, with Paultaps and FMZ. Funnily this mission was devised when we were last up here taking on multiple high terrain caches earlier in the month. All up it was a fantastic day out, about 15km's covered, a few stream swims and a swamp dealt with and a summit conquered, so the beer at the end of the day was well earned. The logs were signed F1HICK.

This cache was very memorable, it started with nearly shattering the screen of Mr Walker's GPS, thank god for the protective covering one it. Once we'd inspected the GPS to determine it was still all gravy, we continued up to the waterfall. A bit of scrambling about before finding the cache. Had to go get my back up pen to sign the log as the first one I grabbed stopped working on me.

Once the formalities were done and the cache back in it's position all safe and sound. C&D and me thought it would be a great idea to go for a mid-morning shower in the waterfall. The water was a little cool, but great nonetheless. Was glad I threw the quick dry gear on today as my shirt was just about dry when we had got back to the main river.

A truly awesome spot, thanks for the placement.

i never entered it last year when with Aligatornz we struggled to find it. this time i was observing Vistra and wondered how long it wuld take him to find it. i was disappointed when he went straight for it. for my defence, its probably easier to find from the "track" side than coming from the river bed itself, but its more fun walking in the river[:-)]

Out for a hike today with Alligatorsnz and Natoratia. After picking up Grecian 200 and Baldy 223 we then took a 'short cut' down to Pararaha stream, where we found another cache and had lunch, before heading back down the stream and up the side stream to find this cache. Lucky I approached this cache from the correct side of the stream, as I soon spotted a likely hiding spot and found the cache! An awesome spot this, TFTC!

Picked up Hugh the Hamster TB.

A late log, sorry! A fun side trip on our way up the Pararaha - a great day out. Thanks for the cache.

Posted a DNF a few months ago and afterwards looked at photos, have now come back and found it. This is the first cache on our trip down the Pararaha stream. Cool place for a cache, we are locals but had never been up this side stream and never knew there was a waterfall there.

TFTC

Couldn't find it!
The description and hint seemed to fit, but it just wasn't there!

Found with the Pararaha gorge walk group. Had a lot of fun finding these caches, and walking in the interesting terrain.
TFTC

10 keen walkers and cachers as group is a lot of fun. We were having a blast on the Pararaha Gorge walk, and it didn't seem too hard (yet). A truly amazing spot you have here.
Will add a book mark for the Challenging Cache elective.
Brought through for mileage: 3 Bros, Aust Light Houses, BEAGLE BIXBY, B 2 B ingot, BROWN BEAR 15, Coin of Danmark, CRDAVIS-Scottish Thistle Geocoin, Fishing Bell TB, GoLeo Travel Bug Dog Tag, Iconic Bridges, land rover TB, Lil' Miss TB, cache critters Baa, Neigh Neddy, and Oink, PAP, Rienan TB, Spooky, steben6's DNF Duo - Super Cacher Geocoin, Trakabulldog geocoins, and trackable shirt.
TFTC G 2

This entry was edited by Grahame Cookie on Tuesday, 29 October 2013 at 18:02:14 UTC.

No lovers looking for an al fresco ensuite today, but a group of hard out cachers keen for adventure - and some of the best caches of course! Started from the top of Odlins track and were headed down to Karekare and we did eventually get there with a few detours. We got wet and muddy on the way, and had to negotiate a few hard bits, but got there at the end - or was it just the middle? Great spot, thanks for placing a cache here!!!

25/10/2013 10:20:00 AM
3394
My mega NZ MEGA 2013 Trip!! Split into two halves - first, the journey up, and then the second half was the actual MEGA time.

This was the second half. After relocating a rental car to get up here, I now had 6 days in Auckland.
Friday was spent on the Pararaha Gorge guided walk. An epic as day out, finding some extremely epic and fun caches!! I love these higher terrain ones!!

Back when I lived here, I saw this cache, and thought, wow... that would be an epic spot to visit! Except since I usually cached on my own - and still usually do, it was not really a good idea to try do something like that!!
So was pretty stoked to be able to find this one - along with the other ones along this walkway - if you can call it that -

Sorry about the not as epic logs - but otherwise I would still be logging till Christmas - and that's Christmas 2014 I mean! Haha.

TFTC!!

Definitely a favourite! Really fun going up the side trail, jumping over the gap and surfing down the slippery part twice before finally making it to the area. Really nice spot! Dropped off a TB wanting high terrains and I think this is a great high terrain. TFTC!

I am logging this find as part of Rambler's Reward Challenge Cache (GC2XBA7).

This entry was edited by /dev/gc0c on Wednesday, 30 October 2013 at 22:38:46 UTC.

Reperio at 1020.

I arrived into Auckland early in the week for the upcoming NZ Mega event, and whilst the entire week was fantastic, the walk along the Pararaha Gorge to Karekare Beach today was by far the highlight of the trip. I met up with the rest of the walking party at approximately 0800, and we set off shortly after.

This was a short little detour off the main trail to visit this location, and while there were a couple of small technical bits to clamber over, the location of the cache was simply beautiful. The waterfall was in full flight today, and on a slightly warmer day, I would have had a bathe in the pool. Superb location that just made the walk today that little bit better.

Thanks to Paultaps, Greenblat and evilno9 for organising and leading the group.

Gratias glyn.

I joined last minute the Mega Group Heading out to Pararaha Gorge/Karekare Beach. And oh boy did I learn a lot today. E.g.
Walking the whole day with new & watery shoes is not bad, I am not afraid of heights, I gained hands on experience about rock climbing and that swimming in a very cold stream could lead to hypothermia. Thanks to Paul and Alan for organising and thanks to the whole group helping me along the way...

Wow what a great place to find just upstream. Alan our water-guide went into the pool to check out the caves on the other side. I gave it a try but it was too cold and I directed my attention to finding this cache. TFTC

This entry was edited by alpenmilch80 on Friday, 25 October 2013 at 18:37:57 UTC.

Just passin' with Paultaps - cache is safe clean and dry. cheers

Just coming though again, this time with Greenblat to assist with some maintenance on caches in the area in prep for the NZ Mega hike out this way. All is good with the cache. Always love coming out here.

Ha! Got it this time. 3 Years after our first attempt and this time it did not elude us! A damp trip down the Pararaha today and up the Buck Taylor to finish. It was a drizzly sort of day and we didn't expect to see anyone else but bumped in to 2 other groups including picking up a couple of strays that were struggling to find the right route. Lovely waterfall. I expect that next time I see it, I will be at the top. TFTC

having a great exploring a wild creek off track with "natoratia" even managed a chest deep up right swim with a nice floaty pack.. awesome... must say we where totally stumped by the clue.. just made no sense to us at all.. so with the signal as crappy as it was we spent a bit of time around GZ, admiring the view, trying to get in to glyn's head (;-) ), more sitting and enjoying the views, more clambering until i headed off in to the bush engaging my " where would i put a cache my self brain cell" and there it was looking right at me "cacher sign" and under it the cache.. we stood their puzzled.. still unable to see how the clue pointed at it but.. hey turns out we didnt need it...

a bit more difficult going back down the creek to the main one - tried some bushy detours but ended up back on the bum slide .. wasnt as bad as it looked.. and then on towards odlins track for us.. thanks Glyn:-)

After checking with the council and got confirmed that dogs are allowed on the track. We were on the Gibbons track and decided to proceed to the Kauri Log Jam cache. Looking at the GPS and was magnetic drawn to this cache from Glyn

After walking up the Gibbons track, walking down on the muir track we reach the campingsite to go off on the pararaha river. As normal we tried to keep our feed dry and we did a far point. Till we passed the Kauri log jam and arrived at a pool. Maybe we could manage to climb the wall....but that doesn't looked tempting and/or safe. So what now....Oh what ...it's only 300 meter so up there hahahaha...... Decided to leave the backpacks behind. Nobody here, middle of nowhere, so took of the shorties and went in the water. Rene decided to stay behind as the water wasnt so tempting for him (yet). Ofcourse the doggies couldn't resist and where in the water before we knew. And of we go with climbing and swimming. Till we arrived at the falls.... Alone...hmmm about 20 youngsters where diving from the rocks in their wetsuits. And there was me in my undies (lucky I was wearing a long t-shirt) but their attention was more to the dogs....how did they came here....
Went on and couldn't understand where my GPS was pointing at...Then finally the clue.....Yes yesssss that was it....Walked the last part up....altough the first part was very sliippery. I was so glad when I found the cache. I had nothing with me to left behind and was happy that there was a pencil in the cache to scribbel my name down.
And off back...cause I could imagine that hubby got worried. Hmmm what did you say Glyn...not for the wifes or doggies....hahaha
So walked back. this time no need to keep feet dry as I was wet to the top anyway. Arrived back at the pool and found the whole youngstergroup together with hubby. They stayed and we climbed Happy and also tired as we were we walked back.....then that one point where you need to manage yourself down between the rocks....a bit too slippery for me and I slipped over the rocks into the water....no problems I shouted to hubby...I swim... no problem as I was wet anyway and my GPS was in a wet sack. pffff
We found our backpacks and went further through the river. Just because I wanted to avoid some mugglers and thought to walk around. hmmm not a good idea as that part was a bit too slippery and off I go...slipping down again, this time on my bump.....Leaving some deep, red scratches.

At the end of the river, I took a good bath, and changed my undies for my shorties. Tired, very tired and then need to go up and up again. We had ofcourse to less drinks with us and we became very, very thirsty....We never ever have desired so much to come back to the camper, just for a drip of drinking water.

Thanks Glyn for this great challenge, we have enjoyed every bit of the way (hmmm maybe not the way back up the muir track hihi). The doggies loved the swim and we loved the challenge.

Found it with Trampingkiwi. Really enjoyed the hike to this one. TFTC

Day 3 of the great geocaching adventure with Tracit - (playing the part of the missing party for a Search and Rescue Exercise). We decided to follow stretch.kerr's route but dropped off Buck Taylor Track to soon. Eventually found a bait line which we followed (found a rock biv on the way down) but hit the main stream upriver from the cache. Dropped our packs and headed for the cache - a beautiful sight. Last cache for the adventure as tomorrow we have to get to Karamatura Forks to be winched out of the bush. TFTC

The Pararaha stream is always a good day tramp in summer. Great to find this beautiful little side stream. TFTC.

What a lovely spot - was hoping to find a good feed in this cache cos I was damn hungry by the time I got there.

Found with Foodbaby on a great canyoning mission down Cowan and Paraha streams on another sunny day of summer. Lots of fun jumping and swimming. Awesome waterfall, who would have thought it was there! Cheers for the cache.

Cache 3 on my solo Waitakere mission, having found Bivouac Falls and Apollo's Pool earlier in the morning. I parked at the start of the Buck Taylor Track, and took that track for about 700m until I entered a relatively open area of Puriri. From there I dropped off the left side of the track and, keeping the small stream on my right, followed it to the main Pararaha Stream. Once I was on the main stream, it was only a couple of hundred meters upstream, and up the side branch to Lovers Ensuite. Time from Carpark to cache was 45 mins. An awesome site - my third waterfall so far today. Took a breather at GZ, found the cache in good condition, took some snaps, then headed downstream for Kauri Log Jam. TFTC. Another amazing spot.

The climb is worth the view. And your spot is very well chosen, i was standing on top of it for a while before i jumped down and spotted it tucked away. TFTC

Couldnt pass this one up, only being 100 m up a side stream on our Pararaha Gorge mission. JimmyNZ found it (he was on a roll today), cache still lovely and dry inside. I took a funky shoe pocket to hold my key while running (stoked!) TB in. TFTC!

Thanks for bringing me here, Glyn. The journey up from the bottom was amazing. The creek climb/stomp made me simle at every turn. And waterfall after waterfall. My ears are still buzzing! Die in, swirly blue marble out. 1428.

This entry was edited by Paultaps on Saturday, 11 February 2012 at 08:25:51 UTC.

This entry was edited by Paultaps on Saturday, 11 February 2012 at 08:56:28 UTC.

Drat - I missed an opportunity to find this cache by not doing my homework properly before I left! I went for the walk up the Pararaha and Cowan Streams, but it was only after I was out of cell reception that I began to suspect I hadn't downloaded enough caches around Piha, where I'd spent the night before. Sure enough, when I checked later there were several caches I could have found en route,including this one. Oh well! I had a blast on the walk, with every turn of the stream bringing a new smile to my face. I'll just have to go back and do it again, right?

Wow what an amazing trip this was to get to this cache. I guess I was a little concerned with the description of what we were in for to get to it, but was not disapointed and so glad we did it. With great company - snakelion and evilno9, we waded, climbed, crawled, slid, and at times hung on for dear life, while balancing precariously above a sheer drop, but all was worth it in the end. Definitely a cache that puts you outside your comfort zone, but definitely worth the challenge. Cache sight was a great spot to stop and relax before the slog back down river. Thanks for an awesome experience, and congrats to evilno9 for making it to 500 finds. its gonna be hard to beat this one for a while!

Bloody awesome adventure I had for this one, with evilno9 and mel_ramsay. The views, trees, rocks, water, cliff, waterfall, not so proper tracks, the plank and the dam...wow just loved it. Enjoyed every moment even though at times I knew that one silly move and I could be in deep waters...Thank you glyn for giving us the opportunity to go in such an awesome place. Not in a hundred years I would have imagined that I am capable of doing these physical activities and of course the great company on that day was like a million dollar bonus.

The awaiting cache was hidden at the nice spot and was not too hard to locate after scanning the area as per the nice encrypted message. After signing the log book, we decided to stop for lunch and then made our way back and this time it seemed very easy. Congrats evilno9 for your 500 (you made it!!! - not that I had any doubts ) Wohoooo back in once piece.

Once again thanks for the lovely day's adventure, evilno9, mel_ramsay and glyn for taking us there.

Cache number 500 for me and a simply amazing way to bring it up. A slight change of plans due to ocean swells brought us here and to be honest it couldn't have worked out any better. My very capable partners in crime Snakelion and Mel_Ramsay joined in and we parked up at the Buck Taylor track and made our way down to the Pararaha Valley campground which was our starting point for getting wet. Made quick progress up to the Kauri dam (leaving TT's cache for the trip back) and was not let down when it came to see what the difficulty and terrain rating was going to give us. It was an experience that I know we'll all remember for a long time. Our climb up and out of the water kept us all on our toes (and sometimes our hands and bums) until we descended again and when we finally made the turn off up into the final stream we were really looking forward to a rest and some lunch. Finding the cache was almost secondary at this point. (Almost!).

With a quick trip up the stream made we then split off in search of the cache - took a few minutes of poking around but we were soon in luck and it was easily our most enjoyable find to date. Great company, a true challenge both physically and mentally and a chance to visit an area that very few people are likely to visit made for a perfect way to bring up a milestone I've been looking to for a while. Thanks Mel and Avi for the awesome company, and thanks Glyn for yet again delivering something special. Cheers!

No problem here...clue is precise.
Last took the diversion down this (side ) stream about 32 years ago.. from Odlin track down past here. Still remebered a superb spot like this! Arrived about 8am having come up from Pararaha mouth. Took the obilgatory dip.. could have been better but my lover is away on adult Outward Bound course this week.
TFTC

Hmmm... what can I say? I was disappointed not to find this one. Unfortunately I could not get a decent signal for the GPS and I had not looked at the pictures before attempting it so i was literally stabbing in the dark trying to find it. Thanks for the walk though.

So close to all the people on the Pararaha and yet so far away. A lovely quiet little spot. TFTC

A great place, and a great day .
I timed our exit back to the car park on lone kauri rd at 1 hour.
Not many places in the world has a place like this so close to its biggest city.

Thanks

Beautiful spot, very secluded, have tramped right the way to the end of the stream & found an old kauri driving dam.

Had an awesome time tramping into and finding this cache. What an absolutely glorious spot. Came in from the Odlins track along with TWS, KiwiLeon, Greenblat, OGP and GadgetTron (the Infamous Five?). The trip to this cache didn't tax my abilities too much - a few slippy spots but really just amazing scenery, lovely cool water, and a great side trip up to this cache. Thanks for putting this cache here so that others can discover the spot too.

At first they didn't beleieve me when I told them there was a little room in there.

Nice little jaunt off the main water flow. Nice private grove too. Such and adventure this whole valley. Truly awesome that a cache was here as a bonus.

Thanks.

Out with GreenblAt, FMZ, TWS, Gadget-Tron and OGP.
This is where the real fun started. Managed to keep my feet dry for the first hour, but then quickly gave up.
A great walk down and throught the stream. Water was a bit chilly in the beginning.
Nice spot, thanks for bringing us here.
TFTC

What a great cache to celebrate my 500th find. Really enjoyed scampering up the side of the waterfall. Really beautiful at GZ. GreenblAt decided to enter the Ensuite. The only bummer was me slipping down a steep rock face 30 minutes earlier and my shoulder "popping" out of its joint. TFTC

Out with GreenblAt, FMZ, Kiwi Leon, Gadget-Tron and OGP.

Thought it was a lovely walk. Forgot my flashing hiking stick I got in the States so felt a bit like an old man, best to be slower and careful though.

We came down from the top car park. Took a number of photos of which I will upload.

We were chuckling on how Glyn got to this location to place the cache

Thanks for the exercise Glynie boy, and what a fantastic spot!!!

Most enjoyable!

TFTC

TB drop, likes long walks

First venture back out into real tiger country since I had my knee refurbished. Hadn't been down this track since I was 16 and this cache had been beckoning since I started geocaching.

Relatively straightforward travel in the upper gorge today - any thoughts of trying to keep the boots dry evaporate pretty quickly though. Sidled round the first big fall on the true left which was a bit slippery on the way down as Gadget-Tron found out. No problems spotting Walker Stream, quite slippery heading up the rocks and I was very cautious not to stress my knee, so slow going.

Cache in hand, we checked out the pool. I ducked into the en-suite for a look but the last person had left the shower running and used up ALL the hot water - don't you hate that! [:o)]

Cache was nice and dry and still in good conditions. Thanks for brining us here Glyn and thanks to the boys for a great day out, we then set off down the gorge for the next challenge.

found with school mates. Howick College OED. took a while. i lost my sun glasses in water just down from cache if you find pls let me know thanks. TFTC

beautiful walk to cache took a wee while but got it in the end after taking a dip in the freezing cold water hole

A nice little side excursion on our way upstream. The waterfall was a very unexpected surprise. Many thanks for showing us this beautiful spot.

#2545
AWESOME spot for a cache, the pool looked very inviting and the Hydrangeas were in bloom. Had an early start to celebrate the end of Daylight Saving. In and out via the Odlin Timber Track and found in the fine company of our most capable guide, Tramper Ted. A most enjoyable excursion, managed to keep the feet dry but only just, with a bit of rock hopping and scrambling. Many thanks Glyn, for the physical challenge and showing us this magical spot, highly recommended.
Logging YG4's Southern Planisphere GC in for the mileage
TNLNSL, TFTC

I'm planning a trip to this cache this Sunday 15 Feb. If anyone interested to join us please send me a message.

*** trip deferred until 1 March due to uncertainty in forecast last night - let me know if interested ***

[This entry was edited by Greenblat on Saturday, February 14, 2009 at 11:00:49 PM.]

What an amazing experience!!
We walked an anti-clockwise route starting from the Lone Kauri carpark, down to Karekare via the Zion ridge track, along the beach and back up the Pararaha stream via this cache. My son rates it as THE best walk he has done.
Feeling a little tired by the time we reached this cache so it was a very pleasant spot to relax under the flowering hydrangers (sp) - where did they come from? before the final bit back to the car park.
It was such a hot day that I spent a lot of time cooling off in the pools along the way.
Top cache!
Many thanks

One of the truely hidden gems in the Waitakeres. Really enjoyed the walk to GZ and enjoyed the sight that greated me. I recon that there is only a select few that venture into this spot. Thanks Glyn for sharing this spot and TFTC.

Out: DNF Troll Geocoin

Well worthwhile detour from the Pararaha, on a glorious day. This area is the best kept secret in Auckland, well worth a visit for those prepared enough for the journey.

Thanks for bringing me up here, I've passed this stream a few times and wondered what was up there, now I know!

TNLNSL

What an amazing spot! This is definitely a recommended cache. We had amazing weather, but not quite hot enough to dive in (although we did wade the whole way back). We'll have to come back at the height of summer to truly appreciate it.

TFTC.

We thought this would be a perfect cache for the DNF Troll Geocoin given the difficulty rating and plus we had wanted to do this one for a while. What a stunning location! We had brilliant weather (wouldn't have done it otherwise as had 10 month old baby in the backpack!) and enjoyed the terrain challenges and the fact it wasn't too long or gruelling. We went in from Lone Kauri Road and followed the track beside the stream for most of the way to ground zero. On the way back we were wet anyway so decided to walk in the stream most of the way. Found the cache without any problems.
Really enjoyed doing this one with gnbquest. Look forward to the next one
TFTC.
Left: DNF Troll Geocoin and Shoe Wallet
Took: Bendy woman toy

Retrospective mixed joy on this one. Stoked to have been led up this awesome little side-trip which I must have passed a dozen times and find the cache. Gutted that it may be my last geocache for a while as the GPS has stopped responding after jumping off one too many waterfalls in the Pararaha... waaaaa
I have never seen so many people in the Pararaha though, 100 plus on this bluebird Waitangi day.

It's been many, many years since I've journeyed down the Pararaha Stream. I was a bit apprehensive too at doing it by myself. Today was a beautiful day and it seemed like a good day for an adventure.
The stream gave good travel today. One of the high level tracks was too exposed with a sharp drop for a lone traveller, so I waded through the deep pool below. The small tributary on the true right was so overgrown that I almost missed seeing it. Soon after I saw George Barr Stream on the true left.
I've never bothered to venture up this stream - and what a little gem it is!
The waterfall is stunning and the pool below very inviting. Diamond & Hayward's old kauri dam maps show an old dam high up on this stream. The logs stuck in the falls are probably from this dam.
There was really only one place the cache could be, and it was indeed. Nice and dry too. Grabbed the TB since this cache doesn't get too many visitors.
The way back was a bit busier because I got mobbed by the Wild Turkey Race coming up the stream. A very friendly lot, but they stirred up the stream silt, consequently I walked into several unseen streambed 'holes' with chest deep water!
Fortunately I'd packed my pack carefully to allow for a dunking and no harm was done.
Thanks for the fun Glyn!

Rala had organised a trip by Adventure Specialties through the Pararaha gorge for the youth of our community. So together with 8 people (among them Hopeful #1) and the guide we went down the Odlins Track. After a harmless river crossing, we left the track and started the adventure which was very challenging for some of the group and a great experience for all. Rumo and Rala introduced the guide to geocaching and told him that they would come along a cache. So at about 120m from GZ, both left the group and went for the cache which was quickly found. Sadly, Hopeful #1 had to take care of the youth, so we also signed the log for them - being so close by. After that the tour continued to the Pararaha beach, but became more and more difficult and challenging. After a total of 8 hours and 8 km, the whole group arrived at the cars in Karekare - exhausted and rainsoaked, but happy and proud of having survived this adventure.
Wow, what a cool cache spot. We fell in love with it even from a distance with the waterfall sparkling through the leaves. We will definitely return and show this jewel of a place to those who want to experience NZ nature as close as possible.

TNLNSL, TFTC

#730. Earlish start at 9:25 from Lone Kauri Road via Odlins Track. At the Pararaha Stream a clear path was visible on the left side heading downstream. I followed the path all the way past the two sets of falls until I reached the stream joining from the left. (Falls like weir here - English term I think).
I headed on South down the Pararaha for another 150 metres until I realised I should have headed up the side stream.
Start off left head over to the right at the obvious point and then back to the left with about 20 metres to go.
Had a very welcome snack whilst I signed the log and left TB, then back the same way to reach car at 11:50am. About 2 hours 25 mins all round. Very pleasant walking in the gorge and a relief to find it not quite as challenging as I feared (- not big on heights). TFTC.

[This entry was edited by St. Ouens on Sunday, September 23, 2007 at 1:08:44 AM.]

We've been up and down the Pararaha many times, but never visited this particular spot. Wow - how did you find it!! Track a bit muddy, but no worse than usual in the Waitaks. Met some Canyoners who had been in Cowan Stream looking pretty cold. Great walk and a great spot. TFTC

Mrs sp8 decided she wanted to go for a walk in the waitakeres today, so I readily accepted, little did she know.
Have known about this route for some years, but it always seems to remain in the to hard basket, one of those we will get around tuit jobs.
Set off from Lone Kauri Rd carpark, down the Odlin Timber track, we knew where we had to turn off, but were actually surprised to find such a good track there, half expected to be rock hopping down the stream bed. A couple of parts of the track were more mentally challenging than physical, Mrs sp8 doesn't like heights, and while I'm OK with heights I am more used to being in a full harness and clipped on. So ballancing on narrow ledges 20m above a rocky stream bed trusting your life on a narrow tree root was definately a challenge.
After negotiating one particular difficult bit pulled the GPSr out to find we had reached the junction, damn, back up that tricky bit.
After admiring the beauty of the spot, on with the hunt, surprised that the GPSr pointed right to the spot.
Decision time, carry on down or back the way we came, the thought of the Buck Taylor track back to the car made it easy, back the way we came.

Thanks Glyn for a truely memorable cache, and challenging us mentally and physically

Ha hah.. Mr Navigull... I told you I would get here...
Saw your log and your challenge and decided to put off Rangitoto kayak trip for this one...
TechnoKitten had been up that area when training for one of her events so was pretty confident we wouldn't get lost.
Took the precaution of planning some waypoints on GPS so i knew where I was.. Navy training says always have a backup.
We got up early and headed out West.. Stopped and picked up M@'s Numbers cache on way down to KareKare... Parked splat and stashed bike gear and kitted up with the essentials.. a Brim Hat... Lots of water and nibbles.
We headed off.. I picked up a nice long staff made from Suplejack.. Light and strong.. this will do.
We decided to go anti clockwise along beach.. God I hate walking on sand... Can't be far.. lol..
Headed around the point and found Cache near tunnel.. a bonus..
Carried on and headed inland at my marked waypoint... Track was pretty good. Found the appropriate valley and headed up the stream.. Rock hopping and using side track.. or semi track when stream impassable..
This is a beautiful place and yes it is not for novices.. I doubt I would call myself an experienced tramper but I can tackle most challenges.. The near verticle climbs were tough but not impossible.
Some beautiful pools.. we head up higher and enjoyed a swim in the waterfall pool.. Yes I did skinny dip.. but TK wasn't game.. The water was so refreshing...
Up further and we did overshoot the side stream but backtracked and went up to GZ.. the GPSr was bouncing off the cliffs and we thought we were standing on the right "flat" rock but we were still 20 metres away.. but we finally got there and guessed where the cache was.
Relaxed near the pool and waterfall while TK signed the log in her inimitable style. We left calling cards..
Surprised not to see Navigull stamp but see he forgot it..
Bad planning.. lol...
We replaced the cache and carried on up the gorge till we reached the tramping motorway and back down to KareKare.
Round trip took a little over 4 hours with stops.
We were going to do the KareKare cache but piked out. We will come back.
This would have to be the longest Hike I have ever done in one day.. the track tells me we did nearly 15km..
But it is also the best cache experience we have had.. Simply beautiful country... pools and history.
Very Excellent Glyn.. thank you very much for showing it to us.
TFTC #349
Some pics posted of our experience.... and logged thru travelling TB's
Will find a challenge for Navigull..

THanks to Glyn for the cache and Navigull's challenge for the reason to take XenaCommander "Walkies" .. This valley was on my list of "adventures" to introduce to XC, who has now survived five such adventures, this being the most challenging to date. We set off early with some controversy over the actual time as the GPS seemed to be running on kayak-time. It was decided to do the loop, starting along the beach, up the valley and back along the Zion track. I am impressed with Navigull's group managing a new chum up this goat country... some parts I would have given a climbing grade of 14. My last excursion here was pre boardwalk and had to piggyback a very short and very scared running buddy thru the thigh deep muddy water at the entrance to the valley.
We stopped for a swim and put the nosebag on at the big pool then on up to the cache, we missed it at first and had to double back and found our way up the right creek
GZ is just fabulous...XC had to rescue TK from a slimy rock with his fancy walking stick.. major claw failure there
My memory had blocked out the huge number of steps out of the valley (how convenient eh) but we made it out to the hikers motorway and back to the bike.. both pleasantly exhausted.
TFTC TNLNSL

Phew! Congrats XC and TK on your find.

As I was unsure of XC's tramping experience I have been a little nervous since making that "challenge" Memories returned of how I felt when I read this:
http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=38843
log on my What is on the Menu cache.

I was wondering if I should offer a gpx track file as I wore a head mounted external antenna for the whole trip and never lost lock. It would be a bit of a spoiler though.

Hmmm the inimitable Navigull knew I was watching this one... I hereby accept the challenge...
Watch this space.!!!

My walking group has had this walk on its program quite often but weather or other conflicts have stopped me from walking it before today. It turned out to be quite a mission all right.

I agree this route (hardly a track) is not to be undertaken lightly a view reinforced by a woman along on what was only her third tramp. She struggled to cope and needed a lot of assistance and coaching but made it OK in the end.

We had a perfect day to do the circuit anti clockwise and completed it in around 5 hours, probably taking an extra hour because of the inexperience of that tramper.

As we were leaving the car park a ute and trailer drove in with a pest control officer with full pack of pig dogs in tow. He was operating in the area and informed us that he had caught 3 pigs the day before in the “Paraha’ We met up again a couple of times and at one stage I had to take one of his pups back when it attached itself to us for a while.

In the upper reaches of the main stream we were entertained with the antics of a 1 metre long eel who was quite tame and lazed in the sunlit shadows. By the time we reached the vicinity of the cache fatigue was setting in a bit and only 3 stalwarts actually reached GZ with me but they were all pleased they did as the area is quite magical. My mate Roy spotted the cache first as quite often happens.

TNLNSL

Thanks for a stimulating trip and taking us to this interesting spot Glyn. A tough, but rewarding trip.

Note for Xenacommander: Your turn next!

Couldn't resist putting aside other plans for a walk down the Pararaha stream, which is a classic! I usually jump into the pools along the way, but not this time for all the electrics on board. First time walking some of the side paths - I see what you mean!! Popular this morning with coast-to-coast types in training. One of the most physically challanging caches I've done, and great fun - thanks for the effort, glyn. Nearly 3 hours all up for the whole loop.
Swapped keyring torches.
Cheers, M@

[This entry was edited by tofska on Friday, February 09, 2007 at 11:02:25 PM.]

Like Tofska, I did it from the top down, and arrived at GZ 50 minutes after leaving the car. Man, that pool was so inviting, had to leap in (from above - oops, not as deep as it looks)
Then onto the cache, but with only 2 sats visible, the eTrex failed me, so poked around under every rock until it gave up.
Then it was in for another swim before departing this lovely spot.
Going back up the Pararaha I waded where possible, but deep pools still forced me to reclimb some of the very steep detours with precarious footholds. I think boots are essential in this terrain and it is inadvisable for first timers to venture here without experienced company - I saw no-one on my trip on a glorious hot afternoon. Round trip took 2 hrs 25 mins.
A most enjoyable tramp and destination. Cheers!

Sorry Glyn but the logbook is already damp so cache needs a maintenance visit.

Nah - just kidding

Eeek... Doesn't look like I can get a motorbike even close.. will save this for a serious tramp..
Over to you Navigull..........
XC

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