Paua's Pool (Central Plateau) Rangipo, North Island, New Zealand
By Paua. on 25-Feb-07. Waypoint GC114BG

Paua wants her pool back. Time to archive.

tftc

This one was a little harder to locate..and I had to get my feet wet..I persevered and soon located it..TFTC!!

I found a place where I could cross safely, but the dog wasn't impressed at the flow of water going through. I could have left her in the car, but we've spent all day together and I decided it would end that way. Will be back, summer might be better!

Been wanting to get over this way for a while an had a few hours to spare to did a detour. Took a little while to find the best route to cache and once at the pool took about 5 minutes to find. Lucky find! Signed log then replaced. TFTC

Looked at this one at 10.00am. TOO COLD and frosty, so decided I'd try it after I had walked "Forgotten Viewpoint". Frost was still on the side of the stream when I returned to attempt at 3.30pm!!! Still it was fun! Log book a little wet, but managed to write on. Another favourite from me!

Really enjoyed this cache. Stopped here on the way back to Wellington to hunt out the last few caches in this area that I hadn't found. Parked in the camping area and walked back along the road until I found a track that led in the right direction. I had put on good waterproof tramping boots with tight-fitting low gaiters and these enabled me to cross the stream without getting my feet wet. By approaching the cache from the south I was able to avoid having to walk up the side stream and I managed to get back to the car with feet still dry - helped probably by rivers being low at this time of year. Took a few minutes to spot the little tree, it wasn't at all conspicuous, but then an almost instant find of the cache. Signed log, TFTC and it gets a favourite point

A great little adventure for us n kids. Mrs Sigoli found the right stream, I found the right tree and cache. A cool final cache for our raid in the kaimanawa's tftc

Loved the little walk to cache
Found with yollomdr and kiwibobby
TFTC

TFTC

There was more water going over the small water fall, than in the photo, which made it look even better.
TFTC

Pretty pretty! Parked just off the road to the bridge (maybe I missed a closer spot?), and had a pleasant walk and paddle up the river and side stream to the cache. No need for bushbashing, the river and stream are all the geotrail you need! Just ask the toetoe and tutu guarding the entrance to the stream nicely, and they'll let you by. But even as a Serious Tramper (and in my Serious Tramping Footwear, to boot) I thought it best to do it with my eyes open.

Took me a bit of time to spot a totara, but once I did it was all over. So I can imagine anyone who doesn't know what one looks like having a hard time locating the cache! Best look it up before you go if unsure.

Thanks for sharing your pool.

Jeez. No takers for this one for a while. Everything was pretty over grown, and heck no Geotrail to follow. Nice cacheonly got my feet a little wet. Yeah Right.
SL TFTC

The group had mixed feelings on this one. Those with shoes enjoyed it and those without struggled a bit. Lets just say there were few with the correct footwear. (Recommend following the cache guide to bring sand shoes or something similar) What a great spot. TFTC

DO NOT try this one with bare feet ... water was a nice temperature but the stones are sharp!!! TFTC

Found.

we call it the cold feet cache!, still thawing out a couple of days later
TFTC!

We ARE serious trampers, but did it with our eyes open, for all that! The clue was very helpful. MacBanger should learn a bit of NZ's flora to help with caches like this! Cache is in good order, nice and dry inside its double housing. Were in the area with tramping club fron Hastings, some to Waipakahi Hut, some through to Kiko Road. Thanks for the fun.

Found it with Grandad Giraffrey. We did get wet feet, but had plenty of spare stuff. Thanks for the cache.

A bit of a bush scramble to get this one, and wow the water was cold. Nice break along the way. Tftc

Easy find of cache, but the work was getting near the cache. Maze of pampas grass and logs, and that water was freezing cold and up to thigh height in places. Took a while but made the find even better. SL TFTC

water was very refreshing after running the tree trunk gorge track. GPS flicked around a little but eventually took us to the spot. Left a pet rock - a frog, to play in 'Paua's pool'

The idea to walk through a stream to get the cache is brillant. But the weak hint is frustrating. I searched for an hour and nothing. I figured out that Torata is a tree but how it looks like? A description how the suroundings looks like would be good.

Been pouring all day, and a few days previously, river a bit high for comfort.

Had this on our list to do today but the river is a bit high to cross safely, still it will give us an excuse to come back in here again. Thanks very much for your caches in this area. We're off home now, have enjoyed the last couple of days here. The weather has behaved for us so that was a bonus.

I really enjoyed this cache, and would recommend doing it after the walk up to the Forgoteen Viewpoint cache. That way you will be looking forward to padling in the stream. For me this is what geocaching is all about, finding these great little out of the way spots and then a challenging puzzle to locate the cache. Many Thanks.

Gosh, cutty grass? Does this mean it rates harder than The World's Worse Tramp GC1MR5F ??? Surely this one was pretty tame after that mighty effort.

PS. Can still see the pool OK. Its only a little pool, more of a foot spa than a swimming pool! Nice to cool your feet on a hot summers day though.

The Freezer Mice strike again!!!
Back down this way for the weekend, so managed to find a bit of spare time to knock over a few cache's.
It would appear that recent flooding has made short work of the pool (which although still present has quite a bit of wind fall in it at the moment).
TFM # 2 wasnt so keen about this cache, as by the time we got out she had been the victim to several cutty grass attacks!
TNLNSL, TFTC.

Easy to find the parking, and then a very icy barefoot wade up the side stream to these pretty little falls. As the readings jumped around a bit, and I wasn't sure what the item featured in the clue looked like (now I know!), this one took a lot of looking! Things eventually settled down and led me right to it just as I was about to give up. A refreshing cache!

Into the water for a paddle to the cache site. Took a slightly more difficult route than was probably intended, but found the cache quickly once in the right place. Great fun and a beautiful area. Thanks for bringing us here. SL. TFTC.

(2027)
COOL SPOT for a cache. Loved the little waterfall near GZ. Managed to get there and back without getting any wet feet. Our gumboots were just long enough. Many thanks for the watery challenge.
TNLNSL, TFTC

Wow, this is what a call a cool cache. Passed last time with no spare shoes, this time I was well prepared.

Early morning and some dew come frost on the ground. Water was cold.

A keen eye needed indeed at GZ.

Thanks for the fun!! Great stuff!!

When we're told by a reviewer not to saturate an area with caches, we think its time to pull the plug. All our caches will now be removed.

This is the best cache to date. I did not read any hints or the description on this site. Love the bush bashing and sense of adventure cache hunts like this one give. Don't mind getting my feet wet for one like this.
Thank you very much.

Parking obvious without co-ords. Easy access to stream, and a good chance to clean the shoes. Lovely spot to hide a cache. TFTC

NOTE: It appears that the old Car parking co-ords no longer apply. The metal road was originally a loop road that was washed away in the middle section by the stream. Keep driving along the sealed road to the other end of the metal track, you'll spot it going off to the left. There's a couple of grass campsites in there that you can park in. It's actually closer to Paua's Pool. There's a place to climb down to the riverbed. Proceed from there.
We'll update the parking co-ords soon.

A bit of a disappointment for the day. Given the remarkable meeting with P&P this morning a visit to Paua's Pool would have seemed appropriate as well as have completed our round of Kaimanawa Rd caches.

Somebody, the district council I guess, has seen fit to dig a hurring great big drainage trench slap bang across the access road. Yes, we got to the carpark coordinates OK, but further by road, no, not to be, and even on foot would have required a leap of such an extent that I wasn't prepared to try it.

No doubt we could have accessed the stream at other points, and we did a quick reccy, but this is getting to the later part of the day now and we didn't want to set off on a cross country mission at this hour.

So, this gets to stay on out list of desirable places to be visiting on the Central Plateau.

We look forward to making the find on this cache as soon as we can get back here.
TFTC
TT

In the area to do some cache maintenance and bach maintenance with the inimitable XenaCommander
Have been saving this one for a hot summer day and it was indeed worth the wait. WOW what a beautiful spot and the splash throught the stream was delightfully refreshing.
Thanks for the treat P&P
Took dinosaur as his sharp claws had ripped tiny holes in the camobag... will put him where he cant get into any more mischief.
SIgned log and left calling cards TFTC

XC and TK down for short maintenance visit... This one has been winking at us for quite some time now.. we were saving it for a summer trip... Decided to throw the mountain bikes in the back and come here for a bush ride.. Hmmmmm I think I parked the wagon in the wrong spot.. so resorted to walking down to river bed and wading across the river.. Yikes!!! even mid summer that water is COLD!! but refreshing we waded upstream to get to GZ.. Nice little spot.. TK soon had it in hand and signed the log.
TFTC #597

A very enjoyable wander up the stream on a very hot summers day. Pleasant little pool for a soak after locating the cache. TFTC

A nice cache to find in the shade on a hot afternoon.
TFTC.

Well where to start on this one. A wet afternoon to cross a stream and do a little bush bashing.
Initially Samy! Jr and myself had a go and came back wet and empty handed. I had given up and was heading for the car when Mrs Samy! decided to have a go, 45 minutes later, wet but quite satisfied she returned having found the cache. I think I'm in for a late night hearing about it.
I think this will be our memorable cache of this trip.
Coords were spot on.
Picked uo geocoin.
Thanks for the fun (I think)...

Found after a refreshing walk through the icy cold stream. TFTC!

dropped Benchmark Coin.

Found the cache OK thanks to the Vista HCx which is not bothered by the bush canopy as the trusty old legend was. On opening the cache however, which incidentally was very damp despite the enclosing glass container, guess what - I has forgotten the writing implement so the log was written with the aid of my car keys and is just worked but it may not last. The enclosing cloth bag in which said cache is enclosed was buried in the leaf litter and I have left it propped up so the sir can reach it and dry things out. Not often you see a Hall's Totara in that neck of the woods. Thanks for the cache!

Took the direct approach, and glad we did. Water wasn't too high, but freezing! Took a while to find as gps was all over the place (30.5m at GZ), and hint didn't really narrow things down. Had fun. No swaps.

Out and about on a trip around the mountains caching. Found this with a little drama - the gps batteries went flat at the start of the side-stream. Back to the car park... Second time lucky. Lovely spot.

Took Geocoin.

Thanks

Dropped off a mini geocoin, a little piece of Sunshine over Paua's Pool. A very quick paddle up the creek, the water is getting colder!

16:45 Well hidden indeed! Sharp eyed required! Great place to cool one's heels for a while too. Parked in a hidden campsite and the water was great - thank you.

Massive trunk by wee trunk. Wonder if it fell over or was felled? Took photo of the pool - then saw it on Internet when got home. Do you ever swim there Mrs P? Had a look but no trout either... SL

Brrrrrrrrrrr the stream was cold but not unbearable. It was a hot day so the water was rather pleasant after the initial shock!!! A great place to visit, and would like to camp close by one day to enjoy the beautiful bush. Was an easy find. TNLN, TFTC.

Swapped shoes for sandles - good idea! Water quite refreshing.
Cheers P&P - M@

I took a friend to see the Pillars of Hercules and diverted to check ot Paua's Pool. It was quite early morning so the water was ummm...... stimulating. My friend Barry spotted the tell tale while I was still negotiating the obstacle course.
A very attractive spot thanks.
TNLN TFTC

I definitely got my feet wet but didn't think it too cold. Consider myself rather lucky to find this one, GPS reception got rather wobbly at GZ and I had to look pretty carefully even with the clue.
Many thanks.

After swimming in the warm waters of Lake Taupo yesterday we "noticed" the contrast when wading through these crystal clear but very cold streams. It was only 7.00am when we visited so the sun hadn't made it into the valley yet which didn't help. Lovely spot!
Looking forward to seeing some logs from people visting in July/August when the water is really cold

Found with family and friends but never logged. very cold water

#%$^*% cold water while crossing the river. Parked at the next camp site up the road accross from the cache.
48 of 102 for the 5 day trip

... BOO... Guess who....another FTF.... we really should leave some for the others to get... na cancel that...

Great Spot... we had a "penny drop" moment and didnt have to walk so far...

I love the camp sites we tripped over them the other day..

TNLNSL

TFTF

Ready to go! C'mon, be brave, get wet...you won't notice the cold after a while!

[This entry was edited by Punga and Paua on Monday, March 26, 2007 at 2:20:10 PM.]

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