Mohakatino Heads (Taranaki) Mokau, North Island, New Zealand
By Adopted by Phronimos from hunt2r on 03-Oct-07. Waypoint GC16CX0

Had the day off exploring so thought I'd tick this one off, quick find once at gz. Thanks for the cache

Very overgrown. Lost sunglasses on first attempt. Returned for second attempt and found cache and glasses! Used walking pole to hold back thorny branches.

Finally found on 2nd attempt, what a mission!

Spent ages looking but did not find, so overgrown, bit difficult to navigate through and several thorny bushes!

Travelling from New Plymouth to lake ngaroto today, with a walk to this one. All good here. Saw the dotterels in the reeds.

Nice wander along the beach, cool to have caches so close to the bach! While you’re hunting, be mindful of taking care of the sand dunes since they’re eroding pretty bad these days

First cache I’ve looked for - nice it was so close to the family bach. As always, lovely hīkoi along the river and easy enough to locate (using the hint) once you’re in the right spot. If you want extra karma points while you’re out, bring a bag and pick up some rubbish along the river while you wander - the local dotterels will thank you!

We enjoyed the stroll to gz, and the cache was spotted straight away, despite it being a micro size rather than a regular size.
Thanks for putting this here

Took a big hunt to locate. TFTC

We had no reception so hard it's ti find but there was I bit of a land mark so we looked there and found it

Our navigate was off. Looked for a needle in a haystack and found it. Great hide. Erin nicola and george

Loved the walk along the beach. Began by doing the short walk to the bridge, it looks like vehicles used to access the beach here, but big rocks have been dropped to block there way. I suspect motorbikes are still able to get thru here and play.

An amazing walk, someone had created little sculptures along the way. Finally after taking a few pictures, decided I needed to look for the cache. With the help of the hint, I soon located the film cannister, and the log was signed. Message to self, this sand is hot when it gets inside your shoes!

Happy to have found this one, thanks for the hide adopted by Phronimos from hunt2r

We spent the long weekend at Seaview Camp Ground and on the way home Soso wanted to find this one as it says regular size so thought we'd find some swag to swap.
Found a micro size cache with a couple of logs from earlier this summer so messages CO so he can investigate further.
Lovely sunny day for a walk and saw a variety of bird life.
TFTC

An rest day after a nice climb up the mountain yesterday, mostly drive by's and short walks. This was the most adventurous walk of the day, and what an amazing place to visit!!!! TFTC!!

Moving Zara north. While parked for Mohakatino Wetlands we go for a stroll along the beach/ river mouth to the headland to snag this one. Found it after a short hunt but jar filled with water. Sorry only had a film canister with me for replacement. Cheers

Day 15 - Friday 27 December. From north of NP to Awakino today. With lots of tunnels in the mix.

The Seagnoid, Zara, Toby and I are spending Christmas exploring Taranaki via geocaching. Its been an amazing 3 week adventure. Rattls BBQ was a great event, meeting many other cachers. But also managed to fit in a few more events, especially New Years Day celebrating the start of 2020. Lots of caches - over 500. Lots of cache maintenance. Lots and lots of kilometers. And lots of amazing places visited along our journey. Mt Taranaki remained elusive for much of our travels and the caches on it at the top. Loved Pukekura Park Night Lights Show and the the Wooden Mechanical toy exhibition at NP Info centre.

Nice excuse to do more than find a cache - go for a walk and find a cache! Excellent little stroll, but man, check out the cache. The lid had major UV damage and as a result the cache was full of water. We removed the cache and it's entire contents, and put a whole new one in its stead. However is much smaller than the cache description says (regular, so should be around the 2-4 litre mark). Will need the CO to visit this to improve it.

Merry Christmas!
It's the day after Boxing Day, day fifteen of Taybeedragon's and my big 3 week circumnavicaching trip around Mt Taranaki, starting from Palmerston North. Today we are working on the back roads and tunnels east of Taranaki.

Highlights:
* 3 weeks, 536 caches
* Mt Taranaki had been removed for washing, which was a bit of a shame. Even after it had been returned we were only allowed to see it for it was less than half an hour a day.
* High percentage of caches with crappy coordinates
* Amazing Pukekura Park
* AMAZING Pukekura Park light show!
* Pukeiti Gardens
* Lots of cache maintenance!

======== NZ Mega 2020 ========

Planning for the NZ Mega 2020 event is well underway. It will be held in Auckland over Labour Weekend, 23 to 26 October 2020. It's going to be a massive celebration of geocaching:

20 years of geocaching worldwide.
20 years since New Zealand had the very first geocache hidden outside of USA.
And it's 2020 - all the 20s!
Talk to your geo-friends and start planning to be part of this event - you won't want to miss it!

Found on a sunny morning! Lots of fun! Thanks!

A quick cache stop on way home from bush with the boys . Quick find after a nice stroll along the beach. Log sheet a little damp but all good to sign great location.
Tftc

All good here although a little damp. Dried it all out and returned to hide.
Today on a maintenance run while escorting Yeetrees to find some of our North Taranaki geocaches. We headed off late on a stunningly beautiful hot afternoon, this was his sixth cache. We really enjoyed our walk. We got hassled by a pair of Torea, Pied Oystercatchers guarding their three chicks from our intrusion. Although we never got closer than 50m they “bombed” us, feigned injury and were extremely vocal. Then near the cache we got much the same treatment from a pair of Banded Dotterel, Tuturiwhatu guarding their nest, although we could see no eggs or chicks.
After six hours and 18 caches we returned home well after dark.

Was on my way North to New Plymouth for work and had decided to contact Phronimos beforehand and see if he was interested in going and checking out a cache that he had a DNF on when he was in the area. Phronimos was happy to oblige as he also wanted to do some maintenance on a couple of caches as well, so we soon hatched a plan and Phronimos decided that he would pick me up at my accommodation and we would make our way North from there, this was great as I didnt have to drive and as Phronimos was familiar with the area it made it so much easier just to be a passenger and enjoy being chauffeur around the countryside.

After finding GC64H42 - Taranaki Lookout (South Waikato), this was the next cache that I had on my radar as we made our way North towards the King Country, after making our way north on SH3 we soon made our way to the given parking co-ordinates. The last time I was this far North was back in May 2010, well that seems so long ago.

Arriving at the safe parking it was time to go and stretch our legs and make our way to GZ with was just over 500 metres away as the NZ Dotterel flies, but there was no way that we were ever going to take the direct route.

Making our way to the entrance to the walkway we found the entrance without any issues, as luck would have it we were lucky as it was low tide, so this made it so much easier for us to make our way to GZ as we were able to take the low tide line to GZ which was a more direct route. As we were making our way towards GZ we noticed that there was a family of Pied Oyster catchers, Mum Dad and 3 chicks in the tide line, as we got closer, we tried to keep our distance Dad tried to buzz us even though we were still quite a distance away. I can understand why the were being so protective, once we moved on they settled back down. Making our way further along the river mouth to GZ there was another family but they only had 2 chicks,but they were quite a distance away.

As we continue along the low tide line towards GZ we soon spotted something in the Iron and that just needed a closer look and we soon realised that we had found something different in the Iron sand and it was after a bit of discussion with Mrs Yeetrees she advised us that we had found some fulgurite, this is caused by lightning striking the ground and causing the sand to fuse due to the heat. We decided to put it aside and pick it up on our way back to the car.

The rest of the walk to GZ was uneventful but was still enjoyable and it wasnt too long before we were soon near GZ and was greeted by a Dotterel who was quite vocal as well and was keeping an eye on what we were doing. I decided to let the GPSr take me to the cache. I soon spotted the hint object and upon a closer look I soon realised where was the cache was, well it was very well protected.

Managed to retrieve the cache, signed and then replaced the cache back where I found it. Thanks Phronimos for placing this cache here and for bringing me to this beautiful spot, TFTC TNLNSL (13968). The CO decided to do a bit cache maintenance on the cache as well since this was an opportune time. Giving this cache a favourite point as it is one beautiful spot that must be visited.

I managed to get a couple of good photos from near GZ, what a great spot for a cache. Now it is time to make our way back to the car and pick up the fulgurite as well as try and not get attacked by the locals inhabitants as we make our way back to the car and continue on our way North to the next cache.

Disclaimer: The above log may be based on true or actual events.

Nice spot, unfortunately cloudy today so no long distance views. TFTC TNLNSL

Found

Beautiful walk along the river bank! Really nice view! Thank you so much for the cache!

Such a great day... far too good to be driving my desk at work, so “bugger it, we’re off” on a maintenance run in North Taranaki. This cache has been reported as damp to sodden, but actually all is good here. Replaced the log with a fresh new waterproof one. General cleanup of the cache. Checked the coordinates. They’re about 2 m out but the hint is a good one, so you should have no trouble finding the cache. Just watch out for the thorns! My work here is done.

The sun was shining, the tide was in, the cliffs were spectacular, the sea was big and the driftwood was everywhere. We had a very enjoyable walk amongst all of it. Thank you for putting a cache here.

had to come back with eager relatives and were lucky enough to collect a trackable!

Had a beautiful walk, passing 2 pairs of concerned variable oyster catchers and a rather dead looking sheep [xx(] on the way. Cache a little damp so replaced plastic bag and added a silicon bag to it. Swapped one tb for another. Thanks for bringing us to such a cool spot

Found with Pazzabella on road trip fantastic spot Tftc

This is one of those caches that you always intend doing but you never seem to have the time to do. Today I decided no more excuses so I stopped and went for a lovely walk in the infamous Taranaki black sands to find it. I managed to clock 2000 steps at the
same time and it felt great to be back in the 'naki.

Discovered. ....great spot. ....Left TB to continue it's journey....so long Poi .Will cycle on...... cheers

Mohakatino Heads (Waikato) was transferred from hunt2r to user Phronimos

I always enjoy finding older caches and this was a nice walk in a beautiful location. A short search was needed to track down the treasure.

I thought this would be good place to leave the geocycle trackable that I found in Palliser Bay near Wellington. It started its journey in Switzerland and wants to visit cache sites that can't be reached by car.

GPS took me the long way home after the Mega. Finding lots of good caches along the way. TFTF

Early this morning,
I set off from the highway across the sands at low tide
Tons of driftwood, bleached white, lined the high water mark.
With the tide out, it was easy strolling on the black sands [:o]

It didn't feel right !!
Usually when I see something that colour which is wet,
I sink in up to me knees
The mind says mud,
but the feet say sand
It felt even weirder when I strolled up the black sand dunes to reach GZ.

Its a first for me !!

And at the top of a dune,
I soon found the cache.
And stood for a while in the fresh breeze,
marveling at this unique seascape

TFTC and stroll !!

inside was wet, log was soaking, pencil is blunt.
other wise i had a very enjoyable time!

good one to do with family, and at a beautiful location.
Contanier needs repairs, every thing inside was wet and the log saw saturated.

Thanks for the cache
We enjoyed the walk

Thanks for taking us out to a beautiful spot

Heading down to the Naki for the weekend, so took advantage of the extra time we had today to get a few caches a little more off the beaten track (i.e. not park and grabs on the main highway).

I had never been dive bombed by Oyster Catchers until today. There was a family of them on the beach and we tried to keep as clear as possible, but the mother/father didn't think so, but they eventually left us alone when we were far enough away. Didn't take long to locate once at GZ and we managed to avoid the Oyster Catchers on the way back to the car.

Went for walk up other side of river yesterday. Awesome.
Took direct route and got coveted in blackberry scratches.
Cheers

Bit of bush bashing and few scratches later was found but very overcast. Tftc

Left father was n law in car while I dashed off to get this one, cool spot , cache very wet and bag ripped, could do with some maintenance, thanks

See previous log

I had a nice walk at low tide to this cache. I found it with about 2cm of water in the container. I placed the container upside down after signing the log which was still dry.

Cheers for the cache.

What a beautiful relaxing spot! I enjoyed the walk along the beach and a paddle in the unpredictable waves - ended up having more of a swim than expected. The cache spot was soon located. TFTC.

Awesome view! Found a little penguin sleeping under a bush. Great little walk, need good shoes in this heat black sand burns! 16 January 2015 4:29 PM

First cache on my caching road-trip to Ngaruwahia to attend Rise to the Challenge event. Gorgeous afternoon though wind wiping the sand about. Nice spot, TFTC

Nice walk along the sand to find this one today... Disturbed some turkeys having a meeting on the way to the cache

Lovely walk to the cache. Amazing view! tftc!

tftc, well worth the walk just for the view

Gps device was dodgy but found it eventually

What a fantastic walk out to a wild and woolly ocean. Heaps of driftwood and the tide had just turned - enough to let us walk out without getting out feet wet! A nice easy cache to find - thanks for this one - I really enjoyed it and would have scored a favourite but have none left! TFTC

Early morning find at the start of a 2 day caching trip. tftc

Cool cache to find on our way home from a fantastic weekend at womad. TFTC

Great place to have a stroll and stretch our legs....Coords spot on for the quick find. TFTC!!

Had a nice walk out on the beautiful black sand to find this one. This was a great location and I was able to collect a few shells along the way. TFTC

Been passed here many time but never stopped Found while away in motor home. Many thanks []

Traveled down for a birthday picnic after work. After eating switched on GPS and I was 3m from GZ. Hard work having to move. Cache in good condition. Great scenery. TFTC

Grey cloudy day, couldn't see the mountain although the sea was calm. Had to carry a stick to keep black birds with long beaks at bay. Must have been walking close to their nest. SL TFTC.

Nice wee find while on holiday in Mokau with no GPS Signed log and took travel bug to leave down the Island a bit hoping he might get closer to his destination.

Parked at the lay-by north of the bridge and strolled along the river to ground zero. What a fantastic view. Left a PaperScissorsRock carabiner keyring, Bone Shaker Hot Wheels car, and a goat travel bug. This was probably our favorite cache of the day, thanks for bringing us here.

A nice stop while on my way back home, the area was (as expected ) deserted, I quickly found the cache but the small bottle of hand gel had exploded its contents throughout the container...I did my best to mop it up with my hands but there is still some of the slime inside the cache (I removed the empty bottle), at least it was hand sanitizer and not anything too disgusting Thanks for this cache it is in a really lovely spot.

After a long week working in Hamilton it was nice to be heading home, but being a little weary I needed a walk to clear the head - great to be able to combine it with a cache. On a beautiful blue skies sunny day the view was amazing, with just a gentle breeze - a great break and lovely location for a cache. TFTC

This was a nice easy cache and a beautiful spot with no-one around!! I love that.

I was walking down at hightide(ish) and my boots got a little wet at one point, but no bother
There seemed to be a herd of wild goats on the land on the left but they all ran away.

TFTC

There is a nice new cache in place, new log book and goodies. Go for it.

Cache was completely full of foul smelling black coloured water I tipped it out, but the lid is broken so it will fill again with the next downpour.

You are more than welcome to continue logging finds ,however the cache needs to be repaired. We plan to do that soon.

Struggled to find a walkway - I guess there isn't one! Lovely spot on the river banks.
Cache was completely full of foul smelling black coloured water I tipped it out, but the lid is broken so it will fill again with the next downpour.

Located this little guy on the way south to New Plymouth for the weekend. A quick walk out to the heads stopped for a great view of the ocean that was fairly benign compared to how I have sometimes seen it

TFTC

Enjoyed the stroll. Couldn't see the cache for looking until I put my ear tto the ground

Nice leg stretch on my way to New Plymouth.
Great place, well worth a visit.
TFTC

Tried for this a few days ago... but ended up 20m away on wrong side of river as only had coords to play with... Tried to find a easy way 'up' to minimise damage to vegetation. Great cache. TFTC Felix!

Gret place - wilde beaches & baches. Thanks

blak sand, blak terns that divebomb, tftc, cool spot

Enjoyable amble through the driftwood collecting a few samples along the way. Easy find once at GZ T4TC.

What a cool place for a cache. Just love the black sand. TFTC.

Enjoyed the walk, with wild goats

Fantastic view. So glad we got to do this one, would never have stopped there otherwise.

Enjoyed the easy walk in the sand, found a large piece of driftwood for the garden also. Good cache thanks

Our 30th cache for the weekend trip to the Naki. Pretty good success rate finding most of our attempts. TFTC

Found it - after a bit of looking and some burnt feet from the hot black sand. Nice trip down the road from our bach. T4TC!

Drizzly and a bit of a wind, but the view, even on a day like this, was wild and wonderful. TFTC.

Found on our way from Waitomo Caves to New Plymouth.
What a Christmas present: we had a splendid view on Mt Tanahaki and a very nice beach....

T4TC, Merry Christmas and greetings from Frankfurt/Main (Germany)

LePetitDiable and Diabolina

on the mission with muzy man down to new plymouth for the Fleetwood mac concert cheers

What a great place for a cache & quick walk, TFTC!! Cheers Muzy Man!

wow - fantastic views thank you very much for showing
took TB
Dowmans

What a great spot. Well worth the short walk and if you are there when the tide is lower going north along the beach takes you to some interesting little coves and caves. Thanks for getting us out of the car and onto this classis west coast beach. TFTC.

On a ride to mokau with Hamilton Ulysses group. Small diversion to here. Beut day. Watch those thorns !!

Rain starting to set in but wasn't about to let that stop me, raincoat and brolly time, no problem! Great spot and well worth the short walk.
TFTC

Fantastic views on a beautiful Waitangi Day.
Surfcasters were pulling in their catches, and the sun warmed blackberries were delicious!! Left Lost My Memory TB. TFTC

[This entry was edited by SouthernAugurs on Friday, February 13, 2009 at 2:02:16 AM.]

A beautiful blue hot Taranaki day with a flat calm sea and we really enjoyed the short walk along the river. Keen to come back again to explore the sea caves across the other side.
This was also the starting point for what we thought was quite an amazing coincidence. The whole estuary area was deserted apart from one family playing around in kayaks. The next day my son and I climbed to the summit of Mt Taranaki and bumped into this very same family who were doing the same thing and recognised us!!! Apparently they have a bach at Mohakatino.
Many thanks for bringing us to this delightful spot.

TFTC, found while holidaying in the area

A lovely walk this midday, in the sunshine, along the soft black sand. Lots of bird tracks, driftwood and then a scramble to the cache. Thanks ~ much easier walk than anticipated

wonderful walk and easy find. a good side trip to the drive home
in star stickers
out scooby doo stickers!

Heretic Jedi was quick to log today - We put the Scooby Doo stickers in!
Fab spot, just wish I had better foot ware than my flip flops - bad planning on my part.
TFTC

A nice stroll along the beach and a fun driftwood hop over to the cache. Beautiful spot and an easy find thanks.

Enjoyed the walk, great views and marvellous driftwood to be admired. Great cache placement too, stunning coastline. TFTC

(1697)
No problems with the find, although we got sand blasted on the way to GZ. Windy, windy, windy – but rewarded by awesome views. Many thanks.
TNLNSL, TFTC

found under name of sazzum