Nicks Landing (Fiordland) Manapouri, South Island, New Zealand
By Greyway on 29-Nov-07. Waypoint GC17PY1

The crew on our boat hadn't heard of a plaque, someone mentioned a helicopter pilot down tail or trail road where they're not allowed to take the coach.
The coordinates given in log below say only 30-50ft, so something is astray if the cache is further away. Didn't have time to look though.

It has been a good run with this one, but given all the trouble, I think it is time to archive it.

Thanks to all those who came out to try this one, and sorry to those who had troubles!

No worries though, as there are plans for a new cache that will be much easier on the legs, though maybe harder on the eyes!

Now I'm even more annoyed since the coordinates published aren't even the correct ones!
Surely it's not unreasonable to expect the coords published as being legitimate without having to read through previous logs to find amended ones?
Having travelled all that way and never likely to be there again, I am not at all happy - the cache listing needs amended

twomax

Aaaaaaaaaaargh!
This was SO frustrating! We were travelling out here to go on an overnight cruise, so I loaded this one up on the GPS since it's New Zealand's most westerly cache and pretty inaccessible.
We arrived by bus and I saw the compass drop down to 85 feet as we drove past where the cache was.
Unfortunately the bus stopped a good few hundred meters beyond it and we were ushered straight onto the boat.
'I'll get it on the way back', I thought.
But on the way back we were ushered straight from the boat onto the bus and I had to watch in agony as my GPS counted down to a few feet away once more as we drove by the cache!
Absolutely gutted to come all this way and get so close without a cigar.
Thanks for the cache anyway and greetings from Scotland!

twomax

After seeing people still running down the road to grab this cache, I thought I'd re-post the new coords.

There's no need to run down the road. Just use these coords, and you should have plenty of time:

S 45 27.474

E 167 09.043

I'll keep this cache on the watch list and re-post this note periodically.

Now I'm even more annoyed since the coordinates published aren't even the correct ones!
Surely it's not unreasonable to expect the coords published as being legitimate without having to read through previous logs to find amended ones?
Having travelled all that way and never likely to be there again, I am not at all happy - the cache listing needs amended

twomax

doing a school camp at the hostel. so thought this was a must. found what looks like the remains of the cache container. Some rocks etc looks like they have been moved near the cache site. I have replaced the cache box with a new sistema conatiner and new log book for you.

We knew there was a cache here but had not realised our pocket book query had not picked it up. How frustrating so close to a cache and not knowing where to look.

2154 # 57.Found by baby&Mrs gopher in company with Team Ladava on our South Island New Zealand Mega tour at 1426.Arrived back from the boat tour out to the Tasman sea after seeing lots of interesting sights.We were back a bit early so there was no rush to find this one.
Container with lots of water inside even though a cliplock bag had been placed over the container.log very wet may need and upgrade container to help with the water that flows up here.
SL Tnx Greyway

Found by Team Ladava with baby&Mrs gopher on our New Zealand Mega odyssey.
A wonderful day trip to Doubtful Sound so naturally bg looked for any caches and these two appeared on the itinerary. Probably the most southerly cache we will ever log so quite a milestone.
A fabulous trip into the wilderness on the bus, boat, bus, boat trip. Naturally very wet but that is why it is like it is.
Locations like this are 'the icing on the cake' of Geocaching with the locals hosting us anonymously to their favourite spots.
TNLN
Our thanks to Greyway for the cache and bringing us to this location.
Cheers
Ian & Sandra
Team Ladava
*Overall Experience: 4*
Cache condition – very, very damp but expected in the environment

Rated: for Overall Experience

Found at 11:05 AM GAFF5 in the company of Phetlern. Looks like all of the staff know about this cache as they watched us trying to log our names in the saturated log book.
Thanks Greyway
Dropped off a tb here.

14:06
Weary from a lack of sleep, due to the buffeting wind and heavy rain, to say nothing of the elusive tarp. which would not stay to shelter us we set off with Pprass towards Manapouri and Doubtless Sound. While the luggage was being transferred from coach to vessel, there was just time to add our names to the log before continuing the breath taking journey.

TNLN . . SL . . Thanks for the hunt Greyway.
4346

Found with Schatzsuche on our NZ Mega event tour in the campervan, after the event we cached our way along the South Coast toward the Fjordlands.
Found this one on while on a Doubtful Sound overnight tour. After a fantastic tour, including beautiful scenery, a kayack trip and fantastic meals abord the Real Journeys cruise ship "The Navigator" I made a quick dash from the boat to the cache before getting on the bus, luckily we had the updated coords before heading over on the tour. took only a short time to fing the cache and a little longer to carefully place our names in a very wet log book. understandably so given this place has between 7 and 9 meters of anual rainfall
Thank you for a very memorable cache by the location alone, definately worth a favourite point

TFTC Greyway,
Cheers and Happy Hunting,
Southern Cross Caching

TB visiting after going on the Fiordland Exporer.

Found...luckily due to getting the new co-ords just in time.
We spent the night on the Fiordland Navigator with Real Journeys. The cruise was magnificent and we were lucky to have reasonable weather after 4 weeks of wind, cold and rain.
The staff were professional, courteous and very capable in their varied roles. We loved the experience of kayaking in the fiord,an experience we will never forget. The scenery was stunning and the atmostphere of the sound wonderful during the entire trip. The ship ventured into the Tasman for us to see a large seal colonly and we were lucky enough to see some rare crested penguins. There were numerous waterfalls and cascades during the entire journey.
We highly reccommend the overnight cruise. The food was plentiful and very tasty and we were well looked after.
Grabbed the cache in the morning before boarding the bus back to Lake Manapouri.
TFTC
SS

The most westerly cache in NZ!

The GPS signal down in the fiord isn't crash hot, so I amused the skipper of the Patea Explorer no end by walking in circles, muttering "12, 11, 9, 8, 9, 10, not this way..." until I finally ended up standing in a puddle, squished between the cliff and the bus, reaching up for that elusive cache. It was pouring with rain, too, making me seem all the madder, but I quickly stuck our sticker in the already damp logbook and dashed for the boat. Lucky I'd arrived on the first of the two tour buses! Great to be able to find a cache so remote and apparently so far west in NZ! TFTC, Greyway! =^.^=

La Kedi took off as I dumped our stuff on the boat before joining her in the rain. She had decided by this time which way to go as her GPS was not being cooperative and lo and behold found it. Made our mark and raced back to the boat just in time. TFTC

Went for a daytrip on doubtful sound when our prebooked overnight cruise was cancelled (due to the boat being stuck elsewhere and weather preventing its return. Really enjoyed the trip, thoroughly recommended.

tb visit to NZ's 2nd most westerly cache

First off the boat, then bit a of a panic to start with, but success in the end. Used the new coords from the logs. Cache was clearly visible upon initial inspection of the extended area and the new hint. Thanks to Greyway for the opportunity to log NZ's westernmost cache. took the diabetes TB. We're on our way to NZ MEGA 2012 in Dunedin. See you there!

I was over here with a school camp, had awesome fun with the kids from Southland Girls high school. I had spare time so went hunting, didn't find it. There appears to be some earth works/erosion that has happened recently as I was standing on the exact spot the GPS put me and the bank wasn't there.

Wanted to get this cache due to the unique nature of the location. Unfortunately I didn't manage to find it, or rather I didn't get the chance to look properly. I was armed with the new co-ordinates, but GPS was misbehaving as we got off the bus and boarded the boat. The following morning, as we were heading back on the boat, I made sure the GPS was on and had a signal and I even walked within a few meters of the cache. We were travelling with a very small group and the group boarded the boat and bus within minutes of arriving. Hopefully others will have more luck with a bigger group, with more opportunity to sneak away.

Just got a note from the CO. The new coords for the cache are:

S 45 27.474

E 167 09.043

Should be MUCH easier to grab (and not miss the bus) than the previous coords.

If you are looking for a hint: rock wall opposite the boat mooring

Happy Caching!

#1,116: My Friend Nick.


What an adventure!! Like most other cachers who have had the honor of taking the magnificent cruise on Doubtful Sound, I was eager to give the Western-most cache in NZ a go. Though I have to admit I was not that confident about a find, given that it has been EXACTLY a year since the last real attempt. Needless to say, after one of my buddies offered to take my bag to the bus, and encouraged me to "go for it", I was the first one off the boat, asked the bus driver to pick me up 600m down the road ("If I don't see you on the road, I'm just going to keep on going." was his humorful response), and dashed off to visit Nick. After sprinting about 300m, I was breathing pretty deeply, and wondered if I'd make it for a search, but then found my legs, and arrived at GZ with about 2 minutes to search. Found the plaque (see pics) and was able to search pretty thoroughly, but came up empty. I heard a vehicle coming, and so dashed up to the road, only to find it was a 4WD. So, back down, searched some more, came up empty, then heard a louder engine, and so went back up, feeling like, well, I tried!

I put my thumb out as the bus approached (my own humor to the bus driver), but he just waved and DROVE ON BY! Gulp! Luckily, he really WAS just joking, and then picked me up. The whole bus was laughing, and as I got on, we all had a chuckle, and they all asked if I had found it, but I had to answer "nope."

So, now you must be asking: "Hey 8Man! How can you be logging this as a find!?!?!" Well, as I walked down the aisle, a fellow at the back of the bus waved me back to come sit with him. Turns out, he was Greyway! He said: "When I saw someone run off towards the cache when the boat arrived, I was afraid it was a cacher looking for the cache." Turns out, Greyway had read the logs about all of us dashing off to make the quick grab before the bus left us forever, and decided to move it to the boat wharf! I could have just leisurely grabbed the cache as I strolled to the bus! Greyway is the caretaker at the hostel, and is always (well, mostly) on site. He gave me permission to log the cache, seeing as I had done all the work, and had bumped into him by chance. He was not aware that so many people were interested in the cache, and so had not updated the coords yet. Since it will be more than 25m, I'm not even sure he will be allowed to do so, but anyway, I gave him a geocoin I was carrying, and he agreed to put it into the cache. I will follow up with him about the new coords, and post accordingly. Quite the caching adventure!!!

Congratulations 8ManAfter! It's great to read your detailed attempt to reach the cache, as I truly understand every word you wrote... this cache is still my best Geocaching experience although it was a DNF. Unfortunately, Greyway was not around last year when I performed my attempt, but if I got it right, the cache was still at its original location than.
Well done! I plan to come back one day...

Greyway was not on duty the week I stayed at the hostel (and spent all my free time looing for it!). Sad, as I will probably never get another trip in to the sound.

Isn't a DNF, more a DNR (did not reach) in the time the buses connects with the boats! Heck no way can I do a 600m dash, grab a cache & return in the precision timing that it takes to load up a full bus! Sorry not to get a smilie here, maybe another time.

I will be happy to re-lo this as a did not find... if the next person finds it! Soaked to the skin, despite my goretex this morning, then dragged my husband out in his wet-weather gear. Nada! I suspect that it is not there anymore?

Drop

This was a tough one - both physically (I am apparently out of shape...) and mentally as I did not find it.

Talked to the busdriver Rex so that he could pick me up again further up along the road. Got off the boat first, ran like hell (as he had advised me!!)... GPS had some difficulties with all the rain, clouds and trees, but I finally found the spot. Searched, searched and searched even more... but couldn't find it - what a disappointment. I went up to the road 3 times as I thought the bus was coming...
All soaked and dirty I finally returned to the bus and the rest of the blaafyra Team - as Rex said: "At least you tried."

On our way back with the boat I had a long chat with Rex who had finished working for the day. He told me that I had been the 2nd person asking him to stop at Nicks Landing during the last 10 years. He was really curious why one could be interested in that place, so I told him all about geocaching... He told me much about NZ and the Fjordlands and a little bit about his life. We had a really nice conversation, and he might look forward to the next geocachers picking them up along the road. If you meet Rex, please say hello to him from me. TFTC! Even if it was a DNF - this one I alwyas remember.

Cache logged using GeoScout http://www.navstation.co.uk/geoscout

Our trip to Doubtful Sound was every bit as magical as we'd heard from relatives and friends who've visited and we had a fantastic day out. Beautifully calm waters and sea, allowing the boat to go further out of the sound than was normal. A truly amazing place. No time to come and find this cache before boarding the boat for the cruise on the sound, but we spoke to the bus drivers during the cruise and it was agreed that Chris could get on the first coach, be dropped at Nicks Landing, have just a couple of minutes to look and then be picked up by the second coach. So special thanks go to Real Journeys staff Jim, Chris and Rex. Well, we were a little worried that the time allowed would not be enough, but luckily it was a quick and easy find. Initials and date only written in logbook as the bus had hooted and needed to get going. That was a close one! An American couple on the coach turned out to be Geocachers too, though they hadn't known about the couple of remote caches out here. We had a chat and admired their lovely big Geocoin. On getting back to West Arm, we showed them where the 'Power to the People' cache was so that they could log that one before crossing back over Lake Manapouri. A superb day out and this cache was a great bonus. SL. TFTC.

Great spot, a whole week in here to find a cache on list of possibles! , didn't take long. TFTC

Bonjour du Canada,
This is our first trip to NZ.
We love your country, it's extremely beautiful;
Did some geocaching on your wornderful road, it's our first week, 3 more to go...!.
So happy to have time to do this one, so romote!

TFTC, TNLN, SL

Great cache. Easy to find, which is usually important. I was on a 7 day cruise on the Breaksea Girl, so I had some time.

I haven't been in a caching mood for the past 12 months or so, but this one I thought I'd have to have a crack at given it is touted as the most westerly in NZ. I had found the "Power to the People" cache back at the power station while the tour party were in the information centre, that was a kind of back up in case I couldn't find this one due to time limitations - the draw of such remote caches was so strong

I was in Panic Mode because I'd read previous logs and not being the fittest person around, the idea of me sprinting 600 metres AND trying to find a cache whilst time limited seemed quite a challenge. But it was all for nothing because we had taken the tour with the smaller tour company and rather than having just 5 or so minutes like the Real Journey group have, I was blessed with a good 20-25 minutes while the cruise captain "Did the dishes" and "Put the boat away" - luxury!

The GPS gods(tm) weren't good to me this afternoon and lead me astray a couple of times and it wasn't until I walked back around and saw the obvious spot that I found the cache. While I was looking a chap in a hut asked me if I was after him, I replied "no, just trying to find a Geocache, do you know about it", to which he said "Yes I know about it but I don't know where it is" - so it seems this cache is well known by the tour group operators and locals.

Found the cache quite easily once I was in the right area, cache was dampish but certainly not filled with water or anything tragic. Signed the log book and still had a good 10-15 minutes to walk down the road to be picked up by the tour guide - I was first to sprint down the road and by the time I'd found the cache I was last to be picked up because everyone else had overtaken me while I rummaged in the bushes

Top Tip - if you want to make this cache an easier experience take http://www.doubtfulsoundcruise.com/ instead of Real Journey's - apart from providing what we thought was a nice personal tour, it is cheaper and gives you plenty of time to find the cache

found on our way to an overnight doubtful sound cruise! tftc

Today we had a great day with Real Journeys on our tour into Doubtful Sound. On the boat we asked our driver and guide Stephen (really nice guy!!) if he could pick us up at Nicks Landing. We weren't the first people who asked him , so no problem at all. He managed to get us off the boat before it was cleared for the rest of the people. So after a run for 700m we could log this one. The extra box is working well. There was a little bit of water in it, but the log and all the goodies were dry. Thanks for this spot, really beautiful nature here!!

Brian & Hanneke - Team BKE
The Netherlands

(2289)
Woohoo – successfully found NZ’s most westerly cache.
Found after finishing our fantastic tour of Doubtful Sounds with Real Journeys. Informed geo-aware driver Maurice[^]… that we needed to make a quick stop at Nick’s Landing…. So sprinted up the road while the rest of the passengers were still boarding the bus… Managed to find and sign logbook just as the bus pulled up… Way cool… Tipped out an inch of water in the outer container, the cache contents were nice and dry within the inner container. Didn’t grab the resident TB, as it just started raining, and didn’t fancy missing the bus… Many thanks for a cool cache.
Logging in YG4’s Southern Planisphere for the mileage
SL, TFTC

Yeah! Found this one
We have to talk to our bus driver Jim, so that he picks us up on the road at Nicks Landing. So we did a 600 m run and found the cache.
Really great location! Most western Cache in NZ
We placed a TB here!
TFTC + Greetings from Germany
Basti + Jule

Found with simpsonsrgr8. Lovely spot to visit, glad we were able to do a cahce here too.
TFTC

We went on a different company (doubtful sound adventures . com, or something like that) but still had the bit of a run in the morning while the boat was organized but plenty of time in the afternoon as we were encouraged to explore for a little while while the boat is cleaned and put away. The trip was still nearly 600m though.

When found in the morning the cache was fill of water, we did our best to dry it out but couldn't guarantee we'd be back otherwise we would have left it open to dry. We did get back in the afternoon for photos.

-TB
+Winnie the pooh

Quick find after doingthe fantastic Real Journey's overnight trip on Doubtful Sound. Thre was only just time to run the 600m from the boat, get the cache and catch the bus as it went past. TVMFTC

Nice location, Found it easy enough.

** Coordinates Changed From **
S 45° 27.477 E 167° 09.130
Distance From Old: 511803.1 feet
Co-ords updated at cache owners request.

** Coordinates Changed From **
S 45° 27.793 E 169° 09.218
Distance From Old: 511400.8 feet
Co-ords corrected again - as I miss keyed them.

** Coordinates Changed From **
S 45° 27.470 E 167° 09.113
Distance From Old: 84.2 feet
Location updated on 28/12/07

Published