Well, Well, Well, not a wishing well (Bay' Plenty) Ohiwa, North Island, New Zealand
By sniffter on 16-Jan-08. Waypoint GC18N5M

I am regretfully archiving this cache since there's been no response from nor action by the cache owner within the time frame requested in a prior reviewer note.

I have changed this to an earth cache as l can’t find the second clue. Hope this helps.

Hi sniffter

This geocache was brought to my attention as being in need of an owner maintenance visit and after my previous reviewer note, there has been no owner response. The cache owner needs to check on this cache ASAP and either replace it or archive it, after picking up any geo-litter. See the [maintenance section of the Geocache Listing Requirements/Guidelines](http://www.geocaching.com/about/guidelines.aspx#listingmaintenance).

I've added this cache to my watchlist, and I will check back in four weeks to be sure that the maintenance has been done. In the meantime, I have temporarily disabled this listing. When the maintenance is completed, the owner can enable the listing by clicking on the link below the cache name to return it to active status.

Whatever your intentions, please **post a note** here on the cache page (not email) to let us know that you are still active and maintaining the cache. If a month passes without seeing a response, then I'll assume that this listing should be archived.

Please note, that if a cache is archived due to lack of owner maintenance, the cache is unable to be unarchived.

Regards
TheCoddiwompler

Holidaying up this way with muggle family and friends. Two of us (the only non-muggles) decided to visit the local sights a little further afield.
Found the "Well" - easily seen as tide was out. Noticed foreshore has had erosion at sometime. Like others before us both TrinityNZ and i had no luck with this one - sadly a DNF.

We found the interesting well and had a good look in the likely spots in the area but could not find a microcache or coordinates.

Found the well. Spent a while looking but found nothing

No luck here today

Most enjoyable multi here in such a beautiful place. Sorry for such a late log as just noticed I've never signed it off.

Yay! Was starting to lose hope but found it.
The first hint item was found quickly due to sheer luck. It caught my eye and I thought it was something the locals had built at low tide - now covered by water. No luck finding the coordinates for the final although I had a good idea of what I was looking for.
I was going to do the walk anyway so thought I'd try my luck at finding it based on the hint for the final. As others have noted, there isn't a gate anymore but there's something in place of the gate. Hunted around the wrong clump of greenery for a while before adventuring further to see if there was more to find before the pa site. Found it on the way back down from the pa. Log book damp but able to be signed. Thanks for the encouragement to climb this hill. Amazing views. Impressed that geocaching is on the signage at the entrance to the reserve. Now time to get an ice cream!

My first multi cache.
My phone coordinates were our on the 1st wp but managed to find it. Logged them in to gps and made our way up going the long way around. Definitely a struggle lol with beaming hot weather and no breeze. Took us awhile searching running off the set hints and our coordinates. Took a breather and decided to look at the activity logs which was alot more helpful. Found straight away. Made our way back down holiday park way, headed into town for an ice cream and swims.

We have met up with The Seagnoids sister in outback Opotiki. Now we are out exploring with KiwiOAM7 and hubby, exploring around Opotiki. Took a while to find the well. Then still longer scrambling over this tree for the cords to get us to GZ. We tried bush bashing one one but htere has to be a better way. And yes there was. Quick snag and tag at GZ. Cheers. Last cache for today. back to Zara for dinner and ZZZZ.s And the rain is coming. And it rained and it rained.

Day 16 - Saturday 2 January 2021 - Whakatane to Opotiki today. Some TMGTs to visit before we leave town. Meeting up with The Seagnoids sister for the evening. And the rains came, with drums beating and an awesome night lights show.

The Seagnoid, Zara, Toby and I are off on another geocaching escape over Xmas, this time to the mighty Coromandel, then over to Opotiki and stop off at Rotorua to return home on 5 January. Had an fabulous time exploring many wonders of our country. Rounding up over 400 caches along the way, with a few LABS, 20 odd TMGTs, virtuals and lots of interesting earth caches to keep the mind busy. Watching the sun come up on New Years Day at Mt Maunganui was spectacular. Lots of walking and even more driving. But had an awesome time. Thanks to all COs who made this adventure so special.

Arrived with Taybeedragon nd my sister, who lives nearby. I am impressed that there is a functional well right on sea level - I had to taste it. Salty, so some sea water getting in, but obviously mixing with fresh water as the salt is not as strong. Took an age to find the coordinates, as many have said the tree is growing over them. The first few digits are obscured, but they are not the important ones. the last digits are fin, for now. The map says there is a road direct to the cache from about here, but that is obviously wildly wrong, so I got my GPS to plot the track and will update the maps in a few days. No real trouble finding the cache.
Gets a favourite and a path tag. Last cache of the day - heading towards home tomorrow. But we are still geocachers - it will take a few days to get to Wellington!

Taybeedragon and I went on a tour of the Coromandel - one of the few places of New Zealand, especially of Te ika a Maui, that I have yet to explore throughly, and from there along the coast to Opotiki to see one of my many, many sisters. From 18 December to 5 January we found over 400 caches, including 12 adventure labs (60 caches), 20 or so TMGTs and a host of virtuals and earthcaches. And I hosted an event to see the sun come up on New Year's day - surprisingly popular given that it was at 5am. We climbed a lot of hills, saw some amazing beaches that were quite popular despite (or because of) the insane access to them, walk a lot of bush, entered and explored 8 gold mines and generally had an awesome time. However I am glad to be back, but now is the hard part, and I fear it will take just as long - logging!

Enjoyed searching stage one, this was easier said than done...unfortunately tree's grow and the label is being slowely covered by the encroaching bark..having found this and entered the co ords into the GPS the mission was on....GZ took me close to an intersecting track ( and I took the long way didnt know you could go through the camping ground).....where there were many hint items..Gates couldn't see a gate any where ...finally I trusted my GPS and yes ..accurate co ords allowed an easy findthanks for the placement

I really enjoyed this cache. The well was spotted so we knew we were close to the final coordinates information. From the correct angle it was soon spotted and read. We couldn't find the direct track up to the final so did the anticlockwise trail. I'm glad we did as it was a beautiful trail. As we approached the final I was looking for a hint item. Plenty of ponga but no cache. Perseverance paid off though and cache found in good condition. Thanks for the multi sniffter

Sunday walks with my nieces... It’s been 7 years since our first attempt on a cache inside the Onekawa Te Mawhai Regional Park. We started this multi but never got around to completing it until today...

We rechecked waypoint 1 and found that it is just readable. We expected to find the final at the given coordinates, but this is now a few metres out... We enjoyed the walk up and the views along the way. It’s great to finally tick this one off. Thanks sniffter and TFTC.

Found it

Cunning stunts sussed it

Happy birthday to this cache which recently celebrated its 12th birthday - we are out and about on Mrs Tuolei's birthday (a bit more than 12) and one thing I know for sure she does not wish for is a multi, but was graceful enough to let me look.

WP1 was tricky enough and in the end I found it after much hunting about 23m for me off the posted coordinates - quite a bit and with the tide in we couldn't see or reference the old well. In the end I thought about where a WP might have been put 12 years ago and still be around (it is and going nowhere) and that did the trick - still a curly one as the tree is slowly eating the marker.

That gave us the final and Mrs Tuolei's patience exhausted she stayed in the car and Albert the Geohound and I made the walk up to the final in the heat. He was a trooper and encouraged me along ver well. Got to the final area and worked out where (as others note mamaku) and after a bit of hunting around finally got the find.

An old school multi with plenty of work to do but worth it and the views from near GZ are an excellent reward.

Thanks for the cache - all good here.

A beautiful sunny day and needed something to do with the grandkids so thought we would try this one. Had no idea what to expect and told the kids this was a hard one and were they up to the challenge. Hadley found the well and we were lucky as the tide was out but we certainly had to widen our search area. Then after a nudge from a previous cacher Hadley also found what we were looking for. Then it was up the hill with a few protests - then the search began. It took longer than it should have as we had read previous logs. Yes the gate has gone but it is definitely in the hint item. We were about to give up and were walking back when I said to Carter to just have a look in there in case. And yay he found it. Glad to sign this one off TFTM

We leave Whakatane in the morning towards the East Coast (Lottin Point) and we will take the time to make a few stops.
Today the weather is beautiful and it has been a few days ago, it changes us from our last trip three years ago.
We will make a small stop here to climb to the top to admire the view and do the two traditional ones, we will try to do this multicache, but we will not find anything but a FIND plate! Is it a clue? Is it a cache? Nothing to do with the GC?

---
Thanks sniffter for the geocache [^]
Greetings from Belgium,
Frank et Muriel

Happy geocaching

Well, well, well, we did not locate the well, but read a few logs to get an idea of what to look for (and stop looking for pongers?!) A mamaku indeed, and with a bit of perseverance the container came to light! TFTC!!

Well (haha) luck was with us and the tide was out. A little scouting around and the well was located and shortly after the cache with required co-ords. A walk up hill with Mrs and Little One offering the odd complaint about the lengths we going to get a cache - the cache was soon in hand....now to the top! tFTc

Could not find micro as tide was high and no sign of Well.
Headed up hill and found Pa cache after a little looking.
TFTC
This was our first find and kids excited for more.

Today I ripped the kids from their devices and bundled them into the car! I was heading East clearing as much of the coast as I could and ended up only one DNF in Opotiki. A great day, good weather, and a couple of the walks were longer then anticipated so we'll all sleep well tonight.

I don't always stop for multi's but this looked like a simple 2 stage up a hill we had already planned to travel. Stage one was a quick find although we're not sure how much longer it will be visible for as the tag is being somewhat consumed. Coords looked good though and off we went. Found the final fairly quickly thanks to previous logs where the gate is missing and you're looking for a Mamaku rather than a ponga/punga/silver fern. Cheers sniffter, TFTC

***

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The GPS of my phone wasn't really exact at stage 1 and so I was searching for a while. After I found it I had to "work" a little bit to see the whole cache (stage 1).
The coordinates where about 10m away from GZ, but it could be also because of my phone.
But thanks to the description and the other log the cache was located quickly.
TFTC harogo

Found it. Morning jog.
As others have said there is no gate but a gate post / gateway.
Is it a mamaku rather than a ponga?

We had no luck with the first stage and decided we didn't want to climb the hill to hunt for something that may well elude us.

Found by gut instinct as the directions are a bit confusing and there is no gate any longer!

I'm from Norway, escaping the cold winter and travelling around New Zealand for 7 weeks, using geocaching as my tourguide. Today I drove from Rotorua to Maraehako Bay, with lots of beautiful scenery along the way.

About this cache:
I'm on a multi-streak nowadays, so I'm desperately trying to find a multi each day. I'm sooo glad I chose this one, what an incredible view it was from up here and further up at the top!! I struggled a bit at wp1 as I didn't understand the hint (my english-slang is really bad), and it was a bit off the coordinates. Clever waypoint. Then off to the cache, and that was a quick and easy find. Yes, that was my 14th consecutive day of finding a multi. Giving a fp for the viewnd the nice multi. Tftc

Found both caches easily. Thanks for the adventure

Nice multi-cache. Abit confused as said ohiwa pa which it is not. Easy find with clues though

Found it - the cache is now white

Well this had us confused. Search for ages for the micro but no joy. Decided to try our luck with the second part having looked at a selection of photos and logs. Initially sidetracked by the hint but finally succeeded and log signed. Enjoyed the walk up to the top. Well worth the views. TFTC

walked back up again today with Margie to try and flush out the elusive container. Found it where I had looked twice and Margie once. The hint is correct and no need to search wider. No hang glider hovering around today. I have never been muggled by a parapent before but yesterday he took an interest in my fossicking and gifted on the breeze above the GZ (see photo).
TFTC and bringing us to this great view. Worth a fave point!

Returned to look for the second part of the cache with Margie. The Opotiki Primary School field trip muggled us and took a while to pass by. Fortunately the parapont that hung over me yesterday was not present. Yesterday he took an interest in what I was doing and flew about for some time. That's the first time I've been muggled from the air!
Found the cache in a place that I had looked twice, and Margie had looked once. It's placed true to the hint and there's no need to look wider.
TFTC! Cheers.

Found the first part quickly but the second part was elusive. Searched the nearest hint objects extensively to no avail. But these objects seemed a bit too far from the coordinates to be satellite error. I'll return for a second look.

No luck with the first part of the multi, and after heading up to do the pa site cache we saw the tree that was part of the clue and the structure that could loosely be part of the clue. A quick ferret and soon had the reasonably sized cache container in hand.

TFTC but the first part of the clue may need checking.

Haven't been out this way in years. Really pretty place. Testing out my new phone and it's going well. My daughter high5zoe found the first part and I found the final. Only two tb here. Some others were here a couple days ago must of grabbed it. Log in book. Not online. So I grabbed one and left card for someone else as I have had it before. Nice to see it's still going. Thanks for the adventure. Tftc

the issue with caching with the HOAC (Hamilton over achievers club) is they are all overachievers, so it puts my powers of finding caches into pale compared to the speed of others in the team. So I was mighty excited when I managed to spot this one first! 3 travel bugs dropped off by one of the team members,

Heading out for a day with caching mates (HKCB and RWIMF) for another epic early start to the day, did I say early start to the day (being 2am leaving Hamilton).
All in all it was a fantastic day which took us all to countryside that we had not really visited before clocking up 900 kms in 14 hours and 20 caches. Also meant that I was able to complete the final requirement for the DGSc Challenge that I had set myself as this was the final elective. Now all I have to do is work out when and how to make it to Reefton to collect the final. This single challenge has taken me 18mths to complete and required getting 2525 caches (and thats not including all the previous caches that I had to locate just to qualify to begin this particular challenge.

This was the nineteenth cache of what was to be an epic day. The mission of the day was to collect the remaining D=2.5 T=2.5 (minimium DT Rating Allowed) that I needed to collect for the above mentioned challenge. Together we signed the caches as "HOAC" to save log space.
Well with the first part of the morning completed, and a quick trip into Gisborne for the CANZ cache and more petrol we were back to it searching for a few more caches but heading back towards home by this time. Last grouping of caches for the day before needing to head back to Hamilton. Having collected the required information was a beautiful walk into GZ and a short search of the location soon located the cache.

So for the start of a great day, thank you, and for the placement Thank you.

Wow what a awesomw views on the way up to this cache had to stop several times to look at the views and to catch my breathe. took TB
Tftc

Well that well was a surprise but the micro was not to be seen today. Headed off to find other caches but kept looking for the second part and finally rewarded. Just time to write log between groups of walkers out enjoying the sunshine. Lots of track work happening but cache location not involved. Tftc not sure part one is still around

Jjhv

Found both parts of this cache. At low tide found the circular, ground level, old well remnants. The micro was close by the well but not where the water could get it. Then headed up to the second part which we found easy (nice walk) and left Blaze Campfire trackable.

Found with Sianald 2. I spotted both well, cache and second part cache!

You can find the old well in low tide, but then the first cache with the coördinates is really hard to find! Luckely we did and found the finale cache as well!

We did this one a bit backwards -- found the final based on the info and the hint first. That was good since we had no luck finding the first stage. Did find what looks like the remnants of the spring about 50 feet from the posted coords, but no luck with the first stage there or at the posted coords. Stage one could use a visit by the CO, but happy to find the final, 9 months after the last visit. Thanks for the little bonus for our hike.

This entry was edited by WERDAVE on Tuesday, 20 October 2015 at 02:12:16 UTC.

Nice Cache... Took little creature and left a coin

What a shame the cache has not had more visitors over the last 9 months or so... It is a lovely bush walk and those heading up to the other cache on Onekawa Pa are sure to walk past this easy find which is a large container with plenty of room for swaps and TBs. And the Pongers (?Punga's) hint is good enough to find the upper cache without having the co-rods from the well. A lovely walk with plenty of views.

Well, well... We must be tired, or dumb, because this one didn't make sense to us. No well to be seen at the listed coordinates, on this narrow strip between the road and the mud flats, and nowhere we deem suitable to hide a micro either. Went up the track anyways because we wanted to visit the Pa site, and still no sign of a well, no listing on our GPS for a "Ohiwa Pa to view" cache either... so no cache for us... Is this right??

Nothing to do with it being well hidden... we simply didn't understand the cache! The coords given are for a bit of road between campsite and reserve parking. Was the well there?? Did the walk anyway which was lovely and tried to keep an eye out for the view cache but really just confused and somewhat frustrated

Found with quinella . Log book drier than us- ie - not wet at all whereas we soaked!!

Water everywhere due to stormy Friday night. Found cache with clue while up the hill. Great spot. Tftc

Found the 'well' but did not find the micro. However using hint continued up the hill and found the primary cache. Logbook was damp. Superb views.

Found the well but despite a massive search couldn't locate the micro. Nevermind, I'll still take the walk up the hill.

After not finding the first micro cache I used the hint and found the cache on the way up the hill. A spectacular day to be up here, thanks.

2.45pm - WP1 is hard to find if tide in, WP2 has great views of area. SLTFTC

Great first clue at the well, well done!

Found the first way point... It was about 20 metres out for me. Had to look imaginatively to find the well. More of an uncivilised puddle than I was expecting.

Had to abandon my walk to the final. I couldn't find the right track through the domain as it appeared to be roped off. I went around to the camp, and that was closed off too. Will have another go at it soon.

#1000 We started our caching journey with a multi by Lion Fish in the rose gardens of Tauranga, so we decided to cap this milestone with a multi also. Found the well easily enough and the coordinates were soon located once we read the description carefully. Water was still seeping to the surface but we weren't game enough to put it to the taste test. We enjoyed a lovely walk through the reserve and appreciated the well signposted trees and shrubs that reside here. It was very hot walking in the direct sun, but we will now brave the track to the pah at the top. Thanks for bringing us here. TFTC

This entry was edited by tparty on Sunday, 10 February 2013 at 06:52:29 UTC.

It took me a little while to spot the first point and then finding the cache was not what I expected,(should have looked at the placement date). I only arrive last night and then moving off this morning, if it was not for the cache I would not have walked up the hill. What a great view. The tide was in, white island was smoking a little bit and the sun was low over east cape. Great. Thanks

Whew! One of us ended up climbing the hill twice in quick succession. Easy find at final site, but first co-ordinates some meters astray. Great views. TFTC

A great walk with interesting caching along the way. You need your to look carefully for the wishing well.

This entry was edited by minnow71 on Wednesday, 25 April 2012 at 06:06:24 UTC.

2 tremendous wp's. Our co ords for wp1 were 20m out but we went for the obvious spot and quickly had final co ords entered. Couldn't see anything that looked like 3 holes in ground but could see a freshwater source. We had a false start on way to pah but nice track when finally found and amazing views. Thanks for the tour - a fav from us. Took the tb as it seems to have been here awhile so PITO TFTC

PS went down a much more direct track through the camp ground. They have an adult size "bouncy castle" or really just a huge Bouncy Cushion under a sun shade. Mrs j has always wanted to try a BC and couldn't resist trying it - what FUN - a couple bounces only and felt like I'd been to sea when I got off...

Had previously found the intermediate before but didn't have time to go hunt for the final. Took us a little while to get to GZ as kept going down the wrong track. Got there in the end and a easy find once at GZ. Left TB.

7596 Well, Well, Well, we found the wishing well and the cache, enjoyed our walk and the views, many thanks for bringing us here.

second time looking for this cache as the coordinates are way off

Worth stopping here and having a walk around area. Nedds a Mr Wippy at the top . Very hot at the top but worth the walk. School group having fun with kayaks on the inner beach at high tide
In TB Treasure Key

TFTC
Picked up and dropped off TB's.
A very high tide covered well it would seem. Used final hint to get cashe.Enjoyed the walk.

This entry was edited by Mac Ross on Saturday, 22 January 2011 at 12:55:52.

Located close to the Ohiwa Holiday Park where our family have loved camping for 8 years now. Got the GC early in our camping holiday this year, and dropped off a travel bug in there as well. For those seeking this GC the hint relates to final GC placement, not first stage placement. TFTC.

Nearly gave up on this one! After reading the feedback of other GCs and getting an excellent clue as to the location of wp1, we located the first cache (way outside the co-ordinates!) and were on our way to the second. The views were well worth all the huffing and puffing. Thanks for taking us to what must be one of the most spectacular spots in NZ!

First cache for the year from our camp site great walk aswell with two older kids had to watch out for muggles took tb trackable left shell decorated by kids

WP1 located after a bit of a search - nicely done, but yes co-ords 20m out. Track from near WP1 is closed "due to storm damage" but I didn't let that bother me. Track very soft and wet, but got there ok after quite long climb. TFTC

Loved this one - thanks for bring me here
Had a bit of a time with the first WP - almost sat on top of it in despair - walk up to pa and cache was just fantastic - sun, views and bird song.
In - NZ Travel TB - to enjoy the views before heading home

Found first waypoint with some help co-ords 20m from the waypoint! Nice cache went to the Pa after. TFTC

I hadn't been up to this Pa site since we camped here when I was a kid. Nice walkway and great views. Glad the folks we saw at wp1 as we were walking back, seemed to find what they were looking for

The tide was out, so the well remnants could be clearly seen. We only found wp1 with the help of Robertot's hint though. Took the track up to the pa, and enjoyed the views along the way. It was especially interesting to see across the harbour to the end of the Ohope sandspit where we visited a few days ago. At the final GZ we had an easy find with the hint. Thanks for this fun multi.

# 1755

found it on a vacation with the fish_r_man. Nice walk and what a spot for some fun. Here from Canada

In Opotiki for the charity concert and was staying at beach house nearby so did a nice walk on a beautiful Eastern bay day for this one. JNK coordinates for the micro were spot on and found final no probs.
TFTC

Finding the micro proved tricky as the tide was high and no sign of any ‘wells’. The GPS had us searching over 20ms away. We decided to head for the final with just the additional hint (which it turns out would have been sufficient). Then we spotted the micro..(think BIG tree). Enjoyed the walk and the views and the info at the Pa site. OH Bring a PEN for the logging. Put in a pumping pig money box and collected some hooks. A great place for a cache and just above our caravan!

Well, well, well.. wasn't sure we would find this after 3 recent DNF's but good spotting by K located the well and WP1. We set off up the hill to final which we located quickly and easily. We think the problem with this cache is WP1 which we found was approx 20 mtrs off the GZ. The well may not always be visible so we got lucky I guess. Our GPS showed WP1 as S 37 59.515 E177.09.700. Nice walk with some history attached. NINO TFTC

Did a drive by to check , all is okay.

Did not find the well, only the sea, so could not continue,or rather in 34 degree heat decided against the trek up to Ohiwa Pa at 1pm in the afternoon. TFTC.

Missed this one ;-

DNF - Thanks for bringing us out here tho!

A fanatasic walk and view. TFTC MacBanger

After not finding the micro at our coordinates, we looked at an obvious feature about 15 metres away, and it was immediately obvious. Then a pleasant, if a little wet underfoot at times, walk around the loop track. TFTC

Really, really enjoyed this cache. What a beautiful area and splendid views from the top. Had stayed in the camp at Ohiwa many years ago but never even knew this track existed. Can really recommend this one and it's not too demanding. Thanks for bringing us here.

didnt relise till later there was a micro.but found it anyway
thanks

The rain eased, so decided that we had better go and check this one out, as it was only 8km from home. We have stayed at the Holiday Park a few years ago, but had not done the walk. Found WP1 and headed off to locate the cache. Nice easy find. Completed walk to Pa. TNLN TFTC

Enjoyed this one, nice walk in the bush before it got to hot. No problem with either hide.

TFTC

A few muggles following us so we had 2 wait a while. looked for ages and nearly gave up but then.... victory!!

Great walk and spectacular views. TFTC

Out: Breannah Geckoh TB
In: KCTexas' Texas 2006 Geocoin #3
In: What are you waiting for? Geocoin

Windy wet day, but still an enjoyable day to be beachside bashing our way up the hillside.

The freshwater Well was easily found, I remembered it from years gone by, and the water was still fresh and flowing from the spring, our GPS was about 18mtrs out but the co-ords were found and sent us on our way.

The views were amazing up the hill, but because of the wet weather we chose not to linger on up to the Pa site, we took the additional hint and found the cache reasonably easily.
Found at 1.30pm, Took a card which had Butterfly_lady geocoin # on it, but no coin or cant find it's paperwork in order to suggest that it should be here??

Left Breannah Geckoh TB on maiden voyage. TFTC

second cache of the day, testing my leg before the rangitoto cache event 17th. what an awesome place and an awesome day went through 3 bottles of water ths cache also gave my sore leg a hiding and it took me around 3 hours to complete this from the domain walk as i felt like an old man stopping ever few steps to give the gammy leg a rest.

cache in good condition and an easy find

nil in
nil out

rick

Checking in a geocoin, Alberta Rose.

Suddenly decided to see if we could make this an FTF. It's a long way from home but we'll give it a go!
Lovely sunny day, getting even hotter as we get near to the coast, but a welcome sea breeze when we got out of the car. After finding the spring some distance away from the co-ords, Punga's eagle eye spotted what we needed. Reparked the truck and set off on our walk, after much indecision about which way to go and which would be quicker. We probably took the long path but it was cool and shady. The cache was quickly found once we'd huffed and puffed our way up. And YES, we were FTF!! Swapped treasures, out - the necklace in Paua's favourite colours, in - a big crab to be near the sea. TFTC.

Then another decision, could we make it up to the top to sign the book? It was so very hot, but we couldn't turn back without reaching the summit! We knocked the old Pa off! And it was worth the extra climb. Fabulous views from the top and a cool breeze was very welcome. Thanks for bringing us to this wonderful place.

The trip home was another adventure. As we crossed Matahina Dam the first huge raindrops fell, we then drove through the most torrential rain and frightening lightning storm we've ever seen. Brilliant flashes of lightning, sheeting and forking across the sky all the way through the forest to Murupara, with the Ureweras shrouded in mist. The road was so warm it produced steamy patches, like driving above the clouds. Then the storm continued to circle us all the way to Taupo, with brilliant flashes of light around the horizon.
Quite a spectacular ending to our day.

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