Walkways of Otago: Flagstaff - Swampy Summit Glenleith, South Island, New Zealand
By timgrin on 21-Mar-08. Waypoint GC1ACMM

Cache 1555 OUCH this one hurt my shins bush bashing through the flax!!!! But this is a hidden date I still need and being as Im up flagstaff on a DT hunt I couldnt not sign this one thankfully cords are pretty spot on for a quick find now to bush bash my way back out! T4TC

I noticed the container was cracked when I was last here so I bought up an inner container for the log book today. It’s plastic bag was ripped so it’s a little damp but OK. This cache is hard to find. It’s by a felled tree, much decayed. When leaving the track look for blue tape in a gorse bush 10m to side of track. It leads to a rat trap then walk through tussocks between flaxes to find the tree trunk on the ground in the flaxes

Parked at the bull pen. I went up the fire track most of the way to swampy doing caches on the track and on side tracks. Then came back via Flagstaff. Took a little over 4 hours.

Snared the two target caches of the day, Old School and 50% Favorite. My legs are pretty beaten up, between Old School and Walkaways of Otago - Swampy I did my fair share of bush bashing.

Popped down to the Rhododendron grove too because in my mind a 260 m vertical is just a small detour.

One of the caches found on this sort of loop walk was my 10,000th physical cache find.

This was today’s objective, for the Ramblers Reward Challenge so I was pleased to find it after a short hunt in the wet flax. TFTC on a lovely winters day on Swampy

Today's planned adventure was to head up Flagstaff for my much anticipated #5000th find.
An absolutely gorgeous autumn day and not a breath of wind as I headed up Rollinsons Road to Castle Rock, down to Ben Rudd's Hut and then back up to the Plane Table. Mission completed and now to head over to Swampy Summit...getting on in the afternoon and I wanted to make sure I had plenty of light left so it was a nice slow jog to this one. Surprised that I didn't have to go quite as far as I expected. Hmmmmm the track I found didn't lead anywhere near the cache so back up and like an earlier cache I just picked a good looking spot and in I go. Once through the first lot of flax bushes it was slightly easier. Arrived at GZ and sure enough more flax bushes. Circled around a bit with no luck but then found a track which I followed, weaving in and out and then BINGO...there it goes right in front of me yay!!! TFTC

Easy find, once correct path found. Kia ora for the cache.

What a little bush bash! GPS was getting unreliable right at the end so went for the “look for somewhere interesting” approach

For a while I thought I was not going to find this one. How can you not find a big bucket?
Well, the object mentioned several logs ago has given in, adding just that little extra to the challenge. When I finally did manage to find it, all was well and in good shape, and I was happy
Thank you for this hide.

Had to be done while in the area - glad that this was only a short bush bashing trip and a great sized container. TFTC

#6027. I am down in Dunedin for the weekend. Had a workshop in Dunedin on Thursday and Friday and decided to stay on to do some geocaching. So have hired a rental car. Today I am mostly going to walk the tracks up around Flagstaff Peak. This was as far north as I planned to walk today. So hot up here today in the glorious sunshine. Should have brought more water with me. Wandered off the track and down through the tussock. Was rewarded with another large cache. Certainly a lot of old school type caches hidden up on these hills. Signed the log book and left the cache as found. Thanks for the cache timgrin.

Another great Dunedin autumn day just begging for a walk to be done, so I started from the bottom of the Pineapple track to find this cache, blithely ignoring the CO's advice to start elsewhere.
I hadn't realised that there was as much of a bush bash at the end, even including some bouts of the venerable sport of flax diving- those things were determined to stop me. [There's probably an easier way, there always is....] Eventually the cache was duly located and beaten into submission, lid replaced firmly, and I was on the homeward journey.

I'm from Norway, escaping the cold winter and travelling around New Zealand for 7 weeks, using geocaching as my tourguide. Already back in Norway I realized that I would love Dunedin, looking at the different hiking-challenges in the area and all the old caches. Unfortunately I am getting close to the end of my travels, so I don't have as much time as I hoped for. I was originally planning to have 2 full days here, but quickly realized that it wasn't enough. I managed to squeeze in 2 more days, skipping some other plans I had, which I don't regret. I had an amazing time in Dunedin, doing lots of hiking and the weather was good all the time. Dunedin truly is a geocachers paradise.

Today was my 2nd day in Dunedin. I started slow by visiting the old caches in The Botanical Garden and Signal Hill. Then I did a circuit at Flagstaff Hill, before I finished off with a beautiful and easy walk around Sutton Salt Lake.

About this cache:
It was a bit of bushbashing to get here with lots of long grass and flax. I'm glad it wasn't too far from the trail, the grass was so long it was higher than me. Luckily it was no thorns or gorse here, so it wasn't too bad. Once I got to gz it was an easy find. Tftc

Nice to find a large cache. Haven't found any of that size for quite a while. Took a while to wrestle my way through the flax bushes but fortunately it is easy enough once there. Took TB. Thanks

Another 10litre under my belt. This is surplus to my requirements for the Jolly Green Giant. The flax and tussocks in the area are quite big. Dropped off a TB.

Great day to be out and about

Tftc

Found it at dusk up in the snow and slush - got very wet feet. We had come up from Nicol's Creek caching along the way and wanted to go back down to see the glowworms and do the night cache. Had to turn on our headlamps after finding this one and head back into the bush. Lots of fun and a nice atmosphere up here at sunset - TFTC!

Thanks for this cache found it with swollibman when the sun was going down on a nice geocaching day.

Not such a bash to this one as there was from where we had come from 'Lost in the Mist'. Nice to find a large container. Found with Aoraki Sheep.

Followed the GPS off the track and it wasn't long before we spotted the large bucket. Found with debsnz on a warm, sunny winters day.

A short bush bash across to this one revealed a cache well out in the open in its winter camo mode.
I have placed it about 1m away where it is a bit more protected from the sunlight.
Cheers and thanks placeing a cache in such a great place.
S.t.

Went old school on this one. No GPS, just a map & compass. Found it pretty quickly out in the open yet in amongst some very well established scrub. Tftc, really enjoyed this one.

Nice "camo" cache. Pretty easy find after a decent walk out to it. Tftc

Another great Timgrin cache knocked off. Training for the Milford. Cloud rolling in from NE. TFTC

Found on a rather windy misty day TFTC

PC Sniff and I had bashed our way up Swine Spur (well I think we were on Swine Spur at some point in the trip) so a little more tussling with the tussock to get this one didn't seem so bad. Great to get another 10 litre that we can count towards the Jolly Green Giant. Although we got there the tough way, once on the track the walking was easy in a light wind with sunshine and gorgeous views. Thanks so much for placing this cache.

A nice run up to swampy today in the bright sun! Hard to imagine the snow is coming! Thanks for the fun cache - I was having some trouble finding this one til I read some of the old logs!

tftc

Beautiful day for a walk along the top and a bit of gentle bush-bashing!

Not what I needed after walking up the MTB track and though to the Swampy Ridge Track. The riders appear to have made it hard work under foot in places creating a slippy channel. So with tired legs I staggered off the path to the cache. Thanks for the extra workout

This entry was edited by swppv on Thursday, 10 January 2013 at 03:53:43 UTC.

This entry was edited by swppv on Thursday, 10 January 2013 at 03:54:50 UTC.

Not sure if I took the right route but we got there after taking a tumble a couple of times. #72

Oh No !! more bush bashing. I couldn't find a track going the way I wanted so it was high knees raising and the charge of the Geo brigade. Got there eventually and after signing the log which was well protected from the elements,I sort of retraced my steps back to the main trail. Whew !

Found against an old and felled pine... HOTA

This quest was more difficult than I had expected. Finding the cache was easy enough when I got to where I needed to be; it was finding the best route to get to where I needed to be that was where I failed miserably. All good fun, though.

Nice little 'walk through the flax' and a nice little seat to be found at GZ. Cheers Gav [10531]

A nice enough afternoon lower down, but thickening mist up at the GZ meant visability was down to about 100M when I got my hands on the cache so didn't hang hang about once the log was signed, still warm enough though for a T-shirt.
TFTC

great walk up today, just before the clouds started rolling in in a menacing manner TFTC!!
cache and walk to it claimed for Rambler's reward

TFTC nice views

Great hide. TFTC Cache in good order.

Arrived at the junction and decided to push on this cache. The track up was wet and greasy but OK going up. A scramble to GZ through the wet grass and flaxes to a nice big bucket cache. TFTC

Well what a great walk this was, mist just staring to clear. this was number two for the day seven hours and seven caches.

Bitsprayer

All I can say is, make sure you have a good GPS fix before you pick your point to leave the trail!!! I just sort of took off, but picked a more overgrown part, which made it take much, much longer. Camo is wearing off, but I doubt anyone will 'stumble' on it.
TFTC

A great size cache, easily found. Thanks very much!

Cheers,
Vaudevillain.

TFTC

Nice mild but overcast morning to head out for this one from the Bullring carpark. Not being sure of how long it would take I decided to head straight there along the firebreak track. Made some good time as the track was not quite as wet as late last week and I was soon bush bashing my way to the cache. Nice to come across another nice big cache but a little disappointed to find it nearly empty. Took off from here to try and find Lost in Mist, before returning back along the Pineapple - Flagstaff track to the Bullring. Wind picked up on the return leg and I was glad to have had decent weather and not get caught up in the rain that burst forth later in the day! TFTC - I like these more traditional caches where you actually have to use the GPS to navigate through an area off track to find the cache!

No. 628

Thought this would be a quick find.....

After a lot of bashing through the undergrowth and accumulating just a few hundred scratches I eventually got to the cache site.
Of course getting out was much easier....

TFTC

Thanks Tim for the excuse to exercise the legs. No problems findin the cache - though a lot of work is being done on the MTB tracks near Moonlight which justifies the extra exploration. TFTC.

Easy enough find on a cold windy morning. Bit of a struggle through the flax etc, but if your GPS isn't spot on here it never will be.

Coming by bike from the bull ring certainly makes getting this cache a whole lot quicker, though I somehow managed to screw up the co-ords and went 400m further than necessary. It's a lot of fun biking along the tops - I highly recommend it. TFTC - another nice dry hide.

When I checked the map for my return from Lost in the Mist, I noticed this chap almost superimposed on the waypoint that I had taken as a precaution where I left the main Pineapple/Swampy track. Had wondered about going for it, but now it was a no-brainer.

TNLN. TFTC.

This one has been on the to-do list for quite a while so it good to finally get up here.
As it turned out instead of one cache higher up on the “hill†we had four on the list today.
No fog or mist today, sunny clear sky but with a cold nor easterly. We spent awhile near the cache sheltering from the wind enjoying the warm sun.
Always enjoy coming up here Thanks.

Great spot, on a perfect day TFTC

Morning bike ride, man it was a fast cold wind, gave me a icecream headache.

Got blown over the hill to this one. Feasted on the icecreams but they didn't satisfy my appetite, had to come home to get one. TFTC

Parked at the Bullring on Whare Flat Rd and headed up the Pineapple Track to "Hardly Tropical" (GC1G8Q8) first. Got to that in 35 minutes at a steady walk. Then down to the Swampy Summit track and arrived at the cache exactly an hour after leaving the Bullring. Nice straightforward find and then back via the 4x4 track to the locked gate at the Bullring, arriving back at the car 1 hr 50 mins after leaving it. Be careful if heading here before end of October with a dog as cyanide pellets have been laid for possums on the Swampy Summit track. Had to keep the dog on his lead. Coming down Stuart St on way home I had a rear tyre blow out and found a sharp piece of blue metal in it, presumably picked up on the Whare Flat Rd. An expensive afternoon of caching as tyre couldn't be repaired so had to replace.

Nice walk on a busy track. Lots of runners, bikers and walkers.

I great view over the hills from up here. The first day of daylight saving so I had enough time to mop it up after work. I think that's all those up in these hills done - so how long before someone plants another Thanks!

GSV and I were out for a tramp along the spurs. A very enjoyable hike it was. Not too cold and the views were fortunately spectacular.
Tftc ....

A good loop walk with The Bohemian this afternoon. Great cache - nice to see a cache Donovan would be proud of in the area! Came up from GC183CR (Flying Saucer), and went on to the pineapple track and back to the Bullring. Dropped in a couple of Ice Cream books TFTC!

Cheers,
G.

[Didn't intend to get here today. Was doing the Nicols Creek loop, choosing a nice obvious place to put in a cache, and kept hearing calls and whistles from the top of the Pineapple track. These continued, so I felt I couldn't ignore them in case someone had sprained an ankle and needed help. I took the shortcut route up to the Pineapple Track, and found a hunter from Kaitaia who was calling for his AWOL pig-dog. He was most impressed that someone would actually go out of their way to check. So after exchanging lost pig-dog stories I kept my height and headed off to the Moonlight Track. Was marking in the co-ordinates (I'll include a sketch map of the tracks, with co-ords, when we do the Nicols Creek cache) and realised this cache was just over the hill. Wasn't carrying the info, but nice obvious hide and lovely big container ](until F&B and ORC get busy with chainsaws removing pest plants). [Nabbed the whisk, just in time as batteries starting to leak, and left full bottle of hand sanitiser.]

No additional hints indeed and none needed. Continuing the day walk after the Raceman's. Nice to see a few decent sized caches out and about. TFTC TFTH NINO.

Searched wrong area first but then an easy find.
TFTC.

What a stunningly beautiful morning for a walk with the little one Am enjoying this series, and thanks for placing good quality containers. There are rather a few too many caches up here already though. Perhaps it's time to erect a NO VACANCY sign on Flagstaff and Swampy Summit?
- photographic paper
+ frog candle
TFTC

Claiming the FTF at 2:20 pm. Nice day for a walk up, although I didn't feel the best. Quickly located the cache. Quite a busy wee area today. Came in from Booth Rd.

TFTC and cheers. TNLN.

[This entry was edited by gibler on Saturday, March 22, 2008 at 11:22:22 PM.]

Thought we might pick up a FTF today but beaten to it by a couple of hours. A walk/run we do often. TFTC

Were on the same tramping party when this was placed, but took up the challenge to find after it was placed during our lunch break. Our little one loves the find and rode my shoulders into the cache site, definately not claiming FTF on this one but did want to log it as it was a bit of a mish to get to and will be working our way through the series. Ain't the big ones fun though?

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