Ghost Bike (Northland) Gumtown, North Island, New Zealand
By funkymunkyzone on 26-May-09. Waypoint GC1RQJV

Ah, I think best to turn this one into a ghost cache if the Church is no longer a Church but someone's house. Quite right that we shouldn't be looking in someone's front yard! Not that you needed to enter, but still... If I get a chance I may place a new cache in a better spot.

We've made regular trips up to Whangarei since friends moved here a few years ago, and I've often eyed this cache which is fairly near their home. Today I made a slight detour to pick it up.

As a finder said at the start of last year, the sign in the clue has now gone, and the church is now a private residence, so parking in someone's driveway and searching their garden made me a bit uncomfortable - and I couldn't find anything anyway. Oh well...

Perhaps this cache has had it's day? See my DNF log: GZ is now at the entrance to a private residence, hint item now gone, and the cache arms to be gone to.

Nice old bike, found whilst in Whg.

Found whilst in Whg for a Zed Car convention, tftc.

Rainy old day but wanted to grab a few caches while we were up here....parked a the metal dump and walked back ....good co- ords soon had us on the spot ..found it all good and dry thanks for the great placement funkymonkeyzone ...these ghost bikes are so scary and make you aware of dangers of the roads

Bit of a ghost sign here too. Inspected two signs knowing they weren't at gz before finding the "ghost sign" and then the cache. The "pretty" church is being lived in too. My Dad has told me about this sad accident several times including tonight. Nice tribute though. Thanks for the placement funkymonkeyzone

No luck here today

551 Thoughts of Lynley

#672 3:54 pm DNF avenged - in fact I am surprised I missed it last time. Although this time I knew I didn't need to explore other "signs". TFT(ghost)C.

Daughter was back up from Welly for Xmas, so time to get her into Geocaching.

Parked at the only available space close to GZ, but the nearest sign was the "Watch for Bikes" 25m east. Had a quick look there but nothing obvious, so went back to the car and read the other logs. Then it became clear that no digging was required and we were able to quickly find the cache.

TFTC

Dad showing me around his caching territory. Cool to find this cache and come across the pretty church.

Not found after looking.

I'd always heard of the Ruatangata Church from my Mother In Law. They bought it a year or two ago. It wasn't until I came to a family occasion here today that I realised exactly which church it was. I'd been caching here in January. I showed my niece the cache and she signed her name. She was very excited by it. TFTC

Log was fill so singed the other side. Other then that easy find

Found

Quick find . Didn't know about bike. Nice church pioneer memorial. TFTC

Found this one thanks to the last finder who'd put it back where it was supposed to be. I used to cycle to school and Uni in Palmerston North but I'm too scared to let my kids cycle on the roads these days. There's so much traffic and no room on the road for two cars and a cyclist let alone trucks. I'm so glad we've got a cycle trail up north so people can enjoy cycling in safety. TFTC

found the cache laying free on the front lawn...( lucky i didnt run over it infact...) the item mentioned in the clue as the location seems to have left the area.. leaving only its pole ? tucked the cache in behind the "no dig .".

DNF

A pre Christmas cache nice quick find

Nice memorial.

TFTC

GPS is always good to locate the correct sign. The significance of the cache title is quite poignant. By the way, you're looking for a pill container. TFTC.

Took a bit of searching but found it in the end. Nice one, thanks!

Found it after a bit of a hunt.

I really think this one might be gone. All the vegetation around has recently been crushed, as if by a vehicle and I found no sign of a cache in spite of the clear clue.

Nice easy find on my first time out with my moko (Dylan) here in Whangarei. Thank you

(682) Nice easy roadside cache while in the area. Once we had the right sign. It does pay to use your GPS sometimes. TFTC

Found orginally as part of phasevisitor team, now created own account, re-logging as yorkshirekiwi83.

We spent the weekend visiting family up in Whangarei and went for a bit of a drive around some of the back roads picking up a few caches. A quick find in fading light, TFTC!

We spent the weekend visiting family up in Whangarei and went for a bit of a drive around some of the back roads picking up a few caches. A quick find in fading light, TFTC!

easy;-)

We decided to explore this locality even more hence a little detour for this one. Nice little quiet church here. The family admired it as we thought we were little back in time. So nice and awesome place with good history. Thanks for bringing us here FMZ

Found months ago, just updating log

Visiting family in area and thought would try find some of their local caches. Looked for quite some time and no luck with this one

HOUSIE 'DUCK AND IT'S MATE #28'

On my journey from Whangarei to Dargaville I decided to have a go at locating this cache.
For a long while I fosiked where I thought the cache was but couldn't find it. I was about to chuck it in when I turned to see that I was indeed in the wrong place. It was an easy find after this realisation. The description is bang on, I just didn't read it properly at first. Inside the small pill container are some little floral trinkets and I left my Housie number 'Duck and it's mate' 28. This is the first 'Ghost Bike' I have ever seen and now I know the meaning of them. Thanks for the education and the fun hide n seek.

This entry was edited by shirleygirl on Sunday, 24 March 2013 at 09:00:57 UTC.

Caching with Mini Mob today. Only method to get him to come was a promise of a lolly for every 4 finds..... 12th find of the day and last lolly for Mini Mob. A quick find and now to find some lunch ...... off to the "Office" at Maungatapere I think. TFTC.

Misuse of the "Needs Maintenance" log type - it should have just been a DNF.

Was a little disappointed! brothers first geocaching trip, and it was no where to be seen :/

Did not find it today my 2 young boys too impatient for extended search. Lots of evidence of previous search

Interesting both sides of road. Easy find. TFTC

Out with tikitour again - have to be careful with today's caches as also completing my 100/100 challenge caches. Just visiting this one for fmz as has had a dnf recorded...The cache I placed is still there and tikitour could not find the original cache that she had found ages ago. All looking good:)

Have made several attempts at finding this one. May be muggled

Oh - what??? I put a new cache there for fmz - was waiting for someone to find it - drat - I will go and check it this weekend....

TFTC

Hmm - not sure if I can log this as a find - was in the place and had a good fossick around with no luck - so, as Team Welsh had had no luck either, I replaced cache and put a new one in place - this time it's a small pill bottle with few small swaps. Hope this is OK with funkymunkyzone - I know you have heaps of caches and that you are in Auckland so hope you don't mind me getting this back on track - am happy to take it away and remove log if you like - cheers flowernz
Thanks FMZ - have changed it - hope someone else finds it now

This entry was edited by Flowernz on Monday, 07 May 2012 at 06:27:05 UTC.

Thanks flowernz for putting a new cache in place - I had actually forgotten about the DNF on this one . Please feel free to change your log to a find. Thanks again! - FMZ

Had a good look for this one but nothing that fitted the clue, widened the area but still empty handed. Not been found since June 2011 so may have joined the next life. Worth the visit for the view of the bike, the like of which we have not seen before. Megan took some photos which are uploaded.

easy first find

close find
out TB

Easy first find for son(with some help), Busy road, A cyclist made this his turn around point in his ride, Find out last night the lady that was killed here was my wife's client at the bank she used to work at.

Quick find on the side of a busy road

First time Ive heard or seen a ghost bike. Will know in the future!
Left TB Kangaroo here.

nice easy find. nice to stand back at night with no lights and look up at the stars

Up north for the night, so popped out after work for a few quick ones.

TFTC

Got splinters but dpi.d the cache. That is all that matters. T4TC

Found this a long time ago, only just getting around to logging it. Quick little roadside cache

Nice tribute, had seen the bikes on the road previously but hadn't realised what they meant..... very fitting. TFTC

TB Visit

Found on our way to picking up two new kid goats from Kokopu Road.
Visited the Gost bike website last night. A very fitting memorial.
There's also one north of the Matauri Bay turn off on SH10. T4TC

4799 A fitting tribute, thanks for sharing the concept behind these Ghost Bikes. TFTC.

Neat little find. Have driven past and often wondered just what this bike was there for. Now I know I feel so very sorry. Sl and took speckled blue rock, left key ring.

Easy find and just down the road from me, I had no idea. Blue speckled rock in, chess piece out.
TFTC

TB logging

2.00pm Couldnt find it first time i stopped by in february, got it this time, I actually had to go into the church yard to find it, But Yep there it was right there, nice easy find in daylight.


[This entry was edited by Riser5 on Thursday, March 18, 2010 at 10:11:18 PM.]

Nice easy find.TFTH.

We had not heard the term 'ghost bike' before, nor had we seen one. Interesting.
No problems finding or retrieving the cache. Knew it was a FMZ cache from the camo! Thanks.

# 1098

#54 A easy find as we took a different route home.

Just wanted to add a note as today is the Fred Ogle Memorial Ride; Fred Ogle was an avid cyclist, fitness enthusiast, and road safety advocate who was killed by a hit-and-run driver on Saturday, August 16, 2008
The memorial ride passes the cache & ghost bike placed in memory of Lynley MacDonald who was killed at this spot on Tuesday, September 23, 2008.
http://www.ghostbikes.org/

When this cache first came up I had never heard of the Ghost Bikes before. The next day, I read in a magazine, an article all about them...very strange.
wonder how many more I will see. TFTC & information.

Didn't know about ghost bikes, now we do. Also the Pioneer Hall is an interesting blast from the past. TFTC

Did a little detour on my way to Whangarei.
TNLNSL
TFTC #790

Starting off our "Ghostly Glow" geocoin.

Quick find after a game of golf. TFTC. Never seen one of these before , will keep my eye out.

Finally made time to stop & sign the log. TFTC
What a coincidence that on the same day the cache must have been placed I noticed this white bike for the 1st time while riding past with the Freewheelers group, who further informed me about it's meaning.
My thoughts go out to the family of the young girl, who are struggling to cope with such a tragedy.

I have MTB offroad for years, and have only recently taken up cycling on the road,with much trepidation. (already had a fright with a tanker on the same road) Hey, I drive a car too so can understand the frustration and perceived inconvenience to motorists, but after a few rides also now understand some of the cyclists challenges.
Both parties need to be vigilant in remembering to, Think & Take Care
I'd like to share my recently discovered answers to some FAQs

There is a cycle lane; why don't they use it?!&^%!
I stay in the lane as much as possible when available, but have found it also full of potholes, rubbish & broken glass (resulting crashes and punctures suck!)
Why don't the %$#! cyclists move over so we can pass easily?!
Just like motorists, there are an inconsiderate few, who give the whole group a bad image... BUT I now know a lot of times we just don't hear you coming! quiet, fast modern cars + the wind whistling though one's helmet & ears = surprise! I didn't know you were there! Please, give a friendly "toot" so we know you're back there
What is the deal with all that lycra?! *rolleyes*
I still think some of the clothes cyclists are seen in is ghastly, LOL! but it is a matter of comfort and loose flapping clothing is annoying, slow & gets caught in gears. Yes, I have succumbed to wearing bright neon colours as It does make one visible for safety's sake!

My 3rd. cache ever easy find... TFTC

nice, easy find thanks. pushed the container back a bit so its not visible from the road (we could see it from the car as we pulled up).

Swapped out a couple of little bits and pieces, and took the grape coin. We're not a vineyard, but we do grow grapes. Will try and find a suitable cache to leave it in.

the bike was looking ghostly - a sad sight. Container well camoed and took a bit of hunting even using the hint.
Took out the giant shoe TB and left the pinot noir geocoin. No vineyards around but plenty of fruit trees.. maybe they make homemade fruit wines in the area.

12.05pm. First time we have heard of the ghost bike. Would help if it had a sign about it. Quick find. Left a TB.
Thankyou. David and Stephen

Left a travel bug. The cache was just big enough for the shoe.

Found this one with Pooke @ 9.50.

Was so gutted when we saw Grobyc's name as the FTF, but its all good.

TFTC

Published

FTF @ 9-30pm How did I know a Pooke was racing me!.

Second to find at 9.50pm.

That darn Grobyc beat me to it.

TFTC