Beginnings and Endings (Auckland) Muriwai Beach, North Island, New Zealand
By KiwiGary on 05-Aug-09. Waypoint GC1VHJQ

This cache is had its day, time to free up the area for new and more exciting caches.

On a maintenance visit for Gary

I looked at this months ago, and got as far as to identify what the D & B stood for, but was unable to make sense of the numbers. This afternoon merlot58 asked if I had solved this puzzle since we would be out Muriwai way to do the night caches. I took another look at this puzzle, and a few more things finally fell into place, linking the numbers and what the D&B stood for. I managed to solve this quickly once the pieces fell into place. At GZ, ended up clambering over lots of fallen trees, certainly making the terrain rating higher. Cache is still in good condition. Thanks for the challenging puzzle.

I have had this puzzle on my solved list for quite a long time and as I was in the area today with Supernanny it was an opportunity to pick it up. A nice bush walk to GZ but I missed seeing it on first pass, but thankfully Supernanny had a look as well. A great puzzle and a nice spot to come visit. Thanks!

Thanks KiwiGary ! What a very cool idea for a Puzzle ! Had a nudge from a Geomate and solved at home !
Was with Merlot58 yesterday ; and as in area we decided to pick up the final . No probs seeing Giant Rimu
A favourite !

Was in the area looking for caches, and knew it was time to find this one. Loved the puzzle, very clever, had solved it, then lost the answers. Thankfully it only took one word, and I knew what to do. The roads around here can be a bit tricky! got myself stuck, but fortunately some muggles came to my rescue

Thanks for the puzzle and the hide!

#10718. Good solving by Troodles this morning meant this cache was added to our "must do" list for today's trip to Muriwai. A short walk took us to GZ, and after a bit of a bush bash we located the cache. TFTC.

One of the items on our must do list while in Auckland was a trip to Muraiwai as neither of us had been there before. Today the weather looked perfect for a drive out to the area.
I had looked at this puzzle a few months ago when preparing for our trip to Auckland. Because there are so many puzzles, I would scan the cache page for 30 secs and if the puzzle looked too time consuming, or if I hadn't a clue (which is the case for this puzzle), I would move on to the next.
But knowing we would be in the area, I had another look last night. This time I was pretty sure what the numbers meant and made some progress but had traveled down a wrong path and could see no way to derive the co-ords.
This morning, got StreetWalker to have a quick look to see if he could add any insights, but no he couldn't. So I continued thinking about it over breakfast and suddenly had an idea. The numbers were looking good, and so popped them into geochecker and was delighted to get the success message.
So this was cache was added to the list for today. We had to carefully make our way to GZ, past a fallen tree, and the cache didn't take long for StreetWalker to find. All in good order too. Thanks for the puzzle and TFTC.

Thanks to Bertie Blowfish I managed to solve this one, genius puzzle had me stumped even with the net. Beautiful spot to finish too. Favourite from me.

With Bertie Blowfish and googles helpful guidence I'm able to pick up a 5 star souvenir. Beautiful surroundings at gz! Tftc

Tftc

Headed for this find after a day out on Muriwai beach. I'd been playing with this puzzle for a while, and got a small hint from a previous finder on how to make the solve. However even then it took a fair bit of effort to work out what was needed. Turns out I was on the right track but just looking in the wrong place for the info I needed.

I was thankful that it wasn't much of a walk to the cache as the body was getting pretty slow at this stage. Picked out the spot from afar and a small search at GZ revealed the cache. Thanks for the cool puzzle and the neat hiding location. Worthy of a fav point.

I needed this cache to help with my D/T grid so told the others we would be stopping here even though some had already found it. Went for a quick walk to GZ and found the cache no problems. THanks for the enjoyable (and solveable!) puzzle and a great spot for the final.

Found after a day out on Muriwai beach.

After finding caches along Muriwai beach we made a stop for this one on our way home. TFTC

Was very excited when I managed to solve this puzzle, a few weeks ago. And decided it was the perfect cache to pick up on Geocaching's 15th Anniversary Day.
In the end, it was a fairly quick find, despite having to clamber over & around misc fallen trees and branches. Loved the puzzle...and the beautiful spot it brought us to. Thanks

I hate puzzles but VERY Slowly worked through this one and eventually got something that resembled an answer. Yes I will admit to a PAF to ensure that i was on the right track (which made me smile) and was please to finally get the required result.
Very nice piece of bush and a quick result gave this cat a smile

thanks for the placement

Have to confess that I briefly looked at this puzzle about 2+ years ago, when I not long started trying to solve puzzles, & had absolutely no idea whatsoever. A lot more puzzle solves since then but hadn't yet gotten around to having another look at this one; however, with a self-imposed target of a challenge that needs some higher D-rated finds, I had another look last week and was REALLY surprised that the clues now all made sense. A bit of head scratching & mulling over the clues again & it wasn't long before I'd cracked it: thankfully, geochecker agreed - cue the woo hoos !! The goal for today was a hike & a few caches not really near here but, in the excitement of the recent solve, I persuaded myself that it wasn't too much of a detour (yeah right!) to visit here and grab this one as well. Well, it wasn't far as the crow flies Was getting closer when I realised the last minute change of plan meant I'd not entered any Murawai caches into my GPS. Thankfully, managed to get enough phone coverage to download the info I needed for this one & headed to GZ. Nice walk to collect the final - lovely spot! - & thankfully a nice straightforward find. Thanks for a great puzzle & the added incentive for an extra find today, fav point from me for the puzzle & the fun!

Solved this ages ago and tonight was the occasion to pick it up. A tree had fallen onto GZ but over and under worked for me. t4tc

Out and about for a spot of caching this afternoon after work. This was my main target. Solved this yanks ago; the solution has been in at least two puzzle books. Time to knock this one off! The solve wad hard work, I even managed to over complicate this already devious puzzle! Once I clicked it all fall together nicely. I enjoyed a nice bush walk to GZ. Then it was simply a matter of checking the hint items and there was the hide. Very pleased to have completed the formalities on this one! Cheers for the puzzle cache placement!

Finally managed to crack this a couple of weeks ago after looking at it on and off for a good few years. I always had a rough idea of what to do but it wasn't until I tried to make less sense of it than what I was that it all came together.

Out to do another loop today and clear the area with Lemski and made this the first stop along the way. Took a little bit of searching but nothing too bad and the cache was in hand before too long.

Great puzzle and a really good spot too - TFTC

A very tricky and cunning puzzle that I finally managed to solve nearly two months ago after multiple red herrings. It all became very obvious in the end.

Finally visited today to find the cache as the difficulty on this nicely helped my complete a provisional license class. Took a wee search at GZ but it was eventually found with the help of the hint.

Accidently dated the log with the 10th having not signed anything yesterday (my only find was an earthcache).

Thanks!

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

When we first looked at this puzzle the subject matter became fairly obvious, but we then struggled to convert the puzzle into a set of co-ordinates. We picked up the puzzle a couple more times after that and each time realised something new that slowly got us closer to the solution, until we eventually figured out what was required and soon had the final co-ordinates! Decided to head out this afternoon to look for the cache - GZ was obvious on approach and the cache was soon found. Thanks for a great puzzle and a lovely spot for a cache. Favourite point added!

When we first looked at this puzzle the subject matter became fairly obvious, but we then struggled to convert the puzzle into a set of co-ordinates. We picked up the puzzle a couple more times after that and each time realised something new that slowly got us closer to the solution, until we eventually figured out what was required and soon had the final co-ordinates! Decided to head out this afternoon to look for the cache - GZ was obvious on approach and the cache was soon found. Thanks for a great puzzle and a lovely spot for a cache. Favourite point added!

Found shortly after midnight after the nightcaching event at Muriwai. The puzzle had me stumped for ages, and I'm really glad to have finally collected this one for my D/T grid. TFTC.

We probably shouldn't have attempted the final after having already walked 10km today and in the dark on the way to the Night Caching event down the road as trying to find this one by torchlight wasn't such a good idea ! We'll be back another day.....

2nd visit to this location with Tufty. Like our earlier visit we visited the same trees as before, and like before, with the same end result. The PAF option was then taken and we received a nudge as to where we should concentrate our attentions. But, we have both, and individually, searched there many times before![:(!] So it was back to that spot once more. This time a comprehensive search finally revealed the well hidden cache. [^] Phew! That now has filled one of the 3 remaining holes in my D/T grid, and I'll hopefully be able to another as I travel home from the MEGA.[^] Thanks for the well constructed puzzle and cache.

It was back out to this cache again with my bro, BaldEd, to try and find this one. We searched and searched and searched then I decided to PAF. Even with his help it was still an effort to come up with the cache. We both needed it to fill a hole in our D/T grids. Boy, were we happy chappies.

Cheers for the cache.

Headed out to Muriwai this morning to find this one now that the listing has been re-enabled. Abit of prunning has gone on at GZ but cache still found in the first place checked after many months of being unfound!! Thanks goes to KiwiGary for keeping this one going, an awesome puzzle and a great location for a cache! Favourite point added!

With some help from my friends, I went out and checked this cache and it was where I placed it all those months ago. So its still there guys, you will just need to look harder. Thanks to all the emails about the cache.

Ive managed to get in touch with the cache owner and this container will be reinstated and re-enabled in the next few weeks.

Looks like this one may have gone missing, I will try and check it out.

We drove past this point and Rumo wanted to get a photo of the great view. And he found a little secret spot and quickly went to get Rala who was waiting in the car. We sat down for some time and admired this magical spot. "I would not be surprised if there was a geocache nearby" said Rumo and - voila - the GPS indicated a solved puzzle. Alas, no container. Just Christmas decoration.

I was out with BaldEd doing a few caches out Muriwai way. I had solved the puzzle about a year ago but this is the first visit to the area. Noticed that there is now a new track into Goldies Bush. The item in the hint is now lying on the ground and we had a good hunt around but couldn't locate it.

Took me while before I had that "Ah ha" moment on the puzzle. Up in Auckland today to sign off a few puzzle caches and fill a vacant spot in my D/T grid with this one. However, it was not to be and both Tufty and I left unsatisfied after searching all 3 of the hint objects within 20m of GZ a number of times. We both agreed that the most likely subject was the one that is now sadly deceased.

Some foreigners to Aotearoa
Couldn't find what they had to,
The history they did not have.

Abba's old song, and times long gone
did not solve the riddle at all.

With some local assistance,
from people of importance,
the geochecker finally agreed

The puzzle has been decoded,
the coordinates checked
and a trip just needs to be booked!





Very well designed, looking forward to finding it.

Thanks, I've learnt a bit more about this beautiful country.

Gary's puzzle had us taken aback
Kiwicouple the solution did lack
Got a nudge from a Lizard
(Geocaching puzzle wizard)
That soon had us on the right track.

# 2371

The bear pulled his hair
To get the brain into gear
For all was not clear.

After scritching and scratching
A plan he was hatching
And things started matching

So today was the day
He led Team TT astray
And signed the log - HOORAY

Finally in the area to pick this one up. Must admit the puzzle gave me more trouble than it should have.

TFTC

There is a family of cachers called howickcandys
for whom puzzles are sometimes not dandy
but though we were slow
we gave it a go
and now have had the cache in our handies.

TNLNSL TFTC

Had a couple of problems with this one but quickly sorted out. Nice area, and great puzzle, TFTC

Out: I've got a booboo Geocoin

There is a team called Geckoh,
who likes to give puzzles a go!
This one caused Mr G some grief,
but much to his relief,
Mrs G had it solved in a mo!
Now just to claim the cache next time we make it to Auckland, thanks KiwiGary.

Had great expectations of finding something very attractive in the cache based on the puzzle but alas only the usual tradeable items

Nifty puzzle and nice location up to the usual KiwiGary standard.

- Lightning MCqueen TB, + Booboo GC

Might not be a pro, but let's say ethusiastic amateur collector... This puzzle seemed to just come together very quickly, and in about 5 minutes we had the solution. This is a great spot and one that we'll come back to in summer and investigate further. Would like to say quick find but it did take a couple more minutes than it should have. Must learn more about types of trees though. TFTC and the FTF!!!

3026
Enlisted some help from my dear…
She looked… and it soon became clear
It was geochecked with success
So we headed out West
And grabbed the loot
With a STF, to boot
See… we’re not obsessed
It’s just another one for our quest!
Many thanks Gary for a nice wee excursion[^]
Found on the way home on a long after-work diversion.

IN: Lightning McQueen TB
TNSL, TFTC

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