Speargrass (Nelson/Marlborough) St Arnaud, South Island, New Zealand
By bumandworker on 01-Nov-09. Waypoint GC20GFF

Good hiding spot!A little wet, unfortunatelyTFTC!

I was hoping to grab more caches than this on the way to Speargrass but the weather was shocking so this was a quick grab once we got to the hut before drying off. Luckily it was a quick find, TFTC!

A great little hut. Loved the boardwalk to the toilet. Found with victoriousone and kimmy+co. tftc

Tftc out on a multiday with victoriousone and mumandme

Woohoo at the hut, our home for the night. Enjoyed a leisurely trip in finding all the geocaches. This one took a bit of looking but once we had the right spot, quick find. TFTC

A nice day hike to Speargrass Hut and back. The weather worked out better than expected on the way up, but I got completely drenched coming down. Great to avenge a prior DNF here, although it still required considerable effort. TFTC!!

Having a great time exploring Nelson lakes. What a gorgeous hut.

A quickfind on a short break before heading for the carpark, all in good order and found with SJT_NZ. Thanks b&w for the cache.

Found pretty quickly with Tregearp as we took a quick break before continuing out to Mt Roberts carpark. All in good condition. Thanks b&w for the last of your caches this tramp - several to come back for another time.

I am up in the area for a week of work and today was my day off so up Speargrass Creek I go. This was my 12th find along the way after a quick look for Paddy and not getting it. Even with the overcast drizzly weather and the GPS ranging from 8 to 15 m this one was an easy find after avoiding the littel hole nearby. Raining now. Done, done, on to the next one.

Quite a cute area to explore...took multiple attempts to find the right tree, but we got there in the end TFTC!

Thanks for the cach, Ive realy enjoyed that walk

Found it thanks

A nice couple of weeks off work with time for some rest and relaxation. Today's outing was down to the Lakes to explore along the Speargrass Track to suss out longer walks for another time.

My furthest point today, but confirmed that a good walk via here to Angelus would be fun.

After a quick drink and snack in the hut I stopped at the GZ for a quick find before setting off on my return.

Thanks b&w
#2975

Found quickly, even without description/hint (I forgot to download it) found towards the end of a five day tramp in the area. TFTC

Out for a hike before the bust tourist season begins. We wanted to go along the Ridge but fresh snow was falling up there. So we went where it was safe. Cheers for the cache all the way out here.

Paddle chick and I headed to Speargrass Hut for an over night stay and get a few caches on the way after arriving we had a cup of coffee then headed out to get this cache a nice easy find to finish off our caching day . Thank bumandworker

Out on the track with Isis58 and Mrs SoBad. They had found this cache 5+ years ago but insisted the journey continued so I could sign the log. Actually I'm sure they would have found it no hardship to revisit the area because its an amazing place. I found it rather strange that the area was covered in a plant that had rather innocuous leaves rather than the much fiercer speargrass I was expecting. Of course the name Speargrass refers to a much wider area and I just know that if I explored it fully I'd find the appropriate plant. TFTC .

The Seagnoid, Toby and I are off to explore Speargrass Valley at St Arnaud. Leave Toby at track end and start walking.
Hey we are at Speargrass Hut. Cool. Now to find this elusive one. The GPS had us searching all over the place. The Seagnoid finally snags and tags this one. Cheers. Now onwards through the bush to try finding the next one.

Having rekindled my love of tramping with a trip up Fell and Johnstone last weekend, I opted for a simple day trip to Speargrass Hut today. All my geocaching friends bar one had already done the trip, and Taybeedragon jumped at the chance. Perfect tramping weather warm enough for tee shirts, cool enough that we didn't get all sweaty and horrible. Not quite remote enough though. As I was signing the log a bunch of people turned up at the hut, and by the time the dragon and I returned to the hut there were more people than I could count, even if I pulled my shoes and socks off. But after getting back from testing the CO's GPS they had all gone, and we could return to the delusion of being out here away from it all .

The bum and I decided to go for a wee walk to Speargrass Hut for lunch today.
Destination reached - tick. Another hut bagged for me - tick.
Time to find this hide before we sat down for lunch.
Stunning view up the valley towards Angelus.
Having the CO with me I thought that it would be a quick find, but no, it wasn't at the feature that he had hidden it at.
I then read the logs to find that it had been replaced by paddlechick. No photo in my GPS Bum eventually spotted it about 12M from the published coordinates.
It has now been hidden back where the original cache was hidden so the hint is valid again.
My GPS was reading 4 or 5 metres where we moved it to.
Thanks bum for joining me for the walk. Most enjoyable.
TFTC

GPS not too accurate here as this one has been re-sited. But cache in good shape and not a tricky find. Probably +/- 10 - 15 metres for us. TFTC B&W. It’s a nice hut.

I was planning a couple of caches, maybe local ones, for this Sunday until Capperz mooted the idea of a walk up Speargrass track. Had to say I had not researched it much, but he had been along it before on a return from Angelus when the cache pickings were slim. Apparently a few more now, and I think these were bugging him. So with my incursions into the St Arnaud area pretty much consisting of a couple of PnGs while negotiating the inland route to Chch and nothing more, I was up to exploring a track and getting some exercise.
Arrived probably just after 9 am, parked up and got stuck in. It was a pretty steady walk and we made good time. Checked rodent traps as we went, something we are trained in from our Grovetown lagoon experiences, and are pleased to say we ‘released’ one victim. The caches themselves were all found, the odd one or two offering challenges due to GPS flutter, clue interpretation or whatever, but all in good shape.
Reached the hut, lunched and took the side track to the satellite cache which showcased an impressive boardwalk, interesting change of vegetation and a nice view to boot; then turned back for the trek home. Gotta say the constant dodging of tree roots along this track which made the trip there interesting soon made the trip home a bit annoying. In spots anyway. But again we made good time, pretty much having it to ourselves apart from a group we found trying to retrieve a shoe from a bog.
So thanks for all the caches. This is going to be a cut and paste log so sorry for that, but an indication all was good as we moved through.

T F T C. T F T C. T F T C. T F T C. T F T C. T F T C. T F T C. T F T C
---This log is trackable!
-- Feel free to discover.
-- Please mention in which cache you've seen this code:
-- AR9ZB7

With a pen in my pocket and a GPS in my hand I’m off for a walk to Speargrass Hut. The sun is out the birds are singing. The native Bush is looking stunning. And I have ten caches lined up to sign. About a 7 hour walk in and out for me track is good but has a lot of roots covering it so watch your steps and a river crossing ( I didn’t get wet feet) Thanks for the caches and a lovely day out.
What a stunning view as you come out of the bush. Time for lunch and a rest

Non-geocaching friend and I headed out from Nelson for a tramp around Nelson Lakes this early morning. Not early enough as we seemed to be following another cacher all the way. Finally out and along the Speargrass Track, following the new cache trail along the way. Weather was perfect and the caches were all quite easy to find. It took us about 2 hours 45 minutes to get to Speargrass Hut. From there we took a side walk to test my GPS and back. On the way back I found this replacement cache. All good here. We stayed the night in the hut and headed back out in the morning, taking just under 2 hours and 30 minutes to get to the car park. TFTC, Biggles.

We arrived at the hut bang on lunchtime - 3hrs from the car. There was a lone tramper already there eating his lunch. Whether he was the one whose footprints we had come across on the way in we don't know. We sat and had our lunch and he eventually left. As we always do at huts, we read the hut book and this guy had not signed in/out. Hopefully he didn't get lost anywhere. This is our second visit to this hut in the last four years. We had a few visits to the old hut back in the 80's and 90's. After lunch, Andy headed off up the track to another cache and I made the find on this one. A nice new log just waiting for our signature. tftc

Saw the previous DNFs so came prepared with a replacement. Had a good look around but couldn't find anything so found a spot 3 metres from GZ and hid it there, under a large rock. Photo attached of the new location. If it wasn't for caching I would never have come in here. Beautiful walk in to a great hut. Its a shame the cache doesn't get more visitors, that may change as I've hidden a few more along the track. Thanks for placing bumandworker

#7882

No luck. And considering the last found log was 2016 I don't think this is likely here!

Heading away for a few days towards Murchison with the extended whanau for a bit of hiking and some caching on the way, signing the log books as Team Polak for all of us. When we arrived at the hut last night, we were too busy organising food and beds, and then a large group set up camp outside, so we were not very keen to climb over them to gz. Once we got organised in the morning, we went off to find it . However, we could not locate the cache! in spite of four of us looking intensely for about half an hour, we came up empty handed. No present under the tree for us on Christmas morning!

A short stop on our way up to Angelus Hut, before the weather turned! Beautiful setting for a hut, can see how it got its name! TFTC

Teamed up with Capperz, Raisinpig, Kiwimykl and NZDi along with muggle Joe for a trip to Angelus. Having been to the top of Angelus peak this morning, we returned to the carpark via the Speargrass track. The last time I was through here it was the old small hut that I do recall being relatively close to the cache location. This time there was a round area of flattened grass from where DOC had helicoptered in a load of firewood the day before (and to the other huts in the area as well). I managed to find the small stream on the way to the cache as well! Found relatively quickly and the previous finder had done a good job of drying out the log, just very slightly damp. Certainly doesn't need any urgent maintenance.
We stopped at the hut for a late lunch and were met by two other groups doing the same thing on their way to Lake Rotoroa. Now for the final push back to the car, starting to get fairly tired.
T F T C

Out for a overnighter to Angelus via Robert Ridge. And after a big morning for the rest of the group that headed up to Angelus peak - we returned to the carpark via the Speargrass track. It was quite a steep down hill to the bushline - would be a decent up hill climb going the other way (No thanks). Nice to cross the water a few times and get the feet wet - very warm day today and no wind to cool us.
The hut was empty so we grabbed the cache - a bit of a bush bash through the long grass - and GH6710 had cache in hand pretty quickly. A 15 minute lunch break in the middle of the afternoon was well earned. Last 3 hours back to the car was tough - we were all pretty tired.
We have such a beautiful country - and great having good company. TFTC B&W

For quite some time now I've intended to make the trip back up Mount Robert and push on to Angelus Hut with a view to getting on top of Angelus Peak for a peek at the surrounding environment. After a summer so far of some medium walks and getting closer to some of those more challenging treks a few of us decided a Friday arvo trip up, overnight at the hut/in a tent lakeside Angelus, then up on top followed by a trip back down Speargrass to the car park on Saturday was a goer for this weekend.
Caching team was G H 6 7 1 0, Kiwimykl, NZDi, Raisinpig and I, along with a welcome work colleague Joe who was keen for stretching his legs. Logs were signed to save space for all those that come after us as caching initials G R N C K, pronounced 'Grunk'!
Set off from Mount Robert car park at around 1.30PM and arrived at the hut around 7.30 pm after finding 4 caches en route. Beautiful terrain for walking around with perfect weather for seeing all that this wonderful country has to offer.
After conquering Angelus peak earlier it was time to head on back down the track and to the Mount Robert car park. We elected to travel down the Speargrass route and a quite nice track it was too with a gradual descent over a couple of hours through varying flora and hillsides and alongside a stream most of the way. Took just about 3 hours to the hut and a quick side diversion had the cache in hand nice and quickly, replaced as found. Logbook is 5-bagged and writeable too.
Only another 3 hours back to the car and the legs and feet were starting to make themselves known to me
T F T C b&w

The rest of the RNZAF caching crew from Woodbourne mentioned a plan to take half a day off on Friday to do a tramp in the Nelson Lakes National Park to collect a few caches and with the ultimate aim of gaining a few more Project-GC Altitude points by climbing Angelus Peak, the highest cache in the Marlborough/ Nelson area. So how was I going to get a domestic leave pass to tag along... I know, invite NZDi along as well.

After getting the cache at Angelus Peak, a four hour return trip from Angels Hut, we left the hut on our return journey to Robert car park taking the Speargrass route. NZDi, Raisinpig and myself left ahead of the other, knowing they would eventually catch up, which they did just before we got down from the descent into the valley. Once down on the flatter area, we made good time and stopped for a lunch break here before continuing on.

Of course, rumbling stomachs were not the only reason to stop, there was also a cache to find, which was duly done.

TFTC B&W

An overnight tramp into the Lake Angelus Hut with GH6710, capperz, Raisinpig, Kiwimykl and the tame muggle, Joe, has been planned for a couple of weeks now and I decided to come along for a couple of reasons. Firstly, after only doing day tramps for several years now, I've been wanting to do an overnighter for some time and having the support of some other more experienced trampers gave me confidence to do this. Secondly, this is my 1200th find and two weeks ago when the opportunity to come on this trip arose, I thought it would be great if I could make this that milestone.

Having conquered our main objective, Angelus Peak earlier this morning we now had to make our way back to the Robert car park, all up that was going to make it a ten hour day on our feet, a massive effort.

We departed Angelus Hut after a light snack just after midday and it must have been about 2.30pm or thereabouts when we stopped here for a more substantial lunch. While we were stopped a solo north American tramper and a couple of Kiwi's from Nelson also stopped for a break as well, so we swapped track note and went on our way.

Oh... and we got the cache as well.

TFTC B&W

Sorry for the slow log, I wanted to see that magic number on my profile for a couple of days.

Our last day of our 6 day tramp doing the Sabine Travers circuit. We stopped off at the Speargrass hut for lunch before walking out. The cache was quickly located but the log is a little damp. We dried it out as best we could, and returned the cache.

On our last day of the Sabine Traverse we had lunch at the Speargrass hut and I decided to look for this cache although it had not been found for a while. It took me a while but the cache is still there! The logbook is still ok thanks to the many layers of plastic bags but the pencil was totally rotten, so I took that one down in my garbage bag. I did not have a pencil to replace it with, so please bring your own from now on.

Thought I could nab this a year after last log.
Are logging as DNF although the search was not thorough due to rain and patchy reception. Searched a few "likely" spots, before retreating to the hut! Thanks for the history.

we have bookmarked this to check some time (see link on cache)

For the second day in a row Mrs SoBad took a gamble on the forecast - and won. A joint trip with Isis was planned for today - a start time agreed - a new morning forecast looked much better and it was all good. Left the carpark about 9.30 with this as the number one destination, but intentions to go further - timing and fitness depending. We saw a few people on the track - mainly intending to overnight - so she was very happy to only have a day pack.
Found the cache, but bypassed the hut - which we did visit on the return journey.
No problem with the find - using another GPS and confirmed later by phone which was slower to get reception.
Cache was very wet, but log signable with triple bagging. Will leave other finder to explain how it was left.
Thanks for the extra excuse for a decent walk on a great day for it - while SoBad did what he does with cricket.

Today was out for a long overdue walk and catch up with Mrs SoBad. Really enjoyed the walk and the company. Very nice hut here. Cache very wet but the triple bags meant the log was only dampish. Today I came prepared with several bags and logs so I must be learning something. Replaced the log in a couple of new bags and dried out the largest and placed the cache inside that. Should keep it going for a bit longer. Thanks so much for the incentive for another lovely walk in our back yard. TFTC #5279

Fingers numbing as I sign the log. TFTC

Yay, a great walk in to Speargrass and despite the forecast it was fine weather the whole way. Negotiating past some creeks proved challenging after floods earlier in the year and the last crossing before the hut resulted in wet feet. Undeterred, the hut was made in the 3 hours and soon after the cache was in hand. Did a bit of drying out of the inner bags but the 3 bag protection system is keeping the log nice and dry . Hid away safely again. Stayed the night with 5 other friends and 2 others in the hut and felt a good earthquake jolt at 8:56pm. What a great couple of days. Thanks so much for the cache bonus.

About 5mins before the hut, the creek is crossed. The bridge here has been washed away, so you may get wet feet.

Found while on tramp with the school,
had good fun playing sardines in the grass.
TVMFTC

Quick find on the way to angelus hut, it was great sunny day:-). Tftc.

We had a fantastic weekend trip to Speargrass hut, we have been wanting to go here for a while. Arrived at the Mt Robert carpark and there were around 14 cars so we were a bit worried about how many people were going to be at the hut. Arrived at the hut and there were only 3 trampers there so all good, ended up with 11 of us at the hut for the night so pretty cozy. We found the cache in between showers, pretty easy find so we were happy about that. Great birdlife on the way in, Kea, Kaka, Bellbirds, Tui, Robins, Tomtits, Grey Warbler.

Thanks for the cache guys, always nice to have a cache to find on a tramp.

The new hut is fantastic, sleeps 12.

Found it during our tramp to Angelus Hut. Little bit cold here

Thanks

Found it before heading out to St Arnaud. Dried log book out as it was a bit damp.

A fantastic walk through the beech trees. Stayed the night at the hut. Excellent to catch up with fellow trampers. None were geocaching. Hut and cach in a fantastic spot. Tftc

Found it but the cache was full of water - probably from the recent heavy rain. Have emptied out the water moved and moved the cache about 50 cm higher and within 1 m of where I found it so it should be safer in heavy rain. Logbook was double bagged so dry enough to sign. TFTC

Mrs Rev and friends out tramping found this

Found on overnight tramp. Log was pretty wet so dried by the fire last night and put in plastic bag in container. Should be pretty snug for a while now. ps If you are planning on walking up to stay the night take some loo paper!!

found it on the way down from angelus hut...
its a tricky spot but we found it with a lot of fun ...

logbook is wet ;/...

Arriving at this hut site is always a pleasure, i thought the old one was a welcoming site but gee haven`t Doc done well with this beauty. (left the camera at home, Duh!) Thanks for the cache.

We were on our nine day tramp around Nelson Lakes. This hut was the last station before we had to head out again and go back to civilisation and the usual daily rut. Rumo found the abandoned track nearby and was curious to explore it - but not with hut shoes. While looking for the cache he nearly fell into the little creek that was overgrown by speargrass. So better be careful.
TNLNSL, TFTC

Found this one not long after arriving at the hut. TFTC TNLN

A (very) early morning walk - got to the hut just as the sun was hitting the tussock - a stunning golden pink display! TFTC

Found on a misty day.Not much rain except for last 5 minutes getting back to carpark

Nice to have something to do on a wet miserable afternoon at Speargrass.

Stopped at Speargrass hut for a night before walking up to Angelus and back on the Robert ridge. A great 2 day trip with my father, nice to have this cache on the way. TFTC

The hut was full with 18 people (and only 12 bunks) that night and quite a few got very interested when I got my GPS out... The community is growing.

Well hidden. Thanks.

Found on way home after doing the Travers Sabine circuit.

The planning for actually getting there was more of a mission, but Mr KE and I managed to find a gap in our schedules today. Very glad I did this one, it was a lovely track. And the final hut area a highlight. As you predicted, when you come out of the trees and suddenly you're in this wide open expanse - pity there was no snow on the hills. Can see we'll have to do this in spring one day. We were hoping not to use the GPS at all, but not knowing where the old hut was, we turned it on anyway. Turns out that if we had tried, we probably would have found the cache without the GPS anyway! Good company made the walk seem shorter, but it was still 5h 30m car to car for us, and we don't think we dilly dallied! So perhaps 5 hours travel time is about right but you might need to add some time for breaks. Mr KE is talking about coming back for a weekend tramp here. I told him there are no caches further on. Didn't seem to matter! What's happening to us? Walking with no cache at the end? Where is this going to end? Great placement, highly recommended day walk, or a start to something longer. Thanks bum and worker! #CS#

Nice to be able to join Mr B on one of his walks, and good to know I can still keep up - just! A really nice walk and an enjoyable afternoon/evening, we will definitely be back when we have a bit more time available to explore. Thanks for the cache. +/- coin

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