Not pumping no more (Waikato) Kaniwhaniwha, North Island, New Zealand
By cashkids on 16-Jan-10. Waypoint GC230FN

We came over to Pirongia today to pick up caches partway up the Bell track. After that walk we headed up here to see how difficult this one was. I was preparing to head over the stream when an English tourist turned up and asked what I was doing. When I mentioned geocaching he told me that he had a friend who was into geocaching! Long story short - he offered to find it for me but I was pretty keen to go over the stream myself. He headed over and I followed his route which was well chosen. We found the cache without difficulty and I signed it. Back without incident and only wet to mid calf which I was pretty happy about. Then the guy asked how to log it etc. I said that he needed to sign the log then go online to log it. Outcome is that hes going to go back over the stream to sign the log and join up to geocache. Hopefully there will be an online log from him soon. Welcome to geocaching

Found after a while

We got this one with wet feet.TFTC

Its been many years since I've tramped this part of the Pirongia Forest park, so I headed here with matagouri, for a walk to the "dumb old tree" .It was a little overcast and drizzly at first but that soon cleared to become a lovely afternoon.Having completed our walk to 'the tree', we diverted along this track to pick up a couple more caches. Having already done a stream crossing today, this one wasn't going to be an issue, so across we went.Once on the other side, we read the instructions/hint and found the cache very quickly. Thanks for putting this here

Out at Kaniwhaniwha with rattll today. After walking up to the tallest kahikatea and back, we came up here to get a couple more caches. Unfortunately, the dry feet route no longer spans the whole stream, so picked a good spot to wade across. Once at GZ, the specific hint soon led us to the hide, and rattll made the find. All good in the container. Tftc!

My first foray into Pirongia and to take things gently Id planned to wander to the kahikatea and back to Kaniwhaniwha campsite for the night. Having pitched my tent I set off in search of a couple of nearby caches. I already had wet feet from an earlier caching exploit so hopping across again didnt bother me. Once Id made my way to the pump station I narrowed down the search area and soon found the cache. Thanks cashkids#4773Logged using Cachly.

I don’t think there is a dry crossing option now so shoes off and a careful wade across a little upstream. Interesting site and spot on location and hint.
Thanks

Found. Waterproof paper works good.

Log was damp to write on

Time to explore this side of Pirongia. Crossed the stream a few time and navigated through the bush to find several caches. This one was first, after searching on the wrong side of the little stream at the back of the pump I switched side and found it easily. Exactly 8 passes. Replaced the wet log for a waterproof one.

All ready for the next one!

Thanks for hiding cashkids!

The log is very wet and needs replacing but TFTC

Was quick and easy to find once crossed the river

A nice walk in this reserve and with nice weather.
No worries about finding the caches except for a few.

Crossing the river safely, first step successful.
Search for the cache... not found
Re cross the river again dry and still successful

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Thanks cashkids for the geocache [^]
Greetings from Belgium,
Frank et Muriel travelling in New Zealand

Happy geocaching

Jf

Ops

Hi

I looked for the crossing, but last night's rain may have raised the water level. A waypoint for this crossing would be appreciated for next time.

Excellent clue so quick find.

I decided it being a long weekend, it was the perfect opportunity to climb Mt Pirongia. Arriving at the carpark there were already 5 other cars there! I was feeling rather late! Walking down the nikau walk I realised why the CO usually brings his bike - it was a bit hohum. At the campsite there were 4 tents set up, which does make me wonder about why camp there? It looked like they were settled in for a few days... After pondering that for a few seconds I found the first item talked about from the instructions, and carrying along the path dropped my pack at the fire pit and wondered into the bush to find a place to cross the river. I have to admit my river crossing skills are slightly rusty, so couldn't plot the course on how to get across. Luckily I had my new hiking boots on, so although I had to stand on some rocks underwater my feet stayed toasty dry! And it was only as I was 1/2 way across the river I actually realised I was heading for the right spot Reaching the pump station I looked in the wrong spot for a few minutes, then reorientated myself on the other side of the stream and quickly found the cache.
The log sopping wet, and I left a TB for the next person. Navigating the river I then picked up my bag and carried on. Your getting a fav point from me cause I like the spot!

All the new caches were taunting us for few days. Work commitments and parents kept us home on previous nights. But a Sunday morning was all what we needed. A plan was made with Gorby and FMZ for the hunt. Left Auckland early morning and reached the area before even the first rays of Sun.
Found it easily. TFTC

I had been keeping on eye on some unfound caches on Mt Pirongia for a few weeks (wondering with every successive day, and week, why they had not been claimed), and mentioned them to Gorby recently. He had spotted them too, and he mentioned so had harisree, so we decided we could not let this travesty continue any longer and decided this weekend we would fix this rift in the caching universe. I was keen to go on Saturday but Gorby had to work, although found out later that his work was canned, so we could have gone then. So Sunday it was. The plan was to leave Auckland at 4am, and we managed to be only 15 minutes late on that count, so that we could hit the trail nice and early with lots of cool morning temperatures to walk through and not be too late to get home.

We finally hit the trail at 6:45am with just a hint of dawn light appearing in the sky and took a fairly leisurely pace, stopping here and there for a drink or a bite to eat and to appreciate the beautiful bush. We bypassed all the non-FTF caches on our way up so that we had more caches to find to break up our return journey. This was the last find on our way back to the car. We decided the wet feet option was the way to go here and after briefly attemping to get across relatively dry, from stone to stone, we just decided to get properly wet. The water certainly was pleasant cooling down the feet after about 18kms of walking so far today. Took a couple of minutes to spot but we found it. The container was very wet and log book sodden. Unfortunately we didn't have anything with us to fix it, so we had to leave it. Harisree took a photo of the cache contents and log book.

From here back to the car was about another 2.5km bringing the day's total up to 21km. TFTC!!!

Out with harisree and FMZ. The 4 of us started really early this morning! Left Auckland just after 4am, started our walk at 6:45am at Limeworks Loop rd. It has taken 4.5 hrs to cache along the stream and up to 'Central Clearing' cache, approx 8.9km one way according to my track log. Then off course we had to go back the way we came. So came to this cache and FMZ and harisree made the find at this time and headed back to the cars, took us all up 10 hrs exactly to do all the caches up to 'Central Clearing' cache!

Dry feet not an option in winter! No worries though they were already muddy and wet from the cave. Cache needs attention as its water logged. Thanks for the Cache and thanks for bringing us here

After more than nine hours of tramping, much of which was off trail I detoured here to make a surprisingly quick find. In fact it was in the very first place I looked. I found 'Pirongia's Secret' earlier in the day, one of the more challenging trips I have taken for a Geocache and had spent hours walking down the river. Crossing it once more having already done so probably between forty or fifty times didn't make to much of a difference. I had no idea that pump house was there and it is a really interesting spot. The log was a little wet but I was able to write my name without to many dramas. I was surprised by how popular the camping site is across the stream with a number of people having set up tents about the place. Thanks for providing another excuse to explore the area. If I need to do some maintenance on one of my own caches up here I'll bring a replacement log with me and replace yours as well-with your permission of course.

Great spot, fun getting here! Easy find once we picked the right tree. Fun finding with Amy Daniel Noah and M. TFTC!

Took the wet way in and the dry way out. Water level low though, so not wet all all, except from the misty rain above.

Very cool TFTC

We found this one on the way back from reaching Pirongia's Secret. What an excellent piece of history here, for if not for the cache, I would not have seen it. This is the last one of the day. The other three in our party had their mountain bikes to cruise back on and I had my tired feet. Time to suck it up, kick it in and run back. I know I have beer in the chilly bin in the car = motivation. Cheers for the cache.

We left this one to last, so we didn't have to have wet boots all day. After spending a fair bit of time in a stream while finding "Pirongia's secret" we found crossing this stream no troubles at all. What a great piece of history here.

Took a bit of searching to find the cache, but we got there in the end.

Together with HKCB, 11hpg11, & Paultaps. Found on the way home from Pirongia's Secret; tired, but no way were we going to miss this one. Arrived on bikes but no problem jumping in the stream as we had been in the Blue Bull stream for most of the afternoon anyway. A few options for the clue, but soon had the cache. Interesting piece of old machinery nearby. T4TC & a fave point from me.

Good condition
But needs new notebook

Oh, the memories flowed here. This was a favourite spot when my thirty something son was a boy and Steed caught his first trout in the Kaniwhaniwha in the mid 70s. We mulled over the prospect of wet feet and maybe more, while enjoying a leisurely picnic, and decided to see if we could tackle it from the other side.

We made a few attempts, leaving the track on our way to the caves, but no luck. Thought we would try again on the way back (we had no cellphone coverage, so we're just guessing) we still couldn't get very far, but finally found a way to walk close to the stream and bush bashed until we spotted the ruin.

The cache was soon in hand, but then we had to get back. We thought there must be a quicker way back to the track, but no, after a few failed attempts, we eventually went back the way we had gone in.

The whole trip had taken way longer than we ever expected, but it was great fun and no wet feet! (except they were, by now, already wet from the cave)

Great fun!

This one took a while as we were very carefull crossing the stream after lots of rain. TFTC

What a nice area and a great hunt...TFTC

Quick find while rest of group packing up and getting ready to climb Mt Pirongia. (Up the Tahuanui track, stayed overnight at campsite near summit, return via Bell track) Thanks for showing me this, wouldn't have found it otherwise!

Hubby and kids camping up here, never knew this pump was here so a great new discovery, great cache container camo. Pencils not working so bring your own pen or a pencil sharpener.

82 Don't know how many times I have been to this campsite and never knew this old pump existed. Thanks for showing it to me.

Last cache of a long day...Tparty and Tparty jnr left me at Dumb Old Tree to scoot on and find this.....I had decided to leave this one.....but, I caught the up and they were empty handed, they had been on the wrong side of the track (or something) and from the point we met it was only 350m to the cache - I'm in!! One more river crossing can't hurt - on a day when I have spent a good few hours scrambling up a creek! Again, the hint was awesome.

TFTC

The last cache of a long day that started for me at 5:30 am. Three of us had completed "Pirongia's Secret" earlier in the day, and were on our way back to the car. What's one more river crossing when you've been in a creek all day? GZ was a bit of a surprise, hidden away in the bush. GPS got us close and the hint saw us to the cache. TFTC

So very pleased that we decided to do this cache after GC45HAP because the boots had a good wash before getting back to the car. Stream not quite knee deep at the deepest. Many thanks for the clues because the GPS behaved rather intermittently under some of the bush canopy. A quick find once at the pump. TFTC

Years and years ago this pump house was much easier to see across the stream. Now a hidden treasure. TFTC

didn't know this was here, hot day today so ok to get feet wet.

Managed to get across with dry feet - walking across some rocks, but river level maybe lower than usual since we haven't had much rain.

Took a few minutes to find, then back across the river to join the family for lunch.

Glad we weren't hauling camping gear here.

We take a wheelbarrow for the gear hauling

This is one of our favourite camping spots so glad to see a cache here. Showed some friends what caching is all about and luckily soon found the cache.

As for the cave, well im sure kids will love it, our group of 10 20something year olds LOVED IT!

This entry was edited by 11hpg11 on Monday, 28 January 2013 at 01:25:38 UTC.

Beautiful day, with frost in places at the campsite, & a great spot to visit. Don't know why I decided to go with the wet feet option (cache fever perhaps?) but it'll be a while before my feet thaw out or have any feeling again! A fav point for the fun factor TFTC

These are the last ones that I had to collect for the area. Not sure how I was suppose to get to GZ without getting wet feet.. after a slip or two with a newbie cacher we made it over. Once at GZ cache was found quickly. TFTC.

It was a quick bike in past many jealous hikers hehe

This entry was edited by novalightning on Saturday, 23 June 2012 at 02:45:15 UTC.

Certainly a relic here - got to see it here, and to get an understanding of the efforts of the past to ensure the basics of luxury camping!
Yes, there was a dry feet route today, but it was not the shortest route!
Thanks.

After completing "Tirohanga Bluffs" I decieded to head out here to see what this area was like as I had not been here for the past approx 15 years. It has deffinatly changed alot, and much better for it. Nice easy ride in on the mountain bike where you can get up some good speed along the track.

Cache was in excellent condition and got there with dry feet (which is always a bonus). TFTC

This is a lovely spot and we've here quite a few times but I had no idea this was here. That's why I love geocaching, it makes you take another look at things you think you already know about!

A great day to be out walking in Pirongia....I think we crossed the river at the wrong point as we couldn't see a concrete wall or grill...but had lots of fun and laughs finding our way to the pump! Converted someone new to geocaching - welcome Jacko!! TFTC

Hmm no wet feet...That will not be the case. The river is too high so wet feet is sure. So took the shoes off and went to try without wet feet. Didn't manage of course. But how cold can water be brrrrrrrrrr. On the other side, started first with searching at the wrong tree. I need to read more closely. Oh now I know to look for something else. and....found it. Now back through the cold water. Our dogies loved it

Great cache - tricky crossing the stream - Miss Jacksonz was upset to end up with one wet foot when only two steps away from the far bank. Not sure what the purpose of the water wheel was - the stream it was on was rather small - unless the main stream had changed course.

Only took a few minutes to find. great fun

Been up to the Kani so many times but never got round to grabbing either of the caches. Had some spare time today so grabbed this one, next time I'm up I'll grab the other. TFTC

Found this no problem, lucky we didn't arrive earlier as someone had been camping right at the river crossing point and hadn't been gone long as the campfire was still warm. Hope DOC don't mind, but we left a Bear GC to enjoy the forest park for a little while. TFTC

Great spot! Known this area for ages, a cache made itself home here before we could place one here!! Should have got this one in february on one of our first 3 YSAR camps, but forgot to load the co-ordinates before hand. Finally found it on our way up pirongia on a tramping trip, as you do!! lol

Nice day for a walk...TFTC

nice cache

Having walked this a couple of times before, decided to use bikes this time. A much more comfortable option.
+ a marble, - nothing.

Great spot didn't even know this pump station existed. This is why I love Caching, it gets you off the track. Camping with wife and kids. TFTC.
Ps: Slightly xmas camo?

Aw come on Team Geckoh. Any serious Geocachers would jump back in the car and do another 5 hour round trip to make the find

We are awaiting your log on your MTB ride! At this stage the bathroom renovations are taking precedence (i.e. Mrs Geckoh wants a useable vanity in her bathroom sometime this week!)

Took Quinella's advice and grabbed the bikes for this one. My daughter and I enjoyed the easy ride and the downhill run all the way back was actually quite fast.
Have been to the area many times before including camping up here but had never spotted the water wheel before.
Many thanks.

Did the new earthcache nearby & did this on the way home.
Saw logs comming from Zorgon so new he would probably have done the ftf deed. Sure enough his name 1st in the book about 6 hrs earlier.
Tricky find in the end. Clue helps sort of.
Decided to be safe & "took the trousers off" to cross the stream !??well yes just to be one the safe side. Didn't want to fall in with stuff in my pockets etc

Decided to be safe & "took the trousers off" to cross the stream

After a weekend at the beach what a great way to end by getting a cache. Due to old age I plunged into the water and not stone hopping TFTC

Get that MTB out Zorgon!
(Like Gekoh, have done the Pirongia trip this week even though not so far!)

Published

New Tui billboard:

We are not pissed off that a new cache is placed hours after getting back to Whakatane from Pirongia......

Yeah right!