Tom Marvolos Riddle (Canterbury) Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand
By Aslan* on 14-Feb-10. Waypoint GC23PHJ

Sorry I have to agree with the last log, could find nothing at GZ. Not many places to hide

An awesome GZ but a DNF for me ..found a fake bug lol... even used the camera to see into the hidey holes but nope no cache could be seen

Nice and quiet along here this afternoon, certainly don't have to worry about any of those wives today, TFTC

After my DNF I got to find out I was in the completely wrong tree TFTC left some swag thanks Aslan

I searched unsuccessfully last year. Thanks for replacing. Glad to find before bud burst.

I solved this one ages ago and then came for the find today. First one to sign the new log, and a quick and easy find. Thanks for replacing the cache! A nice area I haven't been to before, and a lovely day to explore it.

I visited GZ tonight and the old cache might still be hidden under all the leaves. But I hid a new one about head high above the litter. Cheers Aslan

We are all the way down here in NZ to support our daughter at a sporting competition. And we are making the most of our time to check out the beautiful city of Christchurch and grab some Southern hemisphere caches! unfortunately the cahce wasn't at GZ.

Had a really good hunt for this one but there's only so many nooks it could be in. Saw a previous finder had posted a photo with their log. That container is definitely not at GZ. Could CO maybe check on this one please?

Were in the right place just the digging I cant find it

Found with Gummi_Venus. Took several laps around GZ and we had to dig in there quite far. Youll feel this one before you see it! Log has disappeared so photo log attached. We found a drink bottle nearby with some cool stickers. Wonder if its the same one other cachers mentioned finding years ago.

Too overgrown in this time of year I guess

What a mission to retrieve the cache. We eventually saw it but how to get it out so we can sign the log. With teamwork, we found a way.FINALLY, and with humble apologies for being so late, I am catching up on my logging.Day 5 of The North Islanders in Canterbury tour with Liss Crew. We are targeting specific caches -oldies, and puzzles. Of course, there will be days of laughter.During our time here, all found caches were signed as NZL, regardless of whether either of us has found it previously, or with individual names for Challenge Caches according to whomever was claiming the find.Kia ora rawa atu for the cache Aslan*.

I'm from Paihia/Whangarei and I'm down in the South Island for 6 days with NZ_B on a geocaching trip. We signed the logs as NZL. I had a few goals for the trip and I was very pleased to achieve them all *50 or 60 puzzles for my diamond badge on project gc*40 caches to get to my 6000th find*some South Island minutes for a challenge*but mostly a clean out of my ever growing solved puzzle list.Monday we collected the windmill geoart on our way to Oamaru. Tuesday the focus was solved A2O puzzles, the sunflowers and other solved puzzles. Wednesday we headed back to Christchurch collecting challenges and more solved puzzles. Thursday's focus was the Smile series around Lake Ellesmere. Today it's the old Port Hills cache and puzzles in the Christchurch area. Unfortunately for us "accio cache" didn't work here. Fortunately, the whomping willow type tree didn't inflict any wounds either. We took a while to spot the cache deep within the interior and we managed to extract it. We tried to leave it more accessible for the next finder but the cache had other ideas. Thanks for the puzzle cache that I solved in June 2021

Finally!
5th time lucky

After four previous trips to GZ by myself over the last 9 months or so, I gave in and resorted to bringing assistance to help with the find after reading recent logs.
My partner is a bit taller and has longer arms than me, and with bare branches and few dead leaves around, winter was the perfect time to find this very well hidden cache.

I had been frustrated by past failed attempts but determined to get this one eventually!
I just wasn't quite tall enough to reach with the additional growth that is now around the hiding spot, even without the leaves, so there was no way I would be able to get it myself with spring/summer growth.

We stopped here on a wee school holiday Geocaching outing with WTiger1717, who managed to quickly solve the riddle on the way (a clever 12 year old- I only had to read it to her twice!)

For best results I suggest that those of average female adult height or less team up with a taller friend and attack this in late autumn or winter.

Thanks for the cache and fun wee riddle

Found it after a bit of searching. It’s a bit overgrown so you will need to ferret around

Teamed up with knotobsessed to pick up some more solved puzzles and to get her by the line for this latest challenge.

Bit of a jungle to get into, knotobsessed being not as big got in there real quick, or maybe I just entered into the wrong spot... anyway, we had a glance in as vehicles were passing, and she made the find. Nice

TFTC Aslan*, the cache was found in good order Signed, sealed and returned to GZ. 9 find(s) of 15 today, making this find #3366

Finally! Been searching on and off for over a year I think and I've finally been able to sign this 1 off. Tftc! Great hiding spot!

Solved ages ago. Quick find on a nice drive in the area

Tftc

Out with indiboo getting a few caches. Finally put my hands on it after a couple of laps. Knew the answer to the riddle so solving was pretty quick.
Thanks for the cache, Aslan*
#3148

A quick find while getting some afternoon exercise and enjoying a little welcome rain. Thanks Aslan for placing the cache, solved several months ago and cache all in good order.

Coordinates changed from:
S 43° 33.836 E 172° 34.155

Coordinates changed to:
S 43° 33.806 E 172° 34.126

Distance from original: 222.8 feet or 67.9 meters.

Updating

Coordinates changed from:
S 43° 33.806 E 172° 34.126

Coordinates changed to:
S 43° 33.807 E 172° 34.126

Distance from original: 6.2 feet or 1.9 meters.

Updated

Found with Mrpotomus and geodog. Long arms are needed since it is hard to reach. TFTC.

I'm liking these puzzle ones. Can't see this cache at all. Great hiding place.

Long arms are a bonus with this one!

Down in Christchurch with the Squirrel, ABCDF4 and eyespyben. During Covid lockdown, we solved a load of puzzles and decided that this would be a good time to visit. We've enjoyed a few days of good weather and seeing the Canterbury countryside. The caches have been in varying states - some good, some not so much. Our time here has been a blast, and we'd like to thank all COs who have made this adventure possible. Thank you and TFTC.

With ABCDF4, eyespyben, and Gap (of Fap and Gap). Logging all finds as Team HRP (Huntly, Rotorua, Papamoa - Our hometowns)... During Covid-19 lockdown, we solved a truck load of puzzles around Christchurch - Canterbury region. No use thrashing the old grey matter for no cause - We decided we should make good on this handiwork...

There are lots of interesting trails and geoart surrounding Christchurch. What you aren’t told is how far flung some of these caches actually are. Some beforehand advice would have been great, so here are some of my notes... You’re welcome!

1. Mobile coverage is patchy, especially in those quiet, rural areas where it was most needed. Saving caches to offline might show that you are prepared and organised...
2. There are many dusty metal roads on the trails. The car will get messy, and your hair will feel like cardboard at the end of the day...
3. Suitable clothing and footwear are essential. You will climb in and out of hedges, gorse, and other rough stuff. You might get scratched, cut to shreds, and bleed a lot. It’s not advised to wear your brand new jacket on the day...
4. Take lots of food and drink. You’ll probably be head down, tail up and not realise you haven’t eaten until late afternoon. There are very few shops or gas stations out there...
5. Make sure that you secure keys and wallet and know where these are placed for easy retrieval. A full box of pens might be useful too, especially if you’re inclined to free some into the wild...
6. Know the difference between left and right, and north, south, east, and west. Turning right and heading north will not get you to South Christchurch quickly.
7. Look with girl’s eyes rather than boys eyes... Some caches haven’t been found in a while and you might have to get down on your knees to pray.
8. Always be prepared for misleading hints. This is what turns simple caches into D5/T5 hides... “Head height” could mean the cache is positioned at your toes.
9. Have a sense of humour and like the people you go caching with. It’s going to be a very long day, and you might want to hurt someone during the journey...
10. Make sure you can operate your phone/device and it doesn’t crash when you most need it...
11. Learn to cut and paste logs because you’re going to repeat this function so often when logging all of your finds.
12. Above all else, have fun and be kind...

Tired, tired, tired! Four days of early morning and late night caching can knock the stuffing out of you... We decided to take it easy today and focus on some city caches - And maybe finish with some Adventure Labs for good measure. It's Sunday - a day of rest... Gap navigated through a series of backroads to bring us back into Christchurch. It seemed much quicker than trying to get back onto the main highway. Once we arrived back into the city, we needed a cache as a settler. This one was chosen. What a cool tree - reminiscent of the Whomping Willow... We spent ages clearing dead leaves, but should have looked closer. Thanks Aslan*. TFTP and TFTC.

After puzzle solving in the Canterbury region along with EyeSpyBen we were invited to join Fap (from Fap & Gap) and Squirrel Nutcase to a week long caching adventure in the Canterbury area. With flights and accommodation booked were off, all met up in ChCh. and many hard dusty Kms travelled and many caches found, I think the Squirrel has said it all in his brief. Many thanks for the placements and Cos for bringin us to the very pleasant areas we travelled in to your region

After puzzle solving in the Canterbury region along with ABCDF4 we were invited to join Fap (from Fap & Gap) and Squirrel Nutcase to a week long caching adventure in the Canterbury area. With flights and accommodation booked were off, all met up in ChCh. and many hard dusty Kms travelled and many caches found, I think the Squirrel has said it all in his brief. Many thanks for the placements and Cos for bringin us to the very pleasant areas we travelled in to your region

Found with mangoambs. Nice spot. TFTC

Found with everdene22. Tftc

Nice easy puzzle, cache took a bit of finding.
Greetings from Wales
TFTC

We were out with busypaws to get a new cache in Wigram and I wanted to stop here and find this cache. We had looked here before but didn't find so came back and looked at an interesting place I thought it could be. Found with hands not eyes haha. Thanks for this cache Aslan*.

#0234
Solved the puzzle long time ago.
Visited today as I'm waiting the GZ to be more exposed.
The one you know who is really tall.
TFTC

It took some time to fossick around among the autumn leaves in all the numerous nooks and crannies. But eventually we put a hand on the container and pulled it out. TFTC!

I've had this puzzle solved for years and years and finally today I made the effort to come and sign it off. Found after a couple of circuits and a good rummage round. TFTC # 13,535

This morning I had time to find a few caches before I had to the airport and home. I solved this puzzle this morning before heading out and this was the first cache I came to. It took a bit of circling round GZ before I finally had my hands on the cache. Got it in the end. TFTC, Biggles.

GZ was quiet today which meant that I had time to search. I couldn't find the cache with my eyes, perhaps the CO is a bit taller than me But I did find it with my hands, TFTC!

Ended up in the area, so a nice opportunity to collect a few caches while there! I am glad to muggles were coming this way to St Ives! TFTC!!

Easy to hide in the greenery at this time of year on a Friday night after 8pm. Do watch where you put your feet. Dog pooh at 9 o'clock! Thanks for the puzzle and the hide.

13:00
Well, easy - 2802 are going to St Ives!
Was in the area after work, so came after the puzzle final that I had solved earlier.

A strange coincidence but I found a drink bottle with the Slytherin coat of arms printed on it close to GZ! If anyone's lost it, contact me

TFTC!
#5410

Easy little mystery we were surprised no one has found for a while. Cool place to visit, witless be even nicer when the leaves are out . Another for our forsaken quest . Tftc!

Quick early morning find with Jess53nz after solving the puzzle some time ago. Very cool hiding place which would be much more impressive when green - and we wouldn't have had to worry about passing traffic! Tftc

solved in taranaki then found on our trip lovely tree wish we were around when full of leaves, TFTC

Nice easy find after a long day at the office

From one Harry potter themed cached amd riddle to another glade to have these as smiles now. Thank you for bringing me to this place and placing this cache Aslan* from Mr Cuddly Brick , cache 1359 on this mighty day the 27 July 2016 Mr Cuddly Bricks You Tube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCspYYJI5ZIvUE9ncq1_rpYw

Nice find out visiting husband in St John of God

Fun to find

Found it easy find

Thank you, Aslan* we had fun!

Nice logical puzzle, I can cope with these! Easy find but log book is very wet, probably needs a plastic bag and might need a new log, maybe have a look? TFTC

I have place a new cache here with room for small swaps. Aslan*

Cache and log extremely wet so needs urgent maintenance TFTC

A bit damp, needs replaced with new log and a plastic bag. Tftc and for the series.

Wow, this puzzle has been solved for so long it is great to come and finally collect the smilie and remove it from my solved bookmark list.The cache was quickly found but the logbook is wet. Thanks for the cache and easy puzzle

needs a new log.

Visiting Christchurch for the MEGA., and was staying another couple of days with friends, near Halswell
Borrowed one of their bikes and headed of for the Motorway cycle path and other caches on way back.
Weather wasn't the best, but didn't get past a heavy drizzle, which cleared up around mid day.
Thank yiou everone for you cache hideing. Have enjoyed my visit, managed some of the touristy things, inbetween caching TFTC

The puzzle was solved at home, so all we had to do was collect the smiley!

Cache was found on Day 5 of the NZ MEGA 2015 caching trip, as Gunnie69 and myself made our way to the airport collecting a few smilies. A very nice day meant we made good progress through Cracroft, Hornby and Papanui, and finishing to catch a plane home!

Thanks Aslan* for the efforts of putting out the cache and making it an enjoyable day!

A nice little maths puzzle to get Ghostgums and I warmed up for the Mega Weekend, but the find could have taken a while once we hit GZ...

Thankfully we had the container after a brief search and quickly added our names to the log... As we made our way from the hiding spot, a lady was passing on her morning walk and gave the two of us a little smirk... I wonder what she thought we were up to... [?] We weren't too concerned as once we had driven off, she would never she us again...

Cheers Aslan*.

It's an old riddle, so not a hard puzzle to figure out. Co-ords spot on, nice easy find. Log damp but I managed to get my initials down.

I met a man with seven wives.
Each wife had seven sacks, each sack had seven cats, each cat had seven kittens.
Kittens, cats, sacks, wives, how many were going to St Ives?

So I met them along the way. Was it just me who was going and all of them returning? A large group travels slower than a small group (especially if I am on horseback) - are we all going to St Ives and I caught up with them? "With" has two connotations - they may be present with him, or he may have seven wives but they are all at home, so I only met the man.

This is a classic puzzle, with a classic answer, but the way it is usually expressed - as above - results in lots of alternative correct answers.

Put this puzzle in the too hard to do basket for a while, but decided last week to give it another try. And it was a good try, coordinates spot on. But logbook a bit damp... TFTC

Had some help from a young friend who enjoys these sorts of puzzle. Glad he does! What I enjoyed was the GZ location - what a truly magnificent tree. Don't ask me how to find it - but once you do, join me in giving the tree a +1

07/01/2015 03:24PM
# 5457
I totally went down the wrong track on this puzzle! Turns out having a numbers degree is not neccessarily a good thing!!!

But eventually I got some coords. And wanted to hit myself on the head!!!!

Today I got round to going and finding the puzzle.

Took a while to find - must be because it wasn't found in quite a few months, so was tough to find under all the natural debris on top! - Luckily there was only one place to look, and so I could focus in depth on that one spot

Consec caching day # 794

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For more info on the next NZ mega event, and to register, go to:
coord.info/gc587bc or www.nzmega2015.com

Nice hide. Found with Sevren tftc

Arrived at GZ only to find people on their way to vote, so quickly left and went up the road to collect another cache and then on our return, no one around so a quick grab and sign. Thanks so much!

Had no idea who Tom Marvolo is or was, but his riddle was simple to solve. A little bit of a squelchy walk to the GZ and the cache was in hand. Thanks for the cache.

Day 1 of the school holidays. I was going to help out at Kidsfest Leeston. That got cancelled due to lack of numbers. My boys don't do a lot in the holidays. They are both teenagers. So when son number 1 needed a ride to a friend's house I decided to take him and find a few caches. This was my only puzzle find and my 3rd find today. Loved the stroll even though it was a little mucky at one stage but that's only because of where I had parked the car.[:X] love those local caches. [:X]

Great hide. Cheers

Gr8 find thanx

Found after a decent search. I had it almost in my hand about 5 mins before I checked there again and got it. Solved puzzle long ago and enjoyed it. Thanks

#10 of 10 finds (from 12 attempts today). Just before the battery in my phone died! I'd solved this one months ago so it was good to make a quick find and cross it off the solved/unfound list.
TFTC

A nice find today with no-one else about today in the heat. TFTC Aslan A very nice specimen.

Found after a wee mishap with the compass.

Nice hide aslan TFTC

TFTC

What a busy seat had to go back for this one.
Found it pretty easily TFTC

Found by Fitchy with Wii P. Nice hide. Surprisingly busy seat and road TFTC!

Very well hidden, tftc.

Nice easy puzzle and easy find. TFTC.

Worked out the puzzle at home
Nice hide
Thanks

Havent managed many puzzles so pleased with this. Thanks

was struggling with this puzzle and then I watched Die Hard. Easy find. TFTC.

TFTC. Good find to start day off. Cheers.

Took a bit because was dark and the measurements are a bit off but stick at it! my first one

We were looking at this puzzle over breakfast this morning. Then I had an epiphany in the shower which turned out to be spot on. Wasn't too long ago that this was all bare land.

Solved for the required answer, and found the cache. A good hide in an interesting area.

TFTC

I solved this a few months ago on a dull day at the office. I live on the other side of town. Today is puzzle cache finding day. Tftc

Nice little puzzle. I couldn't help making a lot of noise at the cache hide - lots of autumn leaves!. Thankfully no muggles about to disturb me

Solved this sneaky puzzle prior to our last Chch visit but it turned out the cache had been muggled maybe only hours earlier. Returned to the spot today on a morning out caching with Ewelou who found the cache completely exposed on the ground. Returned cache to its hide, well covered and in keeping with the hint.
Amazing that no-one has logged a find here since last December.
Thanks Aslan for a nice puzzle cache.

It was only tonight as I watched one particular childrens movie with my son that the Tom Marvolo reference occured to me! A true lightbulb moment. Very clever

Took me a long time to figure the riddle out, but luckily not as long to find the cache! TFTC

Quick easy find on a site visit to the vicinity. Yet another cache found in one of my subdivisions. Pretty proud of this one, in the process of completing the last two stages. Over a thousand new sections in total. Looking really good through here. Thanks for the effort in placing, really neat GZ.

Managed to complete the paperwork while in the city on my way to Akaroa, TFTC

Had about 2 and a half hours without mother today so decided to clean up some caches around this area that I hadn't done but RuruNZ had. This would be one of the first protected varieties I've seen for a while. Love what they are doing with the development of the area - so much growth happening here and hope it will compensate for what is being taken out on the East side. Thanks for the cache Asian.

356 - I had been after a FTF nearby so while I was in this area I thought I would track down a few caches here too. I had this solved back in March when a group of us were planning a visit to the quarry, but it has taken me this long to actually get around to looking for it. Then, I felt like that man from the poem... every man and his seven wives seemed to be out and walking down the street to go to the local fair that was on today! Luckily I had a decoy dog with me, and we managed to retrieve and replace in between passing muggles. TFTC - where did that encryption come from, I sure didn't mean for it to be there!

This entry was edited by justmeg on Monday, 08 October 2012 at 09:33:49 UTC.

Cache replaced today. Thanks Aslan*

Used the calculator prior to our Chch trip but after looking at the actual puzzle, realised I hadn't engaged the family brain cell.
This was our last search on a caching afternoon with Ewelou and Lachlan. We agree with the Roaming Reliever's prognosis that the cache is missing - the location is pretty clear-cut.
We'll be back again.