Puff 'n Stuff (Canterbury) Castle Hill Village, South Island, New Zealand
By Robin_CHCH on 25-Jul-10. Waypoint GC2C8XC

On honeymoon in NZ for a couple of weeks and finding a few caches along the way. We spotted the Castle Hill area and stopped for a second, which turned into a few hours.
We wandered all over the place, even out to the cliff area and all the way up the top.
Awesome views up top, and we didn't even know about this cache as it had been archived before we arrived.
I saw the trig station and automatically headed for it. Then as I was taking a photo the wifey spots the cache! It had us puzzled for a while but fortunately after returning to Australia I was able to track down the cache page! Thanks to a Sarah the kiwi connection!

The log is pretty full and more importantly it's soaked. I managed to make a mark on it still before returning it to its hiding location.

Excellent location for a cache and we were very pleased to climb all the way up to the top and discoverer this extra smiley!

TFTC

.. Retired ..

Easy find.Log full.

Log full.

28/03/2017 - Today I managed to get an amazing (and extremely difficult) run done up Avalanche Peak in Arthurs Pass, spot of lunch, then off on a impromptu Geocache road trip on my way to Christchurch.

From a few park and grabs, the trip soon turned into something more, from Swimming across Lake Pearson for a cache, navigating through dense forest for the biggest geocache I've seen and running around the rocks of Castle Hill. What a day!

This cache was further away than I thought! But still managed to get to it after hitting "Puff n Stuff" - in fact, I found a log sheet on the floor which must've fallen out from the last cacher. Quick sign, log replaced and off I went. Thanks!

Made a trip out to Castle Hill today and had a wonderful time climbing the rocks and collecting caches. This one is just great - I love climbing hills and this just gave me an incentive to go up here, TFTC, scores a favourite from me

Cool spot!!

Nice view!!

Apart from the walk up this is my favorite cashe! Amazing view!!

Quick find TFTC

Stayed in castle hill for the weekend exploring the Arthurs pass area. today it was time to head home grabbing the last 4 caches in the area. I power walked round to this side while everyone else explored the other rocks. Had the place to our selves .just a little huff and puff great training for my Kilimanjaro trek .
Quick find tftc 2/4

*French*
Une longue route ce matin pour venir visiter Castle Hill
Du côté ouest le ciel est plombé par contre une fois le Arthur's Pass passé le soleil montre le bout de son nez

Magnifique endroit et sous un soleil radieux

Robin_CHCH, thanks for the geocache
Frank et Muriel
#10194
Belgique
Log with GSAK

Found on 22/10/2016.

Off to the South Island Orienteering Champs at Castle Hill.
Takuing the opportunity to grab a load of caches along the way.

TFTC Robin_CHCH

Had a day trip to castle hill and surrounding. Really interesting place with a lot of nice features.

So far seen on this trip: Thailand and New Zealand.

TFTC from a geocacher on his journey through the world.

Danke!

Nice view

We had an awesome day around Castle Hill, Narnia and the cavestream. The weather was clear and the view fantastic. Thanks for the cache in this beautiful scenery.

What a view from here, tftc

Well, I only stopped by for the cache in the car park but somehow ended up on the top of the hill! Lured along one cache at a time obviously, but very pleased I did, a nice little bit of much needed exercise and some great views from up here.

TFTC

Found it!!!!

Went for some bouldering from Chch today. While the other guys were cruising I went for a little Exploring. Cheers

Magnificent! Thank you for bringing us up here!

Greetings from Alaska! Traveling with getatms+1 in a motor home for a month, sight seeing and geocaching. This area is so amazing! Quick find on our way up. TFTC!

Another day to pick up a few caches outside of Christchurch with BaldEd doing an area that he needed to sign off a few.

I certainly huffed and puffed as I followed BaldEd straight up the hill.

Cheers for the cache.

Bit of a climb to this one. Thanks for placing the cache. Glad to find it. Will pick up the rest on the way down.

Windy old day but soon had the cache hand. Thanks for bringing us up here

Raced the weather. Rain threatening. Top spot. TFTC.

This entry was edited by BroadbentJ25 on Sunday, 15 March 2015 at 23:44:29 UTC.

Great walk, alas no writing implement

Eventually made it up. very good views TFTC

Long slog up the hill but a quick find when we got there. Then realised that the pen was in the car. Nuts! Attached is a photo of the log as proof of the find. TFTC.

Nice walk around this area on a stunning clear day. TFTC

TFTC. On my way to investigate Castle Hill and this was my third cache at Castle Hill for today.
There were several groups of young people hanging off ropes with varying degrees of expression on their faces from exhilaration to complete fear.
I have to confess to a large amount of plodding and puffing to reach this cache.
The cache was nicely placed and the views made the uphill efforts totally worthwhile.
Thanks Robin CHCH for placing the cache.
#3398

Wow what views thanks for bringing me up to this place nothing else needs said.

Higher up than it looks. Great Views - TFTC

Yay Sumited. Phew. Now to get back down!

Puff and Huff we did but got there in the end with a wee smiley as a reward. Cheers for the cache.

The mad nosey bear team strikes again. Thanks for the work out. I needed that! Tftc

Certainly was puffed and stuffed when I arrived at GZ. Was upprised to see a trig in such an unusual spot i.e. can only see from two directions due to the rocks. TFTC.

Took the direct route up...so yip, puffed.

Nice spot to survey the view.

A great way to spend the start of the Christmas holiday is an exhausting hike at Castle Hill. TFTC!!

Heading to Greymouth with TheWanglers on a caching weekend. Stopped off at Castle Hill to grab the few tucked in here. Great walk in and around collecting all the caches. As we were walking out the back and up here to 'Have a Crack' and this one there were a few spits of rain...but it held off. Great views. Took the direct route up from HaC...found an easier zig-zag back down, getting a bit slippery. Cheers.

Team_Gaters and I have planned a this trip over the last few months. We finally got to the business end of things and kicked off out West Coast raid. We had two days and a lot of boxes to tick. We started at 5am on Saturday morning and it took over 12 hours to get to Greymouth. We drove a lot, walked a lot and had a lot of laughs. We experienced 4 seasons and even contemplated aborting the mission as we were standing in icy cold weather freezing as the rain came pelting down in Arthurs Pass. We encountered matigouri, rosehips, blackberries, brambles, spainairds, baby gorse and old man gorse!!! Still finding parts of prickles in my skin! We also saw kea, weka, cave weta, tree weta, giant slugs, giant spiders in caves, west coasters, fat wood pidgeons, tui and a giant dragon fly. Had wet feet for nearly two days. Three FTFs and on of them was unpublished (first for me).
This was our first proper stop and we needed to pick up some new caches and make a go at the ones at the back of the the reserve. I have been here pre caching and have enjoyed them but have been armed with other locations to expolore. We ended up being here for an hour and a half collecting bits and bobs. Not too bad of a puff and wasn't too stuffed. It was great to be out so early and have the place to ourselves. This gives me a D/T tick in a box. Nice. The rain started but we didn't get too wet as it stopped shortly after.
Awesome weekend. TG and I joked that going back to work would be a bit of a let down, so to combat that we would keep one foot in a bucket of water and the other one on top of a pin cusion, that should ignite the memories.

Thanks for the cache.
9 of 104
#1755

A quick find after a fast stomp up the hill. Great view! Signed log, TFTC

After alot of huffing I found this one and it was most certainly worth it. Thanks Once again for showing us Castle Hills

We must go for this one. And it was good decision. Nice views! Thanks

A bit of a climb up, nicely broken up by the two caches lower down. Great views from up here, what a great place to have to play in. Cheers

We huffed and we puffed but we made it up.... with 'Mum' from Gracie7 + Mum leading the charge all the way. The two Mum's searched for the cache and neither saw it the first time them when MacPacMum wandered away to look elsewhere 'Mum' 1 (the fit one) made the find. It was a great finale to my 367 day streak with fantastic views, a bit of snow on the way and a real sense of achievement.... even if we had made it harder on ourselves than we needed to by getting a bit geographically embarrassed in the rocks and bluffed a couple of times. Strangely coming down (grass sliding on our bums for some of the way) and going back the way we should have gone up was SOOOOO much quicker! TFTC - I have put a new log sheet in the cache and added a couple more caches on the route so they should be coming out soon.

Came up here with MacPacMum and Sharkiefan (doing alot of the title) while attending a significant milestone event in the carpark. It started to get abit steeper here from the Have a Crack cache and it was alright going up but coming back down was quite slippery on the dry tussock so I just took my time. Beautiful views from the top and the snow capped mountains looked awesome. Thanks to MacPacMum we even got a choccie biccy at the top, yum! Super proud of us all for getting to the top and BIG Thanks for the girls for letting us tag along with them. Thanks for the cache

#3217 @1215
I've been keen to get the caches here ever since I started caching nearly 3 years ago. Other times I've been passing I didn't have the time or the weather was awful. With great weather today and an event here, it was a no-brainer to head up into the mountains for a day caching. After checking in at the event my youngest son and I headed up around the rocks. We found Green Gryke first then headed up here. We went up the fence line and then along the ridge to the cache. Josh had fun in the patches of snow and he made the find. A great hiding spot and great views. TFTC - a favourite.

This is the most difficult cache I have had to get to at this stage in my geocaching career.
I was attending the milestone event for MacpacFamily who has cached for a 367 day streak, including today. MacpacMum and I had come up here last weekend to stash a cache in celebration of her target being reached and had done Green Gryke and the earthcache. Gracie7 +Mum had also expressed interest in doing this with us. So 4 women set off and looped the loop to get here. I personally have not considered myself capable of this level of terrain etc so was nervously excited and a bit freaked out.
The old ankles are a bit fragile so was particularly concerned about the amount of UP there was. I was lucky to be with the worlds most patient and friendly team who waited while I huffed and puffed, then sat for a bit. Eventually kinda crawling up the top after pulling one of my Achilles a bit.
Well it was worth it. The view is spectacular and the cache was quickly located once I read out the hint.
The way down was much easier and I simply sat on my ass and raised my legs and slid down on the tussock. Also took no notice of snow and skidded right through what I could. A few rocks to the butt on the way will no doubt give some hard to explain bruises. TFTC.

Awesome place for lunch...fab views of the basin

Found after a bit of a hunt and decoding of the clue. Found out how out of condition I've got over winter! Beautiful up here as usual - a lovely still warm winter day. Still quite a bit of snow on the ground up here.

Today i was driving from Springfield to Arthurs Pass. Because i am on Holiday i took my time and did this 80 km Route in one day. I wanted to do some hiking so i lokked up for caches, which requires a little bit of walking and fitness.
I chose my own path up the hill and once i got there, i couldnt Stop to smile! Its just an amazing place with stunning views and for that, the cache gets a fav from me.
However the logbook is wet and its hard to write on it.

Thanks a lot for bringing me up here!

Found it. Amazing spot! Would never go up there if we werent caching! Be sure to put it back where it wont be in the elements. Sadly it was wet when we found it. Had to dry out the log so i could write in it!!

aaaah now I know why it's called what it is....hot arvo and quite a few puffs later. Easy find. Log damp and needs replacing.

Found while visiting Castle Hill for an orienteering event. Was a good climb up the hill with the reward of great views from the top - Thanks for the cache

I had may things with me, when I came up to the top. My camera, my climbing shoes and harness and carabiners, a pen, a hat, my keys. But I did not have anything to drink! [B)]
DON'T forget something to drink when it's sunny and warm, you will sweat a lot and will feel thisty at the top!
To find the Cache was then quite easy, thanks for getting me up here, nice view!
Wiesel Flink,
#1321

Awesome spot with an right name !!! TFTC and happy new year

Must have been nuts to head up this way. Huge effort as the phrase came to mind "not much further Papa Smurf". Managed to climb through to the location of the cache and stopped for a break at the ridge. Saw the "small rock" from the carpark, didn't realise the size until arriving there. Quick find once there. Magic view and you get a sense of acheivement making it this far.

Thanks for an awesome wee adventure. It was a huff and puff but well worth it. We all agreed (both members of Team laminsky) and the muggle family member with us, that it was the best cache placement of the day. It came first equal in our vote for the "actual cache" and it came first for the place it took us to. Thanks, would never have come to this place with out the cache.

The name of the cache is definitely true, made it to the top after a long day of walks, thanks.

Great views from up here. We found a flash red lead pencil near Gz and have tucked under the trig.
Cheers and thanks
S.t.

Easy find. One of two caches I did today while mapping for the 2013 Orienteering nationals. It's going to be amazing to have an event here! I did wonder why the log paper was like a receipt, but now reading previous logs I understand. Maybe the next person up there can take more paper and a plastic bag...oh, hang on that might be me when I go to check what I mapped today! TFTC - great spot.

TFTC really nice view from up there

This was one of three traditional and an earth cache we found in the Castle Rock Park today. Plenty of rock climbers out and the rock landscape is certainly something different. We came across from have a crack and still needed to Puff to get to the top. The terrain certainly kicked in at the end for these two. GPSr reception was now better at the top and we madea quick find. We signed the log and replaced. Fantastic views of the rocks and landscapes. Going down wasa lot easier although at one point the grass was very slippery and off we went for a 20m slide. Just need to watch the rocks otherwise great fun. TFTC

Quick find.Great views.TFTC.

good hike tftc

Awesome walk and views. However lid was off but then found. So no log book. I added an old receipt I had on me as a log.

Indeed it was a bit of an uphill puff to get here. Lovely views though. Great day to make the effort to come up here. Cheers Gav [10242]

A lovely way to start off my last day in NZ (before migrating to Australia tomorrow).

I could have spent hours just sitting at the GZ admiring the views, A great wee spot. TFTC. Cheers Bo

A great spot for a view over the basin. A "pleasant" walk, then lunch at the top. A sneaky hide! It is good to see the conservation work going on the way up to GZ. Thanks for the walk.

great spot amazing views thanks heaps

Well, that was fun! Thanks for a tricky hide in a magnificent area. Explored these rocks before but never ventured this far over-gives you a totally different vision from the GZ. Interesting to see rocks that look very similar to the limestone in the Takaka region. TFTC

Puffing on top of this one. Time to sit down and take a few great photos. TFTC

A sneaky little cache. Great walk and views of the basin - heaps of muggles but none at cache. TFTC

Definitely stuffed by the time I got here. Great day for it and great views. That was even someone skydiving in the distance over the mountains. TFTC.

Puffed my way up here (920m AMSL) with Womble-T. Lovely day, great views. T4TC.

The Cache name says it all.And yes I was a bit Puffed getting there.Enjoyed the hunt with Bald Ed.Glad this one now has my name in the Log Book.Great views on a nice clear day.TFTC

FTF rights! You owe us a cold beer for that one buddy-Mr Whippy should've been at the cache site but wasn't. Not a great day for kilt wearers but enjoyed the walk. TYFC.

Isn't this on a private farm?

To the best of my knowledge... no.
It is in the vacinity of GCRXXW.
No go areas are clearly marked as no access.

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