Step by Step (Wellington) Kaiwharawhara, North Island, New Zealand
By ADV on 24-Oct-10. Waypoint GC2H3HD

Well over six years old now, time to go. The cache has been removed.

An interesting & fun puzzle, thanks ADV. Got a good cardio with D gathering last clues! A lonely cache no longer

I only managed to identify 3/4 of the pic locations but was able to deduce the numbers I needed, thank goodness.

Tackled the next stage with B on a foul "summer" day. No problems with the counts and we worked out the final readily. Glad we were at the correct end of the staircase! B made the find with no problems. TFTC!

Quickly solved the picture puzzles then onto WP2. Needed all my faculties to solve the next stage. Very fortunate to get the right result first time up and then quickly onto the gz. Great view of the harbour on a very pleasant evening. A very smoochy pussy cat followed me around demanding some attention. Of course one has to do what one is told. Thanks for the experience. TFTC

[Red]Supporting the Geokids program, making geocaching more fun for kids across New Zealand so kids aren't sad when they find geocaches . Have dropped some swag into the cache.[/Red]
< log text here or delete it >

All in good order, sign log book as[Blue] taybee nz [/Blue]or[Blue] tbnz[/Blue] team sign as [Blue] ttbnz [/Blue]. TFTC See Taybee log.

Thank ADV start this one about 2 years ago and got to the final today will have to bring taybeenz here to put same swaps into the Cache TFTC AFP

I had attempted this one a couple of months back, but beat a hasty retreat, pursued by the wasps! Having confirmed with another cacher that I indeed had the correct location, I waited until two of the coldest nights in succession had hopefully eliminated the problem (I also had gloves, and fairly full coverage as protection against both the cold and the insects!) Cache found after a short search, signed and returned under the cover of darkness. As a bonus, I was treated to an amazing night vista of the harbour and CBD....TFTC

Was familiar with 3 of locations from visiting and recognised the other so quickly solved initial. A suitable location for the next part of the challenge and one that has been used for training. Cache located and all in good nick. TFTC

Like others I immediately recognised three of the four photos. A quick email of the GC to my caching partner and the fourth identified and the numbers and good news from Geocheck quickly followed. Care and note taking made the last couple of steps painless and the cache was soon in hand.

All in good order, TNLTSL and replaced as found. TFTC.

Made a quick find today. TFTC!

Well, had the photos sorted quickly and came up with the starting coordinates. Aha, always thought that would be a good location for a cache. Arrived at the bottom, stepped and counted, did a bit of maths, and then searched for the final. Started to look around a large green object that seemed a likely spot and then got stung by wasps!! So hightailed it out of there. Not sure if I was in the right spot or not. If I was, beware of the wasps fellow geocachers!!

Solved three of the pictures easily - the forth took a bit more research, but I got it in the end.

Counted the steps during a Saturday morning run on a stunning Wellington day. Having to count the steps was a good excuse to walk up them rather than run them. I was a little unsure if a couple of the steps counted, but when I got home, the calculations and checksums all worked out. Managed to get it without making any silly mistakes with the numbers - a rarity for me these days!

Another Saturday, another run and another stunning Wellington day. Straight forward find at GZ with a fantastic view as well. Thanks for the cache - I really enjoyed it.

After receiving email from CO that my co-ords were actually correct, I returned today for a second attempt at the find. Well, that was easy... don't know why I didn't check there last time. Thanks ADV, a fun puzzle and worthy of a favourite point

One foot in front of the other. Each step a little closer to the prize. This was a nice puzzle having been to all the listed steps. Then a good work out to get final coordinates. Who needs to go to the gym? Cache quickly found. TFTP and TFTC.

Checked today due to yesterday's DNF, all OK.

Darn it, I thought I had a nice solution here after ascending and some small tweaking of the co-ordinates lead me to a likely spot that matched the hint, but no success. Hopefully this one is still safe, as I've enjoyed working on this one so far.

#26 Solved the puzzle two weeks ago but first chance today to get back to the GZ and locate the cache after I messed up the Lats and Longs previously (must have been too puffed after the climb). Lovely view in the evening light after a rainy NZ election day.

#707 nice wee puzzle - fun getting the last - what a great spot!!

Knew B-D pretty much straight away so did a bit of research on A (which in fact wasn't to hard!) visited the GZ today accepting the mission, ascended and descended successfully after placing our little mark at the summit! thanks for taking us to a spot i never knew about! hope to be back for a bit of exercise. TFTC

I knew two of the pictures for step 1, had a rough idea of a third, and no clue about the fourth. Consulting the online Fount Of All Knowledge however soon provided the answer.

Step 4 took a bit of effort: resorted to best of three to determine the correct count.

Had to make another trip after calculating the final at home. Straight forward find; nice cache in excellent condition. Thanks for the challenge ADV!

This entry was edited by Wicm on Saturday, 05 July 2014 at 19:54:38 UTC.

Nice find while in Wellington after the CITO event.

Had struggled with this one for a long time and never did get the tick from the checker - however my GPS showed only 3 metres when I had cache in hand so can't have been far out

Very good final area - thanks ADV
First finder this year.
SL TFTC

Dropped off a couple of TBs.

Like I5badass I too had a grr moment after doing the calculations at home. At least I didn't do them after reaching the top as I miscounted and was out by 110! TFTC

I started this one over a year ago, I've been doing it one step at a time. I really enjoyed the final 'walk' this morning.

Thanks for the mentally and physically challenging puzzle and for the cache ADV

#99. For those of you who dread counting the steps... never fear, I'm going to tell you the number right now to save you the effort. So, look away now if you don't want to know.
The answer is... a kajillion gazillion!
There, you can thank me later.
When I calculated coordinates for GZ, I mixed up my number of landings and number of steps, so I ended up with GZ being directly on top of the train tracks! Luckily I found my mistake before I attempted any sort of MacGyver-style retrieval.
Took trackables. TFTC

Well that was fun !
Knew 3 of the original images as I have been to all 3, just had to remember where 'A' was. Once sorted, got the big tick then off to the next bit on the way home on Wednesday.
Forgot to bring my oxygen for this bit but what a view from the top, after eventually getting there !
Started my calculations when the phone rang and I was 'needed' at home so back 'down' the XXXX stairs and over the XXX landings and off home.
Do the calculations later on in the evening and, BUGGA !
Set the navman in the car thismorning and a quick find when at GZ.

Dropped of Step Pyramid of Djoser: Egypt's First Pyramid Traveller Geocoin [first drop]
Dropped of Fast And Furious

Grabbed Becky Baby Bubbles TB

TFTC SL TFTV

TFTC

TFTC

TFTC

Had solved the puzzle some time ago, but never went back to pick up the cache.
Finally got a chance today.
Easily found (without having the coords).
TFTC

Enjoyed this puzzle. A joint effort in reaching a solution, and on a day like today (autumnal indeed!) what better thing to do than go count a few steps, and then a few more, and a few more, and finally a few more after that. Lots of steps.
Final reached, cache find was straightforward, all in order; log signed, dropped a couple of TBs in, and re-hidden safely as found. And then some more steps!
A bit of fun and a place hitherto unknown to us. One wonders if there would be motivation for climbing this array were it not for the prize at the top.
Found with team cacher Sweet P too
The Turtle strikes again!

Phew! A very compliled puzzle cache. I managed the first couple of stage and got to the hard part but seemed to have difficulty getting my count correct. gave up for a while before giving it one more go. This time things worked out and the cache was at hand shortly afterwards. Things for bringing me over here, it surprizing where the paths from gullies come out and I always wanted to know how Ian Athfield got to his house..... TFTP

I had solved the first part some 18 months ago but until today had never taken the required steps to complete the puzzle. Today being one of the hotest days in Wellington this summer was probably not the best to make the climb but the view was worth it. Tthankfully the required numbers were gathered without the need for a recount and the cache was a quick find once I got to the final. TFTC

Got it this time- I thought I looked there before!
Treadmill exercise completed again, as I am still alive to complete the log it appears my cardiovascular system must be in pretty good shape for an older fella!
Nice location with a good view today.
TFTC.

So many steps !! Hadn't been there before - great view - easy find after the hard work was done. TFTC !

Step 1: Solve puzzle - check
Step 2: Procrastinate for months, rather than figure out the final WP - check
Step 3: Return from NZ Mega, sleep for a week and then decide to complete some outstanding finds - check
Step 4: Locate final and extract geopup from the tight gap she got stuck in - check.
Step 5: Run up and down steps repeatedly to wear said canine out - check
Step 6: Trudge back to car puffed but happy - check

Found the answer to one photo by trying to solve another puzzle! Enjoyed the workout. Left x and y in the car!! So return trip via different route for signing the log. Quick find at GZ on a drizzly Tuesday. TFTP. PS awesome views, even through the drizzle.

Had no issues with three of the photo's, the forth (pic A) took a little more research but that was soon identified. Out today with the aim of achieving this cache I started with step 4. After huffing and puffing my way to the top making sure I had counted each step and landing, I sat an enjoyed the view while the calculations were made. Sums made I headed off to the location - well tried to. It seems the view must have been off putting because the just location didn't make sense. After a quick PAF and a recalculation of the numbers, the location was revealed. After making the stair climb twice! I felt very glad to have achieved this one. It gets a favourite tick.

The people in the pictures in the puzzle would find this location a good workout I'm sure. No problems working out GZ at the top and very pleasant conditions to do the maths in with a fabulous view. Cache was quickly located with clear directions in the hint. Really enjoyed all the steps both mental and physical involved in this cache. Collected campfire GC. TFTC

Solved the puzzle ages ago and decided to do the last stage first (and the first cache of the morning). Whew what a puff pant puff cache this was. We made it all the way to the top with a few breaks to catch our breath. Solved the puzzle and started the search which took far longer than anticipated but eventually yielded the cache. The hint really threw us out as it didn't really apply at the final. Thanks for the climb and cache.

Cache #521 - Quite a workout, both mentally and physically! Finally tracked down the cache at the end, but it was not obvious and took quite a bit of scrounging. First cache of a busy day with Crystal Fairy. TFTC!

Thanks for the exercise ... and the harbour view.
TNLNSL. TFTC.

Managed to do step 4 today, but didn't have enough time to complete setps 5 & 6 ... hopefully I counted corrected!

Solved the puzzle back in June but the cache was disabled before I could step up and retrieve it. Pleased to find that my counting was accurate tonight. The steps...just...kept...on...going..! Lovely view from up here. The final coordinates directed me a few metres away from the eventual GZ. Decided to recheck Geochecker for the new hint. Cache was soon in hand after that. - magic geocoin. TFTC!

Oh no looks like I will have to (huff puff 123) recount (grunt 456) the xxx number of (sweat 7-8-9 stop for breather) (10-11-12 step up again 13-14-15-16) steps because I have mislaid my notes, returned yesterday with no time to count and took a look where my less accurate GPS told it was last time - right where I was standing at that time so I don't have the coordinates in it now but couldn't reconcile that with the new hint so looks like I have to start again with my better GPS! The old hint made sense where I was looking last time but seems that that may have been coincidence, so sorry for the inconvenience.

Very happy to have found this one the challenge was enjoyable and final is in an awesome location. After initially DNF'ing, I found the new Geocheck information very useful. Happy to be able to drop off "Sources Say...DNF!" Magic Coin.
+ Magic Coin
!-
TFTC

Cache owner please disregard my earlier note now deleted, looked again at the notes and realised the geochecker step is before the final, and I have sufficient info in my notes to do that step again (still hoping I can find the final ones so I don't have to count while huffing and puffing!)

Sorry for the delay on this one folks, and as it turns out a tad unnecessary. Checked and found that the cache is still there, exactly where I placed it.

Hint for final given by geocheck updated to make it a little more explicit.

Sorry for the delay on this one folks, and as it turns out a tad unnecessary. Checked and found that the cache is still there, exactly where I placed it.

Hint for final given by geocheck updated to make it a little more explicit.

In view of Geonightops having the same experience as me it does seem likely the cache is missing. Grateful if this could be looked into as we have both done all the (you know how many...) steps to qualify for the prize and crossed the finish line only to find that the trophy appears to have gone astray. Would be nice to get the record books updated.
I happpened to be in contact with person B last week, your secret is still safe though I was a little amused about the whole situation of talking to this person without being able to say anything about it lol. I was thinking today that maybe I could arrange for her to sign the log once the cache is sorted, but then I realised that it might only add to muggle risk to have such a signature in there!

Managed to solve the required steps, and checksum all good, found what looks like a likely hiding location at the coordinates and also fits with hint. But failed to located the cache. Will add to my watch list and see what happens..

Need to check this one.

Stepped through the preliminaries over the last few days and it fitted in with my travels today to do the physical side of things.
Had no trouble with B because the subject is personally known to me, I even have my own photo that I took with permission and got signed! Initially got stuck on D as there seemed to be so many similar ones but none quite the same then happened to see mention of the item in the news or somewhere and thought "I wonder" and sure enough after a bit more research it all stepped into place.
A nice day to do the actual stepping up, not too hot but still fine and a comfortable temperature. I knew roughly how much work would be involved as I had seen an approximate figure elsewhere.
Found a good spot to do the calculations and suspected it might be the GZ but still got a surprise when I was about to enter the coordinates to find that they were already showing on the GPS!
However I couldn't find the cache and I am pretty sure I was looking in the right place, I had also picked where that was likely to be as there didn't seem to be many possibilities there. Couldn't stay long as I had to go back to step on a bus but had run out of options anyway.
As it hasn't been found for a few months I wonder if it is missing, will take the step of contacting the cache owner. Just realised I could have PAF'ed, I think of that 7 hours later lol.
Still a good aerobic workout and a very pleasant walk back down, very interesting location.

This entry was edited by robnzh on Saturday, 04 June 2011 at 08:03:47 UTC.

Luckily StreetWalker read the instructions properly as I counted just the steps and would not have liked to do a recount. Stunning views at the top, we saw the ferry and a plane arrive.
Didn't recognise one of the locations, but was able to fudge it with just 3.
Thanks for an interesting puzzle, and a great work out.

#1993 (9/9 on a Saturday excursion). Last of the day (all stepped out by the end of the cache). Many, many steps, but were rewarded with yet another stunning vantage point. TFTC.

Step 7. Rest up for the remainder of the day! Saw a little more of some of these steps than I would have liked due to not reading everything through thoroughly the first time! TFTC

6247 Interesting puzzle. Glad we took a tally of our steps... some tricky maths at the end, and the cache was soon revealed. Many thanks for the exercise and views.

Completed in two stages. After consulting with the cache owner it turned out I'd mixed up a couple of numbers - i thought it a bit odd that someone would place a cache in the middle of the railway lines near Kaiwharwhara! TFTC!

#1677. Mrs h solved the puzzle a few days ago, and today is the day for the step-by-step exercise. Quickly ran out of fingers on this one. But got the rhythm to pause at each landing, and got to the top without too much bother.
- Flashing Kiwi TB
+ Bird Song GC
TFTC.

Living not that far away, I have traversed these steps more times than I can remember, they are on one of my regular walking circuits. But I have to admit that I have never bothered to count them all before. So up we went the other day with the MP3 player turned off this time, and counting carefully. Got home and did some research and arithmetic and got a solution I was happy with.

I collected the find this evening while completing the circuit again. I dare say it won’t be the last time I come this way either, so I won’t say thanks for bringing me here, as this is not one for those places I wouldn’t have found if it wasn’t for Geocaching. Cheers for a cache I enjoyed doing [^], and TNLN SL TFTC

Beat Huntleigh up the steps and to find the cache. TFTC.

I had a lot of fun with this one. I could identify the locations of photos B-D and Googled the number of steps (although there is a trap in B). Photo A had me stumped so I put the photos up on a notice board at work and our resident ex-pat identified the town and the person in A.

The next step was counting the steps and Callum Sniffy and I achieved that on Thursday after school. We counted each flight and landing leaving me blowing like a steam engine at the top with a list of numbers. Back home to count them up where I had hex-treme difficulty in getting a consistent answer.

Friday evening on dusk saw me a GZ but without a find. After checking with ADV on the final location and with Callum Sniffy's aid we located the cache tonight.

Cheers & TFTC

If you pick up Flashing Kiwi please get him heading south again.
After being released in Alaska he was in Nelson on his way home to Te Anau and has taken off in the wrong direction !
Thanks kev n chris.

I had no trouble identifying the star, son and moon when this was published. I've been in training since, getting ready for may assault on the steps. Decided today looked just right for a bit of aerobic exercise. Straight forward to collect the required info on site and an easy find.
TFTC.

Seems D is a problem as there are (at least) 3 different numbers about for that one.
I have tweaked step 2 a little so it will work with all 3 possibilities.

Also added checksum for the final.

Solved the puzzle shortly after the cache was published and called to find it on the way home from work this evening. The identity of one of the photos still eludes me but I could deduce the information required so didn't need to know what it was. The rest of the photos were easy. Took great care counting the steps so I didn't have to traverse them more than once, and got the required info on the first try once I reached the top. Cache was a quick find after reaching GZ. Signed log, TFTC and for the challenge!

Was a bit of an aerobic exercise for both my brain and my legs, finally figured out that I got my numbers a bit mess up and then realised that the pace was disabled, checked my numbers and realised that I cant add, I now definitely that I cant count. After figuring out the error and a quick check with the Geochecker I got an answer that looked good, decided that 5 times up and down the stairs was going to really hurt me tomorrow, hey BUT that is what caching is about, it is getting a workout for mind, body and soul. Bit slow on this one again, was beaten again by the fast and furious nzcoozer, but 2nd is still great. Thanks for the great exercise, who needs an exercise machine when you have one of these in you back yard. TFTC TNLNSL (2261)

I recognized all of the locations/people straight away and solved the puzzle within a few minutes of publication, so I then rushed out to find the cache.
After parking near WP1, I then proceeded to run around like a looney until about midnight trying to work things out, but didn't end up with any useful coordinates.
The next morning, after some communication with the cache owner and confirmation that I had counted the steps correctly, I decided to stop off for another look on my way to the zoo.
An enjoyable cache and a nice final hiding spot.
Everything makes a lot more sense now, after the updates.
Thanks.

TB drop.

Need to recheck this one. In fairness to all any 'find' logs during the temporary disablement will be deleted.

All good to go again. Cache has been updated following some positive feedback.

The answers to A-D are the same, but please geocheck etc again.

Published