Waihi, A Heart of Gold (Bay Of Plenty) Waihi, North Island, New Zealand
By willbuild on 17-Mar-11. Waypoint GC2QC4Y

Yannick sits on it but Karine find it-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --French version below-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --Short late log but more complete now that we are back home.Our vacation will take us to the other side of the world to the land of the Maoris. After many, many hours of flying, a passage through China on the way there and through the United States of America on the way back, we will finally arrive in Christchurch which will be the starting point of our journey.We will enjoy the beaches of the Pacific Ocean and we will go back towards the North Island via State Highway 1. To combine business with pleasure, we will take regular breaks and small detours according to the caches that seem the most accessible to us.With a little more than 3500 km in 20 days, we will have discovered many facets of this island which is soothing. We will have to come back because there are so many places that we have not done . In broad strokes, the path will go from Christchurch to the Kaikoura Peninsula then towards Picton for the crossing to Wellington.New island, new road, and by State Highway 2 we go towards Hastings and Napier. We will leave the seaside for several days to go to Tongariro and Taupo. We will continue north towards Rotorua and Hamilton (without forgetting a detour via Hobbiton ) A detour to the Coromandel Peninsula and finally the almost north of the island with Whangarei and Waitangi to learn the history of this country.There will only be a few days left to spend towards Auckland and its suburbs before taking the plane back to the grayness of our European autumn.The majority of the boxes will be found, we have abandoned those where our English was lacking and where we could not understand the clue. Thanks to all the owners who brightened up our path, who took us to incredible places (that's also geocaching)In short, we had a great vacation, saw beautiful places that simply ask us to come back. We learned a lot about the history of this country and its traditions, it's a great motivation for our destinations.-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --Petit log en retard mais un peu plus complet maintenant que nous sommes rentrs la maison. Nos vacances vont nous emmener lautre bout du monde au pays des Maoris. Aprs beaucoup, beaucoup dheures davion, un passage par la Chine laller et par les Etats-Unis dAmrique au retour, nous arriverons enfin Christchurch qui sera le point de dpart de notre priple.Nous profiterons des plages du de locan Pacifique et nous remonterons en direction de lile du nord via la State highway 1. Pour joindre lutile et lagrable, nous ferons des pauses rgulires et de petits dtours au gr des caches qui nous semble les plus accessibles. Avec un peu plus de 3500 km en 20 jours, nous aurons dcouverts pleins de facettes de cette ile qui est apaisante. Il nous faudra revenir car il y a tellement dendroit que nous navons pas fait . Dans les grand traits, le chemin ira de Christchurch la pninsule Kaikoura puis direction Picton pour la traverse vers Wellington.Nouvelle ile, nouvelle route, et par la State Highway 2 nous remontrons en direction de Hastings et Napier. Nous laisserons le bord de mer plusieurs jours pour aller au Tongariro et Taupo. Nous continuerons vers le nord en direction de Rotorua et Hamilton (sans oublier un dtour par Hobbiton ). Un crochet pour la pninsule de Coromandel et pour finir le presque nord de lile avec Whangarei et Waitangi pour apprendre lhistoire de ce pays. Il ne restera que quelques jours passer vers Auckland et sa banlieue avant de ne reprendre lavion pour retourner dans la grisaille de notre automne europen.La majorit des boites seront trouves, nous avons dlaisser celles o notre anglais faisait dfaut et ou que nous narrivions pas comprendre lindice. Merci tous les poseurs qui ont gay notre chemin, qui nous ont emmen dans des endroits incroyables (cest aussi cela le geocaching)Bref, nous avons pass de superbes vacances, vu des endroits magnifiques qui demandent simplement que lon revienne. Nous avons appris beaucoup de chose sur lhistoire de ce pays et de ces traditions, cest une grande motivation pour nos destinations.

In the area with the whnau for a few days. Popped into town for the kids to spend some holiday money from the grandparents, lucky ducks. Had failed here yesterday but knew wed be back. Today, with less time pressure, I analysed where else other than the obvious places it could be. A few fiddles later and the little blighter was secured. Thanks for the comeback cache!

Very cool find with the today

We wandered down the street doing the ad lab and looking in the op shops. There were several muggles sitting on the benches on our first pass so thought we'd try on our way back. Way back there was still one couple there, but thankfully not right where we needed to be. We took a seat and I was about to start a discreet search when the oldest found it, he started in the right place I guess! Tftc

Be methodical in your search and you will find this one

Took the kids 10mins to find this micro, all secure forgot our pen, next time well log it:)

Not too many muggles around luckily. Daughter found it

Good it was a fluke we put our hand under chair and found it.

Thanks willbuild for the cache. Its #1950 for us. We found your cache on Thursday 23 May 2024. Took a bit of searching but we found it in the end!

Not too many muggles around thankfully! We are having a successful geocaching day with beconaze which is great in the sunshine TFTC

Quick find with Gernita. Muggle loading was not to bad today for an easy recovery

Mrs B had it in hand super quick. We had an idea what it would be and were right!! TFTC

Was very busy in town yesterday so came back today when fewer people were around. Checked a lot of spots before finally finding the right spot. [TFTC]

Have looked for this one many times with the kids now would love a gentle hint haha

Today 3 of the Team SEAC crew headed down as the Waihi Walking Wanderers...a smaller crew than usual being Easter Weekend but that didn't stop our enthusiasm or plan for the day. Another great day out for sure!! Best of all not a single DNF!!Had visited here once before with no luck so today was another chance to turn the frown upside down. Still took a little searching for but finally I spied what we were looking for but oh no paper in it! Added some new log paper and replaced exactly as found. Thanks for the cache.

TFTC. This was a revisit for Keylev and I from a DNF some years ago. Out with team SEAC for an Easter adventure. Result.

Cache still in place. Replaced with a new one. All good

Away for the weekend to ride a section of the Hauraki Rail Trail from Waihi. This afforded me the opportunity to snag some caches en route. Very few muggles around this time on a Saturday so I had a good look but didnt spot the cache. Thanks willbuild#5073Logged using Cachly.

Dunno

We searched for an unbelievably long time...

Tftc

Sat down for a hunt, only to be joined by a muggle eating a pie. Waited it out, then gave it a good look with no success.Had a coffee with mum and dad, returned to the GZ and gave it a solid (10+min) hunt, still with no success!To the cache owner: a more precise hint would be very much appreciated!To other hunters: good luck, I wish you more success than I!

Thanks for the cache and greetings from Czechia

DNF

After waiting for muggles. We made the find! TFTC!

Requires serious stealth and sharp eyes. BYO pen. Lina gets the credit for this one!

DNF started raining!!

Pas pour moi, celle ci.

After netball late and dark, getting pizza when i saw there was one right next to us had a look and there was nothing but i wil be back

Came back when the muggles are away an we found it.
JATHA 28/4/2023

Not today for the JAT finders. 24/04/2023
Read a few comments, still didn't get there. Will be back.

Hint is unhelpful and confusing

Tiny! Log hard to read and write on. Awesome spot.

Day 14 on our holiday in New Zealand. Today we are in the area and surrounding area of Hamilton. We also visited this tradi, found it, and signed the logbook.



***T4T$ - Many Thanks to willbuild for hiding and maintaining of this cache*** ️

Found it on the trip to Waihi. TFTC.

Yay, my first geocache.

TFTC 72Hanna

Reattempting this one after a few years. Initially looked in all the usual spots again, and found nothing. Went again after dinner to have yet another look, expanded my search area ever so slightly, and in the right light, the cache finally revealed itself. TFTC

Yus!

Balck Canister

Took a while to find! Definitely look closely - missed it the first lookover

spent 6 great weeks in New Zealand with my ?? The start was a bit bumpy (Cyclone Gabrielle) but then it got better and better. We travelled to both islands and discovered a lot. We photographed and filmed many beautiful things, but most of it stayed in our hearts.Almost everywhere we stopped, a cache was already waiting for us. Most of the caches are well maintained and easy to find.With mostly very nice weather, we saw a lot of this impressive island. In many places, caches were waiting for us, which were sometimes easy and sometimes difficult to find. This cache was also included and was successfully signedWe puzzled a lot in advance and the tours ?? were well prepared So this box was also well found.now I have another on my personal cache card.many thanks to [^] **willbuild** [^] for the effort and the cache and greetings from Germany ???? TFTF**Geistercacher**#34300

TFTC

Finally found this one! Took me a couple years

Lovely sunny day after lunch with family tftc

After an unsuccessful first attempt due to muggles, we saw the problematic muggles leave the area and we closed in on GZ fairly quickly. A handy Christmas tree sheltered the search area for us and the cache was quickly in hand. From some Aussies in Aotearoa, thanks!

Found with goldielover. Thankfully I didn't have to unroll it all the way. Names in log. All good here with your cache TFTC

Found with stairman1. We were passing through this town and decided to grab some caches. This one was challenging. Lots of muggles. Stairman1 sneakily found this one TFTC

Our last traditional cache to find before lunch. Luckily when we arrived at GZ there were no muggles about. So we were able to have a good look around without any interruptions. Took some time to find but we were happy to get this one on our first attempt we can see why some cachers have struggled.

A plan was made with Gorby, tramyard and rustynz for an overnight road trip to Waikato/BOP. We targeted Karangahake Gorge, Waihi, Katikati and Mount Maunganui/Tauranga.

We had set up our tents at Athenree while there was still daylight and returned to Waihi to do the ad labs in the main town and get some dinner before the event at Martha mine. We bumped into the CO, right by the pump tower and he joined us on our walk before the event. All the others in the group had found this cache and I couldn't leave it as we stopped here for one of the ad lab questions. Thankfully it was after 6pm and the area was deserted, except for us cachers. Happened to be lucky and picked the right spot to check. Imagine this could be quite difficult during the day with many muggles around.

Lovely easy bike ride around the Pit. TFTC

6.45pm Out buying takeaways for dinner not to many muggles.

Nice

No luck even with the kids literally lying on the ground

Woohoo finally found this one! It eluded us our last trip up north ages ago so decided to try again today. Sneaky little hide. No muggles around today really so easy to have a search. TFTC

Great place for a lunch break thx.

Not the first time I've attempted this, but despite there being a few muggles around on a Saturday morning here, I was pleasantly surprised to find it by feel in the first place I checked, very happy to sign this one off, cheers

A quick find.

#6905

Wasn’t there

Cache all Ok

This was first on the list for my evening cache hunt, and it's in a place I'm sure I've visited before (I've been to the bakery here), but I wasn't involved in caching at the time. Fortunately with it being night time, there were no muggles about which made for a nice, quick find in the first place I checked. Signed myself in before replacing as found... TFTC willibuild!

Having a holiday in Waihi Beach with my sister and grandparents, but we were in need of a few groceries, so we popped in to New World in the town and this was the perfect excuse to wander off and find a couple caches It was pitch-black being 7:30pm, and absolutely freezing, but nothing stops me from geocaching. Thanks to willibuild and tryfyn for their hides!

This find was definitely one that shouted, size ain’t everything and I think my friend is learning that too! Tftc!

We'd had a fleeting look a few weeks back, but there were muggles in all the seats bar one. We'd checked it over but weren't able to be very thorough. Today its Saturday avo and apart from a few waiting for fish and chips, we almost had the place to ourselves. This time R went directly to it and we were greatful for a quick find. Thanks!

Got it eventually after hunting all over, even Kimbathelion who had found it previously couldn’t locate it!! TfTC

Took a little while to find it. Found with Cympul. TFC

Thanks for your amazing cache. I really appreciate the time you took to set up and maintain your caches.
Found with Fisha1288.
This is the 4th time I have been looking for this one. Deserves a favorite from me.
Cheers, Cympull.

After the best toasties at Kava cafe. Tftc

A nice quick find thanks. First find after lunch, and I an not sure why I missed this last time I looked!

Ms_KR and I are off on a wee tour of the North Island. The weather was mostly dry today, another bonus. We cruised from Waihi Beach to Te Aroha, and got here just as the heavens opened. Another great day!

Thanks to all CO's for publishing and maintaining their caches. Cheers.

Not many muggles today due to lockdown

Over to watch our sun compete in the Half Nugget. Found on our way to lunch. Tftc

tftc, worth the stop and wander around town

Found on way to Thames. Tftc!

Found while we waited for our fish and chips! TFTC.

We are on our summer holiday, we usually take a few weeks and travel around the South Island, but this year we are heading around the North Island. Heading up the West coast and back down the East coast. Finding only a select few caches along the way, we are mostly targeting some challenges we have qualified for, some large size caches, some that fill gaps in our date placed grid, a few D/T combinations, some with lots of favourite points, letterboxes and anything else that grabs our fancy.

I had a fall on day two of our holiday, while out geocaching which has resulted in a fractured bone in my leg and I am in a moon boot and with crutches and I was told to keep weight off my leg. So I am only limited use when it comes to our trip now. I tend to stay in the campervan and just hand out suggestions of when and where GK should search.

We stop every now and then when there is good parking just so that we can get a yellow smiley on our map. This way we can revisit our travels and know which roads we travelled.
This was one of those caches, it was a nice easy find, gk finds these a bit tricky with his big fingers so I usually open and sign these ones, It was a bonus that it was a newish log so I didn't have to unwind and rewind too much.

Thanks for placing this cache and thank you for the smiley.

Out exploring Coromandel during the holiday season. I have looked for this one some time ago, but there was too many muggles. This morning it was quiet Nice to have a clean log sheet. TFTC.

Yay found it didn’t have a pen so just taking a pic

We searched and searched but could not find it. We will have to look again next time.

New log book added

A nice quick find here but log needs replacing so have taken a photo. TFTC

Found.. Nice place to sit and watch many muggles going about there day.

Our co-ordinates were out by a few metres but we found it! Photo to prove it seeing as there were some dnfs thanks for the cache. Log needs to be replaced.

Too tricky for us today

Not my day to find this one. Sat and looked and Sat and looked.

Found after long months of searching a shame that the log is soaked

Took a while on a very wet winter's day so not many muggles

On our way north to Whitianga to do the TMGT caches. First stop was Tuapiro to check our caches, then on to Waihi because there are a few new ones around the area. Mrs S failed to find this one while Mr S was parking the camper, even though she was in the right place.
Then Mr S came along and laid his hand on it straight away. GRrrr.

Thanks willbuild.

Quick find on a lovely sunny day TFTC

Finally got the chance to find this one Thank you Corona Virus Haven't signed it but finding it was enough for me

#887 - (Taschynz) and I are on a mission to find as many caches in Waihi as we can. But we lost of pen early on in our walk Noobs. So we only have photos of the log.

What a tricky hide this one was!, we searched for ages in between muggles. Gave up and then came back again! Finally got there in the end.

Found it with Katbowersnz. Just before lockdown happened. Who knew eh! Lost the pen early in the piece. She has the photographic evidence

Sounded quick and easy. Not too many muggle eyes. Disappointing.

Found by geoson and I after a blunchwhile bon

Back today to sign the log properly. Couldn't find the cache at first because it wasn't in quite the same spot as where we left it, but laid hands on it fairly quickly even so.

Just stopped for lunch and I thought this looks like a great place for a cache! Husband sat down and suddenly had it in his hand! Thanks for placing

What a relief! This cache has been an itch we couldn't scratch for the past 15 months, since we first moved into Waihi. Trouble is, it's such a busy spot and there are so many places a nano could be. Middle-aged people lying on the floor looking under benches tend to attract attention. Even with the help of geo-pup Meg, who is our muggle-distraction specialist, and the old "just dropped a dollar on the floor" technique we've had no luck - until today. It was early Sunday morning, very few people about, and we decided that Meg needed a drink from her water bottle at this point. Quick scout around from kneeling height .... nothing. Then Mrs RW sat down, quadruple-checked somewhere she is convinced she'd frisked several times already, and there it was. We couldn't sign the log because neither of us had brought a pen - it was meant to be a dog walk not a caching outing, until we realised how quiet Seddon Street was this morning and decided to have a go. So hopefully the attached photos will be proof of find. Now that we know the exact spot we'll head back with a pen to do the admin correctly asap before someone else finds it and possibly puts it back in a slightly different place. TFTC - surely worthy of a favourite point for all the trouble it's given us. (Oddly, there was only one signature on the new log book, presumably from the cachers who replaced the old one.)

TFTC

Cooo

Cool

Very frustrated after this one, I’m kind of new to this and I had no idea what was i looking for, sat there, felt around, looked, and nothing

No joy