Wharauroa Lookout (Waikato) Te Pahu, North Island, New Zealand
By cashkids on 23-Apr-11. Waypoint GC2TNMJ

Had 100% success rate on the way up so I was feeling confident, that ended with this one though. Spent a bit of time looking for it, but just 1 set of eyes I could have missed it, GPS was bouncing a bit too which didn't help. Eventually had to call it and head back down so we didn't have to worry about running out of daylight. Will have to return and try again, just not sure when that'll be

nicht einfach zu finden

Walked up the Wharauroa track and took me a while to find cache. Book was wet but a waterproof page had been added so was able to sign. Tftc.

Found whilst out with keylev.

Thanks for the cache.

Almost a year to the day some of the Team SEAC (South East Auckland Crew) walked a short track in Pirongia and vowed to come back to complete a longer one and add a hut stay in. With the various lockdowns this didn't eventuate as planned and had to be cancelled a couple of times but today was the day the mission was ON!

We started at the Greys Rd carpark, went up the Tirohanga Track and back down the Mahaukura Track. Took us approx 8hrs each day so we were very grateful the hut was nice and most of us managed a good nights sleep. It was probably the toughest track I have done and certainly pushed me out of my comfort zone at some points.

We stopped along the track too early for this one so when I re-read the hint and took it quite literally I noticed that we were missing a sign that should have been there...aha we had not realised we were not yet at the lookout which is different from the junction point....soon after I spotted the cache and B4Dawn and Mr NZT did the honours.

Thanks for the cache.

Last year various members of Team SEAC made plans to stay in the Pahautea hut. This plan had to be altered due to Covid lockdown. Today was the new day selected. Mr HeMaLuDy had planned to join the other Team SEAC members by himself, then Darthcacher1's (Dy of HeMaLuDy) plans changed so he joined us, then a few days out Purply's (Lu of HeMaLuDy) plans changed so he joined as well. So the day started bright and early with Mr NZT picking us up. We met the others of our group at the Grey Rd carpark. In all there were 10 members of Team SEAC hiking together. We set off in great spirts up the Tirohanga track. We spent the night at an amazing location and met some cool people up there. Then we returned down the Mahaukura track. We all really enjoyed our 2 day trip with all the challenges included.
This was our fifteenth find of our trip. We all started search with no luck. Then Keylev re-read the hints and figured we were hunting in the wrong spot. So following the hint she soon spied the continer. Signed Team SEAC to save space on log. TFTC

Team SEAC had a few tramps lined up for the year and as a training exercise Mount Pirongia popped up as an option PLUS it had quiet a few caches to find along the way. For Mr NZT this was to be the first overnighter tramp staying at the DOC Hut at the summit. So with a 13 kg pack thrown into the back of the car and the HeMaLudy's as passengers we headed to the Greys Road carpark to meet the rest of the Team SEAC members and start our adventure!

Had issues with my PQ on my GPS for a few of the caches in this immediate area. All the other caches including an FTF were present but about 5 of them weren't!! Mr HeMaLuDy had a similar issue so not to sure what was going on! Thankfully the other members had this on their GPS!

This was the last one I was missing from my GPS. Bit of a mix up between the signs mentioned in the hint but when that was resolved Keylev made the easy find!

TFTC

This was on the cards for Team SEAC for a while but because of the last lockdown, we had to put off for a while. Finally it was back on and off we went! Most of us were in pain at the end, some of us comtemplated life choices but I think we all came out of it proud to finally get to the summit and back again.

Keylev was very tired at this point but she had enough about her to know that the signs we thought they were between,.. weren't! So we walked further down and her words were "oh there it is.... B4dawn, you get it". I knew at that point, she was ready to get back to the car! lol TFTC

In the area today for a special celebration with Mrs stik-a-crane....25 years married to this special lady....just shy of half my life .....

Headed up the hill for a luxury night in the DOC hut on the top, picking up caches along the way....

Thanks to the CO's for placing and maintaining caches in this somewhat challenging environment....

On the way down today, and the going was much the same as going up...

TFTC.

Found with KaelynKingi tftc

Soaking but awesome cute find. TFTC

Had quite a hunt around before finally finding it!Quite wet as noted previously.

The climb up to Wharauroa Lookout lived up to its billing and we all needed the occasional rest break along the way. Finding the cache itself took a little while - needed to trust the GPS rather than hunt where we thought it would be. Thanks.

Beautiful day to be out for a walk and Mr TW could try out his newly repaired tramping boots. They held up fine and tis was the 2nd find along the way today.Stunning views and well worth the effort to get here. Thanks for another cache placement.

After meeting at a cafe in town, the men (Mr kiwicouple, Mr Team Welsh, Mr Gower Family and Mr Bennett24) plus 2 young ladies hit the track up the mountain to the lookouts as a training run for the Tongariro Crossing. It was a bit of a climb up the mountain to get to the lookout and glad to see the top. After a short rest we began to hunt for the cache and once figuring out the area where the cache should be we found it shortly after in its hiding hole. The container was very wet and log which was on top of the inner container was also very damp. Tried our best to sign it but not too effective. After pouring quite a bit of water out of the inner container and checking the inner plastic bag which was as saturated decided to leave the log book where it was found. TFTC.

Another fave, unfortunately swimming in water, well hidden so felt good to get this find

No luck finding this one. Must be well hidden!

Tried to climb P-Mountain already last week but weather was foul. So moved it to the next weekend. Now this Saturday did not seem any better weather-wise but the cabin fever pushed us to still go ahead with the climb.
Drove through dark clouds and rain towards Pirongia feeling still warm and dry. Arrived at the parking coords to get the crew of 11hpg11, Greenblat, Evilno9, Themexikiwi and me changed into our rain gear.
Started the hike up and must say after an hour I was wet from the rain and sweat. Enjoyed the hike today with all its mud, sweat, great company and a lot of laughter. What a great view we had today, not.... Signed as Team Wet Pussy. TFTC

Please read the following log (gps portions) in the voice of Samuel L Jackson. So I get to gz and the the fog is rolling in (see pic). I'm not leaving without a find.
Gps: get in the bush
Me: nah, I'm fairly sure it's not
Gps: GET IN THE BUSH!!
So I get into the bush. Bash around a bit. Nothing. Nada.
But gps says: Go. Back. Into. The. Bush.
Me: naaah gps. There's no tracks. No one has bush bashed here.
Gps: AHHH SAID GIT IN THE BUSH! GIT IN THE BUSSSHHH. NOW!
Soooooo...I get back into the bushes. Crawling around. Casting a sly eye up at the track every three seconds so I don't get lost. Half an hour has passed. I'm not leaving without the damn find. Up and down, up and down that section. Ffs I think as the fog rolls over me. Four hikers come upon a stationary frowning woman on the track. They say "you ok?". I reply (hoping they're into it too) "I'm looking for a container in the bush". "Oh" one says as they hurry past.
Gps yells again "IT'S IN THAT BUSH! THAT BUSH! THERE!!"
I'm fairly sure by now it's lying. And I've looked at the custom cave several times... Just... The wrong side.
I say: gps, I love you. We've had great times together. But I...I need a break. I'm sorry". Found several mins later. Victory. Hoof back down the track, pass the hikers while victory skipping down the mountain (making them think me doubly crazy). Great day. Tftc.

Couldn’t quite find it but the walk was amazing!!not finding the geocache is a great incentive to return and have the honour of absorbing the beautiful view once again

Felt like a bit of a challenge, so I went out and had a look at Pirongia. I was aiming for the Zorgon tribute cache.

Found this on the way back home, took a while to locate, I was having an off moment I think. All fine though, TFTC!

TFTC cashkids, the cache was found in good order Signed, sealed and returned to GZ. 4 find(s) of 4 today, making this find #1753

now i am further down the ridge having approached from mahaukura & by the look of the map there isn't too much more undulation before i have a long shallow descent down to the pirongia forest park lodge [^]
i have thoroughly enjoyed my time in the mountains, but am now beginning to anticipate the pleasures of taking my weight off my feet & a good hot shower
however, i had to delay these treats a little longer here as this cache took me a while to seek out. got there in the end though
tnln
sl
tftc
#3593

Amazing hike up the Wharauroa Track but a bit overgrown in places. Cache in good condition tftc

Found this on the way back from Pahautea Hut. Last cache of the day on the way back to Grey Rd. After yesterday's grind up Tirohanga Track in driving rain and wind strong enough to blow you sideways the trip was a grind - Pirongia living up to its reputation of mud, mud and more mud. The trip was the final outing for GC2XBA7 Rambler's. Reward. TFTC

5.30am - Just didn't realise how unfit I am climbing hills. Group were good and kept stopping for me to catch up, always saying not much further. Higher we got the more the wind increased. Apart from the muddy track arrived at GZ and cache had already been found, just had to sign and replace. SLTFTC

Think we got to this spot about 2 and a bit hours into the walk from grey rd car park. It was just starting to get light - which was GOOD as the track was so narrow, and you couldn't really see foot placement with all the small flax's growing on the other side of the track. Luckily with 3 of us hunting (some of the others had found this one before, so observed while chewing down some food) the cache was quickly in hand. Cache in good condition, and log nice and dry.

A great walk up the Ruapane and Tirohanga Tracks to the summit then the Mahaukura track back to the car. Must admit that I wasn't quite aware of the amounts of descents and ascents on the Mahaukura track - took slightly longer than we expected and didn't get back to the car until 6.50pm - cutting it a bit fine for this time of year. However a great day out and topped off by scoring a couple of caches along the way - already have several up on Pirongia. TFTC

Stopped here for a break & to check the view of Raglan, quickly found. Muggle friends really into it. TFTC

Found together with KiwiLeon, VictorTokaanu, 11hpg11, Evilno9, & PaulTaps as we came "down" the mountain from a night at the new hut.

Last high point for the day before we turned off back toward the car we had left at O'Shea road. Cloud was coming down a bit but still a good photo op. Getting quite late in the day at this stage but we were all well equipped for tramping in the dark after walking last night to the hut. Will be back some time to do the rest of the caches further down toward the lodge. T4TC

Found with GreenblAt, TucanoVic, Paultaps, 11HPG11 and Evilno9 after a night at the Pahautea hut.
The ups and downs seem never ending with a heavy overnight pack.
Awesome views over the area although it was getting somewhat obstructed now by the incoming clouds.
TFTC

Even though mentally this was supposed to be easier, it was still a slog to get here, though those chains at the end and the fairly sharp drop offs were pretty cool and with everyone starting to feel a bit tired at this point we were in no rush to get here.

I'm sure the views would have been amazing if there were any, but the fog was just as cool - we had another rest and made the turn-off towards the cars and hopefully a big feed before too long. Great spot - TFTC

Second time lucky. First time gave up because of
cold ,wet and windy day not nice weather to be tramping in.
Today it was fine and warm views very hazy.

Stunning views and muggle free. In fact think I alone was the only one on the track today. tftc

Finally got to the Wharauroa lookout after a hard slog up. Awesome views from here. Cache was quickly located. TFTC!

Made my goal and wow, the views are amazing! Simply stunning, feeling on top of the world. Stopped for a bite to eat and then had to head back down as time was at a premium. Picked up a travelbug

Quick find. Amazing walk!

Fourth trip to Pirongia in 8 days..not obsessed or anything... but I sit and look at Pirongia every night, so nice to get to know it better.

Found the cave after being shoved in the right direction by HKCB. My GPS had died by this stage - too wet maybe. Left TB.

No view, just another smiley face on my map.

We hadn't set out to find this one today, as I some how forgot to check to see if any cashe's on this track, heading back to Grey Road. Doh! Strangely though, remembered the clue as I loaded this one to GPS last October. Just as well we had clue as AMM56 found it while GPS was still trying to send us off the cliff or something!

Found it.

Came via the Mahaukura Track down from the Pahautea Hut. A bit disheartening to see the sign here saying 2-3 hours to the summit, which had taken us 3 hours, but another sign saying 2-3 hours to Grey's Rd. As it turns out, it only took us 1 3/4 hours to get down to the carpark since after the initial descent, the rest of the track was a walk in the park compared to what we'd already endured. We were glad to hide the packs at Grey's Rd so we could return to the car in Corcoran Rd via the Link track and the number 14 bait line, and then drive around to pick up the packs. A long day, with about 7.5 hours of walking, but very satisfying. Thanks for the cache.

Came up from Grey Rd, Forest Park Lodge. Also about 2 hr walk.
Keep an eye out for the North Island Robin that has been re-introduced in the area.

This entry was edited by KayGeeDee on Friday, 20 December 2013 at 20:44:06 UTC.

Headed up the Mountain with my class of Year 7-8 students as part of our Inquiry program this term.

It was a really nice walk up to the lookout but some of the kids thought it was a little be hard and I got the'Are we there yet?" lots

Cache is in good condition.

It was a toss up between getting some caches around cambridge or tackling one of the tracks we haven't done up Pirongia. We knew it was highly likely it was going to rain so we packed the rain coats and off we went. CB was looking at all the plants on the way up so it took us just under 2 hours to get to this summit. We got some great views which we weren't expecting with all the rain, but the clouds started at this summit and we could see down to the waikato.

We had a bit of a poke around trying to find the cache, but with no luck re-read the description and the clue and trusted the GPS and we soon found the goods.

Great place for a cache.

Lunch stop on the way up to Pirongia - great track, found it after a little while sniffing around using cacher sense - all though the clue was perhaps a little vague - as some one has done some pruning in the area recently and there is a fair amount of extra camo laying around..

Thought we had spotted a bunch of sun bathers on yonder bluff( how did they get there?) turns out to blimin goats..

We struggled up the path to get this one and sadly had no luck. Three DNF's in a row! Is it definitely still there?

After a failed second attempt on Pity the Fool the day before, I was very concerned I'd fail to find this one too. But alas, I found it, was rather obvious once I really thought about it. TFTC

This entry was edited by Lord of the Monkeys on Tuesday, 27 November 2012 at 06:32:25 UTC.

Oh dear! Never has so much effort been put into finding so little! We searched the GZ for half an hour in spite of the GPS telling us we weren't quite in the right place. On an incidental wander further down another track, things became much clearer. Found some likely spots, did some crawling into dark places but still no luck. Unfortunately time ran out and we had to head back to the car before it got dark with our search unrequited. We may be back another day once the pain has faded into a distant memory...

Travelled up the mountain very very slowly with Bloos Boy. Promptly sat down between the two signs happy that I had survived the steep climb and once rested started the search for the cache. Unfortunately altitude effects, wariness and the excitement of making the summit meant that I assumed the two signs I was sat near were the two in the clue and I searched for some time in the wrong place. When we discovered the correct sign it was well after 6.00pm and I could sense the pets calling the SPCA crying hunger and neglect. So we left defeated and made a speedy retreat down the mountain in 1 hour. Sorry to the geocoin owner, the Dolphin will have to stay a little longer.

When setting out from the carpark at about 10:00 am the peak was covered in cloud but on arrival here the cloud had lifted. Stunning views on a perfect nil wind day.
Many thanks

Easy find this time round. Forgot to bring a pen so couldn't sign the book.

Lovely walk and good views today

Found on way down from summit. Met a couple up before the swamp and they had clean shoes! Was very amazed. beautiful views though! TFTC

The mountain was clear when I started & clear again when I drove home but, annoyingly, it was shrouded in low clouds while I was up here ... sadly, no views today. Finding the sneaky cache cheered me up though! Helped by reading C&D's log about having to get grubby. Cache in great condition, TFTC

Early start out with Novalightning. Same theme continued from the car park, "keep walking uphill". Read the description and noted the particulars.
At 200m "this doesn't seem to bad"
At 150m "still going up, this is getting harder, still manage a smile"
At 100m "sense of humor failure, one foot after another"[XX(]
At 50m "nearly there, seems to be flattening out, thank goodness"
At Junction "B****y made it, Yippee" Made it here in 1hour twenty

A bit of a search and nothing, read logs, felt dispondent, kept on searching and eventually found it after a bit of serious getting grubby, Made it all worthwhile Fantastic views, [

No luck here...I spent over half an hour searching along the stretch of track, both on and off the track, peering into and sticking my hand into every pnir I could find. After checking the logs I had with me, and seeing that others had an easy time finding it, I thought I'd see if there was anything more recent. Luckily my phone had reception (not something you can count on back home in the Ruahine and Tararua ranges!) and I was able to check the cache page and see Lord of the Monkeys' DNF log from the previous day. Based on that and my own lack of success I gave up and carried on to the summit. Thanks anyway, and at least the cloud lifted a bit while I was looking - I even got a touch of sun!

After only one find out of the previous three of the trip, was really hoping to at least get 50% success rate. But alas, no. Spent an hour looking up and down the stretch of track and as far off track as possible but had to give up in the end.

The sun was out and a nice spot for a rest.
Great views today over the big valley to the summit.
I came up here from Grey Rd a few years back on my way to the hut, glad to not be going back down that way today.
Grabbed Breast cancer TB

Nice easy find. Took tb

Heading up to the summit from greys rd and loop back down Tirohunga track. Fantastic day, great views and seem to have the whole mountain to myself - gr8
Took two of the 4 TB's to move them along. Thanks for a neat placement.

The showeres and drizzle stopped so I got a view and also met some trampers going to the hut from Greys Road TFTC

Great views! cool wind though.... TFTC

This what geocaching is all about! After an enjoyable stroll up to Mahaukura, a few geocaches to look forward to on the way down.
Initially a little confused by the clue, but after realising it required a short excursion along a different track, all became clear. The little hiding spot seen straight away and the coordinates spot on. Cache still in pristine condition, and laughed when I saw the car keys in there!
Awesome spot, and I agree that this probably has the best views on the hill - well worth the wait to come up here on a nice day.
Many thanks.

2nd FTF for the day.
Thanks Cashkids for bringing us back to our favorite Waikato mountain.
Not too much of a view today, lots of mist about but did kinda clear on way back from the second peak.
Dropped off 3 TBs we picked up in the capital last week.

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