The Hillary Step (Wellington) Wellington, North Island, New Zealand
By boxhill on 04-Mar-12. Waypoint GC3DQJ5

It's a beautiful day, so my sister and decided to go for one of our catch-up walks, we we catch up with what's been going on in our lives while getting some quality tree time. This time a walk up to Mt Kaukau with a longer walk back. Man this track is popular! everyone and their dogs were up here, we probably saw 50 people. So I guess I was a bit lucky having some alone time to find this cache.Alas it is an eclipse tin. They do not fare well in the outdoors.

The muggle count is pretty high given this area.

A great New Zealander and a very appropriate spot. Happy to knock it off.Top was rusted shut and snapped as I pried it open, but contents in good order. Closed as best as I could and hid as found, although I suspect there has been some creep.

Wahoo, been a while before I had a ham egg for the fossick! TFTC

Mum worked the coordinates out for this and we conquered the summit over the holidays! TFTC

Mum did the thinking on this one and the cache was a cool hide! TFTC!

Got it,great walk with the kids, tftc and puzzle

Found on my somewhat wet run today. Thanks!

Damn! Nearly got caught replacing cache by a jogger. Had to pretend I'd dropped my glasses. All good, tftc!

Solved this about six years ago but haven’t been back here until today. It was criminal to stay inside on such a magic day so went for a bit of an adventure up here with this cache as my target. Not too many people about so didn’t have to wait long until the perfect moment to find, sign and replace the cache. TFTC - a great hiding spot.

Wandering around the hills on a fantastic Wellington Sunday. No sure when I solved this one, but the final location was there and it seemed right. Biggest challenge was waiting for a break in the fairly stead stream of people passing through so I could discreetly collect and return. All safe and dry here, TFTC.

I can't remember when I solved this puzzle, I have a feeling it was one of my ones solved before lockdown. On approach I felt sure I knew where it would be hidden, but couldn't easily spot the cache. Ran my coordinates through the geochecker again to see if there would be an extra hint, but it just confirmed that I was looking in the right place! I then spotted something I thought could be the cache and grabbed it for closer inspection, but it was some other random item which I couldn't identify, possible a bike part! Finally found the real cache by feel in a logical place. The pages in the middle of the original log book are coming loose, just hope they don't fly away in a gust of wind (there was none today)! Thanks for the puzzle and TFTC

Carried out a long overdue maintenance visit today. Replaced the munted container. Although I took a new logsheet with me, the original still has a fair bit of life left in it yet so I did not change it.

Easy find this evening tftc

Signed while on the way down from the first event of 2018 and solved quickly later in the morning.

Sir Ed was certainly an incredible man and a legend. Being the first person to hit both Poles and Everest is an incredible feat - particularly given the tools available at those times.

A truely inspirational Kiwi and amazing work that came off the back of publicity gained through the above adventures. What a life!

A quick find at GZ where everything is fine. Thanks for another smilie.

Did you know that planning has started for a major Event in the Wellington region in 2018? Check out the details on the [Wellington Event NZ (WENZ) Website](https://sites.google.com/site/wenzgeo2018/home) or visit the event’s page on [FaceBook](https://www.facebook.com/groups/590545297801072/). The official cache page is now live [GC78NMQ - WENZ Event 2018](https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC78NMQ_wenz-event-2018-wellington). If you are planning to attend, please ensure you let us know through this page.


Thanks to the Cache Owner who has gone to the trouble of creating this cache, determining the coordinates and then averaging them to make sure they are accurate, placing the cache and registering it online for our enjoyment. Without Cache Owners doing their bit, there wouldn’t be a fun hobby that we all love - so again a big THANK YOU. For our bit, all we need to do is find and log the cache that was carefully placed for our personal enjoyment. As we log it we should consider that the Cache Owner also needs to maintain it - when the log sheet fills up, they must replace it. When the container becomes full of water, they need to empty it. When the container is broken, they need to repair it. When it goes missing they need to find or replace it. Well..... the great news is we can do our bit too - make sure your log doesn’t take an entire page - just a name and date. If full of water, empty and dry the cache as best as possible. Be careful when handling the cache and make sure you replace it where you found it. If it has a bag, seal it. Just remember - the Cache Owner showed respect to you by placing the cache - please respect them and fellow cachers that follow you by being careful with the cache. And if you have a spare log sheet and the cache you are at needs one, please leave it behind. Finally, if the cache does need maintenance, please let the Cache Owner know - you can log a Maintenance Log or you can drop a line to the Cache Owner. Above all - have fun and remember the Geocaching Code. .

Signed the log for this with the mad group of cachers heading for the summit of Mt Kaukau for new year 2018. So now I have to solve the puzzle! Solved without too much difficulty on New Year's Day 2018.

Sir Ed Hillary was an amazing man. A pioneer, determined, humble, and an inspiration to us all. I'm glad he was honoured in his lifetime, and that the Hillary Trail and other landmarks and commemorations continue to celebrate his legacy now that he's gone. Someone for all NZers to be proud of.

TFTC boxhill!

As othere we grabbed this one on the way to the New years eve event on the hill and easily worked out the co-ords the next day. When I was a boy in UK I loved to read about Sir Edumund's exploits and would never have thought I would be here to do this cache in to remind everyone of his exploits. Thanks CO for the cache.

Called back in to check cache with panamahat_bu. PH's first trip all the way to the summit. There is alot less natural cover around gz than when I last visited.
Cache still sound, wrapped in multiple layers.
Will try to remember a new container for next visit.
Re-hidden as per most recent hide now theres less natural cover.
TFTC

First trip up to the summit, signed log on the way down
TFTC

On a previous visit on a rubbish day there were still too many muggles and I couldn't search for this. Today was not a bad day all, albeit a tad windy, yet I got to GZ and no-one in sight. Unforotunately the cache was not hidden properly and therefore found pretty much immediately. The completely rusted out container has been wrapped in an outer plastic bag and that was betraying the cache's ability to lurk out of sight. Although I left the now-necessary bag around the cache I tried to wrap it up tighter and hide the cache better,. A new container wouldn't go amiss here but the bag is deferring the necessity of a NM. TFTC.

Knocked the xxxxxxx off!
One of my earliest Mystery caches, finally performed the honours. Had hoped to 'bring' panamathat_bu... perhaps not on this route.
Fitting within the theme/spirit of the puzzle, I leapt off from Simlar Cres.
Performed a little maint on the tops. Added a new logbook bag and and extra heavy duty outercover ( c/- Mrs Glad). Will add a spare outer to my toolset for future expeditions.
Replaced cache where I located it, again in theme.
Thank you for the cache Boxhill!
SLTNLN - FP

Well I didn't even know what's been hidden there for the past 5 years as I've gone past on many trips to the peak This boxhill guy seems to have climbed to just about all the places one might put a cache TFTC

Nice walk today and a quick find. Due to container being well weathered had given it a little bit of protection using what I had with me. Thanks for the puzzle. TFTC

Found today but container in sorry state with no lid and base rusted out. Didn't have regular bag with me so no spare container. Log book nice and dry

Found by a Canadian muggle friend we introduced to Geocaching in Ontario 6 years ago when doing a section of the Bruce Trail. Its good to see she hasn't lost her touch. A great day to show off the view and enjoy a brisk southerly breeze. A real United Nations up here today and had to wait sometime for the coast to clear. TFTC

It poured overnight so the ground's sodden, it's a biting Southerly, yet had to wait for 5 groups of muggles to walk up & back between searches. Took a little while — where I expected but better hidden. TFTC.

Made a second pass at today after riding and half walking up to it. I mountain biked this area back in 2007 and it seemed much easier then. After a quick search I moved on convinced my coordinates were wrong. Then on the way back down i stopped once more for another sweep. The lid is missing and the log a little damp. TFTC!

Great puzzle and cache. And on my regular walking route. Very cleverly hidden. Had to stand back and think where I would hide it myself, before finding it. TFTC

Cache # 2,838 - Decided today was the day to knock the b*d off, having made the trip to the GZ once before only to discover I had taken the wrong final coordinates with me. CO confirmed cache was still in place, and this morning was brilliant, if a bit chilly. Am in much better shape than the last time I tried this, so the trip to the GZ was fairly easy, and it only took me a minute or so to locate the cleverly placed cache. Thanks for the puzzle and the cache. TNLNSL.

I've had this one sitting in my solved pile for well over a year and found myself in the area today (I wasn't intending on coming up this far but caching instincts took over). Had to wait for a few muggles to pass (very popular today) before I could perform a thorough search and had a bit of trouble. It wasn't until I looked at things from a different angle that I spotted the cache and soon had it in hand.

As my writing implement was playing up I signed the log "BR." TFTC

Walked past the cache this morning. All good.

Re-solved puzzle. Did transcribe two digits wrong, but was at right coordinates. Will be back to look again, but cache was certainly not obvious on a reasonably thorough look yesterday.

Had a geocheck tick of approval previously, but failed to write down hint. Found the Hillary Step this morning, went to look for the hint, and no luck. Ah, cell signal! Log in and check again - geocheck fail? After 15 minutes of searching every obvious spot came to the reluctant conclusion that I would have to re-solve the puzzle. Perhaps something changed since I first solved it two years ago, or else I simply wrote a number down wrong. Gave me some good exercise anyway!

Final location was the perfect spot! Had to hang around a bit to get a muggle-free look, and there it was. TFTC

Solved this one a while ago and took advantage of a fantastic Wellington day to collect this and a bunch of other skyline caches. Enjoyed the mystery. TFTC

We solved this a while ago but only just made it to GZ. The container is missing a lid and looking little rusty, but the contents was very dry and problem free TFTM

Easy puzzle and quick find while walking down Mt KauKau. Had walked past this place many times not knowing there was a cache there! TFTC

#59. Daughter solved the puzzle and recognised the Hillary Step instantly. How many times have we passed over that step! Tftc!

#118. Solved this puzzle a while ago. Learnt some interesting facts about one of our most famous fellow kiwis. Visited the cache site today. All good there. TFTC.

Thanks for the cache! Found on a lovely day with wafflekitties! Done a big loop walk from Mt Kau Kau and along the skyline walk and came down the hill to Ngaio!

Planned this to be our 1st cache but turned out needed to practice on a few others before knocking this one off

Knocked the bastard off.

#700 Walked past it in my eagerness to reach the end... got it on the way back. TFTC

Put on my crampons. Got my ice axe. Sherpas organized. Oxygen supplies full. 6 months of geocaching experience. I felt ready to tackle this big one. Steady climb upwards. It must be climbing season as continuous stream of people using same route. Finally reached the Hilary step and clearly saw the peak ahead of me. Grabbed the cache and continued on up to the top. Felt like I was on top of the world. TFTP and TFTC.

Find #2009. Don't you mean the Hillary stepssssssssss......... Pleased to knock this bugger off for two reasons - one it was a puzzle cache which I don't do many of and two, it was up that hill, an effort in itself. But worth it with great views and a weather change arriving from the south just as I got there. Had to wait for annoying muggles to move on before retrieving the cache. SL TFTC

Came here the other day on a beautiful sunny day and there was way too many muggles around. Came by again on an evening stroll under torch light and GZ completely empty, as I was hoping for. Good views of the city at night too.

Day 4 of the 10 Day Mystery Cache Challenge and 100 Day Challenge. Also marks cache number 200.

Fantastic! I thought I'd done all the caches along here, so to solve a puzzle that took me back was much appreciated and too good an opportunity to miss (or put off)!

And I was surprised to see GZ signposted with the cache name. I wonder how many times I've seen that in the past without realising that it was referring to two things?

TFTC!

All good. Tftc.

Had this worked out some time ago on a previous visit to Wellington, so got it on the next visit. tftc

Sadly we were without hint or size for this cache... found after a decent search! TFTC

Very well hidden, took quite a bit of searching. Must have gone over that spot a few times! tftc

Great cache. Worth the effort to knock it off

Solved tonight and was in the area today!!!!!

Nice one boxhill - had it solved ages ago but was waiting until up in the area.

Saw the location a long way away and had a bit of a giggle - however soon knocked the bast*rd off!

SL TFTC

Nice puzzle and a very appropriate location. And a bit like the real thing that I had to wait my turn here today, what a busy place!

TFTC boxhill

This one was solved soon after it was published, Redants was supposed to find it last time he was up here with the Tawa Scouts (about a year ago) but didn't take a GPS and couldn't remember where to look. This time I came along for the walk with the Scouts, and while Redants and the other senior Scouts were trying to stop the junior scouts from getting to the top with the chocolate fish, I had plenty of time to find the cache (and still got a chocolate fish). Stopped again on the way down while Redants found it. SL TFTC.

After finishing a few activities with the Scouts up at the top, we started heading down, and I lagged behind to find the cache. Nice location, clever puzzle, TFTC

This was the first puzzle I solved, almost a year ago. For one reason or another never got round to finishing the job.....but a combination of a) time on my hands b) a beautiful, windless day (yes they do happen in Wellington) and c) my eldest doing a 24 hour rogaine as part of the Hillary Challenge multisport competition meant I had to attempt this one today. Found GZ, but noticed a muggle bearing down on me, so I had to wander off and knock off another nearby cache. Coast was clear when I headed back, and a quick sign and replace. TFTC.

I love driving through Khandallah and noting all the street names that are inspired by India and the Nepalese mountain ranges. My Mum lives in Everest Street, in fact! I solved this puzzle last year, and was finally in the area on a chilly but fine day. Could spot the likely hiding place from a distance, so it was a quick retrieve for me. Thanks for the interesting puzzle and appropriate cache location. TFTC

Great puzzle. Whilst I was born some time after Hillary conquered the great mountain, it is a legendary feat by a great New Zealander that I have grown up with.
Lots of muggle management needed on a warm and wind-free autumn Saturday afternoon.
Cache in order, log signed; safely re-hidden, just as found.
TFTC found with team cacher Sweet P too
The Turtle strikes again!

Really enjoyed the informative puzzle and the GZ TFTC boxhill

A quick find on the way up the hill with my sons Kea Club after solving the puzzle a while ago (on the evening after the last time we walked up the hill).
TFTC

TFTC

TFTC

Got 1Dog to do the solving on this, as I think they studied Edmund at the time.
At last we got a chance to head to the final.
Took a couple of extra kids along for the walk.
TFTC

Solved the puzzle a while ago, but waited till today to go to GZ and claim the cache. Lots of muggles about on a steaming hot afternoon. TFTC and another reason to get a workout !

Couldn't think of a better cache to mark a personal milestone - our 400th cache find! Seemed to take an eternity to get from 350 to 400. Feeling rather triumphant, we made our way back to the car enjoying spectacular views today in near windless conditions (unlike it would have been yesterday!) TFTC. Onwards and upwards!

The only mountaineering I have ever done was an ascent of Mount Egmont nearly 30 years ago. I expect that was just a wee stroll in comparison to what Sir Edmund had to endure on Everest.

I must have made an error when I put the calculated coordinates into Google Earth to work out where best to park. Although I was in the right area, I thought I was in for a relatively short trek. Having not started from the best place, it took me quite a while to get to where I needed to be. However, that was a good thing as I needed the extra exercise. It was very windy and surprisingly cold so I was glad to see some others on my journey to make me feel not so much of an idiot.

Thanks for an enjoyable puzzle and hike.

Aah damn, was not far from here and did not realise it was a solved puzzle!! Will no doubt launch another expedition in the future!!

On the way home from other adventurous caching walks thought I could squeeze in another. Boots donned, climbing gear assembled... now where are the porters and guide, oh well, its gotta be up so lets get on with it. Lots of other climbers using the trail in the fine sunny conditions so picking the moment carefully, the cache was quickly retrieved. Log signed it was scooted back into its spot and the top achieved. Thankyou for the puzzle and the exercise to collect. Just what I needed to limber up before school camp.

We solved this puzzle back in Tauranga, and found the cache while out walking on a very windy Wellington day. Most invigorating indeed. Thank you to Boxhill for his very helpful suggestions for a parking area and which tracks to use to access the cache - our walk went 100% according to plan.

Found it after running as a loop from jville and solving clues.

The geochecker shows quite a few green ticks, so it we were surprised to see that only 9 people had found the cache before us.
StreetWalker waited for me to catch up before looking for the cache, just to give me a sporting chance of finding something today. I looked on one side and he the other, and I chose the wrong place. Sigh.
Thanks for the puzzle and the cache.

Kids were half a hill ahead of me in finding this one.

This entry was edited by Renard & Co on Sunday, 22 July 2012 at 00:00:08 UTC.

#3896. Troodles solved this one some time back, and we were in the right area today. Appropriate cache placement, and good views from GZ. TFTC.

Like others had solved this one immediately after publishing and, wanting to get some exercise this morning, decided it was time to knock it off. TFTC, awesome views up here this morning.

Having solved this cache when it was published and at that time I was in Melbourne I knew that I stood no chance at getting the FTF on this cache.

This puzzle cache was one of those puzzle caches that I love as it is very well constructed and it is very easy to solve as long as you use you initiative and once you are in the correct location the answers are simple as. After getting the Geochecker tick I thought to myself I wonder how long this cache was going to last before the FTF was claimed, obviously it really didn't last that long.

Having the opportunity to finally get near GZ today how could I resist no going to the final GZ, it was a mammoth climb and scaling to the final GZ took a bit longer than it should have as the final location put me on top of the highest point in this area. Now how do I get up there without getting arrested, I thought to myself I wonder what Hillary would do, soon managed to scale and reach the top and it really didn't take as long as I first anticipated and was quite surprised by how high I had reached when I got to the final GZ, I felt like I was on the top of the world.

What a cool spot for the final, glad I made the effort to do it and thanks alot for bringing me to this location and placing the cache here. TFTC TNLNSL (4441)

There were lots of muggles around to day which made retrieving the cache difficult, but I managed to get a hand on it.

We didn't take to most direct route to this one to allow us tp ick up another cache on the way, it also made the walk qualify as a ramble.

Having solved this one when in was published, I was waiting for a suitable occasion to make an assault on the final. With my nephew who loves caching staying, I decided to take the boys for a walk and knock the b@#$d off. A great day to be out in this neck of the woods.
TFTC.

#2947. Took a nice walk to the final today, after solving the puzzle a while ago. Found and replaced between muggles. TNLNSL. TFTC.

Solved the puzzle very quickly after the cache was published and got the geochecker tick but I was out of town for a week so didn't have a chance to go for an early find. Fortunately the rain held off this morning so I went for a fast walk to GZ to blow out some of the cobwebs from a few days' inactivity. Not in the same league as Hillary's achievement but very pleasant all the same. Found cache within seconds - the only obstacle was having to find and replace between regular bunches of people walking past. Signed log, TFTC!

I had the puzzle worked out easily enough, and wondered where it would take me. took a stroll in the GZ direction & soon had it hand which made my caching day.
BTW - I think of Ed as a very generous man as he continually raised money for the people of Napal for schools, etc after seeing how impoverished they were. There is also the story of the Wellington Rotary people wanting to raise money asked him to sign some, and well the rest is history there.

Thanks for the puzzle, everything worked out spot on.

This entry was edited by buttels on Sunday, 11 March 2012 at 20:10:30 UTC.

well....that log was worth waiting for...

Sorry second minor point got dropped off, (b) should be Edmund in the third paragraph of the cache page, not Edmond.

Thanks for your input Rob.

I will leave question A as it is, as this is the information provided on the most widely used reference source.

Thanks pointing out the spelling mistake in paragraph 3. I have corrected it along with the other spelling mistake in question F that you missed [:o]

The reason for the cache name will be apparent as you get to GZ when approached from the south.

Maybe I missed it because it was correct to start with? - or is there another one or not corrected after all, it seems to have reached the wrong ALTITUDE But if it was something else maybe the fact that I have proofread around 100 pages in the last week (for work) might have something to do with my eyes being crossed lol.

FTF 1745hrs . Knocked the bastard off.

This entry was edited by fozzmiester on Monday, 05 March 2012 at 08:43:31 UTC.

A fun/interesting little puzzle about a genuinely humble man!

We look forward to reading the epic novel about his expedition to GZ that Fozzmeister must be composing for his log, which must be why he was unable to it write earlier....

Published

10.50pm Got the green light from Geochecker. Will try an ascent for the cache when in the area next. TFTP