Footprints In The Sand (Otago) Sandymount, South Island, New Zealand
By katie w on 19-Apr-12. Waypoint GC3HDX3

Lovely day at Sandfly Bay today - saw 7 seal lions.
No problem finding the cache thank you, using the hint.

On a work trip to the general area with a colleague who had not been to Dunedin previously so we took the opportunity after a an early start, semi early finish (it’s great that it doesn’t get dark until much later at the moment!) to head out this way and explore.

After checking out the massive seals that were peppered along the beach we made our way along the track to GZ. Spotted a ‘perfect’ spot upon approach but unfortunately could spot a cache today.

I’m not upset as it will give me an excuse to return at some point and explore again!

Out with the old- and in with the new! Retrieved the old container and its stash of stuff and replaced with new stamp, log book, pen and a few small swaps.
We had a brilliant day out in the sun and sea breezes while we did a full circuit walk!

See my log

Nice walk down to the beach and out to the cache with indiboo (after a bit of a splash in the water). Found the cache easily enough but the container had a large spilt and the logbook was soaked was able to write out names but the blue ink from the stamp was over most things including our hands!!
Thanks for the letterbox hybrid cache, katie w
#2909

Got inked. Tftc

Wet log. And ink everywhere. Now have blue fingers lol.
Enjoyed visiting this part of the world again. Was here 3 years ago in August. There was seals everywhere that day but only 3 today.

Nice to get a letterbox cache, although we don't have a stamp. We just signed the log. There are quite a few letterbox caches in Wales, where our daughter lives, but not many in NZ. Great track on this glorious beach. Saw several sealions. Others there saw some penguins, but we just missed them. Cache is all good. TFTC

Found it thanks

I had a look in on this one about three years ago with no luck so it was good to be able to find it this time. I've no idea how I missed it last time. The lid was not threaded on properly so I was unable to open it. Someone with young manly hands might be able to. I sent a photo to the CO and got permission to log. Thanks for the placement.
I saw 6 sea lions resting on the short section of beach that I walked along.

A cool cache after having a really nice time at the beach and spotting some sea lions. My 100th cache in New Zealand.

TFTC M.o.E.

Well, this one was an adventure. Hevic, safetykat, and I went in on a whim and with very little research. The hike there was not too bad, all things considered and once we found the right path. It took us a few minutes to find the cache but once we'd worked out what a key word meant Hevic went to the spot and found the cache with ease. Took some swag and left a few bits and bobs - sadly when I stamped my personal log the ink from the stamp ran. Ah well. The hike back was a bit trickier and of course slower for the three of us, but we got back in the end slightly wetter than when we'd started. Cheers!

Long wet but successful walk!

Well we worked hard for this one. We took the long walk down to the beach, commenting on how awful the climb back up would be. Then we wandered a little to find the entrance to this track, trying and failing just once, and took a nice trek down the path.

Finding the cache was a little tricky without any reception with which to google a definition of the hint, but we spotted a likely culprit and made a great find. The stamps turned to blue blobs on our hands with the drizzle, but we stamped anyway.

Walking back up was the real mission - I am not a hill climber, and had to stop a few times to catch my breath, but we got there in the end. A great final mission for me, CJCurry and Hevic to do before I leave the city. Tftc!

Just a short hike as went to the top a whole ago. A bit drizzly but a nice leg stretch. Now to get back up the hill.

A lovely day and amazing beach. Started off the walk with A Huge sea lion 2 and a bit metre long sea lion I had to dodge before I was on my way. Got to the gz and thought I found the cache. But no it was a stoat trap. I walked around the other side of the Bush and found it. Don't have a notebook so couldn't stamp. Made some swaps and signed log. Would have left a tb but had just dropped it in a different cache. Overall a brilliant cache and definite fp.
Tftc

A lovely day and amazing beach. Started off the walk with A Huge sea lion 2 and a bit metre long sea lion I had to dodge before I was on my way. Got to the gz and thought I found the cache. But no it was a stoat trap. I walked around the other side of the Bush and found it. Don't have a notebook so couldn't stamp. Made some swaps and signed log. Would have left a tb but had just dropped it in a different cache. Overall a brilliant cache and definite fp.
Tftc

.Its a great day today. Sun is out and no wind. Stopped off at the platform to checkout the info. Love info boards. Then its down to the bottom. Lots of people try to surf down the sand bank on cardboard unsuccessfully but having lots of fun. Along the bottom and try finding the entrance path was a bit of a mission. We just walked on lots of sand but there is Morris Creek going where?? Its up the path for a quick search at GZ to snag and tag this one. Cheers. Now for the trudge back up the hill. Walking in this soft sand in unforgiving, and climbing back out of here was 2 steps forward 1 slide back until finally on solid ground. This sand trap is amazing and happy the sand is not flying today but man does it fly way up those hills. This would make another great earth cache. Hint. Fav from me.

Easter Sunday 21 April - Exploring Dunedins amazing Southern Peninsular today.

Its another awesome geoventure to Dunedin, with The Seagnoid, Zara, Toby, Jack, Jill and William all along for the trip. Had a wonderful 10 days exploring Dunedin. It was great catching up with local cachers at several events we attended. Lots of walking and driving, with the odd cycle and wave ride to jazz things up. Thanks to all the COs that made this trip a wonderful success. Even managed to bag some lab caches along with wherigos, earth caches and events, with the usual mix taking us to some amazing places..

A steep walk down then a trudge along the sand. No mater how nice a day it is (and today was okay enough) a long walk in the sand is a trudge. It's that soft surface that's the problem. Got to the cache, found and signed it, stamped my notebook and trudged back. There is a stoat trap at GZ, nothing caught. Morris Creek does not drain to the sea, stopping just downstream from the cache. the little seagnoid in me wanted a spade, so he could free the stream from its sandy enclosure. Heck, I'd do it by hand! But that would take an hour or more.

Taybeedragon and I have an eleven day Easter weekend in Dunedin. Although, let's face it, given that we are from Blenheim and Picton that means two of those days was spent in travelling. In that time we grabbed a smidge over three hundred caches. Not bad, considering the amount of time spent way out on the back roads, on bicycles or canoeing on the water. A few virtuals, larges, letterboxes, earths, wherigos, and even ten lab caches in the haul. An awesome weekend!

Out with a group hoping to take advantage of a low tide to get to a cave beyond the eastern edge of Sandfly Bay, however the presence of many NZ fur seals, including lots of very cute young ones made us retreat.

Not where I would have looked first, but the hint put me on track. Not too overgrown in the few months since the last find.

TNLN. TFTC.

A hot walk to this one. Tricky find at gz as it was all a bit overgrown. I made the find by poking it with my foot! Ready for our picnic after this. Tftc

This was very overgrown after 5 months of not being found. Should be a bit easier for the next cachers. Thanks.

Out and about with BCD on a gorgeous Dunners day. Ummed and ahhhed about getting this one when we were at the viewing platform but we actually approached from Ridge Road which was a fairly easy trek. Nice quick find. TFTC

Down in dunnas for the weekend "caching up" with kjr.
After a morning walk down to bolder beach and back up paradise track
Leisurely stroll down the track for quick find not many footprints for us today didn't go any further tftc

Beautiful day to hit up the beach. And of course had to grab a few caches! TFTC

What we do not for a cache...! When we arrived at the spot for the night, we seen that there are 3caches! So let's go! We found easier and one TB more!
Tftc

Full day on Otago peninsula. De managed to do a few caches, missed some (translation issue on some plants names). We encountered several sea lions and albatros but no luck on the penguin side, and enjoyed amazing landscapes. A wonderful day of geocaching. Thanks to all the owners !

The climb back to the car under midday sun was hard
Big sea lion on the beach )
Careful in the same spot as the cache there is a trap for opposums, we didn't know what it was and mistook it for the cache. Thankfully it was empty

Last pic of the tb we dropped. Supposed to go to Australie

This was a great adventure scrambling down the sandy pathway to the beach and along the pathway up Morris Creek, cache soon located and signed off and the challenge venturing up the sand dune track to the look out. A lot of visitors on the beach today and a number of boggie boards being used to surf down the sand dunes. A fav from us. TFTC

A nice day caching in the Dunedin area, about 40 caches for the day a few good up and down walks and a lot of fun had. Many Thanks Bitsprayer.

Once down at the beach we were wondering if we should do it or not. Then we gave it a try and walked for a bit. Didn’t encounter any sea lions blocking our way. We found the trail easily and walked for a bit. Then we discussed the listing again and the interpretation of it. And trying to figure where it could be. Well it turned out we were standing next to it the whole time. So I had a closer look and there it was. Then we signed the log book and hid it again as it was. TFTC

I was stoked to have the afternoon off work and I've had my eye on the sandfly bay caches for a while. I almost stepped on a sealion on the way to the cache. They just blend so well into the sand but I guess that's the point. Apart from that the cache was found no problem. Thanks

This cache was a real mission, the hardest part being finding a way to get to it, even though the track had been clearly visible as we came down the hill. We initially tried to approach from the west, as our map showed a track from that direction, but when this failed, we read the cache instructions, and headed for the beach, walking well along it without spotting any sign of a track. We then returned along the beach, past some basking sea lions, to the creek, and as there was no access on the east side of it, headed up the west side until we spotted an orange pole in the distance. We found a relatively shallow place to cross at S45 53.685 E170 38.608, and went up the bank from there then headed north along a sandy track until we were on the proper and well marked track leading to the cache. After that it was a straightforward walk to a quick easy find, after realising the object we spotted first was a trap. Returning we tried continuing along the sandy track towards the beach, but found ourselves at the top of a small cliff above a deep section of the creek, so returned and crossed at the same point as previously. Then the long steep slog back up the hill. TFTC

I had an extended Labour Weekend down in Otago and today went for a drive out to the Otago Peninsula, an area that I've always enjoyed. Decided to check out Sandfly Bay, which was a stunning place to visit on a beautiful morning with several sea lions down on the beach. I really enjoyed visiting this beach and the walk to this letterbox cache was great. Took a couple of minutes to find the cache, but all is well with the container. TFTC - fav point added!

Sea lion about 10 metres away sleeping. He didn't move. Never knew this track was here.

Very disappointing, spent around an hour looking for this one but no luck anywhere

Had been eyeing this one up for a while, as we had heard good things about this hitherto unexplored location...and we weren't disappointed! While Mrs Rex and The Littlest Rex romped in the dunes, Mr Rex made his way to GZ, tiptoeing ever so delicately past a couple of sleepy locals...once on the track, he was home and hosed...and the locals were still snoring on the return leg! Phew! Cheers, Katie

A perfect sunny day for visiting Sandfly Bay and the perfect opportunity for going to this letterbox at this period without muggles around.
But just in front of us on the main path a strange noise... In fact it was a snoring male sea lion, sleeping along the track, so scary. We carefully (and quickly) avoided it to do not disturb this peaceful giant.
Then, we checked everywhere around the cache just in case...

Easy to find it and surprising about the elapsed time since the last 'fount it'.
Funny goodies inside.
fefe.adrien and I signed with our team name : Lekiprokos

+ one favorite point to this cache
Thank you for the discovery and the unexpected experience

Ninalila and I choose to visit this famous bay after some friends advices.
We had the chance to see a couple of sea lions laying on the beach on the edge of the river going down to the sea.
Really close to the path a huge sea lion was sleeping and snoring, quite scary to walk not far from him, but finally we didn't disturb it ^^

The box was easy to find, and we were surprised to see that no one found it during a long time.
One more fav point for this one

we signed the logbook with our team name : lekiprokos

thank you for the cache and the discovery

***No need to beat about the bush! I located the cache where it has always been, it has had many more visitors than have signed the log.***
Added my own message to the log book. Thanks to all finders for respecting the placement.

Needs checking. Next month when area reopens.

Today was dedicated to explore some of the highlights of Otago Peninsula, and of course that also included a walk in Sandfly Bay. On such a windy day the name of the Bay was really suitable . But it was a great walk, and we saw seals, sea lions and penguins as well .

With the good hint the box was found without any problems.

Thanks for the cache.

A very nice walk through the dunes and changing vegetation from the beach to here.
It's less windy here and we were very sorry not being able to continue this barefoot walk.
In: personal AWC.
Out: two seals, together.
TFTC,
Team ERw2 - Eva and Robert F. - We 2 (2512)

I enjoyed the nice walk with bubblezone through the sand dunes.
thank you for showing this nice place

good that we didn't give up when the sand ended and the itchy grass began. still barefoot we soon (200 metres further) found the nice clean big container and were glad we had not assumed the trap was the hideout. ouchhh! the bay really deserves it's name, mammamia! thank you for this cache!

We used this nice warm summer's day to enjoy sandfly bay and do some caching. quick find. TFTC!

Took a few minutes to find it - the stoat trap was way more obvious! Great place for a walk. Thanks.

Our 1st aim in the morning and therefore also ours 1. Cache of today nailed us up to Sand Fly Beach. We enjoyed the surroundings and were astonished at that beautiful place here.
We put the shoes in the sand and went on without. The Sand was warm and soft. Then the sand was over and it was not so nice walking without any shoes. We separated. She was waiting in the sand and he had to go further. After a few minutes barefoot he hold the Letterbox in his hands.

Thank you and for the location you get an extra fav-point!

TFTC

# 1832

Well last day down here in the deep south so that means a last trip to collect a few caches before heading back to book out of the motel.
Still its a few hours before it gets even remotely light so just a matter of working the plan to meet the requirements of the current GCLS stage that I am on and keep moving.

Hurrying against time to make the final letterbox around here, as the time to drive to the airport draws nearer. great walk down and fast walk to GZ and back to the car

Thanks for the placement

While travelling around in New Zealand we visited this cache.
Thank you for letting us see the country!
Thank you for the cache!

TFTC lots and lots of sea lions today. very scary animals up close.

Shinichi87 and I spend some hours at the beach and we saw penguins and fur seals, while we walk around. That was our first Letterbox in NZ.
TFTC

KullerKeks90 and I spend the afternoon here at the beach. We saw penguins on the lottle rock island and some fur seals. That was our first Letterbox in NZ. TFTC

Decided to go for this one being a letterbox with /dev/gc0c this morning, taking the easy access and avoiding the dune Had a good chat to the sheep on the way and made a quick find once at gz. Got back to town before some people got out of bed TFTC!!

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Had a nice walk travelling to the cache and quickly found it once we arrived.
TFTC

Seemed like a long walk but didn't even notice and we were already there.
Nice stamp in the cache. tunfisk had a little fun with it.
TFTC!

Found this one on the return walk from Sandfly Bay to our vehicle at the end of Ridge Road - I hadn't realised on the way in that it was there and had walked right past it. A quick find and the cache is in good condition - signed log, TFTC!

Really enjoyed this one. NIce and dry, too. Once again surprised to see that nobody has been there for several months. Thanks!

Found by T just before a cold rain and hail storm. An awesome place to visit.

Saw lots of penguin footprints in the sand as we followed the markers through the sand hills. Found with debsnz

An over cast winters day and wanted to stretch the legs so went for a wander along the beach at Sandfly Bay - of course grabbing a cache (or two) along the way. Made the detour to grab this one which we found out in the open so have pushed back into hint object a bit more so it isn't obvious to any muggles that might pass by. Found with Aoraki Sheep.

Trouvée après la rando de sandfly bay vers le lovers leap. MPLC!

saw penguins and seals, nice place

Kezza's log is dated 28th but they dated the logbook 29th so I assume they were there today. Cache sits for months without a visitor and then has two on the same day. Came in using daywalk's route, simply because I had never been that way previously, and it certainly is much easier than the slog back up to Seal Point Rd! I'm surprised how few people have visited this cache in the year it has been up. Perhaps it looks too much like hard work for the newer generation of cachers who have been raised on park 'n grabs, dummy caches, co-ords hidden in a photo etc caches. Also surprising to see the lack of "big names" in the logbook. Perhaps they're too busy being "in charge" of the game to actually be able to get out and cache. Several muggles have written in the log but fortunately have not done any harm to it. Very enjoyable. Favourite tick from me. TFTC.

Awesome place for a cache!!! Thanks!!

Have been saving this one for the right occasion, which was today. Killed three birds with one stone (metaphorically only, and not protected species..) - driving practice and a walk with Mrs Daywalk Senior as well as the cache.

We went in by the Ridge Rd track, since it is much more suitable for those with heart conditions - only one gentle hill to climb on the way back. The track start is marked from the end of Ridge Rd at S45 53.088 E170 39.017, with the parking area signposted 50 m before the end of the road. (Closed for lambing during September and October.)

Took a bit of looking to find the cache, since it had been dropped rather than hidden by the last finders. "The obvious" has a stoat trap in it (which doesn't need to be disturbed).

Have left the Save Fiordland 4 bracelet TB, raising awareness of the need to protect the Fiordland World Heritage area http://savefiordland.org.nz/.

We had afternoon tea down at the beach end of the track, and were surprised at the number of young families using the Ridge Rd track to get to the beach. They like an easy walk too! An excellent afternoon wander - thanks katiew.

Columba 8

I am not much of one to do an abundance of caches... anymore I saw this one was on the radar and involved a bit of a walk.

I pulled up at the parking and a lamb walked across in front of me. Of course. What else would be in a car park but a lamb? Certainly not something I drive up to in Australia very often. It had obviously gotten out of its paddock and was trying to ram the fence to get back in to the rest of the flock. I pondered. Do I try to pick it up and put it in the paddock? I decided against it.

Suddenly the lamb apparently had a gutful of the situation and ran at the fence with high speed and managed to squeeze itself through the wire. It obviously knocked itself a bit silly and it was all over the place afterwards. But soon enough had bounded off to the rest of the flock. Well.. uh.. that was quite random.

I made my way down the path toward the beach. I plodded down the hill through the sand - knowing full well I would have to go up the God forsaken hill again. I was happy with my approach and made it over with getting the footsies wet. I enjoyed the walk in - looking for the ever-present sea lions. None to be seen at this cache today. I came up to GZ and found the cache quite easily. It seems some muggles have found this one a few times. It was a bit visible. I signed the log and re-hid it a little better. It was in great condition.

The trip back was fairly painful - but not too bad. Was happy to get back to the car.

Thanks for showing me the area katie w. TFTC

Found at 4:12 PM on 15/07/2012.

A nice walk on a warm winters afternoon. A quick find on a track I hadn't walked before.

TFTC katie w

FTF at 3.11PM. 2nd of the day.
A beauty of a day for a walk and bit of fun in the sand.
Didn't see any wildlife but plenty of students/backpacker types out for some fun with boogie boards or cardboard boxes.
The cache was a good size with lots of swag, but I had no stamp so just inked up my thumb and left a print.
The walk back up was not so much fun but good exercise I suppose so I'll tip my hat (V sweaty) to the CO for a great ramble.

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