By Gum - 3 (Wairarapa) Ponatahi, North Island, New Zealand
By skindo on 09-Oct-12. Waypoint GC3YBJD

By gum lad, it's gone! The tree has got the chop! Despite that setback, I persuaded Talla64 to stop the car while I had a look. And what do you know, I spotted the cache. Looking a bit worse for wear but still intact. Thanks for the cache skindo; it must have been a very big tree.

Over in the Wairarapa with Flowerydaze on the apple hunt on a cool but fine day. This tree is no more but the remains are still evident of a once giant gum. I was going to just drive by but Flowerydaze said we should look anyway and what do you know there was the cache in the remaining pile of sawdust. Don't know how much longer it will remain though. TFTC skindo.

Found but no pen

Quick park and grab on way north

The last few months have been quite hectic for me in geocaching terms, mostly because of my desire to try to qualify for GC30AD8 DGSc Challenge in super-quick time. But March is traditionally a quieter month for me, and I have decided to take the foot off the pedal a little for fear of burning out or getting to the point where I'm not actually enjoying the caching.Having said that, I still have my old personal goal of finding 50 caches for the month, and don't want to get to the point of having to rush around like a mad thing at the end of the month. So I decided that today I would take a leisurely saunter over the Rimutaka Hill to go caching in Martinborough, which has seen a few new caches released since I was last over this way. Having just arrived back yesterday from a big trip to Australia, my flatmate the Seagnoid joined me as two pairs of eyes are always better than one right?This one was a little bit out of town, but I wanted to get it just to clear up my map for this area. There was a little deja vu to our previous cache, insofar as tS looked to the right and I looked to the left, but this time it was I who made the find. The container looks like it has seen better days, but everything inside was fine and we soon added our names onto the log before replacing as found.Thanks for putting this cache out all those years ago.

This cache has been annoying me. Recently I cleaned out the Martinborough region, but missed this cache. So hadn't cleaned out the Martinborough region at all! And any "clean out" is only temporary anyway, and sure enough, new caches came to live in town. Well, that is not on, so TwigNZ invited me to join in on a trip out this way to send those new caches packing. Along the way we stopped by here and dealt to this fella as well. Turned out it had been annoying him as well!

A wonderful old gum tree by the corner.

It's December, and to help me achieve one of my Geocaching goals I need to log 300+ caches this month, which means an average of ten a day. I started off well, but had a glitch in the middle which has left me behind on my target. As I leave home on a road trip to Hawkes Bay to see a band play, and then return to Wellington to see the same band play again for New Years Eve, I have only 108 left to find to meet my target. I have a list of caches to look for, and this was one of them. Cache found as expected, safe and well. --- Thanks to skindo for placing and maintaining this cache. I enjoy each and every cache I find, and it is only with Geocachers like this creating them and placing them out in the world that this wonderful game continues. [DGSc-Bulk] tagging to help me generate a list for GC30AD8 - DGSc Challenge

Yay

Small not micro

First of the day, heading to Martinborough. Beautiful day. tFTC

Nice specimen, TFTC!!

Over for the weekend staying with friends in Martinborough. This was a nice quick find on the way home.
TFTC

Tftc heading to a friend's for dinner so stopped to get the cache.

TFTC JENBERLEE ️

Found it by the Mabel tree

Quick easy find damp but log OK. TFTC

Nice find. Got a bit confused with g-- we thought it meant gatebut did eventually get it

Found on the way home from a day visit to Martinborough on a sunny Easter Sunday. Always a pleasure to find another skindo cache.

While we were in the Wirarapa for a nearly two weeks we visited alot of places around martinborough and lower wairarapa esp cape palliser where i had never been , and i see this was one of the caches I didn't log at the time because we were out of coverage at time and so some were forgotten . Thanak you for this cache .

Nice ride out of town! TFTC

Over here for some time out and doing some geocaching as we go.

Figured where GZ was as we approached this massive Gun tree.

QF- TFTC.

Quick find with gardnergal100

Found just sitting on ground so put back in a bit to where I think it came out from. Nice easy cache today, thank you

Been meaning to get this one every time I drive past. Nice and quick park and grab. Thanks!

TFTC

Yay travel bug TFTC

Stayed the night in Martinborough at the TOP 10. Was in the area collecting some caches and enjoying the wineries. Now heading home in some back roads. Quick find and cache all fine. Thanks for the smiley.

Nice easy find, tftc

Back in the game! Quick find after sidetracking to a DNF and pit stop in Martinborough. Cheers skindo!

Cache exactly as described - thanks skindo!

Third find for the day after

On our way out of town after the one nights stay and decided to stop to pick up this one. What a big tree and the cache was an easy find. All in good shape here

Found on cycle ride with gpetone and patandjohn in a sunny Sunday. TFTC

Quick find while on a bike ride with Patandjohn and livingk and others.
TFTC

Away for a couple of days hunting caches with tmann421.
Nice quick find here
TFTC

That was my sentiments exactly. By Gum, I found it.

Cheers for the cache.

TFTC

Returning to NZ after 8 years collecting caches new and missed.

Staying in Martinborough for a few days so headed out to cache the area.

TFTC

A quick stop on our way to have lunch in Martinborough. Impressive tree. TFTC.

Mrs Bottle agreed a quick stop here after lunch in Martinborough. She was counting down the distance, but the hint object made that rather redundant. A blank replacement log dated January 2019 greeted me, so FirstToSign!

TFTC

by gum this is a big specimen, an easy find though, tftc

Quick find this morning after attending a wedding in the area. Cache all dry. TFTC

If it is Friday it must be Martinborough. We are visiting from Toronto ON Canada to spend 25 days with our daughter who lives in Wellington NZ. We have planned a driving tour of both the north island and the south Island. Quick stop at GZ. Found at 4:17 PM. Thank you skindo for placing and maintaining this cache.

We found By Gum - 3 (Wairarapa) on our Wedding Anniversary getaway to the WENZ Mega.

By gum that was an easy find

Thanks skindo for placing this cache and being a part of out geocaching adventure

MEGA TRIP 2018.

As usual with the annual MEGA event, we partook in our annual MEGA Trip. However this year was a little different from others, with much more sleep and a little less time caching than usual, but just as much fun being had along the way.
The general goal for the trip was to focus on all the new Virtual caches published over the last year, visiting Cape Palliser (for the Southern most cache in the NI), and Castle Point, along with spending time at the MEGA Event. With this in mind hiring a campervan from Hamilton and seemed like the best way to tackle this goal, plus sleeping in a car with four people, would just be too cramped!
The trip was a great success, and our goals were achieved. A big thanks to all CO's for there hides.

LEG 3: Mega, Cape Palliser and Castle Point: Todays plan was to spend some time this morning at the Mega Event before heading off to Cape Palliser and then working our way North to Castle Point. Two places that have been on the to visit list for a while now.

On the way from visiting Cape Palliser Lighthouse to Castle point and finding a few caches along the way. A quick find here.

Well it's the WENZ Mega Weekend and a plan was hatched to motorhome (as we thought it would make a difference from sleeping in a car which is our normal accommodation method) down here in the company of HKCB, 11HPG11 & Alpenmilch80 and head for a few caches along the way.
As time was of the essence and we had planned to spend bugger all time at the actual mega but rather head for specific caches that we would otherwise not collect.
The record keeping for this trip was a total of 1750kms, (fuel = $450) and less than 100 caches, plenty of Beer & Wine and I still call it a complete success as we got what we came for.
After an amazing trip along the south coast it was time to cache back up to Castlepoint the next point on our itinary and enjoy the Waiarapa countryside.
thanks to all the CO's for whoom without this trip would not ahve been possible.

thanks for the placement

During lunch time on Friday I flew into Wellington from Auckland to meet up with some crazy Hamilton’s (11HPG11, Cats&Dragons & HKCB) to spend some time at the 2018 WENZ Mega and then driving the huge campervan back to the Tron.
After the night spend with a hearty meal and good drinks we refreshed ourselves before moving in the direction of the mega. Afterwards we left the Hutt to drive out to Cape Palliser. And now we are on our way to Castle Point collecting geocaches on the way. TFTC

It's Mega time! This year we decided to hire a motorhome and travel down in relative luxury, very different to the last few years. Our team this year consisted of Cats&Dragons, HKCB and later on Alpenmilch80, and myself, logs were signed as MEGAHOAC. We went on a bit of a whirlwind trip round the lower half of the north island, chasing virtuals, earthcaches and anything a little bit different.

Quick find, thanks for the hide.

Another quick find as the numbers keep increasing, tftc skindo

#8064

Easy to see where we were heading from a distance - great specimen and by the size of it looks as if its been here for many a year. TFTC # 12,715

By gum, we got it . The early settlers - - - and their descendants sure like their eucalyptus trees eh! It does make great firewood. TFTC .

Another majestic specimen tree for sure and another Skindo cache in the bag. TFTC.

Quick drive by grab

Quick stop exploring our gorgeous country, thanks

On the road for our first venture into the North Island with our little caravan to explore this part of the country. It is not a caching expedition but we do manage to stop for one or two . Our travels brought us to your cache – many thanks, skindo, for bringing us to this spot. We’ve had great fun on the way, and look forward to finding a couple more caches as we travel on our way. TFTC.

I took my youngest son up to Wellington in the camper van. I dropped him off at his friend's house where he will stay. Meanwhile I get to geocache and be on standby.
I stayed in Martinburough last night and will slowly head to a walk and back looking for geocaches.
I spent the morning finding challenge geocaches and am now doing something different. Thanks for replacing the old logbook.
**************************************************************


Did you know that planning has started for a Mega Event in Wellington in 2018? Check out the details on the [WENZ Website](https://sites.google.com/site/wenzgeo2018/home) or visit the event's page on [FaceBook](https://www.facebook.com/groups/590545297801072/) and don't forget to log your attendance on the [WENZ Event Page](https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC78NMQ_wenz-event-2018-wellington?guid=23f451a2-08ac-4374-883 f-ed6814687147)

**************************************************************

Thanks. skindo for putting in the effort to hide this geocache. This was find 5368 for me.

A big mission over the hill today, focusing on Skindo's A to Z and 2 from 2 series caches, but picking up others along the way.

I drove past M @ Martinborough so I could scout out a parking location and headed on up to grab this one as it's the last cache (that I know of) on this road. It's certainly an easy find as there's no others around this area. Logsheet was soaking so I left a replacement in a fresh baggie. TFTC

Great cache 5 second find completely soaked needs new log asap

Up bright and early for another trip to the Wairarapa to collect some more caches. Off to Greytown and Martinborough areas - I've not been to these two towns before even in pre-caching days. Really liked both of them and will have to come back to explore some more.

There's a big cycle race on around Martinborough today, which has prevented me from collecting a couple of cachers where the spectators have been loitering. Pulled up here and found the cache, when a car full of spectators parked behind me. They kept looking at me, no doubt wondering on earth I was doing, but I carried on as if it was perfectly natural. TFTC

Wow, that is a big tree! Enjoying finding the caches around Martinborough in the dark. TFTC

TFTC quick stop at massive tree and another find thanks

Well hubby has a paintball game down here today so I passed up playing to do some much needed caching instead, ended up with a telly of 46 weather had a very cold chill until around 1pm and then warmed up nicely, as we were only doing park and grabs the shoes didnt get very muddy, thanks again skindo for taking the time placing all the caches.

#466 another quick find with zz6000 Tftc.

A quick find. Came over the hill to a days caching in South Wairarapa. TFTC

All good here tftc

First of the day caching in the Wairarapa with SeaTigers Tftc

Found

Found on our way to Carteton via the back roads TFTC

Number 3 today, so off to a good start. TFTC.

An easy find after our camping weekend for the martinborough fair. Tftc

Quick and easy find. DId with Mycro Man before the Martinborough Fair. Thanks for the cache.

Did with Crystal Fairy.

Found on cruise to the cruise TFTC

#1472. Every once in a while there is a day of madness. Today was that day. To complete an Auckland based challenge cache (GC3QY6Q), I needed to visit 50 caches in a single calendar day. But I couldn't use any power trails. Each cache had to be at least 1 km apart. So I spent several nights planning out a route around the Wairarapa that would allow me to achieve this target plus enough spares to cover for the DNF's. I managed to get around all 50 caches (only needing to use a torch for the last one) and was home by 10pm. Apologies for this generic log. This was cache No.27 of the day. Initially drove off in wrong direction but turned around and back to this cache. Nice quick find. Logbook is damp but still able to sign. TFTC

No problems finding this one after a couple of months with no visitors. I expect it will get a bit busier with the approaching summer months. TFTC

Found on a cycle ride around the area with a group of friends. TFTC

On a geocaching trip over the Wairarapa.

A quick find. Cache in good order and log nice and dry.

TFTC

#1740 Found on a photography/geocaching roadtrip with Nic-jay that ended up with 52 geocaches and many great photos. An impressive tree! TFTC!

Found on an epic road trip with Skaga which saw us getting a total of 52 caches in just over 11 hours.
A nice straightforward find.
TFTC

Another easy find at the end of a busy day of cache hunting

Nice quick find.

Found on a long day, and around 200km along gravel roads, with changeable weather all day.

TFTC!

Find #2296. Found after being at the Martinborough Fair. Very busy on the road. SL TFTC

Another quick bike and grab while visiting for the weekend. A lovely part of the region. Tftc

#1123 caches like gum trees around here it seems. TFTC

In Martinborough for the fair and a chance to grab a couple of caches on the way home. A rather distinctive feature of the landscape so wasn't to hard to locate GZ, however the cache was a little more exposed than expected so might not be exactly where it originally was located. Replaced where found but with a token covering of bark to make it somewhat less obvious. Thanks skindo.

A lovely afternoon spent caching in Martinborough. Thanks

Near this cache I came across a herd of sheep that had been separated into two, then three groups by motorcyclists. I thought it was interesting that the cars and camper vans waited until the sheep were in the paddock before moving, while the motorcyclists kept moving slowly through the heard. Wonderful team work by the sheep dogs and their masters soon had the sheep back together and in the paddock. After the drama, an easy find. TFTC.

First find in Martinborough. TFTC

Gracious specimen. TFTC

Quick find

A day caching in southern Wairarapa, 64 caches. Thanks for the cache.

Very impressive!. There were signs of another activity having gone on at ground zero that I was concerned may have impacted the cache. However, it was safe and sound.

Easy find

Perfect spot for a cigarette break TFTC.

Nice quick park and grab. Tftc.

A quick stop, find and sign. Gotta love drive by caches with reasonable parking! TFTC.

A quick pick up as we headed for a night cache in Greytown.
No problem with the find, even in the dark.
Left a pet rock -a panda. TFTC

Super easy find tftc