Redwoods after Dark (Waikato) Taupo, North Island, New Zealand
By TGC4 on 09-Nov-12. Waypoint GC411GE

Ooo a night cache, I love night caches. Parked at the parking waypoint, and proceeded into the waypoint, a little confused why it started so far in, but I will go with it. Once at the posted coordinates we looked around and spotted some reflectors, of we go following them, but then a dead end. Hmmm, bit of a back track, re assess and we spotted something up the hill. Ahh here we go, reflectors up in a tree. We follow that but again another dead end. Hmmm ok lets throw all forest survival out the window and split up. We all found something but nothing. So back to the posted to study past logs. Eventually we worked out that we are not following a trail, even if the cache description led us to believe that. Eventually we found the area we were looking for, and joked about what if the tree we are looking for has fallen over. Guess that wasnt really a joke after all.

Well.. where do we start? No really.. we followed the track in identifying reflectors and a path, ok ok.. were getting somewhere. Suddenly they all stopped and we were stood there lost, a shimmer up the hill led us to another type of reflector, is this what we should be following? We scurried around in the hopes wed done the path backwards but nope.. A very keen eye saw a reflector or two shining dim in the distance - migrated over and started mapping out the area. Only to find 5 reflectors present and one lying on the ground. Hmm, now we were losing hope. We started to get into full detective mode and break down the hint and previous logs, V of the tree, follow the eyes, being in a rough plausible area we expanded our search, Kiwi Does Stuff mentioned it was possibly within a group of 5 trees, this helped us out in hurrying up the search. Turned the corner, headlight shining and a plausible candidate was found sleeping on the job, lying there peacefully was a bunch of trees containing a familiar looking cache container! Success. But only with detective work and luck.

DNF.. I was walking past it, so I thought I will have alittle look. Found many reflectors, but got very confused what to do with them...

Did this one with the kids and some visiting friends, It was a pretty cool GeoCache would have been better if it was longer but lots of fun anyway. Thanks. Found this one on 8/10/22 but forgot to log it.

Tried around the same time yesterday ( maybe slightly earlier) but No joy. Today, brought the powerful bike lamp, and even though it's quite light out still, I found the cache at 7:40 yay! Nice little stroll after dinner. TFTC!

I did not really trust myself, but I was already in the right place after sunset equipped with a good torch. I read the description and previous logs, and it was not long before I was confused and had to unconfuse myself, which worked and all of a sudden I had the cache in hand. TFTC!!

We found the track entry and followed the pink paint to the listed co ords. Stayed on the track for about a minute until we saw the smaller reflectors off track to the right. Followed them until it took a turn and stood next to the final marker where we shined our torch to nearby trees before spying it.
Yipee!
We were a bit underwhelmed as we were expecting it to be longer. However if you go expecting the markers to be an indication of where the cache is, rather than a long trail to go along...then you may enjoy it.
Thanks to co!

We parked up down a the road for dinner. Now exploring around taupo with this night cache in our sights. Found the entry and proceeded into the Redwoods with our trusty torches. What a cool place to visit even in the dark. Not much undergrowth so lots of places looking likje tracks. Got to GZ but Im not sure now and looked around for markers. found many at the bottom of the trees so started to follow them. But too many to be viable so The Seagnoid reads the cahe page to see the reflectors are at head height. So we start again with no success. Finally he sees something way over there but I believe its a ground track marker but make my way over anyway. Im correct so start scanning from here on my way back. And hey that looks like a trail so call the Seagnoid and we start following it. Yes looking promising and then ??? where to from here. Reread the cache page and logs for more clues and start to scrummage around. Finally we track this little blighter down and tag him. Cheers

Day 1 - Thursday 20 January - Palmerston North to Taupo.

Zara, Toby and I are on our North Island expidition for a couple of weeks. Got The Seagnoid along for the first 4 days, heading to the Auckland Mega. PWGTs and TMGTs are on the radar for this trip. Lots of driving on gravel roads and visited lots of amazing places on our 6000km road trip snagging 200+ caches along the way. Visiting Cape Reinga, Bay of Islands, Gisborne and White Rock along our journey. Another awesome trip. Thanks to all CO's.

Day 1. Lower Hutt to Taupo.
Actually it's only half a day, as I left work at lunchtime. We got to Taupo, found today's first cache while having dinner then headed out this way. Somewhere in Taupo I lost my entire cache kit - if you find it please let me know.

Alas while Taybeedragon and I enjoyed the walk we were not impressed by this nightcache. Finding the cache seems to be a matter of luck rather than skill. To help others, read on... The start coordinates are littered with reflectors. We followed a trail until we realised there were too many decision points - these cannot be the right things. In the end we were proved right. So... ignore any reflectors made from roadside markers (VERY bright, low down) or any bicycle reflectors (orange). In the end we just walked along the path northwards keeping an eye out. About 30 seconds to a minute later (depending on how slow you are walking) we found a set of more likely reflectors (small, white, head high) leading into the trees to our right. We followed these, a nice easy trail which then suddenly stopped. Spent a good 15 minutes casting about for a continuation, but alas nothing. I sat down to read some past logs and found that someone manged to find the cache nearby, so some more casting around - yep, the cache is within 10m of the last reflector.

Came back here during the next morning - that was a bit of a challenge! Trying to remember what things looked like the night before. But alas, here does not seem to be where I lost my cache kit. Darn.

Only 5 finds today, all around Taupo - today being more about travel than caching.

Normally I take my bicycle and spend at least a couple of weeks on my Mega trips, but this time I went to Auckland with Taybeedragon and a campervan. And normally in that two weeks I would find a few hundred caches at about 40 per day (yes, by bike), but this time I only had 4 days and we only found 70 caches and a few labs (which are also caches). Only a few days as I am trying to save my annual leave for a trip to Seattle. Assuming that even ever happens! We mostly targeted GT caches and the occasional special. Which meant a lot of very inefficient driving (eg 20 km across Auckland for just one cache!). It also meant for some very long days

Nice night found on my 6 weeks long holiday. I asked my muggle partner to come with me - bad idea . Still complaining but finally we were both happy - me for whole small dark adventure, him because he didn't join me uselessly.

Our first nightcache of the trip. Was meant to have done a few by now but other caching commitments had gotten in the way. Made our way to the starting point and saw a number of reflections. Reading the previous logs, we knew these weren’t what we were looking for. Moved around a bit until we found a different sort of reflecting light and started on our way. We were definitely on the trail until it stopped. Was this the end or was there a gap in the trail? Some probing in a few directions weren’t yeilding anymore of the trail until we spotted something that was of interest and not long after we had found the cache and a joyous celebration was had by all!

Malinkaly and I planned a road trip to go to the MEGA but Covid has postponed the event again. We decided to continue on with our planned journey making adjustments as we go with the ever-changing travel restrictions.
Greetings from Dunedin!
Thanks for the cache, TGC4
#2594

I do enjoy night caches. But next time I should actually take a flashlight... (I had one but that was more a toy and cannot be counted) luckily Wilbywarrior had a great one. We found a trail relatively early on but then got stumped when it suddenly stopped! Thinking there might be some reflectors missing we roamed around for a good wee while before rerouting, starting again and then deciding to at least look for the cache. I don't know how but we found it! So following cachers, it's there, don't give up too quickly and just follow your geosenses.

TFTC TGC4

*** Out on our MEGA Roadtrip with Wilbywarrior. Who says this can only happen when the MEGA is actually held?! Greetings from Dunedin, caching friends
#348 ***

Found it but the clues where shiet,
Was a hard find as I think it has been moved or reflectors have been taken down.... either way it was awesome in the undergrowth of the mighty Redwoods

I lovely walk and the redwood forest. The cache was located very quickly.. Soon after we started we did see one muggle on a bike (he had a great head torch) and he just wanted to know if we were okay.

Jude_E, NosyNel and I are continuing on our figure of 8 tour of the North Island collecting the ‘Tour’ caches, plus others, plus seeing the scenery, plus having a good old time. TFTC.

Arrived from Napier today with Nosynel and Ethness. Our goal is to find all the TMGT caches in a big figure 8 across the centre of the North Island. Set off for this after 7pm when it was getting dark. Stumbled upon the cache really. Found a few reflectors then saw the cache as I was doing a torch sweep. Thanks for the mini adventure.
#6157

A very quick night cache. I am on a North Island Figure of Eight tour. For the first 4 days I spend time in the Bay of Plenty with my husband JDScout in Rotorua. Now I am on part two of the eight loop going over to New Plymouth. This part is being done with my good friends Ethness and Jude_E.
Thanks TGC4 for creating this hide. It was find for me.

======== NZ Mega 2021 ========
Planning for the NZ Mega 2021 event is well underway. It will be held in Auckland over Labour Weekend, October 2021

This cache should be titled “madness in the redwoods in the dark”.

There are so many reflective thongs here it’s outrageous!

We spent a ton of time going in circles trying to find our way.

Eventually I read previous logs which helped us find the “small head level reflectors”.

We followed these to a sudden stop. After wandering around a bit, we finally spotted a tree with many Vs snag the cache sitting in it.

If you get to the what you think is the end of the line, expand your search, the tree doesn’t have reflectors on it!

Thanks for the crazy adventure!!

Found it yesterday with cyclical caching my first night cache, fun one! Thanks

Found at 2034 after a slow start!
Parked amongst loads of campers and walked across to entry point to the amusement of campers we donned our head torches and walked in looking for markers but found none so resorted to reading the description to find we had Togo to coordinates before it started! Doh. On arrival we saw a huge reflector at ground level! We thought this was wrong and back tracked to look again and saw a little reflector at head height and set off towards it after a couple more we got stuck until eventually my superior light picked up another in the distance which Amanda could not see no matter what I did. After a few metres I then saw one closer! After that we saw loads of markers and then it all stopped! Looking around for three tags which we thought was the end we then spotted the cache. Not easy to know when you are at the end and so many other reflectors do confuse things somewhat. I signed the log and then I replaced the cache container as it was discovered. Always good to find a night cache having failed at a couple in Jersey/Guernsey last year.
Thanks for placing this cache and for the adventure we had this evening. A favourite point from me cause we actually found a night cache this year!!

This was planned as a Family fun activity for us while on holiday for a week plus I'm hoping to qualify for the 12-12-12 challenge near Rotorua.
we overshot the parking spot and went to Huka Falls instead. Found a cache there and then back down the road to this one. Hubby made us walk in the dark to the start point which was a big challenge for Soso. Go_Zz started with the torch for the first couple of cats eyes then hubby took over. Took a way point when we crossed the path. Carried on, then when hubby was scanning around for the next cats eye Go_Zz calls out "I found the cache!" and pulled it out of the v.
Hubby says "oh look at that spider" and a spider 1" without legs was right where she'd pulled the cache from. Boy did Go_Zz move and we had to pass her the log cos she wasn't coming any closer to sign it. After examining the contents of the cache, and wishing they had something to swap the Nemo torch for, we put it all back as found.
Dunno if there were any cats eyes on this tree or not, we never looked.
Then I looked up my way point to find the way back- well it was miles away. so then we discussed following the sound of cars back to the road vs heading back to the start point till we came to the path again. We did the later and found it really easy to get back out.
Tftc for a great night out and a FP from us. I'd love to set up a night cache at home somewhere as I don't believe we have one.

Found with Juliusfamily while on family holiday.
Mum really wanted us to do this cache. It's our first night cache and was lots of fun thanks to the hints in previous logs about which eyes to follow. I had the torch to start with but then Dad took it. I found the cache but then got a huge fright from the big spider so made Mum put the cache back. Getting out is easy if you remember where you've been. TFTC

Funnier and easier to find it at night but can be done on a cloudy day as well. Ignore the bottom reflectors....
It is a large V in tree (about 5 little trees on it).
It took us 3 or 4 visits to find it and understand what kind of reflectors to look at.

Deuxième visite et très bonne expérience, une torche nous semble obligatoire ,la forêt étant sombre, on peut y aller au crépuscule. La première fois nous avions suivi un peu tout et n'importe quoi en réflecteurs et autre catadioptres, et nous n'avions rien trouvé.
Chercher et suivre les petits réflecteurs blancs placés à 1,8m du sol environ.
1 point favori pour l'idée et l'endroit.
MPLC

Did our best, no luck

Found at 9:01 pm while on holiday up north.

I like doing night caches, so when I saw this was around I decided this was a must do while we stopped in Taupo for the night. Pulled up to the trailhead and after picking up the cache there, headed on down. Reached the start and located the first marker, taking note of Infoferret's log around other reflector types. Moved on and lost the trail a couple of times but managed to find it again. Eventually came to a stop and taking note of the hint looked at a certain object and surprised myself by finding the cache. Signed log and replaced, then looked about for evidence of the "three" but eventually concluded that it must mean something other than what I was expecting.

Anyway, from my map I could see the MTB trail not too far away so headed straight for it until I felt the ground a bit firmer underfoot, then made my way out. TFTC+FP

Found this one before going to sleep on the campground. I also lost the trail once, but found it again after awhile.
Tftc!

2 January 2019 21:53. Found. Eventually (and more by good luck than anything else). Parked in the appropriate place, and found the track in and the starting point no problem. Second reflective tag also fine, and then the fun started.....

Future searchers please note that there are now a large number of reflective markers at ground level, and a number of orange markers scattered throughout the forest, which can cause confusion. The tacks you are looking for are smaller, white and about head height.

We eventually found the trail again, and followed the markers until they stopped again. While casting the torch around to try and find the next stage, i spotted the location which turned out to be the three referred to, and then the cache. Thanks for a well stocked cache in excellent condition, and a lovely woodland to wander through.

What would be really helpful would have been some indication of how to easily return to the track out again, we made our way back to start point by heading back roughly the way we came, and heading uphill until we found what we hoped was the same track we came in on, and followed it back to the start point and then out.

A lovely spot for a stroll on our final night in Taupo. Tftc

with a little bit of free time we thought we would try our luck and see if we can do this in the late arvo, turns out its pretty dark in there so the reflectors worked well, we lost the markers after the 3rd one and spent a fair bit of time just looking, then bingo hit the path again, kaleb spotted the cache everything in good order, thanks for the placement I always enjoy the night caches even if they werent done in the dark + fav point

A bit confusing but nice night cache, that we managed to finally find with the help of a total of 6 flashlights. The kids loved walking in the dark forest trying out their new flashlights. Tftc and greetings from Finland.

I found this cache along with a small group of secondary school students (SJCgeocamp) who were finding Geocaches as part of their camp week. They visited Huka falls, Taupo, Napier, Hastings and Te Mata Peak over four days. We went swimming hiking, and biking and found a wide range of geocaches ranging from traditionals, puzzles, Earthcaches, gadget caches, and the boys favorites-night caches. My hope is that because of their experience they decide to continue Geocaching as a hobby in the future. Thank you to all the CO’s who placed and maintained all the geocaches we found and for bringing us to so many interesting spots.

This was a real adventure. We were not sure if we had got to the end, but once we couldn't see any more markers hunted around and found the cache as described in the hint. One of the highlights of the trip.

Took awhile but we found it.

Yay, Miss 7 found her first cache. Great fun. Thank you.

Tftc.

Tb in.

I dropped it into night cache

Arrived in Taupo this avo and on recommendation from fellow cachers targeted this cache
For just after sunset. Parked at the car park as WP'ed on the cache page and walked to the entrance of the track. Had a few torch issues but
Managed to find the first marker and from there we were on our way. Found the last marker and after confirming there were no further Markers we conducted a short search and found the cache. The next challenge was getting back to the lower road, but after some challenges and aimless wandering we made it! Success and the stars sure
Looked great tonight when we emerged from the forest. Awesome adventure, fav for sure. TFTC!

well......took us ages to find even the entrance to it....should have looked in the daylight. once we found the entrance we were away, i really liked the spot for this night trail and liked that it didnt just follow a track like others i have done. theres definatly not 3 markers at the end though we thought wed lost the trail and wandered further on to see if we could find anymore. after reading past logs we decided to search around the area where we found the last marker and cache was soon in hand. Tftc

Should of had a look where the forest entrance was in the daylight. Took a bit just to find that. After following the trail it just suddenly stopped with no indication of being the end. After 10 minutes looking for another marker we looked for the cache at the last one we found. Cache was found nearby. TFTC

Should of had a look where the forest entrance was in the daylight. Took a bit just to find that. After following the trail it just suddenly stopped with no indication of being the end. After 10 minutes looking for another marker we looked for the cache at the last one we found. Cache was found nearby. TFTC

Decided to do this night cache when in Taupo at night after doing the Great Lake Relay (running relay around Lake Taupo) and a boat cruise on the lake. Parked up at nearby camping area, found the entry to the walk and followed the eyes through the trees. We thought we had GZ slightly earlier than we actually had, but after following the path for a bit longer we found GZ and quickly found the cache. Cache in good condition, nice and dry inside despite the rain over the last 2 days. A favourite. TFTC

In town with georunnermatt for the Great Lakes Relay, we had to check out what caches we could try for on our way home. Having never done a proper night cache before (plenty of caching at night though!), this became a must do. It was very enjoyable following the eyes through the lovely forest. We thought we'd reached the end at one point but couldn't see anything then Matt spied some more eyes and we were off again. Cache was a simple find after that and we're glad the rain is holding off tftc! A fave from me

Found this yesterday whilst staying at the Free campsite across the road. It was literally like a festival with the amount of tents there were! Great little trail - longer than I expected but the first kind like this I've done. Loved it. Picked up 2 TBs to move on. tftc

Our second cache in New Zealand! We stayed for a few days at the campgroung right next to the cache. On our first evening we hopped over the street to look for the first one. It was nearly dark so we went further for the night cache.we found the beginning and followed the eyes. We reached the final location, but we didn't know it was the final. We looked for more eyes but coudn't find any. We went back to our tent. The next day we read a few logs and we knew thag we were at the right spot. So we returned and we found the cache exactly were we stopped yesterday.

Thank you so much for this great nightcache. Greetings from Switzerland, Team Fludia.

This is my third night cache. And I'm hooked on them. Love it. Last one I did was by myself in the Bush. Exciting stuff. Lol. Tonight I brought my daughter who was freaking the whole way. Lol. But calmed when we found the cache. Great size cache. Able to unload some of my bigger toys. Thanks for the entertainment. Tftc.

In taupo for the holidays and visited this cache tonight parked at the required place off we went torches in hand it's a busy place at this time of the year especially with campers across the road, I think there's a lot of other things happening in this area other than walking, mountain biking and of course geocaching, but we were here for the cache . Started looking for the eyes as soon as we entered the area wasn't long before the reflectors were spotted and off on a merry dance we went, soon had cache in hand ,log signed and replaced as found thanks for the placement and the smiley

Ooops, forgot to log this at the time so am doing it a few days later. I really enjoyed the cache until we got to what was the end as we couldn't see any more fire tacksafter the pen-ultimate one. There definitely were not three together. In fact I eventually found one lying on the ground then found the cache in the tree next to it. Then we made just about a beeline back to the track.

Cheers for the cache.

Strike 100. Purposely saved this couch for my 100th as I came looking for this during the day. It was a tedious task with no reward. Today I struck a plan to go searching on my way home after dark this time. And I was rewarded with my 100th geocache. Thank you for the find. Signed t and Bryce.

It was decided today that we'd do some night caching so after dinner, we headed to the parking coords armed with our headlamps. There was a lot of people camping at the parking area so we parked safely on the other side of the road alongside the trailhead. We donned our headlamps and off we went in search of the first fire tack.
A nice easy trail to follow and before long we realised we needed to hunt around for the cache. Cache didnt take too long to spot and then we followed our track log back to the parked car. Thanks for a fun cache to end our short holiday in Taupo

Cache # 3,402 - been looking forward to this one for a while, and set ut on our last night in Taupo to find it, along with Astro Hunter and Violet Butterfly. Fairly easy trail to follow, although the final took us by surprise. All good with the cache. TNLNSL. Easily found way back out. TFTC!

Found on a lovely stroll tonight with The Wandering Dragons and Astro Hunter. Thanks!

Swapped a trinket.

Cache # 1,209

A dark night tonight, and the lights easily found. Thanks.

Cache # 676

We had been at the NZ MEGA 2016 in Turangi, when talking with Skaga we all decided to head up here for some night caching.. and we weren't disappointed.

We had a little bit of trouble deciding which was the best way out.

TFTC.

After a discussion with Skaga earlier in the evening at the Mega Prize Giving about night caches we decided a road trip to Taupo to find this guy was in order - so off PhantasmNZ, Furbies, Lillianz, Skaga and I set on a little caching expedition.

Following the firetacks and finding the cache were all the easy bit, it was just getting out that we found pretty difficult! Thanks to the geocache at the entrance where the car was parked we knew what way we should be walking, but the thick line of blackberry bushes along the road made it difficult to actually get there... Eventually we decided on a route that looked like it had the least blackberry bushes and just went for it - and were pretty relieved to find the car at the end of it

Night caching around Taupo with the crew plus Skaga

So... we we re talking to Skaga after the Mega prizegiving about night caching, as she had been in auckland for our night caching event at the Auckland mega. - After plotting with her for a while about the next planned night cache event (coming soon - keep an eye out in Auckland...! ) the natural question came out - are there any night caches in the area. (ie Turangi)

Stink - the closest night cache was in Taupo - and it was already well after 10pm on an already long day. that said, it wouldn't be mega if we didn't do something silly (for the Akl mega, we decided, very late afternoon, to take the trip to Tauranga to turn a 10 cache types in a day) - so, in an adventure of a smaller magnitude, we hit the road with Skaga too to hit this cache.

Luckily we had read the page and knew to ignore the bicycle reflectors that were almost cause for confusion. i have to say the reflectors here worked AWESOME - some of the best and brightest I've seen and at least as bright as "real" 3D firetacks.

Biggest problem was getting out - you did an awesome job of getting us lost in the redwoods - but it would be MUCH better if you left a trail of (perhaps different colour) reflectors to get us back to the trailhead. Even with GPS this proved -trickey as our way was blocked by thick Blackberry bushes in a number of areas

TFTC!! - there should be way more of these - fave point from me

Found with Loz47, Lillianz and Furbies as part of the NZ Geocaching Adventure MEGA Weekend in Turangi 2016.

#2527 Out finding some caches in the dark with PhantasmNZ, Furbies, loz47 and lillianz. I love night caches so I jumped at the opportunity to collect this one with the group. Stepped into the woods and wandered along until we found the tacks. It was an easy trail to follow although it did come to an abrupt stop which took us by surprise. However, we then found the cache. The challenge was making our way back to the car. TFTC! A fun little adventure.

Very cool night cache. Feels a little bit like Blair Witch. A little more difficult to get out but managed to find a shortcut phew

Awesome cache! Watch out for the cycle reflectors! Thanks!

The things you see when you haven't got a gun! Three of us and 2 torches decided to do this one just on dark after our first big day at the Mega. We saw a huge rat within 5 mins of our trail and countless posuums everywhere. Just when I thought we were just going round in circles, there was the cache right in front of us. Thanks for a well lit path and planned night cache!

FW Pazzabella And Mi5Whanau and the possum audience, TFTC

Anyone heading down to the mega this weekend want to have a go at this one?

Great cache had fun with hubbie and miss 6 who said she is not scared of the dark anymore also found some glow worms which was a first for miss 6 thanks heaps for the cache a favourite for us aroha and happy caching

This was the last cache for The Three Amigos after our weekend away it was raining and cold when we did this cache but that didnt stop us our torches lit the way and we found the cache fairly quickly. However it took us a little to find our way out of the forest we eventually found the road and walked back down to the car.
signed the log T3A for Philip.Perry TnxPro and myself.
tftc

We had planned this trip from Tauranga to Napier area for weeks now, and this weekend was the time to get as many caches as we could find. We called ourselves "The Three Amigos" and logged as 'T3A' (and occasionally TA3 when Bruce wrote it - Duh).

As we were returning home, we thought we would detour off the bypass for a couple more quick searches.

We like night caches and had some brilliant torch power so this was one we had to do. It was bloody cold and wet, but this was our last cache for the weekend and we were determined to enjoy it.

The reflectors glowed brilliantly and we had no problem following the trail, even with my dodgy knee. After we made the find, we were like, "so how do we get back then?" I have a great sense of direction usually, but I was tired and became completely disorientated. I didnt even have my GPS with me and to make matters worse, there were so many other reflectors in this bush for the downhill bike tracks, that we couldnt find where to go. It would be very helpful to have a reverse trail to help find our way out. I would hate to meet a mountainbiker trashing their way down the track with their headlights on.

In the end, we fired up the compass on the cell phones and with the limited satellite reception, we followed the arrows in a direct line (bush bashing) our way back to the road and up to the car.

It was a fun night trail, but I can now understand how easily people can become disoriented in the bush, especially in the dark.

TFTC

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**Addicted to Geocaching? Log a WILL ATTEND at the [GC63PZN New Zealand Geocaching Adventure 2016](https://coord.info/GC63PZN) and help make it a MEGA event.**

We've had a Tauranga to Hawkes Bay trip planned for a couple of months now and this was our last stop on the way home. This was find number **102** on our trip and we were quite excited about this one after a few good night trails we'd done in Napier/Hastings. The trail was easy to follow and once the reflectors started we were away. I didn't feel the final was well marked and it was only because I saw the cache that I realised we'd reached the end. But the next step was the hardest - How do we get out? With tracks darting every which way and no obvious reflectors to guide us out, there was a little head scratching. There were ideas about the best plan to get out but Bruces phone had a signal and I figured if we'd walked up to get here - we'd just walk down to get out. The torches soon picked up some road reflectors and it was a short walk from there. TNXPro, DavidsonClan and myself have signed the logs T3A, an acronym from our messenger chat 'The 3 Amigos'. Cheers again TGC4.

**Please join us at the [New Zealand Geocaching Adventure 2016](http://www.nzgeocachingadventure.nz/) which is being held 21-24 October 2016 (Labour Weekend) in Turangi. Please log your attendance at [GC63PZN](https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC63PZN_new-zealand-geocaching-adventure-2016) to ensure this event achieves a [MEGA](https://support.groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=86) status. Can't wait to see everyone there!**

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**Early 2015 a group of Tauranga based cachers started a [BOP Geocaching Facebook Page](https://www.facebook.com/groups/GeocachingBOP/).
115 cachers currently make up this [Closed](https://www.facebook.com/help/220336891328465#What-are-the-privacy-options-for-groups) group where we organise various geocaching events and excursions as well as share information and friendly banter. Please check us out if you're interested.**

We decided to take our chance on this one late this afternoon. Armed with a couple of good torches we headed off and after a short distance we discovered the first clue. Locating each of the tags was no problem after that and the cache was soon discovered. They were certainly strong reflectors in place TFTC.

We were down in taupo for the long weekend with family, so we came and got our torches then set off into the bush to find this found this cache and took part of the non-geocaching family with us. Found with HeMaLuDy. TFTC

We initially tried this cache a couple of years ago as a night cache looked like fun. We had never heard of night caching before, and we didn't even get to the start point before turning back as we didn't have very good torches and the batteries on the phone were going flat, add this to a couple of children who were very tired and decided they didn't want to be in the bush in the dark and we decided to leave it for another day. Fast forward a couple of years, we were back in Taupo for the weekend and decided to give it another go. We were much better prepared, having done a few night caches now, and brought along a few muggle family members to join in the fun. The kids were a couple of years older now which also helped. We had lots of fun on the way to the cache, almost losing Poppa in a hefalump trap, and thankfully had a quick easy find when we got to GZ. We had to be careful on the way out as we spotted many fairy rings of mushrooms and did not want to spoil any fairy homes - we are not sure if they popped up because it was a full moon or we just missed spotting them on the way in as we were too busy looking for the reflective spots. Found with darthcacher1.

Found this cache together with flowersail on our New Zealand trip. Greetings from Germany!

I am travelling New Zealand with Ehtam and found this cache on the way. Thanks for showing us this location
flowersail

I like doing night caches during the day for a little extra challenge and as we were passing here about 4pm today I decided to stop and give it a go. The weather was partly cloudy and the light was fairly subdued amongst the redwoods. I used a super-powerful LED torch and had no problems at all, in fact I could at times see up to 4 reflectors lit up ahead of me. Really enjoyed the walk through the forest. I was a bit confused when I ran out of reflectors, I looked around for quite a bit before deciding to look at where the last reflector is and there was the cache! So obviously there are not three of them at GZ at present. Signed log, thanks for an enjoyable cache - gets a favourite point.

A bit of a last minute throw together caching mission today for a clean out run through Taupo/Turangi area with 11HPG11, Kiwis69, Kyb3r and myself. We thought we'd forgo our usual meticulous planning and just wing it for a change, though I couldn't help myself and I spent a few minutes working out a basic plan last night. With a 4am start this morning, we had a long but pretty successfull day, with only a handful of DNF's, though I think all but one GPS's had issues today (mine being pretty much useless) and achieving most of what we roughly set out to do and with the bonus of getting home before dark (just). We signed the logs with 11HK693R, a combination of our user names. A big thanks to all the CO's for placing all the hides.

This cache was the reason for the earlier start because as we couldn't hang around for night to fall that might we had to get here before the night had even ended!! As we neared Taupo we could see the sun rising in the distance and we were a little worried it'll be to light before we got to GZ, but we hoped that the tree cover would hold the darkness for a bit longer for us. Only just needed our torches as we headed off along the track to GZ and having just changed the batteries in the torch, it was bright enough to easily spot the first maker. We hurried past each reflector and onto the next hoping we'll get to the end before it got too light. Managed to get to the end and locate the cache just in time, for as we got back to the car the sun was well and truly up. Worth a fav point for the great adventure, plus these caches are always a bit of fun.

Off on a big mission to find all the caches from Taupo to Turangi with 11hpg11, kiwis69 and HKCB.

Originally planning to grab this cache under the cover of darkness, our driver was making good enough time to be able to do this one in the morning to start the day. The sun was rising quickly, but it was fantastic how dark this forest still was, but the birds were up and about. I've never heard them like that before!! These must have been the brightest waypoints on any night cache I've done. Made the find and decided to get half lost trying to get back to the track. I have the find recorded at 5:47am.

A bit of a spur of the moment caching mission today, I don't think any of us were fully prepared but that is sometimes the funnest way to go... apart from when you have various GPS issues... grrr.. Today we decided to tackle Taupo and Turangi area and try and clean up as many caches as we could before we had to be back home to our families. Our team today consisted of HKCB, Kyb3r, Kiwis69 and myself and we had a few different names through out the day, either HKPG693R or 11HK693R depending on how tired our brains were. An early start, left Hamilton at 4am to make the most of our 'day off'

This was one cache that was on our radar as a must do. Ideally we were hoping to be able to find it in the morning so we could head back to Hamilton at a decent hour. We knew we were going to be pushed for time (well pushed for darkness to be precise) and as we were travelling down we saw the sun starting to rise and I think we were all a little worried. We arrived, parked the car, grabbed the torches and set off as fast as possible. An amazing dawn chorus of birds made the trip into the Redwoods very special. We soon came to GZ and the firetacks were shining brightly and we were all happy! A wonderful night cache that is well constructed, not too difficult to follow and a nice cache to end it off with. Wonderful to find a night cache like this, that is obviously well maintained. Thanks for the cache and the whole night (early morning) experience.

Great fun!!
The real challenge was to find the way out of the wood!

There was a point where we couldn't find any more pins, looked and looked, and luckily we found the last pin that was laying on the floor... And there there was the box waiting for us!
Really lucky that we could found it

Tftc!
Greetings from Spain!

Out and about on another fun-filled mission with a bunch of Hamilton cachers to pick up as many Taupo caches as possible before our 6pm curfew. Today's caching crew included myself, HKCB, 11hpg11 and kyb3r. We were missing a couple of regulars from our team which was a shame, not least because it meant inventing a new caching name instead of our usual abbreviated caching combo; challenging when our vowel hasn't fronted up! Hence why the log was signed as a bit of a nonsensical mis-mash.

Our team caching forays tend to begin early but today was earlier than most (left Hamilton at 4am), specifically to reach this cache before dawn, with late-night caching being out of the question tonight. The sky was getting lighter on our approach and we were tensely counting down the last few kms to the starting point here, hoping that less light amidst the trees would mean it was dark enough to find the cache markers. Hopped out of the car as quick as possible with a huge audible sigh of relief from all of us when the torch light showed up the glint of the first marker. And then we were off!! No time to waste, with the awesome dawn chorus at full throttle and sunrise beckoning. Dashed hither & thither through the trees, torches glaring, shouting to each other as various team members spotted the next marker, lots of twists and turns, and finally at GZ, with a surprisingly quick find of a great cache. Found a path of sorts for our return trip and then straight-lined it for the last section. An amazing location & a great start to another fun-filled day - thanks for the cache placement here! A fav from me, TFTC

SO MUCH FUN! this is my first cache of this kind and was a great jaunt in the woods with some friends

This is the second one of this kind of cache for me, but the first in New Zealand (:

I really wanted to find another night cache like that, they are so much fun. This one certainly was. We were 4 geocachers, each from a different country (UK, Germany, NZ and Israel), and after a bit of wandering we got the cache. Stopped for gazing the stars on our way back. Such a lovely bright night.

Thank you so much for this fun cache!

While one part of our family / caching team is still in Germany, our daughter is "down under", at the moment in Taupo. Together wuth some friends she did this very special night cache and liked it very much! Thanks for the fine cache and the experience!!

TFTC #3388, Ebnater

TFTC caching with rustynz.

We waited until darkness before venturing out with our light-sabres. This must be one of my favourite night caches, many a time night caching I have stumbled, got hit by branches and taken out by pine cones, or the trails have had missing or faded fire tacks: not today!

With rebel98 we followed a mythical trail, weaving our way to the final. Thankfully I found the cache, the log was signed, smiles on faces, and then the realisation that we had to navigate back to the car in reverse

Thanks for this fun cache!

What a mission and going with it a adventure.
Parked too far away and since we don't know this area took a while to find the enterence, but once located followed the trail, was concerned that we picked wrong path, but after a while it worked out.
Jesserfly,kid 1/2 and myself stumbled though the night and followed the sparkles till we ended up going in circles.
We had gotten so caught up in finding sparklies, that we forgot we were looking for the hint item
Dropped off some trinkets and off on our return trip, gpsr finally ran out of power at this time, but had spare food for it so we got out ok.
Enjoyed immensely, will add fp once I reach our lodgings for tonight.
Cheers
~G

Stocked to tick this one off with a smiley genius idea as we did this one at 5am this morning pitch black. After a few slips and rain we had cache in hand and the eyes lead us through and out of the forest. Thank you!!

Night caches are so much fun and this one was just the same. Was just as much of a challenge to get to the start of the trail and out out again as it was completing the trail. Was very very dark in there and our torch was beginning to fade. A great experience and we appreciate all the effort in setting it up. Awesome cache that everyone should experience Thank you very much!

Another trip down to Taupo and the kids wanted to do this cache again, this time we had Charlie and Mrs ccrichie with us....a little under powered on the torch front but we managed to find it with minimal fuss.....kids disappointed to find, what was a nicely stocked cache, somewhat filled with "tat". We have decided to bring a load of swag with us next time we are down this way. More caches like this are needed! If only I could fave this again!

So much fun - team Cumberpatch took me for my first night mission and I loved it and happily didn't get lost TFTC

B&R out for a spot of night caching with nanonocturnal on a pleasant winter night. Great cache trail and fun for the kids. Added an Anzac commemorative coin and toy to the swag. Easily found the trail afterwards. Thanks for a great cache

Really scary... especially at full moon...

Every day we are traveling around is same but also different. Today we had again the pleasure to visit some very beautiful spots and were also able to find nearly placed geocaches. I thank every single owner for placing it and giving us with doing this an other good reason to come here.

In: TB and Favi

Mallorcatommy and I were travelling through the southern island of New Zealand. What an amazing, breath-taking landscape! On our way we did some nice walks, enjoyed ourselves and found great geocaches. Thanks to all owners for nice hiding spots... We wouldn't have been to a few places without these little boxes!


Thank you!

easy find close to road thx for the cache

Together with Silli1310 I travelled around the world for one year. Of course we were in New Zealand during this trip. Unfortunately we had only two months time, which is definitely too short for New Zealand. Because we stayed overnight nearby we had the possibility to leave after dinner for this little night cache. It was nice and beside the can we also found some glow worms. Thanks a lot for the cache.

On our [trip around the world](http://www.hoppundweg.piekar.de/) we came to New Zealand as well. We first visited the south Island, then we came to the north island. We searched many caches and found almost every cache we searched for . Thanks to all the owners of these caches. Now, 2 years later, we recognized, we will never be able to log every cache seperately... So: Sorry for this standard logtext and thanks for one of the caches, which accompanied us on our journey.
We stayed nearby over night, so it was possible to search this little night cache... thanks!

Nice little night cache. A shame that there are not many of this kind around. We really enjoyed our little evening walk in the forrest. The glowing eyes were plentiful and easy to see, and the cache was quickly found. The log book was a bit damp, but otherwise the cache is in good shape.
Mums (treat): Chocolate
T4T$
Linea and Hermann from Denmark

trip with a campervan in the north and south island for one month.
very good time and a lot of nice cache's!!
thanks

#1035

Fantastic!

There's a challenge cache very close to my house which requires that I complete 10 night caches before finding it. This is my seventh.

I was very pleased to spot this one as I made my way from Wellington to Rotorua today, although by the time I arrived at GZ it was only 6.45pm. I decided to give it a crack anyway, as I assumed it would be darkish under the tree cover.

I was right, although finding the fourth reflective tack took me 5 minutes to spot, as the sun was beaming directly onto the tree! Otherwise the tacks were surprisingly easy to spot.

I loved it! Thank you for helping me move towards 10 night caches! TFTC

9.30pm - Easy walk in dark to start of track, soon spotted the shining eyes. No problems to find cache but thought we would take the the direct route back to road. This was wrong but we got there in the end. Great finish to a great day of caching. SLTFTC

On a quest with Gap (of Fap and Gap) to find and log three Earthcaches to complete a GIO License Challenge, and to pick up as many caches along the way. Today, we headed south to Turangi and Tongariro National Park...

After a recent, successful night caching adventure, we decided that this one would keep the buzz alive. It was fully dark when we arrived, and a short walk was required to get things started. Right away, we found the sizeable markers. These were easy to spot, even with my poor eyesight. We took a lot of twists and turns to arrive at the final which was a bit disorienting... But we found the cache. We had no idea how to backtrack the way we'd come, so we took a guess... I learnt that the best way to manoeuvre was by lifting my feet high with each step rather than dragging them. That was fun... TFTP and TFTC.

Nice evening for this adventure. Had cycled here last year and tried to do this cache another time but the wind and rain put us off . One false start getting to the park ing point then it all fell in to place. Big torch was soon spotting the way. Great place for a night cache . Thanks for putting this together.

Was much easier than I thought. But I like night caches and this was a pleasant walk! Thank you for making this night cache. Greetings from a Finnish cacher. TFTC

Good fun .. Could do more of these
Go team saunders