Now, that was unexpected - Belmont Hills Lower Hutt, North Island, New Zealand
By CaligulaNZ on 26-Dec-12. Waypoint GC439DF

I am archiving this cache since there's been no response from nor action by the cache owner within the time frame requested in a prior reviewer note.

Hi CaligulaNZThis geocache was brought to my attention as being in need of an owner maintenance visit and after my previous reviewer note, there has been no owner response. The cache owner needs to check on this cache ASAP and either replace it or archive it, after picking up any geo-litter. See the [maintenance section of the Geocache Listing Requirements/Guidelines](http://www.geocaching.com/about/guidelines.aspx#listingmaintenance).I've added this cache to my watchlist, and I will check back in four weeks to be sure that the maintenance has been done. In the meantime, I have temporarily disabled this listing. When the maintenance is completed, the owner can enable the listing by clicking on the link below the cache name to return it to active status.Whatever your intentions, please **post a note** here on the cache page (not email) to let us know that you are still active and maintaining the cache. If a month passes without seeing a response, then I'll assume that this listing should be archived.Please note, that if a cache is archived due to lack of owner maintenance, the cache is unable to be unarchived.RegardsTheCoddiwompler

Could you check on this one please?

DNF

Having found this one previously we checked it out on a ride up to the trig and couldn't find it.

To be honest it was pretty hard to find the first time but this time we knew the container we were looking for but despite a thorough search we couldn't find it.

Today i needed four finds, one of which should be a size "other", so TwigNZ and I headed up here. It was a nice walk to the top with some great views, well worth the climb.

But alas my objective to find a size Other was a fail and we could not find this cache. I strongly suspect that it is missing.

Talking to a mate (the Seagnoid) a few days ago, and he tells me that he 's looking to head up to Belmont Trig on Thursday (today). Great, that sounds worthwhile, can I come along?

And so a plan was hatched to head over to the track after work, which would also give me a chance to have another crack at a nearby cache that I had previously DNF'd.

It's a bit of a slog to get to the Trig, but not majorly. I'm used to walking up Kohitere Trig near Levin which is not dis-similar to this climb. But it's always good to break up the climb a bit, especially if you can get another cache.

Sadly, this was about 20+ minutes of frustrating break for us as we both thoroughly searched GZ without luck. It's hard to be 100% sure that the cache isn't here, given the supposed tricky nature of the hide, but I would say it's likely not there. Not sure when I may have another reason to come up here, but we shall see.

Stopped by for a look on my anticlockwise Belmont Trig loop walk from Stratton St via Horokiwi Bridleway etc. Spent way to long looking without result. The area was already looking well searched when I arrived, but I couldn't turn anything up either.
I may have missed a trick here, but I suspect a CO visit to check would be best.

Really disappointed I couldn’t find this/ especially after the comments of easy finds. Was interested in finding this cool cache! Will keep an eye on this one but for now, after spending way too long here, I’d better make tracks back down Takapu before they send a search party out for me!

GZ easy to locate. Cache not so easy. Tricky fella deserves a FP

Thanks for another smilie. All good at GZ.

Wasn't quite what I was expecting and it took me a little longer than it should have (wearing dark sunglasses helped camouflage the cache!) but still a quick easy find in a nice spot, enjoyed the short break on my way up to the trig, TFTC

Sneaky hide that took way longer than it should of! TFTC

Unfortunately I had flat batteries in my GPS but I could remember this unusual tree stump from a walk up to the trig that I did about 15-20 years back. Decided to go for a wander down from the trig and see if I could still find it. When I was about to give up as I thought I was dropping to low, there it was. Took a good look to find the cache and had a little trouble to get the log out of container. I must carry some tweezers for these small containers. Signed the log and set off back up to the trig and home. TFTC

I had scouted the location of this on the way up and worked out a way to approach it when I came back down. A bit of 'cross' country to make my way through the wet grass, but when I reached GZ it was a quick find of the unexpected. Signed and replaced, then headed back down along a trail to get back onto the track. TFTC

Now that was unexpected. Nice hide. Found on the way back down from the Trig. Thanks for the cache.

A nice morning to go for a walk before the day got too hot. On arrival at the Stratton St carpark I noticed that agcnz had just arrived as well in order to claim some FTF's available on the track. We decided to join forces so we could chat on the walk. I noticed the cache hint up the hill and clambered up. Could not locate any of the usual containers one encounters but after straining my eyes saw something unusual. Nice one. Everything in order. TFTC [Find # 4052]

Thanks to the photo it was pretty clear where I needed to go but a bit of exploration was required to figure out how to get there. A faint geotrail suggests my selected route is the one chosen by others too. Unsure what I was looking for I just started scanning until, well, something unexpected was spotted. A big thanks to Jordanz for refreshing the log which now has lots of space and is in pristine condition. Thanks, CaligulaNZ, for a great cache.

What better thing to do during a gale force Northerly than a Belmont Trig mountainbike ride? Could hardly stand up at GZ and at one stage my backback got lifted and blown about 30 metres away by the wind.

Only a couple of spaces left in the logbook so replaced it to save the cache owner having to come all the way up just to do so.

Great spot and container so gets a FP from us.

No it was not what I expected Was looking for the wrong thing and missed it first time round And then my fingers were too cold to remove the cap but managed in the end TFTC

Very cool cache, certainly caught us by surprise!

All in good condition here, though there aren't many spaces left in the logbook. Will need a replacement in due course. Thanks and have a favourite point!

Took a couple of circuits before I spotted it!
Nice hide.

Found with quinella this afternoon. Lucky our company had done this one already

A nice day for a late afternoon walk. My main objective was the Welly Climbs cache, but this was up this way as well. It certainly lived up to its name, I did a small double take when I uncovered the container, but soon recovered. I set aside an hour and a half for the walk, but I was up and back in just on 55 minutes, so got home for a cold one a little soon than I expected. Cheers and TFTC

Find #2674. Out for a hike to Belmont Trig, a quick 3 and half hour return journey with only two caches to find. Great spot, neat piece of old tree and a sneaky little hide. SL TFTC

First part of hint very cool, 2nd part

Funky conceal! Didn't come prepared with a pen.

Out with ZathrasH and the unruly lot for an evening walk up the top. Not managed to gt this one on previous trips with the unruly lot and CO so glad to finally get it signed. TFTF. Was a bit strange to find one of those there.

Found on walk with an unruly mob the CO knows well. Tftc

A VERY windy walk up the hill before a BBQ at the Woolshed.
A bit put off by the big black beetles scurrying out of the dead wood but great to find the cache.
Rather risky to open the log without it flying off in the wind.
The log book will probably be used up this summer, about 6 more spaces.
TFTC TNLN

TFTC. Spotted this one out of the corner of my eye as I made my way up to the trig, so decided to try for this on the way back down. I was intrigued by the comments in some of the logs, so was unsure what to expect...very neat young Caligula, have a FP!

#1235. The last cache of the day. Just been up to Belmont Trig and heading back to the car. I saw the X on the way up and decided it would be easier to reach going downhill across the paddocks. Hadn't read up anything about this cache before I arrived so was expecting something a bit different. After lifting a few objects I spotted something familiar and a quick poke later, I had the cache in hand. Well I have processed these types of caches before but not normally in the back country. Luckily I managed to get it out and signed without needing any tools. Photographed for the records and returned as found. The rest of the family decided to come over the GZ as well to check this one out. Then it was back downhill to the car and home for dinner. TFTC

Was up this way placing a cache and thought it rude not to find this one. Great hide, TFTC

As I made my way to and from the Belmont Trip cache I visited here.
Clambered up from the roadway and soon found the unexpected.
All in order, log signed, cache safely re-hidden, just as found.
Enjoyed my experience walking the hills in this area today. Thanks for bringing me here with the added incentive of a cache find. Good one.
TFTC found with team cacher Sweet P too
The Turtle strikes again!

Cache # 2,580 - my normal Friday morning walking time was rewarded this morning with no rain and moderate temperatures - a bonus for July! Thought I would get both caches up this way before work, but by the time I reached here I knew I would have to turn back. Quite the climb from Stratton Street - about 280 metres up. At least the path was clear, and despite the warning signs at the beginning that some trails were closed because of the flooding in May, there were no issues on this trail itself.

No view for me at the GZ, as the morning clouds were still settled on top of the mountain. Took a thorough search through the area before spotting the well camoflauged container. Signed the log, contemplated leaving a trackable and decided none of mine suited the area, then replaced cache. Thanks for the exercise (4.5 Km round trip) and the cache!

#6707. Started from Stratton Street for a good walk up Belmont Regional Park. It was sunny with a little frost down in the valley. The tracks were all quiet this morning. Great views at GZ. Found after a short search. The cache was in excellent condition, all nice and dry. Took nothing, left nothing, signed log. Thanks for the cache.

Looked for a long time for this without success. Hasn't been found since the bug storm so it is possible it was lost then.

On the way back I came back for a second look. Doh. Quickly found second time around.

As soon as I saw the pic I knew where this was. I have admired this piece of sculpture your years as I ran up and down from the trig. Great cache, compliments to CaligulaNZ, it gave me a chuckle as I retrieved it I must say. It took me longer to put the log back in the container (with the gale and all) than it did to run back down again! All tucked away out of the weather again though. I was the first cacher on the second side of the log so there's plenty of space on there yet. TFTC!

Decided it was a nice enough day to head for the hills with 1Bumblebee.
Had never been up here before.
Took the short step way up, then figured we could walk out to Cornish St and get picked up there.
Cool cache, 1Bumblebee voted a favourite for it.
TFTC

must have walked passed this one dammit and I was not prepared to go back for it after 40m unfortunately but I will come back another time my poor legs are screaming at me by this stage and I can still see how far to the top haha just keep walking just keep walking!

Found it this time. Last time it was missing.

For the first time for a long while, a week arrived where I didn't need to find any caches to keep alive any of the various challenges I have on the go. Therefore, I looked for one that needed a decent hike, knowing that it wouldn't matter if I came away with a DNF. This one fitted the bill nicely; I am not sure why it has taken me this long to get around to it. There was talk of thunderstorms and hail in the weather forecast but, when knock off time arrived, it was still fine so I decided to stick with Plan A.

I started out at the Oakleigh Street entrance having had approached the trig from different entrance points in the past; I was astounded to see it was 2009 when I found the nearby cache. The walk was most enjoyable in warm conditions and I was rewarded with great views at Ground Zero. I didn't find the cache until I had a second look in a place glanced at earlier. TFTC - easily a favourite.

Found on the run back down the hill. I had a similar container in Dunedin and it was a delight to find another.

TFTC!

awesome spot to have a seat and contemplate the universe! managed to carefully prize the log from the cache guardian tftc

Cool little cache and a great afternoon in Belmont today.

Went way past on the way up and had to backtrack to get it . Gave me a bit of a fright! I smudged my log in the wet but got a photo. Thanks

Beaut day for it

Beaut day for it

Nice and calm on the side of the hill this morning, and much warmer than down in the Korokoro Stream.

Thought I was muggled while extracting the log, but the muggle was firmly focused on the ground just in front of his feet as he slogged his way up the hill.

Gathered this one while heading up to the Trig. Unique cache container which caused me to laugh. Well worth a favourite - TFTC !

A very ingenious cache, and definitely unexpected! Excellent. Up here with SGKahu.

Awesome cache - on my favourites ever - made me laugh
Thanks

Fine location, innovative cache - favourite. All good. Tftc.

Liked the very appropriate hide for the cache. tftc

Cache definitely there and I would think it would be a bit of a squeeze to include a tradable. Nicely done.

772 Third cache for our scout day tramp of the Puke Ariki track. TFTC

found something (tradeable?) but not a cache? Will try again some other time

Back in action!

Another lovely day up here this morning!

From the "tradeable" type itmes left at GZ i can only surmise that someone decided the cache container was fair game and a swappable itself.

For future finders ... PLEASE DON'T REMOVE THE CACHE CONTAINER!

No cache here.

No luck for me here today.

Wow , doesn't time fly.

A few issues have prevented me from getting back to GZ yet, including track closures, weather and ill-health.
Aiming to get up there in the very near future , now that new cache container has been obtained.

Disabled until i can get up to check and/or replace.

As per previous searches - found the dead bird, poo and a few treasures but no cache!

After correspondence with one of the recent DNF-ers sounds like i need to go check the cache out. For the moment i won't disable it, but be aware it may be missing in action. Will try to get up the hill in the very near future.
CaligulaNZ

Found a couple of small plastic figures on the ground which I assume came from the cache, also found a dead bird and some possum poo, but sadly couldn't find any cache here today.

No luck with this one today. Pretty sure found the right spot and something which looked more like a trade able item. Maybe next time. Sherlock Hood.

A quick and interesting find, TFTC

Found on a loop walk via Belmont Trig, on a hot and only slightly windy day. Now what silly person left their writing instrument in the car?! Couldn't sign the log but took a photo of the cache for the CO in case they want proof. I won't put it up here for obvious reasons. A lovely little cache and worth a favourite TFTC

With three new unfound caches in the area, it was worth coming here for a walk this morning on a perfect Wellington day. This was the first time I had done the loop walk and I was surprised just how enjoyable it was, I started at Oakleigh Street, went to the Korokoro dam, then on to Baked Beans Bend, and finally to the Belmont Trig before completing the loop back to the start. The cache was a quick find and yes it was definitely unexpected! Nice hide. Signed log, TFTC!

Cute! Good views today for 2TF. I guess you can't have both views and FTF. The pictures don't do justice to the steepness of the terrain. TFTC.

FTF 0755 hrs . It was a wet and slippery ride/push up from Stratten St, not helped by a lack of fitness and having left my bike shoes at home. No problems with finding gz as the log in the pictures is quite prominent and after a bit of a stroll through the wet grass (just to ensure that my shoes and socks were soaked) the container was in hand. A nice spot but the views were non existent this morning. TFTC

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