Large Matai (West Coast) Mokihinui, South Island, New Zealand
By hazedarus on 21-Jan-13. Waypoint GC44X4K

Significant roadworks here. I'm not sure the sign & track are accessible at the moment.

There two or three perfect places where to hide cache but nothing inside. The tree is magnificent. Thanks for showing it.

After parking the car correctly we made our way through the bush over the slippery stones and soil. Found it at the big giant. Not as big as a seqouia but very beautiful. Tftc!

Found with Halibr, loved this one! Amazing huge matai tree, and a great break from the winding road. Tftc!

Spending the morning ticking off a few p and g's north of westport..
Thought this was going to be straight forward...but no such luck...spent yesterday cutting supple Jack for work and wish I'd brought my loppers today to clear a path around the tree..will keep an eye on this..

FITW Harisree

In this area for work.

Grabbing few while in this area

TFTC

FITW Albijos

Yet another work abd geocaching day trip for us. Cache was easily found. What a beautiful tree. Thank you very much for bringing us here by placing this cache. TFTC

That's one big tree. Thankfully found it without any help as we had no reception. TFTC 9 May 2022 842

On the drive north we decided to stop and grab this one on the way. A nice short walk and a quick find. My partner spotted a Tui which we havn't seen in ages. Thanks for the cache.

Great area to visit. TFTC

Found it!

Amazing tree & cute bush walk

TFTC
Charlotte & Jordy

Wow! This is awesome and worth stopping to visit. That Rata tree is almost eating the poor Matai! He won't be able to grow out, only up. TFTC and making me stop here.

Day 12 of three weeks winter motorhoming in the upper half of the South Island. Drove from overnight stop at Mokihinui Beach to Karamea and the start of the Heaphy Track today, before returning to last night’s spot again. Picked up a few caches along the way. Short walk to this big specimen! A reasonably quick find. #4143. TFTC.

TFTC wow what a great old tree looking up makes you feel so small

Loved this cache - mighty bush and even mightier tree. We even did it in the rain, so thank goodness it was a quick find! Earns a fave from us. Cache is all good. TFTC

Council lady told us about this tree when we were in Hector. Found the tree and cache. TFTC

Found it thanks

Thanks hazedarus for placing this cache

It was awesome!!

And a friendly weka accompanied us too!!!

Weren't looking for this but found when visiting this amazing collection of plants. Didn't sign

We weren't looking for this but found when visiting this amazing collection of plants. Didn't sign.

Wow! A fantastically majestic tree. And a magical spot. Managed to keep my feet dry at the creek crossings on the short walk up the hill, always a plus.

Wow!
That is worth taking a few minutes walk up the track.
Very friendly wekas.

That is a very large tree. First find for the day. Thanks for making me stop here.

We're down to Level 2 so we're away again. Good luck.

To take away the temptation this cache is disabled for the duration of New Zealand being under COVID-19 Alert Level 4.

The rules are:
STAY HOME
Act as if you have COVID-19.
This will save lives!

Thank you.

A fabulous walk up to the large Maria tree, found the cache easily, Re-hid it well. We saw a lovely little fantail bird here that was very friendly. TFTC

Round and round I went, up and down but no luck. Not an auspicious start to the day. Cheers

Not a good start to our adventure. Had a magic day up from Carters Beach, walked to the Big Matai, lunch at the pub at Little Wanganui, Swimming and Fishing in the river including Miss 6 and her first fish, then a walk in to Lake Hanlon before heading back to the bach. Thanks to all CO's for the effort to place and maintain the caches.

Another great spot we would have never seen, without a Geocache there. Fast found. TFTC

Enjoying a break to stretch the legs.

On the way back south, a few stops at interesting places. This matai is in the guidebooks. Not a groomed track, which is a bit of a shock after the DoC motorways we've been on lately. Rewarded with a matai and a rata. And a classic cache of course.

Easy find after scrambling over the track.

Headed up the short track and soon sighted the massive specimen. I went one way round the tree and ricardinho.nz pounced for a Q E F. T F T C hazedarus, this cache brings you level with holymu on my finds of yours.

Onto the next part of the trip, we headed around the local-ish area in the van and cached out where we could without heading too far afield. Some more good caches and some more good sights that were seen.

This weekends activities was a treat. A weekend trip across to the West Coast and a double dip at two tracks over that way. Day 1 was to be Charming Creek out of Hector and up to Seddonville with a van collecting us from the track end. Day 2 was to be a dabble at the end of the Old Ghost Road which thus far I'd only glanced longingly at, following a 'did not happen' organised trip which was switched off late into the planning.
We set off from a sulky grey Blenheim and as we headed through the Buller River area the weather steadily improved until arriving at Westport the sun blazed it's very best. Along for the trip were a few from Base, and Ricardinho who had not been out this way before.
We were onto the track just after 1230 and came off the top end around 3 hours later. A gently rising and well formed tracks with great views, historical vale and information as well as renovated relics, discarded relics, and 23 caches. We only DNFd the one which is almost certainly missing and grabbed caches from a variety of COs. Awesome trip and I would say the best short walk I've done in NZ.
We followed all this activity up with a later trip out in the van into the surrounding area and grabbed a few more for a decent haul of 34 for the day. Good for the numbers and good for the diversity and enjoyment, as well as a 10KM plus walk.

We decided on a few up this road as well. Not enough rime to get to Karamea and back of course, but still good to claim a few.
An easy find here, we are surprised another cacher we know logged a DNF. Impressive specimen, thanks for showing us this tree Hazedarus.

I got the invite from Capperz to go for a tramp this weekend with a few other keen souls from his work’s outdoor adventure group.
The target area was the Charming Creek walkway on day one, while on the second day we planned a taster of a few hours on the Old Ghost Road. Good news for me as I have not been up here before, so it was all new unexplored territory.
We had decent digs in Seddonville on the Saturday night as well so made use of the this and the van to get a few others in this area and nearby Mokihinui.
We’d kept an eye on the weather forecasts, but in the end it worked out pretty well. Saturday was stunning, and Charming Creek was a picture. I cannot recommend this walk enough - it is an easy gradient, has great views and history dotted along it and is well maintained.
Sunday morning dawned wet - no problem for us, but not so great for some of the others camping down the road. However, once on the OGR it had cleared up, and by the time we did our out-and-back it was quite warm. Back in the van and back to base by 5 ish.
All up a fun trip, and thanks again to the COs for bringing us here.

Tyfc ,a great day out with the sisters ,thought we heard a kea while looking for this one.

Great find . Thank you for the cache.

Awesome find! Energy was unreal! Nice way to spend the afternoon with the family

Stunning! tftc ️

During our New Zealand vaccation we visited lots of great places. This was one of it. We enjoyed the Large Matai very much.
Thank you for showing.
çedrus and sternschnupperThis was qiet an incrediblr tree

Having walked the Charming Creek railway and Oparara Valley, Taybeedragon and I are on day three of our four-day trip to the northern West Coast. Today, the Oparara Arches.

At one point i thought I had the wrong tree. The cache description says large matai embraced with rata, but while we found a large matai, there is no rata anywhere here. This tree is covered in kiekie, though, lots of it, but kiekie doesn't look anything like rata (except maybe the stems). So after spending ages not finding the cache I spent a bit of time looking for more big matai. none. Has to be this tree.
We came back and had another look on the way home tonight, by torchlight. Didn't find anything then too. Found a couple of reall good hiding places, but as I wasn't exactly sure I did not put in a replacement cache.

What a magnificent tree

A nice and quick find today. How did I miss this one the last time was here? Cheers.

Today was spent travelling from Reefton to Karamea. A really nice day of caching, nice weather and a few walks.

Thanks to all the CO's for placing and maintaining these caches. Cheers.

Found it without searching for *lol* I saw the stones and thought, that looks like a Geocache, and so it was

Enjoyed the chance to stretch the legs. Went round the back, wife found it in the front. #1931

Parked up and strolled up the track to find this impressive tree. The cache was a quick find on route back to Punakaiki. Signing logs with our names or initials depending on space. Out caching with Will of the Wisp on our “round the world in 80 days” trip to celebrate retirement. Greetings from England, TFTC.

17:05
FITW GreenMenace
Similar to some others we too went to the wrong tree first. Although the GPS insisted that the cache is some 20m further I wrote that off to the dense bush and hills around us and we started searching around the impressive tree that's closer to the road. After reading the comments I started to suspect that there must be another one. We found the right track and soon enough - wow! This must be the right one! And the coords were spot on on zero now too.
First time I've seen this enormous Matai-Rata duo.

TFTC!
#5783

After parking the snail shell up in Karamea this morning I decided on a little jaunt back down the road to the Bluffs signing off a few caches.

A very big matai being hugged by a very big rata.

Cheers for the cache.

Ground was very wet and slippery and I spent so much time making sure I didn't slip over I completely forgot to look at the tree. tftc

#15036. It was well worth stopping to have a look at this impressive tree. It proved surprisingly hard to spot until we were within a few metres. TFTC.

Found with StreetWalker on our week long post Christmas trip to Reefton and the West Coast. Day 3: Reefton to Karamea.
There are so many magnificent trees in this area, and many were in flower from the rata too, so a lovely sight. We first thought the tree in question was the one by the road (it was a super specimen as well) but the GPSr took us further into the bush. It wasn't until we were right up close that we spotted the "large matai". She's a beauty! Cache was in the first place we looked (the co-ords were spot on) but we had only moved one stone so didn't see it [:0]. It was only when SW had one last look that he realised there was another stone and there was the cache.
Well worth the stop and scramble - and lovely and cool in the shade too. Thanks for bringing me here, hazedarus, and TFTC.

Fooled like many initially going to wrong tree.

Easy park, walk and grab.

A huge tree well worth visiting .

There is no way anymore to the cache, only through the bush but then a quick find TFTC

I stupidly allowed myself to be convinced that where I wanted to head was a stream bed - not sure why because I don't usually listen. As a result we got up close and personal with the large tree by the road even though the GPS was yelling out to go further. Eventually I followed that right up to the magnificent Matai for an easy find and followed the track back to the road. Funnily enough that was exactly where I had wanted to head in the first place! Signed the log and got a great view of the tree with a bit of adventure thrown in - you can't beat that. TFTC #9647

Love this tree, even took my 77year old mum up for a look at this, awesome! T4TC

Made the mistake of looking at the really big tree beside the road for a while. That seemed just as big at the big one. Nice bush. A weka and robin turned up after we found the cache. Tftc

We remember the first day we met the CO and his discussion about the caches he hoped to set in this area. It has taken us far too long to get here but we are overnighting in Karamea and found a few caches on the way. It was drizzly, the track was a stream at first and then had trees across it - but it was only 40m and the tree was worth every metre to see.
Thanks and a favourite point for the extra reason to stop on a day we may have bypassed this.

I was wondering why a tree would be sign posted. The we got to GZ and I realized why. This thing is an ecosystem in itself!! Truly amazing to look up at. Thanks for making us stop here, TFTC!

Found cache
Didn't have pen so have attached photo as prof
Pretty impressive giant!

Thought we would make a stop as we climbed the hill to have a look here. Awesome Matai tree. TFTC!!!

Wow that is a good sized tree. Quick find thanks hazedarus

#4434

What a huge one of its kind.
Thank you for the cache.

I was fortunate enough to be able to squeeze an 11 day holiday out of two leave days!! I headed out west to find some caches, see some sights, and relax before the madness of the semester hits. The weather was unbelievably good, only a bit of a storm over Arthur's Pass on the first day, otherwise hot and sunny. I found a great variety of caches, drive by's, walks, hikes, even a power trail. Thank you to all the CO's for their great hides!!!
I am glad there was a cache, otherwise I may not even have noticed the sign!

Quick find Nice place tftc

What a beauty tftc

What a wonderful specimen of the matai. We were also absolutely fascinated by the epiphytes almost strangling its host. Thanks so much for making sure we stopped to see this tree.

Very impressive and that is the main reason for Geocaching: You stop and enjoy interesting places. Quick find without GPS, TFTC

Cache check. All good.

An impressive tree, well worth the short walk in to see it.

TFTC

A nice little walk from the road definitely wouldn't have stopped here if it wasn't for a cache. Finding some caches with billiehenny around Karamea before heading back to Christchurch later in the day. TFTC

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Magnificent tree TFTC

... good hide! Thanks for the fun!

more of a challenge than anticipated , but got there....what a tree

No luck today. Had a quick look in the rain. Gave up. Next time.......

First poke with my walking stick and there it was. Walk worth the effort even in the rain. Tftc

Thanks for the cache. It was nice place to visit.

Took a bit longer to find this one, tree very unique with all of the extra vines etc growing up the trunk. TFTC

Awsome tree with some interesting birds. Would have never stopped without the cache. Thank you for leading us here!

Tftc!

been here before caching days nice to have a re vist I'm sure its got bigger too

Found on way up the coast. Have been following biggles all day

Off and away on a drive to Karamea and beyond, we stopped to find a few caches along the way. Stopped across the road and the whole Biggles crew went for a walk to see the tree. Another good spot for photo ops and a curious robin checked us out too. A quick find for the cache and then it was back to the car. TFTC, Biggles.

thanks for showing us.

TFTC...awesome tree. Thanks!

I enjoyed this one, and it's a really impressive tree - the rata roots are incredible! Missed the cache on the first pass, found it a bit later after having gone around a couple of times. It was a little higher up than I had been expecting. Signed log, TFTC

Great old Matai. TFTC

Third find of the day. Getting some caching done before the forecast heavy rain hits. TFTC

Nice hide. Glad we could nail to find on the way back to westport. TFTC

Another great old tree. Good to see a cache near here. Thanks hazedarus for placing this cache.

#6946

Found on a road trip with Kiwi Explorer.

One on the way home.

Spot on coords. Glad it has been fine weather lately.

Coordinates changed from:
S 41° 31.641 E 172° 01.317

Coordinates changed to:
S 41° 31.674 E 172° 01.327

Distance from original: 205.8 feet or 62.7 meters.

It looks like W.E.K.A. came up with far more accurate coords than I managed to. Many thanks W.E.K.A. for posting these.

After meeting drawp on the Fenian Track yesterday, we established that the coordinates are over 60 metres out, and the really big matai is further in from the road than we went. It sounds as if on our first visit, we searched the same trees as gracie7 + Mum did, deterred from going further from the road because we were getting further from the coordinates. We also looked at the photo of the tree. So today it was a fairly quick find, although it was certainly over 60 metres from the published coordinates. Our coordinates were S41 31.674 E172 01.327. TFTC

Lovely. missed cache 1st pass, but got it next time round. thanks

Had a spot of bother nailing this one down as the published coords were about 60m away from the Big Matai. Persisted at the obvious location and eventually located the cache. TFTC

Found with Drawp. Co-ords had us on the road, figured something wasnt right here.
Certainly a grand old tree.
TFTC

We located the large matai, and searched around it for some time, although the (doubtful?) coordinates were over 40 metres away, We tried to get to the coordinates but didn’t succeed, and as it wasn't clear what the hint referred to, we gave up on this cache.

Logging for the record now the FTF has been claimed. I was there when the cache was placed.