The Giant Counting Cache? (Waikato) Piopio, North Island, New Zealand
By Jambocacher on 22-May-13. Waypoint GC4CNCP

Day 45 of our Enzed adventures with Robmc and today there was a parting of the party as some did the Ruakuri tour (1 1/2hours) and some did the Black Abyss (5 hours) so then it was off for a tour of the area for Ruakuri people.Okay - this is weird - we found a key case, clearly marked with a geocaching logo but no log. We popped a new log in and put it back. Not sure what we missed here.Thanks for contributing to an amazing holiday.

Thanks. This one used to count.( Pun intended)

Cool find on our trip home

TFTC first big cache Ive seen, made me laugh.

Cool cache! Nicely done

First big cache weve found, really enjoyed the creativity

Felt a little too obvious, tftc

A quick find once we stopped over complicating things and went for what was right in front of us. TFTC!

#895This was a quick stop after some coastal exploration today. Looking forward to collecting more of the giant cache series!

Quick find and onto the next. Thanks

Ian beat me to the find. All good & dry here.

Thanks heaps!

Easy

Tftc

An interesting camo. Not expecting that. All good here. TFTC

Tftc! Late night driving back to New Plymouth. Little stops along the way to help keep me awake!

EnglishWe are six Norwegians on a trip to Australia and New Zealand. We arrived in Melbourne at the beginning of February and are traveling home after the mega event in Adelaide. We travel by car and Geocaching helps us discover many nice places and often helps to decide where we choose the route between our goals which are: Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Dunedeen, and Adelaide. This is one of the caches we found on the trip and we thank you for showing us this place. We who are on tour have the nicknames: MrVonsr, ingsve, EllenSch and TeamEika. And signs the logs with N4.Great thanks for showing us and doing our tour wonderful NorwegianVi er seks nordmenn p tur i Australia og New Zealand. Vi ankom Melbourne i begynnelsen av Februar og reiser hjem etter Megaventet i Adelaide.Vi reiser med bil og Geocaching hjelper oss oppdage mange fine steder og bidrar ofte til avgjre hvor vi velger ruten mellom mlene vre som er:Sidney, Melbourne, Aukland, Dunedeen, and Adelaide.Dette er en av cachene vi fant p turen og vi takker for at du viste oss dette stedet.Vi som er p tur har nickene: MrVonsr, ingsve, EllenSch og TeamEika. Og signerer loggene med N4.Stor takk for at dere bidrar til gjre turen s flott

As a once in a lifetime holiday, this year we are traveling for 7 weeks to Vietnam, Bali, Australia and New Zealand. In Australia we meet Ellen Sch and MrVon sr and Ingsve to visit these last two countries, so here we cache together. Now we have solved many caches so we have a large number of solved coordinates. But we are interested in all types of caches, so if you receive a log, it means that we have visited your cache. We haven't quite decided where we're going, but we'll probably let the weather decide for us. We want warmth because in Norway it is now freezing. We will stay for about 2 weeks in Australia and 2 weeks in New Zealand and we will end the trip with the Mega event in Adeleide on 29 February. So thank you very much to all of you who make it possible for us to travel around finding caches. On March 6, we set course for Norway again. There are extremely nice people everywhere and we are welcomed, we thank you very much. Thanks to our cache friends for good company on the trip.Som en gang i livets ferie reiser vi i r 7 uker til Vietnam, Bali, Australia og New Zealand. I australia mter vi Ellen Sch og MrVon sr og Ingsve for beske disse to siste landene, s her cacher vi sammen. N har vi lst mange cacher s vi har et stort antall med lste koordinater. Men vi er jo inntressert i alle typer cacher s hvis du mottar en logg s betyr det at vi har beskt cachen din. Vi har ikke bestemt oss helt hvor vi reiser men vi lar nok vret bestemme for oss. Vi nsker oss varme for i Norge er det n kuldegrader. Vi blir ca 2 uker i Australia og 2 uker p New Zealand og vi avslutter turen med Megaeventet i Adeleide den 29 februar. S tusen takk til alle dere som gjr det mulig for oss reise rundt finne cacher. 6 mars setter vi kursen mot Norge igjen. Det er srdeles hyggelige mennesker overalt og vi nskes velkommen, vi takker s mye. Takk til vre cachevenner for godt selskap p turen

Endelig har jeg og MrVon sr kommet oss ned til Australia og New Zealand, -en gammel drm er gtt i oppfyllelse. Team Eika og Ingsve har ogs reist i flge med oss p denne turen.Vi har reist p kryss og tvers i en mned, og mlet er ende opp i Adeleide og megaevent p skuddrsdagen. Vi har spesielt sett etter gamle cacher, for fylle jasmern, for et par stykker, og for oss to andre som har begynt tenke p gjennomgang to.De aller fleste dukket greit frem p plassene sine,noen ganger mtte vi lete litt, men var som regel heldige tilslutt. Noen DNFer ogs ble det ogs.Vi har for det meste logget med fellesnicket N4 (ingsve,Von sr. TeamEika og Ellen Sch) men ogs egne nicknavn er brukt.En stor takk til alle dere COer for utlegg og vedlikehold av cachene deres. Uten deres arbeid, hadde vi aldri kunnet kost oss med denne hobbyen.Alltid hyggelig med et nytt smilefjes p kartet.Cachehilsen fra Ellen Sch, NorgeMe and MrV sr have come down to Australia and New Zealand, -an old dream has finally come to an end. Team Eika and Ingsve have also traveled with us on this trip.We have been traveling cross-country for a month, and the goal is to end up in Adeleide and mega-event on the leap year. We have especially looked for old caches, to fill jasmer'n, for a couple of pieces, and for the other two of us who have started to think about reviewing more.The vast majority of them showed up at their places, sometimes we had to search a bit, but we were usually lucky in the end. There were also some DNFs.We have mostly logged in with the common nickname N4 (ingsve, Von sr. TeamEika and Ellen Sch), but our own nicknames are also used.A big thank you to all you CO's for laying out and maintaining your caches. Without their work, we would never have been able to make a living with this hobby.Always nice to have a new smiley face on the map.Cache greetings from Ellen

Out on a geocache trip with Ellen Sch , Team Eika and ingsve on holiday in New Zealand, and today it was this area that was prioritized If nothing else is mentioned, we found the cache at good coordinates and it was fine To save space in the log, we often log in with the nickname N4 Many thanks to CO for laying out and maintaining this Greetings from Norway TFTCUte p en geocache-tur med Ellen Sch,Team Eika og ingsve p ferien i New Zealand og idag var det dette omrdet som ble prioritert Hvis ikke annet er nevnt s fant vi cachen p gode koordinater og den hadde det braFor spare plass i loggen logger vi ofte med nick N4Tusen takk til Til CO for utlegg og vedlikehold av denne Hilsen fra Norge TFTC

Making our way from Hamilton to New Plymouth today - grabbed a few caches on the way. Parked nearby and started searching - Viv quickly spotted the cache and we got to the logbook, well asmall scrap of paper in fact - seems this cache is well suited for a decent logbook so not sure why it hasn't got one - needs some TLC so adding an OAR to highlightHowever a great hide getting an FP from usTFTCTim and Viv - ddm

This geocacher reported that there is a problem with this cache.

Awesome cache! We loved it - MrB went straight for it but still surprised us. Extremely well done. Fave point from us!

Quick find. Tftc

Thank you. I took a TB out

Day 17: Farewell to TaranakiTodays trip was the journey back to Auckland from New Plymouth, along SH 3 and SH 1, picking up whatever caches that was convenient along the very long drive back. There were a few fun finds (especially around Piopio and interesting stops in small towns that we would have other missed on the road back. Thanks for all the fun!(End of the cut and paste bit)Heres the specific log for this cache: Very cheeky little hide here. I was expecting something much smaller as magnetic caches tend to be, but this one was quite the surprise. I didnt believe it was the cache twice, and even crossed the road to check the bench. But, I circled back eventually, and indeed it was the cache. Really fun here, TFTC!

Heading north to Cambridge with rattll on a rainy day. Paused in Pio Pio for a break, and to complete the Ad Lab. Stopped at this cache on the way out, delighted to find a box big enough to drop a TB, so I did. All good, although the padlock is very rusty, and on it's last legs. Tftc!

I kicked myself when i put 2 and 2 together and found this cache that i had actually looked at on my first attempt today and disregarded. It gave me a good giggle. I love this one. Thankyou for the great cache. The zombie tramp, mystery at the museum and Marks Frog sat on the bench contemplating with me until inspiration hit.

Accio 09:33:28Nearing the end of our fantastic North NZ touring holiday, T4mmmy and I are now heading from south to north for our flight this afternoon - on a schedule now. Quick find here as the lock was not locked, nor could I make it do so if it was meant to be? Insides are all fine.Thanks Jambocacher for entertaining me at this location. *{Overall find #11868}*

Last day of our amazing holiday. Found with Pprime`.

After spending a couple of days in Rotorua we headed to Eltham and picked up a few drive bys enroute. This was one of them. We looked in few places before the cache was in hand. Admin performed and replaced as found. TFTC

We also stopped here on our tour of the North Island. After enjoying the beautiful landscape, we also had time to find a few caches. Many thanks to all the owners for the caches and for showing us new and interesting places.

Travelling from New Plymouth to lake ngaroto today, with a lunch stop in piopio. Awesome hide. Tftc

Quickly located and stamped TFTC

Road trip to Hamilton. Awesome sneaky hide TFTC

Very hibin

TFTC

Nice easy find with ABCDF4
Thanks

Nice park and grab

Trophies

My 1st one, thanks

Quick stop in Piopio for a bite to eat at the Fat pigeon cafe and to grab the cache in passing

Easy find missing log book so made do with some card from my car aroha and happy caching

Needing a b'fast feast and spotting the cache's fav point tally, we pulled over on our way into town. Spotting juvenile muggles hanging around we stayed in the car until their attention span waned, then they left the scene of the crime. Crossing the road spotted something giant and headed toward it.

At the same time a muggle that turned into the CO came over to watch our progress. After intros and some Aust / NZ banter, we signed the log and took the COs advice for a meal then to look at one of his other caches just out of town, in the direction we were heading. Thanks to Jambocacher for the chat and hope your upcoming Sth Aust trip goes well.

Another day in the land of the long white cloud. TeamARF, JACSTeam and I headed south to Wellington. Lots of rainy caching but still some awesome caches and spectacular locations. Thanks to all COs!!

Day 5: We ( TeamARF, Gcoven and myself) have travelled over from Brisbane, Australia to have a visit since we were not able to make it to the Mega. We have spent some considerable time solving puzzles and making plans in preparation.

Today the plan is to work on collecting things of our list. We have a gigantic list of old, interesting, highly favourited, challenges and a few Geo-arts to try and collect over the next 10 days. There is a good chance we got lazy with our logging and do some joint variation of our initials - TGJ, GJT or JGT.

Please excuse the generic log, just have extremely little data to try and survive on it for the 10 days. However, you can be assured that if we have found your cache it was special to us for some reason or in a special location - so thank you for contributing to our holiday.

I will edit logs when back in Brisbane to add more details to those that need more details and of course I will be adding favourite points as I go along.

Original
MPLC

8 April 2023 15:06 TFTC Jambocacher for placing this cache, number 12464 for me. This was the only cache I managed to sign off today, so have a FP for saving my sanity!

My 1st find I NZ

Good find

Why are we in Piopio for the night. To get another cache! TFTC

Made the find.

Gets a favourite.

TFTC

Visiting from Canada.

Not really magnetic

On our way back from New Plymouth, stopped to get this one. Had us searching for a bit. But eventually saw this. Previous logs helped. Worth a favourite point. Tftc

All good here...thanks for new cache container.
Didn't hear any of the sounds mentioned in the description sadly.
Slighty fogged up car windows occasionally was all...

Plus trying not to "Aquaplane in my Aqua " in the flooded roadsides .
Guess I was focussed on the task in hand....and getting back before the flooding and thunderstorm that was promised....

Thanks for maintaining the cache!

Removed ant laden logbook container. New logbook provided.

So many ants couldn’t touch anything, mum sprayed them with smthig so it should be clear for the next person

Found, thanks! Still very 'anty' though...

TFTC not signed as loads of ants found on a quick stop on way to New Plymouth

Foto with KR. Seen and claimed but we chose not to open this formicary. Such colonies can be 7 to 20 years old, but individual ants may live for only a year. I felt outnumbered as a colony can have 100,000 to 500,000 workers plus several hundred others.

A nice quick find. No log signed today as the log container was covered in ants. Hope claiming the find is OK. I have a photo if that helps. Thanks for placing your cache.

Ms_KR and I are off on our annual pilgrimage to Auckland to visit family. Heading from Cambridge to New Plymouth today, with an occaisional rain squall.

Thanks to all CO's for publishing and maintaining their caches. .

Quick find ants in the 1000s

Stopped for lunch at the Fat Pigeon, delicious food, with our seniors tour going to Taranaki Garden festival.
Had time to find the biggest log book I've ever seen.

Three ants and three snails, A great cache, I felt all around everything metal/magnetic and almost walked away. The rhododendrons are flowering beautifully even on neglected section. We don't have that up north.

Very anty

Beat my friend. Easy find

Over visiting family over from the UK!Having a day trip with J's sis LouF71 & hubby. Great cache unfortunately the ants had turned it into their home....we did evict them best we could. Thanks for placing.(Sorry for the very very late Log, between limited Data, some issues with our travel, some personal issues and a build up meaning the ADHD couldn't cope tackling these but finally getting logged Please forgive)

Amazing cache. Ants had made it home too. TFTC.

Found but so full of ants I couldn’t sign the log
Thank you for the placement

Tramyard proposed a road trip around the Waikato to visit the new virtuals and ad labs in the area since our last visit, as well as attending the local 18@18 event. Two others were asked but they were instead attending a CITO in Whangarei, so it was just going to be tramyard and myself.

In total, our road trip was over 500km as we traveled via Mercer, Huntly, Taupiri, Pirongia, Waitomo Caves, and Piopio before turning back towards Cambridge and onto Hamilton for the event before finally heading home to Auckland.

It wasn't our intention to go to Piopio, but we were in Waitomo and there was a new ad lab in Piopio, so we checked how long it would take to get there and then to Cambridge to determine if we had enough time before the event. Realising that Piopio was only a half hour from Waitomo we made the call to go. We walked the stages of the ad lab, and on our return to the car (and after stopping for a thickshake) I couldn't leave without finding this high fav cache.

I spotted something of interest as we approached and it turned out to be correct. Didn't need the hint as the cache was open. Very nice use of recycled materials to turn this into a cache.

Found as we walked around the town with the four wagging tails and Mr reminiscing about his youth here. Thanks for the interesting hide, definitely deserves the favourites points so adding one as well

Had a Tiki tour round Taranaki visiting friends and now head back north. Stayed in Piopio last night at Tui park. Woke up early for a cycle ride to collect some local caches. This Giant series is clearly a favourite with people and it didn’t disappoint. Arrived at GZ and initially discounted the obvious. After checking a few other items Mrs Rubbishparty had another look and yes it right there. Thanks for a great cache.

Ha, obvious but not, thanks

A quick and easy find.

Great find! Wasn't what we expected it to be, a few wrong steps but we got there. Thanks to bodgerkerks for reminding us to reread the hint.

Tftc

Great cache thanks!

Read some previous logs and the penny dropped. TFTC

Was keen to go for this incredibly popular cache and I could see the potential as I made the find. There were a number of ants resident in the log container but all good for me to sign as found.

Onto the second phase of todays caching and good to extend beyond my usual turn off SH and head to Piopio. These Giant caches are popular and today I was able to understand why.
Today's the last day of us living in Auckland having taking possession of our new home in Rangitikei on Friday after a few weeks of will we/won't we. I headed up from our home on Sunday morning and had the remains of the day to clean the rental a little bit more before handover today. Was back there this morning for a quick last hour and all was well and I was on the road just after 10. I had a few possible targets as I transited South and a pleasing haul of 18 caches and back home in good time. I grabbed a few in Huntley then pushed on through to Piopio for the FP hungry 'Giant' caches there and the weather was great as was the scenery. It was a good day today, thanks to all COs for their efforts.

TFTC

This has been my favourite cache of our trip! We did as advised and used the car for cover, spotted something quickly, grabbed it and back to the car to investigate. Once the penny dropped, we had to be patient before more investigation, a quick retrieval and another dash back to the car! Very exciting! TFTC

Well this was an unexpected surprise cache, great job. TFTC

Favourite cache so far, luckily had some clever friends with me to decider peoples comments… then once we found the well camouflaged cache, realised how obvious the hint was. Great fun. TYFTC

Bloody neat cache, well done

Sorry about the ants. removed plenty of dead ones yesterday. No living ones...have gone upto house.

Bigger than we expected, but forgot our pen and my pregnant bum didn't want to waddle back to the car to get one lol

A great theme for a cache, enjoyed having an excuse to stop in Piopio. Sadly the log is full of ants and eggs, but brushed them away so I could sign the log, TFTC

Another awesome cache container in this series. Although there is gazillions of ants living in cache.
Tftc.

Found it. Summer Holiday 2021 Thanks

Fantastic cache shared, with hundred of ants. It gets a fav from us.
TFTC

Mrs Cacher was too scared to open it looked too real! Nice hide!

The best geocaches I found so far are located in Piopio! Thank you

I love this, another great find

TFTC, Found with Riser5

We loved this one. Brilliantly in the open.

Nice quick find, great cache. Lock was open when we found it and we couldn’t get the lock to close either. May need some CRC?
On a road trip to New Plymouth so decided to stop and do a cache. TFTC

My mission today was to drive from Auckland to Wellington via Taranaki. My two objectives were to find enough caches to crack 18,000 finds and to find enough caches in Taranaki to knock off another district towards a challenge cache in Nelson. Ah ha! What a clever cache contraption. It had me going for a bit before I worked out how to access the interior. All good in the end. Thanks for the fun and TFTC, Biggles.

on the way home to np from tauranga quick stop in piopio for this cache. very clever location & a cool hide, had lots of help from the hider himself. tftc

What an awesome cache.
Had me fooled. Looked too authentic. Then compared information on item then checked placement date... similar.
Earned another favourite

very cool! new to this & the first one we found