We Need You (Upper Hutt) Upper Hutt, North Island, New Zealand
By Gr33nslime & JimmyNZ on 05-Jun-13. Waypoint GC4DJZQ

Unfortunately from my approach the track was closed and I didn't feel like going around the fencing today.

Got nervous for a dnf after a few mimutes but luck rained upon me. Good day to mish up from work with a couple of mates. TFTC

Shakily made our way to this one from Tanks for the view. The tracks are quite vague presumably due to the fire and we had to ignore the track closed signs. What made it worse was the GPS on my phone wasn't working properly - is this to do with the close proximity of the prison? So I could not rely on the geocaching.com map as I usually do to pinpoint where we were. There are many tracks in this area so a bit of guesswork was required. Luckily we guessed right and came to a place which lined up with the cache description and hint. All plain sailing from there. I did not have a soldier to add but did have an elephant or maybe a mammoth. Could be handy so popped him in. TFTC

My employer required me to attend a course on this side of the strait. So, even before I had planned flights or accommodation, I sussed out a heap of caches that I would pass near, or could get out to, after hours, in darkness.

After day one, and some dinner, I rugged up with several layers and several lighting options and took the walk up the road to the tanks and then here. Easy find here of the large container, but then, it was about to get a bit more challenging as the track appeared and disappeared through the bush for my 11km & 4 1/2 hour loop.

Easter weekend, and with the paradox that only family can create, I both need to be in Wanganui and not in Wanganui at the same time. Having navigated that conundrum earlier in the weekend and also having completed this months Wheel of Challenges: Seeking Smileys challenge, today was all about making my way home to a comfortable bed, and collecting a few geocaches along the way.

The final leg of todays journey takes me here, to enjoy some views out over Upper Hutt. Cache was found safe and well, exactly as described.

Sadly I did not properly read the cache page before coming here, so did not record the number of army men present.

Thanks to Gr33nslime & JimmyNZ for placing and maintaining this cache. I enjoy each and every cache I find, and it is only with CO's like this placing them out in the world that this wonderful game continues.

[DGSc-Bulk] tagging to help me generate a list for GC30AD8 - DGSc Challenge.

Number 4 in a series of finds through the reserve today. Another one found by the kids. TFTC

Did not have a soldier with us to add to the collection, but great treasure!

Did with Crystal Fairy.

barefootguru, CrystalFairy and myself were all after a puzzle for a dot-day and one further up the trail was one that none of us had found, so we made a plan to go for it, and if there happened to be other traditionals along the way, so much the better.

A bit of a hike up to the trig, and then immediately down again. We had previous finders with us so it didn't really take long for the cache to be revealed. We also had a suitable soundtrack going on with the rifle range being fully utilised. All good here, and TFTC

After a morning rescuing Alice in the city we decided to go for a few caches and get a Mystery for our dot days. Did a few caches before calling it a day. Did with BFG, Bruzie, Brucewwnz, Infoferret and MycroMan. Thanks for the cache.. Loved the size of this one.

I was on this hill today, doing a little cache maintenance for a mate on his fire-damaged cache, and figured that as I still needed a cache to keep my streak going, that I would look for this one.

Wow, it's amazing to see both the damage done by the fire, as well as the regeneration that has already taken place since then. Lots of green to be seen, but lots of gaps in the trees too.

Luckily this cache appears to be unaffected, and was an easy find thanks to the posted trailhead etc. The contents are all good here. I'm not one to bother much with SWAG, but there appeared to be a healthy assortment of available items.

Thanks for bringing me here tonight

What a fire, using geocaching maps to find trails. Was so close I thought I would check on cache. Located, fire missed by 5m. Trig not so happy

Great cache, not sure if a humanoid pineapple, a cat with wings, and a small black bear are fit for battle, but at least there's a load of bread too.

Having just checked up on a couple of other caches by the COs (and not needing to utilise my maintenance kit), it was no surprise to find the same situation here as I made my return journey on a very pleasant walk. It is pleasing to see a good number of items in the container that are in accordance with the cache theme.

Awesome cache and adventure for the kiddies. Watch out for the cutty grass after the water tanks though.
Added a rifleman and a native American Indian to the troops. Saluted them and went on our way. Tftc.

Gracias/Kia ora

My 100th cache. Thanks for being a nice one.

A lovely area to cache in and a reserve I had never visited before. Had a great walk through the reserve finding a lot of different caches along the way. I always like finding an ammo tin. On duty were 5 soldiers, 2 bears, 2 guns and 4 marbles, I didn't have any soldiers with me unfortunately (bad planning on my part) but added one samurai and a flight attendant in uniform which were the closest trinkets I had to the theme. Adding a favourite point. TFTC

Tftc

Anya and Esme found it

Awesome hiding place. Really cool cache
Finn and Rome

Found on an easy to follow trail off the main track. Thanks for placing the cache!

6 soldiers

Only 6 soldiers in duty today.

This one took a little bit of back and forth to find the best spot to depart from the track. In the end it was a fairly straightforward find on a track that was rougher that I expected. Anyway I kept my work clothes relatively clean and decided to head back from here. Cheers for the cache

What a great container, nice one! Almost finished our loop walk through Wi Tako so nice to get a quick find here. A few interesting comments in the logbook, might this be a recruitment effort for nefarious purposes..?? I didn't have any soldiers to deploy this time but I'll know where to in future if I ever acquire any. Thanks for the placement and another smiley

Wow!! Hardest terrain yet! Mr 15 wasn’t keen on all the gorse... but we pushed on and eventually found it.

Oh my this is the most challenging terrain we’ve encountered for a cache! Wear runners and long clothes for the gorse and cutty grass...persevere for the 5 soldiers waiting on you

Thanks

Found it

Thanks for this box fast found with my friends.
TFTC

We thought we might have to abort the mission early due to the cutty grass and gorse on the way up but the good foot soldiers continued and managed to reach the section post. Numbers seem depleted with only 5 soldiers on base when we arrived, along with two visiting travellers. The travellers had been at the post for almost 2 months so were ready to move on but the troops were prepared to wait for reinforcements in the next deployment that comes this way. Tftc

Mission success, TFTC

Dropped 2x TB's off, collected at the MEGA to continue their journeys.

It was a "make and mend day" and none of the troopers wanted to follow me into the wilderness for a bit of PT - actually think they all wanted to chill out in front of the TV and play Fortnight. So it was just me, myself and I taking the track to find the high ground with which to survey the field. Not quite a forced march up the hill, but enough to get the blood pumping. Ducking down into cover, the 'bunker' was spotted and after a belly crawl to avoid the low hanging entrapment's, the foxhole was achieved to deliver the mail.
The letters were entered into the register, the camo around the foxhole reinforced then it was a dash out the back to avoid any detection by the "enemy".
A successful mission is now reported back to the Top Brass. Cheers!

Out and about exploring the tracks around the hills picking up smilies along the way. Found after a shirt search. All in good order..TFTC.

With Peniknz.

Nice cache thank you

I’m in the Windy City to attend the Wellington Mega with a few fellow Westies from Auckland. We’re having a great time as we explore the area collecting smileys as we go. Thanks for bringing us here, sorry for the copy and paste logs but am using a Cachly template to log as I go. It’s always nice to find a cache this size

With a group of fellow west Aucklanders Merlot58, Aiden29 and Bertie Blowfish To attend the MEGA and for a fun long Labour weekend’s caching. Thanks to all the cache owners for setting up and maintaining the caches. Sorry for cut and paste logs. Nice to find a large container here.

Down in the Capital for an extra long weekend before exams start, with Jag50, Merlot58 & Bertie Blowfish. We were staying just down the road and thought this would be a good brisk walk for the morning to warm up. Didn't quite realise how many steps there would be A nice sized cache that was easy to find.

Tftc. A quick find here.

Found without too much trouble. Love the dry beech forest. Tftc

After MEGA registration, a morning walk in the Forest and Bird Ecclesfield Reserve and Wi Tako scenic reserve. Gorgeous beech forest, a lovely track and delightful caches - a highlight of our visit. How nice to see an ammo can!

In Wellington for WENZ 2018 Mega Event. Nice old style school. TB out. TFTC

Tftc

Tftc. Interesting track to get here.

What a great find! A slippery track to get there today, make sure you have suitable footwear. Got an autograph from Dolly Parton but have left her there go keep entertaining the soldiers

Unable to drum up volunteers for the relief force. However have enabled a brief visit by Dolly Parton to entertain the troops. Inspected the outpost and found it dry and well maintained.

One of my favorites. Wasn't sure I was going to find it. All still good.
TFTC

Nice quick find with the geohound on a lovely sunny morning. Never been in this area before - beautiful - thanks for bringing us here! We added two new recruits to the mobilisation force. My kids will love this cache, so I'll bring them up here some time to add some more "fresh meat".

Checked in on this cache during a run in the area. Bone dry inside which is a relief, despite the lid being left ajar, again. Moved container back into the original nook so its not just out in the open like I found it.

Please close lid completely (requires some force) and place back in the obvious nook. Thanks!

A bit of Gorse to walk through not the best in shorts. 2 soldiers in the Amino box

Easy find after following geotails
To the ammo box's. Tftc

Another good find.
Sadly, all my soldiers are on leave.
Cache in great order.
Thanks

I'm stuck in Trentham for three days and two nights doing some training with the NZDF and nothing to do in the evenings... apart from some geocaching. By the time I had finished dinner, darkness had well and truly set in, so what was I to do... apart from geocaching. So after getting changed into some appropriate attire and grabbing a torch and a couple of GPS enabled devices, I headed into the hills behind Trentham and Silverstream for some night time caching. Boy that darkness certainly adds an extra dimension when you are caching in the bush.

I headed out at 6.30pm (or 1830 hours as it is known around here) Starting near the Rimutaka prison and came off the track three hours later in Silvestream. In that time I managed to get eight caches in the bush and another two urban caches, totalling ten in all with only one DNF.

After having supper at Maccas, I then took the short train trip back to camp returning just before 2300 hours, all-in-all a pleasant and sometimes terrifying way to spend an evening, especially when getting disorientated trying to find the trail after grabbing those off-track caches in the dark.

The darkness made the hunt for this one a little bit trickier than it would have been in daylight, but I soon discovered a feature that could hide a cache and on further investigation the find was made.

At the end of this month I will have completed 40 years of service for the NZDF and in that time have used the GSMEAC on numerous occasions to plan activities, so this cache was familiar from that point of view, but it was the first time I've come across it while geocaching.

I took the TB I found here to replace the one I dropped off a couple of caches back along the track.

TFTC gr33nslime

After meeting a friend for coffee in Upper Hutt I decided to explore the track around the water tanks. I'm sure it would have looked very different when the pine trees were here!

I loved the beech forest part of the track, and soon found the cache. Despite the recent deluge from Cyclone Debbie the cache contents were totally dry. Dropped a TB. TFTC

My daughter played her games of football at Trentham Memorial park this morning. After the games she wanted to find a geocache on the way home. I suggested a walk up here because I have been up here before and knew exactly where this cache was.

We had a nice walk although she didn't like the gorse too much.

The cache is in great condition. Nice and dry. Its good to see a really large contained like this with a decent sized log book so you can write properly.

Thank you

Cherrys Rule

A nice quick find while walking through the Eccelsfield Reserve.

Cache in good order.

TFTC

Also an unprepared geocaching outing - sorry, didn't bring any reinforcements. Love the idea and the cache!

YAY tftc

Sadly we didn't bring reinforcements as it was a last minute decision to cache. Only one soldier on duty

Tftc - husbands first find!

Found it, added a non-traditional soldier. Low soldier count. Saw a few on the earleir caches in the trail prior to arriving, alas we were going one way only. Another person may like to bring them through...

Great cache ! Thank you

Midnight caching trip, stars are epic and log kept well. Sadly we didn't bring a toy soldier to add to the collection. Tftc

Out for a walk with tramping club ramblers.
Easy find. Sorry no soldiers to add.
TFTC

An easy find on my way back to the car. I quietly ignored the signs and got out alive. TFTC

I was in the area for the weekend and the nearby trail was on my radar as I needed some different D/T ratings to complete a challenge.
Spotted the cache pretty soon after reaching GZ and a familiar container! Haven't received a GSMEAC for a while either.
Thanks for the cache and the smiley.

A quick trip to the Trentham area in between bouts of rain. Nice quick find once off the track and followng the geo-trail to GZ.

This is right on the edge of a temporary track closure so should be fine. Some minor bush bashing required to find this but nothing too serious. TFTC.

Tftc

Cycled up from Melling with an overcast and threatening sky. We had not visited Ecclesfield Reserve previously and what a joy it. Wonderful beech trees and regenerating rimu. Lots of "good swaps" but we didnt do so. TFTC

Our first visit to this pleasant walking track and despite the threat of rain team geocacher Mr. T and I managed to pick up a few of the great caches along the track. We will definitely be returning to seek out the remainder (we'll pick a fine day next time). Sorry I do not have any soldiers to add to your depleted army. Thanks for placing a cache here, well worth a visit.

A whistle stop tour of the North Island on a work trip with a ferry sailing in, an afternoon on the ground, overnight nearby followed by an hour of caching Tuesday arvo, then a ferry back to the Mainland in the evening. So a plan was hatched, the maps were checked and a likely looking route was mapped out to head up into the 'hills' overlooking Silverstream and walk a loop of geocaches! Had pre-solved a couple of Puzzle caches prior (with some assistance in some cases), though in the end only managed to find one of the tickets please ones. A combination of poor looking, not-thereness, and dodgy solutions had me missing out on a few. Still easily managed to grab around 20 caches, with some absolute pearlers up on the ridge well deserving of some of my F Ps. Thanks to all the C O s who placed.
I received the call to arms and presented myself for active service as soon as I could. Nicely hidden at G Z and a decent sized cache setting a standard repeated a few more times, 4 regular caches on the same walkway, unheard of in some places, I'm guilty as a micro-cache hider! Added one solo 'soldier' I found in Kaikoura yesterday and thought "I know where you can go" as I grabbed him. He looks like a samurai lego man I think
Replaced as found and T F T C Gr33nslime

Finally made it up here to Greenslime's cache. Been meaning to wander up for a while but that task got harder once we moved away from the nearby location. This was a maintenance trip with Greenslime to cleanup after it had apparently gotten water loaded, unsure how these things are bullet proof unless you leave the lid off.. The cache did have a good amount of toy soldiers in it, but it seems someone wasn't in the mood to view only and decided to take them all leaving the cache bare apart from one brave GI. Never mind, this cache should be around for a while so maybe it'll get filled up again. Took us under 45 minutes to visit this cache and [Tanks for the View](https://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GC4618G) nearby.

Thanks to the heads up from barefootguru - JimmyNZ and I headed up to perform some maintenance on the cache. It has been here for over 3 years and i had only visited it once since then. It has had 66 finds in that time, which corresponded perfectly with the raffle tab log book (see photo).

Drained and dried the ammo tin and cleaned out some of the swag. Some of the original items were still there (ration pack contents, etc (see photo). Very sad to see that all the of Army men had been pillaged from the cache - we were building up quite an army =( Sad thieving person....

Changed the log book to something that would not run out of pages any time soon.

Please ensure the ammo tin is well closed when replacing, as these things should be waterproof!

Nice cache guys! Unfortunately no army men to leave. Note cache was literally half full of water. Logbook still dry in its baggy floating on the top! Poured water out, banged lid back onto hinge pins.

The track seemed to be heading downhill towards the prison and the distance to the cache was slowly increasing. Then I applied the RTFM principle, added trailhead1 to my GPS, and the cache was soon in hand.

The container had some water in it but the log was dry enough to write on.

getting a couple of caches up here in the lunch time. Didnt have anything to add to the cache on me. TFTC

2nd find! Family adventure! Nice effort

Little detour today while out walking Tank Hill with eidesor and boxdogjack. Unfortunately we had nothing to add, but thanks for bringing us out this way!

Hi, TFTC! Got into caching whilst visiting friends in NZ, coming from Norway, and has been great so far

Found it

Once of best we have so far.

At last a proper size cache container. When we first started they used to be all about this size.

#1238 Seems like only yesterday I was further up this hill in search of one of Jojo&Dobby's caches. I'd gone directly past this one. An early wake up so decided to slip out and grab a cache before breakfast.

I found a TB that wasn't logged in to the cache. Took it for logging and will find a new home soon. Amazing All Blacks supporters TB that wants to travel to NZ, be photographed with a current AB (sorry Richie, Dan, Ma'a etc), go to AB matches, meet former AB's (ok guys - you count for this one) and be photographed with anything AB related (sure I can help here).


Coords all good, cache in good condition. Great orders sequence - obviously placed by a military person (and speciality obvious based on cacher's name). In the old days we used to cover En and FF under Situation - no sign of muggles and it was a solo this morning for this successful mission (although no reinforcements left behind)

Thanks for the cache Gr33nslime and JimmyNZ - may meet you on the circuit some day

Found with NZ1 and GBNZ. Quick n easy find. TFTC

Found with GBNZ and GLAD-NZ. TFTC

Nice hiding.

On my way over from Ecclesfield entrance. Seventh find of the trip. 'Fraid I had nothing to contribute.

Nice cache container Found at the beginning of the walk

Found with Wafflekitties, TFTC

Tftc really cool swaps

The army is getting big, must be preparing for a cache invasion. Nice camouflage too!

[green] Took the day off work in Blenheim to come for a job interview in Trentham. And some geocaching, of course. Took the little island hopper over - I was the only passenger on board! On the way back it was full up - every seat was taken. Got to Trentham, job interview went great (but I am one of three on the short list, so I'll find out later). It not even lunchtime, and the plane leaves at 5pm. Yep, its Geocaching Time!!
Nicely themed cache and nice to see a decent size. And it matches my employer (both current and the job interview). Dropped in an emerald and a path tag.

Third on my lunch time run. All in good condition.

Obeyed orders and grabbed Tanks for the view then marched up hill to next encampment. Set my sentries and quickly spotted prize. Well guarded fortification. Thanks for the cache.

As I neared the trig I could hear troops advancing towards me. I caught my breath as two troops ran past at pace. I was unable to locate additional troops from home to add. My son must have then in battle. Ready to head back down and another troop runs past. Busy area! As long as not escapee troops all good. Tftc

Sunday trip up the valley. Our eye on a series of caches in and around Silverstream and environs.
We soldiered our way to this one, enjoying fine weather for our route march.
The cache was a straightforward find. All in order; log signed, then re-hidden safely, just as found.
We are toy soldierless on this visit. If I come across a spare battalion or two then I'll be back.
TFTC found with team cacher Sweet P too
The Turtle strikes again!