Come Find Yourself (Auckland) Muriwai, North Island, New Zealand
By funkymunkyzone on 20-Jul-13. Waypoint GC4GN92

Woodhill Forest now requires permit and permission for all access. Forest management have asked that all caches be archived. This cache can be unarchived if appropriate explicit permission is gained.

TFTC. Sorry, I will write more later, I am still travelling.

I'm currently working on a specific geolicense which involves getting different types of caches of different sizes. I noticed that the drive along Muriwai beach had plenty of letterbox caches I could grab but that would involve a full day plus the use of a 4x4. Newlynfam mentioned she'd like to grab those ones as well for her license, and Biartch79 wanted to come along too. So a plan was hatched a few months ago to borrow a 4x4 and find an appropriate date we could all do plus when the tide was right... and today was the day. We decided the best option was to enter at the Rimmer road entrance, drive up the beach as far as we could for the Earthcache sand sample and then geocache all the way back down

The GPS took us in a bit of a circle for this one but we eventually got to GZ. There were plenty of places a small cache could've been hiding, but luckily Biartch79 just dove right in and soon found it, TFTC!

Decided a while ago with dragon.griffin that we would find a 4WD and a date where the tides were favourable in order to come and collect the Muriwai Beach caches for the GIO Licence stage we are both at. After a few months of discussions, checking tide times, waiting for the cold, wet weather of winter to pass, and coordinating our diaries, the day was finally upon us, and we set off for Muriwai at 7am for a day of caching with Mr dragon.griffin (our driver) and Biartch79, who had decided to come too.
This one took a little getting to, with the sand dune to battle first, then the bush to wade through- we must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, because it seemed that we were ascending and descending for ages. Finally we got to the top of the ridge, and started to despair of ever finding a small cache in such a LARGE area of bush- there were numerous places to search at GZ, and we waded around for a fair while. Finally, in frustration, Biartch79 pretty much dove in, only to find in surprise that it appeared right in front of her nose! Whew....
TFTC!

found it but GPS took us on a wild goose chase. We refused to give up and it was great to find it.

Nice find managed to find a way round the gorse. Our dog loved it
TFTC

Well that was a much longer walk than I was expecting! But yes I did take a moment to catch my breathe, find a cache and congrat Mr P on not having a heart attack. T4tc (Did I mention the gorse, cutty grass and hidden obstacles?)

Joined a party of intrepid Hamilton cachers on a pre-arranged mission with some like-minded Aucklanders, all keen to explore the wild west. Met up at the "Full moon Café" and hence "Team Full Moon" was our cache-logging name for the day. All in all, a fantastic day out on the west coast dashing up & down the dunes - with lots of seekers, this was another cache quickly in hand, which was a relief after our recent DNFs. TFTC

Getting nearer the end of our big day out now, and with a couple of DNFs behind us it was good to get another find in hand. No troubles here and one more to the day's tally. TFTC

Like others in our party these caches have been on the to-do list for a very long time, with the number 1 problem....TRANSPORT. I had thought about hiring a 4WD, and evened though about walking/running it but those thoughts were quickly dismiss and these cache again went to the end of the list. HPG mentioned that there was a plan to tackle these caches in the works and I had invited myself before she had finished her sentence.

With a early start in Hamilton we all meet up at the "Full moon Café" at 8am to fuel up for the day. This being the case we decided that "Team Full moon" was an appropriate name for the day. Once fuelled up, we hit the beach via Rimmer road and made our way all the way to the end so we could cache on the way back down.

Nice track off into the dunes, I tried to stick to a track as I thought it'll be easier going but it turned out the track veered away and a more direct route was needed. Quick find once at GZ.

These caches had been on my radar for a LONG time. A few years later, plus a few new geo friends bought these caches into the topic of conversation a few months ago. A few emails to suss out a suitable weekend, suitable tides and suitable weather and we were ready to go off-road! Met up with the Auckland crew at the Fullmoon cafe and enjoyed a nice coffee before heading off the beaten track. We decided to go in via Rimmer Road, and yes I was a little worried but turns out all our vehicles were up to the job and we got on the beach nice and easily. Even though we had plenty of time and tide to spare we decided to cruise to the far end and work our way back home to be super safe.

A great day out, will be very memorable... that smell sure does linger! Signed logs as Team Fullmoon or HEATK1K (a Hamilton tradition of making acronyms of the cachers on the mission) H- HKCB, E-Evilno9, A-Alpenmilch80, T-TucanoVic, K-Kiwileon, 1-11hpg11 and K-Kiwi69. Couldn't quite convince the Aucklanders to join our tradition but we are thankful for their vowels

Nice track away from the dunes. Went for the straight through route, through some gorse but meh whats a little spike here and there. Quick find before heading back for the other cache and the warm comfort of the car.

On the due list for way to long.
Thought my little Rav4 should be able to handle this but might to good to have some proper 4WD support. A plan was made for today with an extra low tide at 12pm.

Entered the beach at Rimmer Road around 8:45am and headed straight to the North end first for a sand sample for the Earth cache. Then it was time to head South and do some caching.

Scrambled up the dunes for the cache. This was easier at some location then others.
A fun day out - signed caches at "Team Full Moon"

TFTC

On a 4WD trip far south plans were hatched with the Hamilton Crew to tackle those unloved Muriwai Geocaches. We finally found a date with the low tide perfect at lunch time and the weather not too bad. As we met in the "full moon" cafe we decided this would make a great team name. We had a great day out entering at Rimmer Road speeding up all the way to the end to begin our hard work collecting geocaches backwards. At our last find my silver Jeep was covered in stinky fishy green sand/stuff which will remind me at least for the next 4 weeks about this great day out playing on the beach of Muriwai. TFTC

Without having a suited 4WD we took the walk along the beach. Nice walk. And yes, there was a path away from the beach towards the cache. On the top of the dune the path stopped. So we fought our way through the scrubs. We ended on the top of the dune full of living and dead vegetation. No hint, nothing in the logs, no clue in the description. After poking the bushes for some time we gave up. Not one of our best caching experiences

This was a good wander off the beaten track with Alligatorsnz, Vistra and friends
nice GZ surroundings. Was a little tangled in the undergrowth but it was there and ok. We had the whole team looking for a few minutes even the friendly muggles! thanks

found it out with the caching and walking gang and common muggles - soon to be turned we are sure;-) now we had a reason to turn our walk inland - after all the stinging sand was getting a little less interesting at this point... we had to find somewhere to walk for three hours on this free style walking day.. a cache is as gooder reason as any we think;-)

things had grown up somewhat around the area, said vistra - since his last visit at placement.. but same trick again i look in a place that seems cosy to me then back out only to have one of the new cachers reach right in and touch it in the very same spot... albeit after a bit of wandering around by all of us;-) cache happy and inorder

Was in Auckland for a sales meeting on Friday and decided that I would make a weekend of it and find some cache if the chance allowed. Was advised by YuGeo4 that they were planning to pick up some caches along Muriwai Beach and asked me if I was interested in coming along.

Making our way along Muriwai Beach with Cats and Dragons & Sp8sm8 and the two vehicles and started making our way down to the beach, wow this was definitely an experience that I will never forget for a very long time.

After finding GC4GKJM - MLS - Clowning Around on the Beach (Auckland), this was the next cache up along the beach run heading north and the sun was shining and the sea was flat and calm, just the best day ever to do these caches. It didnt take long before we were soon near GZ and we parked our cars in a safe spot and soon made our way towards GZ.

Managed to find the cache quickly after finding ourself and letting the GPSr guide the way, signed and then replaced the cache back as found before going back to the vehicle to set sail to the next cache. Thanks for placing this cache here and for bringing me to this spot, TFTC TNLNSL (6553)

Found ourselves alright, now can we find the way back to the car.

TFTC

All together today in the company of YuGeo4, Yeetrees & Sp8sm8 we are able to collect the necessary caches to clear out a path along Muriwai Beach.

What we found was a cache and more importantly the car (as we had left 1/2 of Yugeu4 with the vehicle)

TFTC

12378... Came and found the cache... Now to find our cars TFTC.

We teamed up with Tufty, Darby&Joan and Helefant to drive up Muriwai Beach for a caching adventure today.
We went for a wander with Tufty to find this cache, while the others searched for caches we had found on another trip. Another fun downhill dune run/slide on the way, then a bit of a wander through the scrub. We opted to skirt around the gorse, not through it like Tufty did. On the return trip we found Helefant making her way to the cache. Then the dune face to climb back up. Got halfway up before tired legs, soft slipping sand and gravity made progress rather slow. Didn't slow Tufty down though - he has perfected the dune-climbing technique.
Did we find ourselves? We certainly found ourselves to be even more tired by the time we got back to the car! TFTC.

The 'end of the month' gang were slitting up by now. Half the gang were now ahead, having already found every other cache, and Darby&Joan had also already found this cache.
Came to find myself and found Kiwicouple & Tufty, which was good because I had realised along the way I hadn't picked up another pen (mine still being with Tufty). Although he had left mine in his caching wagon, he did have broken pen with him which he let me have (not requiring it back). TFTC

I don't know about finding myself though I did find a patch of gorse that it was easier to grit my teeth and barge on through. Though I must admit on my way back I did skirt around it.

Out: TB.

Cheers for the cache.

we came, found for ourselves and enjoyed the challenge of this trail. two crazy ladies can do anything . very steep dunes had me crawling by the end of the day. but still a huge smile on the face thanks.

There was an original plan for 6 of us in 2 vehicles to tackle these caches. Due to unforseen and unfortunate circumstances it was just Butchie Bum and myself. Made sure we had all the safety gear and met at the beach three hours before low tide and we were off. Had a fantastic day and I named us "The 2 crazy ladies" which will be seen in the log books. Really impressed with the accuracy of the co-ords today, made the finds nice and straight forward.

Out and about with the family exploring and see if the new wee 4wd would make it onto the beach, let alone trying to reach one of the new caches. Tried this morning but tide coming up too far, so beat a hasty retreat. Decided to try again late this afternoon on our return from exploring South Head when the tide was a little lower. Little 4wd had to work hard to get down the beach, but we at least got to this one. Will add some pics of our adventure. We think we might need a more powerful 4wd to make any further attempts up or down the beach. Still good fun and the grandson just loved the sand dunes and the steepness of them. +TB. SL. TFTC. oh and I think that was FTF for us??

Published

Found orginally as part of phasevisitor team, now created own account, re-logging as yorkshirekiwi83.

We spent the day with mike-miss, FMZ, Rosmar and Lostcourse heading up Muriwai Beach in 4WDs to the Kaipara Harbour entrance, then back again. We searched for existing caches as we went and followed FMZ around as he placed new caches – it was a great day out! We were with FMZ when this new cache was placed, so we are not claiming as a FTF. TFTC!

We accompanied the CO on a FTF attempt of a new cache publication as well as a maintenance run. While in the area the CO placed a number of new caches so we took the opportunity to sign the log book.

We had a great day in brilliant sunshine travelling up Muriwai Beach with FMZ, Phasevisitor, Lostcourse and Mike-Miss. TFTC.

Was with the CO on placement so not claiming as a FTF.

Spent the day up Muriwai Beach with FMZ, Phasevisitor, Lostcourse and rosmar. Awesome weather and great company which turned out to be an epic little adventure!!

We spent the day with mike-miss, FMZ, Rosmar and Lostcourse heading up Muriwai Beach in 4WDs to the Kaipara Harbour entrance, then back again. We searched for existing caches as we went and followed FMZ around as he placed new caches – it was a great day out! We were with FMZ when this new cache was placed, so we are not claiming as a FTF. TFTC!

Not claiming FTF, as was present on placement.

An awesome trip up Muriwai beach was had on a fine winter's day. This hide comes with a solid walk inland over some interesting vegetation. I certainly enjoyed it. A great place to come find one's self!