Smithy's Island (Coromandel) Coromandel, North Island, New Zealand
By spiderhouse on 17-Aug-13. Waypoint GC4K2J5

4-week family trip through NZ - Find #26!My son ChrisAngel99 and I walked over from our cottage in Oamaru Bay to search this cache. We searched for a while among the trees until the GPS finally decided to point to one specific spot. Then we found the cache there .TNLN, TFTC!

After a drive from Whangarei to Coromandel during our family trip to New Zealand, we decided to explore this beautiful coast by doing this cache. After searching for a minute, my dad baer2006 found it. TFTC!

Once you find the right way down, it's a quick and easy find. After all, it is a bright red container! Beautiful spot. Tftc

Thanks for the cache and greetings from Czechia.

This was my Second attempt trying to find this ( my first go at geo-caching was with 'mouse in flight' at this spot a couple of days prior) reading through previous logs was a help. It became clear after finding some other GCs what I was looking for. Thanks to the cache owner.

We're really hoping to find it, lots of looking in the base of the two fallen Pohutukawas but no luck. If it's shoulder height is that while standing on the beach looking back to shore?

Lovely sneaky track down.
Made this one harder than it needed to be. Focused on the wrong place.
Merlot turned around and spied something.

We made this a lot harder than we needed to! We found the track down to the beach and started our search but for some silly reason we focussed our search higher than we needed to. After a fruitless 5 minutes I stood back and scanned the area and something caught my eye, yes, sure enough it was the cache’s sneaky hide.

Checked on cache. Access is maintained by someone unknown. Thanks. Cache is in place and dry.

The biggest task was to locate a way down ... So when I reach the beach it was quick a find.
No problems at all even in high tide.
Cache container and the logbook in a very good condition.
TFTC

Mission to get the kids out of the house during our school holiday vaca, so have a few GCs on our list between Coro and papa Aroha.
Got a bit side tracked by the trampled area at the gz. Nearly gave up but sat down on the beach enjoying the view and reading through the past records, till we found the vital info from the cache owner.
Got it! 2/2 so far
Tftc

We weren’t too hopeful considering all the dnf’s over the last few years. Found safe, dry and well after a short hunt. Epic spot. Tftc

No luck here. I suspect the cache is more covered in cutty crass than we cared to explore (although we were here for about 15 minutes).

Taybeedragon and I went on a tour of the Coromandel - one of the few places of New Zealand, especially of Te ika a Maui, that I have yet to explore throughly, and from there along the coast to Opotiki to see one of my many, many sisters. From 18 December to 5 January we found over 400 caches, including 12 adventure labs, 20 or so TMGTs and a host of virtuals and earthcaches. And I hosted an event to see the sun come up on New Year's day - surprisingly popular given that it was at 5am. We climbed a lot of hills, saw some amazing beaches that were quite popular despite (or because of) the insane access to them, walk and lot of bush, entered and explored 8 gold mines and generally had an awesome time. However I am glad to be back, but now is the hard part, and I fear it will take just as long - logging!

Sorry to log a DNF on this one we will be back log by gsak

Having a rare weekend off plus no work today, KrystalKath, Tama & I have headed to the Coromandel for the duration, staying at Simpson’s Beach out of Whitianga.
Today we’ve left the caravan and driving to Fletcher Bay - a part of NZ neither of us have previously visited. The weather forecast is not particularly good but in actual fact the day is stunning, cloudless sky and no wind.

This is why I 'Write note' as I travel around geocaching. We spent a bit of time here and I took a few photos. But in this case I didn’t write a note.
And I have no recollection of finding the cache.

**Ahh, I remember now... I definitely DNF’d this cache.** KK was concerned for my safety and wouldn’t let me search properly. Lovely nearby beach. Thanks for the placement.

We both remembered the movie and Mrs Tparty had the “aha” moment when she saw the island. I can’t remember what movie I saw yesterday let alone one I saw 20 years ago. Still, I have learnt to nod and say “yes dear”. TFTC

Dropped by on a maintenance run, otherwise called a fishing trip. The coast has had a hammering lately, but the cache is there and accessible.

All sound, waiting to be found.

Spiderhouse

Nope couldn’t see it

Thanks Guys. We were mounting a maintenance trip to check on this one. This is our most distant cache and while difficult to maintain from Rotorua, is always good for a fishing fix.

Spiderhouse

A group of us were heading up to Port Jackson for a bit of a gathering so in the company of Kiwis69, HKCB & 11HPG11 this was our first stop on the trip north with an aim at some truly memorable caches and lots of laughs. All Logs signed as "HOAC" to save on space

I ended the weekend with a total of 50 caches, a FTF, and approx 10 years of lonely caches (predominantly all located above Coromandel township). A 600km round trip and back home in 42 hours, so not a bad little haul, of course remembering that the first casualty of a well laid plan is "The Plan". We also located a great number of caches that had supposedly been DNF'ed over the last several visits, so that is always a bonus and a great thing to be able to let the various CO's know.

Pulling into the stopping location and opening the doors we were greeted with a scent of Odure de Toilet (with a hint of Old Billy Goat). Once in the right area, and no need to get wet feet, HKCB quickly had this one in hand folowed by a quick retreat to the car and on to the next one

A special thanks to all the CO's for whom without this trip would not have been possible.
Thanks for the placement, Thanks for the cache

Joined in on the fun with 11HPG11 and Cats&Dragons on a overnighter at Port Jackson. Kiwis69 also joined the crew on the Saturday to find a few caches. The whole weekend was a blast, and a lot of fun was had. The logs were all signed as "HOAC" to save space on the logbook.

Over the two days we ended up have a whirlwind tour of the upper half of the Coromandel, and thoroughly enjoyed the whole trip. A big thanks to all the CO's for being our tour guide/s over the weekend. A truly unforgettable trip.

Another drop point from the local hunters, however a bit further from the cache this time. Took a few moments to locate this cache and we didn't even get the feet wet. Thanks for the hide.

Didn’t want to miss out on the fun so joined my caching buddies for the first part of their latest adventure today: their final destination is Port Jackson for a camping weekend, whereas I need to get to Whanga so I’m taking a slightly indirect route via Colville! Our group consisted of HKCB, Cats&Dragons, 11hpg11 and myself with logs signed as HOAC to save room. Had an amazing day exploring this coast and also became very aware of the impact of Mother Nature’s recent storms & king tides - kudos to all the locals for their clear-up efforts.

Headed onto here after a caffeine fix and a few caches around Coromandel town. Thankfully Id already eaten breakfast - the smell from someone recently dumping at the car stop was quite something! Headed down the path & trusted my GPS which had me searching a bit too soon. HKCB was checking out much closer to the shore line & then, just as I realised from reading the past logs that he was likely in the right spot, heard the shout of a successful find. Neat spot. Really impressed that this survived the recent storms & king tides, thanks for bringing us here. TFTC

A few of us were heading to Port Jackson for a spot of 'summer' camping. So an early morning start meant we could collect some caches on the way up. Our group consisted of Kiwis69, HKCB, Cats&Dragons and myself. Logs were signed as HOAC to save room.

All up we had a whirlwind tour of the Coromandel and saw some amazing sights. Plus a few boxes here and there of course. It was interesting to see how the storm and king tides had changed certain spots and we were treated to some spectacular thunder storms rolling in from Great Barrier. The camping was an experience, wet, full of laughs, and a great time. Thanks to the cache owners for showing us round the Coromandel and giving us a reason to get out and about.

After the recent storms and high tides we were a little uncertain about some of these coastal hides, but most have survived the storms so far. A lot of interesting debris washed up and at this spot also dumped, the eau de fishguts and goat was rather ripe in spots. 3 of us started looking in the wrong spot but luckily HKCB picked the right hint item and the cache was soon found.

??? a lot of damage to the area

Our gps led us a bit astray went further away from beach than we needed to. Bit if research and cache in hand. Beautiful day and views tftc.

Quick find, GPS played ball. TFTC.

Cache number 3464 and day 93 of my current streak. After spending a night in Paeroa I came up for the CITO and to gather a few caches. As I drove past I had a mental picture of where cache would be. Parked up and made my way back. This turned out not to be GZ and I had to descend to the water. Back to the car and locked it. I made my way down the path and as the tide was out there was plenty of room to get to the actually GZ. Even so I tried a few places before I finally got my hand on the cache. Once returned I stood there and enjoyed the view of the island before heading back up to the car. Thank you for the placement.

We had planned a big weekend with 6 of us travelling the Coromandel area and logging caches as team BOP. Found many great spots, several caches we replaced wet log sheets and others missing for some time. Lots of km's travelled on tarseal, gravel and some not so good roads. Lots of rained showers seemed to plague us on the first day. SLTFTC

On a road trip with some mad cachers and having a great time - Coromandel was our base so this cache was not far and some of us went back for it. Parked up and went down the track ( the hard way I think) it took a little while to get to the cache - lucky we had a few hunting. Lovely spot and reminded me that I need to talk to a cousin who lives in Coromanadel and owns a boat TFTC

Found as part of Team BOP what an action packed weekend we had on the Coromandel. Starting at 5am in Rotorua and finishing well into the night on Saturday staying the night at the Holiday park then we were up early and away again finishing back in Rotorua at about 1030pm.
Thanks for all the caches.

With Gap (of Fap and Gap), (Mr) Davidson clan, NZFlossy, TNXPro, and Philip.Perry… This is the first time we have cache overnight together. What an adventure… We group signed as Team BOP for efficiency and expediency.

We visited so many beautiful and remote locations on the Coromandel Peninsula. Many of these areas deserved to be hosts to caches. However, we encountered several that needed owner maintenance. Wet logbooks seemed to be far too common (We’ve had a lot of rain). Oftentimes, a sodden logbook was stuffed back into the container with a new, bagged logbook alongside (What's up with that?). And then there were some caches that were quite obviously missing (and have been for a while)… Nevertheless, a huge thank you to all of the COs for bringing us to these amazing places… We are determined to return and explore some more.

This one gave us a bit of grief as we tried to find the 'safest' approach. It took us a while to sort out how to get there with a myriad tree branches everywhere. Finally, Gap got the breakthrough, and we were back up the slippery slope and on our way. TFTC.

Team BOP descended upon the Coromandel to search out as many caches as possible in the two days allocated.
As we were caching in a team of two vehicles, we didnt always cache together and unfortunately I missed visiting this location. The team name was signed in the log, but I would rather visit each location to experience these beautiful spots, so have put this on the to-do list next visit.

2.15pm. Wondered what was ahead for this one but it turned out to be a simple walk and find. The path down from the road is easy being mainly steps. The a few paces on the sand (at low tide for me) and followed the GPS up to the hidey hole. Our last one on this Coromandel trip.
Thank you. David.

Checked cache after two DNFs. Yes. A large Pohutukawa tree has fallen right on GZ, but the cache is still there, safe and sound, undamaged and dry. The path down has been repaired by some kind fisherman. The cache can be approached from the road or from the sea by boat. It is right on the tide line and about shoulder height, in the original tree.

Given that GZ should now be approached from the lower side, a high tide may present a problem with wet feet. So, we have upped the Terrain by one point. The arthritic geriatric old Mr Spiderhouse can get down the bank. Just look for a post marking the track down to the beach.

A huge pohutakawa tree has fallen down the bank.

We're visiting from Florida, USA. That was great fun. No luck today. Downed trees to contend with. Thanks for placing the cache.

Given the relevance of the name - we had to find this one - even in the rain! TFTC

Harder to find than expected. Might get wet feet at high tide.

On our twentyforth day in New Zealand we traveled from Coromandel to Paihia. It was a very nice drive along the coast.
After er received your kind message we just had to go once more to this cache site. The weather was overcast and so the bay looked quite different. The box this time was a quick find and we asked ourselves why we didn't see it yesterday. Leave a fav point here for nice location and even more support.
TFTC and greetings from Switzerland

Searched for quite a while. GPS First jumping but then always directed to some plants. Looked but didn't want to dig deeper into them.

Really a nice island <3 Thanks for this great stop Cache is in a good condition. Thanks!

Another great find on a geocaching holiday in the area.
Thanks for setting up this cache.

Took a bit of searching to get this one found. SL TFTC

Be back another time

Every day we are traveling around is same but also different. Today we had again the pleasure to visit some very beautiful spots and were also able to find nearly placed geocaches. I thank every single owner for placing it and giving us with doing this an other good reason to come here.

Mallorcatommy and I were travelling through the northern island of New Zealand. What an amazing, breath-taking landscape! On our way we did some nice walks, enjoyed ourselves and found great geocaches. Thanks to all owners for nice hiding spots... We wouldn't have been to a few places without these little boxes!


Thank you!

Checked cache today. All good. Thanks to those cachers who have found it and awarded FAV's.

Found this one on the way home from a week up at Stony bay. I have looked for this one before
but missed finding it and on the way to Stony Bay was ready to stop but had to give it a miss
because the Tree fellers were cleaning up a fallen tree were you park your car so a week
later it was found. TFTC

We've kayaked around from Long Bay, stopping at Callaway House (the small one) on the way. We pulled in at Oamaru Bay, unsure of access, and walked along the road. Realised that coords don't show the vertical story and soon found the cache. We signed the log, but had left the few bits of swag we had brought with us back at the kayak, so we walked back and kayaked around to this lovely little bay- what we should have done in the first place. We left a rubber ducky, then kayaked on to the next few bays before returning, taking in a good close view of the island.
It is only now that we are home and I am logging our holiday finds that I have read the whole cache page. All interesting stuff, especially to Steed who has seen the film several times. The great day kayaking, fun cache and interesting page add up to a fav from us. Thanks.

#1970 A bit slippery. TFTC

Too many beach muggles. I'll have to come back for this one.

A nice secluded beach with lovely views of Smithy’s Island, unfortunately we have never watched the movie or read the book, many thanks for showing us this idyllic island location.

2nd to last find for year

Almost 5 years ago we were last here when my (now) husband proposed to me and i said yes

We quickly found the access track, but took a while to find the sneakily hidden cache, although it was obvious once we were near it. A lovely wee beach sheltered from the horrible wind. TFTC

So, apart from attending a meeting in Thames our reason for coming up here was to check out our cache after two DNF"s. So Mr S trotted down there while Mrs S waited to see what would be required.

Nothing as it turned out. Everything is as it should be and cache is in it's hiding place waiting to be found.

After two DNFs, it looks like we need to check on the cache and maybe do some maintenance.

We will be there soon, but in the meantime, if anyone does take a look and not find, send us a message to describe where you think it should be and if a camera is available, take a picture.

Spiderhouse

A DNF for me today found the path down but no luck today

Not found today.

We found this cache during our wonderful journey through New Zealand. Thank you for the cache and the great time in your country! Greetings from Germany.

Found in the end. Have stayed on the island a few times as my first boss had a third share of the lease way back 30 years ago

Found It, TFTC

Nice easy find. Walked straight to it. Feeling rather jealous of the people who live on the awesome house on smithys island.

On our way to the Caravan for the weekend on the Coromandel. Had time today to stop and explore this area. Took a wee while to locate, but got there in the end. Nice spot. SL. TFTC.

Gorgeous tiny beach with a fabulous view thanks for the info and the Cache

2nd find of the day. We were going to look for this the day before but it was raining, glad we waited

I was about to abandon this cache before finding a small set of stairs going down to the water. Very interesting history, and I got a clear view of the island today. TFTC

Came here this morning while exploring in the area. Parked the vehicle at the highest point and walked along the road - I soon spied the correct access route. Found the cache after a short search in about the fourth place checked. Signed log, TFTC!

On a road trip around the Corommandel over a few days caching along the way. nice quick find as we travel by. What a beautiful spot and lovely little island. Thanks for bringing us here. TFTC

Cyclone Lusi is making herself known and we had to give up fishing. So, landed near the cache to check it out.

All happy, well hidden and waiting to be found.

Got the whole family looking but still couldn't find!! Must be a clever spot!

Had a swim at Oamaru bay then did this cache.
Great spot for a cache and great hiding spot.
TFTC

This was my last find today and what a beauty it was too. Parked up top and took the little steep path down to the idyllic beach which I had to myself this afternoon. Loved the views to the island and the history of the film which you have posted here.
Once GPS settled I made the find.
Thanks spiderhouse

Fast found after the muggle lady went swimming. TFTC

Nice little bay here. Smithy's Island was having it's lawns industrially mown! TFTC!

Took a bit of searching for this one, should have trusted the GPS TFTC.

Going to the tip of Coro Pen and got this on the way tftc and view.

To NFA and the Pirate.

Currently staying in Top Ten Shelly Beach Motor camp. If you are still nearby, drop in and we can watch the movie together. Going back to Rotorua 26/08.

wow. Had a first to find with No Fixed Aboder. This is a good hide and a great spot.
The rain had stopped and the sun was out. It made our day. TFTC

Joint FTF!!! Thank you for the history lesson on the island. Have not seen the film but if I do will know exactly where it was filmed. I also know exactly where the cache is hidden too. Many thanks for the placement on the beautiful Coromandel coast.

Dropped TB. This is an FTF Geocoin and should be used for new caches.

Published