The Communities Church (Karamea, WestCoast) Karamea, South Island, New Zealand
By weenz on 18-Aug-13. Waypoint GC4K59J

Unable to maintain this cache. Sorry ??

Dnf

No luck

Back again after a few years, but the same luck. Not wanting to crawl underneath, and there was a layer of new grass laid out. Nemesis.

On a Motorhome trip with a group of friends. Having a good look and cycle on the west coast. We love Karamea.This on had us stumped. Even got hubby under the church !

A shame we couldnt find this. Had 4 looking and one got right under and stood up looked all over to no avail. Bugger.

Easy

Could not find it

Second time successful! Would be a tricky reach for some, but a bit easier if you've got a kid that will climb under to find it!

Spending the night in karamea for work so just had to stretch the legs at the end of the day...didnt get to dirty having long arms helps tftc

Crawled under that hoe and found it. Absolute grind

A tough find for us newbies. We weren't successful this time, even with two boys crawling around under the building trying to find. We hope to try again another time.

Heading on a wee family summers holiday.
Reefton done, now time for a few nights in Carters Beach.
Today's adventure was to head up to the Oparara basin and check out the arches and walks. Fun over, time to head back to Carters Beach. Stopped here, checked all corners that I could reach, had a good ferret around...no luck.

FITW Harisree

In this area for work.

Grabbing few while in this area

TFTC

FITW Albijos

Yet another work and caching trip for us.
GPS took us to the wrong corner first. Then checked at another corner and Albi managed to grab it with a long stretch. TFTC.

Found this one while on a holiday away from our home in Whangamata. TFTC

Decided to ride the bike to the information centre to get some info on the walks in the area. Happened to stop at the sculpture and read the info boards before going to the church to search. Was committed to finding this one and soon located it. TFTC

Just finished a week's tramping and fishing trip and getting a few caches on the way home. Tftc

Bouncing GPS & short arms - I gave up.

Yay, found with a bit of effort as the trees & building play havoc with GPS!

Needed to be a little more committed than just a big stretch. TFTC

To complete a challenge I had set myself, I wanted to get a few caches with higher difficulty ratings before the year ended. I did wonder about the reason for the higher rating so I did some research that I don't usually do and came suitably prepared. It wasn't the easiest of caching missions for an older guy but I got it completed without too much bother.

Found with Madcow2 and Mumandme. Didn't take long to find this one. Madcow2 did the hard work to retrieve the cache.. TFTC

Found with madcow2 and victoriousone - tftc

Nice quick find on an after dinner constitutional walk

What a challenge this one was managed to spot the cache and sign the log. Thank you for the cache

Found on a wet and dull day. Tricky one to get at. TFTC

Quick walk while staying nearby. Cows crossing the road were more interested in us than the farmer was. Kia ora for the cache.

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.

Having read some of the previous logs I wasn’t really in the mood for “crawling under”. Fortunately it was a nice day and the ground was reasonably dry (despite being mid-winter), so I used the board and did what I needed to do to give me the chance to locate the cache. Spotted it more-or-less straightaway, more quickly than I expected! #4150. TFTC.

After a day out at Oparara, I decided to have a walk between rain showers to collect a couple of caches near the hotel we were staying. I was wondering about the D rating on this one, but once I arrived at GZ guessed what I would be in for. The ground was very wet but managed to get down far enough to see a few spots without success. So in the end (and with the help of a dry board which was left under) there was no other way - I was going in, which is what I did. No problems finding the cache now but incurred a cleaning bill. Thanks for the challenging cache.

TFTC found but had to reach way up nice place

A late log due to random travels and random coverage. Quick and easy find.TFTC

found after reading previous logs and then reaching high up. tftc

Nice quick find after stopping off to admire the statute. Tftc with isistibisi

Quick find after an awesome day exploring the Oparara Basin. Tftc with jakesrage

Crawled around but DNF

Came back after several months and once again no luck so will have to come back again with Tokerau

Did the lying down trick like a previous finder. Tftc

Thanks weenz for placing this cache and capperz for replacing it

It was thankfully nice and dry under there, lovely grass to lay down on and use my long arms...
TNLNSL TFTC

No maintenance required as Capperz placed a new cache. Thanks

Bit trickier to get to.

Seems like it was replaced, as the log had only three names in it. I had to crawl under to find it... Under and up, yes, there it was

We came back the next day and found it. Its more under and up rather than up and under.

Found with richargr. Not an easy cache to find. Hopefully no one was watching as 3 of us were on our hands and knees. TFTC

I think this cache is no longer there

A wee bit of a lie down, stretch and grab but it's there and in good condition. Cheers

More cows than caches for me.

Knelt down, head under, looked in several corners but saw nothing. Don't really feel comfortable with these intrusive caches, and this one doesn't seem to have permission. Much better to put them away from the building. The wet knees aren't so great either! But the cows are gorgeous... a lot of Jerseys on the West Coast. The dairy factory here lasted a hundred years but is now closed. It was a bit of a shock to us to find that the milk is taken right down to Hokitika now - and the locals aren't happy that the company has now been sold to China...

Replaced by Capperz. I felt he looked a bit dodgy hanging around the back of the church. When we drove back about an hour or so later the place was busy. Timing is everything. TFTC weenz.

Day 3 of 3 day trip for Capperz and I with the overall goal of dropping off some keen bikers at the Heaphy track start near Collingwood and not failing to pick them up late on Sunday morning at the finish north of Karamea.
We had one job then, and happy to say we did it.
On the way, of course, we found some caches.......

Seddonville and north was the goal today. We had to pick up the riders at about 11am, so we packed up early and got on the road around 6.30 ish. First cache was just past where we left off last time we were here, and they kept coming.
A couple of fails, some caches past their best as well unfortunately, and a side trip to a cache that we discovered too late was just out of reach.
All good though, some good fun and we got there right on time.
Logs signed capric, or sometimes longer forms on the same theme.
A long drive back to Blenheim with no caching on the agenda.
TFTC to all the COs.

As the last number of logs have been DNFs I came with a replacement and (re)placed it as per the hint. All good here now.

Today is the third and final day of our East to West Coast Heaphy track caching challenge. We were requested to be at Kohaihai bridge for around 11AM so an early start was just the thing for leaving Seddonville camp site. We were on the road around 0630 and got to the track end at around 1100 so just what the doctor ordered. 3 of the riders were back already, and the other 2 arrived a short while after we got there and were heading for the new one at the swing bridge. For our journey today we managed 25 caches so made good use of what was available, as well as a couple of DNFs and a nearly trip to Big Rimu which turned out to be a bit too far with the time we had. We also solved a Multi but had a smidge of doubt so didn't head to the final. Turns out it was probably right anyway, oh well.
The weather started with a bit of rain which turned to drizzle which disappeared and was replaced by a warm yellow type of weather, ahh the West Coast at it's best.

This weekend I've offered up my services as a getaway driver. Nothing as dramatic as a criminal bank robbers assistant, more a chance for a group of work colleagues and associates to get away to do the Heaphy Track on their bikes. Ably assisted by ricardinho.nz as a co-pilot and driver of the geocache seeking devices utilising the route which I'd done a full and comprehensive list of before departing. The plan was fairly simple; early finish Friday arvo and take them over from Woodbourne to the Collingwood/Brown's Hut end of the Heaphy and collect them from Kohaihai bridge end late on Sunday morning. A late start on the Friday to get underway as a result of a delayed ferry arrival had us around 30-40 minutes late getting on the road and some fluffing in Motueka for dinner added enough minutes on to mean that we got to the track end on dark, and never got to the digs in Motueka until around 8.45 PM. There was still some time for a bit of 'in the dark' caching where I got 3 finds before hitting the sack, after a couple of refreshments, and a conversation with an aggressive illustrator from Wellington.
Day 2 yielded around 45 caches and some great scenery and sights up at the old mining and rail sites up above Denniston and Millerton. A real good West Coast caching day.

No luck, looks like it is missing

This geocacher reported that the cache might be missing.

Wiggled around under some corners but no luck today.

Looked under every corner with no luck!

No luck here today.

This geocacher reported that the cache might be missing.

Na, to hard to get for me:(

Cache had fallen down, so a quick find here. Rehide

Today we had our second day in Karamea and again made a trip in and around the city, with special emphasis on the Oparara basin. On this trip we searched, found and logged many caches, too. The weather was good, sunny, very warm, only a bit cloudy, and only sometimes there was some wind.
Almost no muggels observed us as they had better things to do than observing two geocachers.

Thanks to weenz for showing us this location and for the fun we had at The Communities Church (Karamea, WestCoast). The search we had here today didn't take too much time.

Greetings from Germany and hope to see you soon in the forest.

TFTC says H_M_A @ 19. Oktober 2018 @ 15:49 Uhr @ [#12055](https://coord.info/GC4K59J)

Was an amusing cache as I got to watch my 6 foot plus hubby roll round on his back on the ground half under a church - was so pleased that the area was mostly deserted else we would have looked quite a sight !!! after his wriggles to find it - they were repeated to get it back in place - log signed and hubby completely brushed down we exited the church yard - thanks for the cache and the laugh

Tried one spot not there it must be so lets get down there and look nope not there mmm lets try over there yes found it did all the necessary but couldn't get it back in place so lets get down and see where i need to put . Right all back in place but must have looked a little strange with a couple walking out from behind the church with one getting brushed down!! Oh well get that in the big jobs, TFTC )

The Seagnoid, Zara, Toby and I are on another 4 day exploration of the Upper West Coast.
Saturday is Westport to Karamea and the Oparara Valley. With the Oparara Valley walkway bagged its time to return to Zara for some well earned ZZZs but still some daylight left on our return journey.
A quick snag and tag here on our way past. Cheers Just as well we did it today. Lots of muggles here when we past on Sunday.

@17:45; TFTC

After finishing the Heaphy Track today, I spent the night in Karamea and took a look for a few caches while in town. A nice quick find while walking past, but a bit tricky to reach. TFTC!

You need to stick your head in to sight this cache. Hubby found it by looking in, across and up. Might be the odd spider. Tftc

As the coordinates didn't really fit with any corners, we had to try a few. We found it impossible to find the cache without having at least our heads poked underneath, and even then it was difficult to reach it, but we did manage. Our coordinates were S41 14.972 E172 07.383. TFTC

Found only the key of the church

Seeing that this is to be my penultimate day in Karamea I thought it was time to sign off a few caches near the town.

The ground was a little damp.

Cheers for the cache.

Found after trying a couple of different corners. Week day evening so nobody around. Thanks to all cache owners for taking the time to place and maintain your caches. BJ25. Find # 1535

TFTC. Was hard to find. Had to get on the ground and reach for it. Was in a different corner to where the GPS took us. Lovely little church

Not just a feel and grab, had to go well under to find this one. tftc

Found with StreetWalker on our week long post Christmas trip to Reefton and the West Coast. Day 5: Karamea and Oparara area.
Luckily for us, all quiet at GZ so SW was volunteered to do the deed . First place looked in wasn't a goer, but the second was. Thank goodness it hasn't rained here in some time and the ground was bone dry, else we may not have bothered. TFTC.

#15074. We had a bit of trouble with this one. In the end, I took the "car mechanic" approach (the ground is pretty clean) and spotted the cache quite easily once I was in position. The cache was handed to Troodles for log signing, and then I replaced it and wormed my way out. TFTC.

Grovelled around and looked.

Don't found. But we found the key from the Church

Found whilst on a wonderful 3 week tour of this beautiful country. Many thanks to the COs for placing caches in great spots to visit and make our holiday even more special.
Spotted this from opposite side.

This one is just a bit too hard other than climbing under neath. Another day.

GPS suggested in wrong corner.Agree with previous cacher hard to reach.

Found hard to reach

Nice find. Tftc

Very late logging ... Found with Mporokosa. TFTC.

Chocochunk decided to be gallant and make the grab after I spotted the cache. Thankfully it wasn't raining, otherwise we probably wouldn't have bothered. TFTC.

Easy grab after crawling. Where's the next laundry?!

Easy find once we found the right corner. Coords were 9 metres off on my gps. TFTC

Tftc

Another find in Karamea with the aid of fellow cacher cah 60

Does seem to be impossible to reach even if you are lying on the ground in the mud

Too hard to reach!

We spuddled about in the mud but could not reach. Couldn't see it with my phone camera either. Thought about coming back with chainsaw and scaffolding but hey life's just too short

Nice to see community church. Why locate the cache out of reach. Scrabbled on wet ground with mess on clothing. Sorry no find. Tftc.

TFTC tricky spot one of the kids got it out for us

Found today after tramp on the Heaphy and before flying back to Welly. Enjoyed the night in Karamea. Thanks for the cache.

This took awhile and getting down and dirty
Tftc

That was a little more adventure and scramble for a park and grab. On my stomach to find this in the rain. Was dry to sign however. Took the trackable. Tftc

Great find!

On a West Coast adventure....TFTC
Took a TB and left one too.

We checked the wrong area carefully before moving and finding the cache. Like others, it was a hide we expected and also involved a degree of dexterity. We left a trackable as it should be safe here.
Thanks.

Tftc

We have just finshed our epic little ride of the Heaphy track, when... when... when the guy who comes to pick us up says : Right, just need to stop in here for fuel - to find that the garage had closed only half an hour ago, this being Sunday. So we camped out at the Last Resort Cafe, chatting to the local, waiting for the AA man to come out with $10 worth of fuel, enough for us to get to Westport. So naturally, while we are waiting, I used the last bit of battery to get the local caches, and went for a walk.
Exactly the kind of hide I was expecting but more wriggle than average required to find just where it was!

tftc