The Almost Island (Manawatu) Ashhurst, North Island, New Zealand
By the Seagnoid on 04-Dec-13. Waypoint GC4TWQ9

When I first discovered this place the river was between the almost island and hte shore, and you had to wade waist deep to get there. Then the river moved to the other side of the island - that was when the cache was placed. You could get to the cache without getting your feet wet. Since then I heard that the river was back, and wading was needed to get to the cache. Now a huge causeway has been built. Half the island hasa been washed away, and where the tree stood - where the little forest was that held the cache, is now river! Of the north end of the almost island there is no sign at all, no evidence that it once stood here. No way to resurrect this cache.

Slow cross country journey to Whanganui for work. Caching today in Ashhurst. This seemed like a popular walk with lots of dogs taking their owners for a stroll.
The GPS would have had me swimming. I think the Almost Island cache is Almost certainly a River cache now.

Did it wash away in the flood? The riverscape has completely changed.

Like the last log our GPS put us in the river tree's lying in river.

Things here don't bear any relationship to the satellite view on GE. Now a desolate landscape of gravel and caterpillar tracks after the grader has been through. Most trees are gone. Those that remain have missing limbs.

My GPS suggested I should swim 15 metres out into the river, but I wasn't up for that today. Is the cache somewhere down stream I wonder.

(I apologize for the late log but the date is still accurate, time got away from me)
Found today with TwigNZ while we were in the area attending a CITO. TwigNZ and I had no trouble locating the cache and signing the log. Thanks for the cache, especially because I got to climb a tree.

Well that was an interesting start to the weekend! Having already committed to attending this CITO today with my lad, I was also hoping that it would be a chance to grab a few more caches in and around Ashhurst that I hadn't previously gotten.

Having completed the CITO, and a good Geo-chat with the other attendees afterwards, we all went our separate ways. In my mind, I wanted to have another attempt at this cache as last time I was here back in November I came down to the river but the water level was far too high and I would have gotten very wet. Today I came prepared, with appropriate footwear, a towel and a change of clothing if needed, but as it turned out it was all overkill as the water level in the river was significantly lower than last time so it was really no trouble to hop skip and jump our way over to the 'almost island'.

And then of course we came to the really good bit! The lad and I are really quite partial to a good tree climb. My TOTT always is keenest to get up there first, but I wasn't far behind and soon we both ended up being perched in the branches together like a couple of ungainly Kereru whilst the log book got signed and a few photos were taken.

Thanks for placing this fun cache for us to enjoy. This definitely gets a FP just for the grin factor alone!

Found and 65 year old hubby climbed up to sign log, driving around the North Island while touring around from Australia.. TFTC

Cache cleaned, rejigged and good to go!

My GPS had me at a certain place. Maybe I didn't climb high enough. Will try again with someone more agile!

Waw ! This one is awesome ! Yes it's a bit higher lol

Found

It was the hardest one yet

OK should have read the logs and the terrain prior to forewarn ourselves but we did manage to retrieve and sign it. Tftc

Found while on a caching trip to the area. TFTC

I couldn't see the cache to start with, but started heading up anyway. Finally came across it. TFTC

#7617. Teamed up with Yeetrees to do some caching on a sunny Sunday in Ashhurst. We parked off Napier Road and had a good wander through the Domain.

The Pohangina River was fairly low today and no problem keeping the feet dry to get onto the Almost Island. The crossing was fairly uneventful and it was all quiet when we arrived on the “island”. Once at GZ, Yeetrees soon spotted the cache and had it retrieved a short time afterwards. The cache was in excellent condition, all nice and dry inside. Took nothing, left nothing, signed log.

.T h a n k s. .f o r. .t h e. .c a c h e.

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**For information on the New Zealand Geocaching Adventure being held in Turangi in October 2016, go to...**
* [New Zealand Geocaching Adventure 2016](http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC63PZN)
* [2016 New Zealand Geocaching Adventure](http://www.nzgeocachingadventure.nz)

Scoria and I went looking for this one and scoria draw the short straw for retrieval

Found with DDT-T42-24T. Just couldn't see it until we read the logs and stood back for a better view.
Bit higher than I thought but an easy climb once you get over the first step. Signed the log for both of us rather than both act like monkeys.

Went off for an afternoon caching session with the aim of a paddle in the river & to visit an area on a glorious New Years Day which was full of caching.

Kids knocked this one off easy peasy considering they're skilled climbers. Mini Swiss was peeved we wouldn't help her up but our motto is you have to be able to climb up by yourself. If you can't reach it's too hard for you. We stood on the ground and took photo's although I was gutted afterwards I didn't give it a climb too.

Great to join forces with haydn.seek and the CO on this perfect geocaching day and finally complete this cache. Some of us have gained some wisdom with age and know when not to push our luck, and had consequently not been able to retrieve this cache previously. The kind offer of the CO to assist in that respect was gratefully accepted. Haydn.seek's knee and Mr G's shoulder also played their part! A 'highly' successful mission!
Thank you the Seagnoid for the cache, and for the retrieval.

At this point we were a party of 4, and the flooding had changed the approached, but we managed to find an entrance and a sort of path to follow to get to the 'almost island' and then tackle the elevation. With a tiny bit of assistance at the start our 'hero' was able to approach the distant cache. Thank you to OUR HERO! much appreciated.

Nice and easy find on a very nice sunny hot boxing day, very quiet here I think they had all gone to town for boxing day specials. tftc sl.

Geodatum wasn't kidding!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/72472267/flood-damage-compounded-at-ashhurst

Last cache for the day around Ashhurst and as it was on the island I hid the MTBike in the scrub and following the least muddy parts to the island. Got to GZ and begun the climb but muddy MTB shoes were not the best for this task and as I am not as agile as I used to be I flagged this cache. Pleased to see others have climbed to those lofty heights.

The Pohangina River was in flood mid week and has endeavoured to come back towards the old course the CO mentions. Consequently, access from either of the suggested parking places is not possible at the moment as both areas have had large parts of the track washed away. Access is possible from the track that goes down the terrace from behind the camping ground and around past the wetland.

This entry was edited by geodatum on Wednesday, 30 September 2015 at 11:50:08 UTC.

This was 2 of 4 found today. It was a straight forward walk to GZ only to find that my gumboots wouldn't be as helpful in obtaining the cache, nor would Master 9mo strapped to my back. It was as speedy a scramble as I dared to sign the log before returning to my son who would've led any geocacher straight to us with his vocal indignation at being left to look after my phone and keys. I felt rather isolated on the Almost Island so was grateful to be back on the "Mainland". Glad to finally have this ticked off. TFTC

This was a great place to walk the dog... but I should have worn gumboots because of all the mud encountered while crossing where the river recently flowed in the floods - it really was an island for a few weeks!
Deserves a favourite point for the scenic cache location
TNLNSL.

Found the cache OK today, but will need to come back again sometime with someone more agile than us so we can retrieve it. Nice to explore another new area.

out doing some maintenance on one of my caches nearby in the Domain, and trying to figure out what to tick off a Dot-Day with.
Despite having 3YO-EtherMaster and 5YO-EtherMiss1 with me (while EtherLady and 3dayO-EtherMiss2 stayed home), this one seemed to fit the bill.

We all scrambled down the bank from the track entry near "Dog-legged Radiata" and walked through the bush towards the river, eventually taking the service road till the needle on the GPS started to swing. We finally found an access point to get down onto the river bed and made our way towards GZ (taking a few wrong 4x4 trails till we got the right one).
Once at GZ, I managed to spot the cache fairly quickly and unloaded my pockets (wallet, cellphone, keys, etc) to EtherMiss1 so I wouldn't lose them. This was a shame as the view to them while signing the logbook would have been a good photo
Clambering to the cache in shoes with tread filled with mud from the trek in was a little un-nerving, but it was very satisfying to claim this smily!
+FP for the attribute

For anyone walking/biking to GZ, attached is the coords of the 'exit' that we took off the service road. It is(/was) a 4WD access road to the river bed but a tree has fallen across it. If you are happy clambering over some smallish branches (max 15cm diameter?), the this exit will lead you right to the entrance to GZ.

We sent hayleyhnz and hannahhnz up to get the cache. Hayley made it all the way, but she couldn't get the lid off, so I had to go up and open the cache.
Thanks.

After being unable to reach the cache on a previous visit, we returned today with some younger and more agile family members. We did wonder if after the recent rain, it might actually be an island, but access was ok. Granddaughter Hayley (9), soon reached the cache, but needed one hand to hang on, so couldn't open it, so son markhnz had to go up to open it, while other granddaughter hannahhnz (7), also went well up. TFTC

This helped me with getting a Brownie badge which required me to climb up a tree to twice my height.
I didn't climb all the way up, but Hayley and Dad did.
TFTC

I got all the way up to the cache, but I couldn't get the lid off.
Dad told me I wasn't allowed to use both hands and he came up to help me.
TFTC

Awesome cache, so glad I had my 14 yr old monkey with me!
He loved this one
TFTC

Dad retrieved the cache, whilst little monkey waited down below

Had been here a couple if times, always only a couple of metres from the cache according to my gps... Turns out I was looking in te wrong plane though! Bit if a scramble, but satisfyingly worth it tftc

FOund with Dad, we had heaps of fun in Mums 4x4 getting out to this cache. I really liked this one, even though Dad only let me go a little bit of the last 10 metres.

My GPS map said I was about to go swimming as cache was in the middle of the water. Luckily all dry. Arrived at GZ and wondered why the terrain rating was so high. After a quick look around I changed tack and quickly spotted what I was after. I then earned my terrain rating. Thanks for the cache.

Gets a fave point from me, that's my style of cache. Yay for 4x4 though, I was able to drive almost all the way to the cache, the last 10 metres was a bit steep to try though, so I went the rest of the way on foot. TFTC.

We had a bunch of fun driving the 4x4 tracks while we were out here, and the river was low enough to get a long way upstream too. huge thanks for a really enjoyable and worthwhile cache.

This entry was edited by DannyDangerously on Saturday, 28 February 2015 at 07:08:07 UTC.

Came down through the steep cutting on bike and have to admit I chickened out and walked bike down guess I not as brave as I used to be.
After a few moments trying to spot the cache I put my name on the log.
Great cache loved it.

[We won't record a DNF as we did find the cache, but couldn't sign it!
Possibly our most disappointing cache ever. The cache description gives no warning of what awaits and it should - for reasons of safety if nothing else. It is a retrieval that should only be attempted by agile, strong and confident climbers. Had we known we wouldn't have bothered with it at all.]
So, after some effort to get to the site (especially for the physically challenged Mrs G), and having taken our young climber with us (warned a little by some logs) we could see the cache, but failed to reach it. Mr G and our young climber each tried to get there but it was beyond the safety limits of both. It is reasonable that the cache is out of reach of potential floods, but just what is expected here - Noah's Flood?!
[Therefore, be forewarned. It is no use attempting this cache without having someone with you who has monkey-like abilities!]

[This entry was edited by geodatum on Thursday, 08 January 2015 at 06:41:24 UTC.]

This entry was edited by geodatum on Thursday, 08 January 2015 at 06:43:05 UTC.

[green] There are two hints in the cache description as to what is required to retrieve the cache...

That was wicked. Glad the comments indicated to abandon the cutty grass. I guessed where it would be but hubby saw it and played tarzan. Me jane stood in awe. And at his age!!! A definite favourite and most challenging one yet for us ... Physically.

Wow, after reading comments went and looked again. Great hiding.

Having dropped a Jr. Cacher off at a friend's house in Ashhurst it seemed like good opportunity to grab a couple of caches in the area, especially as it was sunny and not blowing a gale for a change. Originally hadn't intended to do this cache as the recent wet weather might have made the approach to GZ somewhat marginal, and therefore hadn't checked the attributes... Got to GZ easily enough but when no cache was found during an initial search of the area decided to check the logs - makes sense when you consider that this location is potentially in the middle of a river. Didn't take too long to complete the formalities before heading back to the car. TFTC.

We were out for an afternoon stroll by the river and picked this one up..a clever hide..we need more caches like this one!!Gets a fave from me!TFTC.

Caching expedition in the Manuwatu region. Enjoyed the walk to this cache. Did do a bit of random wandering, but soon realised where cache was and enjoyed the retrieval. TFTC

Another good find while trying to keep the numbers ticking over a bit.

Enjoying the drive around the area and the walk to this one.
Fun location but a good fairly safe approach to the cache.
SL TFTC

We eventually found our way to the cache location along the myriad of tracks in the area, and spotted the cache, where we feared it would be. Mr W.E.K.A. attempted to reach it, but with one arm out of action at present, this proved impossible. We’ll return when fully fit, or with a younger more agile associate.

Pays to read the recent logs in detail!! A few grass cuts and scratches but thankfully Mr Bumpyflea is very agile and simiam. A favourite for him!

Back for another bite at this fruit and this time success
TFTC the Seagnoid, nice hide

Another dot day and thanks to the Seagnoid I have viable options to fill them in
Came by to Ashhurst for a Sunday lunch treat, and a walk afterwards to finds a few caches
No luck here today, will need to confer with finders to help. Lots of options but no joy, shame as I found the other 3 nearby caches but didn't earn my stars today, thanks for bringing us here anyway
Caching with nightowl19

Found it with a bit of work with help from hobonzl. tfc

Found It! Happy as it was second visit. Had wandered all around it - just hadn't looked in the right direction. Nasty, Mr Seagnoid, nasty. But a good hunt TYFC

never thought it would be there , good veiws from gz

geriatrics like me should not need to do this? retrieved and signed the log. tftc

Nice one and a fav. Found on our Waitangi Day caching journey into the Manawatu today. TFTC

Nice one and a fav. Found on our Waitangi Day caching journey into the Manawatu today. TFTC

So what to do.... decided there was only one place to find a cache here, but after significant searching, still no joy. It was time to take things further, and found within a few moments. TFTC

Interesting drive to get this one- glad I didn't have to walk. Spotted after a hint passed on by Stardust718. Found with Tommygun9, Spudnz & Stardust718. TFTC

Happy to get driven to this one. I set about searching the site with one of my party having spotted it. Both a hard to get to hide and at the same time easier than if it were in another spot like this.
Found with Atoms7, Spudnz & Stardust718.

Almost a Park & Grab. Any cache that requires four wheel driving gets a FP from me. Even when armed with a hint it still took a bit to locate and retrieve. TFTC found with Tommygun9, Stardust 718 and Atoms7

It was great travelling with spudnz in his 4WD to this one. Initially at GZ the cache could not be spotted but with a hint from the recent event tommygun9 set about retrieving it. He soon had it in hand. TFTC. Found with Tommygun9, Spudnz & Atoms7 and 3 month old baby stardust718.

Took longer to find my way to GZ, than retrieving the cache. Good hide. Thanks for the cache.

After the inaugural get together of the Manawatu Geocaching Club three of us set off on an expedition to claim this one. Two of the three in this group are quite new to geocaching and had youth on their side - perhaps a necessary attribute for success here? Anyway they had the cache in hand before I could even get my camera ready. Thanks Johnp1979 and Bright_Jun, it was good to meet you. To say thanks for their help I took them to find three other caches in Ashhurst Domain. We all enjoyed our short visit to this pleasant spot. Thanks for another challenge Seagnoid.

Well, we actually did find the cache but did not sign the logbook. What a pity we were not there at the same time as marisa&kaleb or SetuCurst. Maybe we will return one day with some additional resource!

WOW!!!! Lucky I went with marisa&kaleb as she spotted it and I retrieved. Clever little hide and enjoyed retrieving TFTC

well we were glad we read that we didnt have to look in the cutty grass (but we did any way) and now have a few scratches to show for it, we spent a long time trying to find this one, love the cache idea and gets a fav from me

Great to get this cache on the anniversary of Edmond Hillary randomly wandering thru Everest. TFTC

was getting a bit cut up looking for this one but then tried a different strategy which paid off tftf

This one had me scratching my head for a while, but then I spotted something.

Thanks for the cache the Seagnoid

Looked for this one with Mrs Tramper Ted, we biked out here after the event. We actually kind of found it, but those who have signed the log book will know why we didn't manage that. We are grandmothers after all. Will have to try again.

Visited with Edvern, but although we know where the cache is we will have to return with the rest of the TT team before retrieving.

Published

Arrived at Gz to find a very soggy looking note pad on the ground. Secret Seagnoid notes maybe? (Tremichlan has it if you want it back). Obviously not the caching log book, so the search began.
With no hint, container size, difficulty or terrain rating, this was proving a very challenging cache.
Many eyes spent quite some time on a fruitless search, with some of the group throwing in the towel & moving on.
3 of us remained & only after a brief discussion on Seagnoids - (were your ears burning), thought we'd try one last place, & what do you know, there it was!
The ground got well trodden, which was inevitable with many feet in all the long wet grass & mud. & there were many cutty grass souvenirs to take away - ouch! but it was very satisfying to finally find it - thanks to Mr Rattll for the actual discovery.
Left a pet rock - an owl. TFTC & the joint FTF

This is one of those caches where reading the full information is important, especially the ratings which we had not idea of. Lots of hunting around the big toi toi clumps as gps indicated there. I didn't think the Seagnoid was that sadistic... BUT I also did not guess he was going to be so tricky - I mean who would have thought that octopus type creature could place a cache there? Big thanks to rattll for being really enterprising and finding the cache for us. Could not have done it without you, esp as our do anything 10 yr old boy was briefly missing in action.

Joint FTF with Team Rattl and Swaybars69. Discovered the Seignoid's secret docier but this did not help, merely confirm what we already knew. Again, the area around GZ was nicely manicured by lookers so next time I want the garden cleared I might just hide a geocache in it! A cunning hide. Safety in numbers. TFTC