HRT Old pine (Hauraki) Waihi, North Island, New Zealand
By vectis on 10-Dec-13. Waypoint GC4V90K

Better, more weatherproof container in place.

After dropping the car at the panel beaters, I cycled home along the Hauraki Rail Trail, so nabbed a few caches as I went. No problems locating this one. TFTC.

Thanks for your amazing cache vectis. I really appreciate the time you took to set up and maintain your caches. Found with Fisha1288 Cheers, Cympull.

Found with Cympull. Good little hide. TFC

What a gorgeous trail. Quick find with a little more difficulty extracting log. TFTC

Away for the weekend to ride a section of the Hauraki Rail Trail from Waihi. This afforded me the opportunity to snag some caches en route. Somehow I missed this one on my outward trip despite looking in all the right places. Thanks vectis#5086Logged using Cachly.

Found - Mrs McMike2012 & I now live full-time in our caravan & travel the country visiting places we want to visit & doing the things that we want to do we are currently parked up at the Waihi Beach NZMCA Campsite decided that we would head over to Waihi & bike a bit of the Hauraki Rail Trail (HRT), from Waihi to Waikino & then have a look around the Historic Victoria Battery & associated Gold Mining History and do a couple of caches while there the cache was easily found, completed & replaced pleased to add another 'smiley face' to the tally TFTC ... TN:LN:SL ... #4,672 for us!

Took awhile not sure why probably having a dopey day. All good, dry and in order TFTC

Obvious hint, enjoying our bike ride.

Enjoying the bike ride today. Nice to come back to this one and turn it into a smiley. Tftc

First find of this cache owners we've been able to find. Tftc

Cycling the HRT from Paeroa to Waihi on a cloudy, rainy and sunny day. Lots of privet in flower, so we were pleased to have a quick find here before continuing on our bikes. TFTC

We returned to the HRT to find some unfound caches. This was a quick find. Thank you for replacing this cache. Nice & dry.

At long last I have a working e-bike and can get out on the trail again, despite my knees being pretty awful. Old cache has gone during some tree maintenance so have replaced it with a new one.

Looks like it has gone, will try and get to it soon.

Had a good look around here, but no luck. Lots of work has been done recently by the looks and branches cut down with piles of wood on the floor. I wonder if the cache has been disturbed?

No luck here. Maybe disappeared with the work going on.

Completely bypassed this cache - we had hit " find the next closest" button on the GPS after finding the HRT Beware Trolls hide which had us heading to HRT Tranquil spot. The GPS did not factor in the curving nature of the river we were cycling beside. Oh well saved us looking for one that may not be there.... or is it? We do not know.

No luck today.

GAve it a cursory look and then carried on.

Next time.......

No luck today

No luck

️

Restrictions have been lifted so all good to go.

The Hauraki Rail Trail is closed while the Covid 19 rahui is in place. Anyone geocaching during this time is putting themselves and others at risk by handling the containers, stash and logs. So this cache is disabled until this present emergency ends. I reserve the right to disable any logs dated after the lockdown started.

Loaded the electric scooter and bike into the
chariot and off to Waihi before lockdown, to
tidy some odd caches up with ABCDF4.Thanks
to the Cos for the placements in awsome areas.

Headed over to Waihi before the COVID -19 Lock down
For the day with EyespyBen
Nice easy find

Found, well hidden.

Dodd fam out doing it. Good hide.
Thanks

Yep

Logged with [GCDroid](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gcdroid).

Logged with [GCDroid](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gcdroid).

A hedgehog was tucked away in a nook at the base of the pine and we were a bit worried it might be sleeping on top of the cache but fortunately we spotted the hide nearby.
Nice spot for a break, thanks vectis.

#3 today, so far so good.

Found during my third visit on HRT. This time most beautiful section. Section C: Paeroa to Waihi. This time 46km on my bike. Enjoyed so much!

Had nice break at GZ. Pleasant find!

TFTC

Todays mission was to ride from Waihi to Waikino. We went a bit further on towards Karangahake in the end. 23.8 km return. We made many finds and a few DNF's. We replaced 1 cache with CO permission but didn't have anything else with us for the other DNF's we came across. We met up with a buddy cacher "Tramyard" at the waterfall and met again on our return journeys. Great to meet another cacher on the journey. We found the first part of the track a little challenging with the the up and down portions of the track, but after that the track became very pleasant to ride. A lovely sunny day with lots of fellow riders and walkers on the trail today. No troubles here, quick find.. SL. TFTC.

Quick find for the sharp eyed. Beautiful day for a ride on the HRT.

The wife got to this one first. I ask you does it say "Near the old pine"?

Nice quick easy find.
Thanks.

FOUND IT IN MATTER OF SECOND TFTC

A real pine relic

Awesome fast find

Easy find while our tramping group, tramped from Waihi to Waikino Station
and get the train back to our cars at Waihi. Had a great day weather was very warm and cloudy.
Had a quick walk around mining area

Nice quick find by my wife
TFTC

Easy find cheers

Gorgeous day, no pen so feel free to delete this find if you want to. Got photo. Thank you

Find #2861. Biked the HRT from Waihi to Paeroa return while on a winter holiday. Easiest and driest find of the day. SL TFTC

Our first rail trail cache. Easy find. TFTC.

Another one bites the dust! Missed one so will have to grab on the way back after a cuppa tftc

One of eight caches located on our bike ride this afternoon between Waikino and Waihi. Great day for it. Quick find. #1863. TFTC.

TFTC

Nice ride this morning, Waihi to Paeroa and return caching along the way. TFTC!

Even at night this sticks out as an obvious spot to check out. Nice hide, cheers

Kiwis69 and myself are doing the HRT the long, yet less painful way. We have done one section previous and it was decided that it was time to tackle another chunk of the trail. We picked to cycle from Waihi - Paeroa as there was a slight time restraint, plus it was the shorter option and I was worried since it had been awhile since I had some serious seat time. All up it took us 4.5hr (which included a lot of hunting at some caches and a few breaks)

Once we had the cars sorted, and then the bikes sorted it was time to hit the trail. The weather forecast was average today and we hoped that would keep the muggles away. Well there were still quite a few muggles out and about but not as bad as it could be so we managed to time our hunting inbetween people passing by.

Nice little peaceful stop here, soon spotted the likely hint item and the cache was soon found

Thanks for the hides and giving us some welcome breather stops!

It's nearly 4 years to the day since our usual caching cronies cycled the HRT trail but without 11hpg11 & myself being part of that group. Today, its finally our turn! Thanks heaps for keeping the HRT series going. Decided to be kind to ourselves post-Xmas & New Year festivities and just focus on cycling the Waihi - Paeroa section today. Nice quick find here, TFTC

Not small

Out for a bike ride with my sister and family for her birthday and located this one

I'm travelling around NZ for 7 weeks, using geocaching as my guide-book. I'm glad geocaching took me to Waihi, I wasn't planning to stay here, but driving through the Karangahake Gorge last night made me want to explore more. Today I rented a bike and biked the beautiful trail from Waihi to the gorge and back. Thank you for placing all these caches along the way, otherwise I wouldn't have tought of this. I rented a bike for half a day (5 hours), so I didn't have time to find all the caches, but I got to see a lot, and I did the windows-walk. It was a beautiful day!

About this cache:
A quick and easy find. Nice new log and container. Tftc, greetings from Norway

This one had gone so put a new cache and log in place.

Looked around but DNF.

Searched high and low but no joy.

No luck here.

Needs checking

Looked again with vigour on our way back, searched every little nook and cranny, to no avail, will definitely need checking.

Log later

Searched high and low.

When you have four people finding the caches can be quick. This one was no exception.

On a HRT cycling adventure with Beconaze. Signed log as Gernaze. Lovely day! TFTC

#2,450... We liked this spot very much... we thoroughly enjoyed our cycle along the river; TFTC.

My GPSr said this one was fairly close by, but it didn't know about the massive loop. A 1km walk later, I arrive at GZ. Thankfully, the hide was straightforward. TFTC.

I was out for the day cycling the Hauraki Rail Trail from Paeroa to Waihi with the kids and picking up a few caches along the way (alas not all of them as there just wasn't enough time ) This was the eighth find of the day and a nice quick one! We rested for a bit admiring the huge tree and took the opportunity for a few photos but my husband backed up too close to the electric fence and got a zap instead lol TFTC!

After planning a trip to the bay of plenty for easter to gather a cache or two, it changed dramatically (we thought) when we heard that cyclone cook was about to bear down on this area our hopes had dropped .
But no almost the complete opposite, so after getting bike and body sorted it was to the start we went and ride the HRT trail, we started in thames and the plan was to ride to te aroha if the body allowed.

Nice quick find here exactly where and how it should be.

Thanks for the smiley and the placement.

Almost rode past this one.

Today we decided to hike this trail..... We started at the "HRT start" and walked to "Victoria Battery" and turned around and came back. While we were hiking we had to stopped on the way to search for geocaches that was hidden on this scenic route. We had a lot of fun
Thanks for bringing us to this part of Waihi.

TFTC

Cycling the trail from the tunnel to waihi today. Love the trail , TFTC

Quick find Super spot 2 sit & ponder TFTC

More of the HRT series of caches. Today was from Waihi to Waikino. Thanks for placing the series vectis.

Amazing orchids on this tree. TFTC

We are coming to the end of this great little adventure, another cyclist says we have about 10 minutes to go! so only a few finds to go. Thanks for the hide, it blends it well, with its natural camo door

Out with Rustynz, Out playing on the bike with friends and Family having a fun time in the sun TFTC

Nice little hide. Quite a tight fit. TFTC.

This one took me a while to find - mainly cause I'm using my phone, and bouncing around the place... and walking around with cleats is a bit more slippery than normal!

Biking from Paeroa to Waihi and caching along the way. Good thing that this is a big old pine, as pine tree hides can be a bit spiky sometimes. Not a problem here. I was able to find the cache because I spotted a stick that looked interesting. The cache wasn't behind the stick, but when I picked up the stick, I saw where the container was hiding. Thanks for the cache!

Spotted the right tree immediately while approaching. Really cool!!
Had a short rest, walked around once and then found it.

Found

Well wedged in. Tftc

Oh dear how many old pine trees can you find on this trail. Thanks for the cache

Neat we hide...great day to be out caching thanks for a great cache

With Gap (of Fap and Gap)... It feels like ages since the last time we were out on the hunt. The weather has been predictably wet of late...

HRT Trail: What a grand old tree, and a good place to sit and watch the river flow by. This one was wedged in quite firmly and necessitated having a seat to do the bussiness. We must have looked odd in that position, because a pair of passing cyclists asked if we were ok. We were fine, and this hide was too. TFTC.

12.45pm - Just had to wait for a couple of muggles to move on to collect this cache. Another cache that is a little damp. SLTFTC

22:20
Another one found during a long 40 km walk around the Karangahake Gorge. On my way to Waihi.
TFTC

Interesting find tftc

A nice quick find. TFTC

Earlier in the year, tikitour and I decided we would team up and cycle the whole Hauraki Rail Trail over the long Easter weekend and look for all the caches along the way. On Good Friday we did the Thames to Paeroa leg and yesterday we did the Te Aroha to Paeroa leg. Today we left the best till last and did the final leg from Waihi to Paeroa. It was another lovely day today and this section of the trail was a whole lot busier than the other 2, but we didn't have too many troubles with muggles. It was lovely cycling through here and I would come back and do it again. Soon found this cache along the way. TFTC!

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Day 3 of our cycling weekend and this was the best of the three days...fantastic track with lovely views, ups and down, great bridges , historical sites to visit, amazing tunnel and of course caches to find. It was a day of great variety, riding and walking. We cycled down from where we were staying in Waihi and we picked up a few along the way.Thanks for the placement of all the caches.

We cycled past this cache on the way to Waikino, so stopped off on the way back instead. What a fine old tree, and such big cones! Nice easy find.

Greetings from the UK!

Great old tree and a nice hiding spot.
TFTC

#11490. It's interesting to compare this section of new track with the rail trail. The new track is a lot more up and down, and meanders a lot more. TFTC.

We were out on our bikes by 8 this morning to ride the Hauraki bike trail from Waihi to Paeroa, with a little detour to do the Karangahake Windows Walk (which meant we missed going through the 1 km tunnel). It was a perfect day for it, no wind, cloudy and not too hot. A great ride with wonderful scenery as well as the history lessons along the way.
The GPSr showed that this cache wasn't far from the previous one, but we hadn't taken into account the meandering nature of the river that the track was following to we ended up biking away from GZ before the distance started counting down again. TFTC.

Another quick find. Thanks

Plan today was to ride from Waihi to Paeroa, stay overnight and cycle back the next day. There were 6 in our group (4 geocachers and 2 understanding muggles) A&JKiwis went as far as the train station before turning back and it was great to have some caching company along the way. Excellent day, albeit quite hot so a dip in the river further along was welcome. Thanks for placing these caches.

Another find for the Geokid on our ride today. Lovely spot TFTC!