Cannibal's Bowl (Waitakere Ranges) Auckland, North Island, New Zealand
By evilno9 & lemski on 07-Jan-14. Waypoint GC4WMA7

Access to this cache is via tracks that are now officially closed by the council as per:

https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/environment/plants-animals/pests-weeds/Pages/protect-our-kauri-trees.aspx

Disabled for the duration of the Rahui placed by Te Kawerau a Maki. Further info here http://tekawerau.iwi.nz/

FITW Jag50, Gorby, pazzabella, geocchi, rustynz, and merlot58
On a mission to find few caches around Anawhata today with my favorite group of people. The walk was very adventurous. We did manage to get lost few times,crossed the stream many times, and finally managed to each here hanging on to some aerial prop roots, reminding me of [Banyan trees](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banyan), then yes of course our very own Gorse and Flax. We spread to different directions as we were not sure about GPS and Merlot made the find here. tftc Mark.

After a maintenance run earlier in the week by this C.O. (cheers Marky for preparing for our visit, much appreciated) our little group of Harisree, Jag50, rustynz, merlot58, pazzabella, Geocchi and myself were very reassured that this cache wouldn't present any problem in finding.

We all had been to 'What's On The Menu' for Sharon's **3000th cache - whoo hoo**, so now onto this one for all the group to find except for me! (I loved the previous visit). When we arrived it was sooo windy I could hardly stand up, so after the cache was found and signed, we took shelter on the less windy side to eat our lunch, a much needed break I can reassure you! Much food was eaten, plenty of fluid consumed to keep us going, and much laughter and idle banter was engaged in. But then the seriousness of our situation had to be faced - we had to head back! So after I finally wobbled to my feet, we moved on back the way we came thru the Toi Toi or whatever it's called back to the carpark.

Thanks for the cache again Mark, great fun!

We were part of a group of 8 keen Westies on a mission today. This cache took quite a bit of effort to find the trail - at times we could not see our feet, and at other times we had to perch on the side of the stream. Eventually we managed to find our way to the Cannibal's bowl without getting our feet wet. Very windy at GZ but soon had the cache in hand, before we stopped for lunch. The return track seemed even muddier after the rain today. A hard slog afterwards climbing back to the carpark at Anawhata beach to finish the day.

Thanks evilno9 for checking all was well with this one. I had a wonderful day exploring new territory amongst such great company

Once we got back to the junction the decision was to turn left, and come and find this cache. The track was not too bad out, but I guess it helps having jag50 out front, flattening the flax and cutty grass

We followed a sort of track, which narrowed and climbed in places, but it did not seem to take us too long, and we were only a few metres away from the cache. Now is was time to spread out, the gps seemed to bounce around a bit, but with many searchers it could not stay hidden for long, and soon merlot58 had the cache.

Now it was time to sit and eat our lunch! with pazzabella, gorby, harisree, geocchi, merlot58 and jag50 looking over the waterfall, with it being so windy, it was blowing back on itself. Great to get a glimpse of the sea.

Thanks for the hide, and the adventure.

After all the recent rain the track was a little slippery in parts and I managed to do a merlot slide a couple of times and thankfully I was at the end of the line so the trail through the cutty grass and gorse was a little easier for me. It was well worth the tough tramp though, what an amazing place. The views were fantastic and after spreading out to search for the cache, I found a little bit of gaffer tape lying near a bush and on further investigation found the cache. Then it was time to take shelter from the wind for a well earned lunch break before making our way back out.

Thanks Marky!

Checked up on this bad boy today ahead of the fresh blood coming through. All good here - though I'd recommend doing the last 50 metres or so in the stream before heading up to GZ as the cutty grass and gorse is already out in full force. Scars are cool though.

I woke up early in the morning due to the time change and drove up to the Parnell market for some food and coffee to get the day started. During the wait, I checked the weather and decided to a drive out to Anawhata. After finding the close by geocache in the area, I decided to stay on the track and see where it will get me. I think, I found the “left” turn and kept going. There was some good dense bush on route but otherwise it was easy going. Made it close to GZ and oh boy, now the fun starts with toetoe and gorse.
Found the geocache easily due to the hint but not attached to any tree. In addition, it seems that either a frustrated Greenblat or an animal used the container as a chew toy . It is still water tight and I tied it back to the tree with a new string. A sweet spot! TFTC

What an adventure this was! I haven't come across so much Cutty grass in a long time, I'm glad I was covered but the Gorse still managed to get through.

The adventure really began after crossing the stream where the path would seem to disappear at times, just followed my instinct and eventually made it to GZ. Spent a bit of time here taking in the surroundings, I think it was a bit chilly for the Cannibals.

The cache was located after a little while, it wasn't in it's place and it looked like an animal was gnawing at it, have put it back in the right place. TFTC.

Epic trip today flying solo on a few west coast classic T4's. Came in from Anawhata so I twigged on to the 'Turn Left' reference at the appropriate junction. Route finding all sweet until 222m from the cache where the track seemed to disappear. After a few false leads thought like a Boar and headed straight ahead from the last known good bit of track and crashed through back onto reasonable trail again. The last 75m is all Pampas Grass so to avoid getting julienned in time for lunch took the last bit down the shallow stream-bed.

All good with the cache, coords and clue are fine and log nice and dry.

On the way back there was some fella down at the bottom of the valley by the shore blasting away with a rifle. Not sure what that was about but didn't hang round in case he wanted his kids to eat some Greens.

Classic location and an awesome day out T4TC

After coming down from 'Selfie Point' I realised very quickly you must have leg protection!! Lucky for me I was well covered up, too many prickles, the cutty grass got longer as I headed down the hill and the Toi Toi was magnificent to look at but a pain in the a--- to have to walk thru as well. Did I mention flax? Did I mention the unbearable heat? I found it reassuring to set a few waypoints about 100m from the cache - just in case! When I finally came out to the waterfall into the bowl, I realised I was here, right get the pack off, filled up my hat with cold water and put it upon my head to cool down. Now for the cache, found that after 5min search, good clues too. Back to my pack, filled myself up with mandarins and choc bars and more water then came to the conclusion that I was way too buggered to attempt 'What's on the Menu', so back on my feet and now I have a 760m climb back through all the gorse, etc. Did I mention how hot it was? Oh well, at least its all down hill back to the car after that... 10.7km of walking today, took me 5 1/2 hours. Thanks evilno9 (I think) it's worth a T4 rating for sure.

Out for the day with the CO and friends for a walk in and around Anawhata. All i can say is that i was very glad of packing the gaiters as theres a fair bit of cutty grass and gorse en route to this bad boy! The heat was intense as we bashed our way through the scrub with very little shade in the blazing afternoon sun! The cache was quickly found once we reached GZ as it had fallen out of its perch. Signed the log and evilno9 rehid in the correct spot. An awesome spot for a cache and a favourite for the little mission getting to this one, TFTC!

Checked up on this bad boy and initially couldn't find the cache where I last remembered seeing it. Replaced as intended and then found the old cache nice and secure (though in a better spot than where I'd initially hidden it).

Have removed the old cache to recycle somewhere else around here and updated the cache page to reflect the new hiding spot (coordinates remain the same).

TL;DR: New cache in place, old cache found and removed.

Good to go again.

Sometimes its the ones you dont find you remember the most! Came down to one of our favourite places in Auckland to check one of mine and grab another. Having completed that mission we decided to extend the fun and headed up the overgown track towards this one. We had been up once before and when we came to the creek we crossed and then turned left instead of right. The trail was pretty indistinct but we followed the bank pretty closely until we were within 200m of GZ when Mrs B was feeling the pinch and turned around. I had cache fever and despite the pretty overgrown,gnarly and gorse ridden last 150m I was happy to be in the right spot.
Unfortunately no cache was found and took a couple of shots to prove I was there and hope that because of the time lapse since its last find the CO might allow me to change this to a smilie??
I wish I had a spare cache in my bag to leave in case it has gone missing. Certainly a top spot and one I wish my caching mate Hanjac had been able to visit today but he was waylaid.
TFTAdventure and it still a fav point

Sounds like this one has been eaten by the cannibals - will look to get out there soon and replace.

We had turned right before but never left, so with a bit of trepidation we took the left turn and were surprised to find the going much easier than anticipated, although a few sections were certainly what we were expecting. GZ proved to be the perfect spot for lunch once the cache had been located, and also a good spot to compare round one of the cutty grass scars. A great little adventure.

TFTC

It's been a while since I walked this track (to find one of Navigull's caches). It was good to explore the other direction this time, downstream. Quite a bit of city grass, but going slow is the way to go. Beautiful where it opens out at GZ. T4TC - M@

Awesome work Paul!

I got a late start, made a 15 km detour around a car crash (some boy racer discovered his limits and missed a turn), and arrived at Anawhata about 10:30 am. Yet there were still no other tracks on the beach below.

Coming from Florida where it’s wall-to-wall condo, it’s an amazing, almost overwhelming, thing to witness an empty beach. (Note to Kiwis: Keep it that way! Protect your parks with pride and reverence! Note to visitors: Don’t f‘ it up and you treat it with respect too! OK, I’m off my soap box for now, but I really want to be able to come back and revisit this experience. Anawhata is truly a magical place.) Only my footprints crossing to the bluffs on other side.

There’s a wee trail up from the beach on the other side and once located, I made my way over the ridge to Cannibal Creek. I love the idea from the cache description—let’s take a left and see where it goes. And so I did. There is a pseudo-trail down the right bank of the stream that takes you to within 75 m of GZ, but not without a bit of toi toi, other assorted cutty grass and gorse. The flax is manageable, but thick at times and hard to walk through.

I spotted the cache right away. It was not in its hidey-hole. I think the wind had blown it out of place, but luckly not down the hill. Winds off the Tasman are funneled up the stream valley, focused and crank past GZ and max velocity. Check this out—an empty log book and not a star-jumping simian in sight! FTF on 27 Jan 214 at 11:40. I signed the log book, replaced the cache as per the hint and weighed it down with a couple of rocks so it stays in place.

Carrying on with the exploratory flavor of the cache, I found myself wondering what the mouth of a cannibal looks like. So downstream I go to the Tasman. Another 400 m on I find myself at an amazingly angry bay. Confused sea state. Waves smashing off rocks and reflecting back out. Waves adding and thrashing meters high peaks of spray in the middle of bay. Two sea caves on either side of the bay getting pounded by waves, even at low tide. There is no way anyone would survive this if they fell in today. Apparently, cannibals can be an irritable bunch at times.

Cheers for the cache. I’ll post photos later. Definitely a favorite point from me!

Published