Smiles for you Bonus (Rotorua) Rotorua, North Island, New Zealand
By Davidson clan on 05-Feb-14. Waypoint GC4Y4WA

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Fabulous walk through the greenwoods as always. Nice big cache with lots of smilies. Drained a bit of water but the log was in good condition. TFTC.

Got most of the smiles last week and ran out of time to get smiles (E), after collecting this one, it was onward to claim this one, found heaps of smiles

T4TC

This one took a bit of searching, after finding the right part of the track to look in, with the switch backs in this area. Eventually found it in a good hiding place. Thanks for the mystery cache

Georunnermatt found it! Now the series is compleet! Tftc!

Successful in finding this lovely cache at the end of the series, in the rain. Thanks for the caches Davidson Clan!

When Cats&Dragons and HKCB suggested a day out in Rotorua collecting some caches perhaps I should have looked harder at just how many higher terrain caches we were heading for. I was a little tired after a whole lot of walking, I was very out of practise! A nice early start, leaving Hamilton at 4.30am meant we could make the most of the day. All in all a great day out exploring Rotorua and seeing some great sights. Thanks to all the cache owners for their placements which allowed us to have a fun day out! All logs were signed as "HIC" to save room

Had an enjoyable time collecting these caches. They were all found fairly easily and the numbers worked out fine to get us toward the final. After a bit of a hunt the nice sized cache was soon uncovered. Thanks for the series!

This is to be a mighty day in the company of HKCB & 11HPG11 as we headed over from Hamilton to clean out a few caches (thirty plus) and get in a real good walk as the start of the new season takes hold. We all admit that we have all been far too quiet over the winter months, so this was a bit of a chance to make up for that. Setting out from Hamilton at 4.30am getting back at 5pm, covering approx 32km of walking tracks all in an effort to find plastic boxes hidden in the bush.

As always the day was full of laughs, long drags up hills and very weary legs at the end of it, what more could one wish for but the company of good mates, and I had that in spades. Thanks to all the cachers who took the time to place (and maintain) these caches for us to enjoy.

This was the twenty first of the day as we made our way around the top of the lake before heading back down to the Redwood Forest and lots of walking. This was our twelvth of the day in the Redwoods and a great cache it was too. Soon in hand and still enjoying the walk and sights it was bringing. A great little trail, thanks for the efforts to place and maintain it

Thanks for the cache, Thanks for the placement

Teamed up with Cats&Dragons and 11HPG11 to focus on some of higher difficulty and terrain caches in and around Rotorua, and anything else that we were going past. The day started well before the sun was up as we left Hamilton at 4.30am, and the last cache being located a little after 3pm as we all needed to be back home at a reasonable time. The day was hugely successful with all caches planned for the day being found, and as a bonus the quality of caches were really high! So a big thanks to all the CO's for the great placements. The logs were all signed with "H1C".

Having collected the info from the CO, all that was needed was to locate the bonus. Legs were all getting tired but the lure of the bonus was to strong. A bit of a rumage around in a like spot revealed the nice sized cache. Thanks for the series and one of the reason's for caching in Rotorua for the day.

Eventually found thanks to the CO TFTC

After figuring out the clue I went to the obvious place and got lucky. Really nice tour on a rainy day

Oh....... Rats! Nearly a year after my first visit to this cache, I was in Rotorua for a course and had time for a trail run after it finished. Lacking patience, I facebooked the CO and got some helpful hints but still couldn't find my nemesis cache! I have reflected that I don't actually like looking for caches, I just like finding them. If there was a D0.5 rating it would be my favourite. I love being in the bush and tramping and running new trails, but trail caches are inevitably like a needle in a haystack (can't see the wood for the trees....) and I don't like rummaging around in leaf litter. 　 I ran back to the car and sulked instead!!!

After we found all the stages yesterday and we did not know what to do with the bonus-codes CO mailed us the final coordinates, Thanx Davidson clan for that quick reaction. Today, one day before we fly home we went back to the trail and walked to the given coordinates, there we found the large box, which had not been visited for so many months, The cache is in good condition, everything is dry and clean and there are some pretty goodies in it
Thanx CO for this nice cache, we leave a fp

We walked a nice uphill trail today and on the way we found all the Smile-caches of this series, and the codes, but we had no idea what we had to do with them, We thought that we had to use a cellphone, but we are visiters from Holland and do not have a cellphone that is usable in NZ
TFTC

Again!! Had the code and got the coords from the CO after the last expedition came to a halt with the PAF invalidated. Nearly 4 months later I have finally managed to have some spare time in Rotorua to pick up this Bonus.

Problems
1. I walked from the wrong end of the trail and covered unnecessary ground.
2. I didn't get my bike off the rack and RIDE this multi use trail.
3. I'm a bit of a girls blouse when it comes to rummaging around in leaf litter - not my favourite pastime which is surprising seeing as bush caches are my favourite.
4. I couldn't get a firm enough gps fix to identify which particular hint item to search thoroughly, with possibilities at two points of a switchbacked trail.
5. I left my patience and determination at home and the sun was beating - I was sweating more than after the ride I'd just finished.

I'll be back with the geokids to be little minions and hunt with me!

Mrs HH needed some motivation for a training run in the forest today, and aimed for the Smiles For You series.

In the car driving to Rotorua I contemplated the hint and had a fairly good idea of what I'd need to do with the Bonus clues, which the first set confirmed as my #1 plan.

A, C, D and E were found quickly, B after a little rummaging, but unfortunately I lost my bonus codes somewhere between C and D! I thought I could remember A and B, and made the flawed decision to continue on for E and hope to miraculously remember C. At E I tried a few options with varied results, none of which were willing to reveal a cache to me, so I was forced to return to the car on the same route to check on C.

By this stage I was late to meet the other HambrookHunters at the Redwoods for some biking and had no time to try to new clues until later in the day. But I had no more success than before! Maybe I should also have checked A and B? Will confirm my clues so far with the CO. A fun run anyway........ just a bit more caching than running though........

Just been informed that the code wasn't working if you have the code and need final co-ordinates please message me for them.

Lots of smiles here, we came back to get this one, up very steep giant stairs and down around track. Thanks nice walk.

Lesson learnt: before attempting a series of caches, double check the final to see if there are any hidden details to completing them. I WILL BE BACK!

After climbing some stairs made for giants, we got into the correct path eventually to wonder along and find this one, just when you think you are nearly there you have to wind down a bit more. Thanks.

Well, after using Google to work out the hint acronym, how to use the numbers became clear. We headed out from tarawera to find this during a break in the heavy rain, picking up two other caches on way. We found several of the hint items and searched for quite a while, but came up empty handed. Will be back another day, but maybe with more help.

The last day of our Rotorua holiday dawned drizzly and threatening to get worse. It was our intention to go walking in The Redwoods to find the Smiles for you series, and we decided that we would raincoat up and go ahead.
After finding four of the five Trads we have most of the code - now what can we do with it? Discussed a few ideas, then one of us suggested something that made a lot of sense. Checked it out and soon had the co-ordinates for the final.
The rain got a bit harder as we walked to GZ, and once there we took a bit of time checking a few possible hint items before seeing the obvious one. Thanks for an interesting series of caches - we enjoyed this morning despite the weather.

#6108. We went for a day trip to Rotorua. We stopped on Tarawera Road to walk the Tokorangi Pa Track. A good work out, with the ups and downs and the ups and downs again. Enjoyed the series. The final was a relatively quick find after a short search. The cache was in good condition.
- Prinz
Left nothing, signed log. Thanks for the cache.

On our Christmas road trip with Vamber around the Bays, with the aim of collecting some specific caches to assist us both with the GIO Licence requirements.

This was Day 2 of the journey, a day that saw us venture out on two hikes and endure a lot of hill climbing and switchbacks!

This cache was our final find of the Smile series and our final find for the day. Not a difficult find and the downhill trek to GZ was very much appreciated!

A favourite point for the series and the puzzle required to locate the bonus cache.

#3561

This entry was edited by KiwifruitsNZ on Monday, 29 December 2014 at 09:04:04 UTC.

Day two of our geo-cation with KiwifruitsNZ saw us spend the entire day chasing caches all through the Redwoods Forest, incorporating some pretty significant hikes and climbs. Suich a beautiful part of Rotorua that we have never explored before!

Happy to be going back downhill on this track now! What a fun series. Thanks for setting up this well planned and thought out series and for allowing us to explore this beautiful forest. The legs are definitely weary now! A great day out caching.

Out checking the smiles for you series all good.

Thanks to Davidson Clan for this cache series - and also for the help on the final after losing all the notes from A-E. Can't remember the exact date that it was found (just realised haven't logged online after all) - but have definitely been on the long slog around the hills to sign this off at last! Makes walking the hills much more enjoyable when there are caches to be found.

Many thanks,

AHappyTeddyBear

There were delays in solving the puzzle, then having to take the time to come back to town. But today we're finally back to finish the series. Ah the joy of tracks that wind back unto themselves! Good deduction from sveppi that we were looking in the wrong spot, even though the GPS said 6m. Looked somewhere else and there it was, a bit too easy to see from the track so we covered it a bit better before we left. TFTC and series.

Finally done. Great series - enjoyed the "ups and downs" Thanks.

Yippee, found it. Tad obsessed i think, i should be on way to Hamilton! Thanks!

What a great end to a lovely series of caches. Thank you Davidson Clan.
Retrieved a travel bug MGVHVA - will pass it on asap. TFTC's

It was good to collect the bonus and do this part of the walk with other cachers - at first we wondered whether we were going in the right direction but with trust in our GPS we carried on the right track and picked up another on the way past. Thanks for all the work in setting this up - a great series and a great walk TFTC

What a awesome challenge we had today completing all the " Smiles caches " plus the bonus and then meeting up with NZ Flossy.TFTC

What a great end to this series thoroughly enjoyed the walk meeting a cacher at one end (FanFan77) and a cacher at the other end.we had even taken our neighbour who enjoyed the walk.a quick and easy find and dropped off the trackable.Thanks Davidson clan for an all around great day.

Phew! Found it! We were wondering if we would ever get this one. We often seemed to be close but obviously not close enough. After a stop and a bit of a think, we were able to locate the bonus. It is so nice to go out and finish a trail in one outing (and find them all). We thank you for your efforts in laying the trail and look forward to seeing what else you come up with in the future. For those who want to attempt this trail in one hit, it took us about 2hrs 40mins including a diversion to find the 'Redwood Quickie' cache. Thanks again for a great trail.

Valentines Day...

Arranged to find this cache with Spiderhouse. They forgot our appointment but were quick to make ammends. The short wait gave me time to have a siesta on the grass in the shade of the nearby trees. Soon enough, the Spiderhouses arrived and we were climbing cache-ward.

This walk was a real test of trust in the gps. The direction arrow pointed away from the cache for several metres, but it soon corrected; and after much huffing and puffing, we arrived. The cache was quite visible. While we were signing the log, a jogger passed us. Therefore, the cache has been pushed further back and well hidden. Totally enjoyed this series, despite having two caches to find. TFTC.

We had previously arranged to meet the Squirrel at 4.00pm to do this cache. But spiderhouse forgot until Squirrel phoned, and we suddenly realised we had completely forgotten about the appointment. DUH.

Drop everything, grab the keys, GPS and iPhone and off we go. Don't forget to lock the house and set the alarm. Got to the other side of town in record time. lol.

Met the Squirrel, lounging on the grass, ( school must be tough, lol), and then off up the track, Mrs S huffing and puffing, muscles protesting, not ANOTHER HILL CLIMB.

But we got there and found the cache, signed and replaced and left a TB to continue it's travels.

Thanks Davidson Clan for an excellent series that tested our fitness and stamina, and Mr S's walking pole.
Earns a FAV.

Ya hoo. Completed the series yesterday but out of time to get the bonus. Looked at the numbers we had retrieved and Bingo - I had the solution. Nice after dinner walk tonight just on dusk. Pleased with a quick find at GZ. Nice series with a clever twist for the bonus. TFTC

Found with Agogo after completing the series yesterday. Thanks for the series thoroughly enjoyed it.

After solving the puzzle and acquiring the coordinates, note, without going home, circled around to get the final. After two tries up the wrong tracks, a couple of heavy falls and more rain, Mr S gave up and went back to the Geomobile, bruised, wet, dirty, broken walking pole and broken spirit. Found the midnight rider had gone home, figured out the puzzle and come back to claim the FTF. So no point in rushing this one.

Thanks Davidson Clan. Another day, when the bruising has gone down and pain has subsided.

Congratulations to Fap and Gap on FTF and thanks for the favourite .

9.15pm - FTF!!! Phoned a friend who un scrambled the numbers. Phoned another friend and found the punga location so why not go and find after dinner. Found in the dark and took geocoin. Smiles all around for the Bonus. SLTFTC

This entry was edited by FapAndGap on Tuesday, 11 February 2014 at 03:56:59 UTC.

Published

Dropped of a signal FTF micro geocoin we found in Auckland to continue its travels.