Pike 29 (Westland) Atarau, South Island, New Zealand
By Guzzi Riders on 23-Feb-14. Waypoint GC4Z1XG

Rattll and I are on a three week road trip around the South Island. Today, we started in Blackball in drizzly rain, and we've made our way to Wakefield tonight. No real targets for the day, although adlabs are always good, but somehow we've picked up some goodies for the day.We stopped to find this cache at my special request. It didn't take me long to find and sign it (after a bit of a wrestle in extracting), then return. A moment to reflect on one of the sadder chapters of NZs recent history. Tftc.

A milestone birthday for MrTG last month & the family booked a short labour weekend family getaway in Hokitika. It just happened to coincide with a monumental Spring weather event. With Arthurs Pass shut with snow, we had to head north out of Christchurch and through the Lewis Pass to loop back around and down to Hokitika......in torrential rain. Fun driving, not much stopping!Rain finally relenting; but a slip in Taylorville/Dobson means we have to detour over the river at Ikamatua so we can continue our journey. Stopped here....well, because. .... Didn't even realise this memorial was here or this was the area of the incident. I guess all the driving and detouring was worth it, had initially driven past on the main road but MrsTG (in charge of GPS and 'stops') spied the cache name so we turned around for a look.Rather sobbering.Thanks.

Very impressive memorial. Just came down the pike29 memorial track, so had to stop here as well and pay my respects. Thanks for placing.

I had a visit to Greymouth 2 days after Pike blew. It was very poignant being at Bruner mine site that day as the helicopters flew back and forth. I also visited Pike a few weeks before they were due to start digging for coal. The drift had just been completed. Out of respect I can't repeat what a Queensland coal miner who worked at Pike had to say that day.

Took a look both here and up at the end of the road. Feels so eerie. TFTC!!!

TFTC

Found it. Very sad area. Nice memorial to the 29. TFTC

Thanks for hiding a cache here. Beautiful spot

Tu4tc - very moving place

Easy find tftc

With coppadog. What an inspiring tribute. Tftc

Tftc

Quick easy find. TFTC

Thank you for the cache

Nice and easy, didn’t know this was here, thanks for hiding a cache here

1,176 very sad to see so many lives taken so young.

Easy find with Cympull. TFC

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

I didn't know this memorial was here, so well worth a detour to see it.
While replacing the cache container, I thought I heard some meowing and looked up - there was a very friendly white cat beside me demanding attention! It had heterochromia eyes, which I have never seen in the flesh before so a special cat indeed. Sadly the photo StreetWalkerNZ took doesn't show his eyes. TFTC.

#21598. We'd spent a few days caching in Greymouth the week before the mine explosion in 2010, which made the tragedy a bit more feel a bit closer to home that it would otherwise. The memorial is impressive, and well worth a cache. TFTC.

Spending the winter woofing, tramping and exploring the west coast caching along the way ..of course..

Back in greymouth for a while working at the Noah's ark backpackers...so a good base to tick off a few more..

Set myself a mission to hit 8000 finds by the end of the year...that's an average of 6 a day ..
Afternoon drive around the block , very moving place , cache was a quick find..gets a fav ( just for all the wrong reasons) ..RIP..

First time coming over here, what a special place. thanks for the cache.

Very sad place tftc

Moving memorial. A good occasion to talk about the disaster, safety at work and how conditions didn't evolve much we from what we read about Blackball in 1908... Both container and logbook are in good condition.

Real sad story this is!

Normalcy of deviance played a big role in what happened.

Can’t change history now, but hopefully we can learn from this.

My condolences to all the families.

Thanks for the cache!

Its pretty sombre seeing all their photos and knowing you're so close to where it happened, having watched the tragedy unfold on tv.
A really nice memorial though.
Thanks for putting a cache here

What a memorial very moving oh such a tragedy - thanks for bringing us here - TFTC

I had moved my snail shell from Hokitika to Reefton today and parked it up at the racecourse. Then I was off in the cachemobile to oick up a few caches.

A sad place.

Cheers for the cache.

Found it after a bit of digging

A wonderful memorial. It makes it real for us out of towners who only read about the disaster in the newspapers. TFTC

Travelling around the coast caching nice to come to this special memorial site for the Pike river 29. TFTC

Thank you so much for bringing us here. Always think of these mens and all their families. Such a very special spot it was so surreal.

What a lovely spot to remember the men who lost their lives at Pike River.
Tackled the hide from the wrong side of the fence.
Travelling around Westland caching and biking
Rain has set in so off to Nelson and some sun tomorrow

On a trip to Nelson for a tramp walking the Able Tazman.
Didn't know this was here.
Found with annielin and downsouthinv.
Tftc

Thank you for bringing us here. Spent a decent time here, as the familes and their men are always in my mind.
Kia kaha

On a west coast adventure and on our way to Nelson for a few days . My first time to travel up the west coast of the south island In 20 years so this time we get to cache our way in to uncharted territory, so let's see what fun adventures awaite us bring it on.
Day three of our road trip from Hokitika to ???
We had to stop here as this is a tragedy in New Zealand mining history that we must not forget and must remember the 29 men that went to work that day and never got to go home to there family.
This was a nice place to show our respects to the pick 29 .
I hope one day they will get to come home .

To the pike 29 we will remember you each and every one .

Life is short. Live one foot step at a time.Never say" I'm gonna "- Just do it!!
Thanks for the hide
tftc

A special spot. Tftc

On a mad mission today to complete one Challenge cache and fulfill part 11 of 12 for another. 580km later, missions accomplished.
Wow. I wasn’t expecting to come across this memorial on my travels. A very somber feeling.
A quick find and sign.

We passed the turn off so had to do a u turn back to visit this poignant memorial. Quite sobering. Thanks for bringing us here

What fitting place for a cachereally appreciate your efforts on setting this cache i spent a few moments taking in the atmosphere...sad but a nice place of memory

A very fitting memorial.

Somber place.

Moving location-thanks

Their work is done.

Heart goes out ! TFTC

My villa has been refurbished so time to head home and move in. Thanks for placing and maintaining. Set off to do some of the new ones in the tour Going past this one so took time to stop. So sobering and tonight on the news to hear they will never be found as they have gone as far as they are allowed

A lovely memorial for the souls lost. Thank you for bringing me here.

It is clear that this memorial is a place full of heartache and sorrow. Fortunately the cache is not in the memorial space itself.

A very moving spot, tftc ️

Thank you for this cache, Guzzi Riders.
The Memorial is truly heartbreaking and very personal for the families of the men who died.
I had spent the earlier part of the day exploring the Waiuta site (highly recommend this), then drove on here to see the Memorial.

This was our list to visit this site. It was nice to spend a short time reading all the info available on the mine to date. Nice quick find with no trouble today on our way to Reefton. Cheers

Sad memories of the tragedy. A nice memorial to the 29. TFTC

Took longer than it should have those poor guys dying to young it's a lovely peaceful place to have a memorial. Thanks for this cache Guzzi Riders

Well constructed hide. TFTC

A beaut day to remember those who lost their lives in the Pike Mine disaster. TFTC

Such a sad place. RIP boys of Pike River.

Sad. Tftc

After lunch at Ikamatua it's time to work our way back down the valley to Greymouth. This was a very sobering and peaceful place to visit. TFTC

Specifically wanted to come to this poignant place. Found the cache easily after others had left.

Excited by the find, sobered by the loss. Yes, poignant. Most time I've ever spent at a find. Heartbreaking. Young men, and fathers. How old was the guy who died the day after his birthday? Thank you. I'd have never known nor come down this road if not geocaching. Thanks again.

Came for a drive to the Memorial so this was a bonus

Had a great drive around the block today Greymouth, Reefton, Westport plus a few side roads, a bit of rain, many thanks to all the cache placer's. Thanks Bitsprayer

Found on a beautiful midwinter day. TFTC. R.i.p. boys x

What a sobering place.
RIP
Tftc
#356

We specially took a detour to come here so sad so many so loved and missed thank you for placing a cache here it reminded us to do the detour. Cache was all good had to wait for many muggles as some there on our arrival and more came along a well visited location now. Tftc and for bringing us here get a favorite from us

Found with Mporokosa. TFTC

Very very sad. So many, so young. I got quite emotional -- after what happened two days ago in CHC.

found with UlmusLynx on our way to Greymouth
beautiful place although felt very sad reading the beautiful memorials.
thank you Guzzi Riders for bring us here and for the cache

No 13 & I came along this road on way from Nelson to Greymouth partially to visit this memorial. Very poignant. TFTC

Awesome hiding spot

On the road for a trip down the West Coast with our little caravan to explore this part of the country. It is not a caching expedition as such, but we do manage to stop for one or two
Our travels lead us to your cache, as we travelled down the Coast, many thanks, Guzzi Riders, for bringing us here. We’ve had great fun so far and look forward to finding a couple more caches as we travel on our way. TFTC.

Found with our 3 and 5 y.o. It's good to be here albeit sad. The news become so much more personal...

Sobering place. Found the cache easy enough.

No one here when I arrived so I quickly grabbed the cache and then walked round reading and looking at each memorial. It is such a sad but quite special place -it is a privileged to visit and that the families welcome that. So many very young lives gone in an instant. It was very peaceful here and I enjoyed the solitude without anyone else arriving. Thanks for bringing me here Guzzi Riders. TFTC # 13,087

Found on a great weekend down the coast

Had a little time to reflect. Tftc

Out for a ride with the old fella!! TFTC

Did not look for cache in the end as we felt uneasy doing this at this very special remembrance site.

Glad i came here & read all the tributes but didn't feel right looking for the cache. RIP Pike 29.

Looked in between a surprising number of visitors but couldn't find it. Very touching place, and we spent quite a long time here before driving in as far as you can to the locked gate and effigies. Thanks for bringing us here.

My usual caching policy is if it's muggle free when I get there then look at whatever prompted the cavhe placement. There's nothing more frustrating than having muggles slowing things down. Today I couldn't do that something made me pay my respects first. I don't follow the news so only know the basic facts about that sad day. A great tribute to those men. Found the cache after a slow walk around reading each plaque. Thanks for bringing me here Guzzi Riders

#7042

Came back today and it was very peaceful. A little area bathed in sunshine amidst the rain. No one about so soon had cache in hand. Tftc.

Visited today and was surprised to find this spot so busy. Several people visiting and talking about the tragedy so I paid my respects and didn't look for cache as I had a plane to catch and others were in no hurry to leave. Will return.

Being on a road trip we were going to skip this one but as it was only just down the road we made the decision to grab. I'm so glad we did. Cache find was quick but time spent meandering around and remembering these times and feeling the heartache of the families concerned. What a fitting tribute!! Well done placing cache here TFTC

As we were driving near to the cache I said I don't think this is on the road we are on - but getting closer we saw it was only a small deviation from our route - we are so pleased we did stop - what a lovely touching memorial to miners who went to work and never returned - Thanks for bringing us here and the cache worth a favourite from me

What a wonderful way to show respect for these poor men who were only trying to do there work. A peaceful place for everyone to come to remember. TFTC.

A terribly sad place but a lovely peaceful Garden..This tragic event needs closure for their grieving familys
Thanks for bringing us here and TFTC

Found on way to Greymouth, a very nice memorial to a terrible tragedy. TFTC

Great place to bring junior to show him impact of Pike river, beautiful spot but sad memories. TFTC

Thanks for the cache

I remember hearing about this tragedy on the news. So sad particularly when many of those lost were so young. A lovely memorial. The birds were in full chirp mode while we were there. RIP to the 29.

I can still remember quite clearly the day this tragedy occurred. This is a touching memorial to the men who lost their lives in the mine. It's hard to believe they're still down there. Thanks for bringing us here and for the well placed cache. Tftc.

I heard this event as it happened but felt remote from it until today. This memorial is quite an eye opener.
Not the usual rock placed on the side of a busy road, I took the time to wander and read - certainly was a tragedy!
Thanks
erninz

Very moving place.
TFTC

I was fortunate enough to be able to squeeze an 11 day holiday out of two leave days!! I headed out west to find some caches, see some sights, and relax before the madness of the semester hits. The weather was unbelievably good, only a bit of a storm over Arthur's Pass on the first day, otherwise hot and sunny. I found a great variety of caches, drive by's, walks, hikes, even a power trail. Thank you to all the CO's for their great hides!!!
Today was to be a big day, and it started early, too. I was out on the road with the break of dawn, aiming to get a few, and a couple more The main plan was to attack the cards, but I managed to get in a good variety today! What a sad place to visit, remind us of those who lost their lives. Thank you for bringing me here!!

Such a tragic waste but such a beautiful memorial tftc

Heading back home to New Plymouth geocaching all the way... Although it's a 1200 km trip by road in three days, so there won't be too much time for caching! Limiting myself to scenic views, old school caches or high FP caches. There was no way I couldn't take the time out of my little journey not to visit this memorial. Very moving. Thank you for placing a respectful geocache here. Gets a FP from me.

Easy find.

First for the day a bit hard at the start BT wat a beautiful place to b read n all about the brave 29 gold miners n there passion for life RIP just before leave n the boys helped us out with the cache

What a beautiful memorial for the Men. It really shows you how they lived there lives.