Pond (Auckland) Auckland, North Island, New Zealand
By keylev on 07-Jun-14. Waypoint GC553G5

After doing the Ad Lab at the airport we decided to go over and get these cachesNice wee hide thanks

Pop back up to Auckland to do the Ad Lads at the AirportSo we pick up some caches close byWe were going around in circles before we spotted it very nice hide thanks

I missed it the first pass but geoboy got it! Nice camo! Tftc

3 sets of eyes helped here, not quite at the base but don't give up, it is there on the macrocarpa, a well hidden job, tftc. Found with Jude E

That's Net61. Your hint really helped! Foundcwith Arandee. A successful caching expedition before flying to South Africa. Thanks for the cache, keylev.#10473

You would imagine if it was found two weeks ago there would be evidence of searching, neither the cache nor evidence of searching was foundWeird checked base of every tree in area of GZ

TFTC , have now cleared out this green patch of auckland

Even after extensive searches ind this difficult terrain we could not retrieve it...

Not worth the 20 min struggle through hip high grass and gorse. Especially not for a DNF.

After attending a nearby event we decided to head to this cache Reading previous logs told me this was not going to be easy.Very long overgrown grass.Uneven ground. Gorse.And that's just getting there.Quite a few possibilities.Chest height. Well camoed.Thanks sharkbait for your assistance.Glad to have it signed off.

After traveling around Australia with Oopie for 7 weeks, we have now been traveling with the camper in New Zealand for 4 weeks. Along the way we will of course also visit various types of caches in beautiful places, including this one. Thanks CO for creating and laying this cache.

Really difficult to get to, very overgrown, Im glad I had someone younger in the group do the last bit, thanks Jan!

Found while at auckland airport for the afternoon waiting for another flight. This was the closest at probably least accessible, so I went solo on this find before RG72 turned up. Was not sure what to expect here, as there are a few hiding places that match many interpretations of the hint. It could be chest high at the base of one example. Well it was chest high and thats all Ill say. I got that hint from a previous log. Its rustiness of the outer adds to its camo. It seemed as if a bike track went through here at one time but that is long gone. Made for an interesting walk in anyway. TFTC

After a long flight fom Los Angeles it was a need to walk arround a little bit bevor the next flight to Queenstown.
This Cache was one of the founds,
Greetings from Switzerland
Beutlins

TFTC! Bring good shoes

Had to push through a bit if gorse but found it

M24: decided to give this one a go, looking at previous logs of where exactly to enter from, which at the beginning wasn't so bad, just a bit of knee high grass, and a few ditches.

Then the gorse, I saw there were two somewhat easy paths to go through without taking a good number of gorse prickling in the body. First path, I turned back, cause I didn't notice a particular gorse right near the bottom of my leg, ow!

So second path was easier to go through, just had to use my backpack as a shield.

Then the finding of the cache, looked around for quite a bit, until I noticed something out of place, and holy! There it was! Cache itself is rusty. But the log is still in good condition. Nice cache to find here.
and it is a dot day today. So why not get it?
FP given for the terrain challenge. TFTC.

Great cache! Definitely blends into its surroundings. Had to look twice. As previous loggers said, definitely chest height, and access from the sculpture garden near church through mowed paddock. Tftc

This is quite a tough cache to get to! But it is definitely worth it. The cache is hidden close to a idyllic little pond, you wouldn't assume it even exists so close to an airport.
It seems magic, a lost world and a birds' paradise, well concealed from the hustle and bustle around. I was so pleased with the location, that I stayed for quite a while in this secret haven and enjoyed the tranquility (Ok, still a lot of traffic noise around, but still).
It seems like a forgotten place!

I entered via Ansett Place, as recommended, but that was a little bit of the hard tour, I guess. The Mountain Bike track is long gone and Nature has reconquered the area.
Wading 120m (beeline) through knee high couch grass gives you quite a good workout for your thighs. And with all these fences and prickly gorse in between, it wasn't always straight forward... But in the end I got there. As many cachers before me had mentioned, the cache was not really at base level, but rather chest high.

Luckily I found a much easier way out. I followed a little path, then turned right, walked over a field that had just been mowed and then I passed the little church into the park that lies right next to the sculpture garden. It saved me several meters of couch grass...

Great hide, great cache!!! Thanks for showing me this place. It's an adventure.
Tftc

Found! With Hamo after a treacherous walk through the spongy grass

So glad we found this! Really overgrown all around and a tough mission. Still in good shape here thanks!

I'm sure this was once a pleasant place to visit but it's over grown and construction has blocked off most of the roads in the area. Can't find a way in so calling it a day

Not so much as a did not find, but rather I did not find the way in. Every way I went seemed to be blocked or on the wrong side of the pond. Will try again on another stopover.

Was staying close by and getting to GZ was via the football pitch and going to the right (as you look at gz) the terrain is definitely no easy with that deep spongy grass, however if you look for the white post with the yellow marker and walk about 10mtrs uphill, you find a overgrown footpath which makes life easier. Thanks for the smiley

Construction in the area. Did not know how to access on foot. maybe next time!

Just about to give up and what is that. I spent quite a bit of time looking for this but have hours to fill in as waiting on our connecting flight to Dunedin later today after arriving early this morning from Egypt. Been away from New Zealand since Boxing Day in Europe then Egypt so hoping for some summer weather.

Visiting Auckland from Wellington and have some time to kill so thought I'd find a few caches, and this was one. All good here. Like the previous finder, I found (and returned) the cache at chest height and blending in well with its surroundings. Very tough to spot. TFTC

Rather rough area these days but cache was easily found, TFTC

Find number 6067. A couple of days caching in Auckland. Doing the cycle trail from Mangere to the Airport. Found 45 caches in the day. Weather was trying to rain but so far I have managed to stay dry. After lunch at a nearby cafe I headed around to this one. The BMX track appears to no longer be in use as there is major earthworks going on in the area. Walked around some of the track but difficult to get access so it was around the other side. Here I battled with the gorse. Ventured to close to the pond at one stage and tripped and went in belly first. (Who cares about the possibility of rain now). Everything still intact (apart from my pride but if I don't tell anyone nobody will ever know).
Eventual I got to GZ and circled a few times and started to think I was going to come up with a DNF. But after all I had been trough I was determined it was not going to be in vain. A few more circles and I spotted something about chest high. Thankful I had made the find I signed and returned. Pleased with myself I retraced my steps (minus the swim). Thank you for the advent I did really enjoy it and this sort of thing is why I geocache.

My goodness, we did encounter a few ponds on the track as we made our way here. Had to go into the rough to get around. Plus mud and thistles. On the plus side, we saw pukeko, pheasants, shags, a hare, kingfisher, spur wing plover... And finally THE pond. Mrs D searched GZ at the dead one again and again. And again. Finally Mr D lent a hand and pointed it out in a more scenic spot. ... a pity this reserve hasn't had more love, but suppose those dead trees would need to be felled first. An interesting place to see!

Almost gave up but thankfully had one last look and finally spotted this sneaky hide, TFTC

Went for a walk while waiting for our flight. Found cache slightly above ground level. TFTC

I had promised to bring my niece and nephews back to complete the remainder of the caches along the Mangere cycleway today. While in the area we decided to come and find the caches around this BMX track hoping that it would be quiet early this morning. The kids enjoyed following the bike track around the pond to this location. I took a few circles around the tree, while the kids were climbing on the log and throwing stones in the pond before I spotted the well concealed and cleverly camo'd cache - nicely done.

Wow gets dark at this hour, had to look at previous logs to locate in increasing darkness

DNF

#10,761. The rain had eased off by now, but continued on the walk in Auckland Airport in Auckland. Met a family enjoying the Runway Mountain Bike Park tracks earlier. Fortunately, GZ itself was all quiet during the visit. Found after a short search. Found the additional hints were only partially correct. Well camouflaged though. The cache was in good condition, all nice and dry inside. Took nothing, left nothing, signed log.

Favorite point added.

Thanks for the placement and for bringing us to this site, and …

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

Found with Madcow2. A few hours to spare between flights. We enjoyed the walk. TFTC

Wasting time waiting for a flight

Found 2.30pm
Cache find made easy with description & hint. SLTFTC

Chest height? I must be a shortarse... TFTC

This took a bit of finding as it was not quite where the hint was saying. Container certainly blend in but got there in the end

First attempted find of an early morning walk (early enough to get wet shoes wading through long grass to get to the track. Had a decent look, but with a lengthy to do list I had to move on. Next day I met the beconaze team and Natalie's event, and was informed I needed to ignore the hint and look a lot higher. Oh well, it can go on the to-do list for my next AKL visit.

This one took a bit of finding as I focussed too much on the hint. Once I looked up the cache was found. It is definitely not at base, more like chest height

Odloveno společně s geopartou: Hloustem, Azulkou a Jonášem při naší velké cestě kolem světa /Anglie, Čína, Nový Zéland, Cookovi ostrovy a Amerika/.
Děkuji za kešku a zdravíme z Čech.

Taken together with geofriends: Hloust, Azulka and Jonas in our great journey around the world / England, China, New Zealand, Cook Islands and America /.
Thank you for the cache and greet from Bohemia.

Camouflaged in plain sight! I only have 7 hours to kill, enjoying doing these to pass the time.

Enduring a 10 hour wait at the airport, walked over to countdown for a cheap snack and decided to find a few caches. Good way to pass the time.

Nice and sunny weather today, so I decided to make a little tour in this area. I enjoyed a lot of nice places and being outside in the sun. I could find all the Caches, excpt the last one.
The way was the true challenge here, not easy to reach, once I have got to GZ I made a quick find.
Thanks for hiding!

Walked the track (shhhh!) to find this cache on a weekday with no-one around. Track most likely closed although we didn't come in from the entrance to know for sure but the state it is in suggests that might be the case, or it is just the time of day. Quickly spotted by GAR and pleasantly surprised to find a bone-dry log. Thanks for the hide keylev!

A 2.5hr layover and 4 caches. Yes we can! Badger badger! What an awesome first visit to New Zealand. An a quick layover from down under to up and over I managed to sneak out of the airport and race to four caches. All of them were quick finds. TFTC

Up in Auckland for another night to see someone off to the airport. Woke up around 4am so went for a wander. Somehow I always chose the dark unlit areas.

Started off walking around this bmx track with little success, then arrived at this last one, read the hint, spooked some ducks as I rounded the bend.
Found the cache, first for the day after three DNFs.
Logged and returned it to where I found it, it was at that point the light of my phone showed just how close I came to having an early morning bath.

I sussed out Air New Zealand Grab-a-seats from Palmy to Auckland and return last December, $19.00 each way, & paid with airpoints. Again two weeks later, another good deal for the following day. Weather forecasts for several days had been conflicting - but it was pleasant again today to be out walking. With the plane delayed, I had only two & a half hours today for my cache walk-about. I found six caches today, 1 DNF (because of time limit), & another had muggles nearby, in no hurry to go. My eyesight at present is not 100% (awaiting cataract procedure), and some caches took longer to locate than they should have. Thanks keylev for the cache.

Had reason to be out this way this morning so detoured for a walk round the track, passed the "Track Closed" signs and over the fallen tree to the GZ. Scared a few ducks but being the opening of duck shooting season, I reckon that pond is the safest place to be (apart from random GeoCachers). Did one circuit with no results but spotted the cunning camo on the second circuit. Nicely done. TFTC on Streak Day #488)

Didn't have time to look for this one. I will be back.

Not the best bike for this track but i gave it ago anyway. my 2nd time at this track to clear up the 2 caches i failed to get last time.

This was the last one to find in the series and we approached GZ after an enjoyable walk along the bike track.
The pond was very peaceful with a large group of ducks enjoying the serenity.
We circled GZ a couple of times before spotting the cache.
After re-hiding we spent a while watching the ducks before heading back to the beginning of the track.
Thanks keylev for a great series on a nice and interesting walk hidden away from the busy airport nearby.

Flight rescheduled to tomorrow due to Hola cyclone.
I found some cache so.
TFTC

Before a 17h flight in economy it was a pleasure to hike this bike trail. This cache was a quick find.
TFTC #4141
Vroomfondel171

Easy find but could do with a new log cause it has run out of room we had to write on the back

Awesome find

Sorry we didn’t have a pen!!! Awesome hiding spot! Good clue too, thanks!

This one kept me occupied for a while! The absence of muggles and surroundings made for happy hunting. Got there in the end - phew! Top marks for the camo/placement.

Parked near supermarkets here and had nice walk in the area. Quick find and well placed. TFTC

Took the long grass route to gz then took longer than I should have to locate container. Day down to check past logs and there it was right before my eyes.

nice to come back and change this to a smilie. quick find here thx.

a quick find once we had the right way in while staying in the area with butchie bum, tftc

Came across the long grass, hit the track just above the cache.
Cache good, pond smells not so.
Thanks

Another neat camo as we rounded the corner. Also great spot for throwing gravel in the green water! TFTC

Here we had to look very sharply ... tftc

DfdC

Early morning walk before today's meeting. Nice park although very wet after the recent rain.
Tftc

At the airport on a 14 hour stop over travelling from Perth to Vancouver. Great that geocaching got me out to see this interesting area. Another find while son, isabla, checked out the mountain bike track. Thanks keylev for bringing me out here.

I remember trying to find this cache a few years back, but it was missing.

Was spending my last few hours with my 9 year old nephew doing some caching before dropping him off at the airport, for him to return to Canada

I hate to admit this, but he found this one all on his own, I think it would haven't taken me 10 minutes more to find it. Great camo!

What a shame this park is probably hardly been used these days!

First cache in lovely New Zealand! After a short search we could log this nice cache. Thanks for hiding and greetings from Germany. Tftc Fertu

17:34
Another great stop on the afternoon walk.
TFTC!

Quick easy find tftc

A trek to eventually arrive at this cache and there is little opportunity to take any shortcuts. Just follo the well marked track and make a couple of appropriate turns and you end up passing exactly the right spot. Looked in a few possible hiding spots before the cache container was discovered.
The container appears to seal well but the log paper is damp, but still able to be written on.
Thanks for the exercise and the hide.

Making the most of my five hours between flights, I continued along the track to the next cache of course. What a lovely spot here!! Thank you for giving me a good excuse to explore the park as I am unlikely to jump on a bike at this point at least TFTC!!

Had a few hours between flights so stretched my legs walking the track. Nice container although the log was damp. Still managed to sign fine. TFTC

Took the long way around as well, but got there in the end

I may not have taken the best route to this one but I did find the cache easily enough. Would be a nice circuit on a bike doesn't appear to be used much though. Heading home to Blenheim now. Found 29 March 2017 17:05 by GH6710 T F T C keylev

I didn't know it at the time, but this was my 1900th found cache. Thanks for placing!

Quick find this afternoon with eltee291, once we figured out how to get down there. What a beautiful spot! Lots of pukekos down there. Signed the log and replaced as found. Visiting from Victoria, BC, Canada. Thanks for the cache!

Quick find today with hingis20. Cool spot for the cache. Got to see some pukekos up close. It is our last day in New Zealand so we are about and about getting some geocaches and seeing what we can see as we drive around. Visiting NZ from Victoria, BC, Canada. It has been an awesome visit as this is such a beautiful country. Can hardly wait to come back. TFTC

Finally, the day has come and I have arrived to New Zealand. This three week long trip has been planned for more than 6 months. First of all, I was going to visit my daughter and her boyfriend, who has been on the islands for almost one year, next was to see as much as possible of both North and South islands. My daughter had done a day to day planning on where to go and what to see. This trip was not planned as a Geocaching trip, but we should definitely search for some caches all over the islands.

Day 23. Christchurch - Auckland

My last day in New Zealand, started with an early flight to Auckland. When I arrived there my next flight to Singapore was delayed more than 3 hours, so now I had 6 hours to “kill”. What a lucky man I´m who has cvaching as a hobby. I got rid of the luggage, and went out geocaching. I spent 4 hours around the airport searching for hidden boxes. I found 8 of the closest one. All of them was easy to find. Tftc

Took a while to find the way but an easy find once there.
Tfth
Times2

We started out in one direction and then realized we had to backtrack all the way back to the first cache in the area. Very nice little quiet walk after being cooped up in the airplane for 3 hours. TFTC dictaham and clan

Fun and pink pond is cool

Nice

What a great bike track TFTC.

This was the only cache I hadn't found in the bike park and went for a walk today while waiting to do an airport pickup. TFTC

Studied satellite view before deciding on the most efficient approach ( followed the MTB track ! As per description).
Easy find once at GZ. Thanks

18:41
My second find along the MTB track walk.
That pond looks really dubious.
I came by from the wrong side as I wanted to go the shortest way from the Final Approach cache but as we all know, the shortest way is not always the easiest or fastest or sometimes not even the... shortest!

Thanks for the cache and greetings from Latvia!
#4443

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(Or "Why did we go to The Chathams and what did we do on Pitt Island")

This is the second one just before departure to Keri Keri Tftc

Another one before returning to Australia, nice hide and good find with Sambazoid77. TFTC
#Gumbyworldtour

Another nice easy find while killing time before early morning departing flight with djl77. Tftc

Had a few hours to kill before my flight. Wandered over here in the light rain. Hoping for a small break in the weather. It lightened up for a bit and a quick dash to GZ. Nice quick find now for some shelter near by.
TFTC

Beautiful spot. My sister & I went walking

Nice quick find with Miss Davieland. TFTC.

Tftc

What a nice spot, unexpected beauty near the airport! The sun was going down and made the water sparkle in a thousand colours. Wow!
Thanks!