Hopewell (Nelson/Marlborough) Raetihi, South Island, New Zealand
By bumandworker on 04-Nov-14. Waypoint GC5G14B

All well at Hopewell. Today, my day off from a week of work in Broughton Bay, I paddle around Kenepuru Sound. This was my first find on a windless, cloudless late autumn day. I did a total of 15 km over the 3.5 hours with 1.5 hours stopped eating and searching before beaching again at Broughton Bay just before sunset and tonight’s blood moon.

Found it

We took the long way to Hopewell, driving in Toby. Loved the sign here. Got this one tagged quickly and on our way again. Cheers

My weekend arrangements have been postponed. So what else can I do? Check out with The Seagnoid for a trip to Keneperu Sounds for the day. Yes! Leave in the dark just after 6am and home after a great day exploring and caching at 6pm.

We decided to drive over, rather than paddle here. Sure it is longer (waay longer) but here are som many other things to check out along the way. Like that we need to bring a canoe with us next time we come!

Taybeedragon rings me up - her Saturday got cancelled so how about a trip. Okay, I am in. I was going to research and write up about 15 new caches this weekend, some of which take many hours to write, so a bit of mind-numbing tedium. Dropping that to one day and finding a bunch on the other day sounds like just the tonic.

Quick and easy find, whilst enjoying a night at hopewell Tftc

Staying at Hopewell Lodge for a few nights so just had to get this. An absolutely beautiful spot and would highly recommend staying at the lodge. TFTC

Excellent place to arrive at. Very quite and peaceful this time of year.

We spent a couple of holidays down here when our daughter was a baby. The first time we came in by car but she didn't like that so the second time Andy came across with her on the boat while I drove the car around. Not a lot has changed in the intervening years, the sandflies are still the same - annoying. Cache found and contents all good. tftc

Easy find. Perfect day. #tftc

TFTC. Chainsawing going on at home base - so decided to avoid the noise and hit the road for a few caches in the wider hood.
Thanks bumandworker for placing the cache.

Great Granddad lives close to here so we found this one before dinner. I went straight to it and found it. thank you

Great Granddad lives close to here so we found this one before dinner.

Great Granddad lives close to here so we found this one before dinner.

We were contemplating where to go for a day trip and decided on this area which we hadn't visited for a few years. With our elderly neighbour along for the ride it meant we restricted ourselves to park and grabs but there was plenty of them for us to fill the day constructively.
We arrived here to find two parked vehicles but fortunately no one about so we made a quick find. The tractor parked on the beach is what took most of Hazedarus's attention though, boys will be boys I guess
Thank you bumandworker.

Since our last time around Kenepuru new placements have slowly accumulated in the area and what was not much more than a thought turned into 28 finds with 2x a FTF. With caches loaded for offline reference, the thermos filled, and lunch packed we were off at the crack of dawn. It looked grey and dim soon after sunrise but the forecast was good and after a few spits on the windscreen the day shaped as perfect for a caching expedition. With the 2x potential FTF in mind we made a beeline for those with the intention to cache back until the day drew to an end and we would be in time back home for the rugby. A few steps before GZ proper my eye caught something that brought back memories. It was just like the first tractor I owned in all its glory right down to the colour scheme it was painted in. I just stood there just looking at it while Holymu made the find. Thank you bumandworker

Raetihi Lodge looks a great place. We parked there and contemplated walking to this one, but in the end made the correct call to drive on. Quick find on cache, then back to the lodge for a beer to soak up some sun and views. Would love to stay out here a weekend, TFTC B&W.

We visit New Zealand, coming from the Netherlands. We stay in the Raetihi lodge. I was very surprised that there was a cache very near to this lodge.
Cache was in good condition. TFTC.

Tftc

One day I may stay here. Tftc

Speedy find. Back up the raid for a beer. Tftc

TFTC

Quick find. Took a muggle with us on tour and he found it. Spent 3 days at Hopewell Lodge and had fun. TFTC

Found it during our holiday in NZ

TFTC. Possibly the only 1 we will get. Wonderful place & had a great time at wedding here.

Found on a nice day in the area

We did the drive in choice – with a night booked at Portage it seemed a doable option and we had done at least part of the drive before for caches so we knew it was scenic. It proved to be just doable – sadly it was getting dark as we were returning which is not scenic. Still, nice to get to the end of the road and find a cache there.
Thanks.

Quick find. Everything is fine, logbook is dry. Tftc!

Out cruising the Sounds with Biggles today. Gosh it's a blimin long drive out to here. It was nice though and the highlight for me was passing the nearby lodge where I spent a week in 1981 on a Form 1 (Year 7) camp. They had a very cool and scary flying fox which seems to have gone. Probably a long way from current day safety standards. Good memories.
Thanks bumandworker for the cache.

#10231

Our on a looong and winding road trip with Kiwi Explorer today. Trying to find as many of the caches in these sounds as we could get to. Also nice to explore in the new KE Cachemobile. End of the road indeed - or at least the public road. Looks like those in the know and with permission can go a bit further. TFTC, Biggles.

A nice quick find at the end of the road after we checked in. I can highly recommend it. Wished now that I booked an extra night so I could kayak over to the 3 nearby water only caches. Still it was an amazing night away and I'll definitely be back. TFTC #8469

Staying in the Raetihi Lodge, this one wasn't to be missed! Tftc

On stop at Hopewell I found the one and lonely cache around.
Tftc.

NZDi and I booked a holiday home in Broughton Bay for six days for a family holiday to get over the madness that is Christmas. Our daughter and her partner and our son and his wife and our granddaughter were all present for some of the time and as such the focus was on family rather than caching.

However we still managed to find time to get 25 caches along with three DNFs (Grrr) in the time we were away without impacting too much on the family focus of the break.

Day three of our holiday and we had this cache in our sights and the options were to kayak, which apparently is and hour quicker than driving (each way); driving, which is an hour longer than kayaking (each way); or jet-skiing, which is half an hour total.

We took the fast option for a QEF PnG...do you park a jet-ski?

TFTC B&W

Found in the company of Kiwimykl, refer to his log for details.

TFTC B&W

Capperz came up with a plan to cache out the area to the east of Kenepuru head this afternoon, so here I am. A full on afternoon, over 300 km of windy roads and 6 hours of driving. This was the turn around point of part one of the mission, now two other side trips to do. I've seen all this area from boat a few times but never been ashore. A nice drive to here and good to see it from the other angle. Cache was quickly found by capperz where expected. TFTC

When I was on the North Island it was a regular (monthly) visit for an afternoons caching whether it involved a load of park and grabs, or one or more significant walks to grab some pots of gold. With my wanderlust nature not entirely sated after the Christmas break I'd identified a swathe of green box icons over in the Kenepuru Arm of the Sounds and realized there was potential for a high-teens quantity of caches.
Thus enthused I headed off at 1230 from Blenheim with caching buddy G H 6 7 1 0 in the trusty Geo-Discovery (aptly named) across past Portage and those previously visited locations to new territory. After 7 and a half hours driving of twisty, turny roads, and over 300kms added on the clock, we encountered some great views, humorous signs and general good times.
End of the road, Part 1, cache found and turn around time. Q E F as hinted
T F T C b&w

In the area visiting my dad. Nice to see some more caches in the area. Went through to skittles farm at the end of the track to show our grandson around the area. Tftc

#10238. All was quiet at GZ today, and the cache was quickly located. This was our 13th find for the day, so we figured we had earned a lunch at the nearby Raetihi Lodge. The lunch was very good (we both had seafood chowder). A nearby group was celebrating a 60th birthday, and when a bagpiper came in to play happy birthday it was time to get back to the day's caching. TFTC.

The end of this road for us (we still had a few more side trips to make on the way back) and a most interesting drive. StreetWalker took the direct route to GZ while I took the more sedate route so he had the cache in hand for me by the time I reached GZ.
Our tummies were rumbling, so we decided to treat ourselves to lunch at the nearby Raetihi Lodge. Can recommend the seafood chowder. We had not long finished when the peace and quiet was shattered by a bagpiper. Noooooo! We decided to make a dash for it but needed to pay the bill first, that's when the piper came inside and boy, was the noise was deafening. I hope the birthday girl/boy enjoyed it more than we did. TFTC.

Log to follow. Left pen in room so took photo (attached). If we have time tomorrow, I'll sprint back and sign paper properly. Hope this is okay?

We had an awesome time at Hopewell Lodge - absolutely the highlight of our holiday, which was pretty fantastic all round. I didn't sign this in the evening as one of our pens was being used, another had been donated to a cache near the start of the track, and the third was lost deep in Cassie 2010,s daypack, but I went back in the morning and took care of admin, so everything is right with the world! If I'd had more energy after walking 60km, I'd have scouted around for other caches, but, to be honest, I was feeling rather weary and a cup of tea and a comfy bed won out. TFTC.

TFTC, paper still dry

Found it! Fancy that, 3rd to find! It was our lay day from walking the Queen Charlotte trail which was timely as a storm blew in! We enjoyed watching the pouring rain and clouds blowing over from the comfort of the Lodge. A break in the weather allowed us to walk along the track through the nature reserve and we found this cache along the way. Beautiful tree! Favourite point added too! TFTC SL

Excellent. Another 2TF. Very familiar territory here. Enjoyed many staff parties at Raetihi Lodge over the years and been past the road end here to the Skiddaw property. Even flew in once onto the Skiddaw strip. That was an experience. Steepest airstrip that I have ever visited.
A quick find and sign and now off to Crail Bay.
TFTC

FTF What a beautiful drive. I'm pleased I chose to approach this one from the road rather than the sea, there were a lot of white caps out there this afternoon. Thanks for bringing me out here

#2475

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