Port Craig School Hut (Southland) Rowallan, South Island, New Zealand
By swollibman on 03-Jan-15. Waypoint GC5JQQG

Easy find at the end of day 2!Tftc. Log is fine.

Found while doing the Hump Ridge Track. Low chance of muggles today - we were the only couple on the HR Track and two other of trampers staying at the schoolhouse had already left. This is my third trip into this area. The first being a school camp in the late nineties where we camped around the hut (before the HR Track was constructed), the second time doing the infamous "Stump the Hump" (2014) where I walked the entire Hump Ridge Track in a day. So despite visiting three times I've never actually stayed in the hut - but it's such a gorgeous spot I have a funny feeling I'll be back one day .

Didn't expect people in the school hut. Tftc!

Out here for a week doing maintenance and trapping. Good to find a cache nearby TFTC

Found on day two of the Hump Ridge track. Located at the structure described but now at GL covered in a way obvious to geocachers. The contents are in good shape. Doing the Hump Ridge with a group of 22 trampers although at this point we were quite dispersed. Fortunate to be enjoying generally good weather and views. It was great to go on and explore all the historical remains near the beach near Port Craig Lodge. Thanks for your placement swollibman.

We were in a rush on the way in to get ahead of a large group arriving by shuttle so found the on the way out. Took quite a search but wasn't as hard as we thought. Was 5m out for me. TFTC

Took a moment to find this, part of the clue is not correct. But easy find once in caching mode. Cool spot to visit. TFTC

We do a tramp yearly with Kiwi friends and the Hump Ridge was our chosen one this year. I see that the last geocacher to do it was a fellow Queenslander.
It has been quite an epic, weather wise. We had an hour of torrential rain on the way up on day one but were incredibly lucky that it cleared late in the afternoon for a few hours so we were able to enjoy the views. But today the bad weather returned as well as gale force winds so it was quite scary walking on the exposed boardwalks. I didn’t get blown off but a couple of our friends did, luckily without injury. One good thing about the wind was that the sand flies weren’t as bad as normal.
No views from the ridge but it did clear by the time we arrived at the bottom. I didn’t mind the boardwalks as my 67 year old knees struggled on the steep muddy rooty sections. The train track section was the hardest part of the whole trip for me - we were exhausted by the time we arrived at the lodge. So nice to have a comfy place to spend the night.
At gz, after a circuit of the structure, I spotted something, not where the hint indicated, but close by. Tftc

Quick find after looking at all the other relics in the area. Start of a big tramp out to Westies. Tftc

Holy moley the sandflies!
Is this where they all come from or something.
If they were to work in conjunction with each other, i'm sure i could've actually been carried off to be consumed at their leisure.

Cache found quickly due to well, being a geocacher and spying the obvious, then the wriggley don't touch me dance (not so effective) while the cache and logbook was gotten out and signed and replaced as found as quickly as is practically possible.
Then i fled faster than the moose that some claim to inhabit soooomewhere-ish near (not so near) here.

This was discovered after a long and exhausting downhill (death to boardwalk steps on mountains, hiss) then oodles of tramline mud while still carrying weight. (i daren't linger a moment longer than necessary)

Oh! More unloved, this not being found since early april.

Thanks swollibman for hiding a cache at this unique historical location for the intrepid traveller to come across !

Found again - trees all cleared but cache in a very obvious place!
Saw dolphins

Found after a wee bit of searching. Hint no longer totally correct but still got there in the end. TFTC!

First day along the south coast track and not having much look with the caches along the way so far..6hrs from car park to hut..after dumping my bag and grabbing a quick bite to eat, was in desperate need of a swim to cool off..went looking for this first ...didnt take long at GL now..cache all good

#1175. Day two of the hump ridge track and our final destination for today. I went and found this cache just before dinner. It was very easy to find thanks to the hint (despite the fact that it is not exactly where the hint says) and was in great condition.

The hut looks cool from the outside but from the inside looks just like a standard DOC hut. We didn't see any dolphins but still enjoyed our stay at the lodge near the hut.

Thanks very much for the cache!

FITW harisree

FOund this on our dream trip. Cache all good here. Found it low

TFTC

FITW Albijos
Today was bit of everything. Started with Incredible mountain and bay views followed by muddy and slippery forest walk. Then little bit of history with viaducts, and long and monotonous old tram line walk. Anyways after dropping off our bags, at Port Craig lodge, we decided to come and find this. Slight change of position, we found it well hidden at the base of the concrete structure, not on top. Cache is all good here. TFTC.

After a nap and beach walk I decided I may as well collect this tonight rather than in the morning, and low and behold my friend walked up the track 2 1/2 hours after me right when I was signing the log!

Found right at the end of day 2 of the hump ridge track. This was the only cache I managed to get on the track. Tftc!

Found on 19/07/2021.

A bit of Lockdown updating...

Down on the South Coast for a tramp, collecting caches along the way.
Staying hrer on a four day tramp.

TFTC swollibman

After finshing the Te Araroa trail i need to go for a walk so this is my next trip out this way .
As it happens I have wanted to walk the hump ridge track for a long time but this time in day light .
I have walked the hump ridge track 4 time as part of the stump the hump , but for me it was more like there was no hump
I was up to Okaka lodge by 3.30 am in the morning and down to Port crag before 7am and out to the finish line by just after 10 am
So I have not seen the first two days of the walk in daylight.
So today is the day I book my spot and grabbed my pack , yes my pack is always ready to go.
As I made my way to tuatapere the rain started , O well on with rain coat and away i go .
As i got closer to Okaka lodge the clouds lowered visibility to about 20 meters and the rain stated to come in side ways so still have not got to see the views that are supposed to amazing
so looks like it going to be another trip YAY , Now someone said ther was a hill around here some where. ????
so day two and down to Port Craig .
Funny thing i walked up to okaka lodge and stayed the night and then down to port Craig but instead of saying the night i just kept walking and after 40km for the day I was back at my truck and of home and felling great
Just amazing adventure and love this track .
Port Craig has a lot of interesting history i just love seeing the old relics and the history behind them

Life is short Live one foot step at a time , never say I'm - gonna just do it .
Thanks for the hide

tftc

New log added in a pill container

Found it but the log book is completely sodden.

Found yesterday on school camp. Such a beautiful spot swimming with dolphins and catching crayfish. Log wet.

When that school house came into view yesterday it was the best thing I'd ever seen. I had been determined to get this cache before going to the lodge but by the time I got here all I wanted to do was get rid of my boots and pack so left it for this morning. The school house looks like a cool place to stay. Quick find this morning, log is soaked, if I'd known I would have done the cache last night and put it out to dry in front of the fire over night. Thanks swollibman

#10312

Cache and logbook completely wet thru.

Found. Paper is wet but swapped thing

Found at the beginning of day 3 of Humpridge track. Some interesting history in this area!

Find #: 2,320
Companions: Dokes
Muggles: None
Weather: Cool summer morning
Cache condition: Good

We’ve been hiking the Hump with our uncle, and on our final day decided to find this cache on our way out, given it was such a minor diversion. Once at GZ we searched and Uncle made the find. TNLNSL, then we started our long journey for the day. TFTC

Really enjoyed the hump ridge track an had enough energy left to go find this one.

TFTC. Easy find on our last day on the Humpridge.

Nice easy find after 6hr 20 walk in. My third time at port Craig but this time I'm doing the humpridge

My first visit to Port Craig was back in 1972 and the track was a couple of hours shorter plus there was a low tide option. I've been back several times since. I was here not long after the cache had been put out and was new to geocaching and ran into technological issues when trying to load the local caches onto my garmin so I relied on my memory of the search. This resulted in me concentrating on the other more noticeable nearby object without any positive result. Today after arrival I dropped my pack and while I had all my wet weather gear on I went down to the cove for that one before looking for this one. This was a quick search and the contents are nice and dry. 11 others had elected to to the Hump Track and joined us the next night along with another group of 3. The wet weather plus the extra distance probably resulted in no more people coming in.

Found during a 3 day tramp on the Hump Ridge - superb tramp with no tourists as out of season. Hut was empty and it was great to get the potbelly going though not much wood around. Many thanks for the cache.

TFTC

Couldn't see the right spot at the end of day 2 on the Humpridge Track. But after a rest and a cup of tea, came back and made the find. Thanks for placing this cache on the trail

Waist level? More like GL But I suspect thst others have said that in previous logs An interesting place we visited on a three day Hump Ridge tramp TFTC

found while dong the tramping track incountered the God Zone race on the way

On the South Coast Track we came across Port Craig and its interesting history.
Be aware of the mouse in the DOC School hut
Thanks for hiding it.
Knufi

A quick find as we finished the days walk. Looked like a great hut but ours had a hot shower so we were very happy. TFTC

Found this evening after a walk into port craig today with 3 friends from bridge. Beautiful evening and even had a swim in the sea to ease the muscles
TFTC

Great Hike for the second time. Enjoyed the dolphins and stayed for one night at the Doc hut. Tftc...glen

Tftc

Found while in the area. Great spot

Had a great overnight stay at this cute school hut Thanks!

The Hump Ridge track was to be our challenge over the next three days and why not get the geocaches here on the way as well as they are some of the more remote ones to get to. I must say this is more than the normal "great walks" of New Zealand and this goes to the next level with more challenge. Going from sea level to +900M over just a few km's makes for interesting hiking. Day 1 was blowing a gale and basically we were into the clouds with very little to see. Day 2 dawned on us and what a beautiful sight. It was still and calm and we got the most awesome sunrise. Down the hill we went and back out onto the old tram tracks and on to the the Port Craig hut. Day 3 we were pretty tired from the previous two days but luckily it would be a relatively flat day for us with no horror ups or downs. Made it out early in the afternoon for our drive back to Invercargill.

We were pretty tired by the time we got to this one but it had to be done.

I flew down South on Monday and was supposed to be hiking the Milford Track right now, however the weather had been terrible and DOC had to close the track - that left me with a few days spare and nothing to do!! So I had a chat to DOC about my options and eventually I settled on doing the Hump Ridge Track instead and within a couple of hours I was on a shuttle down to Tuatapere to stay the night! The Hump Ridge Track was certainly a challenging 3 day hike, with the weather a bit of a mixed bag, but overall the scenery and experience was great! After checking in to the nearby lodge, I then went for an explore of the Port Craig area and to take a look for the 2 caches that are located here - despite problems with my GPS batteries failing and the GPS unit refusing to start up most of the time, I was lucky enough to have it operating to locate these 2 caches!! First up was this cache near the school hut, a nice quick find following the hint. TFTC!

Stopped before turning towards the hut and had a closer look at the oven as well. Thanks for maintaining the cache - i really enjoyed the walk from okaka to port craig. Thx.

found with timgrin on tramping camp great area to tramp TFTC

Found easily whilst tramping with CYC Waihola tramping camp.

Absolutely wonderful spot to come and relax. Amazing history as well.

TFTC TNLNSL

[Find #652]

A training trip for the Godzone adventure race. Walked in from the road last night, then went up the Hump Track to Okaka Hut, north along the exposed tops and down the old DOC track back down the hill..
The track is well marked but very rough, slippery, wet and overgrown.

Found on a 90km 5 day wander about the area. Today was one of those rare warm sunny gentle wind days that are truly magic in these parts. Many thanks to Tracey and Sarah for their hospitality on this trip.
I am pretty sure I bumped into the todays other finders when I got in last night.

I will be back again at some time for the one down on the beach.
Cheers and thanks,
S.t.

Found while walking from Wairaurahiri hut continuing on out after staying at the school house ,weather and mud manageable

Found it on day two of the humpridge track, tftc.

Found it. What a hike. Tftc
Very interesting place.

This cache was our last find for the day before arriving at the Port Craig Lodge on our second day on the Hump Ridge Track.
Thank you for this cache and the additional information about the School House.

With tired legs from the descent down the Hump and shortly before arriving at the lodge in Port Craig we found this cache easily

TFTC!

Nice quick easy find and we loved the history.
TFTC

Found it on the way back from Westies hut on the South Coast Track.This was day 6 of 7 .
3 on the way out and a more leisurely 4 on the return.
Hadn't put it in my gps but one of the Historic Sites chaps took me to it after finding out that I was a cacher.
They'd also taken me Paua collecting. tftc and the hospitality!

Quick find as we head out on our last day of Humpridge track.

Stumbled across on accident

Long walk on a school tramp to the hut but what an awesome find when we got there Took the two trackables to send them on their way Left behind a little Black Sheep - hope he's not lonely for long!

the last 6km of our walk we were quite motivated to find this geocache and then we were near the hut and happy

The last night on South coast track. So tired after big walk but happy. Nice place, thank you

Visiting - dropping off trackables

Found at the start of our third and last day on the Humpridge Track. I wanted to find this one to guarantee keeping a holiday streak going, given that the other Port Craig cache appears to be next to impossible. Very pleased to discover it was easy to find, although well hidden and I needed the hint to understand where to go at GZ. Really enjoyed the section between the Rarakau car park and Port Craig, especially the beaches. TFTC

PC Sniff was chatting to the three boys who'd carried a LOT of stuff into the schoolhouse DOC hut ... yes, that's not only surfboards, but wetsuits and even a speargun you can see one of them carrying, and I saw my opportunity to get a head start at finding this cache. Got to keep ahead of that PCSniff somehow! Thanks for placing this straightforward cache in such a rich historical location.

After resting the night after a very long wet day walking to Port Craig Doc hut, I was talking to some young guys who had walked in carrying surfboards when JRB5050 snuck away to grab this one but I spied her out of the corner of my eye but alas I was too late when she produced the cache from it,s hiding spot, Thanks for the cache.

Cool spot. Happy to see hut. TFTC cheers!

Found on arrival at out hut for the night. Staying in the school hut before tackling the Hump Ridge. Thanks.

Tried to find this last night in the dark, not a good idea only disturbed the possums. Success today and I'm Delighted with my ftf

Knowing that we were one day behind Ozzawazza, and we were not surprised they found this one ahead of us. Well done. We got to try Ozzawazza's apricot jam kindly donated, on our porridge. Yum and thanks. Katrina was a great lodge host as was Marama at Okaka lodge.

A quick dash into the bushes to pick this one up, as we left Port Craig in the morning. Showed Paul the hut warden where it was. An excellent hide for a place like this - an unmistakable landmark.

The concrete base is one of the Cookshop fireplaces (either the kitchen stove or the dining room fireplace - they were at each end of the cookshop). Apparently employees could pay 25 shillings a week for three meals a day. There were three long tables in the dining room, and each man had his own table setting. The carpenter Bill Wallace complained about the meals being cold... until one day the waitress Myrtle Sangster surreptitiously warmed his plate on the stove and then handed Bill his meal...

The last time we were at Port Craig, you could take a shortcut from Te Whata to Breakneck Beach at low tide. And so had expected a shorter day today, since low tide was late morning. Sadly, it wasn't to be - the shortcut is officially closed (although it is still mentioned on the DoC sign at the start of the track). Looking at the aerial photo, it still looks doable provided you had a low enough tide. But the advice from Paul was that so much sand has gone from the beach, it is not an easy route any longer (but he hasn't done it himself). We noted that the beach access track at Te Whata has been closed (no sign, track camouflaged). Presumably too many tourists have been caught out pushing the tide envelope . If anyone has done the beach shortcut recently we'd be interested to hear what it's like.

On the other hand, at Camp Creek we saw an amazing fungus on a beech tree root. Never seen anything so large - anyone know what it is?

PS- Naturewatch has identified the fungus as a Bondarzewia species. Apparently recorded from Japan, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, East North America and China, growing on a variety of hosts, but "more work is required to make sense of the taxonomy. What is clear from the current evidence is that is that the name B. berekelyi should not be used casually for Australian or New Zealand material".

http://www.funnz.org.nz/sites/default/files/MycNotes9-Bondarzewia_1.pdf











This entry was edited by daywalk on Wednesday, 18 February 2015 at 09:00:28 UTC.

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