Mount Manaia (Whangarei) Whangarei Heads, North Island, New Zealand
By J 'N' K on 12-May-15. Waypoint GC5TAWW

Did a quick day-trip up to Whangarei today, together with TheLandGirl, to pick up my cat who was being looked after by family, while we were away for the holidays. Whilst up there we took the opportunity to complete this Earthcache and have emailed our answers to the CO. Didn't climb to the summit today, but have done so a few times before. Thanks for the Earthcache!

Were staying nearby Whangarei Heads and having a great time walking and geocaching. We completed this earthcache before walking up Mt Manaia today - what a great walk. Very interesting geography and geology here too. Thanks for setting this up

Talk about getting the timing right - we arrived in car park just as a squall was going through. Once this passed we set off up the track, getting to the top - on our own - just as next squall arrived. After sheltering under the overhang, we got the photos and set off back down passing lots of people going up .Back to the car just as another squall came through TFTC - answers sent

This was a lovely spot to camp overnight. We enjoyed an evening walk to the top yesterday and came back to here this morning to pick up the trad and complete this earthcache. Thanks for setting this up

Rattll and I visited the information signs at the start of the Mt Manaia track, today, and spent some time gathering the required info. Answers were sent to the COs. An amazing location. From an early age, the Whangarei Heads have been my idea of what harbour mouths should look like! Tftc!

Answers sent to CO

We are on a family holiday to NZ for a couple of weeks. First stop Whangarei. Only getting limited caches but happy with any given this occurs in the spare time I have.Heading back to Whangarei and time for one more stop. This is a spectacular geological feature so well worthy of an Earthcache. Answers sent and p h Ito of thd statues taken. Had Californian Quail (with chicks) here - would be cool to see a Kiwi.TFTC J 'N' K

Heading out to the Heads for a walk on Christmas Day. The impending rain meant I decided against walking up Manaia so I opted for some finds at a lower elevation. Observations made and answers sent to the CO. Thanks J 'N' K#4873Logged using Cachly.

After a night in a nearby B+B, we were all looking forward to a walk up Mount Manaia. Arrived at GZ and got what was needed for this earthcache and attempted to search for the nearby Trad. Gave that up as a bad joke, not wanting to dirty our party clothes and not to disturb the wasps and spiders that made home under the platform.

So commenced the shoe scrub and after getting the glass slippers all nice and shiny, went to the gate and noted all the police tape wrapping up the entry. Well that's a bummer!! The plus to this is we're now ahead of schedule.

Answers on behalf of Gcoven and JACS Team forwarded to the CO. Thanks to J 'N' K for highlighting this geological and cultural significant place.

TeamARF, JACSTeam and I had a fab day in Auckland before spending the night in Whangarei hoping to climb the mount this morning. Alas the track was closed so all we got was this EC and clean shiny hiking shoes! Loved the landscape here and thanks for highlighting all the geology. Answers sent on behalf of us by TeamARF the clever one!

Day 2: We ( TeamARF, Gcoven and myself) have travelled over from Brisbane, Australia to have a visit since we were not able to make it to the Mega. We have spent some considerable time solving puzzles and making plans in preparation.

Today the plan is to work on completing a challenge we have set for ourselves, attend our early morning event. I’m taking part in a parkrun and then doing some general caching in the CBD and further north to our next accommodation. We have a gigantic list of old, interesting, highly favourited, challenges and a few Geo-arts to try and collect over the next 10 days. There is a good chance we got lazy with our logging and do some joint variation of our initials - TGJ, GJT or JGT.

Please excuse the generic log, just have extremely little data to try and survive on it for the 10 days. However, you can be assured that if we have found your cache it was special to us for some reason or in a special location - so thank you for contributing to our holiday.

I will edit logs when back in Brisbane to add more details to those that need more details and of course I will be adding favourite points as I go along.

Answers sent. Nice to look up from this point - the legend finally made sense. Interesting background, thank you. Next visit we will get up there, touch wood.

Sent answers on and included this photo of Whangarei Heads.

Completed with Ricardinho

Please refer to his log & answers for Earth cache

TFTC

Day 4 of our Northland road trip, and the main focus today is Mt Manaia. A cache on the way in, and some others later in the day in town.

A belated logging of this one, as it slipped my mind unfortunately.
We really enjoyed the walk up Mt Manaia, and were surprised to see how busy it was today. It was a bit slippery in places, but the view was well worth the climb.
Great earthcache, I had never heard of an allochthon before and I have done a bit of geology at uni, so that was good to learn about.
Well worth a fave from me. TFTC J n K.

Found - Mrs McMike2012 & I now live full-time in our caravan & travel the country visiting places we want to visit … we are now parked up at the DoC Uretiti Campsite … decided to check out a few walks out by the Whangarei Heads … & this Earthcache while out this way … took the obligatory photos … answers have been sent to Cache Owner & we are logging this in anticipation of receiving the ‘all clear’ … pleased to add another 'smiley face' to the tally … TFTC ... TN except photos:LN:didn’t Sign Log ... #2,956 for us.

A good day for a walk up to the top with not many muggles on the track. Almost made it to the top when it was covered in low clouds! TFTC

One of my favorite places for a nice strenuous exercise jaunt. Great for some good vertical elevation metres to achieve the monthly Strava challenge.

Answers sent to CO. TFTC

Our favourite place

The clouds were rolling in and covering the top of Mount Manaia so we did our best to carry out the requirements for this earthcache. After answering the questions, we climbed up to the top of the mountain where we got glimpses through the clouds of the views below. A great walk up the mountain and it was good to see all the recent boardwalks and stairs to help prevent KDD. TFTC

We climbed Mt Manaia with the main goal of finding the cache placed in 2001.
Carried on to the top in time to see the cloud rolling in. By the time we walked back to this cache the top was covered in cloud.
Answers sent to CO.
TFTEC

It is always great to learn new things. From this earth cache, we will remember allochton and breccia. We are visiting Northland from Christchurch, and enjoying our summer vacation with a few Caches along the way! Thanks and merry Christmas.

First long weekend since long time! Decided to visit Whangarei Heads area. Lovely stay , lovely weather and great caches! This one was one of them.

Interesting spot! Promised myself to climb Mount Manaia on my next visit .... A little bit tired today after yesterdays activity around Smugglers loop and Mount Lion , etc ....
Answers sent to CO.

【T】【F】【T】【E】【C】

Nice walk with beautiful views

travelling the north island finding the TMTG cache and a few old cache and some cache to fill a d/t space. plus quite a number of other cache that are near by. travelling with kiscardi. loved the walk up the hill and the views.

Found with NZ Bozzy while touring around the North Island finding TMGT caches plus oldies such as the one up the top of Mount Manaia. Had a wonderful day for a walk up which we really enjoyed
Thanks for the earthcache answers sent by NZ Bozzy.

We decided on a walk up Mania to get the caches. Have not been up this way for awhile. Before they put in the boardwalk. Great to see the Kauri, and a great bit of exercise.
The rock formations out here are great. TFTC

Headed out to the Heads to see what all the good reports were about and had no plans to cache. Data was turned off, and PQs never reached out this far. Turned on data as we parked up and I was stoked to see an EC here and another further along- yay. Great views up and down from here. Answers submitted and accepted, thanks for the prompt reply J 'N' K.

A caching day of three halves today. The first part of the day was spent up the top of Parihaka which I'd been eyeing up since last visit but we managed to get a few whilst up that way along with mrs c, son Ed and the 3 year old twins, a 2 year old and little Mahlia in the carrier on his chest. All this overlaid with yet another scorcher of a day and good fun and sweating was just the trick. For the rest of the day we headed out to Whangarei Heads for a first trip out that way and with a timing for low tide on Ngunguru spit to be made we didn't stay too long out there.
Good variety today and some awesome scenery, again. Thanks to all COs.

After a weekend in Wellington and catching up with my UK based mother and her cruise trip to NZ, we made the most of being up here on the North Island and added an extra 6 days in Northland to the trip itinerary. We flew up to Auckland on Sunday afternoon and after a faff around with a hire car we took the scenic/dark route up the Helennsville highway to the North. Arrived late on Sunday night and straight to sleep. We had a week with son Ed and his 4 under 3 years old children. Fun time was had and some nice experiences.

You can’t come to Whangarei Heads and not go up Mount Manaia. We went fairly early in the morning and were pleased to find that the ascent was not as gruelling as we expected. The steps are exactly the right spacing and interspersed with nice lower angle paths to get your breath back on. It was surprising how quickly we climbed to 400 m. It was a great feeling getting up close to the rock and feeling the spirits of the Māori ancestors.

The start of the first of our two walks today. It’s a steep climb up here but not too long, and we reached the summit. Another fascinating legend worked in nature. Answers sent to the CO. TFTC

Enjoyed the area with tmann421
Joint answers sent
TFTC

Visited this Earthcache with woolwood9.
Very good area and walkway, we only went half way up so will have to come back sometime to do the walk to the top.
Thanks J'N'K for showing us this area and providing much information about the geology.
Answers sent.

Round the world trip Made it to New Zealand and will be traveling all around the Islands. Spent christmas with friends in Whangarei. Thanks for bringing up this cache!
Vielen Dank fürs legen und pflegen und beste Grüße aus Leipzig!
Thanks for hiding and many greetings from Leipzig/Germany!

Because the weather was worse south of Auckland, we decided to come north today. We are on a specific mission to collect some earthcaches to help fullfill the requirements of a challenge cache we had signed off on in Portland.
Mark remembers visiting this area on a University Marine Biology field trip many years ago, and Professor Morton telling students the Maori legend about the origin of the rock plugs "running" along the mountain ridge. We returned today to take a more scientific look. Thanks for bringing us back.

An amazing view from the summit of the mountain. Thanks for the earthcache here. Answers have been submitted to the CO. Logging here in anticipation of them being correct. Also on behalf of our two children darthcacher1 and purply who will log in their own names.

The weather was still not ideal, but we decided that as we are not made of sugar, we will last the trip! The main aim was Mt Manaia for the day. We set of nice and early, and maybe we should have waited until the afternoon when the clouds mostly lifted!! Great place to visit in any case! TFTC!!

We had just finished the trail traversing Mt Aubrey when it started to rain. Hence, we only quickly stopped at Mt Manaia to find the answers to this educating EC before moving on to Ocean Beach.
Thanks for the EC and all the information provided on this interesting place!

It was only a short extra way over the peninsula. Thanks for the cache!

TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC! TF TC!

I have been to Whangarei several times to visit friends, but today was my first time to Mount Manaia for a bit of a walk. We were taking advantage of a quiet morning for a bit of catching up and fresh air. We passed a lot of people coming down as we were doing up, but then only saw two other groups at the top and no one coming down after we had lunch at the top. Than you for the earthcache and for the geology lesson. I never would have known about allochthons otherwise.

Had fun going to the various earth caches round Whangarei with the kids. Enjoyed this one and the Taurikura earth cache. Thanks.

A quick stop to gather the required information and time to stand in awe of this dominating feature of the land. TFTC.

Well before going up mount manaia me and hegenor had to do this earth cache got most of the answers quite quickly. Nice to learn about the geology here definitely worth it! Thanks for the interesting earth cache.

I'm travelling around NZ for 7 weeks, using geocaching as my travel-planner. I was so lucky to be offered to stay overnight with thegreatauk and his mom, and that also meant that I could go crazy geocaching with thegreatauk. We had a big day today, we left the house at 6.45am and came back 10.45pm. We started off with the Tiger-caches, then we walked up to Mt Manaia and finished off with the SpotX. We had plans to go to Peach Cove and Eagle Rock as well, but we didn't have the time (or energy) for that. A great day with lots of beautiful scenery and caches.

About this cache:
We did the research for this cache before we walked to the top. It was really interesting to learn about how these formations were made. Answers have been e-mailed. Tftc

I have been up and down Manaia many times ...it's a walk / climb you never tire of wonderful views from many different aspect. I enjoy earth caches in general but do find them challenging. ...especially when you compare it to a D 2 traditional cache. The information that you learn is great, but they take a while to complete. I do appreciate the effort that must go into setting these caches so a big thanks JnK for your efforts and the cache

I've been up Mount Manaia quite a few times now and have been out on some extreme ledges way up! Amazing views from the top and even more amazing views of Manaia from near and far-away vantage points. Every time I get to the top of the Brynderwyns, I look across and feel I am almost home. A place in my heart for sure. Thanks J'N'K for your Earth Cache

Beautiful little hike right on the campsite with a nice legend! Had a great view from the top

TFTC! #1351

#5410 - #1670

This beautiful mountain has attracted us to visit. But we resisted, it was evening and we'd like to move on. Kačenka found at the road a small glass beer mug. So now I have it at home [:o)]. I hope to come back here and go through the local hills. We took a brief look at the Frenchman Island and we continue on, this time into underground.

Thanks for earth cache.

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Tahle krásná hora nás lákala k návštěvě. Ale odolali jsme, přeci jen je už večer a rádi bychom se posunuli dál. U silnice Kačenka nalezla malý půllitr. Tak jej teď mám doma [:o)]. Doufám, že se sem ještě vrátíme a projdeme si místní kopce. Ještě jsme věnovali krátký pohled Frenchmanovu ostrovu a frčíme dál, tentokrát do podzemí.

Díky za země keš.

Walked up the mount a couple of times most of the caches on the mount were a bit out of reach

Here with chermione and good to do another earth cache. Thanks for all the interesting information.

Very strange shaped mountains around here! Would have been good to climb if we had more time here. Tried 2 other caches but too tricky for us. Tftc

FITW Team Gorby
Was here to join Gorby, for his 4000th find. We did this on the way back, to attend Riser5's event. We were bit disappointed to see that the tracks were closed today, but happy that some renovations are going on for a better tomorrow. Thank you so much for placing this.

Came here after climbing Bream Head for my 4000th cache. I have harisree, supernanny, rustynz, Rebel98 and Lis's crew with me. Didn't take us long to gather the correct info while we were all in our drenched clothes (it was raining on Bream Head) then off to get changed before dinner at Riser5's event at Jimmy Jack Rib shack. Thank you for the earth cache.

We decided to do this earthcache and a nearby trad .....after attending Gorby's Maniacal Meanderings Event to establish he has found his 4,000th cache !
As we couldn't climb Mt Manaia due to track closure ; we found another equally high peak to ascend !
Great celebratory weekend !
Answers have been sent to CO.
Thanks for all your info !

Answers sent to CO, caching with rebel98. Attended the nearby Manaia-ical event nearby, and collected the required information.

Beautiful place to visit, sadly track closed for maintenance, hopefully during our next visit we will have a closer look at the rock formations. Thanks for the earthcache

See Darwould's email for answers.

I had some spare time after dinner so decided to complete this cache. Spectacular rock formations thats for sure. Answers sent to CO

Ninalila and I enjoyed the sunny day to visit as many places as possible before the rain.
We stopped by this place and were surprised to learn about the rocks here.

Thank you for the Earthcache.

Nice drive from Whangarei to Waipapa, fefe.adrien and I enjoyed walking until the Mount Manaia. We knew about the meaning of the creature thanks to the green stone but not about the legend of this mount.
Thanks to this earthcache we learnt more about this geologic formation.

Nice discovery !
Tftc

Came to the GZ during my week long visit to northland last week and worked out the answers however only just gotten around to submitting my answers to the CO. I love Mt Manaia, it forms part of my favourite view in the world, northlanders know the one, when you get to the top of the brynderwyns - it's the view that says you're home. The Maori legend is also one of my favourites. Thanks for the Earthcache.

Met near GZ with four others as part of the "Get Outdoors" day.Gathered the required information as a group and then began our ascent to the peak.Went to the absolute top to check on my own cache,great day for it and awesome views.
Know a lot more about Manaia's geology thanks to this cache.

Attended the Get Outdoors Day event organised by Riser5 to climb Mt Manaia and of course had to complete this earth cache. Message with answers sent. Would attach photo but computer is not recognising my phone today

Was visiting Mount Manaia for the get out of doors day event, took the opportunity with the rest of the event group to find the answers to this earth cache. Thanks for placing

**For information on the 2016 New Zealand Geocaching Adventure being held in Turangi, go to...**
[2016 New Zealand Geocaching Adventure](http://www.nzgeocachingadventure.nz)

I have climbed Mount Manaia twice previously before I had discoverd Geocaching, and the views are amazing.

Stopped by earlier this month on the way out to the heads, to verify this cache, TFTC

#11082. Mount Manaia is an impressive feature, and well worth an earthcache. It would have been nice to have had the time to climb to the top. Troodes submitted answers on behalf of both if us. TFTC.

Target for today was the Whangarei Heads, so we decided to go there via Mt Tiger Rd and return via Whangarei Heads Rd, which would increase the caching opportunities .
The first time we visited Northland, our first sight of the Whangarei Heads was when the road crested the hill and we saw the remnants of these ancient volcanoes emerging from the sea. I thought "wow!" what a wonderful sight on a sunny day. From that distance, the rock formations on the top of Mt Manaia aren't visible but I did wonder about them when we visited Marsden Cove yesterday and could see quite clearly these interesting shapes. They are even more impressive when seen from here.
Enjoyed reading about the Maori legend which reminded me of the Aborignal explanation of the Glass Mountains in Queensland. Logged with permission, thanks for the interesting earth cache.

Love reminiscing our past lives as geologists through these earth caches. TFTC.

#2034, Nice day for a walk after all the torrential rain. Walkway was very busy today. TFTC

Found with Pazzabella on a great tip the heads TFTC

We were here visiting a long lost friend less than half a kilometer from these posted coords. We hope to climb a cooler season soon as I view this from afar regularly at my mothers place in One Tree Point. Thanks for this earth cache.

Awesome awesome history lesson here. Had no idea!! Love the lesson and love the area!! Thanks for making this cache possible for the geojunkies of the world like us!! Arkansas USA! TFTC!

Been here many times, but always nice to learn something new, which I did thanks to this EarthCache. Thanks!

I'd like to also learn what actually happened while we were there; whether the callout to the fire brigade was for a false alarm or real emergency? After our hike, while having a snack & looking back up to where we had climbed, we initially thought a bush fire had started, seeing red/orange erupting in the V between the main plugs, but it quickly dissipated so must have been a smoke bomb of some type. Not sure if a true emergency signal for help, or someone being silly with post-GuyFawkes munitions.... The Fire brigade arrived quickly & headed up to investigate., bearing a stretcher & 1st aid. Hopefully it was just for something simple like a sprained ankle!
Earlier, we felt a bit nervous for some people who seemed precariously perched & perhaps contemplating a climb to the very top where the trig used to be. Then our way down I asked some of the school children scampering past "so, how was it"? ... most replied "cool! or awesome! & the like... but one said "Freaky!!!" to which I enquired "do you mean like, freaky good?" and she said "NO- freaky, like bad!" How odd. It would have been interesting to hear Why she had this bad vibe, but she was quick & too far downhill before I could ask more . So the combination of occurences has fueled my imagination, LOL Probably (& hopefully) for nothing.

It's taken a while to log this earth cache. Lovely day out with lis's crew. We managed to get 24 for day. Nice to catch up and meet vanquish.NZ and happyfacebandit. The location was amazing and learning about Mt Manaia's formation was interesting. TFTC... NICE TO GET A SOUVENIR,,!

I'm pleased this cache is my 700 th cache. I have fond memories of a school camp here. We went up Mt Manaia with the school but I must bring my kids and go up there again. I did my first abseil on that trip and really enjoyed it. I always feel like I'm home when I come over the Brenderwyns and see Mt Manaia and Marsden Point. A special mountain indeed, thanks for this Earthcache

#541 I wasn't tempted to go the top on this visit; however any day visiting the Whangarei Heads is a great day. TFT(Mt. Manaia Earth)C.

Visited the area today...it was windy and cold but the views even from the bottom of the hill were worth it. Interesting information about the rocks etc.....have emailed the cO the answers. Thanks for creating this earth cache.

glorious day out here today. managed to reach the top for sunset and back to gz for the last of the dusk colours. great to take a mo to have a closer read of these signs, learnt a few things thanks for placing

Such a lovely view from the bottom, I have no desire to head to the top. Yet my Husband has made me!

HotRodPete and Liz decided to take a break from working around the house this afternoon and look for a few caches instead. This one has been on our "to do"list for a while - the new visitors area has been much improved over the years.

Over summer we will be back to climb the mountain and (hopefully) locate some of the traditional caches hidden here.

Thanks John and Kathleen for the quick response to our Earth Cache email and for creating this cache; we will do the Taurikura Natural Jetty Earth Cache another day.

[green]After our climb to the top and the fantastic view up there, we had some lunch at the bottom, enjoyed the nice weather and tried to answer the question of this EarthCache. Since the family I stay with lives just across the bay, I have been seeing Mt. Manaia a lot during the last 8 weeks. Only 2 more left before I go back to Germany, but I will never forget this awesome view to Mt. Manaia. [8)]

Cheers & TFTEC![/green]

We were recently up at Whangarei for a conference and our cousin from Onerahi took around and showed us Whangarei after the conference. It was good to visit some of the places i had been to many years ago including ocean beach and urquhart bay eyc and coming back we stopped at this site which was new and marvelled at the jagged outline of the mountain....So I gathered the info necessary etc and since then filled in the gaps etc, checked i had the correct answers with the C. O. and this now could be logged for the next road trip award. So it is very good to get this cache . Thank you for the cache, another smiley face and a souvenir. thanks And a favourite point

(1500) Log with owners permission. Its always nice to visit Mount Mania.

Coordinates changed from:
S 35° 49.254 E 174° 30.646

Coordinates changed to:
S 35° 49.260 E 174° 30.630

Distance from original: 87 feet or 26.5 meters.
slight adjustment to reveal trad cache on map

Visited here. And I will now assemble my answers etc when I get time. Thanks for this.

After having been away for work for the past week this is my second to last day away so thought I should make the most of it and grab a few caches after work as I'm working on a personal challenge for Earthcaches. As I didn't have time to do the mountain circuit This was the only one I grabbed.
It is always good to learn about the local geological environments, and for that I thank you for bringing me here today

thank you for the placement

FTF. Such an awesome mountain and a good hike up and down. The view from the top is well worth the steps up, though some would argue to say maybe not.

Water bottle suggested.

This entry was edited by Riser5 on Wednesday, 13 May 2015 at 20:13:32 UTC.

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