Watch your step-(central plateau) Erua, North Island, New Zealand
By
Hawirawhanau on 27-Sep-15. Waypoint GC6475C
Cache Details
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By visiting the external cache listing you are leaving the Geocaching Australia website.
Geocaching Australia is not affiliated with the original listing site for this cache.
Please click here to view the caches listing.
If you wish to log this cache, you will need to log it on the external site.
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Logs
Revisited the area with FMZ. The road was rough as guts and it was a hot sunny day. As we were driving in, a deer ran across the road in front of us..... what a beautiful sight. A lucky sign?!! Someone was camping at the airstrip, very hot and dry. The drop-off is getting bigger and bigger. We thought we could hear water running but couldn't see anything. Found the cache, quite a different hide to our FTF, we wished we were able to log it again.
When we drove out we had a traffic jam near the main road, a truck, a 4WD and 2 cars and some silly girls who had decided to stop in the middle of the road to change drivers!!!
We're glad we came back to see where the cache had ended up, ... a nice little hiding place.
When we drove out we had a traffic jam near the main road, a truck, a 4WD and 2 cars and some silly girls who had decided to stop in the middle of the road to change drivers!!!
We're glad we came back to see where the cache had ended up, ... a nice little hiding place.
This was quite an adventure. I mean it wasn't but it was. It's not really very far off from the main road, but it feels like it is way out in the middle of nowhere, and when you get here, it's like the scene of some kind of massive natural disaster. The old air strip is just disappearing off the edge into the depths of the unknown. Quite spectacular. That sure is a long way down, like, where did all the land go? Anyway, got here and realised we had not loaded up the cache so had no coords or anything - managed to get some signal to call a fellow cacher to get some coords, but before he managed to txt them (thanks Gorby) we had actually found the cache, just by looking in a likely spot. Anyway, great cache, great spot, lots of fun. This is what caching is about. Giving a well deserved FP for bringing me somewhere interesting. TFTC!!!
It was interesting to revisit this spot with Hinemoana. My previous visit was several years ago and while the hole has got bigger, it may be slowing down a bit now. Hinemoana's eyes were sharper than mine! Thanks.
WOW!! I did not quite read the description but evilC had visited the location previously and did not mind revisiting. What an amazing spot! Definitely the favourite for the day. We were trying to get some photos without falling in!discovered
I decided to go on an adventure off SH4 and after 10km I was only 258m away from the cache. Found the second track and left the cachemobile on the gravel road.
I found the first lump of grass and poked at it with my poking stickand lo and behold I heard a plastic thud. Yahoo. Talk about being gammy.
Cheers for the cache.
I found the first lump of grass and poked at it with my poking stickand lo and behold I heard a plastic thud. Yahoo. Talk about being gammy.
Cheers for the cache.
Our friends live on this road, so we had to check it out. This was the airfield they used for a long long time, before it started taking away into the abyss!! Took a wee while to find.
12.25pm
Another day that I am able to combine work and caching with. Had to travel To Raetahi so why not collect some caches in my travels.
With the Squirrel on board and route plotted we were in with a fairly long road trip.
Great to tick a few out of the way caches with one in particular that had taken us a few years to complete.
Even managed a couple of virtuals which was good.
Many thanks to the caches owners for these caches. SLTFTC
Another day that I am able to combine work and caching with. Had to travel To Raetahi so why not collect some caches in my travels.
With the Squirrel on board and route plotted we were in with a fairly long road trip.
Great to tick a few out of the way caches with one in particular that had taken us a few years to complete.
Even managed a couple of virtuals which was good.
Many thanks to the caches owners for these caches. SLTFTC
With Gap (of Fap and Gap)... Heading southward so that Gap can complete an installation job. Naturally, we have some caching to do...
A serious drive into this remote location. As expected, there was absolute zero traffic and a long drive in. We tried to find the easiest route and settled on the second entry. We took good note of the warning signs, but there is little evidence of the dangers that exist until one approaches the cache... That is one major slip and drop off, and we hope the area around ground zone is stable and away from potential mishaps. It took a while to find the right hint, as there were other more likely spots. We picked up the TB that seems to have had a good rest here. Thanks for bringing us to this lonely spot. TFTC.
A serious drive into this remote location. As expected, there was absolute zero traffic and a long drive in. We tried to find the easiest route and settled on the second entry. We took good note of the warning signs, but there is little evidence of the dangers that exist until one approaches the cache... That is one major slip and drop off, and we hope the area around ground zone is stable and away from potential mishaps. It took a while to find the right hint, as there were other more likely spots. We picked up the TB that seems to have had a good rest here. Thanks for bringing us to this lonely spot. TFTC.
Staying at Whakapapa for the week so had to find this cache. All OK with the cache. The area must have looked so different before the huge slips and erosion.
Thanks Hawirawhanau.
Thanks Hawirawhanau.
. Filling in time as my partner is doing the Gat run from Whakapa to Turow. Took a little while to drive out here but the road wasn't too bad. Got near GZ and parked and walked. Spotted a few likely spots but trusted the GPS and made a quick find. Views god and slip certainly is massive. . TFTC.
Quick revisit, killing time until time to pick up our regos for "The Goat". Hubby found it while I was stIll doing the " bumblebees dance" awesome spot. TFTC dropped in a tag
Day 2 of Mega - Geocaching Adventure
Teamed up with HKCB to tackle a few out of the way caches around the mountains, plus a few Lab caches on the way.
An amazing day, a not too early start, already had an event plus the sun is shinning. Perfect caching conditions! After driving to get some information for the Labs we headed back this way to start finding some 'real' caches.
An interesting drive out here, thought we would have seen more geocachers venturing off the beaten track but we didn't see very many at all! Wondered what the slip was going to be like and was quite shocked once I could finally see it.... huge! Took a bit of a hunt to find the cache but luckily HKCB was onto it and spotted it.
Teamed up with HKCB to tackle a few out of the way caches around the mountains, plus a few Lab caches on the way.
An amazing day, a not too early start, already had an event plus the sun is shinning. Perfect caching conditions! After driving to get some information for the Labs we headed back this way to start finding some 'real' caches.
An interesting drive out here, thought we would have seen more geocachers venturing off the beaten track but we didn't see very many at all! Wondered what the slip was going to be like and was quite shocked once I could finally see it.... huge! Took a bit of a hunt to find the cache but luckily HKCB was onto it and spotted it.
Day 2 of Mega 2016!
Today's goal was to head around the mountain to find the Lab caches as well as the caches up the Western side of the mountains, again like yesterday focusing more on the caches a little more off the beaten track than on the side of the road. Again teamed up with 11HPG11 for today's mission!
Not a bad drive out here, and I was amazed that not may other people from the MEGA ventured this far off the main road in the quest to find caches. Was wondering why this cache was placed here and it all became apparent when we got to GZ. Took a small search to uncover, and only just got it signed and replaced in time before a muggle turned up. They were there hunting by the looks of it and came to check out the slip. We to had a quick before heading on our way. Thanks for the placement.
Today's goal was to head around the mountain to find the Lab caches as well as the caches up the Western side of the mountains, again like yesterday focusing more on the caches a little more off the beaten track than on the side of the road. Again teamed up with 11HPG11 for today's mission!
Not a bad drive out here, and I was amazed that not may other people from the MEGA ventured this far off the main road in the quest to find caches. Was wondering why this cache was placed here and it all became apparent when we got to GZ. Took a small search to uncover, and only just got it signed and replaced in time before a muggle turned up. They were there hunting by the looks of it and came to check out the slip. We to had a quick before heading on our way. Thanks for the placement.
Many 'things mentioned in the hint here'.. in the end ross was a gentleman and let Jill find it 
Found at 14:58 - #6368 along with Indiana Jill, Rosmar & soStepho . signed as INTGEO(team) to save space and time
TFTC :
Found at 14:58 - #6368 along with Indiana Jill, Rosmar & soStepho . signed as INTGEO(team) to save space and time
TFTC :
We missed the southeast entrance to the airstrip, possibly because there was a vehicle parked there, but eventually found ourselves at the northwest entrance. We note there are signs at both ends saying not to enter because of the unstable cliff, but of course we had to risk our lives to find the cache. The hint had us a bit worried, but surprisingly the cache was a fairly quick find. TFTC
Cache is still there. Surprising no one has been here in almost a year. Great view down the valley.
BE VERY CAREFUL TO STAY WELL AWAY FROM THE UNSTABLE CLIFF. Stay close to the barb wire fence and there is no need to go past the line of small manuka shrubs.
BE VERY CAREFUL TO STAY WELL AWAY FROM THE UNSTABLE CLIFF. Stay close to the barb wire fence and there is no need to go past the line of small manuka shrubs.
We've thought a lot about this and decided to do some research. We came upon these interesting forum entries about Erua Road and local landowners which led us to believe that we may not be welcome in this area due to contention of road ownership and usage.
http://www.offroadexpress.kiwi/Forums/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=27041
After some thought and discussion amongst ourselves we believe we could possibly have been watched by someone as we retrieved our GPS in the early evening using torches. We remember seeing a set of fresh wheel tracks along the road as we drove in. Perhaps someone was watching us and did not want us there, and that could explain why the tree stump mysteriously went missing. The more recent entries in the above forum link imply that there is still a problem of ownership along this road and that users aren't welcome. It may not be a good time to visit late in the day as there appears to be a hunting lodge nearby, just along the road, that claims the road to be private. We hope that the Cache owner can confirm that it really is OK and safe to be here. Thanks.
http://www.offroadexpress.kiwi/Forums/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=27041
After some thought and discussion amongst ourselves we believe we could possibly have been watched by someone as we retrieved our GPS in the early evening using torches. We remember seeing a set of fresh wheel tracks along the road as we drove in. Perhaps someone was watching us and did not want us there, and that could explain why the tree stump mysteriously went missing. The more recent entries in the above forum link imply that there is still a problem of ownership along this road and that users aren't welcome. It may not be a good time to visit late in the day as there appears to be a hunting lodge nearby, just along the road, that claims the road to be private. We hope that the Cache owner can confirm that it really is OK and safe to be here. Thanks.
the location of this cache is on public land being well within the boundaries of Erua forest park, the disappearing log incident may have occurred due to someone seeing you in the vicinity which could possibly caused some interest as to what you were looking for...as for the log itself, it was a nice piece of maire which is quite sort after for the opportunist. i think if it was unwelcome the person responsible would have destroyed the cache,but it was left untouched and still sitting in the original position. i spend quite a bit of time up in this area exploring and there are many places where opportunists have cut up bits of old logs. And as for the road issue there is no issue where the cache location is involved as it is public road i think the issue that you have highlighted in the link is actually located further along the road where erua road goes onto erua station a bit of back block syndrome and not liking people cross through their farm maybe i dont think you have anything to worry about and it was good that you were able to go back and find your gps (lucky) p.s. we didnt think it was you who took the log
Coordinates changed from:
S 39° 15.124 E 175° 19.219
Coordinates changed to:
S 39° 15.119 E 175° 19.212
Distance from original: 45.1 feet or 13.7 meters.
Had to move cache, as original location is now sitting in someones firewood shed.,but at least they left the cache behind.
S 39° 15.124 E 175° 19.219
Coordinates changed to:
S 39° 15.119 E 175° 19.212
Distance from original: 45.1 feet or 13.7 meters.
Had to move cache, as original location is now sitting in someones firewood shed.,but at least they left the cache behind.
That is really weird! Jeez, Hope you don't think we took it. All was safe and well on Thursday night, because that is exactly where we found our GPS, had been left sitting on top of it. Who on earth would drive all the way out here to pinch that log of wood? Looked like it had been there for ages. Could it be hunters? We're jolly glad we made the decision to drive back out straight away and get our GPS back. Just can't believe it!!!We can vaguely remember driving up this road as far as the first side road, many years ago, but can't remember why. Were we looking for a cache, a letterbox, or just exploring? Just don't know. So this time we loaded up the truck with a couple of friends and some food supplies and took off while the sun was still shining to explore the rest of the road. Enjoyed the scenery and soon arrived at the airfield and we were quite blown away by the view, outwards and downwards!......totally unexpected. Wouldn't like to land a plane here, it is certainly an awesome change to the landscape. Nice hide for the cache, quick find and then took a few photos. Enjoyed the drive back out and then went all the way up to Taupo on a shopping trip. Got home late and suddenly realized our GPS had not come home with us.... uh oh, decided we had to do another trip all the way back to the cache site but this time it was raining hard, low cloud, bit of fog and in the dark! Nothing like a bit of night caching in the rain, in the middle of nowhere. Lots of excitement with torches flashing around, and the GPS was just lying there, waiting for us, but with flat batteries. Then off back home again, driving under the low clouds eerily lit up by the night train parked at the National Park Station. Quite an adventure and a cache trip that won't be forgotten and earns a favourite point. TFTC.
