Otawa Series #6 Toutouwai Te Puke, North Island, New Zealand
By HambrookHunters on 07-Sep-15. Waypoint GC64MB6

Ha this one had us for a bit bit luckily the wee fella is more switched on than Mr. TFTC

Cache is soaked, logs and plastic bag are gross and need replacing/dried out

Last of the day and effectively the top, the log was disgusting, full of water and mouldy. Didn't attempt a sign, took a pic instead

I had a day off work today - a so called well being day - so took the opportunity to walk to the Otawa Trig and find some caches along the way.

This was my last find of the Otawa series before the bonus. I still needed one of the codes for the bonus and was reassured after reading the previous log that this cache would yield the desired result. Finding the cache took a minute or so. As with most of the others it was close to the track. The problem then was the very wet log. I struggled to pull the paper apart to reveal the code but thankfully managed in the end. The log was too wet to sign so I left a scrap of dry paper and added the bonus codes too in the hope these will survive for the next cacher who comes along. TFTC

Got the afternoon of work and as the suns out and it’s meant to be raining the rest of the week, I headed up to this series. Wasn’t sure how far I would get but managed five out of the first six plus the bonus. Was a great would out that took just over 3 hours. This was initially a DNF and I started walking in to No 7 When I got to the track heading down hill I turned back as I didn’t want to walk all the way back up. So another stop here and having returned to what I originally thought was the hint I soon found the cache nearby. Stoked as it had the last number I needed for the bonus.

Otawa Series #6 Toutouwai was transferred from HambrookHunters to user kimbathelion

We split up and searched a fairly large area to no avail. Our 2nd dnfs for this track, oh well, guess I will be back.

Maybe not the right overhanging tree.

Hanging pings. Container full of water

Another very wet log

This was one of the easier caches we found today. Totally unexpected after seeing a DNF. Hint probably isn't accurate & log was wet. Tftc

Wasn't expecting to find this one after a DNF, but did so fairly easily with Kimbathelion. Log needs replacing - was wet.

We needed to get a few km under the belt before a trip we have planned next month, so off we go with our packs fully loaded with over night gear, feeling a bit over prepared. This series has always been on the todo list and now we have an excuse.

Unable to find this one. lots of fallen branches around and we needed to get moving. maybe next time. looking at the map again, possibly were not looking on the right side of the track

#11,544
With this cache trail potentially getting archived a quick plan was hatched to kill 2 birds with 1 stone , I needed to go for my daily run and needed to find this trail of caches.(no actual birds were killed )
Checked out the map and decided on starting at Manoeka Rd end to maximise elevation gain for my mountain running training.
Another good hint made for a reasonably quick find, again no bonus numbers but I’m not there yet...

Quick find here with the detailed hint by MrsJag while MrJag tried to fix his walking pole.

A plan was hatched to tackle the mighty Otawa track today. DC and I left his van at the Otawa Lodge carpark and headed up to the top carpark on the Quarry Rd.
Once we worked out which way to go we realised that the cache was close.
It's all downhill from here.
Thanks for bringing me here.
TFTC.


*Found with [Geooh Live](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobiltal.geoohLive)*

On this mission today with TNXPRO and McJandals. A lovely sunny morning after a day of rain. Many Thanks for this series and for eventually bringing me here. Cheers

The message came through last night asking who wants to do this series. I was keen as I didn’t want to have to walk this track on my own and have been avoiding doing so. I have also written this template on Cachly to log as I go. On this mission today with TNXPRO and Davidson Clan. A lovely sunny morning after a day of rain. Many Thanks for this series and for eventually bringing me here. Cheers

Love the effort you have put into these caches. Between the four of us Tparty, ABBA1026 and GHopa we located this with no problems.

This was a while in the planning, and the day finally arrived when four of us (GHopa, Abba1026, SuMars41 & Tparty) took to the hills for the 10 km walk around the Otawa Reserve. The weather had turned for the better today, and it was a pleasant stroll around the track. We were in no hurry, and took the time to enjoy the scenery. A car had been parked at the Manoeka Road end, and thanks to a friendly muggle, we got dropped off at the Te Puke Quarry end. This was a good move in hindsight, as it eliminated a fair bit of steep climbing had we gone the other way. We were unable to find #1, even though we knew it had been moved. It's hiding place eluded us, but it will not be a hardship to return to this one at a later date. We were also unable to find #5. Recent logs suggested that GZ had changed a little since the original placement. Despite armed with this knowledge, and a fair bit of time spent searching, we were still unable to turn it up. We will return sometime in the future. We made sure that the bonus numbers were collected along the way, but we walked past it in the end, and decided not to go back to retrieve it. This can wait for a later time when we return to pick up the remainder of the series. Many thanks to HambrookHunters for making the effort to lay out the trail. It's a great challenge and well worth the effort. We had little difficulty finding the containers using the hints provided. A couple of logbooks are damp but still able to be used. A very enjoyable walk with a great group of friends. TFTC

Last time we were here, we started the series from the North. We went to the summit, then beyond in order to get enough clues for the bonus cache. So this means that today this can actually be out last cache of the day, no need to carry on to the summit. Cache found easily enough although not quite where the hint said. Cache is more wet inside than the last one, logbook getting a bit hard to write in, but not mouldy like the last one.
We carried on to the junction sign just because we could, then saw a fallen tree a little off track that was in a nice spot of sunshine, so we chose that spot for a late lunch before returning the way we came. The trip down was much quicker than the trip up!. Thanks for the series.

Last cache for us in the series. Logged the find then found a sunny spot for lunch up near the junction. Great walk thanks for he series. Now down we go...

A chance to get out and about before the festive stupidities start (with the Otawa Track as the main objective for the day as we have been looking at for a long time), but of course a few other caches are always going to get caught into the action. So in the company of HKCB & Kyb3r we set off in two cars (parking at each end) and beginning the walk from the northern end and heading south.

Started walking at 5.33am, Distance 12km. Total Time 3hrs17min, Moving Time 2hrs33min. Conditions great and nice and cool throughout the walk.
Started out very nice through the long grass of a farm walk, which was followed by a nice gentle bush walk that for the most part was easy to moderate in intensity (at least that's what the smartwatch tells me). Most finds were located quickly (with good use of the hints) and all in all we were glad we walked the direction that we did.
There was plenty of laughter and good nature'd ribbing about many different topics and a thoroughly enjoyable time to be had by us all.
Thanks for putting this in place and getting us out and about, it was brilliant.
Our thanks goes out to the CO for the effort in getting these out here.

Thanks for the placement, Thanks for the cache

As usual this series is another one of those series you've been wanting to get since it was first published. However this one proved to have another challenge thrown into the mix as it involved either there and back walk or a vehicle at two ends! Hence as I wasn't yet prepared to do a there and back walk this series was put on the back burner.

However a few hours this morning managed to make itself free and we quickly filled it with this series. It had finally got the best of me so teamed up with Cats&Dragons and Kyb3r and headed over from Hamilton in two cars. As I needed to be back in Hamilton by 10.30am, a early start meant we had positioned cars at both ends and had started walking a bit after 5.30am.

With the time against us there was no room to stop and smell the flowers, so it was head down and get the heart rate up. And it paid off as we completed the track with all caches found, plus an extra unpublished one at the end of the track in 3 1/4 hours, which included a 20min hunt for one cache. The rest were found without much hassle, and the bonus cache was well made.

Thanks for the series!

This one took ages to find, and the hint didn't match where we found it either. With the tree fall here it might pay to check the hiding spot next time your up this way.

Took a bit of searching but eventually located close to the hint object. Tough haul uphill for this one. TFTC.

Found it after a good search around had to use the hint ...but even that did not help to much....I guess someone has placed it there for a good reason as it was not under the log ...thanks HambrookHunters hunters for a great placement....really looking forward to the down hill home

I did manage to see several Toutouwai. They are incredibly cute and small, flitting about above us. Not too much of a drama to find this cache. Thanks for the cache placement.

Quick easy find for my daughter. She seems to have the eyes for it.

Yay! Georunnermatt found another one. The hint is a bit weird though :p. It is a successful day of geocaching today! Hopefully we can find the whole series. TFTC!

Another successful find on this walk with livee_nz and DotjeNL. Took a little while despite reading the hint, but I eventually found this one. TFTC

I looked and looked and looked in the right spot but Matt found it time to turn back now and get the rest from the other end. Not looking forward to the hills

I tried to con a couple of other cachers to come with me today but got no takers. It was a beautiful morning so what better way to spend it but on a walk through some beautiful native bush. Had a nice talk with the farmers on the track to the bush. I love caches that are put where they are easily found especially when placed in bush. That way the young plants are given a chance to live.

End of the tramp here so it was time to head back to the trig for lunch and the Bonus cache.

Cheers for the cache.

Out today tramping with my parents. We started walking at 8 am heading **to** Quarry Road from our drop off starting point at Otanewainuku. (Oropi). Track from Otanewainuku (once passed the waterfall) becomes steep in places, track over grown and orange markers few and far between.
Wanted to find Otawa series on our way to Quarry Road car park, our Pick up place.
**If you like tramping and want to meet onto Otawa track by start at Otanewainuku, plan for someone to drop you off and pick you up at each end. This track is a steep climb, track is over growing in areas and orange markers are few and far between! Research the area and tracks before you start this tramp. Go well prepared and start early as it is a long day and a hard walk!**

We've being to trig from Quarry Road before which is a great walk, tracks are great, but didn't know about Geocaching then. So these Caches made this tramping expedition more exciting.

Today's first Cache find was Series #6, as from here this is where our tracks met from Otanewainuku.
Plan being is to find Otawa series in a backwards order #6 - Gate way, collect the bonus co-ords and come back again at later date and start from Manaweka Road to collect the #9-7 (from memory) and find the bonus cache as well.
Found #6 Toutouwai, no problems at all, my parents are enjoying Caching with me (trying to get them to become members). Signed (SMP2x & Webbs), dated & replace Cache. Eager to find #5!

I saw the cache as I approach gz. I was surprised at it's position so took a photo of the log book showing the last log entry dated 4/1/16 which is much more recent than others in this series I have found so far today. The name was not familiar to me from other logs in this series or any other local cache I have found. I suspect it was a muggle so checked the hint & replaced the cache fitting that info.
Time to turn back & head to my car in Quarry Rd. Thanks so much for the fantastic series HambrookHunters such a great day for a lovely walk. Will come back for the other 3 another day.

Oops looking back on the photo I've uploaded I see I made an error in the log book. Should be dated 20/1/16. Must've been getting tired and hungry! Definitely time to head back to the car and home for lunch!

TFTC LOOK First at the wrong place!

Received notification of new caches at Te Puke and got a text from Squirrel Nutcase asking if I was interested in going for these. As we needed caches for published on day for our challenge my answer was yes without looking to see where they were. Next message was that the Tauranga guys were also going for them tonight so a bit more pressure to go so I suggested that they start at one end and us at the other end and do a vehicle key swap when we meet up on the track. Great idea so off to pick up the Squirrel. By the time we got to the start it was 8.30pm and not to worried about the distance to the end.
Walked up through farmland and at first missed gate into the bush. Quick discussion and we were onto the track. By this time received text from team at other end who were struggling with finds with only finding one cache at this stage.
Good walking track up and steadily finding caches as we went with more texts from other end of track, almost to #4 when we met the other team, buggar me its Philip and his 10 year old son which I got the impression they were glad to see us. I felt it was a brave effort on their part ( we just get called mad, crazy etc etc which is mostly from Mrs Fap) anyway a bit of a pick me up talk we swapped keys and parted. Apart from a bit of a search for bonus cache all others were found fairly quickly with hint and Co Ords except #9 as our phones had gone flat about half an hour before so will be back to get this one but maybe in daylight. We finally arrived home at 4am Friday, lucky for Squirrel he is on school holidays but me it's a another work day.

12.05am - Bit of a discussion as to which side, East, North, South......Just follow the hint to great hiding hole. SLTFTC

Starting to feel muscles that have not been used for a while by now, and every container we open has already been signed, so yet again NOT first. We shoulkd have got up earlier perhaps, but ssoubd like they did a night run. Would nit like to be here in the dark!!

It was good to see the junction sign and know we were close to the trig - not many more hills. I haven't done the walk from the lodge for quite awhile - it is a good track and lots of birdsong. Love the caches and the bird info - a really fantastic series. TFTC

This entry was edited by NZFlossy on Monday, 12 October 2015 at 02:19:48 UTC.

{FTF} On the hunt with Gap (of Fap and Gap).

Day 39 of a hopeful 50-day caching streak...

The notifications for the Otawa series began to pour in just before 6:30PM. Shortly after, Gap phoned to gauge my interest... How badly do we need these caches for our geocaching license? (Challenge: find 20 caches on the day of publishing)... Naturally, I was keen to go, but wanted to see who else might be in the area tonight. A few texts revealed that Philip Perry and son were coming in from the lodge end. We arranged to do a car key swap along the walk...

Midnight (and a new day) ticked by as our descent slowed. We seemed to have walked a long way, but not any closer to the cache. Finally, the track sign appeared, and we still had about 1 1/2 hours to go... The cache was a quick find as we relied on the iPhone gps to show the way... TFTC.

Published