SPLASH! Upper Hutt, North Island, New Zealand
By trails trails trails on 31-Dec-15. Waypoint GC68XBP

Came in from Brians path/coords, which is almost invisible unless you look at the right angle. A lovely bushy part of the Trail replete with birdlife to walk along. Cache was obvious but took a measured retrieve. Some water ingress but log is OK. The best part was throwing the cache away afterwards no splash though

Pull up!

Awesome one! Thanks for the hide! Found on a group trip with the kids

We were thankful to have an adventurous dad with us to reach this one, and it was fab. Took some swaps, left some swaps. Ripped out a lot of water. TFTC;

Very clever idea

Very clever

Lol. Wasn't as far down a climb as I thought after reading last logs. Ended up passing the container before I'd even seen the 'raising mechanism'. TFTC.

What a challenge this one was. The Daredevil in the group got it while we were risk adverse but supportive....

J-Vaccaching was the only one game enough to venture down to look or this one. The rest of us were issuing safety warnings from above! Interesting challenge, especially getting back up!! TFTC

Finished work this morning in Masterton and now heading to the airport. Had spare time to collect a few caches. Targeted this cache as I always enjoy a swim and it looked like a good challenge. Got to the river and left everything but my togs and pen. Scrambled up the other side which was quite a mission as there was lots of loose rocks and plenty of blackberry. Pushed through the pain and soon spotted the cache. Log signed and now just need to avoid any big splash on the way down. Rewarded with a cool swim to wash off the dirt. Happy to add a favourite point for the whole adventure. Thanks for the smiley

Tricky one to get to. Quite a bit of precarious, careful scrambling involved. Great swimming hole!

No luck

I had a bit of a look around (a look down) but didn't see the retrieval mechanism. However I thought I could see the container itself way down the bank. I couldn't tell if it was still attached or not -- so down the bank I had to go. Mountain biking shoes aren't the best for mountain climbing so I had to rely on handholds more than footholds. But I got there, found the container -- half full of water (but the log was dry) -- and still attached to the retrieval mechanism (a piece of wire). There was a whole of fallen debris lying across the wire, I'm not sure I would have been able to pull it up. All clear now. Thanks for the interesting cache!

I've had my eye on this cache for a while now, partly because I thought it might be an interesting one to get, and partly because of the length of time that had elapsed since the previous find.

So inevitably I was very interested in coming along here tonight, as the previous 2 evenings have not been the best weather-wise. Tonight was cold but otherwise fine. Of course, all the rain we've had recently has sure made the track boggy in places but I had anticipated that and brought my Wellies along.

But in no time at all, or so it felt, I was close to GZ. My phone was telling me I still had about 11m to go, but I just knew I was in the right location. And so began my search for the retrieval mechanism that others have talked about in their logs...with no luck at all. Hmm ok how about going a little lower? I wasn't really dressed for this, still being in my work getup, but seldom would I ever let that stop me. Eventually (I was being cautious being on my own and all) I spotted something of interest and crabbed my way across to it.

Sure enough it was the cache, yay! Ahhhh, so that's why I couldn't find the retrieval mechanism - it had become unattached. Unfortunately after all this time, the container was full of water. I tipped that all out to find that at least the log is waterproof paper, which was an excellent result. I soon added my name under the last finder Capperz, and put it back where I found it. However, to make it easier for the next person I have reattached the retrieval mechanism.

So thank you for keeping this cache going, and the find which I can add to my growing list of caches that were 1000+ days lonely (1002 in this specific case). The whole thing was a memorable adventure for me, so is worthy of a FP

SPLASH! was transferred from trails trails trails to user wb1116

Last of the evening and glad I ignored the closed track sign as this is still easily accessed from above. Placed down my damage-ables first and stepped down carefully. Spotted the retrievable item easy enough and soon had the prize in hand. All good and replaced as found. T F T C trails trails trails

Down the last few years I've had to come over this way for work a few times and have had a combination of personal vehicle, borrowed car from a friend, and good-old on foot as modes of travel. Today was the latter and after a busy day in the city at Govt House I got changed nice and quick and headed out for a nice early evening stroll. Not many caches found but a good walk anyway and rounded off with a feed from the chippie.

Tricky. Tftc.

I was up early this morning to take some family members to the Dawn Service at Pukeahu (I'm usually up at 5 anyway to go to work, so today was no different). After enjoying what has become our traditional Bacon & Egg breakfast afterwards I headed out to find a cache or two. I went down the short cut, and enjoyed a peaceful stroll to the required tree. The cache was soon retrieved and the logbook signed. Then it was back to the car and home for the second coffee of the day (coffee makes the world go round you know). Cheers and TFTC

I came up here this evening to pick off more caches in Riverstone. Headed along the track and got a bit worried when I saw the "Track Closed" sign and was still about 60m away. Got to GZ without any problem (and no sign of any closure), then set to work. Following the hint I dropped down to the obvious spot and soon spied the cache and attachment mechanism. Reached down and pulled up the cache. Signed log and replaced, then headed back to pick up the other caches on the track. TFTC

This was a fun cache. Tftc

Tftc!

Tftc

A quick find in the only possible spot. Log bag no longer waterproof and log soaked but luckily it's made from waterproof paper so all good. Dried log as best we could and replaced in a new sealed bag to hopefully keep it a bit drier.

Had me wondering how to tackle this one then spotted something and everything came together. A nicely crafted cache and worthy of a FP. TFTC

Second of two cache hunts with my son today. Found that the track was 'closed' due to it being washed out. But come too far to turn back now... so we push through anyway. Fun little cache at the end of it!

Tim and I brought Dexter the Border Collie out for a walk along the river bank to see if we could find this cache.

Last time we were here the track was partly closed because of a washout. It is not closed any more.

We had a lot of fun finding the cache. The lid got dropped and we had to spend a few extra minutes doing a rescue mission. It is back exactly where we found it.

The log is a bit wet but is waterproof paper so it can still be used.

Thank you

Cherrys Rule

Well - this was an interesting experience (and dramatic for one of us)! We knew immediately we were at the right tree; while I was pondering tactics (i.e. scrambling carefully down the bank), Mr. T had spotted something, reached out, slipped, grabbed the tree and swung round it somehow. It all happened so fast. Well that's geocaching for you, you never have a camera when you need one. Worth a FP for the entertainment. Thanks very much for the cache.

When I got close to GZ I immediately spotted a candidate hiding area but didn't see any cache. Then I saw something which seemed somewhat unreachable and i thought "surely not". Then I spotted something else which solved the problem and suddenly the cache was in hand. Nicely done. Then, inexplicably, the cache lid did a runner and ended up exactly where the cache was before! After signing the log then a couple of careful minutes later I retrieved the lid and restored everything. Phew. That would have been embarrasing if I had to admit losing the lid! Giving a FP for the hide itself and the added adventure I created unnecessarily. TFTC.

Cache # 3,713 - Such a lovely night out with Crystal Fairy I forsook my normal one-a-day cache to come grab this one too. We got within 60 meters of the GZ when we came across a "trail closed" sign due to a washout. Proceeding carefully, we saw no sign of the washout warned about in the sign, and cache was soon in hand, although about 12 metres from where GPS was pointing. Tipped out water from the cache container. TNLNSL. TFTC!

Second and last cache of the evening with Wandering Dragons. We had comtemplated doing this cache a while back from the other side, but this side was much easier. The GPS was pointing to the other side of the path, but the location seemed to have an obvious spot which took us directly to the cache. On the way back we passed a Possum (photo attached). Thanks for the cache.

Son found it while taking the dog for a walk. Tftc

Found by friend

Approaching from the south, we too came to the tape barrier, but based on the recent logs, we figured we could get to the cache without going past the washout, so continued on. Interestingly, while we were at the cache, someone came from the opposite direction. Although the coordinates were spot on, and Mr W.E.K.A. descended first, he was unable to find the cache. Mrs W.E.K.A. was not satisfied with his "man look" and insisted on looking as well, and quickly spotted this sneakily hidden cache. She decided it was worth a favourite. TFTC

Thanks for the heads-up regarding the washout Bruce. I walked the track from south to north today to investigate the flood damage which is located about 100m north of the Splash! cache. The track is currently being repaired by council staff.

I approached this one from the alternative track entry and got to fifty metres from the cache site when I was confronted by a track closure notice. I tried a slightly higher track but soon realised that wasn't going to take me to where I needed to go. I returned to survey the scene at the notice and could see the track was in good condition for the part that I could see. I normally comply with closure signs but I decided I could at least have a careful look to see if it was safe to get to the cache site. It was and I walked about thirty metres past without seeing any sign of the washout. I quickly found the cache which is in great condition. It is probably not a good idea for cachers to be going into out of bounds areas so maybe consideration should be given to disabling this cache.

Couldn't find it. Surprising since it's so large!

Tftc, by far my favourite hiding spot. Awesome thank you

Thankfully not today Spotted likely spot before the final approach Safely retrieved and with the paper returned before any muggles arrived on the spot TFTC

Found with Selesi who spotted something and I was the retreiver. Well put together. TFTC

This is a very nice walking track - Just-Lookin soon had the cache found here. SL TFTC

A great day to be out geocaching with tmann421.

A nice quick find for us today.

TFTC and bring us to this lovely area

Found

Arrived at the given cords from above and soon had the cache in hand. Signed and replaced as found. Approach to the cache a bit dodgy and should be done with care. T.F.T.C.

Found with NZ1. Quick n easy. Cache in good order. TNLNSL. TFTC

Found it , Clever hide Thanks

Nice quick find with one of the geo-sons on an afternoon excursion down the river tracks. No problems recovering or replacing the cache.
Nicely done.

TFTC!

#7543. Joint 3TF with agcnz and Yeetrees. Parked on Kirton Drive to walk the trails on the Riverstone Terraces. Other than one dog walker, the trails were all quiet when we visited. Arrived at GZ, we did not see any one in the river. Then agcnz made the quick find. The cache was in excellent condition, all nice and dry inside. Took nothing, left nothing, signed log.

.T h a n k s. .f o r. .t h e. .c a c h e.

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**For information on the New Zealand Geocaching Adventure being held in Turangi in October 2016, go to...**
* [New Zealand Geocaching Adventure 2016](http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC63PZN)
* [2016 New Zealand Geocaching Adventure](http://www.nzgeocachingadventure.nz)

I've enlarged the cache size and made the whole thing more secure - and interesting as a result.

Came here this morning with huhugrub and Yeetrees, a pleasant walk along the track from Riverstone Drive. Found very quickly, fortunately I could climb down and there's a good strong branch to stand on right next to the cache. Definitely a big drop down from here to the river, but I think that if I jumped from this tree I'd end up with a "CRUNCH" rather than a "SPLASH"... Signed log, TFTC!

Published

#1646 I saw the alert come through however had a priority need to get home and deal with an urgent matter. NZ1 called and asked whether I'd like to join him for an attempt at FTF, however I reluctantly declined on this occasion. I sure hope not to make a habit of that

I was able to stop in later and claimed 2TF at 8:04pm. I hope this cache lasts the long haul, it is in a risky location waiting for an opossum to make it live up to it's name.

Thanks for another smilie

Found with GBNZ at 1752 joint FTF. Happy to complete this cache as a pair. Attacked this one from the top all is good and I hope it remain in its hidden space. TFTC