They Chose This Valley #5 (Franklin) Franklin, Auckland, New Zealand
By SethRaven on 14-Feb-16. Waypoint GC6BAGT

Coordinates changed from:S 37 7.919 E 175 2.930Coordinates changed to:S 37 7.924 E 175 2.901Distance from original: 143.9 feet or 43.9 meters.Have done a manintenance run - this cache has been moved as the muggle neighbours removed trees exposing this cache. Hopefully it will stary ok where it is now.

Maintenance now completed - new co-ords posted on page

I have checked on this one and we will be moving it's location a bit to make it less seem by muggle nighbours

After collecting Lower Mangatawhiri Camp, Googlemaps indicated this was the quickest way home. From the info on the sign it appears quite likely that my great great grandparents went to church here as they settled in this valley after coming from Ireland via South Africa and arrived in 1864. My great grandmother and some of her relatives are buried at the Te Maketu Cemetery (also known as the Pratts Road Catholic Cemetery) TFTC

Came prepared with my duct tape friend and tott but abandoned the idea due to weird looking individual in the car park!

After failing to find #4 we were determined to make good here. Luckily we had everything that we needed to make the find. Thanks for the series.

Out geocaching for World Record Day and really enjoying the series. We should have read these prior and come better prepared . We had the main requirement in our car but geokid and geokid got a bit wet . Thanks for taking us on this journey .

**15,960**
A bit of effort was required on a cold morning to retrieve this cache but with all hands on deck, it was managed. Unfortunately, the log was mush so have replaced with a water-resistant sheet. We have thoroughly enjoyed this cache series. TFTCS

After climbing Mt William with Merlot58 and Nette1234 we had time to collect a few caches on our way home. Fortunately we had come prepared for this cache. We spotted the cache on our approach, and were glad there were 3 of us to retrieve this cache. Unfortunately the log is very wet - we managed to sign our names on it though. Thanks for a fun cache

Thankfully one of the team had read the hint and as we didn't have enough supplies we improvised and filled some bottles from a stream near another cache. Thankfully there were 3 of us but even then I managed to get sprayed as fingers kept slipping off holes. The log was very wet once we managed to retrieve it. Thanks for the fun!

A team effort was required with this.
Iol

Heading into the Hunuas for a good walk today, and I picked up some of these caches on the way there, and the rest on the way back (due to the presence of muggles near two of them!). Tricky one here! We looked at the wrong spot originally, then my muggle hubbie spotted the real one! After mucking around with it on a cold and drizzly day, I decided that this was better done in summer, but we did manage to retrieve the log. I added some more dry paper to it, but it actually needs a dry bag to go into, which I didn't have on me. TFTC

Fun family / team cache. We needed lots of help of little fingers and as soon as a little finger was placed, we realized we needed more... Lots of fun! Tftc

Very, very cool cache. Thanks for hiding.

Day two of a weekend in Auckland with my wife. She loves to geocache, I keep her company.

Found on the way back from the valley.
JDScout had a conference in Auckland for part of the week so I met up with hem on Friday night. Hopefully we will find a few geocaches on this trip as I haven't got many left to find in Christchurch.

Thanks SethRaven for placing this geocache 7660 find for me.

Sadly there was no large event in New Zealand in 2019 but there are a few Mega events planned in Australia. New Zealand will have another large event in 2020 in Auckland. 
======== NZ Mega 2020 ========
Planning for the NZ Mega 2020 event is well underway. It will be held in Auckland over Labour Weekend, 23 to 26 October 2020. Thanks for hiding this geocache.

Quick find on the way back from Duder Park via Clevedon. Yep needs some work do be done.

This geocacher reported that there is a problem with this cache.

With my afternoon largely free I decided to head out of the city and take a drive in the country. The weather seems nice enough for it so far. I parked up by the gates and made the short walk to GZ. I made sure to collect the correct TOTT that I keep in the car for such hides. Soon spotted one potential part of the set up then the hide just a bit further along. All went to plan and I soon accessed the log sheet. However, the log is very wet and is in need of replacement. Additionally, it looks like some previous visitors (not necessarily cachers) have been a bit rough with the mechanism, as one attachment is broken and it all seems looser than originally intended. On the way out I spied the "they chose this valley" memorial. I guess that is what spawned the title of this series? Cheers for the cache placement!

Sooo very pleased to have ttot with me Have seen this before sooooo able to sort and Bingo look at that.

Was glad I read this one before I left home this morning - was the only one we did so had the required TOTT with us. With Tinytree and friend helping Mrs B did the honors and once plugged cache was soon in hand. Always enjoy this type of cache. TFTC.

What a lot of fun.....lucky I'm not in a hurry as had several goes till I got the result!
Fave for the frustration!
Phew!

Dear Cache Owners,
I am a German guy who stays in New Zealand for eight months.
My English is not perfect, so please don't wonder if my log entries sound a bit strange. Thanks!

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After dropping off my host kid in school I had time to make a little Geocaching tour in Drury. I could find a couple of very nice Caches and I had fun while doing it.
After reading the hint, I knew instantly what I should do here, but I didn't have the right Equipment.
Normally, I check all the Caches of my tour for the Special Equipment required Attribute before I go, so I was a bit annoyed that that one doesn't have this attribute. Please add it!
Thanks for hiding!

Lucky i can play the saxophone. THTC

Cache 900!!!
Awesome to get a cool cache for our 900th.
We started caching 5 years ago when we got married, but been slack lately (too hard with young 3 kids in tow) TFTC

Cache number 3370. This one was not on my agenda today but I had achieved my goal already so decided to stop. Once at GZ I looked at cache page and realized that I was lacking some important things. My water bottle was nearly empty and I was by myself. So I had to improvise. With assistance from a couple of nearby containers I was able to satisfy the first part. Then I used other means that my fingers were not able to reach. The cache soon showed itself. I took it over to the nearby seat for signing. Yes the log was totally saturated so I went back to the car and got a piece of paper and new plastic bag. Left that in the cache for the next. Thanks for the challenge.

Caching as Team Booty today with liketips and TheMexican as we all made recent purchases that we were testing out here today.

Luckily we had the hands and the water already with us (the nearby tap wasn't offering any either), though it still took some perseverance to get the cache in hand. Log was absolutely soaked unfortunately so unable to get our names on here today.

Another cool spot - TFTC

Taking the long way home after dropping friends at the airport.

Had a free day in hand between a stressful week and the In Laws 80th tomorrow followed by a Expo next week, so this was a chance to grab a few caches that have been sitting there far too long.
So in the company of Mr MCC at 5.30am and setting off we headed north for a morning (only having leave passes to mid-afternoon) to see what we could find in the area before the muggles were up and about and we needed to locate caches in slightly less muggle intensive areas.
Today we managed a total of sixty five finds and only 2 DNF's. Not bad considering we were back home by 2.30pm.
A big thanks you to all the CO's for the effort in placing and maintaining these caches. We had a great day with lots of laughs and fun

Sorry for the repetitive logs. Thanks for the placement, Thanks for the cache

An easy find but extracting the cache, even with the required liquid, on your own involves contortions that could prove dangerous to your health. The log is soaking and my pen wouldn't write on it. TFTC

With Gap (of Fap and Gap)... Short term goal: reach milestone 6000th find... It' all about the numbers, baby!

Ararimu turns 150 this weekend. That's a milestone in itself... It's probably not the most opportune time to come calling, but we are on a mission... When a location has been in existence for a while, there's bound to be a lot of history. We appreciated finding out about the community with each cache we visited.

Our drinking water was precious on such a hot day... We were forced into improvision mode, collecting materials as we travelled. This one took very little time to execute. Gap had the technicalities sorted, and the cache surfaced. The cache contents were damp, but write-on-able... TFTC.

10.50am -Today was a numbers day for us with hopefully most of them being drive by caches.
I worked out a route plan, met the Squirrel at Te Poi and made South Auckland our target.
Many interesting array of finds and tasks to collect caches with the odd one not a drive by.
The log sheet here is very wet. SLTFTC

Was out this way today with some time to spare so pulled into a parking spot and took a little wonder.... knew what was required for this one but upon arriving at GZ instantly saw this could be completed by other means..... signed the log and onto the next one....

TFTC.

Second of these types I found today. Pleased to see a previous finder had left everything I would need. Thanks.

fun find

What a neat I dear have never done one of these ones before but got it and made it float year har done it with abcdf4 and had a good day out nailing some more caches.

A very different one but with a group so was no worry thanks

Heading out today to try and get to 300 finds before the end of the year. This was our eighth for the day. Lovely spot for a final resting place. Lovely and quiet. Well this cache was found and arguments ensured how best to approach this. Geo dog loved rolling in the dead mouse while we were distracted!!! UGH
Anyway final got it signed.

I had a couple of hours to spare this morning before heading to the airport and home so headed out to find a few caches. Decided to follow this pioneering trail in an area that I'm not sure whether I've ever visited before. My GPS zero'd out by the water source and it took me a little while to spot the cache. After that I knew what I needed to do to access the log. All signed and sorted in the end - although the log is a little damp - not surprising really. TFTC, Biggles.

Had a good idea of what had to be done, went back to vehicle to the cache bag as I had the ideal TOTT in there, soon had cache in hand

We have one of these caches ourselves. Great concept although a few too many holes considering you cant get a good reach of gz due to the fence. With two people was almost impossible to get the job done. Log signed as b&p.Tftc SethRaven. Find # 3059

Came prepared and knew what was needed. All intact. Cheers

Glad we were all out and about today to help with this one. Know the kids enjoyed it. TFTC

A very clever cache, I was glad we had water and many hands to help out. TFTC

Lol, love it! One of the top ten caches I've ever found!! I was glad to not attempt this with only one of the kids as it took us two adults a while to configure ourselves. Our first attempt failed but luckily there's backup 'tool' nearby for a second attempt. Awesome!! Thanks for designing and setting up such a fun and challenging cache!

Only two of us on our geocaching expedition today...an extra pair of hands (or at least larger ones) would have been helpful. But with all the necessary equipment located, and backup supplies available nearby (thank goodness!!) the cache was retrieved and log signed! A definate fav point from me, for the added dexterity challenge provided!

I decided to head eastwards today to plunder some caches. Mostly I was successful.

Cheers for the cache.

last one for the day have to go home now and face the music.

Heading North and enjoying a variety of caches all adding to the fun of this trip.
A quick find here. TFTC

Noticed these new caches pop up a few weeks ago, so had them on the cards to find over this long weekend. So after visiting some family in East Auckland took the less beaten track to get back to Hamilton and attempt these caches.

Hadn't read much into this cache before getting to GZ so I wasn't prepared at all. Luck would have it I had what was needed in the car, and an extra tool which free'd up a hand or two. Once all that was sorted the cache was recovered and the log signed. Thanks for the great hide, worthy of a fav point.

Log later.

Luckily I travel with water and a wife who has good finger work

Tftc

I brought along my good pal, Mr. Duct Tape so I could get this one. So many places that needed help! TFTC.

We headed out late this afternoon to Ararimu to locate and find a few new caches. We took the long trip around via Bombay and Mangatawhiri first for a cache then back via Paparimu Rd to this one, our first stop of this series.

We turned up and realised we needed a tool, but we needn't worry as we had what we needed in the car, minus the H2O. As luck would have it, we located a source and in no time we had enough for use. A few extra hurdles were encountered but we refined our technique and in no time,, the cache was in hand. Very nice placement here SethRaven, thanks for showing us this peaceful location, we've never stopped here before and also TFTC, we really enjoyed it!

Ftf with darthcacher1 and purply. Log to follow

Published

BEWARE THE TARGA CAR RALLY OUT HERE THIS WEEKEND . . . . THIS ROAD WILL BE CLOSED ON SATURDAY FROM 9AM TO 1PMISH