Matakana Cycleway - Catch Your Breath (Auckland) Tawharanui Peninsula, North Island, New Zealand
By sp8sm8 on 06-Mar-16. Waypoint GC6CNWD

I used the other logs to find this one. Glad to complete this trail today which I started some years ago. Down again collecting caches for the COSMIC souvenir. 37 to go at the start of the day. Hopefully I'll only have 20 or so to get on Monday as I want the weekend free for time with the Grandkids.I did manage to walk up the steep hill without stopping due to my recent hill walks. My fitness is improving again. Thanks for the cache

Found - Mrs McMike2012 & I live full-time in our caravan travelling around NZ, visiting the places we want to visit & doing the things we want to do and fitting in a bit of Geocaching here & there currently staying up Matakana way for a few days went for a bit of a walk along a section of the Matakana Coast Cycle/Walk Trail, we did the bit from Takatu Rd to Point Wells just to stretch our legs & grab a couple of caches this was easy find, once we had read the previous logs, the cache looks like it has moved a wee bit & is now closer to a white, wooden post, rather than near concrete there was no-one else around to disturb us at all pleased to add a 'smiley face' to the tally TFTC ... TN:LN:LS #5,519 for Us!

My coords were about 12m out here. Read back through the logs for a hint & then soon found it. [TFTC]

Nice work i like it

Pretty hard find but it's up against a post with sign there gps is almost right

Day out on the cyclepath on a sunny public holidayThis one was tricky.. coordinates a bit off and clue didnt make sense as more like timber than concrete.Cache was wet so we emptied it out and made a mark on the logThanks

Found it Great hunt and the hint was better not quite short about the concrete part it was about 10m of the gz

This was a good challenge for the kids and a great ride/walk for all

Took a while but read other posts to guide our search. GPS a bit out but we got there

Great cache, thanks. Great is clues from other searchers, GPS slightly off.

Cache checked, all present and correct

Chuffed to find this one after all the DNFs recorded. The hint was good and we decided it was the most logical place to find Barb. It was about 6m away from GZ, so well in the zone.
Also we have e-bikes, so hills are no problem! Cache is all good. TFTC

Way to hard spent 1 hour looking for it couldn’t find it

This area seems to have been recently changed about a bit, no sign of the cache

Was not where it should be

It was way to hard make it easy

Slippery when wet

Found it! TFTC

No joy, did have a quick look .

Fun!

Cache check, all in order

Mr and Mrs NZTravellers and I planned a bike ride which was a very nice change from the walk and gather. Wet and windy day. I would comparing it like being a roast chicken. Baking for a bit and taken out to be basted once in a while. It was a fun day out, nonetheless!

This was quite a bit off. I went one direction and Mr NZT went another. Mrs NZT was reviewing previous logs and the details were invaluable. Mr NZT had it in hand no long after. TFTC

Cycling the trail between Matakana and Point Wells collecting caches. Had a great day despite the odd shower or two. Lunched at Point Wells and then back to Matakana via the big hill! Rescued a lost dog, ran into some muggles who knew what we were up to as they knew Darby & Joan (small world) and had a great time with B4Dawn. the round trip was about 18km biking and walking and thoroughly enjoyable! Reading previous logs helped here. We had GZ a few metres away from the posted coordinates. TFTC!

Found it on 17/03/2022! My GPS said it was about 15m off the mark, but found it eventually! Paper inside was a bit wet, but was still able to sign TFTC! Unlikely spot! Nice and quiet

walked down and then back up again , Not again , too hot today. TFTC

Hard to find with the map but you catch on when you read the comments. Not on concrete but wood.

A very tricky hide.
We spent a while searching to no avail and had to give up and continue our walk along the trail.
On our way back we searched again and still came up empty handed so we started walking away, until Mrs Coblet spotted something which inspired us to return for one more look.
Mr Coblet decided to explore an area of interest and almost slipped over on the way but managed to recover and continued his quest where he was very excited to spot the cache.
Opening the container and retrieving the log had to be done very carefully to avoid further slips and also to not become a victim of the prickles but the mission was achieved successfully and we left GZ victorious.
Thanks sp8sm8 for a challenging hide which has probably become a bit more challenging since it was originally hidden.
A favourite point for the challenge.

Bloody pushy and prickly

Quite a long search here, much dead prickly gorse and a wet ground all around. Never found the barbed wire, did find a stump closest to a GZ but nothing found today

Bit prickly TFTC

Prickly find but got there in the end

Great hiding spot !! Be careful of the gauze very painful aghhh. Really hard find. Log was soaked

hard find - very painful as surrounded by gauze and log is soaked. Definitely the hardest i’ve done. Found it in the end in a bronze capsule by wood.

Couldn't find this time despite checking a few likely hosts will try again

Hard find, but we managed thanks to comments. Very wet, couldn't write on it with a pencil

No idea where the concrete is, cache wasn’t at the totem pole

Out and about with muggle, biking sister and we had a fabulous time between the rain drops and autumn colours. T4tc

Once we got to the bottom of the hill it was time to stop and have a look for this cache. Looked in several different places but with no luck. Then had another idea which took us slightly off the track and made the find. Thanks sp8sm8.

Watch out for the gorse

Little bit tricky but we found it.

Quick detour for this one after admiring views from previous stop.

Celebrating our first year of geocaching with this trail. Thanks to all COs for maintaining these caches. Getting closer to beating the personal GC record of Mrs. which was 25 in an afternoon.

A friend and I decided to take our bikes up to Matakana to ride this trail today and pick up the caches along the way. We parked at the Matakana end, rode to Point Wells, then headed back the way we came - picking up the caches on the return journey. Took a little bit of searching, but got there in the end... now time to tackle that hill! TFTC!

was too hard to find

close call for Riser5 but got the cache. tftc

Diamond. Did catch my breath as I just missed a falling branch.

Caching the trail today with a80 and themexikiwi and with a car at both ends hoped to make the most of doing this on foot. Good day to be out even with the wind and we had a great afternoon out here today.

No issues with this one and a nice sneaky find again. TFTC

Out today with evilno9 and theMexiKiwi to enjoy the local market, the event and collecting some step & geocaches on the Matakana Cycleway. TFTC

Cache checked and it is exactly where it has always been. Checked coordinates now there are no trees and yes they are a little out. Couldn't correct them though as one of G-2's caches is too close. I'll change the hint to make it easier.

Tftc

Didn’t find it due to a friend getting 2 wasp stings and having to rush home to treat it. If anyone is planning to find this cache or doing the bike trail, please be careful especially if you’re allergic!

Found it after reading comments, at the top of the trail near the totem pole. Not quite sure if it’s meant to be just a canister with paper inside?️ Look out for the spider though

It is definitely been shifted.Found it while big spider approached. Nothing in it though . Have fun with your friends finding the cache. Tftc!

Seems it has been shifted from original position.

We spent a little while figuring out what we could do with the final week of the summer holidays, many things came to mind but nothing panned out. We decided that we needed to get the bikes out for the first time this summer and also visit a beach so decided to spend a night in the area and complete the cycle trail from Matakana to Port Wells. With grabbing all the caches, visiting several local produce vendors and lunch in Port Wells we were out for about 5.5 hours (return) on the trail, and Tinytree did a great job cycling all that way. Thanks for all the caches along the route.

All good here.

Found at top of track by pottery pole... Not sure where it was supposed to be

On A road trip with Dee+ME from Tauranga. Have been having a poke around here and there and been taken to some great places, many thanks to all you COs for your placements. Today we start to make our way south again. Was up early to make the most of the day. Cheers

Staying with friends in Warkworth so McJandals and I thought we'd bring the bikes out to Matakana while they're at work
Loose metal on way down was abit hairy in places.
Log is abit wet.

Cheers

That was pretty steep and gravelly to cycle down!!! Glad we are not going rhe other direction. Ste spotted something and went in for rhe find.

2.55pm. The coords were a good 10 metres out for me. I looked for a fence and went traight in for the kill.
Thank you. David.

10m off on my device. Almost gave up ...

Off on a mission today, to get enough numbers in September for my one hundred in every month challenge. With not many unfound local caches available, a trip south was called for and I hoped to combine it with an exercise training jaunt for the upcoming Taupo Ultra.

I stopped off in Warkworth to look for a few to start the day, and after getting most of those, headed out here to the Matakana Cycle trail for the start of my real exercise. It was extremely busy in Matakana today with the market day on, but I managed to find a parking spot near the start of the trail.

This was the next one on the cycle way proper, after a little bit of extra effort in the workout getting up and over the hill. With the hint, I had a good idea what I was probably looking for and sure enough, once I located that, I was able to make a quick find of the cache. Waited for some muggle cyclists to walk their bikes past, before signing the log and then replaced safe and secure as found.. TFTC

This was quick one, look for most obvious thing around. Thanks

Nice walk TFTC

Awesome , seems like my dog enjoys finding caches as much as I do

The weather was pleasant this afternoon so we took a drive to Matakana to pick up the caches on the new-ish cycleway.
One of us walked down from the top of the hill to find this cache, before driving around to the far end to walk the trail in and back from there. Took a little while to spot this one. TFTC

I looked at the GPS GZ, but saw nothing. I still had good cell coverage, so I read some of the PFs logs. After finding the first place that fit, I still was empty handed. I found yet another place that matched, but nothing there either. I gave up in order to do some of the other caches along the trail. When I returned a third place matched the logs and I spotted the cache. The third place I looked was actually much more obvious than the other two, and I had walked right past it several times. TFTC.

Soggy log, good hint. TFTC

First spot tried didn’t look quite right so after looking at previous logs and going with instinct quickly had cache in hand. TFTC

Once I found fence, I soon had the cache in hand. TFTC

I had so much fun looking for the Geocach

Easy once we found the fence.

I was worried that the felled trees here may have effected the cache, but a slightly wider search came up with the find. Cache all ok, cheers

Headed out to Matakana with Jag50 and Merlot58 to meet up with Supernannny and Gorby to walk the trails. Log signed as Broken (due to supernannny's broken arm). Our GPS was pointing in the opposite direction, but logic paid out and Merlot looked in the obvious location.

Our group today spread out a bit to locate this ,,,,had no luck initially then had a rethink and Merlot 58 was soon on to the obvious place !

No catching of the breathe today, just caches... having a great day with my fine fellow cachers!

I joined forces with Aiden29 and Jag50 and meeting Gorby and Supernanny at the Matakana markets with the plan to walk the cycle trail. We signed the team name 'Broken' for poor Supernanny's broken wing. We found co-ords a little out here, our gpsrs pointed us one way but using geosense I spied something that looked more likely the other way and quickly found the cache

Came out to Matakana with Aiden29 and Merlot58 to meet up with Supernannny and Gorby to walk the cycle trail. Found the cache and signed in as team Broken in recognition of Supernannys recent broken arm. Our coords were a little bit out here but we used logic and had the right spot soon identified.

Needed to get a whole bundle of caches for a 50 per month challenge so decided to investigate the new cycle trail. The billboard showed 4 degrees as we went through Matakana so probably why there weren't many muggles on the trail. Now that we've come down the hill we know we'll definitely be pushing the bikes back up on the return trip. TFTC

Took a while to spot this. But where else would it have been? Thanks.

Found it. At first I couldn't see a "bottom barb" but then saw it and found quickly. Really like these little hanging bisons. TFTC

Flew down the trail, really nice btw, picked up the cache only due to the hint, not sure how long that cache will last there as it seems theres a lot of tree work going on.
I replaced the log as the old one just fell apart.

Had a good look but the closest hint object was 10m away from GZ and it was too hot to spend too much time looking.

After completing the other cycleway cache nearby it was down another hill to another cache and then back up again to the car. Managed to make the walk between showers and the cache was easily located. TFTC

Going down was certainly the easy part... Got to the bottom had a hunt around knowing what i was looking for in relation to the hint. Spotted Tufty's coords and then had the cache in hand. Thanks for showing us this bike trail and TFTC!

Before heading back down to Shakespear Park I was staying at the Warkworth Golf Course and so ventured out to keep my cache-a-day run going. My GZ was 14 m away and these are the coords I got S 36 21.305 E 174 44.718.

Cheers for the cache.

Steep little hill

Yay first one on iPhone with mehardys

A short stop on my way back from an enjoyable week at Tawharanui. Tftc

A nice stroll down to this one

TFTC

Wow that was an early start, 2am left home, first cache at 4.50am.
Little did we know it but we could have had a sleep in as in the company of HKCB we were meant to be going Kite surfing today, but the place at Omaha double booked us then we had other plans for the rest of the weekend which meant a refund, a bugger but never mnd we did manage some great caches as I work my way torads my goal of collecting caches for the Challenge elective of the DGSc Challenge (stupid evil challenge, I now understand why no-one has ever done this elective previously).
But anyhow, after a long drive and not enough caffine we were ready for a couple of caches.

This was a quick stop on the way to our first objective of the weekend. Great travelling these back roads when they are clear of traffic and any traffic you do see from a long way off.
Our collective thanks must go out to all the cache owners who made this trip possible as we also managed to get quite a number of water based kayak caches along the way, but left enough for next time. We covered from the Managwai Heads to Mahurangi/Waiwera area in the south on the saturday, followed by a trip across Auckland on the sunday

Thanks for the placement

Up this way with Cats&Dragons for the weekend with the main goal of tackling some of the T5 Kayak caches around the Auckland area and a little further North. We also had the side mission to give kiteboarding a go, but unfortunately that fell through last minute, but that only meant we got more caching in. The general plan was to cache around along the East coast from Mangawhai to Mahurangi on Saturday, and a big focus on the Auckland Kayak caches in the Auckland area.

A very early morning start, even by our normal standards (2am), meant we were had a bit of time to grab a few caches before we were meant to meet up for the boarding. But even with a few set backs including a few DNF's we still had a very enjoyable day. Thanks to all the CO's for the placements.

C&D missed this one even though he had looked right at it. Got it on the second pass through.

When I found this cache published last night I decided I wasn't comfortable walking the path by myself in the dark and GAR is away in Christchurch so left it till this morning, delaying morning chores and going to start work late (logging first). Would have parked at out usual spot at Tongue Farm Road and gone for a long walk except for two things - it started raining this morning and I am recovering from a second degree burn which meant I didn't walk last week's Fruit Loop because I wasn't sure how I could walk so far in one go. So only a 2-3 km walk here today, parking in Whitmore Road, walking to Matakana Cycleway - Going Up and then on to this one. Had planned to do a whole series of caches along the walkway/cycle way but had yet to talk to the community group who owns it and obviously have left things a bit late.
My GPSr was out here by quite a lot - blaming weather conditions and tree cover. Looked at the hint and had the cache in hand soon after with a blank log!!! Awesome. I haven't owned a bike for about 20 years so can't say if I would have made it up, although I have walked it a few times. Thanks for the unexpected exercise (which I really need!) sp8sm8!

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