Glo for it! Waipa Wonder Rotorua, North Island, New Zealand
By livee_nz on 01-Mar-17. Waypoint GC71CFT

What a cool cache. First night cache ever. Thanks livvee.

Loved this one. Found on a cold winters night with my 6 year old. Easy way back via the forest loop

Wow! What an amazing cache idea!Visiting from Auckland to compete in the Hughlander MTB competition tomorrow, and my dad and I decided to get this one as an evening adventure after I had seen it on the app. Can definitely relate to the other logs in that the first reflector was the toughest challenge- we got false hope from many other reflectors and searched the wrong side of the bank for quite some time!Finally, my dad gave the suggestion that we check the other side, and, lo and behold, there was the reflector! After a scramble up the slope (the right one this time) we quickly spotted the others, and was on our way following this trail of reflectors and possum eyes.Amazing idea, Ill have to steal this one for Auckland!+Favourite pointCache checkup:-log book was fairly damp and easily ripped, may want to replace -the instructions for getting back were not included in the cache as mentioned in the description. Luckily we were able to infer and find our way back that way, but better add those escape instructions back to the cache

Have been meaning to get to this cache for ages, finally here right place right time. Reschedule spotted the first marker, and a scramble up the hill we were off. This is awesome, and nice to not have to rely on gps in the forest. The final surprise was worth it FP from me

Found last night with Kiwi Does Stuff, ticking off other caches in the area put us into the dark, perfect! Off to find this night cache. Once we found the first sign to follow it was relatively smooth sailing from there, no needing to follow phone coordinates made this one even better and the end of the cache had us in awe, nicely done, TFTC! FP from me as well.

Well it may have taken us a mere seven years to be at the right place, at the right time of day; but we made it to GZ today, just on sunset. Armed with a couple of torches and a perfect evening we were hoping for the best.The hardest part by far, was spotting the first marker from GZ. But our patience paid off eventually, and we spotted it in the distance. Then it was a bit of a scramble up the hill in the dark. We took our time at each marker, making sure that we had located the next before we carefully made our way onwards. Arrived at the final marker/s ... very quickly located the cache... read the instructions for our trek back to the carpark... and made it back safely, with not even a trip or stumble along the way. Great fun, a memorable experience, well done and a huge thanks for the time and effort that it would have taken setting this up. Recommended!

We are unable to complete this as a night cache so attempted it this afternoon. We found many reflectors and went way off track - probably did twice the distance and we were thoroughly confused - but eventually I stumbled across a red and white reflector. Couldn’t believe it when I quickly spotted the nearby cache! Very pleased as I had already written this off as a DNF!! Enjoyable wander around apart from losing our way a few times…. TFTC

I love a good night cache, so after an after taking my niece out after school for some geocaching, we headed out again after dinner with some really bright torches courtesy of my brother in law. Got to the car park where there is a nice big barrier - open, but I wondered if it might close while we were out battling the woods. I checked for any closing signs or who to ring if we were locked in - nothing. So I risked it and parked there. A short walk then to the start place.

We found the first reflector almost straight away. Okay, we did not need torches this bright! At first I ignored it and hunted for others, as this reflector is HUGE! I guess I am so used to seeing tiny ones. So we followed the trail, a nice easy exercise, and niece getting a buzz out of finding each next reflector. "There it is!", she says, "Red and White!" It was only then that I was sure we were on the right trail - until I spotted a lone red reflector nearby which made me again wonder if this was just some other trail. But we are at a red and white, which is what we are looking for so we started hunting. Yay! there it is! This IS the right trail after all! Took a while to find, the cache was very nicely camoflaged.

Anyhoo, gets a favourite. As I said, I love a good night cache, and this is an excellent night cache, a very good one for beginners. But no, no favourite. Not yet... I'll give you one in a week to help with your Wheel of Challenges

**14,082**
Had heard that others had completed this cache during the day, so always up for a challenge, thought we'd give it a go! Took ages to locate the starting point as the GPS just refused to settle down, one minute I was 20 metres away, the next I was 35 metres away, and I hadn't even moved. Finally, the starting point was located and admittedly the first few several tacks were very difficult and then once the trail was stumbled upon the rest just fell into place and soon I was standing over a nicely concealed final cache. Great fun, sorry we couldn't do it at night but we are barely over this way in the night time unless its on the last leg to home and our eyes are always hanging out of our heads. Thank you for the effort you have taken in setting up this cache, we have wanted to set one up near our home - maybe one day! TFTNC

I love night caches, so finding this one was a priority for my stay in Rotorua. I headed out on a drizzly day, hoping that I could follow the trail in the gloom under the trees.

I struggled to find the first reflector, and gave up after 15 minutes to find the nearby traditional cache. On my way back from there, I decided to try another tack and going against my initial assumptions bore fruit. Success - the first reflector!

I had thought it would be plain sailing after that, but I was quite wrong. I couldn’t spot the next reflector so I wandered around for a while scanning in different directions. I was surprised to see a reflector facing in a direction that I couldn’t possibly have seen from the starting point. Then another one facing in the “wrong” direction.

After that I couldn’t spot anything so I decided to just explore the general area anyway, which is quite beautiful. I unexpectedly stumbled upon the trail again, only three steps from the final.

Quickly found the cache and signed the log, but instead of taking the shortcut back I thought I should work my way backwards to see where I’d gone wrong at the start. I ended up back close to where I’d lost the trail.

Thanks for setting this trail. I really enjoyed exploring this area, and the cache, even though I went about it somewhat backwards! TFTC

Currently enjoying a break in Rotorua. We love a night cache so we packed our torches for our time here.
As with all night trails, the hardest part is finding the first reflector. Once that was done it was an easy trail to follow. The cache was a quick find too. TFTC.

Great night cache. Loved the large reflectors. Enjoyed meeting up with the other geocachers. Glow worms were wonderful. Thanks.

With rustynz and rebel98 on a weekend of caching fun

Walked around in the dark with a group of cachers, lots of fun. Logging late as only recently remembered my password, so catching up with logs when we can.

Came out to this awesome night cache with a big group all in town for the GC45 tribute plaque celebration event. This was a nice way to finish off the evening (aside from a nice Cobb & Co dinner afterwards). This was a really great night cache with excellent reflectors, and once we had gone up and down, over and under, around here and over there, we got to the end where the final cache was quickly spotted. We headed back as per the suggestion, and got to see a bunch of glo-worms as well, lovely. TFTC!!! FP added

I love going out to find caches at night in the dark so this was a lot of fun! Came here with Gorby and rustynz etc and a whole bunch of others. Had so much fun I didn't even notice until afterwards just how chilled to the bone I was. Glad to get into a warm car and back to the motel for bed! Thanks!

I was heading down to Rotorua for the plaque unveiling for GC45 - the first geocache placed outside of the US. After attending the event and plaque unveiling I joined up with tramyard and we headed further south to find a couple of earthcaches and high fav caches.

After completing the earthcaches down South we decided to head back into the town centre and target the caches around the Gardens and then onto some high fav caches around the main town centre before meeting up for a spot of night caching.

After tramyard and I went on a lovely afternoon stroll around the pretty deserted streets we had a little something to eat before we headed off to meet up with the group who had arranged to complete this night cache. I didn't realise just how many of us there would be but it was a big group. Once everyone arrived we ventured off into the darkness. It was a fun adventure and we soon arrived at GZ. After making sure everyone's name was on the log we headed off in search of the glowworms. We spotted so many along the path. Thank you for the great adventure and for showing us the glowworms.

Hey everyone! I see there are actually quite a few finds since I last looked for it, (time has flown!). So I haven't double checked today, but if you have trouble tonight, send me a msg and I'll come out! I lost my eftpos card this morning, possibly at the event, so I will be in town tonight now instead of heading away in the camper.

Meeting at 6.30pm tonight at published co-ords

Met up with a group of cachers on a night time mission of fun. Well set up, cool cache, and glow worms too. Thanks for creating this night cache.

As others have mentioned a plan was hatched at the event this morning to head for this cache as it looked interesting. Lovely to meet the CO as we were discussing it this morning. As the CO had promised this cache was great, a bit of a scramble up the first hill and then off through the bush following the big reflectors. Thanks for the suggestion for the return trip - I was not looking forward to heading back the way we had come and we loved seeing the Waipa wonder on the way out.

I'm down in Rotorua from Paihia to attend the event celebrating GC45 and 20 years of geocaching in NZ. I met up with friends there and enjoyed the rest of the day geocaching around town.

I'd heard plans being made for a group find. I wasn't sure if I'd be in town or back in Hamilton. Fortunately I decided to stay. I often cache alone these days as my kids (the 'and crew' part of my caching name) are less keen. I love meeting others cachers and this group outing was great fun. I loved the walk and the reflectors were very easy to see. The glow worms were neat to see too. Thanks for this special cache hide which I wouldn't have been able to do on my own

In Rotorua for the weekend to attend the GC45 event. 3 days here and plenty of time to cache. Rusty had mentioned this cache to me sometime before heading to Rotorua. It was bought up again at the event and I ran around mentioning it to people to meet up at 6:30pm, a time that seemed to suit everyone.

In the mean time, a Visa debit card had been found at the GC45 event, and I think it was Lis of Lis's crew that spotted the write note on this page that referred to it.. yaaah we have found the owner of the card, sure enough I messaged her and she got in contact straight away, I told her the details etc and all is well again.

So at this night cache, there many of us! Can't remember everyone but it was a great night, a full moon, lots of ups and downs, heaps of strong torches and lots of banter and laughter. It was a great evening, soon followed by an excellent dinner at Cobb n' Co for a few of us, then glow worms at the end of this walk. Couldn't ask more than that. A FP from me.

Thanks livee _ nz for your excellent work on this night cache adventure...
Was at a loose end this evening; so was pleased to be part of a big group of mainly Auck geo cachers to enjoy this night walk!
Never seen such big reflectors .
And the glow worms were a real bonus!
Favourite Point

I really liked this night cache. There path of reflectors was easy to follow and the container right where it was supposed to be. The trip back was quite interesting seeing all the glow worms up close. I guess this is a glowing review of this cache. TFTC.

Team work here! Last cache for today to celebrate wonderful day in Rotorura and Community Celebration Event. Great set-up! We enjoyed night stroll and also at the end to see Glow Worms in the forest T4TC

A plan was made at the GC45 Birthday celebration to meet up at 6.30pm with a group of cachers to find this night time cache

I am with rebel98, little blackbird, gorby and FMZ, but many more cachers are on their way!

This turned out to be a fun adventure in the dark, a very well laid out track, with clear fire tacks, and happily a cache at the final point, all snug and dry waiting to be found.

After as suggested by the CO, we came back along the track to see the glow worms twinkling in the bank/trees.

A lot of fun, a cool night time adventure. Thanks for the hide livee_nz

What an awesome cache and wonderful surprise on our way back! Made a little harder because I had a 4 month old strapped to me but a pretty ability inclusive walk. Tftc!

First ones to find this year. We always love a night cache so glad to see there was one near town. We love this forest and wish we had it back home
TFTC and greetings from Australia

Headed over here with HKCB to do the Zip Line Tour so what better way to start the day than with a bit of caching in the early morning.

HKCB saw that this one was on and so were we. A nice quiet walk in the dark, not to difficult and a nice easy trail to follow into the hills. Had previousley spent alot of time clambering over these hills so the terrain was pretty much familiar.
Thanks for the placement, Thanks for the cache

Having a few things to do it Rotorua today, a very early start for Hamilton meant we could grab a few caches before getting into the other task's we had planned for the day.

Been keeping my eye on this night cache since I noticed it was published. Haven't been in the area at the appropriate time before so made sure we found this one today. Only just had enough light as the dawn light was starting to show when we got back to the car. The trail was easy to follow and the cache was quickly found, thanks for the night cache.

I really enjoy night caches and have been lucky enough to find quite a few but this is the first time I have attempted one by myself. I appreciated that the distance between the reflectors was short so I never got lost or was unsure as to where to go. I also appreciated the instructions back to the car park which was a nice touch. Thanks for a fun adventure to finish my short visit to the area.

Done on a very dull day so will have to come back for the second part. Lots of fun. Enjoyed by the whole family.

visiting friends in Rotorua thought why not do a bush walk in winter got to the cache and forgot pen TFTC

Spent the day exploring the area and then walking among the redwoods. We had to decide whether to eat dinner and then find this one or search for this one first. We decided to search for this one before dinner. A couple of cars with mountain bikes pulled up when we did. We made it up and down the terrain to the actual cache then got to gaze at the Wonders on our way back to the car. When we got back to the parking lot quite a few cars and bikers had shown up. The trails looked like they were going to be busy this evening. Fun cache! TFTC

In Rotorua for Easter with Jag50 with the aim to put a smiley face on as many caches as we can. A nice fun night cache to end the day after our event. It was an easy to follow trail and we were rewarded with a quick find at the end.

In Rotorua with Merlot58 for Easter. After chatting with some locals at a nearby event we headed off for this night cache. The markers were easy to locate and it wasn’t long before we were at the final where we were rewarded with a quick find. On the way back to the car we spotted a lot of glow worms.

I have it on good authority that the cache is still there, (just not where I hid it), sorry I've been out of the island, but enabling as it has been located. Let me know if there are any problems

Have come for a walk to show my sister and it's missing completely! Will come back in daylight for a good hunt, and try replace in the next couple of weeks

Es stinkt zum Himmel. Den ganzen Tag verbrachten wir im dampfenden, heißen und stinkenden Gebiet um Rotorua - eine echte Zumutung. Allerdings bietet es auch gewisse Vorteile wie z.B.  beheizte Seen. Dort wo wir nur gegen Bezahlung von viel Eintrittsgeld reingelassen wurden,  leben tatsächlich Menschen und ist ein Dorf. Die Taucherin hat uns besonders fasziniert wie viel Dollar die wohl in ihren Mund bekommt? Von der Stadt waren wir ein wenig enttäuscht, nicht nur wegen der wenigen und schlecht gepflegten Caches. Governeurs Garden ist allerdings sehenswert. Den Abend verbrachten wir auf einem Campingplatz direkt am See und machten eine Wasserwanderung. Die Caches entlang der Bahnlinie kann man vergessen. Zum Abschluss des Tages gab es noch einen illuminierten Vollmondaufgang und eine relativ kalte Nacht. Und wir dachten, hier sei alles beheizt.

We spent the day in the stinking area of Rotorua. We visited Wakawarewa Village - indeed people are leaving there. The was a bit disappointing, not only because of the less and missing caches. Our final stop was on a campground directly at the lake. We skipped the powertrail at the railway after two DNF. It's not worth to spend more time on such stupid caches - sorry for that. Our first and only nightcache in New Zealand. First we didn't recognise that this one is a night cache. But after we found the starting point the rest was no problem.

Staying nearby with a school camp so thought I'd take the opportunity to grab this night cache. Parked a fair way out to avoid being locked in and, luckily was able to double-check with the security guard. Nice guy. The first thing I saw glowing in the forest were the eyes of a possum. As I got to the published co-ordinates, I realised why I hadn't been able to spot the reflector in daylight as I had been looking in the wrong direction. More fun at night anyway. It was a great walk through the woods, only interrupted by confusing extra red reflectors. Once at GZ, the cache was quickly found. Dropped a TB. Then back along the trail to the wonderful Waipa display. Altogether one of my favourite caches. TFTC and FP.

Easy find , also a great day time one

After a walk in the forest this morning we realised that this night cache was not far away. On our return to the camper we checked out the starting point, and decided to return this evening to give it a go (or should that be Glo?). We set out after sunset but before it was truly dark, but even so the reflectors shone nicely in the light of our torches. We were pleased to quickly spot the first one, and had no trouble following the trail after that. All too soon we spied the red reflector with the white, and a quick look nearby revealed something that made us smile. Signed the log then took the easy way back. The only pity was that it was not yet dark enough for the 'Waipa Wonder' part. Maybe another day. Adding a Favourite point.
Back at the camper we decided to take advantage of the great new shower block. A free hot shower after the day's exertions was very welcome. This is a fantastic facility which we were very grateful to be able to use.

Made me smile

fOUND IT

We had decided that today would be a 'rest' day... especially now that school is back... then it got to 8.30 and to be honest we were both having withdrawal symptoms... sad but true! Anyhoo... thankfully we remembered this was a night cache so off we went... in the rain... parked the car and remembered about the gates... out came the GPS and off we set to find the first reflector. Thought we were at GZ but no reflector... came back a bit and up a different trail that looked promising... but the GPS said 'nope you're going the wrong way'... went back to where we were originally and guess what... there was the reflector exactly where the GPS had said it would be... felt like such a numpty! From that point on I forgot that I was a bit scared of the dark and we went from reflector to reflector with ease until we got to the cache which looked in great shape... even gave us a smile. Followed the next set of reflectors to the most wonderful sight I have seen in a long time... definitely a wonder for the eyes. Thanks so much for bringing us here

Very first night cache and what a great time. Took us a wee while to locate the first reflector but once we did we were away laughing despite the rain. Loved the surprise it is always nice to have something to marvel. Thank you.

We Previously located this cache but went back again with two nephews to show them a very cool cache trail. Their glowing verdict was that it was a great use of reflectors in very nice place.

A long weekend and one of us is on call, meant a late evening visit to town. That taken care off and we are not so tired we decided to have a go at this night cache. It’s been on the radar for a while. First night cache for me and I wasn’t disappointed. A well laid out trail and nice fine and a wonder to boot. Earns a fav from me. TFTC

Evening call out in town, this may be our chance for this cache, as we aren't around here very often after dark. Took a bit to convince sveppi, but it felt like all the stars were aligned... and the markers too! Easy terrain to navigate and easy find. I come here often for biking, sometimes at night too, but the forest definitely looks different on foot. Now I have time to see things I don't normally see when I zoom past. Followed the instructions in the logbook and found our little "surprise", thanks for showing us. A cache that definitely needs to be done at night for full effect! TFTC

School holidays, and I am entertaining kids...

We had lunch at the lakefront and some of the kids were getting grumpy. The park wasn't cutting it and boredom was setting in. There were general questions about what we were going to do next... So I started to drive away.

Next thing you know, we were arriving at the Waipa Mountain Bike Hub. The kids figured we were going for a cache hunt, so we piled out and started up the trail.

As it was daylight, we had trouble spotting the first reflector. However, our eyes adjusted and we found the first tag. Right away, all six kids took off. I just let them run ahead, expecting them to halt when the trail changed. Sure enough, they found the final marker. By the time I arrived, they already had the cache out... That was a very satisfying find, and quite an entertaining hunt for everyone... TFTP and TFTC.

I'm in the process of cleaning out the Redwoods .... slowly.... and I'd completely missed this one because I hadn't looked at disabled caches. I frequently find myself geocaching at night so I really enjoy finding caches designed with that in mind. So I patiently waited and yay - re-enabled

FapAndGap and I were down from Tauranga for one of Davidson Clans events and this one was on the to do list. GZ was straight forward as was finding the starting point. A very well marked track made this night cache a breeze. Just as I started wondering how long we'd be going for we literally saw the cache smiling back at us!

Cheers Livee_nz, a fav from me.

11.05pm - Travelled over from home for a night event so thought we had time to collect this cache. With Phillip Perry along we soon found the starting point. Good easy trail to follow and soon spotted smiley face in the undergrowth. SLTFTC

Woohoo. That's definitely going on the "to do" list!

Cache has been re-instated, slightly different hide spot, about 1m from original. Hoping the muggles have forgotten about it!

We decided to wait a suitably long period of time to give the muggles time to forget about this one before returning it to hide. It was being "played with" - emptying it, hanging it in trees etc. We actually discussed it this weekend and will be reinstating soon as we're hoping it's been forgotten about now

As we were in the area today I figured I'd quickly check why this one was disabled.

This one looks awesome! Get it back up immediately

You owe us this for winning all the prizes at the mega last year

Jokes but.... come on.

Muggle interference - taken home for drying out. Will return on the weekend to suss out a better hiding spot. Geocoin not present, though pretty sure on a check much earlier on, it was already gone.

What a great cache - I decided to do it in the daylight as not often over here at night. It is great that you do have the choice as it is a beautiful area in daylight as well as at night. I would highly recommend night time if you can. . Thanks for setting it up - excellent trail . TFTC.

TFTC. Now that was an adventure! Thanks GSEL for agreeing to accompany me on this crazy experience. One word of advice, if you spot two bright orange glints close together, don't get too excited, this will probably be a possum! Really appreciated the hints for getting back to the car, and the final unexpected surprise!

#3937. I have been up in Rotorua for a few days doing stuff with my Rotorua based family. Infoferret has come up to pick up her family car and offered me a ride back to Wellington on Friday. She noticed there was new night cache in Rotorua and asked if I was keen to help her find it. After three days without any geocaching I was keen to get out and do some caching. We parked outside the carpark and headed off to the start of the trail. Soon saw the markers and followed the well set out route through the trees. No problems following the markers. Did see two sets of orange eyes. One set ran up a tree and the other across the slope. So don't go trying to grab those or you might get clawed. The cache final was well marked and the container was quickly spotted. Signed log and replaced as found. Thanks for the night cache livee nz.

Team Welsh and myself decided that an early start was better then a late end so we started out very early and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves finding the cache. A really well done night cache ! (FP)

Out and about with Pagenz very early as we prefer to do night caches as it is starting to get light. This was a very well put together night cache with decent size reflectors which made it easy to negotiate off the path way. Nice to have reflectors to get us back to the road again. Many thanks for this and a fav from us

Hi guys, You suggested it, we did it! Saved this novelty cache for our 1000 find. The only catch was we had to find 6 others at night before heading out for this one!!!! An evening stroll along the Te Ara Ahi trail by fading torchlight, netted the other six necessary caches. Then it was into the bush to locate this one (replacement torch!) We really enjoyed following this clever trail up and down and round and up and over and through. Have to confess, it took us a bit of time to locate the cache when we got there. A fantastic effort at putting together a very clever cache in a very accessible and beautiful location. We definitely look forward to seeing what else you come up with. Great too to see gloworms - the first time I've ever seen them close up. Definitely a favourite point from us.

With a busy weekend ahead of us Apache and I decided we better get out and grab this cache or another week would go by. We parked outside gates in case the security locked them while we were there then made our way into the forest. Just as we were coming around the corner to the start of the trail a mountain biker came flying past lucky we all had lights on so there were no accidents. The trail was well marked out and easy to follow we really liked to lid on the final and read the note to get our way out of the Forrest. This is a really well set up night trail you have done an excellent job on your first cache and I really look forward to the many others you have planned. the glo worms on the way out of the Forrest are amazing. Favorite point from us.

3RD TO FIND!
9:30 pm
10/03/17
What a coooool cache! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND DOING THIS CACHE AT NIGHT! We were a bit bummed because I was planning my next cache exactly like this but think You did it better! I dropped my Geocoin! And mum and I think we spotted fluffy beard as we were entering, and lucky the watchdog warden was late to night because exactly as we hoped in the car he started to close the gate... phew close call! A FAv from us TFTC AND JUST REMEMBER THE GATES CLOSE AT 8:30!!

Come all ye young maidens and I'll sing ye a song,
Yay hay and GLO the man down.

Two days after publishing and an FTF going begging. Mrs S was on crutches and could not go out. It was decided that it would be safe enough to let the old man out without a leash. So we packed a few snack bars and filled his camel and set him off to seek his fortune. He found his way to the cache without breaking anything and met some fairies there. They were wondering what the big red reflecting smiley face was all about. So he sat down and shared his snack bars and told the fairies, who were technically muggles, all about geocaching. After bidding farewell, he took the escape route back to the waiting geomobile.

First FTF for a while.

Thanks Livee_nz for an innovative cache. Well done.

Oh wow, simply loved this cache. I had often thought how I would love to do a night cache here and take in the night life and sights. This was even better than I had imagined. We took our 3 kids and 2 Homestay students on the wall, neither who had seen the sights or surprise before. Thanks so much, awesome. FP from us.

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