TMGT: Harakeke (Canterbury) Marshland, South Island, New Zealand
By Jude_E on 12-Sep-19. Waypoint GC8DG0X

We hope you enjoyed exploring and discovering the local history in the communities of Aoetearoa New Zealand. The Tuia Matauranga GeoTour has now ended. Thank you to the community for all the great logs, photos, and Favorite Points over the last 30 months. It has been so fun!

Cache container removed as geotour has ended. Thanks to all those that stopped by.

That one took us a while... Found it with Cyclicalcaching after looking in the rain for over 15min....
Happy to have found it. Thanks!

Not the quick find we were hoping for, but we found it in the end!

When we arrived there were two cars in the parking lot, that quickly are right away as soon as we got there. Paired with a massive pile of auto parts in the parking lot and rubbish every direction we could see, we started to wonder what kind of place this was… Unfortunately it seems like Burger King is dumped here several times today.

Then it started raining, pouring and that made the search even harder. After searching what seems like every bush, I finally found it probably in the first place I should’ve looked.

Nice little reserve here, it’s too bad it’s being miss used. Thanks for everything!

Had a look around but couldn't find it today.

No luck for us today

On a break

decided to grab few while in this area

TFTC

Ngā mihi nui ki a koe mō tēnei keteroki. He ātaahua te kete! Nā wai i raranga? Nāu? Ahakoa, he pai!

Wow love the camo. Out with noseynel and ethness. We got on all fours for this one. But tok a bit to find . It was great to hear found it. Tftc

#10,633. Well this was looking like an orphaned geotour cache, the very last of 100 caches in the TMGT geotour. I was trying to figure out how I would fit in another trip to Christchurch before the tour officially closes in Feb. I mentioned this to Infoferret that it was a pity we overlooked coming here during our two geotour road trips (one in April 2021 and the other in Oct 2021). She said we had been here and signed this cache. I didn't have any notes recording the visit but looking at Google Street view I can see the carpark where we drove into and parked. So yep we did come here. IF said it was the first cache we visited on the April trip after flying into Chch. So seems I foolishly forgot to record it. Anyway my name should be in the logbook and that means the first geotour is now officially over. Yay. What an epic spanning from Northland to the far south. So many road trips, so many kilometres. Hate to add up how much the petrol company profits for 2021 and 2022 were due to my contributions. But great to see so much of the countryside. Thanks Jude_E for setting up this cache.

Quick check. Outer container damp but inner ok. Hope the council makes more of an effort to tidy this park now the bridge work has been completed.

Absolutely no problem with cache. None of the rubbish mentioned in previous post is there.

Will check this next weekend.

No luck with this one hunted in the bushes for a bit but abandoned once we come across condom wrappers.

Into L2 so caching can recommence!

Lockdown (Level 4) is for all until 11.59pm Tuesday. Geocachers are expected to comply with the rules - no finding, placing physical containers, stay home, only exercise close to home and keep to your bubbles. Remember to be kind to all. Kia Kaha, we've still got this!
https://wiki.groundspeak.com/display/GEO/New+Zealand

Hunted around what we thought was the spot but to no avail

The bridge work continues making access intetesting. I thought from the last log that all the harakeke was gone but it is still there. Ran into a local weaver who was making baskets for babies to sleep in. The pā harakeke is not as healthy as it should be, she says. She told me how to establish a flax garden. Details here https://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/tools-and-resources/collections/new-zealand-flax-collections/establishing-a-pa-harakeke/
The cache covering as been replaced.

It's raining. It's wet. But the show must go on. After spending yesterday finding lab caches, accidentally discovering a geotour cache and completely refocusing the weekend, Taybeedragon and I arrived here for yet another TMGT.

We are heading back to Picton now - the whole point of this trip was for me to do cache maintenance in Blenheim, not to go galivanting down to Christchurch. Iam navigating and decided that since we had Zara and Toby and probably should have a 60m to pass sign out the back. that driving to this cache from the east would be more sensible that tackling it from the west. Boy, did I ever get that right!

Where Lower Styz joins to Marshland is very roadworky, one lane completely blocked off and traffic one way only. We could not get here direct from Marshland anyway. But I digress.

The cache was a straightforward find, but I find the whole thing a little incongruous. The cache talks about harakeke, which is all fine and good, this was a major part of Maori life. GZ also talks about harakeke, so the CO has a nice bit of symbiosis running here. But there is so little harakeke actually here! I was hoping for at least a small field of it. There is just a little strip across the river and some small patches on this side.

The CO's comments about a supermarket trialling kete is a great idea, but I suspect that it is doomed to failure. So much flax would need to be harvested (although kete to have quite a long lifespan if made well) and the cost of getting someone else to make them is likely to be prohibitive. Of course, the point is that we should make them ourselves .

Nicely done TMGT. Gets a favourite from me.

From central Christchurh we head back to Zara and start moving nortwards. This TMGT is on our radar so TS navigates us here through the back roads. The carpark has just enough room for us to turn without having to disconnect Toby. Great news. We venture through the gates and over the bridge before The Seagnoid says it back over there. So back over the bridge to get thisone snagged and tagged. I thought this would be a flax hunt but I suppose as they are harvesting flax from these bushes not a wise idea. Cheers..

The Seagnoid is down for some cache maintenance but lots of xtra time to wander. I need some caches for my technology Souvineer, with Christchurch our agreed destination for a couple of days. Arrived late Friday night with Toby and Zara. Sunday starts out drizzly and cool but we managed to stay dry while exploring.

Have not been to this side of town for a long time. There are houses galore and a new world and McDonald's. Easy to find thanks.

Found this at the start of the month but forgot to log it. Cool spot

Visiting Christchurch to see the grown up kids. One lives down Hawkins road and this was the nearest cache so had to investigate. Lots of work being done at GZ but no problems getting there on bikes. Cache was all fine and we were soon signing the log. Thanks for the history and smiley.

Bit of a scrounge in the wet bush this morning but found ok

I write "WRITE NOTE" because it is a time when we can't go on a long adventure, so I travel in the memories of my visits to New Zeusemad. Of this adventure in New Zealand, I only stretch Travel Bug. Writing "FOUND IT" is probably not right anymore, it wasn't today, but I was here before. And unfortunately I won't get here again.

I am sending a beautiful greeting from the Czech Republic.

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A visit to see what was meant about the outer covering. It appears a cacher was over zealous and ripped the cache from its leash. You'll not find a black cable now. The remnants of the kete are covering the cache which is hidden about half a metre from its original location. Please cover so it cannot be seen. Thanks. Note: the Styx bridge nearby is being repaired so access is mainly one way at the moment.

Tftc

It took us a long time to find this well-hidden cache. Reading old logs helped, and then checking every tree until we spotted a black cable tie and looked more closely. Unfortunately the outer covering of the cache hide has deteriorated and is falling apart now. We noted the code word and picked up a TB. It looks like the area is still under development, we liked the woven sculpture nearby. TFTC Jude_E, thanks for the interesting history.

Drove out here as the last TMGT on my 7 day whirlwind tour of bottom half of SI. Its been a magic trip with lots of stunning sites and experiences, so only fitting i arrive at this lovely spot just before dusk to search for my last TMGT cache for this trip. Spent a little time in the search but duly found, logged and code recovered. TFTC and great to see in your description the area is used for weaving and keeping that tradition alive.

Down this way collecting the TW PWGT series and many others along the way.its all go here road workers and machinery trying to back and a traffic blockage great adventure.
Cache found all safe and sound nice flax basket touch thanks jud-e

As we turned into this road there was chaos. Massive works going on quite close to gz. A huge transporter with a digger on the back was trying to back into a narrow parking area and his 5 colleagues weren't helping. One flapped a stop sign (that was all he was paid to do obviously). In the end they let us through and we were relieved to find the carpark only had a few work vehicles there. Cache was nicely themed and I'm so pleased that no harakeke bushes were used for the hide. Thanks for bringing us here Jude_E

We detoured here on our way to Hanmer Springs. Probably would have been a quicker find if I had read the full name of the cache and description. I liked the themed hide.

Bugger

Looks here, looked there, hugged a tree or 2 and the found it!! Having a short trip from Invercargill to Christchurch with Infoferret finding lots of caches, in particular the TMGT caches for me.
Many TFTC.

Found on 16/01/2021.

Up in Christchurch doing the Southern O week Orienteering competition. Tootling around some cches whilst I'm here.
Grabbed on a quiet morning.

TFTC Jude_E

Found with team woof and knotobsessd

Found with team woof and knotobsessed

Cut myself along the way but it was fun. W/KnotObsessed, Vallenesca, SonofAnarchy, LilSoA, Geomurph, Purdie269

How could we not find this 1 while we were so close?! Unfortunately some muggles were parked super close to gz...fortunately they didn't hang around too long and we were able to make a quick find once the coast was clear (searching with Team Woof thanks guys!)

Cache of the day. A quick overnighter in Chch before continuing our journey south. Grabbed this right on dusk, to add to my small collection of TMGT finds. I missed the hiding spot after two passes but Wicm Jnr found it straight away. Remembered to record the code. TFTC.

Hope to come back another day soon to find this one

there was a spider but super lit TFTC

DNF

TFTC Jude_E Found at 5:37 PM
Out on the road caching
Check out my listings 88 to find close by.
GeocachingCanterbury.co.nz
Cache 250
Logged with cachly.

Arrived at GZ to find a parked car and a muggle sitting in it. Luckily GZ was obscured from them and made a quick find. Last of the Christchurch geo tour caches for me. Tftc

Tricky but cool, it was a lot of fun and thank you.

On my way into town and these days one hones in on any TMGT caches within ones route.
A wander around in circles at GZ for a few minutes and then I spotted it.
The outer container provides great camo.
TFTC

PAF after a good search - thinking that maybe it had gone missing but really really wanted this one
Lucky no one else was around and I did not have to be anywhere anytime soon so kept searching. Just as I had given up I nearly stepped on it. Yah awesome hide.

TFTC and all the work .
Really enjoying this series and my visits to places I never knew about.

(# 6023). Day 3 of my South Island odyssey. Today is getting caches from Kaikoura to Christchurch. Woke up to a fine frosty morning with views of the snow capped ranges. An uneventful trip down. A quick find. Everything in order. TFTC

Day trip with finnzealand. Find #2

With Demaniac

Found it after a bit of searching. Hint should say base of tree.

Why are all the trackables gone ???

Found it, tftc

Day 10 of my 2020 NZE (New Zealand Experience).
(My apologies for the delayed logging but I'm in catch-up mode)

Seeing as I can't be in America right now, I'm touring around the South Island instead. During my time here I am aiming to find as many of the TMGT caches as I can (preferably all 41) and also as many Virtuals, Earthcaches and Letterbox Hybrids as possible, plus any Trads or others that will fill a hole in my D/T grid, my Jasmer grid, or else the last 3 remaining Hidden Dates on that grid.

Having slept parked up in Kaikoura overnight, I awoke to a very fresh but otherwise beautiful morning. Today's plan was to drive from Kaikoura back to Christchurch to catch up with an old friend there before heading further south after that.

Whilst I would simply not be able to stop at every cache I was near on my tour (otherwise I'd be taking 2 years instead of just 2 weeks) I was specifically targetting a few caches such as this TMGT one.

Once I had parked up and walked towards GZ, I had the place to myself to conduct my search in peace and it wasn't long before I had located the container. No issues with this cache or log, which was signed and replaced as found. I grabbed some TB's found too.

Thanks for placing this cache.

A quick easy find. Area was tidyish today. What a great little place to collect harakeke to do some raranga. Some good information on the wall. Great came for the cache. Dropped a couple of tbs. TFTC.

What a lovely spot we didn't realise was here. Some people in car so read the interesting signs and walked around. Now all clear can have a look. Really love the cache container so fitting. Thanks for all the work you have put into these TMGT caches, the cute cache container and bringing us here Jude_E.

Great hiding spot! Thanks

This is the last of the Canterbury TMGT series for me. They have taken me to some special places thank you Jude_E. Very nice hide here. TFTC # 15,625

Good find

Was a bit tricky and I stood in dog shit, disgusting amount of rubbish but the packaging was very appropriate and it was very fun.

Hmm - some harakeke has been harvested here. Wonder if that's where the cache might have been?

Found with StreetWalkerNZ on a lunch time excursion on a pleasant winters day to this part of town to find five caches for a challenge we have set ourselves.
I remember GZ well, there was a certain cache that was hidden very close by called appropriately "I hate long grasses". I spent ages looking for it, I think multiple times, and only came away with a rash on my bare arms. SW found it later on a solo visit but it had disappeared before I could return .
This cache was no trouble to find and I like the camo, There was a crew from City Care who were gardening nearby, so I asked one of them if they would be gardening at GZ. He asked if there was a geocache there! It seems the cache will be safe from the gardeners . Thanks, Jude_E.

#18226. Second find of our caching trip north of the city. Quick find here as I fount it on a scouting mission some time back. I spotted the tether and directed Troodles to it, who soon found the cache. Nice container to house the cache. TFTC.

Great find

Such an amazing way to show case New Zealand's History for us and also overseas visitors. So as My week in the South Island greatly changed I decided a wee roadie trip was to unfold on TMGT caches plus a few others along the way from Bluff to Picton via Coast to Coast. Very scenic and fab weather at this time of the year. Most interesting caches with some a REAL Challenge but so much fun. Many thanks to all CO's and I'm very pleased that ALL smiles on the South Island Series is now complete. Wee Roadie ended up being 3000km's of pure fun yahooooo.

Easy find, took 5+ minutes but we got there

Came here a couple of weeks ago and had a little wander, but there were people sitting in their cars nearby, so we decided not to push it. Today, I had a few minutes to spare while heading into town with my Grand-daughter. I was glad that I had come before, and had a rough idea where to go- because my gps was being a major pain, and insisted that I was way down the road somewhere! Just as I was about to give up, when it decided to co-operate. After that- it was a quite quick find. tftc

This was our last geotour cache in the South Island. We made our way to GZ and located the cache after a short hunt. We have found caches in a few Pa Harakeke around the country. Always good to see renewed interest in this important resource. Thanks.

We are roaming around the South Island doing TMGT caches, and any other nearby caches, as well as attending a few meetings. The trip had been carefully planned to attend the meetings and do the caches. This one was on the way to our friend's place where we would be staying for the next 3 days. We parked and walked and hunted, then read the last log and asked the question. Then made the find. Very cool container.

Thanks Jude_E. Another TMGT ticked off.

This had me fooled for a bit as I finished up in different vegetation to that suggested in the title. Another circle around and back to the same spot . Ah ha! Now the title makes sense. Nice idea. Tftc

25/02/2020
Found with mum + daughter

TFTC!

Sorry excuse all the generic logs, but I'm so behind in logging that other wise I'll never catch up !!

Came by with daughter and granddaughter. So glad we have located this one, not sure what happened at my last visit!! TFTC!!

Last one for the region for today, another cool hide. Need to head north now. Tftc

Day one of a two day mission to try and find the Canterbury and Otago TMGT caches.The plan devised for today was to find the Christchurch and Lyttelton caches then drive south to Dunedin.

After getting my Rental Car this was my first port of call. A short look around revealed what I was looking for. Logbook signed and key Word noted down it was time to join the traffic to the centre of the City.

A big thanks to all the people who have placed and maintained caches in this series.

Cheers and TFTC

Second of the TMGT caches for me. So sad the amount of watse dumped under the bushes TFTC Jude_E

Day Three Of Our Journey to South Island With Squirrel Nutcase.

Today's mission to travel from Dunedin to Christchurch to find all the TMGT caches and a few others in between.
First 4, very nearby caches to our digs this morning then on our way with a coffee stop at Palmerston.
Caches with some great stories, including maori art work with caption of a sailing ship, miles inland from coast then a walk along moa hunters cache. (real effort on the stones)
Arrived in Christchurch to our motel that Mrs Fap had arranged earlier as she didn't want to go through the issues we had the previous night to find accommodation. Normally Squirrel Nutcase and Gap fly by the seat of their pants finding this.
Now to complete balance of TMGT caches around Christchurch and meeting up with fellow cachers doing the same thing.
Last cache for day and we find a pet rabbit at GZ, we guessed it had being left there by an unwanted owner so contacted CO who said he would get in contact with the SPCA. (hopefully bunny has found a new home)
Big effort by our team today and mission completed.
Many thanks to all the cache owners for placements.
SLTFTC

With Fap and Gap... Late last year, we started to plan for a trip to the South Island - The goal was to complete the TMGT trail.

Dunedin - Christchurch: After our recent struggles to find accommodation, it was awesome that Fap had phoned and booked lodgings ahead of time. We just had to find the place and settle in... It's been a couple of years since we've visited Christchurch, and it's great to see the changes and new developments in the city. Gone is that feeling of depression that was evident when we came to Christchurch Mega in 2015. It feels like the city is moving on from those destructive earthquakes...

We managed to navigate our way from Lyttelton to here without getting lost... It was early evening, and we had the park to ourselves. Funny - we'd been hearing stories of a red suitcase, and we finally found it. That wasn't all... Gap lifted some grasses and met a large, friendly bunny rabbit. Obviously, someone had dumped him/her, as there was a makeshift hutch made out of a banana box. I would have loved to keep the rabbit, but didn't know how I was going to get it home. So I messaged the CO for help... Hopefully, the rabbit got re homed and is able to live its best life with people that will look after it... The cache was a bit tricky, and we needed to widen our search zone a little. Another TMGT code collected, and our last find for today. Thanks Jude-E and TFTC.

Team BOP on another crazy mission! Labour Weekend 2019 - flights were booked, plans were made - Waitangi Weekend certainly came around fast. The goal here in the South Island was a combination of Jasmer caches, CANZ Caches, some high favourites and of course - the 41 TMGT caches we’ve got left after clearing the North Island last month.

This tour has been so much more then a challenge or compulsion. The historical significance alone has made it worth the journey and I truly thank all the CO’s for helping to make this happen. TFTC, see you at the Mega

On a mi ssion in the south island with a few of the team from the BOP grabbing the TMGT caches and a few older caches along the way.
Tftc.

On a road trip down south Mainly getting TMGTs and high favourites. Having lots of fun and seeing lots of places. Thanks to all the COs for some great caches TFTC Loved the cache and is all good Nice to get another view of harakeke

On a road trip down south with the mates , primarily targeting TMGTs and high faves.

Last leg of our journey, today will see the completion of the geo tour and a few others in between.

I am logging using the Cachly app template so please excuse generic logging along the way. It’s just my way of keeping track, but I do genuinely thank each and every one of you cache owners for taking the time and energy to place these cache. Many Thanks for bringing me here. Cheers.

What a fabulous idea to share the history of our great country with both visitors and locals. We are slowly chipping away at the series.
After an overnight stay at Greymouth last night we’ve made it to Christchurch via a slight detour to Kaikoura on the TMGT hunt. Luckily no problem with the find for this one TFTC.

Liked the cache container for this one. Awful about the amount of rubbish about here its incredibly sad to see! Finding it interesting learning different history around NZ through the TMGT caches. TFTC.

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Actually found this and got the codeword late last year but only just notice we never logged it. Thanks for the history!

Found with yk83 tftc

On holiday with my dad (Hole-in-one2) who is visiting from the UK, stopped for a quick grab of this cache on our way of leaving Christchurch, there was a ground crew doing a cleanup in this park, they hhadnt made it near the cache yet which was surrounded by maccas rubbish, but followed the geotrail and made a quick easy find.

Hmmm... It was probably not the best idea to stop here on the way to work! At least it was light today unlike usual when I go much earlier. Gave it a good go but my search turned up nothing. There is an unbelievable amount of rubbish here, how sad! I don't think I have noticed the reserve before, unless I was here caching with daughter at some point in the middle of the night. I will watch with interest.

19 January 2020 06:47. One of the joys of staying in a City Centre hostel is thar other people get up early for various trips, so you don't feel bad about getting moving early yourself. So l did.

Dexided to drive over to this one, rather than revisit the DNF from yesterday.. What am interesting little spot! Cache quickly found (a spider web across the face is good for the complexion, right?) And the logbook signed and replaced. However, it was only when driving off that i realized i had forgotten to note down the codeword, so back I went, fortunately no encounters of the spider kind this time.

You certainly chose a great location for this one, Tftc

Couldn’t find the log book

TFTC

Nice

Tftc

Loved the way the cache is hidden. Very appropriate! TFTC

Parked on side of road only to discover a car park! Quick find. Tetchy heading to Dunedin tomorrow

Surprisingly a very quick find. Tftc

Having just arrived in Christchurch after a long drive from the West coast, we were ready to stretch the legs. The time of night meant there were few muggles coming and going, so after a quick search the nicely hidden cache was in hand.
Thanks for hiding this here. Love the camo

All good for me today, after doing a few laps I spotted. Another NEAT, themed hide. TFTC and the interesting read!

#2102

Found this one on my way back to base after a very enjoyable bike ride in Bottle Lake Forest. Took a few moments to locate it, having checked a few ‘bases’. I’m glad there was no-one else in the carpark at the time because, as an “older man” on his own on this occasion, I don’t especially enjoy been seen loitering suspiciously in the bushes, as was required to find this cache! Fortunately it was all good this time around! #2930. TFTC