Pathway Wander 1 (Kapiti) Raumati, North Island, New Zealand
By Flowerydaze on 25-Sep-19. Waypoint GC8E3Q5

On a little roadie south from Tauranga to visit my daughter. Lovely bike ride around the area today. Many thanks for bringing me here. Went too far down. Turns out I didnt need to.

No luck with this one today. The brambles are overgrown and wouldn't let me through. I'm not used to brambles so I think I might need some assistance on figuring out how to fight them.

Headed down the bank looked around a bit... nothing. turned around - Ah - there it is! Retrieved a trackable to move on.---I try to get every geocaching souvenir going, but this August challenge is looking difficult. Find 100 caches between now and 1 September? Luckily I have one spare weekend, so will use that to get the Dannevirke helmet. That leaves forty more caches to find... I need to get stuck in somewhere. I need to do some small geotrips.So the plan is to grab the bike and cycle-cache around Waikanae, Great! Except that I accidentally got off at the wrong station. Rather than wait for the next train I decided an impromptu plan change was called for and instead spent the day caching around Paraparaumu.The other problem is that it was raining. After the first 3 caches it got a bit heavier so I hid under New World's shelter for half an hour at which point the rain stopped. By 2pm I had finished with Paraparam and found myself cycling towards Paekakariki. I am all for that, but sometime then it is supposed to start raining again, and I was already feeling the early drops. I pulled the plug and went back to Paraparam, it being closer than Paekakariki at that point, and headed home. 25 caches found. Once I add the 61 for the helmet I should be pretty good for the souvenir! Sweet Of course, this means that next year's August challenge is going to be that much harder...

Gamely staggered down the wet bank a few times, whence opon my GPS had a fit and was no use whatsoever. Looked around but no obvious bushes, no cache, and nothing visible - to me - from track as a previous finder hinted.

Thanks.

Found by my helper Frankie. TFTC

#2709. A weekend away with GB Leader in Raumati was a good excuse to go caching in an area I had never visited before - and it so happened that Flowerydaze wanted to do a maintenance run in that very area.So along with Talla64 we hit the Pathway Wander trail. Nice weather, a nice easy trail shared with many cyclists & a couple of runners and good company. The caches were all fairly easily found by me, except for one which had been overgrown by blackberry. A couple needed some work with Talla64's secateurs to improve access, and one other one needed relocating. All in all, a successful afternoons work, and well worth the effort.This was the second find. Took a little longer than it should have! Cache all good.Tftc Flowerydaze.

Great company on a calm day to find. Got lovely pic of a fantail being so friendly TFTC

Found it with my sister and her daughter!

TFTC nice easy one.

Thnx can be seen from the track

**19,164**Another quick find here on this lovely shared walkway. Haven't seen too many muggles using it this afternoon but I'm sure the locals enjoy it. Thank you for a fun cache series although we did complete it all back to front. TFTC

TFTC, logbook damp.

2nd find on my walk today

Found it.

Dnf

Out and about with rattll and JustLookingOO in this area. They'd both found this cache previously, but agreed to accompany me down the path a bit, as it wasn't too far from where we'd been. Unfortuntately the heavens opened and we got soaking wet, making this the last find of the day.

I originally went down the wrong bit, but soon realised the error of my ways and joined rattll in a kind-of-sheltered area, where I signed the log and rattll returned it to its home.

Thanks Flowerydaze for the cache

With the household chores finished for the day it was time to head out for a walk with Lulu the dog.

I’d had this little trail on my list for a while. I’d never been on this walkway before. The last of the autumn weather was gorgeous and I enjoyed the walk collecting this series of caches along the way.

I turned down to collect this one a bit too soon and after prodding around the blackberry tried a couple of meters down and spotted this nice sized cache straight away.

Gets a favourite point from me.

TFTC Flowerydaze and thanks for the series.

Followed the GPS, spied what appeared to be a geotrail which I followed. Squatting down to survey the environment and see where the hide may be and then saw the cache about 40cm in front of me. Well that was a wee bit easy . Log signed, cache returned as found.
Thanks for placing a cache on the path. It was a pleasant stroll this morning.

Mucked about a bit here and took longer than I should. Straight forward find really. Tftc

Up the coast for a couple of days. Chasing numbers for the 'Wheel of Challenge' and a couple of others, decided to go for a stroll here before it got dark. The light drizzle had stopped but was still a little tricky getting down the short steep bank to the cache as rather slippery underfoot. Under cover the leaves were still dripping water. An easy find at the obvious hint item. TFTC

Very enjoyable walk. Thanks.

A nice quick find. Thanks for placing your cache.

Ms_KR and I are off for a wee break "up north" and today we cruised around the Kapiti Coast. Cyclone Gabrielle has had little effect hear that I can see. There was light rain with some strong wind gusts in the morning and this cleared up in the afternoon..

Thanks to all CO's for publishing and maintaining their caches. .

I was so confused by Smurfs being up here when I thought they were a S Island thing. Aha, they are obviously going for world domination! Just look at the length of that harakeke. Lucky local weavers. Thanks Flowerydaze

A bit tricky to get at. TFTC.

Out for a bit of exercise today we thought we would knock a couple off this Smurf trail hopefully before the rain kicks in.
Upon arriving at GZ we were faced with a few options and as usual the cache was sitting nicely under the one we chose to check last! (Is it just me or does that happen to a few others at least). All good though.
TNLNSL Thanks Flowerydaze im looking forward to finding the rest of this trail.

Found it

Reasonably quiet along the track today, managed to find okay.
TFTC

Took some elimination and a few prickles to find this one. TFTC Y‍

Somehow, I found myself out this way on a Wednesday night, as often seems to happen in the life of a geocacher. It was dark. I had used public transport to get here, and so would be using public transport to get home and I was aware that they stopped running at some point, but that was a problem for future me. Oh well, while I'm here I may as well find a few caches. So I did, and this was one of them.

Took the checking of a few search objects to find the right one, but got there eventually. Cache is all good here.

Thanks to the CO for enticing me to this place with the lure of a geocache.

Great for caching while doing a training walk before Taupo 21km!

Took two to navigate but we nabbed it

Found thanks. Bit of blackberry to fight here.

Took a few minutes but we got there in the end!

This is my first cache to find since moving back from Oz three days ago and it took me ages.
Only found after giving up and climbing back up bank onto path and it was right in front of me.
Only about 3 MTRS from path. No need to go right down bank

Logged a DNF by mistake.
See my previous log

Hunted around for quite a while before realizing it was staring me in the face! All good at GZ and TFTC.

Luckily the coords wew very accurate so a quick find for us.

Plenty of likely spots but eventually came to the right one and carefully made our way back to the path, trying to time it right between the many cyclists out enjoying the beautiful afternoon. TFTC

Number 10498. This evening was not my finest Geocaching foray.... First a puzzle I thought I had solved, but nothing findable at what I thought was GZ. Next a multi, know I was at the right place due to the hint, but Nada. Then off to another multi, but too many kids enjoying the fine summer evening (good on them for doing so) to even begin the data collection! Hopefully this has filled my DNF quota for the weekend!

Nothing for it but to start smurf hunting, and hunt I did, around many possibilities... Some several times! Read logs, but learned nothing of real value. Eventually, as I was about to give up and slink away with my tail between my legs (again) I looked a little further, and spotted it! Signed the log with a huge sigh of relief. It should certainly be safe from mowers and weedeaters there. TFTC.

Enjoying a bike ride through QE park on a beautifully fine sunny, calm winter's day. Like others I struggled to find this one - checked so many bushes and went too far. Was about to give up when I felt it, buried in grass, just two or three steps downhill. Phew! Thanks for your Smurf trail Flowerydaze.

Walked right past it at first, searching for a while, about to give up when Viper Junior struck gold!
Thanks!

Really over complicated this one, went way too far but coords are good and got us there in the end!

TFTC Flowerydaze, #867, July 21, 2021

Just about walked away and then on our way back out...spotted! Thanks for the adventure. Kids love bringing their bikes.

We didn’t have a pen (weren’t planning on geocaching) so a photo will have to do. Easy find TFTC

Thanks

Number 1 found yippee

Tftc easy find, out biking with diannewhight and geeves90

Thanks Flowerydaze for placing this cache

It was very dark tonight but there was not a muggle to be seen on this trail.
Fun bike ride before bed...

TNLNSL TFTC

easy find thanks

Watched some fixed wing aircraft overhead before retrieving cache. TFTC

Did with Crystal Fairy.

Decided today was a lovely day to try out the Smurf Trail. It wasn't quite what we were expecting, but a lovely walk none the less. We start out at the North end. Wasn't expecting as much bush bashing as we had to do, but found them all eventually. Lots of blackberries along the way gave the kids sustenance. Thanks for the cache and walk. Did with Mycro Man, Ezratar, Astro Hunter and Violet Butterfly

On a mission today. Easy find. Tftc

I enjoyed the walk along the pathway and the sunshine this afternoon. Went too far down to start with but spotted it on the way up. TFTC

TFTC! This was a fun little cache on a great trail. I thought I could help this TB travel around the world, so I grabbed it to move it on.

Great to walk this track and grab some caches. As the container was safe and clean I dropped a TB for someone else to take further.

1.50pm. A very quick find this time round.
Thank you. David and Noeline.

Good find with matagouri on a Labour Day caching trip. Tftc.

Out on a caching trip with TharntheHalken. Started off too low, went higher. All good in cache. Tftc!

Dropped down thinking I knew where it was. GPS showed I had gone past it so climbed back up and spotted cache quickly. All secure and dry. TNLNSL TFTC

Found with Mother and pup. We minced our way down the bank and started searching. It was a little slippery but we managed just fine. We had gone pass the cache a lot earlier than expected but soon had it in our hands. TFTC

Found on a lovely walk with LCBuilder and dogs, TFTC

We decided on a bit of a break from the farm and headed here to enjoy a little walk and to get some caches for the latest souvenir challenge.
It was such a beautiful day today. There were some muggles coming and going which we had to be mindful of, but not too bad at all.
Mr rattll had rejoined Mrs rattll here, which was good because he spotted the well camo'd cache.
We left a pet rock - a sheep & an alphabet stone - the letter 'N'.
Thanks for putting this here for me to find Flowerydaze.

Down for a bike ride along this track to find some caches before the rain. Thanks Flowerydaze for the cache.

I did not particularly like the look of the bank and the down bit but it was all quite easily achieved.
We decided to come for a mini holiday and at the same time help out NZ tourist industry so we came down to Paekakariki for a few days staying at the local motel which is very pleasant and run by friendly and helpful hosts with a lovely generous meal last night.
While husband did the 4hour Escarpment walk i looked around for a few other caches ( having done quite a few along there already) and a drive up to Raumati with a chance to catch up with old teachers Coll. friend also seemed the best idea.
so i set off along this walkway , wishing i had my bike!, and completed 5 caches before turning around and heading back .
All needed that second thorough look but all were in good condition and duly signed and replaced.
thank you for this mini trail of smurf caches and i gave it a Fav point for the mini trail.

Out for a wander with Yeetrees. I found the container more or less at GZ, and Yeetrees found the logsheet a bit further up the bank. Nice to meet up with the CO on our way back as they came out to replace this one pronto!
TFTC

Here a photo

Will send CO ordinates to CO later

Coordinates changed from:
S 40° 56.385 E 174° 58.788

Coordinates changed to:
S 40° 56.392 E 174° 58.799

Distance from original: 66.1 feet or 20.2 meters.

The original GZ has been mowed by tractor and mower, with all the broom flattened and the original container and Smurf minced to small pieces. Container has been replaced, but sadly the smurf has gone. It's now on the eastern side of the path.

Cache replaced, unfortunately without a smurf. Co-ords updated.

Found the container but no log book or other items. Also no lid. The area has been mowed recently so cache is damaged and will need to be replaced and put in a new spot as there is no longer any cover left. See photo for proof of find.

Cache damaged as area has been cleared.

Oh dear - I need to find a new spot for this one. Sorry folks.

I have been meaning to take on this trail for a while. I thought the relative flatness of the track would suit my occasional caching companion who doesn't like hills and our geofoodle. I thought I was clever in knowing what the hint referred to but it wasn't actually that much help. After a couple of minutes of circling, the treasure was found.

out and about on my mt bike today and enjoyed it through here as i have been cycling in the hills above Upper hutt
many thanks
Loved the Smurf trail

One of seven caches located today during a bike ride through Queen Elizabeth Park. This was the first in the Smurf series. Found it after a brief search, probably more quickly than I expected. The hint made all the difference! #3160. TFTC.

Called here with Mrs agcnz on a very warm afternoon on a walk to get 6 unfound caches along this path. This one caused me more problems than it should have - it was close to where I started searching and I must have almost trodden on it but I didn't spot it. As I wasn't sure what sort of container I was looking for, I gave up after about ten minutes and moved on to the next one with the intention of stopping here again on the way back to the vehicle. On my return with more knowledge of what I was seeking, I found it quite quickly. I still don't know how I missed it! All in good condition - signed log, TFTC

Love these little hides.

Tftc

Last of the smurf quintet as I searched in reverse order. Cache in good order. TFTC

Had Christmas lunch on Dell road and made the most of the visit to pop out and get the TB. Amazing number of cyclists to avoid. Cache in great condition.
.

I needed to find a cache to drop a TB that I had picked up in Myanmar. I had waited for a few days until the terrible storms had passed and woke to a beautiful sunny morning so off I popped.
Not the easiest of caches to find as my GPS was jumping all over the place but with a bit of searching had it in my hand.
Was tempted to carry on and find the rest of the series but have work this afternoon and thought I would save them for the summer holidays with the grandkids.
TFTC

Went for a smallish geocaching trip through Queen Elizabeth Park after the school run. Turned out to be a horrible day for hay fever so my intended run turned into a sneezing ans spluttering stumble to tick of a few caches.

Spent a little bit of time looking for this one. Spotted a likely looking smurf home as I was giving up hope and heading back to the path which turned out to be the place.
TFTC

(# 5575). A nice day for a quick retrieval while visiting someone nearby. A quick find. Everything in order. TFTC

We had to abandon our search for the previous cache when ten cyclists decided the GZ was a good place to wait for the rest of their party to arrive. There is something to be said for a GZ slightly off the path.

Oh, the delight of a clean fresh cache!
Had to sweep around a bit to find , but we got there.
Thanks

I saw this series of caches come out and have been waiting to be able to start finding them. And knowing I would be out and about around Kapiti this evening, I decided to take advantage and get rid of yet another Dot Day off my Geocaching calender as well.

The sun was pretty much setting when I arrived at GZ, so I was glad that it didn't take me long to lay my hands on the concealed container thanks to the very helpful Hint. All was fine with the container and contents, and thankfully I was lucky enough to have the whole area to myself in order to be able to sign the log and then replace everything as found in my own good time.

I took the TB I found inside. Thanks for the cache.

Second find for the afternoon -again, a bit of ferreting and use of geo-eyes to point me in the right direction.

Nice to return here this morning to find this one
Thanks Flowerdaze

Nice find while out with woolwood9 today.
Quick easy find today, was not hidden like that last visit.
SL

back with the smurflings today and what do you know it was found within a minute! I don't know how I missed it last time, phone GPS had me at 3m at GZ so I really should have found it. Thanks for checking on it and TFTC

TB drop.

Found this one while on a maintenance trip with the CO. I must say that this was a tricky find but the future finders should have it easier with the added clue.

After several DNF's, I came to check this one out. I can confirm it is still there, towards the top of the bank, with a small tell-tale sign that geocachers will recognise. [thanks Huhugrubs for your assistance].

#11,467. Returned to explore a bit more of Te Ara o Whareroa Trail in Queen Elizabeth Park, Paraparaumu on late Sunday afternoon. A few other walkers and cyclists were on the trail, but fortunately, GZ itself was all quiet at the time of our visit. This took us a long time, really sweeping the area. Eventually had to resort to phoning a previous finder to try to see if we could narrow down the spot. Even armed with further information, it still took quite some more toing and froing until Mrs h stumbled upon the well-hidden cache. It was in good condition, all nice and dry inside. Took nothing, left nothing, signed log.

Since we had taken quite a long while here, it was time to return the way we came and walk back to the car afterwards.

Thanks for the placement, and for bringing us to this site, and …

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

No luck here today after a very thorough search

Despite a good look on way past then on way back we didn't find this cache.

No luck for me here today. I thought I was brainy smurf and thought I knew what to look for and what the hint meant but I couldn't find the cache after sweeping the area. From previous comments it seems that this one may be a bit tricky to find, so I don't think Gargamel has taken off with the cache, I just need to do a more thorough sweep of the area next time, maybe with some smaller and smarter smurfs in tow! Nice to hear a lot of frogs croaking loudly near the water across from GZ this morning. Thanks Flowerydaze.

Decided it was such a lovely day we would take the dog we are dogsitting for a stroll and see if she could help sniff out a few caches. As it turned out little blue hen was a lot more use. Apologies for repetitive logs. Swept the entire area before coming up roses.Tftcsl

Big cupboard to sweep but got it while Tess and bkj97 kept a watch for muggles. T4tcsl

I've had no problems with any other caches today but this one almost got the better of me. On the way south I stopped here for a little while for a scout around but muggles were putting me off my game and there seemed to be a lot of hiding options to deal with. So I deferred it and tried on the way back. I had a decent look for about 5 minutes then as I was just "standing around" contemplating that DNF or what else to try I got revenge-muggled by bkj97 and Little Blue Hen (who I muggled twice at other caches - I guess the second one wasn't actually a muggling as we knew each other by then). I presume they were looking up there because they knew the cache was there. Thankfully they gave me a pointer to a place I can't believe I didn't look. VERY much appreciated help there which made that the second time as a cacher than I have been so fortuitously muggled when I needed it. And with the that, the hint's usual meaning applies to this series of caches with this being the last one for me to smurf. I mean find. TFTS. You know what the S stands for.