The Big I #23 (Southland) Invercargill City, South Island, New Zealand
By southlandicebergs on 02-Oct-19. Waypoint GC8EB8E

another one found, signed and returned, now onto the next one, tftc

I am happily working my way along this series, TFTC.

I'm down from Paihia for the Dunedin Mega event. We did a lot of caching around there. Our plan was then to come down to Invercargill to get the geoart here, find some other puzzles, visit Bluff and Slope Point. We'll then head north to Middlemarch and up to Christchurch.Todays plan was this I, the Winton W (not all solved yet) and the penguin jigsaws. We ended up finishing early so headed out to Clifden to see the old swing bridge and did a round trip via Monkey Island. Very pleased to get the old Donovan caches. Well I solved this one twice. Once in Sept 2020 and again in Nov 2023. I must have saved the solved note in c:geo but not uploaded it online and I obviously hadn't changed the co-ords. Pleased to add it to the found list today. Thanks southlandicebergs for your geoart

A plan was hatched quite a while ago when the Dunedin Mega was announced to come over to the South Island again.I have only been to New Zealand twice before and I loved the South Island.So a chance to come back for a Mega was a no brainer for me.Everything was booked and I flew in last Saturday week ago after a bit of a delay.So now for a couple of days around Invercargill.So Day 11 of my Mega NZ trip begins and Im on my own again so Im just picking out random caches that I had put on my list.These were all solved before heading over for the Mega.No rain but everything was very wet under foot and I loved walking through long grass (Not)Thanks southlandicebergs TFTPC.

Down south from Whangarei for a 10 day trip including the Dunedin Mega. Visiting family here for a couple of days and just had to get out and about finding a few caches as well.A little bit drizzly this avo, but I needed to get out and collect as many of the Big I caches as possible, being as I had solved them all in readiness for this trip. A nice quick find in the hint location. TFTC

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 we are in Invercargill visiting family & friends went for a bit of a drive this morning as I needed to get a couple of Mysteries for a Challenge that were working on we had completed the puzzles a few weeks back we ended up getting the three that I needed for today, which all turned out to be easy finds, log books completed & safely returned to their positions were pleased to add another 'smiley face' to the tally TFTC ... TN:LN:LS this was #6,171 for us!

Another quick find here today. Thanks for the placement and the smiley

Found by B. Went the wrong way, so pivoted to find this one. TFTC

Solved these puzzles over 3 years ago. Took a few moments to grab this one as it was well hidden. Thanks for the cache, southlandicebergs#5348

Warning: there’s spiky stuff around GZ. Stupidly I wore slip ons and my poor feet took a beating. Regardless, got the cache! TFTC!

Out and about today staying fairly local finding some solved puzzles and traditional caches.
Thank you for placing this cache.

Unpredictable showers kept us close to the car today so it became a fun day of P&GS and solved puzzles. TFTC

In town for a few days, and solved the series in preparation. Some of them I could just read off, and this was one of those.

T4TC

TEMBO! and I visited Invercargil. There are a lot of caches to visit. We Made it to some of the "The Big I" and signed the logbook.

Thanks to southlandicebergs for hiding and maintaining the cache.

T4TC Filser1

tftc easy find sl and replaced

Today on my way to Catlin I did mostly my solved Puzzle.
Some of them I could not find.
Thanks to all the Owner.

Another quick find. Logbook slightly damp but still ok. Solved this puzzle earlier on our South Island road trip knowing we were coming this way. Thanks for setting up the series.

Had figured out these puzzles some time ago, daughter was home from Dunedin, so we thought we would find some of these.

TFTC

Got Dad to help me with this one on our family day out doing some bush walks and caches, TFTC

And another one off the solved and found pile - thank goodness it wasn't raining and Mr P stopped the car in safe places. T4tc

#10,476. My last day in Southland before flying back home to Wellington. Its been raining this morning but the rain has moved on and a lovely sunny day has developed. Mostly targeting Adventure Labs this morning but will grab a few others as I drive around the city. This was one of them. I managed to solve all the puzzles in this series before flying south. But wont have time to get to them all this trip. Just three picked up today before catching the flight back home. Found this one after a short search. While here a vehicle stopped and a farmer asked if I was OK. I explained I was geocaching and after a short explanation he waved and said all good and carried on. Signed the logbook and replaced the cache where found. Thanks southlandicebergs for hiding it here.

With the Event on in Invercargill on Sunday why not make a weekend of it...3 days of caching down South woop woop Plenty of googling earlier in the week had me solve all the Big I puzzles in preparation for my visit to Invers. A gorgeous sunny day and time to explore the outskirts. A farmer nearby in his tractor had me taking photos again until he was far enough away and then cache was quickly located. Lucky plenty of soft grass here as ended up unintentionally sitting down!!! TFTC

SL and replaced. Nice day for caching. TFTC

TFTC, found with mate.

Straight forward

Easily found without a hint. Thanks for the placement.

Signed as Mm78.
Chasing points for a science challenge, so we and the wagging tails are out on a windy afternoon finding these long solves caches. Tftpc and GeoArt

Spending a few days in Invercargill visiting my son whose started a course here. While he’s out during the day I have been using his bike to get around and collect some caches. Today was a longer ride to collect The Big I series. Managed to get all the ones presently active. 15 in all. I presume from the numbering that there were more at some stage. Maybe is more of a Little I now. All the finds were straight forward which I was very pleased about because my phone was down to 5% by the end and I didn’t want to come all the way back if it had died. All the logs were nice and dry except No 27. Thanks for a fun morning out in the country and all the smileys.

Kia ora for the cache.

**#13,160**
Gotta love the old Peanut Butter, perfect cache container!!
TNLN TFTC

*Another good find.
Nice day going from cache to cache with woolwood9.*
We soon had the container located. SL: **tm/ww NZ**
Thanks southlandicebergs for putting this puzzle out for us to visit!

Great series of puzzles, we enjoyed the drive around!

On a three week trip to the lower South Island with tmann421 hunting caches.
Enjoyed the trip around and the challenge of the finds.
Signed logs tm/ww NZ
TFTC

In Invercargill for a few days, early morning drive out to Oreti Beach for a adventure lab. Now time to do The Big I solved puzzle. Thanks southlandicebergs for this puzzle cache.

A straightforward puzzle and a quick easy find. TFTC

A week of work in Invercargill. But what to do in the evenings? Well I grabbed a few geocaches. Today I made an effort to grab the rest of the Big I that I didn't already have. So parked up near one of the solved caches and did a big walk around the block grabbing caches as I went. This was the first (and of course near where car was parked. Nice quick find, sign and replace. Thanks for the cache.

Day 2 of the work year done, and day 2 of the incomplete January dots done. Will this be the first full month?

23 January 2021 10:20. Another quick solve and find in the company of Ethness. Tftc!

A quick find. Having a short trip from Invercargill to Christchurch with Infoferret finding lots of caches, in particular the TMGT caches for me.
The cache may be signed with our individual names or ‘IE’.
Many TFTC.

Arrived in Invercargill just before tea time so after setting up the caravan and having some tea we headed out to grab a few caches. Had solved this series some time ago and as it was near it was our first target. Got all but one - that being the one with amended co-ords. tftc

Tftc nice park and grab.

Tftc second cache for 2021

On a nice afternoon to get this one. Quick park and grab. Worked out the puzzles with the help of Annielin.
Tftc

In Invercargill for abt 24 hours & had a small window of time before meeting a friend for coffee - so I set out in the rain to find the caches in this series.
Thanks for these caches, southlandicebergs.

#18976. Making good progress on this series. TFTC.

Today is our last full day in Invercargill, as we are heading north on Saturday, so need to mop up some more puzzles, including the Big I series, and a couple of adventure labs.
Another puzzle that could solve without using Google. TFTC.

All good at GZ for this one

Another one ticked off, thanks southlandicebergs

#10350

Had some numbers for the puzzle to pin a site on walk around to the final. This one took a second look to find the small cache tucked away in it's place and added the code. Returned the logbook the right way so the extraction would be easier with a little clothes peg picked up from an earlier cache and popped in some small swag. Cito'd some tins and picked up a farmer's wallet that got tracked down and delivered later on. TFTC SIB, the geo art is ticking along.

Cache 163 solved these this past Sunday so now is time to grab this one on my way to work on the early hours /sigh it’s a bit chilly out I’d rather be in bed lol TFTP ️

Thankyou
I claim another one

Decided that with overseas trips on hold to spread out my annual leave and take a long weekend away from Dunedin. It was a chance to head to down and see some caching friends and go out caching in an area which is very green on the app map.
As it was a lovely day I decided to head down to the spit to go for a few long walks and grab some caches. A lovely day and dodged muggles looking for the caches.

Thanks to all of the COs, I smashed out the last 100 points (and more) for the memory lane souvenir collection.

***[======== NZ Mega 2020 ========](http://nzmega.com)***

[NZ Mega 2020](http://nzmega.com) is definitely happening, but has been postponed until 2021. It will be held in Auckland over Labour Weekend, 22 to 25 October 2021. It's going to be a massive celebration of geocaching:

* 20+ years of geocaching worldwide.
* 20+ years since New Zealand had the very first geocache hidden outside of USA.
* All the 20s and now 21 as well!

Talk to your geo-friends and start planning to be part of [this event](http://nzmega.com) - you won't want to miss it!

Solved before coming down this way. Enjoyed the caches on an overcast day

Winter Solstice 2020 - a great day to get out and go for the current souvenir before the sunset event.
There is a light but cold breeze out this way today. I'm hoping that somewhere in my car is a winter hat!
Thanks for the smilie southlandicebergs.
2655 21 June 2020 14:05

New outer container

Off grid. Changing leaky container.

Out and about at the end of the day trying to sign off all of the Big I caches before leaving tomorrow. No problems here. TFTC # 15,504

Yay finally finished the I series. Have had this sorted for sometime but have been working on my dot days. Even tho this is double bottled the log book is starting to get a bit damp but still managed to sign it. Thanks for the series SIB enjoyed getting them all translated with a few head scratches along the way.

After finding the TMGT cache out at Colac Bay to complete the tour, I made my way back to Invercargill. The Big "I" caches were a pleasant way to fill in the rest of the afternoon. No rush, dodge the showers, enjoy your self.

Cheers and TFTC

**Found on our February - March tour around the South Island. Logging back home in Auckland in Lockdown isolation**

We started the day by tackling the Big I series on a lovely sunny Invercargill morning. Most of these puzzles were solved easily, and a few without needing to resort to Google, but the odd one was a bit trickier. Glad there is plenty of parking for two vehicles, now that we are finding these Big I caches with another team. Another quick find here, thanks.

Found while out on a drive with Mum and Dad, TFTC

Decided to tackle the Big I caches while out on a morning adventure with the family, TFTC

I started my great and unique round trip over the South Island in Christchurch.
My first major stopover was at Lake Tapeko - here I hiked up to Observation Mountain.
I then planned two days in Mount Cook NP with some unforgettable hikes. My big goal was the Mueller Hut - on a super strenuous hike I reached it.
I continued my journey over the lonely Danseys Pass to Dunedin.
Afterwards I drove along the Southern Scienic Route via Invercargill to Manapouri for some days. On this route I visited many sights and enjoyed the beautiful nature again and again.
I already booked a tour to the Doubtful Sound in advance - another highlight on my tour.
Afterwards I drove on to Queensown and Wanaka. From there I continued over the Haast Pass to the lonely Jackson Bay with storm and heavy rain. Afterwards I drove along the west coast always in pouring rain.
The rain stopped the whole west coast, but I had good rainwear with me. Only high up in Nelson the sun shone again.
Soon I reached the east coast again in Picton and Blenheim and the sun was shining again.
After a few days I travelled back to Christchurch via the beautiful town of Kaikoura.
At the end of my round trip I spent a few more days in Christchurch and its surroundings.
I visited many geological sites and found many caches on my round trip. In Rangiora I visited an event.
I travelled 3418 km and take home a lot of positive experiences.
Thanks to many beautiful caches I was also shown unique locations, historical sites and geological features.
I am overwhelmed by the fantastic and ever changing nature on the South Island of New Zealand - I will definitely come back.

Many thanks to all owners
Team sissifalke

Day One Of Our Journey
Mr & Mrs FapAndGap and Squirrel Nutcase have travelled to the South Island to collect all the TMGT caches.
Arrived in Invercargill and mission was on.
City very busy with bikers everywhere for the Burton Munroe Reunion.
Bit of a late night but we found everything we attempted.
Caches all in good condition and thanks to the cache owners for these 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.

Waitangi Day - Invercargill: Gap solved the 'Big I' series at home (I was determined to also solve this series before logging). I recognised many of the languages and was able to piece together some of the translations without needing to depend on online sources... We decided to visit the trail tonight. Our time here is short, and logic said that by getting this geoart out of the way, we'd have a bit more freedom tomorrow... I admit that a night time approach wasn't the best idea. Darkness added an extra layer of difficulty, as did the recent flooding in the area. Very damp underfoot - obviously floodwaters have only recently receded. No vehicle access along this road... Thanks southlandicebergs. TFTP and TFTC.

In town for a few days, and solved the series in preparation. Some of them I could just read off, and this was one of those! TFTC!!

Had looked at the various Big-I puzzles before heading south and then spent some time today driving around to collect the smilies. Thanks.

A quick find tonight after work. Nice to nail another from the big I. TFTC

Had a great day out and about caching in Southland area today, many thanks to all the cache placer's.Thanks Bitsprayer

Found on a caching two day journey into Central Otago and Southland with Bitsprayer. Really enjoyed the challenge of the puzzle caches and the many hours spent to unravel the coordinates. Also great to travel along the many roads in the area. Many thanks to the various cache owners for placing and maintaining their caches. TFTC

Cute container. Thanks

Found. Full log to come. TFTC.

Another one down. More fun than boxing day sales anyway.

Another quick find here today TFTC

Took a bit of a search as Gpd was going funny. Tricky to get out. Jude-E and I are on a geocaching trip to the deep south. We are flying back home to Christchurch on the late afternoon. I love Geo art so we are concentrating on the big I, anything else is a bonus. Thanks southlandicebergs for placing this geocache 8014 find for me.

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

Day 3 of a 3 day caching venture with Nosynel. Today's goal is the Big I. Had a spot of bother eith the gps here but e entually spotted the hide. Tftc
#5085

I have now parked up the snail shell at a country club for a few days so that I can locate quite a few caches especially the solved puzzles. If a few Trads get my way well and good.

The muggle had gone.

Cheers for the cache.

Solved these a while ago, hoping that the rest of the series would be published before we leave for home. Not to be though. A nice quick find today. Cheers.

Time to have a holiday road trip, and today we cruised around Invercargill and environs, to collect a few TMGT and other caches.

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

It was a nice Southland day u know the usual nice weather.
Gail force winds , hail and rain .
Just a great Southland day .
So with rain coat and hat on just our usual spring attire.
So off we went to enjoy a lovely day and joy o joy a cache as well what more can one ask for .
A beautiful Southland evening and a geocaching adventure with a great partner in crime.
We have enjoyed work on the big I

Thanks for the hide

tftc

Decided to brave the gale force sou westerlies and horizontal rain showers to get this one...
Tftc

Yah I am home when the latest lot of new caches appeared this morning, some head scatching and guessing got me answers to some of newest puzzles, Wombat found me so we managed to untangle some more answers together,
Pleased we were out before the rain set in
Thanks SIB for the fun puzzles and our own soon to be geo trail
quick {FTF}

Joint [FTF] 10.40am with KNCN. and Kiscardi. We all were lounging in our Pj's, had not had breakfast, when the notifications came thru. Ok let's go for an outing! tftp SIB!! the kids and I had fun... before the rain set in

Joint [FTF] with wombat and Kiscardi at 10.40am. Good fun to find a FTF! thankyou SIB for the cache

Published