The Big I #04 (Southland) Grasmere, South Island, New Zealand
By southlandicebergs on 03-Oct-19. Waypoint GC8ECE8

the roads around here are 't too busy today, so i nice ride for me, a quick find here, 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. I am definitely a puzzle seeker. This trip I found 154 puzzles out of a total of 195 finds. September 2020 I solved this puzzle. Another quick find here. Thanks 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 walk this, while the weather was still clear as rain is forecasted later on this turned out to be easy find, once we had double checked the co-ordinates & found the right place, co-rods were initially showing us about 100m away but that was a farm track & no barriers, ended up stopping where I thought it was most likely to be & hey bingo log book duely completed & then safely returned to its position thats the last of The Big I Series for us were pleased to add another 'smiley face' to the tally TFTC ... TN:LN:LS this was #6,197 for us!

Nice quick find here today tftpc

Found By D, but retrieved by F. Went by the area twice, before we got to it. TFTC!

Had a good morning driving around knocking off a few caches, quick easy find. 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. A fav for the series. TFTC

This is my fourth geocaching excursion to **beautiful New Zealand**!
Due to Covid [xx(] I had to wait for 3 long years to again return to my beloved Middle-Earth [xx(].
This time it's again a road trip enduring for 26 days, covering both North- and South-Island.
Once arrived in Invercargill, I took the chance to collect some of **The Big I** presolved mysteries today .
All, that I had on my list could be found .
Fair hides [^] - good condition of the containers and logbooks . Cool!
A big thanks to the owners southlandicebergs [:X] for hiding and maintaining this series [^] - and best regards from Germany !

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.

We solved these puzzles when they were published, and today the cache was a quick easy find, although it took a wee while to work out how to open it. TFTC

Nice quick find. Solved this puzzle earlier on our South Island road trip knowing we were coming this way. Thanks for setting up the series. Contents all fine.

I missed the cache in my first pass but looked again - and voila. Great thank you

#10,337. I am down in Southland this week attending a work hui. After the meeting ended at 5.30pm there was time for just a short diversion out to Oreti Beach to find some caches before we all meet for dinner back in the city at 7.30pm. On my way back to the city now and the traffic is being diverted due to road works near the airport. So these roads are a lot busier than usual I suspect. The puzzle was fairly quickly solved back home. Always nice to have a few that you can work out without too much brain pain. The cache was a reasonably quick find while waiting for gaps in the traffic. Signed the logbook and returned the cache where found. Thanks southlandicebergs for hiding it here.

Had the Day off work, so my daughter and I thought be great day for caching in and around Invercargill.
TFTC

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. Gee what a busy road here and not many decent breaks in the traffic so as normal I have lots and lots of "cache search disguise" pics on my phone haha. Had to back track for this one as parking better on the other side TFTC

TFTC

Tftc The first of the I series

Luckily there was a little addition to the container for extraction otherwise I might have had a battle on my hands. All good. Thanks for the puzzle and series. Hopefully I'll get another chance to visit the three that I missed.

A slightly different barrier hide. 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. 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.

**#13,157**
Carrying on with our trip around the back roads, this is the second cache container like this I have seen in the area, a great choice of recycling!!

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

Second one in the series for us today. Fun puzzles and finds!

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.

Nice quick find and first of the Big I puzzles grabbed. Thanks for the puzzle and thanks for the cache.

23 January 2021 11:24. And just like that, this excellent little series is completed. Have a FP for all of the work you did to set this one up. Well deserved! TFTC

Another quick find. Have finished the series. Favourite given, especially as translating the coordinates did not involve typing the words in from a photo.
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

On a nice damp ish 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. FP for this cache and the series.

#18972. 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.
A quick find here on this surprisingly busy road. TFTC.

Found but i wonder if my photo was taken

Another quick find, thanks southlandicebergs

#10347

A straightforward solve only needing to change one number to get the green tick. Walked the co'ods down to 2.5mt before the only place a small cache could be. I have seen [this](https://coord.info/GC33KR4) cache before and this type of hide only once before [too](https://coord.info/GC2XD19) so it was definitely one of those fit for purpose cache hides. I made use of a dry place to sit and sign the logbook out of view as the cars went zipping past; added the code and once the coast was clear returned the cache to hide. I'm purrty sure no photos were taken but wonder if the extra precautions are actually reducing peep's bad driving habits. TFTC

Clever use of container!!! Thanks

Cache 198 getting close to having the I completed only a few more to go wahoo, quick park and grab on the way home. Rock bug added to cache T4TP

A few of the easier looking puzzles
TFTC

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 a overcast day

Winter Solstice 2020 - a great day to get out and go for the current souvenir before the sunset event.
I'm usually heading the wrong way down this road, heading home, often in the dark. So good to get this smilie and stop thinking I must get it whenever I come past.
Thanks for the smilie southlandicebergs.
2663 21 June 2020 15:08

Gosh this road is busy as everyone is heading home for the evening. Another of the series done and dusted here. TFTC # 15,510

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

Tftc busy road today cool hide.

Thought I'd give the big I puzzles a go, lovely sunny summers day, thanks for the series

**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. A quick find and sign of the last Big I cache. Thanks for a nice puzzle series and the pleasant drive around the countryside on a sunny day.

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. A few cars zoomed by while we fumbled about... 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 not 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.

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

Left this one as the last of the big I. Had a sneaky feeling I was being watched?

This one took a couple of minutes to locate but trusting the co ords soon had it in hand. TFTC.

Found. Full log to come. TFTC

This mystery was also solved in Germany. The cache was quickly discovered.

T4TC

Together with TEMBO! I had a really interesting geocaching-trip today. We could find some geocaches, met some locals and had a great talk to them.
Concerning this geocache I want to say thanks because we had much fun in searching and finding this geocache! The cache made our trip even more interesting!
TFTC!

Day 3 of a 3 day caching venture with Nosynel. Today's goal is the Big I. A few spits of rain. Hope it diesnt come to much. Yesterday we were drenched! Thanks for the puzzle and hide.
#5082

Cool hide. 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 8011 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.

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.

I got my answer a bit wrong but was still able to locate the cache.

Cheers for the cache.

This was a less than pleasant morning for caching. Popped out between the showers, my car is saying it’s 7’ brrr. Arrived at cache area hmm this will be easy. Not quite Mrs H. Well this has got me thinking. Let’s start again at the beginning. Hands attempting to feel here & there while they were getting colder. What’s this? ahh!! Cache soon in hand as the rain arrived. Quick dash back to car to sign the log. Cool idea for a cache hide. TFTP SIB

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

I like to log my caches in order.
As I had a backlog of Labour weekend caches in chch, I finally thought I had caught up, until today (19/11) when searching for a close by dot.
Found this quickly, nicely hidden.

I hate halloween, I'm not one to share my chocolate with anyone I know, let alone strange kids who randomly turn up and ask for it. For this reason I lock the door, shut the curtains and put a sign on the door or go out to avoid it altogether. It took real dedication to go out tonight, the sideways rain and icy wind was a strong deterrent, but less so than trick or treaters so off we went. Cache was easily found, stamps proved to be a little too large for the page so we used the next page. TFTC and the excuse to avoid sugar fuelled kids lol.

Found time today to track this one down.
A quick park and grab
Its been fun working in this geo art! Tftc

Finshed the working week a little early . Yay
After picking up annielin we decided the first stop was this one before we went shopping.
So a stop here was called and a quick search soon had the goods in hand and sign logbook.
Returned to the hide.
Now off to the garden center to pick up some bits and pieces for the garden.
Dam there goes my weekend digging the garden.
Worked this one out the other night and today is the day we have enjoyed the fun with the geo art.

Thanks for the hide

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
Second to find

[FTF] 10.25am with KNCN. 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

[FTF] with wombat at 10.25am. Good fun to find a FTF! thankyou SIB for the cache

Published