PWGT4 The Taniwha of Rakaia (Canterbury) Ashburton District, South Island, New Zealand
By Jude_E on 12-Nov-20. Waypoint GC92KNV

We hope you enjoyed exploring region of the South Island. Pokai Whenua GeoTour: Wha has now ended. Thank you to the community for all the great logs, photos, and Favorite Points over the last 2 years. It has been so fun!

TFTC

General log.During our trip through New Zealand we also tried to find as many caches of the geotours as possible. This has been reasonably successful on the South Island.We really enjoyed your beautiful country, the lovely people we met and the many beautiful geocaches we were able to log.To all cache owners and the ministry, a huge thank you for making this possible!Kind regards from the Netherlands.

AliGle and I were traveling around the middle and upper South Island, with the main focus being the completion of the PWGT3 and PWGT4 GeoTours, but we found a few other caches along the way. A lovely spot above the river here and a quick find of the cache at GZ. TFTC!

In the South Island with Vistra mopping up the PWGT caches in the area. Thankful to have left the rain in Auckland behind us, it is turning out to be a warm, sunny day here. A lovely spot and the water below is an amazing colour today.

The cache was indeed missing however it seems like there may have been some creep previously as the cache is NOT at the seat and some comments suggested there had been a slip. No slip near cache hide but there is by the seat. Replacement cache is a 500ml vitamin pill container painted dark green. Please ensure you wedge it back where you find it.

Cache replaced.

No luck here

The cache appears to be missing. I will drive from Chch to check on Saturday. If you can prove you have been here please message me for the codeword.

No luck

What a fantastic view with some snow still on the mountains and the turquoise blue water. Thanks for bringing us here.

Had a score to settle with this one. Ivss_xx made the spot. Found on our way to the earthcache event.

10:29
FITW ObnoxiosSpaceCat
A DNF avenging mission for OSC, and way towards completing the next section of PGWT for me.
The Taniwha was moving in the wind today!
And also, a historic moment here, my pen stopped working! I took it apart and inspected the ink tube (what is it called?) And it was empty! This never happens! Usually I either break or lose my pens, long before they can run out of ink.
Luckily the car was only 60m away and I ran and got another pen to sign the log with.

PWGT progress - 49/150
Whā - 18/25

Kia ora! Paldies!
TFTC, Jude_E!
#9178

Found 2/10/22. Cache looked to have fallen down due to a small slip. We put it back in place. Our team walked past the location due to our GPS being out by 10m.

Took the kiddos to the Rakaia gorge today for a bit of an explore and to check out the trail on the other side of the river. The Kiddos enjoyed finding some caches, checking out the river, and I enjoyed the views. Thanks for the cache!

Were walking down by the water then remembered this app. Walked up to the cliff wall but realized it was on the track. Then found when we came up.

GPS seemed to take us further downy the track than needed but once we figured out where it was it was an easy find. Loved the Taniwha

Creekdalefarm

Spent 30 minutes on this one as I didn’t want to go back up that hill empty handed. I just can’t seem to see what everybody else does.

Ā beautiful spot for a cache. A nice easy find. TFTC

Quick easy find in the dark. TFTC

Thank you for bringing us to such a beautiful spot. Artist’s interpretations of the taniwha are great.

A great location for a cache, took a little while to locate. Thanks for the historical background associated with the location. TFTC

Day 3 of our South Island hunt for PWGT's. Started with a very wet start from ChCh but before we had got to this cache we were blessed with lovely sunny weather. A great sculpture at the start of the track. TFTC Jude_E

This is day 3 of our PWGT caching mission in the South Island and another new area for Talla64 and me. The river was a milky turquoise colour. We liked the sculpture of the Taniwha at the start of the path. Thanks very much for placing a cache here Jude_E, and for the history.

Down from Wellington for a long weekend chasing PWGT caches. A great pitstop for any traveller - an old bridge, great views, unusual turquoise coloured water, a guardian sculpture, bush tracks, picnic areas - what more do you need.
Cache missing, CO gave permission to log as photos confirmed this. Talla64 & Flowerydaze dropped a replacement cache on their visit 2 days later, and added my name to the log.
Thanks Jude_E for a great cache location/history lesson

Oh drats!!! Down from Wellington specifically chasing the PWGT, no luck today after a thorough search on dusk. My phone even said i was at ground "zero", a rare occurence. Saw a likely spot but alas Will send some photos to CO to check i was in right area.
NB this whole area had no cellphone signal for me.

Stopped on the way to Methven, interesting sculpture here which Mrs B managed to get a few photos of as well as the bridge and river beyond. The colour of the river here is certainly different as well. Short walk and another PWGT found. TFTC.

TFTC

Good to find a cache hidden by my good friend Jude_E who introduced me to geocaching. Tvmftc

We have stayed at Rakaia Gorge before but have not previously explored this trail. An interesting sculpture and informative signage to read before making the short walk to GZ. The GPS took a little time to settle down before the find was made. Thanks.

Found that one with Cyclicalcaching as part of our PWGT Roadtrip, beautiful spot! Thanks

Another great spot for a geotour cache!

This river is amazing, just so much water flowing down it and with such power! The color is great too!

Cache all good!

Thanks!

After finding the nearby uphill caches I noticed a track leading off to the riverbed area from the guard rail parking area. I guessed wrongly that I could use this track and access the cache from the riverbed, close but not close enough. Returned to the track and followed it towards the bridges, on the way I passed very close to the cache enabling a quick grab and sign. The cache is dry and was very well hidden; Thanks Jude

Some interesting history of the river crossing, and an impressive taniwha at the start of the track. The cache was a fairly quick find, perhaps a little higher than we expected, and we emptied a little water from it. We didn't spot any wasps. TFTC

We drove past the parking area but managed to turn around with no issues.
There was one other car parked there and a guy acting a bit strangely, sort of hanging around not looking like he wanted to be there, maybe waiting for someone?
We initially thought the cache was down the bank and headed down one of the tracks but soon realised it was up the top. it was nice to be down by the water though and we could look at the scenery from a different perspective.
The guy was still loitering and headed off along the track when he saw us. We followed shortly afterwards and soon reached GZ.
Initially we thought it might be slightly further up the hill and were a bit concerned as a significant number of wasps had taken up residence there.
Fortunately we tried elsewhere and spotted the cache in a safer spot, whew.
As we were signing the log the suspicious guy walked past us again.
We left a trackable to continue its journey.
When we returned to the carpark the guy was loitering once again. Hopefully he managed to sort out whatever he was doing.
Our 108th stop on the Pokai Whenua Geotour and our 14th on PWGT4.

Wasp nest!

Found

So off on another drive to get some more of the PWGT caches. This was the first of 5 for the day and was a nice day to grab them and explore a part of the coin had never been to before. TFTC

Out on my geo adventures, this is a great spot, thanks heaps ️

Wow amazing swimming hole by a stunning bridge. Cage was out in the open tucked it back at waist height.tftc

Found with Nutty Nora. TFTC

Found it in the open - placed behind natural cover. Had to wait for man weed spraying.

Caching with Piwaka54. Love this series! TFTC

I drove past here on the day it was published but I haven't been back since. Well, on the way to Mt Somers and a slight detour so did a quick dash for this one. Cheers, nice spot up here.

Stopped by on the way back from MTBing some Lake Heron caches. The Taniwha was something new to me. Handsome fellow! Thanks for the cache Jude E.

We had got the cache across the road on a prior trip through the area. It was good to look up river a bit more, and checkout the steelwork.
Thanks for a nice quick multi.

Oh I loved the Taniwha poking his head out here. Got this one snagged and tagged. Cheers.
Fav from me.

Day 4 - Thursday 23 December - Ashburton to Amberly taking the inland route to Lake Coleridge. So lets go exploring. Bummer with Toby getting a flat battery today.

The Seagnoid, Zara, Toby and I are of on another Geo adventure this time to Mt Cook for 5 days. Met up with Bullertrout and Bro on the way down. Lake Pukaki was fine but Mt Cook was wet and wild with the Hooker Valley being closed due to high winds, so did not stay long. We went exploring Tekapo, Timaru and a round trip to Lake Coleridge. Short trip and very tiring but awesome.

Love the taniwha looming out of the bush here! Just for that it gets a favourite (and that the cache doesn't rule itself out bebeing micro or wet)

Part of a big trip with Taybeedragon to explore Mt Cook. We explored a little of it but there was gale winds, lots of cloud and rain. Some of the tracks had been closed and others were right dodgy given that we did not have our foul weather tramping kit. We had booked to stay for two nights but left the same day. More time to explore parts of Canterbury! So now I have been to Mt Cook . Still yet to see Aorangi.

Found it

Sunday caching adventure. Thanks for the hide.

I do love the views of the river from this road. When I lived in the area 40+ years ago we knew nothing of the Māori legend of how Rakaia Gorge was formed - it’s good to learn something new. I was amazed at the amount of yellow lupins in flower on the river bed.
Down staying with NosyNel for a few days; doing some caching and seeing the sites with her and Jude_E. TFTC Jude_E.

A nice afternoon adventure with the offspring. I never realised there was a taniwha here! Luckily not a very scary one. TFTC!!

Fantastic spot, and a lovely walk.
Nice quick find thanks

Before getting our lunch out and going for the Rakaia Gorge walk we grabbed this cache and its code word. Not sure how the winds were before the Taniwha had his fight, but it was quite windy today. Very interesting to learn about the name and previous way of crossing this gorge, as well as the tale about it. Thanks a lot! Both container and logbook were in good condition.

We had a quick find just before 4 Muggles walked past us..TFTH

When our North Island trip was cancelled due to lockdown restrictions a new plan was hatched to head South instead. We took the backroads toward Geraldine to grab any that have popped up since our last trip though here. A nice little stroll to the cache with only one person in the carpark checking out the river so it wasnt very busy here today. The cache was very obvious but I suppose only to someone who is looking over there. And Yes! this time I managed to get the codeword for sure No matter how many imes you have seen the colour of this river its always so amazing and you say "Wow, look at the colour of the water". A fav for the location. Thanks for adding to our smilies today.

Day 1 - Labour weekend extended road trip with Kiwicampnut - relocated to stay south of the ditch.
After a mission on the other side of the bridge, this was an easy find after a short walk.
Hmm, map between taniwha and road indicates 1.5 hours to Chch - we left the airport just before 10! Obviously not at geocaching speed.
Thanks for the cache Jude_E
# 2892 15 October 2021 2:55 pm

On a trip with Ruru_NZ to gather the tour caches needed or in my case not done yet. Should be able to knock off two of them on this trip.

Watch for bees as several around gz area

Out for the day visiting some places that I haven’t been for a long time, never or haven’t stopped before. I enjoyed the hunt. TFTH a lovely walk and the sun came out here.

Thanks for his cache & your part in the GeoTour, Jude_E.
I came this way for a drive on a lovely sunny afternoon; it was very windy at Coleridge but rather nice everywhere else.
I enjoyed the short walk along this track.

TFTC great spot we have a place at lake col village si love getting out and about this area when we are here. A small walk which we had not done before lovely views

A nice walkway quick find

Nice walk

Indeed that river can be a monster when it puts its mind to it.

Cheers and thanks,
S.t.

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

Great find with a stunning view across the Rakia

An old log and a great view. Tft

Quick find with angelic-kiwi in a lovely spot. tftc

Find #900!! Yay! Lovely cache for the occasion

Nice walk along the cliff. Tftc

no problems to locate this cache.
i think the Taniwha was away for the day as the spirits didn't inter fear with our search.
tftc

I thought we wouldn't be stopping on the way back. It was pouring in Staveley. But it stopped here. So we stopped here for lunch. It was JDScout's suggestion.
This Queens Birthday weekend JDScout and I decided to head over to Timaru in the campervan. Thank you Jude_E, for MinistryofEducation for this cache.

======== NZ Mega 2021 ========
Planning for the NZ Mega 2021 event is well underway. It will be held in Auckland over Labour Weekend, October 2021.

After we found the cache we ate our lunch in the camper van.

Down from Auckland for another blitz upon the PWGT caches and other caches that appeal to us. On this trip there is FMZ, rustynz, Rebel98 and myself in Christchurch for 3 days of fun and another adventure.

Pitch black when we arrive here. rusty informs me: Do you remember passing by here? No I don't says I. Apparently we drove L to R last time and in the day time (18-6-18). After she had reminded me of this, I checked it out when I got home and the views are astounding!! Being dark, you see very little. But on that last trip we passed by this carpark and it wasn't until tonight we pull in here and indeed see a Taniwha! How cool is this??? FMZ backed the rental car up so high beam would shine upon the beast!

We took fotos for sure, then I led the way to GZ while the others followed. I spotted a seat, but it was rusty who found the cache a little further on... good on her!

Found with rebel, rusty, gorby and Bruce as it was getting dark. Nice short walk up the track to stretch the legs. TFTC!!!

The sun is starting to dip, almost time to stop finding caches. Short walk, cool location. Thanks for hide

The taniwha stayed nice an dry despite the recent weather. Thanks.

Came to find a Tanewha and a cache with a group of Westues.

Found the caches hiding place, and the log was soon signed. Thanks for the hide

Continuing on our PWGT journey visiting the Canterbury area this weekend. Thanks to all the cachers for their efforts in setting up the GeoTours and sharing the history of New Zealand.
After an overnight in a superb new motel in Omarama, we were back on the road again. Still a bit chilly but beautiful clear sky.
A fantail greeted us in the carpark and followed us along the track. No problem with the find TFTC.

Day #2 of my Geotour. An interesting short walk. Nice views. Quick find.
TFTC

Love the sculpture. Interesting track beside the taniwha river. TFTC

Found with victoriousone

Quick rest/cache stop today

First time on the wee track. - Thanks Bitsprayer

What an amazing and appropriate sculpture in an area such as this
Thanks
erninz

Quick find after a short stroll. The river looking stunning today in calm weather. TFTC!

We arrived a day early for our daughters graduation tomorrow, so having picked up the rental car, we decided to try to grab the 5 new geo tour caches as far as Lake Coleridge today, and a number of other more traditional caches on the way back.
It was still pretty drizzly when we arrived here but it is such a cool spot anyway.
Loved the taniwha and the views.
Thanks for putting this cache here for us to find and for contributing to the new geo tour

We ate our lunch in the sunshine and then went for a short walk along the track to GZ. The sculpture fits in well here.
+ a marble, - nothing.

Made a small stop here to stretch our legs and collect a few more caches.A nice easy find for us here and another geo tour cache.Have made a note of the keyword.

Nice one. Code word photographed. Onward over the bridge.

Nice quick find. With Tokerau

We choose Weedons as center for a few days caching. Hunting down the PWGT caches and anything close that tickled our fancy. We're making a loop back to base via Rakaia. We did enjoy the scenic walk to GZ a lot. Thank you Jude_E

We are spending a few days in Canterbury and grabbing the geotour caches as well. Today was a trip out to Lake Coleridge and surrounding area for a first time visit for me.
No problem finding any of the caches we looked for.
Thank you Jude_E.

#9471. This is the last day of my Easter geotour adventure in the South Island,. Been travelling around with Infoferret since Friday and we have been in North Canterbury, West Coast, inland Otago, inland Canterbury and North Otago/South Canterbury. We stayed in Timaru overnight and are heading north to Christchurch today after doing quite a few caches near Timaru.

Travelling rapidly north now after a quick diversion to Mt Peel for the old virtual. I had forgotten how big the Canterbury plains are. Finally at the Rakaia Gorge and some good views of the river from this track. I have walked up and down the Rakaia in the past counting birds. Its quite a mission and sunburn and gravel blasted by strong winds certainly took their toll on my legs. We made a quick find of the cache. Grabbed the code and replaced everything as found. Thanks for the cache Jude_E. Enjoyed reading the description about the old bridge and the taniwha that guards the gorge.

6 April 2021 16:52. What a great location, thanks for setting this one up.

I've always enjoyed the stunning views on the drive through here. We often used to take this more scenic route on the way home after visiting my parents in Geraldine while Thompson's track was the chosen route in (and out if we were short on time). I haven't been on this track before so thanks for pointing it out. TFTC # 16,859

No Taniwha's around today but plenty of people travelling for their Easter Weekend road trips. A quick stroll and the cache was soon found. TFTC

Travelling the south Island collecting geotour caches and if I was lucky some normal trads too - thanks for the cache everything all in good order.

Quick find, cache in good condition, great views from here. Thanks again Jude_E!