Otaraua Park Field Puzzle (Kapiti) Waikanae, North Island, New Zealand
By MamaHoof on 17-Mar-21. Waypoint GC97DM1

Time to turn that frown upside down!
Much thanks to the CO for their very prompt maintenance, without your help it was a bit like searching for a bison tube randomly placed in some really long grass! I'm please you managed to find it! All good now though GPS points straight at where the hint says it should be
TNLNSL TFTC

Checked up on the final after the DNF log. Was prepared with a replacement cache but happily it wasn't needed as I found the original cache lying in the grass. Have reattached it and it is ready and waiting to be found

Nice evening stroll through freshly cut grass to the Fiel Puzzle location. Quickly solved puzzle then headed to the location of the final. Upon arrival at GZ the GPS was pointing straight at a disused fence post. A previous log stated the cache was half a meter away from GZ so we had quite a good search up to about one meter from the post but no joy. Will add to my watch list and see how future punters get on.

Are you good at solving puzzles????

I’ve been to this place before when it was very wet underfoot.

Today I was looking for an O for a challenge so decided to come back to do this multi. Luckily the ground was pretty dry.

I did feel a bit isolated as there were no people around but of course muggles showed up the minute I found the field puzzle and had started it while sitting on the ground. They really must have wondered what I was doing out there in the back of beyond.

A quick solve and then over to GZ. It did take me a while to find the cache as it was about 50cm from where I thought it should be. After signing I put it back where I thought it should go. It looks like the rubber seal is missing so it might pay to check that.

Thanks for the puzzle and cache and the walk around

Re-made the field puzzle and dried out the original container. The inner container that was adding an extra layer of protection had been removed by someone so I have replaced that too. Ready to be found again

Maintenance has been carried out and the cache is ready to go again. Please replace everything as found and ensure that both containers are securely shut so that the field puzzle remains dry and in good condition for the next finders. Thanks

Nice big area for a walk and explore with the dog, final is in a great spot!

Disabling the cache as the field puzzle has not survived the recent deluges and I need to do some maintenance on this one. Hope to have a replacement organised within the next week or two.

Nice little puzzle but didn’t plan my approach to the final well given recent rain!
Thanks

#2066. Was here yesterday for the Nondescript cache, which I had taken home to dry out. All good to return now, watched by a friendly piwakawaka.

Headed to get the field puzzle for this multi, and then on to GZ for the final. Quite wet underfoot in places, but retrieved the cache ok.

Tftc MamaHoof.

The last of the set for today. I'm sure BFG regretted his offer of Chivalry when he discovered how much heavier the e-bike I was riding was than his! Anyway, he made up for it by spotting the find first. TFTC - good one!

An easy wee field puzzle… though we didn’t find it until after thoroughly investigating a golfball suspiciously hidden under a nearby rock. We took a shortcut to the final, which meant hefting the e-bikes over a stile Quick find of the cache. Thanks for a fun multi MamaHoof, our last of a jolly adventure!

This morning, I took part in the Kapiti parkrun for the first time since the start of last year's lockdown. It provided the ideal opportunity to attempt this cache once I finished. I was surprised to see a game of cricket already on progress; I am sure I never started so early when I played as a child.

Having found a good number of the owner's caches, I was wondering what MamaHoof had in store here. While I think I do okay at puzzles when working on them at home, I was a bit concerned about having to do one in the field. However, I was relieved to see it was well within my capabilities. I soon had the information I needed to locate the final which I did so without any bother.

We enjoyed this little field puzzle, good fun. Found the final and off to our next. The hardest part today is seeing the phone screen in the brilliant sunshine! TFTC

A very nice and easy multi. The field was nice and dry, so didn't get wet feet. Thanks for placing the cache

For some reason I thought my elected parking spot was going to be closer to WP1 than it turned out to be so there was a minor hike just to get to that. Always apprehensive about how much brain power is going to be required for a field puzzle I was pleased to find this was solvable even without "solving" it in the way one assumes would be required. After getting the coords for the final I checked everything was order with the puzzle before returning its cache. Uh oh, there's a piece missing. Found it on the ground after retracing my steps. Perhaps I shouldn't have taken it away from its home but I wanted to get out of the sun so my brain would work.

Off to the final and I estimated where I was headed and made my way over there. But about 50m out the coords were off to my left - not where I thought then. Got very close to GZ and, um, am I sure I got the coords right? Well there is that thing over there. But no. What if I look properly? Now it's there!

A very nicely done 2-step multi. TFTC.

Thought I'd better check up on the cache and field puzzle after all the crazy rain we've had in Kapiti in the last week. Happily they are dry enough and still in place ready for the next finder, although the field is very soggy at the moment so I'd suggest gumboots for this one unless you don't mind wet feet.

Lining up multis for the Multi Streak Challange. Today a glorious spring morning for a saunter around Otaraua Park. Blissfully peaceful, no sports, no errant kids and, best of all, no Canada geese! The field puzzle was a delight, FP for that. Then an easy stroll to GZ for the find. I feeled that this was a good one! Tftc!

The children referred to in TwigNZ's log do not belong to me so thought I'd better check up on the field puzzle to make sure it hadn't been muggled. Pleased to report that everything is well with the field puzzle and ready for the next finder.

What a difference a day makes! Howling winds and thunderstorms yesterday, only to have bright sunshine today. Now that we are back down to level 2, I have been able to get out today in order to find a cache to fulfill my 366 grid. That's right, today was my last dot day and now I've knocked the bugger off!

This is a cache that wasn't placed the last time I was down this neck of the woods, so thought I'd check it out. Arriving at the posted co-ords, I could see 2 children and a small dog hanging around so I waited for them to wander away a bit so I could attempt the field puzzle. With that bit swiftly done, I was soon making my way towards the calculated GZ. Once there the cache was a quick find and I soon signed the log and was on my way again, but glancing back I could see those same kids around where I had been. It made me wonder if they were the CO's kids? As they seemed to not be using a phone, so clearly had prior knowledge of the cache.

Thanks for placing this fun little cache.

Enabling now that we are out of lockdown and at Delta level 2

Disabling all my caches while we are at Alert Level 4, keep safe everybody

Had a bit of property maintenance to do so came up this way for the day and had time to find a few caches as well. Came for a walk this afternoon with Mrs agcnz - found the waypoint easily, made short work of the puzzle and headed off cross-country (fortunately the multitudes of geese kept away from us) to find the cache. Managed to jump across a nearby stream without getting my feet wet and found the cache quickly in the first place checked. Signed log, TFTC!

*Nice find with woolwood9 today.*
We enjoyed the walk around the grounds and a look at the stables.
Soon solved the puzzle and nice easy find at final area.
Thanks for the fun multi. SL **tm/ww NZ**

This was a great find while out biking. Saw over 100 birds on the field. Canadian Geese, Pukeko and Plovers. A nice and different multi for me. Thanks very much for putting this cache together.

(# 6606). Up the coast for the Easter break. Decided to grab a couple of caches while here. Quickly got the final coords then a quick walk got me there. A quick find. Everything in order. Thanks for bringing me here.

I enjoyed my visit to this nicely set up multi this morning. Everything was in great condition.
Thanks very much for the cache. FP added.

When the alert came through for this cache, I was disappointed I couldn't race off to attempt FTF; I had to be somewhere else 10 minutes later. Darn it!

It's an interesting area. Recent land use included a racing thoroughbred horse stud, ‘Woodleigh Stud’ owned by Racehorse breeder Ted Howarth, on the western lower section of the park and a turf farm for production of instant lawn on the upper river terrace. The derelict buildings that you pass on the way to the initial co-ords are the remains of the stables used for the broodmares.

The KCDC tractor was spreading sand over the area when we arrived, and there was one muggle and her dog. Apart from that the field was deserted.

Talla64 grabbed the container, and solved the puzzle. Then off we marched to GZ where it was a quick find.

Thank you MamaHoof for this multi. We enjoyed our walk on a lovely warm day in the sunshine.

Have often walked and ridden through this park, looking forward to seeing it developed into the great facility that the Council plans show.
Easy work finding the first point and solving the puzzle -then made one of my favourite "Geo101" mistakes: not bothering to check whether the minutes coordinates are the same for the final as for WP1. Doh... Having decided that the final was NOT somewhere north of Waikanae, I duly corrected the "next stage" and the final was soon in hand. Thanks MamaHoof, it gets a fave from me.

Flowerydaze and I went to find this puzzle on a lovely warm day, it was a great walk. As we approached the posted coords a large flock of Canada Geese lay directly between us and the cache (and their droppings) buy we picked our way through them until a dog chased them and they all flew away, honking their disgust. So just one dog owner to contend with, who showed no interest in us or what we were up to so the puzzle was solved and the coords led us to the hiding place to sign the log. Thanks for the FP MamaHoof.

Published

#12,285. {FTF} at 09:22 and first day find. A bit of field exploration in Otaihanga, Paraparaumu. Good to be able to walk the place before the Otaraua Park Development Plan is implemented in earnest. It will be exciting to see the multi-purpose sport and recreation facility taking shape in the future. The tractor was in the field spreading something on the grass. A couple of dog walkers were also in the field and the nearby walkway. Otherwise the posted coordinates and final GZ were all quiet at the time of our visit. Quick finds. Good field puzzle. The containers were in excellent condition, all nice and dry inside. Took nothing, left nothing, signed log.

Favorite point added.

Thanks for the field puzzle and multi placements, and for bringing us to these sites, 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.

2nd to field.

I was enjoying a coffee while waiting for the first train to Kapiti I could use my Goldcard on, with plans to do a cache elsewhere in that area, when I fielded my emails to find a notification come out of left field for this one, though I saw it almost an hour after publication. A quick change of plan ensued though still involving the same train.

I knew that the inevitable would probably happen before I got here in view of my delay and slower modes of transport, and sure enough it did when I had not got far from Wellington. I did wonder if the Kapiti locals might have a chance for once, but the reasons for some of them not having a go at FTF have now come to light. They could have had a field day with this one!

I have been in this area before in the course of caching, I won't say any more in order to avoid spoilers.

A quick find at Stage 1, and though I normally struggle with puzzles of this kind this one was simple enough even for me!

A quick find too of the final, fortunately though a mower was working in the field it was far enough away not to cause much of an issue though I did the logging as quickly as possible in case I was observed.

Bkj97 and LBH can't have been too far behind me, would have been nice to catch up but it didn't happen.

Maybe this cache should be in Feilding or in Hadfield Road? j/k it's fine where it is.

TFTC which qualifies me for a new Natural Wonder in the Wonders of the World souvenir series.

Little blue hen decided that coffee at time of publication was a priority and that a walk later in the day would be a pleasant bit of exercise. Happy to let huhugrub nab the ftf and ventured out around noon. Lovely day for a stroll. Had no trouble with locating and completing the field puzzle. Explored the nearby derelict structure on the way back and wondered what the intended purpose had been. Haven't added any field like quips as the CO has certainly flogged that horse already. Will let the hen add a favorite from us both. Tftcsl

Didn't know this area existed. Apart from the guy with four friendly dogs that ranged in size from very large to tiny and a woman running laps of the field we had the place to ourselves. Nice puzzle and accurate final coords completed quite quickly. Favourite added from us. T4tcsl