Rangitoto Summit Virtual Reward 4.0 Waiheke, North Island, New Zealand
By gernita on 14-Apr-24. Waypoint GCAJG2J

What a beautiful spot!

Long kayak ride and hike to the top, but it was worth it. Thanks for having a virtual cache to "find" at the top!

Walk around the crater twice waiting for the rain to clear!!

We raced up to the summit today! Enjoyed a light snack and drink while reading the information boards inside the barracks. Tftvc!

Excuse the awful photo, the concentration face was real trying to ignore the auckland aces tales of conquests

With rustynz, supernannny and gorby climbing Rangitoto to celebrate gorby finding "12,000" caches Perfect day for a leisurely walk, with a couple of stops along the way to explore the island and find a few caches tooThis was our lunch stop, yum hot chocolate and egg sandwiches!Answers have been sent to the CO, thanks for the hide

A plan was made to climb Rangitoto with a group to help celebrate gorby finding 12,000 caches So here we are: rustynz, littleblackbird1, supernannny and gorby excitedly waiting to catch the ferry.Its been two years I think since I was last here, so am looking forward to the climb (lost count how many times, but all great memories).It is a calm winters day, the ferry is full, and we are tucked inside warm and sheltered from the icy cold winds outside.With a quick stop at Devonport, I can see alongside the wharf is the tug boat the Daldy, engines hot, with smoke and steam pouring out of its funnel, looks like they are planning a cruise around the harbour too!At last we at the Island, the swimming pool filling with water, not high tide yet, but perhaps a little cold for a full dip, but someone might be keen for a winter swim? Its a leisurely walk up, and we have a couple of diversions for cache finds, cache maintenance, and a caving adventure It is about 12.45pm when we get to the top, lunch time. We sit in the sun, and I am happy to see my pack becoming lighter as the food and drink is taken, we were quite hungry by this stage, yummy egg sandwiches and banana cake (plus lots of other treats too!)So its time to collect the required information to log this virtual cache. We are hopeful we have everything, and a note has been sent to the CO. Pictures taken, its time to make our way down, going the slightly longer way by walking around the perimeter.Well done gorby, congratulations on reaching this milestone, you have worked hard to get here, created some great memories and had some cool adventures too. Thanks for inviting us along, we were so lucky with the weather, and we timed it beautifully, with us catching the 4.00pm ferry back to the city.Thanks for creating this virtual hide, loved the walk and adventure on Rangitoto, shared with fellow cachers today

### Gorby's 12,000th milestone cache ### My **12000th** milestone was coming up quite fast, but where would it land this time? It's been my custom for it to land on some mountain of sorts. My first choice was going to be in the USA somewhere, but I had to pull out of that trip, and my 2nd choice was not happening for another 3 months, so I thought local. Although I have been to the top of Mnt Rangitoto (Rangitoto mnt?) many times, I hadn't thought of making it a milestone cache! So I made a plan to do so, so a week a go or so, I mentioned to rustynz and supernanny if they wanted to come, I posted a Facebook note, to see if there might be some keen for a good workout. At the time during the week, the weather report didn't look good, but it turned out to be an excellent day! The weather couldn't have been nicer. So on the day it was myself, rustynz, LittleBlackbird1 and supernannny who showed up at the Fuller's ferry departing wharf around 9am. We departed at 9:20am, and once at the island, we looked at a bach where we could possibly stay one day, then we started the walk proper. After doing cache maintenance at rusty's cache and then on 2 of my caches along the way up, and a obligatory visit to the lava caves, we were up at the trig at 12:50pm. Whew, that was hard work for me! We took a seat along with many others. So we had some necessary lunch, food and drink, rusty brought along some banana cake she made for the occasion, supernannny brought along some of my fav biscuits while enjoying the warm sun. Then when well fed and watered we went into the bunker, found some info we needed for this virtual, there was some confusion as to exactly what we were looking for, but we sent what we had to the C.O later and got an OK. Then we walked around the perimeter of the rim crater, getting more fotos and wot not. Eventually we had to head back down, got back around 3:53pm and shortly after another feed, the ferry arrived and we were off! So thanks very much first to rustynz, supernannny and LittleBlackbird1 for coming along today, I know it was a good workout, and I for one will have sore legs tomorrow! Thanks gernita for your virtual and putting it up the top of Rangitoto, excellent location and a FP from me for the adventure today and the cache.

Out for the day with Gorby , rustynz, and her grandson; Little ( not so little any more) Blackbird1 .Gorby had made a plan to mark his 12000th milestone up at the newish virtual on this Summit!We also made this our lunch stop!( By the way...I can't believe Ark ran up here in 35 minutes!!!!! )Thanks, gernita, for getting a virtual award, and choosing to place it here!Favourite Point!Answers sent in....hope they all good .

On a Duke Of Edinburgh trip overnight staying on Motatapu island overnight then making the commute to the top of the summit. Before we will eventually make the walk down to the Ferry to return to the city.TFTV

So - geo twin was travelling from the UK to NZ for the World Choir Games 2024. So Obviously the caching lay of the land had to be checked out whilst he was present so many miles away. Upon checking, SHOCK, amazement - whoop, whoop - there was virtual cache at the very place they that they had a visit to - THIS ONE. Also a few more easy grabs for him whilst there - fingers crossedAny opportunity to good to miss - MESSAGE sent to boy - get pics, answer and get process admin. Check out the rainbow pic they got to. Answers sent to CO for verification. Many thanks for setting and maintaining this cache.And as a footnote..... they came away with 2 Gold Medals.Thanks for having us and making the choir and the you chap so welcome in New Zealand.Trip of a lifetime.

Answers sent to CO. We went to Rangitoto on a perfect day, but the bridge was closed so we couldn't do all the caches that we wanted. Oh well, we will have to go back! Photo from GZ. Didn't realize we were supposed to be in it, but as we were with the CO, I'm sure they know we were there!!

FTF at 10:39Answers sent Full log to follow...Yay! Full story :I had it on my watch list from Sunday ... The only chance to go for me was ... Wednesday ... So here I am! Another great opportunity to claim {FTF} on a Virtual! I remember going to Rangitoto for NZD 35 before the pandemic ...... Today is a "little" bit different but yesterday I`ve got unexpected extra hours at work so here I am again!Arrived on Rangi by 9:30 ferry from Downtown via Devonport ... There were quite a few people on the boat ...I was watching everyone to see if I had any competition... How surprised I was when, after disembarking, one man moved forward fast towards the peak... Had he noticed my geocaching patch on my backpack?I followed him sharply, hoping that maybe on the way to the top, I would be able to overtake him... suddenly the man turned left off the trail... UFF... it didn't matter where he was going, as long as it wasn't up!They wrote on the signs that it was 60 minutes to the top... I did it in 35!After reaching the summit, I collected the information needed to log, took the required photo and sent the answers to the CO!I went back to Auckland by 12:45 ferry via Devonport. Congratulations for being awarded 4.0 virtual, Thanks for setting it up in Auckland!And I'm glad to claim second FTF on COs virtual! (first : Hunua Falls Virtual Reward 3.0 (GC9P5CD))

Good job Ark getting ftf, on this virtual, enjoyed seeing your photos and story! Congrats gernita on your virtual!! I must return to good ol' Rangi and do some maintenance on my FP cache and head up further to this virtual!

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