Leap Day 2024 Hillcrest, North Island, New Zealand
By KayGeeDee on 29-Feb-24. Waypoint GCAK2GQ

Fun little find while out walking.

Easy as. Clever thing to hide it in

Beautiful walk

rock (TFTC)

One more for Karine, thanks for the cache-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --French version below-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --Short late log but more complete now that we are back home.Our vacation will take us to the other side of the world to the land of the Maoris. After many, many hours of flying, a passage through China on the way there and through the United States of America on the way back, we will finally arrive in Christchurch which will be the starting point of our journey.We will enjoy the beaches of the Pacific Ocean and we will go back towards the North Island via State Highway 1. To combine business with pleasure, we will take regular breaks and small detours according to the caches that seem the most accessible to us.With a little more than 3500 km in 20 days, we will have discovered many facets of this island which is soothing. We will have to come back because there are so many places that we have not done . In broad strokes, the path will go from Christchurch to the Kaikoura Peninsula then towards Picton for the crossing to Wellington.New island, new road, and by State Highway 2 we go towards Hastings and Napier. We will leave the seaside for several days to go to Tongariro and Taupo. We will continue north towards Rotorua and Hamilton (without forgetting a detour via Hobbiton ) A detour to the Coromandel Peninsula and finally the almost north of the island with Whangarei and Waitangi to learn the history of this country.There will only be a few days left to spend towards Auckland and its suburbs before taking the plane back to the grayness of our European autumn.The majority of the boxes will be found, we have abandoned those where our English was lacking and where we could not understand the clue. Thanks to all the owners who brightened up our path, who took us to incredible places (that's also geocaching)In short, we had a great vacation, saw beautiful places that simply ask us to come back. We learned a lot about the history of this country and its traditions, it's a great motivation for our destinations.-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --Petit log en retard mais un peu plus complet maintenant que nous sommes rentrs la maison. Nos vacances vont nous emmener lautre bout du monde au pays des Maoris. Aprs beaucoup, beaucoup dheures davion, un passage par la Chine laller et par les Etats-Unis dAmrique au retour, nous arriverons enfin Christchurch qui sera le point de dpart de notre priple.Nous profiterons des plages du de locan Pacifique et nous remonterons en direction de lile du nord via la State highway 1. Pour joindre lutile et lagrable, nous ferons des pauses rgulires et de petits dtours au gr des caches qui nous semble les plus accessibles. Avec un peu plus de 3500 km en 20 jours, nous aurons dcouverts pleins de facettes de cette ile qui est apaisante. Il nous faudra revenir car il y a tellement dendroit que nous navons pas fait . Dans les grand traits, le chemin ira de Christchurch la pninsule Kaikoura puis direction Picton pour la traverse vers Wellington.Nouvelle ile, nouvelle route, et par la State Highway 2 nous remontrons en direction de Hastings et Napier. Nous laisserons le bord de mer plusieurs jours pour aller au Tongariro et Taupo. Nous continuerons vers le nord en direction de Rotorua et Hamilton (sans oublier un dtour par Hobbiton ). Un crochet pour la pninsule de Coromandel et pour finir le presque nord de lile avec Whangarei et Waitangi pour apprendre lhistoire de ce pays. Il ne restera que quelques jours passer vers Auckland et sa banlieue avant de ne reprendre lavion pour retourner dans la grisaille de notre automne europen.La majorit des boites seront trouves, nous avons dlaisser celles o notre anglais faisait dfaut et ou que nous narrivions pas comprendre lindice. Merci tous les poseurs qui ont gay notre chemin, qui nous ont emmen dans des endroits incroyables (cest aussi cela le geocaching)Bref, nous avons pass de superbes vacances, vu des endroits magnifiques qui demandent simplement que lon revienne. Nous avons appris beaucoup de chose sur lhistoire de ce pays et de ces traditions, cest une grande motivation pour nos destinations.

After a long day at work learning coding I really needed some fresh air, so a caching I did go. just as I was preparing to horse bash.TFTC

was checking out the new bridge they built right next to this so thought id stop by and grab this. thanks!

I was heading down to Taupo to take part in the Taupo Ultramarathon, running 24km from Kinloch to Waihopai Bay on the W2K mountain bike trails. I left a couple of days earlier for some geocaching while I was in the area.I was on my way back to Auckland after my run when I decided to venture out and check out the new walkway and bridge that had opened up. I parked in the nearby carpark and followed the loop around. Had to wait for a family of muggles with young children to pass by before I could leave the path and find this cache.

Really nice to walk across the bridge and view the road from above. Great little concealment. TFTC

Dropped in to visit the gardens on a day trip to Hamilton, great view of the fab cycleway the locals have TFTC.

Out for a walk with the kidsWas one nearby so decided to let them have a huntQuickly found signed and returnedTFTC

Thanks for my first find!

Nice cache. 13yr old found based on photo while the rest of us were searching in the wrong place 20m away :p

Great little cache to find - a favourite for me for its easy access and camo. TFTC

Cool spot. Thanks

Nice to find new ones

Thanks. Signed as KTNZ. Fav point

meet up with fellow cachers at event near here this morning.Squirrel Nutcase and myself had this cache on our to do list today.even with lots of people around we were able safely to find this good camoed cache hide.TFTC

With Gap (of Fap and Gap) sort of Our third weekend in the Waikato! If this continues, we might have to look at buying propertyThe beauty of attending the nearby event was having this hide on our radars. Even with the crowds milling around, this was such a good cache to tick off. The great camouflage blends in nicely, and we took a couple of photos from the high vantage point, as did others. Thanks KGD. TFTC.

Attending the event, it would be rude not to grab the trad. After walking the road bridge, swung around to the footbridge and stepped off the path. Quick find but very effective camouflage. On the way over the bridge, listened to the Aeolian sound effects. I wonder if it was by design or a happy accident? TFTC.

Came to here and finded this after finding the other one. There was a tent here but no confrontation ensued. Thank you.

Tftc

What a fabulous camo- very quickly found , signed and we were back on the bikes. TFTC

Found with Cympull. Beautiful day, lovely walk from our car and no muggles. Lovely view of new bridge and surroundings. TFC

Thanks for your amazing cache KayDeeGee. I really appreciate the time you took to set up and maintain your caches. Found with Fisha1288 and signed C & F. Nice walk now the fog has cleared and not raining yet... I let the duck out for a breather and now returned. Earns a Favourite from me. Cheers, Cympull.

We are back in New Zealand to have the holiday we should have had 4 years ago, Covid-19 put an abrupt end to that holiday.Today is our last visit to Hamilton Gardens as we fly back to the UK on Saturday morning.Greetings from the UK.Arrived at GZ and started our search. It did not take long to find the custom made cache.Log signed and cache replaced as found.Thanks to KayGeeDee for placing.Find 2 of 5Total finds 3782

Parked a way away, so it was a good walk and I got to check out the progress on the new bridge from a different vantage point. Cache was quickly located and then took the scenic route back through some of the gardens. A great spot for a cache. TFTC

Found while out biking...TFTC

Awesome spot! Even found in the dark! TFTC

#765. I have not walked this way for some time due to ill-health, but was back out and about today and found this just about exactly where I thought it might be.It's a great walking area. Going to get better when the new bridge, overpass, and walkways are open. That's looking like it might be soon.All in order - TFTH

We thought it was blocked off

**21,112**After Mr Geckoh had managed to locate some interesting parking, it was a short walk back to the GZ. Whilst waiting out a passing dog walker he took a few photos of the progress. Cache was nice quick find, although well constructed, which blended in well. TFTC

Good hiding spot. Thank you

Thank you!

In the area finding unfounded caches. Hardest part was finding the route to get here. Tftc

Cool

Nice spot

Fun find

A short walk in for me, before a nearby appointment. Soon found. I had a look over the edge and decided this was not a leap day .TFTC

THTC the bridge looks great!

Great view of the new construction, cool stop on our way through, TFTC!

Beautiful view! TFTC.

Great little camo and a quick find.TFTC

Waited till morning traffic gone and then off to get this tftc. I had met the cache owner at a cache this morning and he gave me grief about not getting this one so here I am.

Out got a morning bike ride in the lovely autumn sun. My first time riding this way so stopping here gave me an opportunity to take a look at the massive construction works nearby (and in time the new geocaching canvas for hides). A quick find here and a nose at a nearby bat monitoring device. Thanks KayGeeDee#5124Logged using Cachly.

tftc also looks like there is a bat sound detector i initially thought was the cache for a second

Found

View from the cache...

Thanks for the joint (FTF) after the event, neat placement,

A neat surprise group bonus [FTF] while attending the leap year event, thanks for the fun cache KGD

Very cool surprise in the way you carried out this Cache Placement KayGeeDee.Great to see everyone and have a chat....Was fun getting a group { FTF } too.Interesting to see the progress on the bridge....Have a favourite point....Now heading home to fight the traffic and crazy detours....Hope to be home before midnight!!!!!

got to the nearby event a bit early but so did the CO, had a heads up on how he was going to place this cache, when everyone headed to where they thought it would be a couple of us just stayed behind, after the CO went and placed the official cache and returned we heard about some of his new names, thanks for the extra bit of fun KGD, adding a fav point for the fun involved, joint {FTF} with the rest of the group, tftc

After attending the event and a small diversion for dinner, we returned and found this

After a great gathering at the near by 'leap day' event, and fueled up on chocolates supplied by the CO, we went for a wander to find this new cache. The cache container was a quick find, but upon opening it, we found a cheeky note from the CO instead - apparently that 'object ' he'd mischievously been playing with throughout the event was the actual cache, and we had to go back to the table to sign it. However, while we we're discussing some colorful and expressive additions to his name, he appeared with the true prize in his hand and a big grin on his face. Yes, we were played, but he did supply chocolates, and I'm easily bought, so I'll let him offThe log was signed as team 'leap day' and we were given a joint (FTF), which was very much appreciated. The area has changed so much since I lived here over 30 yrs ago. There are some awesome views from just above GZ

Great idea. A team FTF. Thank you.

[FTF] joint 6.37 more to follow

Published

Our first Leap Day CacheA team [FTF] this one was a bit different A KGD but a great hide And a favorite from as thanks for the night