Hurunui River (Cheviot, Canterbury) Blythe Valley, South Island, New Zealand
By Donovan on 18-Jun-01. Waypoint GCEDB

Sweltering heat, tangled in blackberry, gave in (hate that).
Have since discovered that this cache has been archived. It was to have been the first on a little excursion around Marlborough. Never mind.
Sam & Jan

Here is a photo of the final cache contents that Badger-Ferret took for me. Cheers, Donovan.

Thanks to Badger-Ferret for collecting this cache for me. And thanks for everyones' interest in the it. A cache that had the sad distinction of the most prickles in NZ. Cheers, Donovan.

And they weren't even ready to eat...

This cache is now in the hads of badger-ferret and is ready to be archived as of the 10-1-05

Unless you like blackberry...

Wow this is wild stuff.
Was the blackberry crop as good this year as in previous.
Definately not one of the most beautiful Canterbury sites.
Thanks

Yep, also spilt blood in order to leave something (I forget) in exchange for the worlds ugliest drink coasters.

Fortunately the cliffs and river scenery were well worth the stop - thanks.

This cache has become too difficult for me to maintain from all of the way down here in Dunedin. I no longer take the ferry to Wellington. I fly, it's cheaper and easier. I have arranged to have the cache collected by rediguana sometime within the next few months, and maybe as soon as within two weeks. This is your last chance to find it if you want to. When it has gone, I'll archive it. That will give others a chance to place their own caches in the area. Cheers, Donovan.

Well, I have finally "knocked the bast..d off", to paraphase Sir Edmund Hillary. Drove to within 50m and then launched my final assault with an item of emergency equipment from the 4WD. 3 strikes and I was there, in my shorts, unscathed. + Burger King ball. - ping pong basketball. Thanks Donovan. Boy is it a change to find a container that one can see.

Twas a bit itchy and scratchy this one! Found eventually although I would have to say it is one of the less stunning locations on the Chch to Blenheim drive although always good to have a stroll along a Canterbury River Bank.

found it ok read the logs seams there have been muggles here . had been raining little ferret feet got very wet lol

Ouch, darn blackberry! On reading the log it seems I wasn't the only one to suffer . Picked it up fairly easily once I managed to get through the prickles.
Took glider left coasters.

Another caching trip with Varuna from Perth while she is here on Holyday, we went dashing up to Moneydorks Waiau River Rest and then decided to hit this one on the way home. A quick trip through to Eglington from Culverden and then out to the main road. Fortunately I hadn't had time to read the directions so I just drove around until I was as close to the cache as I could get which was on the river bed. We all then spent some time thrashing through the long grass towards the cache.
I don't know what everyone is moaning about the prickles for..there is an easy path right through to the cache now.
I was wearing shorts and sandels and I have only 2 X 4 inch gashes on my leg... chicken feed to us dedicated cachers I would have thought. Ciotach was much better dressed for the conditions and got away with only one slashed wrist, Varuna came after us and I beleive she is unscathed...
An easy find once we got in there anyway. Thanks Donovan.
+ Party Whistle from Kaniere.
- Little GlaSS Duck.

Accompanied with Sp00k and Ciotach to this cache. Waded through the tall grass and the pricked shrubs without any problem if you know how to prevent it . Searched together and as usual it was Sp00k who found it first. Coordinate was 10m away from the spot. Kids would love this place as a fortress to play. Took a Red Bear and left a silver coin. Thanks for fun!

On the way back from the Marlborough Sound (Elaine Bay) with Dalmore. Called in for a wee break and some blackberry bashing. Cache was found by our grandson Mathew(18), young eagle eyes.
- Yamaha belt buckle
+ 2 dinosaus
+ Japanese lucky foot charm
+ Heart charm

Removed the tin of Wu Chung vege Mock Abalone as it ws 2 years passed its expiry date....

Thanks Donovan

Refreshing rest stop on a trip back from a kayaking holiday in the sounds, travelling with Mardonasaurus. After evading the grasping lawyer tendrils, the find was straightforward (given Mathew's sharp eyes). Several 4wds went past up the river, presumeably fisher persons.
Thanks Donovan. Rod M
- toothpicks
+red teddy bear (selected by Qiong Qiong) plus paradise duck

GPS took us straight there from the riverbed but we could see that the blackberries could be rather nasty if they turned 'vicious'!
+magnifying glass, - combination lock

Always knew that this cache could be a mission. Only stopped at the rest area on the way home because I was in dire need of a caffiene fix before I became a road statistic. Once drugged up I thought I would just go for a stroll in my t-shirt, shorts and jandals to see what the difficulty was with this cache. I got to 10m, with a 4m EPE from GZ and Mmmm, yes the blood does come out. Attempting this cache, hidden by rampant spring growth cache defenders, is not something that one should do in light clothing unless you have an ambulance with full life support facilities standing by. This cache's terrain difficulty should be upped to a 5 as serious weed wacking equipment is needed to beat through the spring defences. Might try again, if I pass by next winter - I'm sure to be wearing more suitable clothing then - and I have remembered to bring the slasher, and all the other weed wacking equipment.

Stout boots, thick jeans and read the hint, hardly a drop of blood spilt.


+ Yamaha Brass Belt Buckle
- Knuckle Bones

While using the clues and 30 minutes of searching found the cache. Gained alot of scratches from the blackberry bushes and suffered some blood loss (didn't cry but it was close). Not one of my favourites but oh well it will be remembered. Am wondering if Donovan has shares in a band aid factory.
Cheers Darryn

- Orange rubber ball
+ Combination chain bike lock

This is definately not a cache for the faint-hearted. After a bit of searching for an easy way in, we just went for it!!
The scars should be healed up in a couple of weeks[B)][B)][B)]

Gratitude to Donovan Govan

Mumble mumble, grumble grumble....... I walked all the way around this one looking for a way in but no luck. Got within 20m on soooo many occasions but was met by walls of gorse and blackberry-type bushes or steep banks dropping into dense bushes. Not good when wearing shorts & t-shirt, got cut up as it was [B)]. Really wish I'd been more prepared (like reading logs in the non print friendly version) - body armour and a weed whacker with saw blade/chainsaw ..... That ought to do it.

[last edit: 11/17/2002 3:09:23 PM PST]

We just couldn't drive past this one - it was pouring down when we got there, but we decided to give it a crack. With raincoats on again, we followed to instructions to try and get there the easiest way. Geeze - what a mission. BLOODY PRICKLES! I managed to eventually break through the prickle-barrier and find the hidden area Nick was talking about (Vida stayed at the prickle-border) By the time I got to the cache it was hosing down, on my first attempt to write in the book, the pen faded out as the page got wet, so I literally scribbled a note on the next dry page! A word of warning for future geocachers - take a slasher or secetures or something!
We got drenched, cut-up, frustrated and muddy - but we loved every minute of it!
Thanks Donnovan,
Tim and Vida

[last edit: 9/29/2002 2:10:48 AM PST]

Stopped in on our way to Christchurch. Like everyone else we had a bit of fun getting to cache. We managed to find an easier way out.
Took the chopsticks and left a bouncing ball. The cliffs over the river are great.

I would have to disagree with Gav - it is as bad has he makes it sound! After working out that trying to pass through the blackberries was a stupid idea, I managed to get my feet tangled with a weird vine, and I fell flat on my face, thankfully the ground broke my fall [B)] I thought I should try a different tack, and decrypted the clue, at first I did not know that Donovan was talking about, but quickly worked it out. Once I got in behind the prickles a surreal landscape greeted me - it really looked like somewhere that would be used for dumping dead bodies. I quickly found the cache, then high tailed it out of there, as my imagination started running away on me - that will teach me to go caching on my own!
- bag of marbles, + knucklebones + unhappy face magnet + ladybird + 4xAA rechargeable batteries from tgsnoopy (contact him for charging instructions)
Cheers
Nick.

[last edit: 5/18/2002 9:58:41 PM PST]

Oh my jollies - I was just looking at the photos and the location - Vida and I went swimming at this place just last month - about a week before I got my GPS! If only I'd known there was a geocache in the bushes ...

Yeah, it's one of those caches where the direct route is more painful than approaching from behind. Regards, Donovan.

Well, the terrain wasn't that variable - everything had prickles! LOL! Twas a bit of a mission to get to the general area of the cache, not to mention getting back out. Once in the general vicinity my GPS died, but I had seen it reading 0m and 10m so I was pretty close. About 10 minutes of hunting around the trees and found it nesting No exchange made, I was just happy to get in and out without losing too much blood hehe - its not as bad as I make it sound Cheers Gav [/FTF]

[This entry was edited by rediguana on Tuesday, January 29, 2008 at 3:14:26 AM.]

I have just added some photos to this stash report. Cheers, Donovan.