KA 949 (Volcanic Plateau) Tangiwai, North Island, New Zealand
By Squeekybobo on 12-Oct-03. Waypoint GCH1XE

12:50 Dropped by to see the post lahar destruction. Power is just amazing. Loos gone somewhere and the old bridge foundations exposed. No wonder I was feeling nervous when I logged the LTF (Last To Find)... The lahar just went up and over a 4-6 metre high bank and swept over the carpark, which surprisingly enough (not) had been locked prior to the lahar.

So can I change my log to a 'Last To Find' - LTF? Perhaps we need a new category...

Stopped by today. We were itching to grab a spade and start digging but don't like our chances of a Find! We tried to pinpoint GZ but it may have collapsed into the river. Strange, the toilet block disappeared but the picnic table and display panel next to it are still standing.
A devastating scene and yet an awesome sight, but a feeling of sadness when we realize this is exactly what happened to the real KA 949.

Did not find. Had been wiped out by recent flood.

We can be thankful that this is one brave adventure that Piglet wasn't involved in...dear little Piglet was not in the cache! We found him missing ages ago.

Wow, that toilet block made an impressive departure as the Lahar swept through.

19th.Mar. P.S. And guess what.....Piglet has suddenly appeared out of nowhere, in a cache up North, what a coincidence! [?]

[This entry was edited by Punga and Paua on Tuesday, March 20, 2007 at 1:55:08 AM.]

Yep - I don't think it would have survived an event like this (although thankfully the memorial did).

We watched this cache being "muggled" by the lahar on the news tonight ;-(

15:40 I spent a lot of time reading and reflecting on this cache... Then jumped every time I heard a roaring noise (generally a truck on the road bridge - LOL).

Bided my time until some muggles had departed then faced the bushes... Felt a few raindrops (weird, as blue sky over yonder mountain), turned around and was instantly soaked in a torrential downpour! Tried to wait it out, but eventually just jumped into the bushes and strove to ignore the drowning feeling... Used the handy (and clean) toilet blocks as shelter to dry my hands - by rubbing on the walls - and write up the log.

Replaced the notebook bag as it was ripped. But the cache bag is also ripped and consequently not waterproof.

Did a strip tease for passing motorists at the back of my vehicle - uplifting tailgates are great aren't they? - with a fortuitous change of clothes and carried on to Wellington. It was blue sky and 28° in Waiouru... Go figure.

TNLNSL - Thanks for the reflections on this National Tragedy and the knowledge that another lahar is potentially 'just around the corner'.

Out and about turning the Waitangi Day holiday into a super long weekend, the Turtle embarks on a ‘cachexpedition’ in the Central North. Accompanied of course by team cacher Sweet P.

With a 'war' happening at the nearby Army Museum, this cache became the next on out travels.

Enjoyed the site and the history, something that I have grown up with!

TFTC & SL

- fridge magnet
+ atomic man

PS - didn't note the presence of a TB as shown on the inventory.

The Turtle strikes again!

Found this easily. Thanks for interesting cache enjoyed it. PS. No travel bug there. Cheers Carla

Before Xmas we reported there is NO Travel bug in this cache. We checked in and Piglet was not there and no Log entry recording his departure. Would the cache owner please report it missing.

Very happy to return here with the family and have them see it, my son was absolutely fascinated. Very sad event and a well done memorial IMO.

Took a wee bit of looking interrupted by the comings and goings of muggles. No swaps, log signed. Thanks for putting a cache here.

A distinct sulphur smell today. Not a nice place when a lahar comes down the river.
Bit of a search around; took Gandalf's advice and thought like a geocacher.
Thanks for the cache!

I eventually came back here 2 years after a DNF when I was a shiny new geocacher - this time it was an easy find (think loike a geocacher). No swaps, thanks and cheers from Grandalf(713)

Passing by, cache was hidden well, got attacked by cutty grass. No sign of the Tb, where has dear little Piglet gone?

Lost of muggles here but we were able to avoid arousing suspicion....
TFTC

Dropped off the Piglet TB. Heading South.

Had to wait about 10 minutes for camper van muggles to vacate the area. Nice quick find once they did.
I can remember learning about this disaster in school.

11:20 - 3rd on our trip to Hamilton. Nice spot that we've never been to before today - very interesting history. Had to wait a little while for a couple of muggles to depart and then found it nice an easy. Left Robot Eraser, Took Dinosaur. TFTC!

13th find of 23 for our 'round the mountains' caching day.

A nice quick find at a very interesting place.

TFTC!

Nice historical spot, but far too much information to take in on one visit.
TFTC, TNLNSL

Interesting place, nice memorial. Even early in the morning in the rain, some muggles were around this place. But they too moved on soon. Like me

nice location, always stop in there when we are traveling.
had to go back to the location as a muggle decided to take a nap in their car rite in front on the hiding spot.

so when we went back to find it, found it after a little while then another muggle decided to turn up and walk around the location so we couldnt put it back lol. so after a while he decided to leave so we flu in and put it back so we didnt get caught up wif another muggle

TNLN

a good find, but watch out for the muggles

Neat cache, was a little exposed but couldnt shove it back any further. Nice memorial, thanks for showing it to us.

An Quick find, My Wife's uncle was killed here so the site had siginfitants.

In: polished stone
Out: Key ring

What a lot of muggles! Arrived and noticed some tourists already there so thought we would lay low until they left but no, the tourists just kept on coming! So we thought 'Stuff it' and did a four-point reference and quickly found it.
TNLNSL

Cheers,
Blarghster

Kina found this cache in ten seconds flat!! It was rather exposed... but the GPS pointed him in the right direction. I was in the little building closeby at the time, so Kina was very pleased with himself that his new toy had let him discover the container in double quick time. Reading the log book we discovered that another geocacher had been there a short time before us. We took time to ponder over the history of the disasterous train smash many years ago, read the sombre words on the Monument overlooking the area. and dabbled our already sodden shoes in the freezing river. TNLN

First of all we found the zip bag on the track, thought uh oh, whats this? Then spotted the lid, then found the container under flax but visible. Cut myself on cuttygrass getting to it. Everything in container appeared intact but a little wet inside. Has it been muggled and not put back properly?
Signed log, Took dartboard and left mini spoon.
Carefully sealed it all back together and put back in right place.

Very grey sky over monument with stunning piece of rainbow peeping through.

*We were here many years ago at a Xmas Eve Memorial Sevice by candlelight. As the minister was describing the Tangiwai tragedy, an extremely bright star shot right across the sky above us. We all gasped at it, but the only one who didnt see it was the minister as he had his back to it. It was a very moving moment.

Early one morning, in the mountain mist, we came, we sought, we found!
The mist made the volcanic sulphur smell quite high today, but we ventured out and soon forgot that odour. Great size cache, great spot. In - mini dart board, Out - min blue boat whistle.

Took a wee while to find but got it eventually. Unfortunatly a pen had leaked inside the bag and got on a few things. We cleaned them up best we could and only a few things were stained - log book was fine.
-leaking blue pen
+clean plastic bag

Thanks

On vacation from Finland. Found the cache quickly. Impressive place - I'm very glad we stopped here, thanks to this cache. Took TB Puff the Frog.

Travelling from Hamilton to Wellington today, ultimately to Cromwell. Had lunch and coffee while waiting for muggles to clear off. No exchanges.

it took a while to find it but we got it in the end. it was a fun trip. we left puff the frog there (the bug)

Today seamed the right day for this one ... called in on my way back from a lahar exercise in Ohakune. NTNL

11am - Took quite a while to find this one, boyracers trying very hard to do wheelies in their parents BMW!! Took my time, looking very innocent until they left and made mad dash for the cache! Thanks!
In - Pen
Out - Hairclip

We detoured here from the Desert Road and were surprised to find carloads of muggles in occupation. We had a refreshment break by which time most had left and fossicked for a minute or two before finding it and then had to crouch in the bushes until one persistent muggle moved on.

I seem to remember visiting the spot as a child many moons ago. but I don't recall the current, impressive, setup.
TNLNSL
TFTC

Always wanted to stop here but always in rush to get to the mountain. Freezing. No swaps. Easy find. Thanks.

Have read a lot about this disaster. Many thanks for bringing us here. NINO but added new plastic bags.

Found today during our tour round the mountains. Sad but interesting history. took and left nothing. Thanks for the cache. Andrew and Maryan.

4.30pm Late on a wet bleak afternoon we found it and recalled the details of the train disaster. Showed the scene to TB The Fat Controller. Interestingly we saw the history of the Tangiwai disaster on the TV later the same day on Marcus Lush's "Off the Rails" programme.
+ cat fridge magnet
- pack of tissues
M&P.

It was raining when we stopped for this one. Found without difficulty.
Took teddy bear and sinkers, left Ska cassette
Thanks
Conton

easy find,,, had to do the tourist pic's thing,, until the muggles that we had encountered at the last hurdle wandered off,,

took, magic thumb hand cuffs,, lol think these might come in handy for using on genius junior,, now all i need is a gag..

left fruit fridge magnets,, naturally adventurous label

First find for the day and easy one at that
- cowboy hat
+ dinosaur

Found it! Our second attempt at this one, an easy find this time (helps to have the right datum set!!).
Day was cloudy but mild with few people about. The road bridge work is complete it seems and access as usual again.

Out: Aussie coin and NZ penny.
In: pkt tissues, red and green pegs, ball inflation needle.

Thankyou!

Looking up at the mountain the whole disaster seems a lot closer particularly now they are talking about another Lahar coming down at any time. I see that the bridge strengthening is complete and there are automatic gates to block the main highway in the event of another Lahar.
Many thanks
Out: Wonder woman, In: sorry, can't remember - might have been thumb locks?

A lot of Flax bushes to look under but eventually found the right one.
The raising of the road bridge is nearly finished so should survive the expected lahar but I think the cache will be lost forever so have saved the life of TB "Recon Ron". Left a 1964 NZ penny coin.

Beautiful hot day, watched a bit of the construction going on with the bridge. Kind of had to cos there were lots of muggles around and there were a few flax bushes to investigate. Left Aussie 50c coin Took Expanding Dolphin

Only a short hunt this time, we should have paid more attention to the clues the first time we tried. Out toy car In dolphin and Recon Ron TB who should like being close to the army training area

My GPS had loads of satellites visible and aimed straight for one of the species mentioned in the Hint showing accuracy of 5 metres - but no cache in sight. Are you sure its still there? - or did Squeekybobo mistakenly Hint one of the others species abundant in the area??

Easy find in the rain, No mountain to see,

Found at 9:45am, on our way to Palmerston Nth and a visit to the NZ Jamboree at Fielding. A wet day, interesting historical spot.
T - 100000 Vietnam Dong
L - Christmas Bonbon toy

Thanks SqueekyBoBo
Cheers 'scargoes / PFMM (Aussies)

Found and in good condition.
Took Carabiner
Left 100000 veitnam dong

Yay our first one! Took 5 of us about 20 mins to find as we didn't really know what we were looking for. Should have trusted the GPS more.
Roadworks made it interesting getting to the site. Took out TB James Tiberius and put in a Karabiner.

#82. Thanks Squeekybobo - I have heard many tales of the Tangiwai disaster so it was nice to have a cache there to get me to visit the memorial. The reconstruction of the road bridge made access a little challenging but once there the cache was found easily.
Took nothing.
Left James Tiberius Kirk Travel Bug.

Ella & Ty

Fourth find for the day. On the way to Waiouru for a 4x4 safari so had to grab this while passing. TNLN logged visit. Impressive amount of work to raise the bridge, and all the early warning gates etc. Some one must have taken notice about the possibility of another Lahar happening. The noticed board here is realy worth reading

Found no problems. Road works impressive.
Thanks for bringing me here, driven past heaps of times, but never stopped. Hard to believe, as the mountain is a long way away.
+Fishing sinkers
-Keyring thing
(Cache VERY full).
Thanks, Rolly.

Found cache after muggles went.
- nil
+ Taihape ball point pen
Logged as "Candykids"

28/09/2004 c.13:00hours (#075)
Found by The ELTHAM Mob. Took a while to get a muggle free time slot, then picked up and took to the van for the exchange. Interesting story, thanks for the cache or I would have driven past without knowing.

T: Lipsticks
L: Koala clipon

Maintenance run. Cache still there and in good condition. Removed congealed listerine strips and added a few extra trading goodies. Edited the clue (the weather/people have made the clue a little ambiguous). Nice to see they have done up the information board. Was amazed at the extent of the roadworks on the bridge to protect it from lahars (it's amazing what $4.1 million will buy)

Headed out to this one on a rainy day, no good for skiing - took a while to find it, but was a nice interesting site. Was a good history lesson for he kids

We failed to find it - searched for a very long time, and very thoroughly (we thought!). It was 9pm and dark though....

An early start to the day, but had to wait a while for muggles to go!

The cache is in good order.
There is still hge roadworks happening at the bridge but you can still drive there ok
Overcast day

- Digital Watch clip
+ Glow in the dark smiley face

Tried to visit on our travels through NZ but found the road works to awkward, and the construction plant and mud to intimidating for our large camper van. Nice location though - or will be once the bridge works have completed !!!

Please note if the lahar alarms are going on the road gates, please treat this as a terrain 5+

Dropped in with my family on our way South. I actually almost couldn't find it again this time, even though I had found it (eventually) earlier this year!

Youngest son ("Crunchie") removed the laser pointer, and added mini vortex plus "sucker ball". Its a bit of mess around the area at the moment as they are raising the road bridge a couple of metres, apparently in order to increase the probability that the expected lahar won't cause problems.

Lets hope the cache survives!

A very easy one to find, the gps pointed it out and in my mind it was obvious where it lay.....

Great spot with sad history.

swapped nil

Thanks
Gary

Found this is about 10 minutes, although I must admit I looked more than once in that location before actually finding it. Bitterly cold wind and failing light at about 4.45pm. Took & Left Nothing (but a log entry), Thanks

Spent the usual hour or so searching a couple of months ago with no luck. With a vague clue from evilC, I found it surprisingly quickly - just lucky really.
+ carabina watch
- Monopoly CD
Thanks, M@

Finally couldn't stand the "pressure" of this one, my nearest unfound cache, any longer, and so decided to make the one hour drive (each way) today. Had read the previous logs and planned to take gloves for serious searching in cutty grass, but forgot to do this in my rush to get underway! (Not really necessary anyway.)

It's and interesting area that I've passed many times but haven't stopped at for quite a few years.

Took about an hour in the area before I finally found the cache, sometimes searching, and sometimes just "merging in" with the constant stream of geomuggles and trying to look like I hadn't read the info board three times already! Decoded the hint fairly early on (potentially a very big search job otherwise), but it didn't really help much - still pretty much a needle in a haystack kind of process... (Maybe a more specific hint might be helpful for future visitors?)

My etrex was providing quite variable fixes for some reason (despite having plenty of satelites in view), but my "mental averaging" of these spots seemed to indicate that the actual hide might by 5 to 10 meters north or north-west of the listed location?

Smuggled the container away in my hat when I found it and drove a small distance away so I could fill the log book and do swops without being interrupted by other visitors. Added four commemorative millennium medals, and (old) packet of brocolli seed. Took set of candles.

Thanks for a fun filled afternoon!

Searched for 3/4 hour amongst the cutty grass

We made the small diversion from SH1 to have a spell from the masses travelling in the holiday period. The Memorial had many visitors so we waited patiently before seriously looking. Found cache relatively easily. Took small watch and left "Wonder Woman". Hid cache slightly better. Lovely fine warm day compared with last geocacher's visit.
Uppie and family

It was pouring with rain - Rodney got soaked right through. The hint was no help at all in thise weather conditions!! It was only perseverance that paid off!
Thanks for getting us to stop at this memorial.
+ rope watch - tape measure

Did not find this one star difficulty cache. GPS had good signal but after 3/4 hour searching in cutty grass left with two cut hands.

This was a place i had read about and driven past numerous times but never stopped to visit. A cache being there changed all that! We were enroute to Auckland and diverted this way especially. Real interesting spot and a must visit.
Bonus points for being the first to visit
- nothing
+ 4 pack AA batteries
Cheers Squeekybobo
Good hunting
Darryn, Tracey, Kelly & Great Nana