The Alternative Route (Northland) Glorit, North Island, New Zealand
By M@ on 02-Nov-03. Waypoint GCH5KD

As a once in a lifetime holiday, this year we are traveling for 7 weeks to Vietnam, Bali, Australia and New Zealand. In Australia we meet Ellen Sch and MrVon sr and Ingsve to visit these last two countries, so here we cache together. We signed the log with N4. Now we have solved many caches so we have a large number of solved coordinates. But we are interested in all types of caches, so if you receive a log, it means that we have visited your cache. We haven't quite decided where we're going, but we'll probably let the weather decide for us. We want warmth because in Norway it is now freezing. We will stay for about 2 weeks in Australia and 2 weeks in New Zealand and we will end the trip with the Mega event in Adeleide on 29 February. So thank you very much to all of you who make it possible for us to travel around finding caches. On March 6, we set course for Norway again. There are extremely nice people everywhere and we are welcomed, we thank you very much. Thanks to our cache friends for good company on the trip.Som en gang i livets ferie reiser vi i r 7 uker til Vietnam, Bali, Australia og New Zealand. I australia mter vi Ellen Sch og MrVon sr og Ingsve for beske disse to siste landene, s her cacher vi sammen. N har vi lst mange cacher s vi har et stort antall med lste koordinater. Men vi er jo inntressert i alle typer cacher s hvis du mottar en logg s betyr det at vi har beskt cachen din. Vi har ikke bestemt oss helt hvor vi reiser men vi lar nok vret bestemme for oss. Vi nsker oss varme for i Norge er det n kuldegrader. Vi blir ca 2 uker i Australia og 2 uker p New Zealand og vi avslutter turen med Megaeventet i Adeleide den 29 februar. S tusen takk til alle dere som gjr det mulig for oss reise rundt finne cacher. 6 mars setter vi kursen mot Norge igjen. Det er srdeles hyggelige mennesker overalt og vi nskes velkommen, vi takker s mye. Takk til vre cachevenner for godt selskap p turen

Out on a geocache trip with Ellen Sch , Team Eika and ingsve on holiday in New Zealand, and today it was this area that was prioritized If nothing else is mentioned, we found the cache at good coordinates and it was fine To save space in the log, we often log in with the nickname N4 Many thanks to CO for laying out and maintaining this Greetings from Norway TFTCUte p en geocache-tur med Ellen Sch,Team Eika og ingsve p ferien i New Zealand og idag var det dette omrdet som ble prioritert Hvis ikke annet er nevnt s fant vi cachen p gode koordinater og den hadde det braFor spare plass i loggen logger vi ofte med nick N4Tusen takk til Til CO for utlegg og vedlikehold av denne Hilsen fra Norge TFTC

Endelig har jeg og MrVon sr kommet oss ned til Australia og New Zealand, -en gammel drm er gtt i oppfyllelse. Team Eika og Ingsve har ogs reist i flge med oss p denne turen. Vi har reist p kryss og tvers i en mned, og mlet er ende opp i Adeleide og megaevent p skuddrsdagen. Vi har spesielt sett etter gamle cacher, for fylle jasmern, for et par stykker, og for oss to andre som har begynt tenke p gjennomgang to.De aller fleste dukket greit frem p plassene sine,noen ganger mtte vi lete litt, men var som regel heldige tilslutt. Noen DNFer ogs ble det ogs.Vi har for det meste logget med fellesnicket N4 (ingsve,Von sr. TeamEika og Ellen Sch) men ogs egne nicknavn er brukt.En stor takk til alle dere COer for utlegg og vedlikehold av cachene deres. Uten deres arbeid, hadde vi aldri kunnet kost oss med denne hobbyen.Alltid hyggelig med et nytt smilefjes p kartet.Cachehilsen fra Ellen Sch, NorgeMe and MrVon sr have come down to Australia and New Zealand, -an old dream has finally come to an end. Team Eika and Ingsve have also traveled with us on this trip.We have been traveling cross-country for a month, and the goal is to end up in Adeleide and mega-event on the leap year. We have especially looked for old caches, to fill jasmer'n, for a couple of pieces, and for the other two of us who have started to think about reviewing more.The vast majority of them showed up at their places, sometimes we had to search a bit, but we were usually lucky in the end. There were also some DNFs.We have mostly logged in with the common nickname N4 (ingsve, Von sr. TeamEika and Ellen Sch), but our own nicknames are also used.A big thank you to all you CO's for laying out and maintaining your caches. Without their work, we would never have been able to make a living with this hobby.Always nice to have a new smiley face on the map.Cache greetings from Ellen Sch, Norway

EnglishWe are six Norwegians on a trip to Australia and New Zealand. We arrived in Melbourne at the beginning of February and are traveling home after the mega event in Adelaide. We travel by car and Geocaching helps us discover many nice places and often helps to decide where we choose the route between our goals which are: Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Dunedeen, and Adelaide. This is one of the caches we found on the trip and we thank you for showing us this place. We who are on tour have the nicknames: MrVonsr, ingsve, EllenSch and TeamEika. And signs the logs with N4.Great thanks for showing us and doing our tour wonderful NorwegianVi er seks nordmenn p tur i Australia og New Zealand. Vi ankom Melbourne i begynnelsen av Februar og reiser hjem etter Megaventet i Adelaide.Vi reiser med bil og Geocaching hjelper oss oppdage mange fine steder og bidrar ofte til avgjre hvor vi velger ruten mellom mlene vre som er:Sidney, Melbourne, Aukland, Dunedeen, and Adelaide.Dette er en av cachene vi fant p turen og vi takker for at du viste oss dette stedet.Vi som er p tur har nickene: MrVonsr, ingsve, EllenSch og TeamEika. Og signerer loggene med N4.Stor takk for at dere bidrar til gjre turen s flott

( ͠❛ ͜ʖ ͡❛) I needed a cache for today as part of my streak, so came up this way seeing as it was a gorgeous day for a drive and to go caching. So I came along today in my sister's car! I had dropped her and hubby to the airport last night for their visit to the USA for 2 weeks, while I also mind their place while they're away. So I'm borrowing her car to go caching as you do.

( ͠❛ ͜ʖ ͡❛) I have been here before, but quite a while before I got into geocaching, 1-10-2012, I walked from here, up and over Mnt Auckland, down to the main highway, then along there back up Kaipara Hills Rd. No idea of the time it took me, but it's gotta be 5 hours at least I suppose!

( ͠❛ ͜ʖ ͡❛) So, I saw the dreaded sign about the Rahui, WTF??? When the hell is this ever going to open. Some people just have too much say and other people just go along with them because they're afraid to rock the boat, bloody politicking is all this is... anyway, rant over. Ignore the sign btw (at least to this cache), I climbed up the steep hill to GZ, much evidence of cow pooh everywhere, but none of it fresh, glad about that... not my fav thing bumping into cows, I know one geocacher who got rammed by a bull over an electric fence, and he had a part of his muscle let loose from his bone, nasty!!

( ͠❛ ͜ʖ ͡❛) I had no issues with finding the cache, had more issues with wearing jandals in territory where shoes would have been a better choice. But, here I am, have found the cache after a 3 year long isolation period! Whoo hoo, and I imagine the C.O might go whoo hoo too! Unfortunately I didn't have the pen on me, so scratched my name in the logbook with the pen in the cache that off course, would not work. Anyway, obviously I have taken fotos, a few posted as proof of being here.

( ͠❛ ͜ʖ ͡❛) Thanks for the hide M, nice to see this one found after such a long time, if the damn track ever opens, I might head up and find some caches that haven't been found for 5 years! Got back to the car, and realised the pen was in my caching carry bag.... derhhh. A FP from me.

Decided to come for a drive with kids after the Auckland lock down. Saw the rahui on the forest its self - however this cache is not in the forest at all. Cache located on farmland at start of track. Made the quick couple of minutes walk up the track to GZ. Cache located, signed and replaced. TFTC. For future cachers - do not attempt to get any further caches on the track and enter the forest - protect our Kauri.

Road Closed 30 April 2019: Closure of Mount Auckland Atuanui Walkway
From 15 September 2018 the Mount Auckland Atuanui Walkway and entire forested area is closed by rāhui (temporary ban) to prevent kauri dieback disease.

With Gap (of Fap and Gap)... We had a couple of jobs to complete yesterday, and unexpectedly stayed the night in nearby Wellsford. Being unprepared was an experience, but we managed nevertheless... We were in the area this April, and were keen to have another shot at the caches along Highway 16, So here we go...

The Atuanui Scenic Reserve is now closed due to Kauri Dieback, so this is about as far as we dare to come... We climbed away to the top, and had some trouble nailing this one down. The iPhone was drawn to one spot, but there was no hint object. A scratch around and the container was soon in hand. TFTC.

Real goal today was a multi in the area which we missed last time we were here.
Rest of the day was mostly like yesterday with weather and cache finds but great to find caches that have had DNF's against them. SLTFTC

I had been looking for a new place to go for a training jaunt for the upcoming Taupo Ultra Marathon and the Mt Auckland walkway looked like it would fit the bill. I had also been made aware quite a few months ago by a fellow Northland cacher, of a neat gadget cache series near to here, so a plan was hatched to do the walkway early in the day and then move on to doing as many of the gadget caches as possible afterward.

Was a bit late getting away from Whangarei, so it was nearly 11:00 before I set off up the hill toward the airstrip and the track down toward the forest. I was quite shocked at the ground conditions though, with virtually everywhere deeply pugged by cattle and full of water, making the ground very soft and muddy. Gumboot territory really, but they don't make the best bush trail footwear.

Once into the forest proper, the underfoot conditions improved and it wasn't long before I was making good progress toward the summit and found all the caches on the way. For some reason though, I had an impression that this one was on the road, just past the walkway start, so on my return trip from the summit, I was striding it out and carried right on down the steep hill back to the car. Imagine my consternation then when I checked the cache page properly and discovered it was back up at the top of that steep hill. Aaarrgghh..!!

Nothing for it, but to head back up and the cache was soon located in the hint location. Signed the log and replaced safe and secure as found. Then back off down the hill to the cache mobile for a second time. TFTC

I must have the wrong dictionary since this is not what I know to be "that thing in the hint". I had to scratch my head a bit, but I still found it. TFTC.

Met up with Merlot58 and Jag50 at the other end of the walkway, leaving one car there before travelling to the other end to start the walk. The track was muddy, which made the ascent a little more difficult, on top of still recovering from a cold. This was our last cache along the track before the descent to the car. No trouble locating this cache.

Our last cache before heading back to the car. Mrs Jag did the finding of this one for us

Found with Merlot58 and Aiden29 this was our last cache on this trail today. Didn't take long for Mrs Jag to make the short detour to find the cache.

Out on a fitness walk getting ready to do the Milford Track at the end of March. nice hide. Second to last of the days walk. Thanks M@.

Great end to a long walk!

We took the wrong route to get to this one but took the easier way out.

Picked the hottest day I could to come do this trail. Quick find. Cache all good.

Not seen :/

Decided we needed a long walk up a hill today. Have never been out here before and we picked a very hit day in the sun. Already hot by the time we found this one and a long way to go. Tftc

(1982) Down south to walk the Mount Auckland walkway today. Nice warm up hill to reach this cache. Quick find once at GZ. TFTC

Found this after our walk ...... My friends were keen to head back to car so I quickly dashed up to where gps pointed and soon found the cache thanks to hint ! Thanks Tofska ! Did 6 out of 8 here today !

quick find on way up Mt Ak with hoofnt and Kiwi grandma rocks.

Great weather for a climb with friends
TFTC

Out today with a muggle friend to tramp up Mt Auckland. Had to fight off some cows before signing in my name. TFTC

Decided to hike up to Mt Auckland peak today. Got good views at the top but the weather wasn't flash. Found this cache after I finished the hike. Pretty good views from around this area too. TFTC.

Great views

Was off to the top of Mt Auckland for a picnic with the Amor-Davies. There were some muggles here on the way up, using the toilet, so we did this one on the way down. Easy find. Lid latches not sealing properly ,so a bit of water in it. But the logbook was dry. TFTC.

Decided to head up Mt Auckland to see what it was all about. Great sunshiny day for a visit. The clay field was dry, but hard going due to the cattle postholing through the mud over winter. Smooth sailing through the forest further on. Cheers for the cache.

Found with Redants while on our Far North Road Trip to the Winterless North. We found ourselves in some interesting places that we would not have visited had we not been searching for caches. Thanks to all the cache owners.
We walked from the road, not enough time to do the walk. TFTC.

We found this cache on a 2 week trip around Northland, visiting such locations as Opononi, Kaitaia, Cape Reinga, Russell, among many other places. Maybe not today, TFTC

A nice quick find of a nearly 10 year old cache before setting off to walk the Mount Auckland Atuanui Walkway today. Thanks!

so as not to piss off the muggles out for a stroll along the walk way with us today, we knocked this one off at the end of the trip (after a car shuffling back to the spot). As mentioned by the monsta, a small challenge of releasing a rather large hunk of living meat from a fence it had got tangled in with out being kicked in to the middle of next week.. check. we lived finish the hunt in the late afternoon sun.

not a bad view from the door of the empty barn near GZ.... could almost imagine a camp site here

This cache was at the start of the walk but we found this at the end of the walk...after a nice tramp with a lick of mud and lots of clear sky. nice time of the day too being about 4pm...sun going down. this was after we did a rescue job on a poor local resident caught in a fence...the mooing sort of resident. such alot of adventure caching brings you. thanks!

That’s one more find for me! Thanks so much for hiding this geocache.

Nice views. Well worth the walk. TFTC.

A brisk walk UP the hill!! And a reasonably quick and easy find.

Thanks for the cache.

Found it short before going back to car!
TFTC

#1109

Found orginally as part of phasevisitor team, now created own account, re-logging as yorkshirekiwi83.

We headed North for the weekend and decided to take our time and tour some of the back roads on our way up. Took the short steep hike up to GZ and quickly found the cache! Great views from up here! TFTC!

(Don't worry dagonNZ, it wasn't us that you blocked in - although we did have some issues with a large cow on the road!)

We headed North for the weekend and decided to take our time and tour some of the back roads on our way up. Took the short steep hike up to GZ and quickly found the cache! Great views from up here! TFTC!

(Don't worry dagonNZ, it wasn't us that you blocked in - although we did have some issues with a large cow on the road!)

Found with a meetup tramping group. I was the 2nd to log the cache this day interested to see if the other logger is the one we blocked in at the car park (if so we are so sorry!)

Up this way visiting a friend for the night, great oportunity to do more than 1 cache in a day and save the closer to home caches for my 1 a day count.
Although didn't have time today to do the walk, I have done so a few times in the past. Collected up the rubbish that was near the cache to put in bin at home. TFTC

Nice view!

I had been up here years ago to walk the track. Great to be back. Thanks.

A lovely place with awesome views. Spent some time on the Mt Auckland walkway after finding the cache. This one gets a favourite point from me. TFTC.

Beautiful walk to Mt Auckland. TFTC.

Quick find on my way north this afternoon TFTC tofska

Very pretty walk, TFTH

This one earns a favourite from me for the journey to get here as much as anything else. After spending a few hours in Matakana we took the alternative route to head home via SH16. All was nice and easy until we hit the gravel road and the 15km that lay between us and the cache. Still, the cachemobile did well and just as things were starting to look easy we ran into a road full of cows. The elder cows were happy at first to ignore us but a few of the younger ones decided to gap it and stirred everyone up. Patience is a virtue though and other than having a cow sniff my window (can cross that off my list now) the road soon cleared and we eventually were able to park up and hit the hill.

Nice quick stroll up to the top and admired the views for a while after finding the cache. Lid is a bit loose but dry enough inside to not be an issue.

Left TB to enjoy the view and the cows. TFTC

Nice quick find today, we seemed to have our cachesense in tune today. TFTC.

Out on a day trip up SH16. Phew a bit of puff required to get to this one. Awesome views. +TB SL. TFTC.

This little walk got our hearts pumping, the views from the top were definitely well earned. TFTC

Quick find..Will have to come back and walk the track one day. TFTC.

Have been wanting to complete this for ages. So while out in the Geonut with Rednumb6 we did go. Meet up with two horses, 1 donkey and a woolly sheep all having a sunday stroll along the road. Farmer insight a few miles back. Do hope the all got caught. Interesting drive in and great to see trampers using walks. Nice quick find and wonderful views if only the cloud would lift.

Out with Butchie Bum and the Geonut for another 24 hr caching adventure!!! An interesting country road with many users! TFTC

Loads of traffic heading home after the holidays meant that we decided to take the alternative route, and I am so glad we did after finding this cache. I don't really like walking up hills, but caches give me the incentive. The views were simply stunning and well worth the effort. TFTC.

We took this alternative route home today, and stopped at this cache. A wonderful view from up there. TFTC.

A nice cache find at site. SL TFTC

Met three young men with guns out and about - glad Mr P was with me. t4tc

Wasn't loaded up in the Garmin, but had the coords in my Tomtom.
Easy find.
Great views over the harbour.
Thanks for sharing.
Left TB.
TFTC

Awesome View! T4TC!

On a mission today, caching in the rain, to find some lonely caches (>5km from any other), to meet the requirements of the NZ lonely cache challenge. On finding this cache is 8.8km from any other cache. Narrow gravel road had to be carefully negotiated in the rain. Parked in the bay and walked the last 200m up the hillside, in the mud and wet. Easy find on reaching the top. Nice views inspite of the weather--though the summit of Mt Auckland was obscured by cloud cover. Cheers for the cache! 5/10

We were driving on the alternative route.
We used our 4wd to drive to the top and park the car.
I got out to find the cache and my wife made pictures of the view(s).

Cache was good to find, TFTC

Finaly catching up on logs.
Last cache for the year. TFTC

Great to knock this off my list. Great day and awesome views, its very open and warm at the top. TFTC

Great views from the top of the hill, wouldn't have come up if it wasn't for the cache, so many thanks for bringing us here!! We didn't do the whole walk as we got there quite late (gone 4pm on a winter's day...), maybe we'll come back in the summer!

The cache was fairly wet inside, unfortunately we didn't have anything to dry it with, maybe the next visitors can bring some kitchen paper along? . First log book is going mouldy, suppose that's why people have moved on to the new one, which is dry and in good condition.

Again, thanks for showing us a great spot, a few pictures attached.

Not the best of days to visit the summit however we can never drive past a cache. Long haul up the hill in the wind and rain and luckily a quick find then back downhill to the warmth of the car. No view today T4TC.

This entry was edited by rosmar on Sunday, 04 July 2010 at 00:16:27.

What a great view would never have come here if it had not been for this cache, we'll be back to do the whole walk in the summer thanks....

Awesome views of the Kaipara Harbour when walking back to the car. TFTC

Apparently this is our 500th cache find so we hoped for something special. Opted to walk in to make the reward greater and the views were lovely.. though a little hazy. We walked to Mt Auckland in the distant past and remember being disappointed that we couldn't see much from along the track and the summit due to the trees. Thanks for the nicely placed cache.

lovley veiw on one of my fav tracks thanks for the cache

Drive almost right up to this one. The 4x4 is always useful. I know we were being lazy TFTC

We parked at the bottom and walked up the hill, only to find it could have been done as a drive-by! Fabulous views from around GZ. Not sure if we'd like to land at the nearby airstrip, but it does make an impressively wide track towards Mt Auckland. We will have to do that walk some time, but not today. Thanks.

# 707

Passing by so dropped off TB and dried things out a bit.

Nice spot M@! Fun drive, plus a little climb to a great viewpoint. Arrived after sunset, but there was still a little light in the sky. Cheers Gav [3640]

An alternative route indeed.
Fantastic views just after sunset. TFTC

Great views, and it is an alternative route. Thanks for the opportunity to stretch our legs. TFTC

On a lil tiki tour to Mount Auckland, elected to take "the alternative route".
Third find of the day.
No worries laying hands on - novel hint! Good location too.
TNLNSL
TFTC

So close but didnt do this one, let me paint a picture.

10.45 at night, somebody sitting in a car in the carpark. Work car full of computer gear, small LED torch and on my own.

Was to scared to leave the car. Will get this next time.

Could have driven up to the top, but elected to stretch the legs for the final approach. Warm, sunny conditions, although a bit hazy for views which would be brilliant on the right day. TNLN, cheers!

A beautiful though blustery day. Found it even though my crazy GPS didn't seem to be getting very good fixes...
TFTC

I've replaced the container with a 1 litre sistema, covered with black duct tape. Log book still seemed writable, but there's now an extra logbook there if it's needed.
+ All Tied Up TB.

On a little road trip with the 2Hopefuls.
On our way back to Auckland we stopped at Mt Auckland to find the cache (we haven't been here before, but time and the weather didn't really allow the trip up to the summit). The cache itself was found pretty quickly (and yes indeed, it is pretty wet and a bit mouldy) and after a stroll around the buildings we made our way back to the car (where Hopeful #2 and #3 were waiting for us - they needed some beauty sleep).

TNLNSL, TFTC

Braved the mud and the wet elements with R&R to find this one. Well actually only Hopeful #1 did because #2 had fallen dead-asleep in the car and #3 wasn't going to look so good wearing mud on her paws...

Found without too much issues. TFTC!

If anyone is in the area with the appropriate bits and pieces, this cache needs drying out and the log needs to be dried and rebagged. Sorry, we did not have anything with us to perform this for you.

Found when a member of LEDGIN'S.

In the book of LEDGIN'S Found at 1220hrs. Greetings from Brisbane, Australia.

Cache wet and very mouldy. Rain and wind made getting to this cache interesting. Should have driven the car!!!

TNLN TFTC

Found this cache, but it was really wet, so that I can´t wirte in the logbook. So I´ve made a picture of the cache.
TFTC and Greetings from Germany
Basti + Jule

Ticked this one off after summiting Mt Auckland, lovely walk and rainbow views. Cheers!

Awesome spot, makes you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere. TFTC

Bit of a hike up to the cache, but well worth it for the views... Amazing!
Emptied a couple of cms of water out of cache and dried it up as best we could. Logbook a bit damp but still signable so no worries...
Cool place for a cache, really glad we stopped by.
TFTC

Fantastic lookout with a great view as the sun got low and the easter traffic snaked it's way home. Met a couple of walkers looking for blackberries who seeing the GPSr mentioned they had done that cache some years ago!! Turned out to be Beauty and the Beast... always good to meet some fellow cachers.
+ clamp
- keyring
T4TC

So the secret is out... But we can assure you that there are no more blackberries left now. Please call again. In 2009!

I only came as far as the cache but what about those views from here. Fantastic. It also helps being here on a fine day. Cache a little damp due to condensation in the container. Dried it as much as possible.
TNLNSL.
Cheers for the cache.

Hey, I didnt know my canadian micro coin was here, grabbed him, new mission needed. Great cache... slightly damp, but no major drama. Dryed it up.

TNLNSL - passed red jeep through for photos. TFTC M@!

Not much in the way of views today, just rain. Found cache OK but got very wet trudging through the long grass.
SL, TFTC

Lovely spot.
In: Canadian Geocoin (just a short step, but at least EAST).
TFTC.

Nice drive and walk to the spot, with great views. Hiding place is well chosen.

In: Skateboard key ring
Out: Yellow tug boat + travel bug, as he's keen to keep moving.

TFTC

#720
Quick drive by cache, thankfully the gate wasn’t locked. Great views from up top, a bit gusty though. Cache contents a bit damp, but otherwise no problem.
In Roadbeast TB (after successful road test)
Out NIL
TNSL, TFTC