Piroa Falls (Northland) Waipu, North Island, New Zealand
By NZWide (Maintained by Grobyc) on 26-Mar-04. Waypoint GCJ0M5

THANKUUUUU LOVED IT SO MUCH WENT FOR A LIL SKINNY IN THE WATERFALL WATER TOO SO REFRESHING

Yayayayay

Dieser Cache konnte heute erfolgreich geloggt werden.Danke an den owner fr's legen und pflegen TFTC Schmerzbefreit1xTB in

I got my co ords all wrong and forgot to download the cache for this trip. Unfortunately have to log a dnf.

I had some time on my hands today so I decided to grab a few higher favourited caches. I need all the points I can get at the moment for this month's souvenir challenge.

I have often wanted this cache so it was great to sign it off today. A lovely waterfall but I was glad I wore my gumboots as the ford had water flowing over it.

The contents of the cache were all mush so I removed them and placed a new log in a new plastic bag. I put a big piece of punga bark over the top to help protect it from the rain too.

A great area to come to. Thanks for the hide

I wish that I had read the previous logs before heading to this cache as I would have brought a new bag and waterproof log sheet to leave behind. Cache contents are in a bad state with just plastic and paper plump inside.

1979. 2:34 pm. With the Brynderwyn pass closed Google Maps directed us this way and I thought it would be a good opportunity to finally find this cache! A challenging drive with two large trucks also taking this route despite all the warning signs ended up facing each other in a stalemate on a narrow and windy section. A very popular waterfall today with a couple leaving as I arrived, one at the falls and a group of a dozen or more people arriving as I started to walk out. TFT(Piroa)C.

Amazing waterfallThe cache is all wet and moldy, I put a spare box there.Greetings from the Czech Republic and Thanks For This Cache.
Díky za keš.
15:35
Moje 5062

We looked for this one last year but now we know we went up the wrong track… quick find this time around before having a swim at the foot of the waterfall. I had a spare piece of paper so put it in the cache but didn’t have a plastic bag so not sure how long it will last. TFTC

This was a nice find while checking out the falls this morning. The cache was tracked down pretty quickly thanks to the directions given in the cache description.
Unfortunately, as others have mentioned, the logbook is just wet pulp. I've attached a photo as proof of find.
Thanks very much for the cache.

This geocacher reported that there is a problem with this cache.

The logbook is pulp so took a foto instead. Nice waterfall!

Got pretty lucky on this one !! It’s pretty gross inside though, needs maintenance !! The waterfalls are gorgeous

Logbook is wet so took a photo instead. TFTC

Found but it is very waterlogged may need to take your on piece of paper to log your name with

The view from the top of the falls was great

Gosh river is high and got my feet wet going over the Ford. Took a fantastic pic of the falls. A lovely place. Tftc

Just a hidden gem. Good hide TFTC

Staying at the Uretiti campground and decided to check out the falls. What a beautiful spot. Decided to see if there was a geocache nearby and sure enough! We sent the boys up the slight hill and yes! They found it.
Bit disappointed to see toilet paper not far off the track, I wish visitors would treat our country with a bit more respect.

These falls are beautiful! - well worth the trip down a dirt road.
Beware of swimming here however, due to dangerous E. Coli levels in the water. It is tested weekly (we met the woman taking samples this week) so take notice of signage (halfway down the path: the signs at the waterhole kept getting ripped out!).
Swim at the risk of getting gastroenteritis, ear infections etc.
In lieu of swimming, Geoson J climbed the rocks nearly to the top of the waterfall. ...& Geoson S and I found a cache
...and we swapped a TB.
TFTC!!
This is a spot I would happily return to

Awesome place to come. Totally enjoyed the falls. Knew there would have to be a cache here. Good hint. Left a tb. Tftc

A day off work, and I have some plans to do the TGNZ GeoTour... and while in the areas, target specific caches for the Jasmer challenge.

This cache was one, and my first of the trip. After driving up from Hamilton, the opportunity to stretch my legs was welcome. Despite not being found for a few months, everything's in fine order. TFTC! Find #2081

Was awesome! A little of beaten track!

Nice hike to the falls. Don’t try the first bend on the way down. The bend you want is at the bottom just after the bridge. While I was busy on a wild goose chase up the wrong trail, his_old_lady spotted the right bend and easily found the cache. In the meantime I walked right on by and spent my time at the falls. Thanks for bringing us here.

Pulled up at the parking to realise our campsite neighbours were already here, recognised the unique number plate.
Got the cache before running into them then spent some time practicing photo techniques.

TFTC

#6424. I am staying in Auckland with the extended family. I need to find just two more caches to complete the NZ Jasmer challenge. Both of them are near Whangarei so a day trip was planned to drive north and pick up the target caches plus grab a few other old ones and any nearby caches while I still had enough time before driving back to Auckland in the evening. It was a stinking hot and fine summer's day in the north. After a DNF at the Brynderwyn cache I was feeling good as that had the customary DNF out of the way before reaching this one and usually I have a good run after a DNF. So it proved here as well. Parked up at the car park along with a dozen other cars and wandered down the path. Crossed the stream and saw the bend in the track and the side trail referred to in the description. Wandered along this until I saw the hint tree directly in front of me and the cache was in hand in seconds. Sweet. But not the toilet paper and poo less than 1m from the tree! The log was damp so added a fresh log sheet in plastic bag. Signed and replaced the cache as found. Great to have my March 2004 cache off the Jasmer list. Thanks NZWide and Grobyc for keeping it going. Nice waterfall too and lots of people swimming despite the warning sign on track saying bacteria levels were too high for swimming. Not surprised with those poos in the bush.

Nice place, but crowded today with bathing people (despite water contamination warning). The doggy didn’t want to go in
TFTC and greetings from Nuernberg

I am making my way to a Boxing Day family function north of Dargaville this morning. But I thought I would make the detour off state highway 12 and check out the Piroa Falls. After navigating the gravel roads I parked up at the trail head and followed the track around to the falls. After enjoying the view and snapping a pic to share, it was time to get the find too. The instructions on the cache page were helpful in this regard and a short search soon turned up the goods. Cheers to NZWide for the cache placement and thanks to Grobyc for all the maintence efforts!

Great trip up north. Tftc

Revisiting with new cachers.

It is soaking wet, sorry could not do anything about it. Great place, been here before

Im strömenden Regen den Wasserfall besucht.TFTC Grüße vom Team Schlaue Pfote aus Deutschland

Quick find by the hubby. Recommendations not to swim at the falls at the moment ... didn’t seem to stop anyone! TFTC

Trouvé! Merci

#9545. Interesting to explore Maungaturoto today. Nice walk to the Piroa Falls, where a few others were also enjoying the scenic spot. GZ itself was however all quiet when we visited. Relatively quick find. The cache was in good condition, with the additional log paper left by a previous cacher all nice and dry inside. Took nothing, left nothing, signed log.

Thanks for the placement and for bringing us to the site, and …

.T h a n k s. .f o r. .t h e. .c a c h e.
.M a u r u u r u. .k o e. .n u i. .a t u. .h o k i. .t e. .k e t e r o k i.

*****
Did you know that planning has started for a Mega Event in Wellington in 2018? Check out the details on the [GC78NMQ WENZ Event 2018 (Wellington)](https://coord.info/GC78NMQ) cache listing, [WENZ2018 website](https://sites.google.com/site/wenzgeo2018/home) or visit the event's page on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/groups/590545297801072/). If you plan to come, please remember to log a “Will Attend” on the [Event Log]( https://www.geocaching.com/play/geocache/gc78nmq/log).
*****

Wow.....this was a lengthy adventure .....!
But worth it . Long drive from main road on a dirt road...
Really enjoyed the wander down to these amazing falls !
Never been here before .
Took heaps of photos.
Then began my search !
Was there about an hour...made it more like a t4 as I traversed and Bush bashed my way up and sideways along the tree clad hill .
Sadly I was conceding defeat..and began walking back...then I thought just one more go...
So I entered a slightly diff place...and voila...wasn't even that far off track...and certainly not way up where I was first looking !
There are so many twin trunked trees !!! Seriously ....
F.P. thanks guys .

Log is wet but managed to sign, water fall in heavy flow with rain.

Out for the afternoon to look for some caches SW of Whg, This was second on the list to do and took me to a place that I have never been before, despite living in Northland for over 50 years. No muggles about at all today and falls were running well with the rain we have had over the last few days.

Took what I assumed was the side trail for the suggested distance and clue turned out to be spot on. TFTC

Well we probably would have found it, IF the water level wasn't so high. Serves us right for "Us Aussies" dragging a cyclone over to New Zealand. The rain has been quite spectacular these last few days. We couldn't cross the creek or get anywhere near the falls. Oh well. Maybe next trip to NZ

On the upside (much to my partner's dismay) a woman was stripping down, washing her clothes, and about to take a dip. A skinny one perhaps? I was dragged back up to the car before I could find out.

Heading back to Auckland after spending the weekend on Urupukapuka Island in the Bay of Islands. Didn't have too much time, so wanted to find caches with high favourites or that took me to different/unique locations. This cache happened to fulfill both requirements, with waterfalls being a real weakness of mine.

There were quite a few muggles out today enjoying the falls, even with the rain. However, I managed to sneak off the trail without anyone around to notice. Thought that this could be a difficult search with the cache being so far from the path, but I followed the trail the required distance and spotted the cache on approach, exactly where the GPS had pointed. Thanks for the accurate hint and for bringing me out to this location.

After spending the night on Urupakapuka island we needed a stop on the way home and these falls had been recommended. The gravel road was very bumpy and dusty. We were followed down the trail by a few Australian women who were filling in time waiting for the traffic to die down. The ladies were too busy chatting away and did not notice us slip off trail to locate this cache. Thanks for bringing us to this lovely location.

I have been meaning to do this one for years and now was the time. The GPS was bouncing all over the place and I was wandering around all over the place. I got pretty close to what I thought was GZ, but the GPS was just not fixing on any one location for me. I decided to try the hint, and suddenly there were a bunch of trees that fit the bill. I wandered about and hecked them out, but to no avail. I did find one large tree that had a good sized hole next to it, but there was no way I was sticking my arm down there to see who was living there! This was a great hide and despite the DNF, I really had a wonderful time fossicking about in the bush for it. I met a few muggles who were swimming at the nearby falls and that was really cool. TFTC and a great spot! I'll have another run at it maybe in about 4 years' time !!

Clear instructions made it easy. Tftc. Should have brought a bag to pick up all the rubbish.

What a lovely waterfall and items nice to see families swimming at the base of it. Sadly though you needed to walk through the public urinal to reach the cache or else Bush bash around it.

I was quite lucky to find this one as my garmin packed up as I was heading towards it.Luckily I had saved the spoiler picture to my phone,thanks for placing in this beautiful spot,worthy of a fav point.

I was quite lucky to find this one as my garmin packed up as I was heading towards it.Luckily I had saved the spoiler picture to my phone,thanks for placing in this beautiful spot,worthy of a fav point.

Found! 21Dec16 @ 3.30pm; Find #118

I had heard whispers of these stunning falls when I was researching my trip to NZ a couple of months back. They weren't widely advertised in the travel brochures and that really appealed to me, as I knew that I would be travelling in the height of tourism season.

I wasn't disappointed at all. When I arrived at the falls, there was only one couple there and they were finishing up their swimming session. I soon had the entire area all to myself. Well, for about ten minutes at least, as soon there were four teens barrelling into the water - although they were very nice to let me finish taking my photos first. Typical New Zealanders; they honestly can't be nicer

After I finished taking my pics (and so glad that I brought my tripod along!!), I wandered up the (almost invisible) trail to find GZ. Thanks to one of the previous finders for posting a spoiler photo of GZ, as without I would never have been able to find it.

Log signed, took nothing, left nothing. Just enjoying the ambience really. Thanks for maintaining this cache here, it's a beautiful spot and a highlight of my trip so far!

Great place. Very pretty. Hint spot on. Nice quick find. TFTC.

Well this has been on my to do list since I started caching.
Well I eventually got around to getting out this way and finding it.
Great spot, a lovely spot.
Fav For the area.

With Gap (of Fap and Gap)... On a flying visit to Northland with the intention of finding very old caches and anything else that is within short walking distance of the vehicle. The gloomy, black sky is an indication that rain is only a minute away...

The trek down to the falls was fairly uneventful considering that there had been plenty of rain recently. The river was slightly swollen and discoloured. Recent flood waters had left their mark high up on the steep sided canyon walls. Where we were standing was only recently under water, And this is where the fun started... The iPhone gps immediately swung across the river and up into the bush. There seemed no other way than to cross the river on the narrow ford. We removed our shoes and socks and got on with the task.

Once on the other side, we headed off into the bush on bare feet. We were looking for any hint references as we moved, but nothing seemed to match. After eliminating many possibilities, one area deserved further scrutiny. After a short dig, we had this little beauty in hand... The first of our weekend targets. TFTC.

The Squirrel and my plans for the weekend was to log as many old caches as possible to go towards completing another challenge. This meant a lot of kilometres driving and a bit of forward planning and plus collect as many other caches as we could. The plan was to travel to KawaKawa Bay and stay at Hemi's uncles home.
Early start Saturday morning with our goal to get to KawaKawa. Google tells me its 266 Kilometres one way, but with caching who knows how many km's it will be.
Left Rotorua after work on Friday with a stop for dinner (Cambridge Roast House). Next stop Huntly for a coffee and a chat with fellow cachers, then on to KawaKawa Bay. No caches done on this leg.
Early start Saturday morning to achieve our goal.

12.15pm - This was one of these old caches we were after. Glad we didn't come here a couple of days earlier as you could see the water level had been at least 3 metres higher. Still had to remove foot wear and wade across water to cache. Took us a bit to find and good to get this one. SLTFTC

Fantastic location!
We visit Piroa falls almost by chance, we were driving when we saw the arrow and decided to follow it.
Thanks for showing this place, and for the cache.
Greetings from Portugal.

#10016, Found it with DroidCachebox!

We visited this cache during our trip through out New Zealand!
With our rental car, we explored the north island for 12 days.
NZ is a beautiful country and we really enjoyed our time here.
We hope to return one day and explore a little bit more!

Day 8 - Auckland to Bay of Islands

Today the weather was pretty bad, it rained all day.
Since we had to travel north anyway, we tried to use the short periods without rain to find some caches on the way, we managed to visit some interesting locations. The coast up north is amazing, although it should be much nicer with a better weather.

Nice falls!

Thanks for the cache.
Greetings from Portugal.

Set out from DOC campsite to head to Waipu and to visit these falls. it was a very popular spot. cars parked on the narrow road where ever [possible We walked up to the falls and I would have loved to have had a dip but the place was just so over populated so I had to settle for the mini bush walk up to the cache and there it was! thank you for bringing us up here..and I noticed on our way down from Dargarville that you can get to the falls from that road also!
The summer holiday this year was to visit the far North. We decided to take our time and travel with just short trips and stop over to visit friends/relatives rather than one big long drive through to Whangarei, so there was a little time allowed for geocaching, although this was fairly restricted. We planned a couple of longer stays at campsites where we used our tent and at other times we were at friends or cabins/motels. Some of the caches took us to a little out of the way places but these were really worthwhile, while others we discovered and visited and as luck would have it there was also a cache! The logging of these cache has had to wait until we got to relatives, on the whole.
This is a fairly generic log with additional notes about individual caches that had something extra that remained in my memory.
Thanks for the cache and another smiley face.

always enjoying using random cache selections as "waypoints" to find another route for where i want to go - as far off the beaten track as possible usually.. so had been meaning to come this way so many times as i have headed north and south over the hills.... today was the lucky day.... took more time to park in the crowds then it did get down to the nicely hidden gz.... but worth the stop all the same:-)

not sure the water would be that clear today.. with the numbers filling the pools.... glad the cache is not a "CITO" though.. i couldn't even move the whole car engine nicely placed in on the river floor - near the pools let alone carry it up...?

Amazing spot, perfect day for an icy swim under the waterfall. TFTC!

TFTC! Great spot for a swim on a scorching hot day!

I first went to see the waterfalls, only interrupting slightly two couples eating their lunch at the picnic table. Then I headed to the cache and found it easily. I re-hid it a little better for the next person. Took: TB-OR-NOT-TB? TB. TFTC.

Last cache of the day and the road trip. Beautiful falls and a great spot for a picnic but too cold to swim. TFTC

We have relatives that live not far from the Maungataroto end of Gorge Road and have visited Piroa Falls before prior to our caching days. Sherrie remembers driving along Gorge Road with her Grandmother honking the horn at every corner.
Today we didn't pass any other vehicles on our drive up Gorge Road to Piroa Falls, but several other people did come down the track while we were at the Falls and looking for the cache. Took a little while to locate GZ but once we got there the cache was quickly found. Thanks.

With a little team work and 're reading the details and logs, we found it! Cache just big enough to place our trackble. TFTC what a beautiful place.

Parents & I were holidaying in Ruakaka for a week.
Lovely sunny day, so had gone for a walk along the beach norht of Ruakaka river. After lunch we had left dad behind for a rest and headed out for an after noon of caching.
Hadn't visited the falls before so drove out for a look. Very nice but don't think we will make the long drive out for another visit (unless of course a new cache ever goes in). TFTC

TFTC A great walk to these falls, Cache far enough away from the masses of Muggles
Gave it a favourite for the great location
Will need the water crystals changing as getting damp.

TFTC

A beautiful spot with the falls in the background. Lovely place! <3

A great fall and a nice place to take a picnik or a photo. TFTC!

Easy

Yeow! Success! Nice morning for a waterfall swim and a bit of geocaching

Great place to stop for Christmas lunch and view the falls, only a short walk.
Thank you for the cache Grobyc.
Cheers TLC

Nice spot. Tftc

A favourite childhood summer spot, the land is changing quickly around here! Wonderful upkeep by the Rotary Club.

Found this cache after conquering our very first NZ gravel road

Grüße an unsere Käschkumpels zu Hause!

Nice falls. Spend a little time there climbing up on top of the falls - really nice view! TFTC

A road trip to the Hokianga for the weekend saw us collect a few further caches for our GIO licence.

After a short stroll and a even shorter scramble up the cliff, cache was soon in hand. GPS signal was about 10m off.

TFTC

#3367

This entry was edited by KiwifruitsNZ on Saturday, 08 November 2014 at 06:12:13 UTC.

Thanks for cache.

Beautiful falls. TFTC!

Was struggling with the multi at the end of this road so decided to abandon and head up to get this one instead. Thought it was going to be a totally hopeless day after fumbling around under a bunch of twin trunked trees and hadn't seen the spoiler photo option. Just as I was about to give up, a thin sliver of telltale blue Sistema clip was spotted in the last tree I was going to check. Lovely waterfall and meander down. Will have to bring the family down (up?) here sometime!

beautiful spot. TFTC

(557) Had to get our feet wet for this one due to the rain last night. TFTC

This one has been on my list for ages so on the way home from visiting family in Wellsford today we took the detour, a momentary panic half way in realising I hadn't been prepared and downloaded the cache and of course no coverage...we found a clear spot with 2 bars and standing in the middle of the road managed to download and save...thank goodness as saved a trip back to the main road..onto the cache where a few family groups were enjoying the lovely area. Followed the geotrail and cache was soon in hand. TFTC in a great spot to visit.

It is now time to pick up all the new caches along this part of the coast. I have been here before but then the cache was AWOL. It is nice to revisit the GZ and to find the cache.

Cheers for the cache.

Nice spot, few families picnicking down here.

Lots of Muggles on this Sunday afternoon. Beautiful swimming whole.
I was very brave to put my hand in the dark place but I knew it was in there.#Thanks for this challenge.
The climb back up to the car was a challenge in itself, a cool beer was well deserved.
Picked up TB52Q3V

Found at 18:51. We came in hope of a refreshing dip after a nice walk at Mangawhai Heads. Unfortunately it was a bit late in the afternoon and the falls where in shade, we scrambled up through the bush to the top pool and found it also in shade so went for a swim up there anyway. Then finally rinsed our feet at the lower falls on the way back out. I forgot to take the co-ordinates for the cache so had to walk back up to the car and come back, which was a relatively easy feat after visiting the top of the falls. Thanks for the cache.

#1,233, Quick find, Beautiful spot. Took TB. TFTC

What for a beautiful place. Thank you very much for leading us and for hiding. Cache is in a good conditions. Kind regards.

Thanks for bringing me back here- it's been about 13 years since my first and only visit. A quick find thanks to the hint and spoiler photo. Very busy today but able to make the find without drawing any attention to ourselves. Dropped TB.

A great place to visit. Was last here about five years ago, but didn't know the joys of geocaching back then. Was great to re-live some memories. Was eyeing up a swim but needed to head back home. Thanks for bring me back here.

Coordinates changed from:
S 36° 03.884 E 174° 23.395

Coordinates changed to:
S 36° 03.886 E 174° 23.385

Distance from original: 50.8 feet or 15.5 meters.

Found the GPS, Better co-ords

Added Spoiler Photo.

Coordinates changed from:
S 36° 03.898 E 174° 23.396

Coordinates changed to:
S 36° 03.884 E 174° 23.395

Distance from original: 85.5 feet or 26.1 meters.

New cache location

Ready to go.
Poor GPS reception right at GZ, Have better co-ords stored in a gps that I cannot currently find Will update when I can find them.

Cache Replaced

Cache replaced, new location & hint - short of time now so info still to come.

Maintenance delay, swapped on call day with another workmate so will visit next weekend now

Maintenance visit planned for this and all my caches on the loop for 16/9

Anything happening?

I'm wondering if this has gone down stream. There is quite a bit of debri. Second time I have visited in the last couple of months to search for it and to no avail...

maintainance needed, cache should have been well above flood mark

Searched for a while as I had the place to myself but all to no avail.