A Man for all Seasons (New Plymouth) Spotswood, North Island, New Zealand
By smoking gun on 03-Sep-04. Waypoint GCKEZX

Yep cache was a bit messy. Have done up cache site and put new log in a double waterproof container. All good to go now and view is still the best in Taranaki!

Thanks for the find. Cache is wet and very stinky, cant get the smell out of my hands

We checked both stage 1 and 2 . It is still all good. Cheers

Didn't find Cache

Day 49 of our streak and after playing football around the coast I came and signed this one off for today. I remember coming here years ago with mum when she signed it off too. All good here…TFTM

Very well-crafted. Logical, step-by-step and still rewarding.

Yes the log book was wet. So we have replaced it and hopefully it will stay dry. Thanks

Struggled a little to make out WP1, and tried two spots as I couldn't br sure of one digit. The second had the plaque so knew this was the right location. Sadly, the log is really wet again and had no waterproof paper to put in. Managed to scratch our mark, but there is more mould than ink on the page. A shame as it is a clever little spot. Sadly it didn't smell great here today as someone has dumped a whole load of fish which are slowly rotting. The dog was happy though! The view is magnificent, even better than at WP1!! TFTC

We thought we'd see how this cache was. Lucky we did cos it was all wet and rubbish. So we have replaced the log paper.

We were in town today to pick up something for the farm but managed to squeeze in a little bit of geocaching since we were here.
No problems finding WP1 then off to the final which was also a straight forward find.
Thanks for putting this here for us to find.

After a while of no caching was really excited that first one was an easy find with great views

Found back on the 8/2 with benandjen69 whilst grabbing another nearby
TFTC liked the hide

Down in Taranaki for an extended weekend, and we were out and about on a beautiful afternoon today. Found it difficult to decipher the co-ordinates at WP1, so if the CO doesn't mind, I will suggest that a helpful hint is that the 6th and the 14th digits are the same. Loved the location of both WP1 and the final, a favourite from me, TFTC

Managed to solve it a couple of months ago but finally managed to get out and get it yesterday with cuzincori amazing views tftc

Located with Ricardinho
TFTC

Found the little plaque easy enough, then left it for later in the day. We drove this way to check out some views and parked here for a quick find. Cache all good. TFTC smoking gun. FP for this one.

Third day of a 10 day lower Nth Island road trip, and we have the day in New Plymouth. Started the day with a bike hire and a ride up the coast to Bell Block. Some little caches on the way, but also some great views. Was just early enough to get a picture of Mt Taranaki in all its cloudless glory framed by the Te Rewa Rewa bridge - absolutely no show of this on the way back. Very busy along here. Went north toward the port end as well, then ditched the bikes and strolled around Pukekura Park enjoying the views, plants, weather and a spot of rep cricket. Will be back tonight for the Festival of Lights. Thanks all COs for the cache placements that helped fill in the day.

North Island Campervan trip Day 2

After the fantastic holiday I had a few months ago traveling around the South Island, making the most of one of those incredibly cheap campervan deals available at the time, I figured it was worth taking a week off work before the stresses of the usual holiday period to enjoy some of the delights to be found around the top of the North Island.

So seeing as I have to get to Auckland to pick the camper up it seemed like a great opportunity to break my drive up there up by going via the Taranaki, to seek out some targeted caches there such as the TMGT ones as well as some that would help me with my Jasmer grid, missing minutes (for a couple of challenge caches I'm working on) and any other caches that caught my eye.

Today was simply the drive up to Auckland from New Plymouth. This was an opportunity to go caching in an area I don't often get to and in fact haven't been to at all since I started caching.

This particular cache was one I wanted to look for in order to fill a hole in my Jasmer grid. It would be my first cache for the day, and a great way to get my day going in spite of the overhead clouds. Arriving at WP1, I was initially nonplussed as to what I was supposed to be looking for, but it didn't take me long to spot something of interest. I still needed to photograph it in order to enlarge and see it properly though. It's getting on a bit and a little worn, but still legible.

Then onto the final location. Being a Saturday, the road was nice and quiet as I parked up and started my search. I made the classic mistake of thinking I could approach in a straight line before reading the Hint and adjusting my strategy after which the find was much easier. No issues at all with this cache or the log, which was signed and replaced before I was back on my way again.

Thanks for setting this cache up.

This was a missing date placed for Kiscardi so while in New Plymouth collecting the TMGT cache we have targeted it plus one of my missing date placed cache.
We are not staying because of the COVID case at the port.
Spending two weeks in the north island collecting cache.

TFTC on a geo tour with NZ Bozzy picking up TMTG caches from the NI and also some missing months placed
Thanks for maintaining all the older caches. Enjoyed the views today even though it was wettish

Words cannot describe how little I wanted to go out to get a cache today. Freezing cold, blowing a gale, and torrential rain. However, it was a dot day, so into the weather we went. A quick find at WP1, although some discussion ensued about exactly what we were seeing, then a off to WP2. Shoes a little damp, but the cache signed and returned. Nice hide, and a favourite point from us. TFTC

Found the first stage of this cache months ago and totally forgot to finish the 2nd part, which I did this afternoon before the school run, not the best of days but it wasn't raining, always a great view from there, tftc smoking gun, a favourite point from me

I was out getting some caches in the clearing rain for today's souvenir. A little mission sort of focused around an old multi cache.
I visited waypoint 1 to start my mission and after seeing the final wasn't walking distance I grabbed a couple of traditionals sort of on the way.
I pulled up at a good GZ but double checked the photo of waypoint 1 and realized I had one character wrong. Thankfully GZ was just down the road. It is a nice location for the final where it was an easy find.
T F T C smoking gun.

Awesome

TFTC, wow what a beautiful spot in my own backyard I didn’t even know was here

This was a must do cache on this trip to fill in a space on my month hidden grid. After watching the supermoon rise down on the beach while collecting earthcache information I headed to waypoint one, the numbers where hard to read by torchlight and I took a couple of photos just in case. I headed off to what I thought it said, it seemed a logical spot but there was not sign of the plaque that was mentioned. I looked at the photos again, maybe that number is a "?", I plugged that into my GPS, it was only 180 meters away so worth a look. This place looked more likely and there was the container. Thanks for a fun night time adventure.

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* 20 years of geocaching worldwide.
* 20 years since New Zealand had the very first geocache hidden outside of USA.
* And it's 2020 - all the 20s!

Talk to your geo-friends and start planning to be part of [this event](http://nzmega.com) - you won't want to miss it!

#9512

I had some difficulty reading the required info, but the CO came to the rescue with a quick response. What a great place for the final, and not it all makes sense! TFTC!!!

TFTC

I know I'm home when I stand here and feel the Taranaki 'breeze'. I obtained the information for this cache back in September when I was here last but the fencing was being replaced and the cache wasn't in situ. Nice to be able to come to complete the challenge.

.We did not get all seasons today only a bit windy. Quick find here after grabbing the info way over there. Cheers

Day 7 - Friday 20 December. New Plymouth area today.

The Seagnoid, Zara, Toby and I are spending Christmas exploring Taranaki via geocaching. Its been an amazing 3 week adventure. Rattls BBQ was a great event, meeting many other cachers. But also managed to fit in a few more events, especially New Years Day celebrating the start of 2020. Lots of caches - over 500. Lots of cache maintenance. Lots and lots of kilometers. And lots of amazing places visited along our journey. Mt Taranaki remained elusive for much of our travels and the caches on it at the top. Loved Pukekura Park Night Lights Show and the the Wooden Mechanical toy exhibition at NP Info centre.

It's a fine and blowy day today. Had sand stinging my face earlier, so a couple of seasons already! Some digits at Stage one hard to read, prompting much debate. Nce views from the top there. Always a worry when the final is so far off - Did I get those digits right? Yep, there's the cache.

Day seven of Taybeedragon's and my big 3 week circumnavicaching trip around Mt Taranaki, starting from Palmerston North. Today is New Plymouth - we got here at long last! Yes, it's been a slow trip!!
Highlights:
* 3 weeks, 536 caches
* Mt Taranaki had been removed for washing, which was a bit of a shame. Even after it had been returned we were only allowed to see it for it was less than half an hour a day.
* High percentage of caches with crappy coordinates
* Amazing Pukekura Park
* AMAZING Pukekura Park light show!
* Pukeiti Gardens
* 3 notebooks full of cache notes for later logging
* Lots of cache maintenance!

***[======== NZ Mega 2020 ========](http://nzmega.com)***

Planning for the [NZ Mega 2020](http://nzmega.com) event is well underway. It will be held in Auckland over Labour Weekend, 23 to 26 October 2020. It's going to be a massive celebration of geocaching:

* 20 years of geocaching worldwide.
* 20 years since New Zealand had the very first geocache hidden outside of USA.
* And it's 2020 - all the 20s!

Talk to your geo-friends and start planning to be part of [this event](https://coord.info/GC87777) - you won't want to miss it!

The fence has been finished at last.

The fence is being replaced and so the cache can not be found. Will reinstate when fencing is finished. Cheers

Stage one has been reestablished.

Temporary disables. The local authority can't leave things alone. The board has been changed so we will redo asap.

In preparation for this trip I looked for old caches I need for my Jasmer-Challange. This is one of them.
Unfortunately I didn't find anything at stage 1 I could reflect on. It looked as if it was taken off. Too bad. So I walked all the way from town for nothing. Maybe the owner could check stage 1.

We had been busy caching relaxing and socializing over the weekend and thought why not do another caching day with friends. so it was an early start to the day. this was cache number 11 for the day. a quick find here cache was all good we signed then log and placed it back exactly where wew found it. Such an enjoyable road trip and a stunning area, we will have to return here another time and enjoy the area more. So worth while the visit. great mountain views great farm land and even a beach view from time to time. A lovely place to live I'M sure. Thank you for placing a cache here. TFTMC We didn't know this was here thank you for bringing us here.

Checked cache , all dry and good.

Sorry the ground has been cleared and the tree is gone. So we have removed the old Stage 1 Toolbox and made this just a two stage cache.

Coordinates changed from:
S 39° 3.828 E 174° 1.748

Coordinates changed to:
S 39° 3.837 E 174° 1.749

Distance from original: 55.0 feet or 16.8 meters.

Stage 1 has now been deleted

no tool box at stage 1

there was n0 tools at stage one. GPA kept taking me in different directions for stage2

This had me scratching my head a bit last time I was here. But it was at night. Today I was pretty quick off the mark. Arrive at gz to make a quick find of a well constructed cache. Been a fun multi. Tftc

rustynz tells me I need to catch up with all my logging!

A 3 day weekend of fun with a group of Westies (rustynz, gorby, jag58 & merlot58)

Sorry for the generic logs. Thanks to all the CO for the hides, and the adventure

Team Westies converged upon this nice little hill to have a crack at this multi. Co-ords took us straight to the spot, but not straight to the 2nd WP, up and down we looked but Mr Jag50 spotted something worth looking at and we were then able to proceed to the final, boy that was a long way away from the hill but we have a hired car the 6 of us and we're off. At GZ, the item to be searched was quite visible and were able to find the cache straight away. Nicely put together smoking gun.

Log later

visiting with a team of Westies. We got to the start of the multi and wandered backwards and forwards looking for the evidence. Finally it was MrJag50 who found what we had all been struggling to find and we entered the co-ords for the next point. Again Mr Jag50 led the way and located the cache final.

I was visiting New Plymouth for the weekend with a few other Westies from Auckland. We did a couple of circuits before Mr Jag50 found what we were looking for and after making our way to the final, he also made the find of the cache. Co-ords were spot on here.

Arrived at the start to take in the views, and look for items that will take us to the final. A bit tricky this one, and with us all spread out, it took many eyes to find waypoint 2. Luckily Mr Jag50 found the required information, and we were soon arriving at GZ. A familiar path for this group of Westies

Loved the camo on this one, thanks for the multi, another fun find, the log signed Team Westies (merlot58, rustynz, rebel98, Jag50 and Gorby)

Set sail for this one as part of the Piratey challenge, with a bit of help from Mrs Bear and the Geohound, we found our way around the waypoints. Looks like the toolbox is gone burger, but we managed with the tools that we had with us. Mission accomplished, this one is a wrap. Thanks for the cache from Blenheim Bear! A few photos were taken and attached.
This cache posted with CacheSense for Android.

Out with me old mate BB after a few multis to gather a bit fo gold
A great multi

I retract my last dnf! After giving it another go, I realised the hint gave it away - didn't need the tool and just used my phone instead. Great hide! Tftc!

I found the rock with a grey dot. But someone has taken the tool box - that, or I'm not looking hard enough

Out waiting for it to get dark before we do the Xmas light trail and this multi has been on my to do list for awhile so off we went to solve this. Quickly found stage 1, stage 2 had us walking around for a few minutes but soon solved it, then a quick drive to find the final. Awesome views and a find by my young daughters. A FP from us.

Have renewed 1st stage container and other required maintenance.

Went out for a cache hunt with trushannon. Had previously found this one so sat back and let her go for it. She was pretty quick on the pick up and she managed to find this one.
However the tool box is pretty much shattered apart and a number of the tools are broken now.
Also, needs a new nail put in.

Found with help from JohnYoung. Led to a very cool spot with an amazing view!

Found the toolbox easy enough though it is rather squashed, then at WP2 there was an object but I couldn't see how to use any of the tools on it or any further hints as to how to find WP3. So I had to give up in the end and return WP1 to it's home and move on. Oh well.

Finally got the hang of these multistage. Kids loving them. This was our second one answered such a neat place I didn't know was here

Not quite where I expected to wind up today. But who could resist.

Straight forward enough. Thanks.

Nice multi. TFTC

Nice fun little multi. Tftc

Well I had solved the maze and had to get a cache today to get my being. This looked cool so I headed off to find the info. Quickly done and a nice prize at the end. Fun multi and nice views. Cheers for the hide.

Awesome multi cache after work today with JayDubENT. This was an awesome cache. Nice view too. Thanks!

Nice Multi after work with Casey2201. This was fun, hardly any muggles at stage 1 & 2. And loved stage 3 container! Tftc!

Found first one
Needed to check the hint to complete this geocache. Now i understand what to do. Ill be back.

A good puzzle

Found it . Love this area.

Love, love, loved, this multi!! Brilliant and enjoyable and just all round wonderful. Gets a fave point from me. Tftc!

Checked log and it is as dry as a bone. All good.

Yay first multi done TFTC

Cache was wet and soggy didn't sign the log

Fun and easy find

Never knew this was here awesome tftc

Easily found stage 1 and 2. Stage 3 had me a bit puzzled but made way out there with an assistant geocacher and easily found it. Tftc

Toby was hur

took some time to get to last way point, but found it in the end TFTC

Almost had the smiley for this multi back in 2013 but the final was missing. Finally back in the area today & out enjoying a long walk to GZ to get the smiley. Nice quick find & we admired the camo. Great first WP location, a lookout we hadnt been to before or even knew about. TFTC

Found it awsome mish a nice view

Nice view on a beautiful summers day

We have renewed stage 2 and thanks to Zork for his help to repair.

Went for a quick walk after dinner and with a bit of thinking worked out the second one. As we couldn't walk there went home and drove. Nicely hidden, in fact the young ones missed it completely at first( they usually spot them first) managed to get home before the rain. Made a good final cache from our time in New Plymouth.

Checked to see that cache was OK. All dry and good.

nice views

Found with Niccy15 and BrookingAndrew

Got it.

Found as the sun set.

Have replaced the tool box. Good luck. have fun

Found first 2 stages ages ago but stage 2 needed sorting and now sadly tool box is missing. Lucky for us we knew the tools required and managed to complete this cache TFTC.

Grabbed trackable, tool box missing. But managed to find my way there. Thanks KJTCS for the hint. TFTC

Really enjoyed this cache - such lovely views. It also gave great opportunities to develop my waypointing skills!! Thanks very much. Picked up TB and left Deutschland to gaze north towards home

This entry was edited by sueparr2 on Tuesday, 16 December 2014 at 04:50:49 UTC.

Stage 2 all up and going again

Stage two needs maintenance attending to that now. Will be back in action soon.

An awesome cache to find on a beautiful Naki day. A great well constructed multi. TFTC

This entry was edited by Niscar on Wednesday, 22 October 2014 at 07:22:48 UTC.

Clue 2 needs some maintenance. Great little multicache- our first. Thanks

An early set off this morning from home as have to set up for an industry conference in New Plymouth which would allow me to see a few customers, set up the stand and collect a few caches.
Don't think I had ever been up here before. Managed to soon locate the required information before heading off to the final as had special tool in vehicle. Great views from GZ back along the coast

Thanks for the placement

I enjoyed this multi as it's been a while since I was last here.

In 1991 the local Rotary Club commissioned Taranaki artist Michael Smither to erect a memorial to the Man for all Seasons on this spot. Smither carved 11 poles, and placed them on an existing hillock along with several flax plants.

Ten of the poles were carved to resemble mature flax, and placed in a large circle with each of the five pairs bracketing a view from the memorial – although unfortunately none of the poles remain on the site today. The central pole had many images carved into it: at its highest point was a Celtic cross, depicting the MFAS's heritage, with a portrait of the man below it.

Very clever hide, and great journey - thank you & TFTC

Found it. It was nice with superb views

Replaced cache hopefully in a less intense muggle area.

Yes you are right the cache is missing. Will replace asap.

Sooo disappointed to log a DNF. No problems with the WPs, got the final coords but didn't have enough time to make GZ yesterday. With a gap in the day today, headed off to GZ and frustratingly no cache. Pity as it shaped up to be a great cache with fab views all around! CO may like to check the Final.