Dark Dark Forest (Waikato) Claudelands, North Island, New Zealand
By Zorgon on 15-Nov-04. Waypoint GCM2MZ

The council are still fluffing around with the walkway and it is not clear if the new section is going to be extended further. I have decided to archive this cache partly because it was inappropriately listed as a "traditional" which is clearly not right under the newer guidelines.
It is a good park to bring geocachers to so I am hoping someone else might think of a creative way to showcase the boardwalk.
Cheers
Zorgon

Called in today with a replacement cache but didn't place it as the walkway looks like it might be replaced in the next few weeks. I have pulled out the old cache but will reinstate once walkway has been completed.

Disabled until I can check it out

Container contents very wet. Also may need to relocate as boardwalk is in process of being replaced and is only a metre or 2 from cache.

Couldn't park at the carpark due to yellow lines and a friendly muggle policeman following us. A nice easy find after we got the right path. However cache in need of maintenance
TFTC

Pumpkin guy + family

Container is not waterproof. Everything inside cache was damp.

Nice area, had no idea this forest was here! Quick but enjoyable find with Mr Geckoh racing me all the way! TNLN TFTC

Good to finally knock this one off the radar!
Log book very wet signed and replaced
NINO
TFTC

Finally taken this one off the to-do's!
Cache is pretty wet

log book sopping wet

Took thje right track, quick find. Nice idea for a cache. Thanks.
Container and log book where a bit wet (maybe because the container was upside down??)
TFTC

Hmmm, spent a bit of time but couldn't locate this one. I'm pretty sure it was just me and not due to cache being missing.

Found @3:50. Thankfully the days are starting to draw out and the ground was dry, so for me no torch or raincoat needed.

in Yowie spider

TFTC

96th find and yes we did need a torch and looong arms.
in-golf ball, out-coin. TFTC

Searched but could not find.

Our 9th of 10 finds today. Didn't have our torch, but K spotted it finally. She couldn't reach so J took one for the team and ended up with muddy clothes. TFTC

It was certainly dark when I went looking through the forest, I liked the boardwalk.

awesome path! enjoyed the gloom at dusk. tftc

I questioned whether or not one of the trees met the criteria but reckon it's pretty straight forward when I got there.
A beautifully preserved parkland, Thanks for bringing me here, no swaps but I took two TB's to move on TFTC.

Took a return visit with a torch to get it...
+ Three Ringed Circus TB
- Motogrrl GC
TFTC

Revisited this amazing place today.

Dropped off Motogirl coin

Quick find by the young fella.
+ Jeep TB
+ space shuttle
- soldier
TFTC

Our first ever geocache. The GPS couldn't see any satellites in the wet bush. Cheap Uniden GPS501, not really designed for this kind of thing. Only on loan, I might try and find a few more geocaches before I return it.

[This entry was edited by zl3cat on Sunday, June 01, 2008 at 9:36:20 PM.]

Ouch! Watch your head, about 20m in there's a low branch that I hit my head on while I was looking down at my notes.
Nil in or out. TFTC.

An interesting little hide, not so difficult after all.

Finally, a year after I first looked, I returned with Gazzah and it was found. Right in my backyard

Found it with my Dad. Signed log as GuanoGerbil. OmaGosh, over and out...

Found it with my Dad. Signed log as GuanoGerbil. Thanks for the fun!

We enjoyed this one - a unique and lovely little walk, and not too much grovelling for the cache. Glad it was dry though! Thanks for showing us this neat little dark forest. TFTC

great spot!! TFTC

Went straight to the spot the first time however one of the younger caches in the group didn't spot the cache so off down the other path. After much time wasting of time back to the original spot this time I had a look my self and found it straight away.

The kids knew what was meant by the clue and went bounding off to find it before I had to call them back saying that was the wrong direction according to the GPS. Wasn't until I reread the discription that I realised those coordinants were for the carpark! Easy find once realised.

good find on THE track, toke the 4x4 travel bug

found and toke travel bug jeep 4X4

Had a look at where I thought it may be, couldnt see it. Tried the other path and ended up going around the loop. Went to the car and got the ppc and torch and on return saw,someone holding a phone/gps and looking under the boardwalk. Is this another cacher? well who else would be looking under a board walk while hoolding a gps?

We teamed up and the cache was soon at hand.

Nice meating you Cafeg.

TFTC

Found it with another geocacher wandering around looking for it..
Dropped off a bug on its next leg of the journey..
a jeep in the bush, just the right place for it!

Mis-counted to start with, but got there in the end. TFTC.

Called in tonight to replace the logbook.

Really enjoyed this find... at dusk no less, so a very Dark Dark Forest! Took nothing, left light stick. TFTC

Log book full - sorry didn't have a replacement on us.

Easy find second time round - took the right entrance and a torch! TNLN, TFTC

A quick find when you look in the right spot! Got it this time. Majestic when there is slight breeze to set the tree tops swaying. TFTC

0paco0 & Red found the cache well enough. However, Feeps and Jeeps Geocoins were not to be found.

I noticed not everyone is logging INS and OUTS nowadays.

IN: mini stapler and staples
OUT: koala

TFTC

Oh, the notebook is in need of replacement - it's almost full.

Saw that a couple of new bugs and a geocoin had appeared in this cache, so TFM whipped down there to uplift a couple (discovering the other) so that they can continue their journey.

Found by our family today. Great cache, we added a few goodies and updated the log.

Take heed of the darkness

We made a quick stop here to drop off some trackables, while on the way to the Waitomo caves and the Tangariro National Park. There was some semantic discussion amongst family members about what exactly was meant by a tree that penetrated the boardwalk, and our older son's interpretation turned out to be the correct one. Our younger son wriggled in and grabbed the cache. We took nothing, and left a green Jeep, a green Feep and our own Canadian Forces geocoin. Thanks, Zorgon, for the pleasant walk!

Good location for the twigsters we have never been in there before and enjoyed the walk. We got the correct track first time thanks to our 3 year-old child.

How embarrassing

I had us searching the parking cords on the last 2 attempts, great piece of bush, easy once I re read the listing, took the spot light in, it is dark in there!

Thanks for the fun.

Mrs Wonder enjoyed meeting you Zorgon! I enjoyed talking to you again to, after Rangi event.

Just visiting relatives in Hamilton. Took them to this one as a demonstration. Had to do the full circuit and count backwards till we found it.
Took Explorers Generic Geocoin.
Left nothing....TFTC
Rumbletums of Cheshire UK

The Freezer Mice strike again!
Had the right path to begin with, but when we were unable to immediately find the cache (it is very dark under there!) so decided to try the other path.
Discovered the error, so went back to the first spot and this time the cache seemed all to easy to spot.
+ Generic GC & Calling Card,
- 5 Kroner coin.
Nice wee cache, and if it wasnt for the road noise one could almost be forgiven for thinking you were deep into a bushwalk.
TFTC.

Hunting Waikato caches with the inimitable XenaCommander, all aboard the speedy SV650 "Splat"
This boardwalk is amazing TK trotted ahead while XC retrieved the keys off the bike. Counted forward but unable to come up with the goods so thinking that one at the edge might not have counted, silly TK was sniffing further up the track while XC hollered out FOUND.....Some of those HUGE mossies quickly found us too.
Thanks for the nice cache and bringing us to this lovely shady reserve.

All aboard the greatest caching machine.. Suzuki SV650 (Splat!) with TechnoKitten riding shotgun. I suggested an anniversary day raid on Hamilton to see how many we can get. Came here for #19 of 20 for the day. Hoping it would be an easy find.. XC left the bike keys on splat and sent TK to count trees.......... Retrieved keys and decided to go other way to cover all angles.. expecting TK to call out "Found"... But no such call and ended up walking back to street..!! Walked back again and started counting and soon found cache while TK was down track... mumble... SIgned log and replaced.. Better get back to the big smoke.
TFTC #628

#29. Dark indeed in there, nice and cool today.
- $1,000,000 note
+ Danish 5 KR coin
(seemed like a fair swap )
TFTH

What an awsome place.

Native bush in the middle of the city.
Who'd believe it.

Loved this place.

Found the cache easily enough with no one else around to tumble us.

In: A NZ One Million Dollar Note, lucky,lucky,lucky you ;0)
Out: A teaspoon from Waitamata

Cheers
P38s & Nana
The lightning strikes again.

Great place for a cache and had some fun finding this one with a few trips around and around but got their in the end TFTC

realy enjoyed the wirlwind cache finds around Hamilton today, dad was trying to get us a bit more used to us finding the caches without his help
this 1 took ages for me to work out with dad not giving me any hints finnally got ther after about an hour.

awesome place and dark dark is right

TFTC

torches and things didnt uncover it - found a indian takeout container. Next time maybe!

Picked the right path, got to the right spot, but used phone-a-friend to confirm that before getting down and dirty to get this E V I L one Lovely spot too. TFTC!
Cheers,
G.

1676. Some of the family had gone home before we got to this one as they were feeling cold.
What a great forest area and a very well developed boardwalk. We searched for a while and luckily had the correct path first time.

Thanks
Iris & Rodney and Dorothy

Be prepared to get dirty. When you're prepared it's an easy find

5.00pm. Must have had luck with this. Chose the right path, then the right tree, and then the right place to look with the torch and spotted it. I wrote in the log that I left a T.B. but when I arrived at the Ol' Pa I found it still in my pocket so it has been left in the Ol' Pa.
Thank you. David

Should of listened to Zorgon's advice, yes it is dark under there especially on a mucky rainy day. So it was back to the car for the torch and found OK after that.
TFTC

#239 Did complete circuit of bush walk, before commencing hunt. Easy find after counting off the fourth tree.
TNLNSL, TFTC

TNLN

finally found with crushernz, eew i hate spiders and there was definatly a few

Spent far too long on this cache, walked the whole area, counting from all angles, searching most of the trees, the numbers just didn't add up. Depends on how you interpret the clue but we could only come up with 3 or 5. If you count the edge ones its No 5. Interest had definitely waned by the time we found it.
Didn't see any coin in the cache.

Found it on a Youth Group evening in the park nearby. An introduction to geocaching for some of us, lots of fun for all. Dropped off a brand new Cacher Hiker geocoin to start its travels.

As this is in my backyard i thought this would be easy to find but not to be. Tried several times over two days. Will try again another day.

Didn't have alot of time - looked round several possible trees - wasn't instanly obvious to a new player.

5.50pm Took a bit of searching, walked the board three time and then resorted to a systematic search of every spot. Found after three quarters of an hour. Reserve is just like the enchanted forest in AK. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=8ce89406-fd15-41f6-9b61-e688acfdcb96
+ Woodstock keyring
- giant fly.
TFTC
Cheers M+S [:O)] (378)

14:05 - Having lived in Hamilton for 14 years, it seems a crime for my first visit to this beautiful stand of native trees to be whilst on a visit to Hamilton 8 years after moving away. What a great spot! Cache easily found once we read the description rather than relying just on the co-ordinates. Had to dodge a couple of muggles but found quickly. Left Smiley puzzle, took Penny. Thanks for bringing us here - this is what caching is all about!!!

This is the second old growth forest cache like this I have been fortunate enough to do in New Zealand (I've been here on business about half the year on and off). Without caching I would never have known these places existed.

Stopped in to grab TB

Used to play here about 50 years ago!!! Had a fair bit of discussion about which trees classified to be counted, and had to get the suggested resource from the car, dodge the muggles and eventually sort this one out. TFTC

11am
Amazing what you can find so near a city.
A really good one for our first cache of the day.
In: Fridge Magnet
Out:NT
T4TC

TB Swap

Quick stop by for a TB swap

Did a TB swap

Last one for the day. Got here just as the night started

Found with the Lone Scotsman.

Dropped in Lightning McQueen TB (First race begins)

A bit cool in here this morning.
+ a marble, - nothing.

Called in to check and found everything to be in order. No sign of any glass or rubbish.

See why a torch would be handy Black as ace of spades under there. Boardwalk very slippery in wet care required

First cache of the day out with my neice and nephew. It's their first time caching and their very excited. It's all new! Nice spot for a cache and the youngsters local knowledge is help heaps. An easy find, just muggle trouble, twice.

Out - Hi lighter
In - Smiley rubber

Stopped in on the way to The PC Cache, nice easy find. Took TB to take to Auckland with us.
TFTC

A quick visit this morning to drop off Kiwi Family & Friends TB. Boardwalk a little slippery with the recent dampness. Otherwise, a lovely spot.

It depends which track you encounter first, twists and turns were great we were right on the spot when Gencusters finger had a close encounter with a piece of broken glass, required first aid and a later trip to A&E for 4 stitches, ouch...we found the cache site..& took home a few mossy bites just as an added bonus..

[18:49
Visited cache after the Caravan / Motorhome show next door.

Took a loop or two to find. We were actually at the cache site first up and I sliced my right little finger knuckle open on a muggle broken glass under the boardwalk. Beware of this - also broken glass where you may be kneeling. Trip to A&E was required for four stitches. The blood distracted us and a trip to the car for first aid made us take the 'other' path. Never mind. We enjoyed the loops... There is a lot of rubbish in this inland island. Shame really.

TNLNS]

Penetration takes on a whole new meaning with this cache... Or does it...?

Enjoyed this visit - first time on my own. Picked up European Union Geocoin 'PPete' - thanks Zorgon, will move this on fast.

Called in for a maintenance visit and to drop off a geocoin

Lovely walk in the shade on a hot day. Third find for the day. Added giant fly and took marbles. No mosquitos there today, ground a little damp though.

A foray into the Dark Dark Forest was well rewarded (as far as the local mosquito population was concened). This added impetus to our search and the cache was extracted, logged and replaced in double quick time.

Added to cache contents green thing with handle and roller.

Thank you Zorgon for your efforts

tanetops

Second attempt at this one (thought it was about time to have another go). Like others, I was initially thrown by what was and wasn't penetration, but the butt-crack cam (see log 23/9/05) put me in the right place straight away. TNLNSL TFTC.

Found it but the mosquitoes were biting

Found it! Yeah! Visited with "Radio Nut 50". Choice of two paths, but description made the choice easy. Got quite grubby retrieving it, and then muggle with dog strolled by..... asked if we were monitoring the bats! Yes there are bats in this area.... look for the white symbols on the footpath at the entry. After replacing the GZ, continued on and did the full loop (by exiting onto road entrance, walking the few metres to the other entrance)

In - yellow highlighter
Out - Golfstays TB - the journey continues.

The caching gods were with us today, chose the correct path and the cache was quickly in hand, great spot of bush.
Swopped TB's, in Golfstays, out london transport.
TFTC Zorgon

Bit of the old backwards and forwards on this due to penetration issues but a good hide none the less.

In: Zorkmid and London Transport TB

Out: Silverspoon.

Thanks for the hunt.

visited with runzz.
this is the second time we have tried for this cache, the first time surgez was around aswell.
Anyway, we found it this time! not sure how we missed it the first time, but yay!
TNLN

Found with Dysentry. As he said this was our second attempt, some how missed it the first time, I guess we didn't look hard enough. A nice forest in urban Hamilton, good to see native bush around. Cheers
TNLN

I don't quite think it is a loop track. I followed one path and ended up on the footpath. That was of course after I had taken the correct path, got to GZ and not found the cache to decided to try the other one. Oh well. After returned with a torch from the car things were made a bit easier. No exchange made. Great bush though! Reminds me of a girl I knew once... Cheers Gav [703]