Close to Home (Auckland) Botany Downs, North Island, New Zealand
By mashnz on 31-Jan-05. Waypoint GCMN3J

Cache Details

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Archived Cache Notice:
This cache is currently listed as Archived in our database.
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Logs

12-Apr-21
I am regretfully archiving this cache since there's been no response from nor action by the cache owner within the time frame requested in the last reviewer note.
 
12-Mar-21
Hi mashnz

This geocache was brought to my attention as being in need of an owner maintenance visit and after my previous reviewer note, there has been no owner response. The cache owner needs to check on this cache ASAP and either replace it or archive it, after picking up any geo-litter. See the [maintenance section of the Geocache Listing Requirements/Guidelines](http://www.geocaching.com/about/guidelines.aspx#listingmaintenance).

I've added this cache to my watchlist, and I will check back in four weeks to be sure that the maintenance has been done. In the meantime, I have temporarily disabled this listing. When the maintenance is completed, the owner can enable the listing by clicking on the link below the cache name to return it to active status.

Whatever your intentions, please **post a note** here on the cache page (not email) to let us know that you are still active and maintaining the cache. If a month passes without seeing a response, then I'll assume that this listing should be archived.

Please note, that if a cache is archived due to lack of owner maintenance, the cache is unable to be unarchived.

Regards
TheCoddiwompler
 
21-Jan-21
Was hoping to come and find this today, have been meaning to stop by for ages.

Unfortunately I couldn’t come up with the cache, I agree with one of the last searchers, a bunch of mulch has been dumped here and it may have been removed or buried.

I’ve added a few photos of the GZ today, I dug around quite a but to no avail.
 
21-Jan-21
Could be worth a check at this point?

GZ seems disturbed, original tree may have been removed or possibly disappeared long ago, area filled in with a massive amount of wood chip.
 
14-Jan-21
Searched for awhile but with no result. There is newly laid mulch in the area so may have been buried.
 
05-Dec-20
We think it has been move it was no we’re we looked for 2 hours
 
20-Sep-20
Spent a while searching here this morning but have ran out of time today.
 
20-May-20
Quick find this afternoon. Nice to find a large one as so many are micro. Was very out in open which made me wonder if it’s in the correct location. Did my best to secure it from passing muggles. TFTC. Sl.
 
10-Apr-20
It was fun finding it.
 
10-Apr-20
So fun finding it
 
07-Feb-20
Was super fun to find! Never would of expected where it was! Did take us a little wile going round and round in circles but we got it!
 
06-Jan-20
TFTC! Very well hidden and items and log still in good condition
 
12-Oct-19
Thanks for the cache! Very clever! Took forever to find and I'm sure I looked like a lunatic while I searched. Found with pygmymenace, wings108, and willbotski
 
12-Oct-19
Found with Kimothy92, Willbotski, and Wings108. TFTC
 
10-Aug-19
Wow that's well hidden! The hint definitely helps
 
17-Jul-19
That is quite the camo! Took a little bit to locate GZ and even once I had I still searched around for a good few minutes. I thought that surely I had found what the hint alluded to but it wasn't until a few more minutes of searching that I actually located the cache. All is good inside it and I dropped off a trackable for the next person to find it. TFTC!
 
Couldn't spot the cache. Didn't want to make too much noise in the bushes, since I didn't want to scare the kindergarten-group enjoying their morning nearby. So I left. Tftc.
 
07-Apr-19
Sad
 
12-Jan-19
I'm from Switzerland and spend 4 months in New Zealand on vacation. Found this cache the second time, thanks.
 
12-Jan-19
Hi from second Swiss guy ..yea today i loged in ..can`t belive that I searched there at the bottom and stood there yesterday right next to it and Nöggi2 had a lucky hand despite that he said it is nearer to the bridge and his gps showed twice differend spots that drives me sometimes crazy!!!
 
10-Jan-19
We Swiss guys walked the wrong way because Nöggi2 s gps lead us to Ice cream Yummy ...We will come back another day as its a nice spot..lovely flowers and trees and more .
 
13-Dec-18
Love finding a previous DNF and that feeling of how could I not have seen that. Tyfc
 
21-Nov-18
Out geocaching this side of town after picking up the dog from getting her hair cut. Quick find here today, muddy on the outside but in good shape. We were excited to find some travel bugs so and have taken one and also did some swaps.
 
09-Nov-18
Yes, we also had to look very well, but after, I think 15 minutes it was there. Don't use the whole hint, only part of it. But which part?
We dropped 2 TB's and hopefully they will travel soon. So don't hesitate.
TFTC. Comateam.
 
04-Nov-18
Couldn't find hint rocks either
 
23-Sep-18
Looked thoroughly but think this cache may be no more. Branches of macrocarpa pines have come down, so clean up may have disturbed cache?
 
23-Jun-18
Not quite under where I put my bag, but about a meter away. Spotted the second hint item when I turned around, and cache quickly in hand, cheers
 
03-Apr-18
Out running and geocaching while a young howonearther is at swimming lessons. Was the not a moment to find which was no ce as I had looked for this before months ago for ages to no avail.
 
30-Mar-18
Could do with clean up from the rains recently but TFTC
 
18-Feb-18
Finally thanks to eagles eyes and less distractions - antznz n princessknz
 
02-Feb-18
Didn't realise we were standing on it for a while. Tftc
 
20-Jan-18
DNF
 
17-Sep-17
Ttc
 
10-Sep-17
Quick easy find. Followed tree line straight to the well hidden cache. Picked up the trackable which i'll drop off in hamilton on wednesday. Thank you for the nice cache.
 
10-Sep-17
Just out clearing up a few loose caches. Nice easy find by bird TFTC
 
21-Jun-17
Even though I had read all the logs before trying this one, it was still a bit of a mission. Went round in circles following several existing geotrails, even pondered the wisdom of poking my hand down the porcupine hole (and hastily decided that was a bad idea). Up and down the banks, through the bush. After some time and a little desperation, and slowly narrowing down GZ using my phone GPS, and re-reading the hint, I started again and soon thankfully found the hide. Popped in a TB for onward travels. Very nice this one, much appreciated. TFTC
 
13-May-17
Out with SethRaven and Panda0505 today chasing some caches for a Tufty challenge. Well this took a while - was glad to see that previous cachers have taken a while to find this one. A very cool hide. Loved the bridge and the geology of the creek to along the way. TFTC
 
13-May-17
Out today with Fencarrows and Panda0505 gathering caches for a Tufty challenge. We had parked up a ways and enjoyed the little walk down to GZ . . . . . loved the bridge with information about the history. Loved the bank formations beside the river under the bridge. Got to GZ and wandered around about and then Ms Fencarrows made the find . . . . . very clever hide . . . . . nice spot here. TFTC
 
29-Apr-17
This cache was a quick easy find.... yeah right! I was here with Jag50 and Aiden29 and we'd been searching for some time when I realised I had lost my phone which must have fallen out of my pocket. Mrs Jag50 tried ringing my phone but we couldn't hear it but I knew it was somewhere close by as I had been reading some previous logs on it trying to glean a hint of where to look. So I retraced my steps and whew, I found my phone lying on the grass by a bush. Right, back to searching for the cache. After reading a log I decided to reread the description properly and ended up by my backpack which I had put down while I searched. Well, what do you know, I had put my backpack on top of the cache and it was right there all along! I blame the Jags for putting their umbrella down there as I put my backpack with it so we wouldn't leave the umbrella behind!
 
29-Apr-17
This one took waaaaay longer than it should have. We scoured high and low looking for anything that fit the hint. We were just about to do the one final sweep, when Merlot said she'd lost her phone. While she evenually found it and finally we located the cache - under merlot's bag all along!
 
29-Apr-17
Got here with Aiden29 and Merlot58 and started to hunt. MrJag50 put his umbrella down and asked every one to take note of where it was as he did not want to leave it behind. And then the search began. After a period of extensive searching and consideration to phone a friend Merlot58 lost her phone . Repeated calls were a fail and eventually it was found fallen out of a pocket. Then Merlot58 found the cache. Under her pack that she had placed beside the umbrella. Merlot58 blames us as we placed the umbrella beside the cache Smile - but we argue we did not hide the cache with our pack SmileSmile. And anyway would the cache have not been found when we picked up our gear to leave? Possibly not as the cover was more extensive and not the sort of cover we had in mind when reading the hint.
 
18-Apr-17
Great hiding place. Almost gave up after looking for about 20 mins.
 
17-Mar-17
Hiding away
 
17-Mar-17
First find of the day, awesome thank you.
 
12-Mar-17
Dnf gutted will have to try another day when better weather and not so late for little one - antznz
 
09-Feb-17
This one is definitely not close to my home but it's near enough to work to come over for the third time to try and find it. And OMG!!! How the hell did I not look there before. That "a-ha" moment was sublime; so glad to finally "smilie" this one. Gets an FP from me. TFTC
 
20-Jan-17
Found it and got a travel bug yay!!
 
18-Jan-17
Found it! Took a while and like someone else said, we were standing over it for a while not realising! Ha ha. Great hiding place
 
11-Jan-17
Owner maintained this cache 11/01/2017.
 
10-Jan-17
I went around in circles for ages and was about to give up before I finally spotted the sneaky hiding spot. Great hide! Everything was a bit wet when I found it but I see that maintenance was done the next day. Also there was a big fat slug clinging to the container that I poked before realising it was a slug haha.
 
17-Dec-16
Not close to home for me, but was in the area so enjoyed a walk in the park. Tftc
 
06-Dec-16
:)
 
06-Dec-16
Nice little find. We were standing on it for quite a while, until later suddenly found a clue. Very tricky hide, great work
 
05-Oct-16
As I had been confined in my office for most of the morning, I decided to take a lunchtime break and go and find a cache. And so as I looked for one on the map that was nearby, this is how I came to find this one. Anyway, after parking, I discovered a whole new place to explore as I had never been here before... very cool bridge. Anyway, my GPS was all over the place with this one. So after crashing my way through the bush, and not having much joy, I thought, 'if all else fails... read the instructions!' So that's what I did. And after following the suggestion of walking along the treeline and after taking a bit of a guess, I soon had the cache in hand. Thank you mashnz for taking the time to set up this cache. I really enjoyed it. I have also included a couple of photos of this very cool area as a part of this log. TFTC! Smile
 
01-Oct-16
We made finding this cache to hard on ourselves and when we rechecked the ratings we started again and soon had it. Nice little hide. The cache container was very wet so we pored all the water out. It could do with a little maintenance as the log bag is in need of replacement. Unfortunately we did not have one with us. TFTC
 
17-Sep-16
Wow this is my favourite of the day !!!!!!
What an incredible hide !
Really well done thankyou...
Best I have seen for ages ! Nearly gave up...so glad I didn't
Great original idea ....
Thankyou mashnz!
 
11-Sep-16
Nice easy find...good spot.
 
06-Aug-16
Last find for today on our mission to collect older caches for a challenge we are doing. Gerald had a speculation fall almost at GZ after all the recent rain, resulting in a muddy bum! Nice hide TFTC Smile
 
24-Jul-16
Found it by searching up and down the hill, finally found it at the top. GREAT DISGUISE!
 
12-Jul-16
Having a little wander around Lloyd Elsmore park on this lovely winters day. A little side trek brought us to this nice spot. Struggled initially to locate the cache. It was not until Kiwiscot tripped over the camouflage that the hide was found. Smile
 
03-Jul-16
Nice easy find. Trackables listed as beimg in cache not there. Please remove
 
17-Jun-16
Walked right past it a few times before realising where it was hiding. Love this location. Great hide TFTC
 
16-Jun-16
My Brother introduced me to this so we went to do this PS Love trading stuff lol
 
06-Jun-16
Great to find a cache finally today
 
17-May-16
What a great little reserve that we never knew existed until now! Have to admit to standing on top of it for quite some time before actually finding it LOL! No TBs in cache though 2 are listed. Really enjoyed this area and cache - FP from us! TFTC Smile
 
14-May-16
Turns out we were standing on it too, cool hidey place. TFTC
 
08-May-16
Quick find! Nice spot.
 
01-May-16
Tftc
 
30-Apr-16
Took ages but wouldn't give up. Good help reading previous logs. Excellent hide. Tftc
 
20-Apr-16
Found on my 2nd visit. Really wanted this smiley as it had me completely stumped the first time. Reading back through the logs was useful. TFTC
 
14-Apr-16
No luck here. Stayed as long as I could but it's obviously well hidden.
 
12-Mar-16
Excellent hiding place! A favourite for us.
 
20-Feb-16
Got it! Took ages to find. GPS jumping about everywhere. Bring mozzie repellant! No tb's in this cache. TFTC.
 
08-Feb-16
Awesome hiding spot!!
 
08-Feb-16
Out for an evening stroll so thought we would try for this one. What a clever hiding spot. Good spot to let the dog have a run around. Thank you.
 
07-Feb-16
Very cool hide but fun
 
30-Jan-16
Have attempted to find this previously with no success. I swear I must have searched for a good couple of hours or so over a couple of visits. It was bugging me, because it was also "close to home" for me... and I wanted that smiley!
So today, I decided to "phone a friend"- and bought along a previous finder, who steered me in the right direction. Wow, what a neat hiding spot! Good sized container, too. I am certain that previously I had searched inches from this spot- just not that exact spot!

TFTC! Glad to get this off my to-do list!
 
26-Jan-16
Tftc. Nice quick find in a lovely area I never knew existed.
 
16-Jan-16
TFTC was a nice scenic walk and took me awhile to find. Few muggles around walking and cycling. First cache of 2016 Smile
 
02-Jan-16
Found on 26.12.15 with Auckland Reindeer. Logged it on my phone, but it didn't work, so now doing it on the computer. We had been to find this one some time ago but Mr 7 was getting bitten alive, so we abandoned the search. If only we had realised how close we were to finding it!! Quick easy find once we were on the right side of the creek. TFTC
 
26-Dec-15
We had attempted this cache a while ago but were in the wrong place. So today was the day the we were going to find it.

After taking the scenic route driving to a nearby parking spot, we got out and headed towards the cache. Luckily, today there were only a few muggles out on this track. We could see where we were searching the previous time and realized that only a short walk would have taken us to the area where the cache was hidden.

Anyway, followed the phone to the approximate coordinates and stared searching. I stood on the area where the cache was hidden (not broken or damaged due to the good hide) and realized that this must be the place that it was hidden. Removed the camo to retrieve the cache and got master chrisandmum to open the cache. Signed the log and then then master chrisandmum replaced the cache. He didn't like the feel of the grass on his legs so I had to carry him out and we were on our way to the next cache in the area.
 
21-Dec-15
Was about to give up, and then looked and there was
 
14-Dec-15
Nice easy find to start off the day. TFTC
 
18-Nov-15
ACCIDENTALLY FOUND IT! TFTC
 
18-Nov-15
Swapped some loot! What a clever hiding space. The area smells funky though haha TFTC
 
16-Nov-15
Thankfully found the cache, but lost both dogs to a very large old rabbit hole.
TFTC
 
15-Nov-15
Almost gave up. And suddenly it's there!
 
08-Nov-15
Awesome box, had fun finding, thank you!!! Was a bit hard. Keep looking you'll find it
 
21-Oct-15
A nice quick find. Nice hide. Has me stumped for a while. TFTC.
 
10-Oct-15
Pretty easy
 
10-Oct-15
Went up the bank, down the bank, around the bank... Then has an oh man I'm dumb moment
 
27-Sep-15
What a gorgeous park! That bridge is worth a foto too. The cache wasn't hard. The clues sorted it. Then carried on walking in the now hot sun.
 
26-Aug-15
That was a hard one!!!
We gave up, but the shame took over so we turned around and finally found it.
With ErikSi and Cianne
 
19-Jul-15
Was really hard to find. Think someone took it Sad had something good to put inside but didn't get to.
 
01-Jun-15
Found it. Clever disguise. Tftc
 
31-May-15
Think someone took it
 
27-Apr-15
Too hard for us today. Daughter was pretty disappointed as it sounded like a good one. Had a good look around the bush and got plenty of bites (AFTER applying bug repellent- those mozzies were determind!) but to no avail Sad could only see a couple of rocks and checked around them too but nada Sad
 
05-Apr-15
Smile Found while out for a bit of a walk with Mrs McMike2012 ... interesting history here, what with the nearby bridge & walkway ... we obviously approached from the wrong direction, & ended up almost doing a full circle ... then it was an easy find & quickly replaced ... TN:LN:SL ... TFTC ... #872 for us.
 
21-Mar-15
Out here in Pakuranga for a bit of OSM mapping and had time for a few caches. Well placed away from the path as a few muggles using the warm weather for their walks .
Many thx for bringing me here!
 
05-Mar-15
We were in the area for a nearby FTF so decided to head over to find this one while we lingered in town, just in case there were more publications in this part of town! Smile

Walked to GZ by torch light and disturbed a neighbours dog, but quickly found the cache, great to see a good sized cache here with lots of goodies. TFTC