Kaharoa Kokako Track (Rotorua) Rotongata, North Island, New Zealand
By GenCuster (adopted from jgarvey) on 20-Mar-05. Waypoint GCN5D9

Beautiful walk, such a reward finding the stream at the end, but DNF after a good while looking. Lots of debris washed down the stream, perhaps the cache too?

Caches like this one is why I started geocaching a long time ago. And achieved the aim of hearing a Kokako by being here early in the day. Cache in good shape for its age.

Down in Rotorua for the weekend with Vistra, staying with my family. We enjoyed this lovely walk down to the stream and back. We had to abandon our shoes for the stream crossing, but quickly located the cache on the other side. Vistra found a lollypop in the cache that was all sticky and yucky, so we removed it. Thanks for taking us to this lovely spot and TFTC!

Down in Rotorua for the weekend with AliGle, staying with her family. Discovered this nearby track that we hadn't done before, so we set off this morning to check it out, it was a lovely walk down to the stream and back. Took my shoes off to cross the stream and quickly located the cache on the other side. Took a lollypop out of the cache that was going manky. Loved it down here, fav point added for the location! TFTC!

What an awesome spot. Feels so hidden away from the surrounding world. The stream at the end along with the overhanging rocks make it well worth the walk. We would love to come back when there’s less water and try walking further along the stream. Such a beautiful spot. Thanks, fp for the location

Yay found it after some searching! Tftc

Never knew of this bush area so pleased that there were caches along the track that brought me here. Great walk. Spent some time enjoying the stream bed before I went and made the find. Had to search a couple of time before spotting it. Thank you for the placement.

Nice one without getting wet

Exploring our back yard, lovely walking track and fun finds with the family.TFTF

First find of the day. A lovely bush walk with friends and a few caches along the way. Thanks for the hide

Great walk with the kids and friends. But cold in the gully but well worth it

Very special place to visit! We had fun trying to work out gz as GPS was quite useless, and the hint certainly helped! TFTC!!

Forgot a pen to sign but nice hiding spot. Hint certainly helped

This was our final cache of the track. These were found on 30 June but we are only now having time to log. This was just the most amazing spot - the walk down was stunning and the river crossing was a heap of fun that required the family to work as a team to all remain upright. The GPS did bounce around down here but eventually kept pointing us in the right direction - and with a help from the hint we soon had the cache in hand. We rested in a small sliver of sun and refueled for the walk back. It was incredibly cold and we couldn't feel our fingers but we thought this was a very special place and we were so pleased to have discovered it, a fav point from us. In answer to the CO's question - we would never have even known that this amazing area existed if it wasn't for the cache placements - so thanks!

Wow. Stunning place! Slippery but fun getting to the cache, not sure I would make it if there was much more water!

TFTC GenCuster (adopted from jgarvey) #755, 16 June 2019

You (we) never know where we will end up next. Yesterday tramping up to find (unsuccessfully) a cache at Orokawa Pa and today way up here. After taking a slight (inadvertent) detour we finally arrived at this track. What a treasure. An absolute delight to walk this track. We heard a lot of bird chatter, mainly tui and fantails, but robins followed us and we are sure we heard a kokako. Very special. As others have described, we crossed over the stream and the hint led us straight to the cache - all in good order. Thanks so much for the cache placement Gen Custer.

Awesome down hill walk in a very special place ...the area was alive with bird life and song....this took a few minutes to find ( very thankful for the hint)...the cache is in great condition ...The GPS had me quite a few meters away, apart from that what a special place...thanks Gen Custer for the placement that has stood the test of time well done

Beautiful spot and even more rewarding with a quick cache find added in.
TFTC! Miss 4 swapped something from the cache for a blue unicorn.

Great scenery and location. Walk was enjoyable down. Not so much back lol. Whew. Once here found the cache pretty quickly. Signed and replaced from where i found it. Gets a fave from me

#6456. The family are staying in Rotorua for a few days. Today we have to drive back to Wellington. But there was time in the morning for a short visit to Kaharoa while the rest of the family went kayaking. I was last up here in 1980s. Back then there were lots of kiwi and kokako in this reserve. Hopefully the pest management has allowed these species to thrive. Certainly heard a lot of forest birds calling this morning. Had forgotten how attractive the bush was in this area. Great to see the abundance of Alseuosmia along this track. Must be very fragrant in spring. Bit of a steep descent into the gully floor. Loved the stream bed. Had forgotten how special these Mamaku gully streams are. The coordinates had me on the wrong side of the creek. So followed the hint and headed for a likely place. Was very pleased to find the cache in first place checked. Signed the log and replaced the cache as found. Thanks jgarvey and GenCuster for the cache. An excellent track to put out geocaches and encourage more people to visit this stunning part of primeval NZ. It took me 25 minutes from here back to the car including finding one cache on way back and looking around unsuccessfully for another.

On arrival looked at the hint and saw where we needed to be. Made out way across with no problems of slippery rocks as previous finders had mention. Just as I was looking a voice goes found it. Really? Lol!! Yep my daughter got me again. So after the find we decided to go on further. Bit like the Lost World in places down there. Quite fun. Rocks were slippery down there. Went as far as I could. Great afternoon out. Pick up tb. Tftc

I need to start this log off with a big thank you to tryfyn as I wasn't coming out here unless I knew the caches were in place. Finally at the last one and boy are those rocks slippery. The cache did elude us for a little while as it was pretty well hidden but an accurate hint and a little perseverance eventually paid off. I felt really isolated here so it was nice to be heading back up to the car. Cheers DOCBOP for the introduction to the Kaharoa Kokako Trust and this walkway. Naturally I'd never known about this area if not for the caches you've placed. TFTC

***

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I came out here a couple of weeks ago with the intent of locating all the caches along this bush track. Cache 1, 2 and 3... all located, signed and returned. Carried on down to this cache feeling pretty darn successful. Found what I thought were the hint items... and started looking... and kept looking... and looked some more. Then I took my shoes off so I could scramble around a bit more... nothing. I wasn't willing to log a DNF when in reality I knew it HAD to be there and I just couldn't find it this time. Came back this afternoon with 'The Mr'... told him all about this cache and how beautiful the track was etc etc. Got to GZ and said... You look and I'll read you out the clue so that you're looking with fresh eyes. Apparently he'd already read the hint on his phone because within a couple of minutes of arriving he called out... 'Found it' and held it up with pride (and a bit of a smirk!) Have to admit that I was pleased he'd found it.... but did he have to find it so darn quickly??? Anyway, thanks for the cache and bringing us to a beautiful part of the bush. Definitely worth a favourite point from me!

Fancied a good bush walk and this wasn't too far to drive today. All ready for an early start but Geocaching was having issues. Thought it had been sorted for a late start but quickly became obvious that I had no off-line data. Switched to MRS tryfyn's phone for this cache as she had hint and logs. Spotted the hint from across the river but couldn't find a plausible hide. Moved up the very slippery rocks and soon realised the GPS was a joke today so went back to my original hunch, searched a little more thoroughly and the cache was soon in hand. This is a lovely little glade but you take your life in your hands over those rocks! TFTC.

After a few dnfs we were getting a bit frustrated. A little bumbling around with gps all over the show my lovely wife says it should be here and low and behold it is....magic for a magic place tftf

2nd attempt, this time I read everything before I left, and still thought it'd be difficult with the hint once i was there, but stumbled across it rather quickly. I took Matt with me this time, as last Friday I said its such a beautiful walk and area and stream, and it was way more beautiful today after some rain, than it was last week! Thanks for keeping this one active A favourite from me And I didn't slip over this time either hehe

23/07/16 14:45 Replaced the log with a waterproof variety. Cache still exactly where I found it, many years ago, before I adopted it. Stream was forded by a large step over the rushing water and I proved that my new walking shoes were as advertised - waterproof! I guess the extra $50 for the 'gautex' tag actually meant something! Yay! Removed old log for verification of signatures. Thanks for taking the effort to come and find this cache at this very special spot. And to DOC for 'caching' the way in... Cheers, GC.

NB: just realised that I found this cache in Feb 2006. That makes the finders of this cache a pretty special bunch - found on average about 5 times a year - it's a 'not about the numbers' cache. 'Nuff said...

Very, very cool spot. Love old caches, love that old school kind of caching. Would do one cache like this over 50 park and grabs anytime. Impressive stream and gorge, in the rain it was a peaceful place. The GPS has not been reliable today, and no different in the gorge, first pointing 19m in one direction, and when I walk across there pointing in another. sveppi says she can guess where the cache is, so we walk there together, and I spot the lid from 2m away. Logbook a bit damp, GenCuster replaced it with waterproof logsheet. Gets a fav from me. Shame these caches don't get found more often, but at the same time gives us the opportunity to feed priviledged about finding these places and having them to ourselves.

Wow, what a lovely walk down here and an amazing spot. I so love discovering caches in these kind of locations. Nice to see an old cache still in play. Especially peaceful in the rain (I really don't mind getting a bit wet). I have a geocoin which I was intending to drop off but thought it might just get stuck here for a while, so it's visiting instead. Gets a favourite point from me for location and age. TFTC

Nice area for a walk. Will come back some day.

Lovely spot but no luck today

It was a very hot afternoon in Rotorua, so the family decided a lovely bush walk in the cool would be a great idea. We left a very pregnant mother (due in 8 days) and a not so pregnant grandmother at the start of the track to enjoy the bird life and prepare a picnic afternoon tea for us on our return. The two grandchildren raced off ahead along the track and picked up the DOC caches along the way. Down we went to the stream bed and without any help from me, 4CJ found the hiding place using the hint. The logbook was wet but we managed to sign it. 4CJ managed to fall in to the water while crossing back over the slippery rocks. Everyone was amused except him. They were pretty tired by the time we climbed back up to the top, but the adults decided this was a good thing. They may sleep well and not wake us up at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning. TFTC

I went for a walk with Dad and Geega (tparty) and my little brother through the bush while Nana and Mummy sat in the shade. We found the cache but we didn't see or hear any Kokako. I fell in the river but I was happy to find the cache and now I have found nearly 100 caches all by myself. Thank you General Custer for hiding this cache for us to find.

??

Beautiful spot

Found by ScubaShandy. What a lovely spot! Bit slippery on the rocks so be careful! Thanks DOCBOP for hiding this series and introducing to this track.

Found by Kate Armstrong on our walk

Good description, easy to find. Great place!

The last cache on the walk. went to where we thought it was, walked further down stream then came back hmm it is where we thought it was.

What a wonderful walk down to this cache, log book was very damp.TFTC

Decided earlier in the week that a mission to clean up some caches between Rotorua and Tauranga. Also took a new Geocacher with me Sakura7, to show her the ropes and show her what geocaching is all about. A great day was had and with some fantastic locations visited, even if the weather was average to poor at best, still at least it wasn't cold. And as a bonus no DNF's thou it was close on a few.
Thanks to everyone for the placements.

This is an awesome place. Once we got to GZ we hunted around a little bit for the cache (with no luck) so explored down the stream a bit before returning and having another look. Overlooked the hiding spot a few times before uncovering the hide. A favourite point from me for an epic spot.

Found this cache after doing the other 3 caches on the track. Not much water in the stream today, just a trickle, but still slippery on the rocks.

Today was the first planned trip for the new year in the company of Zorgon to collect as many caches as we could between the north end of Lake Rotorua, to Pukehina and back to Te Puke.
We set off early from home and of course this was our first walk of the day into a piece of bush that I had not investigated before. THank you for brining me here as it was a very nice short walk.
THis was a most impressive spot and grateful for you bringing us here. We were pleased to see that there is a ready made natural shelter nearby.
Zorgon realised that it had be 8 years ago when he found this cache

thanks for the placement

GPS tried to take me a further 20m on from GZ but thanks to the hint I could spot the location as I approached. What a neat spot as is the whole walk in. I given this a favourite

My first geocache

A bit slppery and had to be careful, but made it with no misshaps

Hard wet but found it

Absolutely stunning and peaceful.

The green/blue feather is from a tui. The reddish bronze feather is from NZ pigeon (kereru). Have to say it had me wondering for a bit what it might be (kaka was first thought) but then remembered some of these BOP pigeons are quite bronze coloured and the fluffy feather base is classic pigeon.

This one has been our closest to home for far too long. So, today we decided to do only one cache and rack up number 1300.

This is a beautiful piece of natural bush and full of bird song. We were accompanied by several fantails and what looked like a black Robin (see pictures), while overhead the Tuis sang. We also saw a bird with the profile of a Kokako. Lots of little Rewarewa and Lancewood trees, also large Tawa and Kahikatea trees on both sides of the track.

Not too much trouble finding the cache. The log was a little damp, but still in good order. This is definitely the time of year to do this cache. Before the rains start.

We also found two feathers beside the track. One looks like it is from the bird the cache is named after. The other is a mystery. We will upload pictures tomorrow. We would appreciate information.

This one is definitely worth a fav.

Thanks GenCuster.

This was my 4th find today rocks are very slippery but your clue was spot on took about 10 minutes to find and then it was a big walk back up the hill to the car this was a very enjoyable walk through the wet forest .
I will be Logging this as part of 12-12-12 A Challenge?(Rotorua) (GC42CNY) this is the number 6 on my list of 12 caches.

17:00
Found during afternoon bike trip. Sunny day, but little bit windy. On the car park, there were 3 cars, maybe there will be someone on the track. I parked my bike close to the start of the track. Then I went to the track. Nice quiet area. When I reached the stream, there were about 14 people, 8 children and 6 adult. They were just leaving, so I jump to the stream and made a few pictures from this area. When they left, I can finally go for the cache. Nice one in a beautifull place. The stones are really slippery, I almost felt to the water. It is good that there is low water level, no need to take shoes off.

TFTC

Labour Day Monday... Out and about cache hunting and gathering. Doing some intrepid, adventure caches.

After meeting a family on their way out, had the whole place to myself. Was eerily quiet down here. Was expecting to hear lots of birds. Must be the high wind... or the birds are on holiday too.

Wow... this cache hasn't been found in over a year. Surprised not to find Howard Carter's Ghost down here trying to have a go. As it was, my Garmin said I was about 24 metres off, and then lost satellite signal... Spooky. Relied on the hint.

The cache was fine... the logbook is damp but write-on-able. A great find for the day, and nice to be here. TFTC.

Lovely walk - I have been wanting to do this for awhile - good clue TFTC

11.15am - Glad to do this one when weather was fine, good walk to an easy find but watch out for the sleppery rocks. SLTFTC

What an amazing spot. Arrived here with the Pack n,Boots tramping group and lunched beside the river, sitting in the sun. Too good an opportunity not to do the cache as well. Easily found, log book damp, but still able to be written in.
Out: TB kiwi/Tui In: card TFTC

Weather clearing up now. And it must be Spring in a day or two.

Disabled for the Winter as very wet conditions in a fragile ecosystem.

Note to the TB Owner - will endeavor to move this on ASAP.

Cache was visible from end of track without crossing, I had already crossed and due to recent deluge there was more water than usual, friends very happy they saw it without gps and pointing to it before I got there. Lovely spot, we had extra bonus of seeing a kokako in daylight. Misty and damp, dripping rocks and mosses... Took hairpins, left trackable, cache quite damp inside, log book difficult to write in. Thanks for taking me back to this lovely spot.

I thought it was time this one was visited. This was well worth the effort. As I had forgotten my glasses I had trouble reading the hint. My guesses seemed to "arse about face". Sorted in the end.
Just me and the birds on the walk. TFTC

Cache enabled. Team EJ visited as part of Rotorua's October Walking Event last weekend and reported that the original cache is still exactly where it should be and the container is dry, awaiting visitors.

Cheers, GC.

Anything happening here[?] It's been disabled for a couple of months now.

This is disabled until the weather improves. It is in a fragile ecosystem and does not need clumsy Aucklanders wrecking the environment...

A personal email would probably have sufficed.... Just be thankful I was offered the adoption to keep it going.

Weather is too disgusting for a walk in this fragile ecosystem, so a cache replacement will have to wait for another weekend. Cheers, GC.

Kaharoa Kokako Track (Bay of Plenty) was transferred from jgarvey to user GenCuster

I will get up and verify or re-instate this great cache ASAP. Thanks for letting me adopt it and keep it going jgarvey.

Disabled based on recent feedback, pending working out a way to get this verified (I am in the process of moving from Canada to California, which is closer to the cache, but not close enough!)

An afternoon walk with my son with two aims - to hear/see a Kokako and to find the cache. We were only successful with the first as we were lucky enough to have two Kokako singing and chasing each other in the tree overhead for about 10 minutes.

I suspect the cache may no longer exist as we spent considerable time checking all likely spots.

Could this cache be checked as it has been almost a year since it has been found. Both visits (ours and another) in 2010 have failed to locate the cache.

What an awesome walk ... so close to home and I never knew it existed. Had a Kokako in the tree right above me but I couldn't see it.
Could not find the cache though. I didn't have a lot of time however so used the clue straight away but still no luck.

What a great spot for a cache. Heard but didn't see some Kokakos. Doc's a bit skimpy on their time that it takes to reach the creek. We took 20 mins in and a little longer out.Left our signature card/keyring and another pen as the present one wouldn't write. Took the phone cord. TFTC

#338

What better way to spend a wet drizzly Boxing Day than to walk under the tree cover to this cache, the GPS was a bit unreliable at GZ but the hint was spot on. The river/creek bed was a bit slippery in the wet.

In Peg
Out Batman pin.

TFTC!!!!!!

We really like this walk, and did it before we realised there was a cache here. Silly us, we had to go back later to do the cache. Then, we forgot to log it [B)] Sorry about that.
Lovely place for a cache, and a picnic, and a gentle stroll. Many thanks for putting a cache in such a nice location.

Nice easy find even thought the e-trex was a bit off. We knew the track quite well as this walk is one of the schools usual school trips for 5 - 6 year olds. We were lucky enough see a kokako down by the clearing at the stream today which we had never done before. TFTC

Easy walk down to the creek not sure about the way up. easy quick find.

Left police car and Fish TB

Found it while on a visit with the Otanewainuku Restoration Trust people. Oddly enough, even though most would qualify as "muggles" no-one showed any interest whatsoever in my cache hunting..

Beautiful day, after overnight rain. Heard no kokako, but it is the breeding season and I am told they are very wary.

Noted in the logbook.

Lovely walk. TFTC.

Nice walk through the bush and found the cache easily after waiting for some other folk to leave. Stuff in cache felt a bit damp but not soggy. The track is quite an uphill haul in places on the way back ~ make sure your toddlers have their walking legs on unless you want to carry them! TNLN

Great walk down to the stream. Unfortunalty couldn't get GPS coverage. Decrypted the clue and tried a few likely sights but no luck. Fell in the stream - very sliperly rocks! Will try again another day.

What a neat place to visit. Lots of bird life but didn't see more than 3 birds. Took a few minutes to locate the cache. I walked past at first. In Badge and out whistle. Thanks

Really nice piece of bush!! Some really big Rimus in there and there seemed to be heaps more ground cover plants/ferns and young trees than normal - perhaps a good sign that the trapping is working. Heard plenty of birds calling despite it being close to midday but only actually saw a couple of fantails. Checked out what Kokakos sound like on the internet when we got home but couldn't be sure if we heard one or not.
Interesting looking through the previous logs now as we had also taken photos in the same spots that others had picked! TNLN. Highly recommend this cache!

10:20am
A well marked track.
We heard unusual birds but did not see them.
It was a rainy day, but the forest protected us from the outside weather so we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
In: Fridge Magnet
Out:Golf Ball
T4TC

Encountered a few curious birds on the way, but all so figety, we couldn't get a good picture! Oh well, looks like it would be heaps of fun in the summer, I like the look of the sandy "beaches"!!!
- tb racy car
+ nil
thanks for the cache.

19:30
Xmuggle, EJ & J also...
'City Shoes are Slippery Shoes
Luckily we had Walking Shoes...'
Beautiful early evening walk in after rainy days. Lovely spot - will definitely bring visitors here. Heard Kokako, Bell Birds, Tui, Bush Warblers(?) And Crickets

This cache is (to me) what geocaching is all about - A wee look into a place that someone else knows about. Despite living 13km (in a straight line) from here and having heard about the place, it was the first time us adults have been there. The kids have visited on school trips.

The stream would be worth a swim in on a hot day. I'd like to revisit at dusk with a torch - "Here be GlowWorms" - looked likely at about the 1km mark.

In : Orange Dragon Fly & Handipack Tissues
Out: Karabina & Notepad (Thanks from J & J)

TB In : Speedy 808 Car
?? Out: Geolutin (see http://geolutins.kikankoi.com)- this is not a TB but is ID 1213575-1315 geolutin 'Barchen' if anybody is looking for it. The website reports a '403 Forbidden' error so I will have to figure this out first.

Many thanks for thic cache - it was a magical evening.

Track meanders through a beautiful patch bush, natives are regenerating thanks to Kokako Trust eradicating animal pests..we were greeted by a small native bird on the
treck down...a flap of wings, I jumped and there she was in exact same place on our return approx 1 metre
away from us..protecting her cache no doubt..GenCuster carefully and quietly captured bird on film just on dusk..EJ &
J beat us hand's down on the way back..light fading..dusk

Just loved the walk in, although the GPS struggles. Had to resort to the clue, and a bit of a backtrack to get a decent reading and distance. This is a great area - thanks.

Beutiful walk-missed Tb by a few hours it seems.we met a car as we were driving in. TFTC

[This entry was edited by psychrn on Sunday, February 05, 2006 at 7:31:35 PM.]

thank you for bringing us here, what a magic spot. i got a great park in the 2nd carpark you put in the cache page limited space is right.
the stream was very refreshing and cold, the cache was well hidden and still dry inside

dropped 2 bugs brains and a different 1 called a geolutin. i had to take a couple of things out to fit them in sorry

Really enjoyed the walk to this magic spot. Expected to see more faces on this holiday, but had the place to myself. Stream easy to cross today.
+ nail clippers
- compass ball
TFTC jgarvey (and your hospitality ) - M@

Great walk down through original native bush. Saw and photographed some incredible fungus growth species. Thanks jgarvey for bringing us here.

Really enjoyed the walk through some pristene forest, and what a great little spot where we crossed the creek to the cache. We have let the caches guide our holiday here in NZ and its ones like this that make it all worthwhile. Thanks for taking us to a spot we never would have known about otherwise. Left batteries, took nil, wish I had the camera so I could've taken some pictures.

Early morning start to day with Anzac Day Dawn Parade' full moon was fab. Relatively easy find after slipping on rocks (even though had been warned about these). Muggles arrived while looking for cache so took a few photos. Beautiful bush walk.
Took Tasti bar (thanks) as hungry, left sticky note pad.

Heard the Kokako. Beautiful walk. Congratulations on an excellent choice of site . Highly recommended.

Headed into kokako country for a jaunt.Unfortunately did not see any kokako...only tuis.
Found it quite easily.Left a note in the diary.
TNLN.
Very pleasant walk. Beautiful Stream.Was slippery & raining
quite heavy on the way out.

Well I could claim this one as a FTF at night as I headed in at approx 8pm - well and truely dark it was, using my small pelican and led head lamp the track was fairly easy to follow (but would not recomend doing this at night unless you are fairly confident in the bush) - the waypoint was not too bad as could only get a 15m accuracy in the river bed, but still mananged to find the cache straight away with no problems...

swapped nil
thanks.

[FTF! I can't believe how difficult I made this for myself. It's pretty straightforward when you start from the correct spot, which I didn't on the first attempt. Thanks for an enjoyable walk to an interesting location.] I failed to note the sign when the correct road took a sharp left turn and I sailed merrily on in the wrong direction. If you see the "Kiwi Outback" entrance you're on the wrong road!