Big Bend Vista (Auckland) Muriwai, North Island, New Zealand
By tanetops on 09-Apr-05. Waypoint GCNDH4

Judging by the published logs 'Big Bend Vista' has given immense pleasure to many.
It is now ten years since the cache was placed during which time it has been logged as found 115 times.
Unfortunately recent developments in the forest have made access more difficult by the felling of trees within the cache area. Regretfully it is time to call it a day and archive the cache

Visited cache area today. Major changes have occurred with felled trees blocking easy access to cache.
Need time to re-assess the situation and see if the cache is still viable.

Didn't find it. Lots of trees cut down

Well this is my first Geocache find!

I had heard about Geocaching before but didn't really know the mechanics of it and how it works.

So today I was out walking the dogs along the river in Muriwai and we came to our usual place on the river where we play fetch with the dogs in the water and today I decided to walk up the very steep sandy hill. I wasn't planning on going right to top as it's extremely sandy and very hard work and high but for some reason I kept going even through cut pines which caused some scratching and bleeding to my legs.

I reached the top and then saw a child's lunch box on hidden nicely next to the tree at the top of the bank. I thought someone had left their lunch behind but when I opened it I found lots of little gems and a log book and then it clicked - it's a Geocache. So I ended up writing a log entry - and the piece of paper said to go to geocaching.com to log it. So now I've signed up, properly understood what Geocaching is and I'm very interested to do more. I searched around my house (I live on a slightly remote rural gravel round near the sea with some walkways- only to find their are at least 10 caches within 2 kms of my house). Time to go searching!

My first find! (on 2 Nov with pazzabella)

Plenty of scrambling needed now pines have been pruned. Tftc

A nice easy cache, after the nightmear one i did up the hill. This location has to be awesome fun come summer, screaming down the bank into the river below. So coming back

Revisit.. passing by with lochy, who's phone had her spinning in circles.. so helped out with 62s ... but turns out it wasn't needed at gz.. the box was sitting right out in the open on a bed of needles..? Disguised it under some organics...

This entry was edited by alligatorsnz on Tuesday, 22 July 2014 at 07:35:25 UTC.

Out on a stroll with Alligatorsnz. lovely Blue sky today. new phone that seemed to have good accuracy but then I didnt seem to have the capacity to follow it too well thank goodness the 62s rescued me...all ready for the hunt at GZ but it was in plain sight. Has a neat little TB that we dropped off. Picked up the TB in cache. disguised the cache and off we went...thanks!!

Out with Tufty for another day in Muriwai to pick up those we didnt get last time we were out this way. Parked at the marked car park and set off for our long walk.

Tufty already had this one and knew a good way to get to it without having to battle the sand dune, yay.

Took a little bit of finding, but got there, and left TB.

Thanks for the cache

Walked passed here a few times in the past but have never really had the opportunity to find this one, that hill is a lot steeper than it first appears.

Had to take our shoes off to cross the stream to get to this one. Mad scramble up the sand bank and found it with the help of the clues. TFTC.

Maintenance issues long since resolved. Goodbye spanner in the works

A nice quick find after going to the cache at Lake Okaihau

Good place to have this cache, can get it either on way to or way back from 'the only one', nice vista alright, I filmed it around sunset - after finding the cache, which looked just beautiful! TFTC.

Approached this from the bottom coming from my previous cache find so I got to start with a trek up the side of the dune.

This took a lot longer than it should of, I was searching all about to no luck when after about 15 minutes or so I spotted the cache; it was pretty easy after all.

Thanks!

What a great spot-haven't ventured out this way before so thanks for bringing us here.

First day of geocaching. I've walked past this location thousands of times and never knew it was here! TFTC

Awesome location, watch out for the hot black sand!

Found originally as part of rebel98 team, now created own account, re-logging as rustynz

If there is a hard way to get to the cache, I thing I usually find it! See rebel98 log below. Thanks again for the hide.

Not the easiest GPS going wild, located eventually. Beautiful spot lots of dogs out enjoying the stream. Tftc

Came the hard way in that we climbed up the hill, it was only when taking photos I realised we had walked past the cache at stream level. We had come from a top track, so when following the GPS, it took me on a loop and then pointed up. Used the clue to find cache, although it was about 3m at GZ. Had a look at previous photos, you can see how much the trees have grown already. A bit hot to be out walking, but it was a good excuse to come and explore parts that we had not been to before. Thanks for bringing us here.

The stream very popular with swimmers on this hot day. Lovely walk outto gz. Found on second try. Tftc

Great cashe contents for kids though it was tough going carrying the 2 yr old & dragging the 4yr old...

Lovely view, have brought the dogs here many times pre-cacheing.

Have taken pathtag

This entry was edited by NZHobbits on Wednesday, 08 January 2014 at 02:29:35 UTC.

This entry was edited by NZHobbits on Wednesday, 08 January 2014 at 02:30:06 UTC.

Lovely area to explore on a bright winter's day. TFTC PINO (Pathtag in nothing out).

Out for a stroll letting the presence of un found caches dictate the exact route... warm enough in winter to have the shirt off!

Looks like i had the old clue -must have loaded the cache on to the gps some time ago, but still managed to find it with a bit of observation at ground level once i knew how big it was... and previous logs...:[)

This entry was edited by alligatorsnz on Tuesday, 25 June 2013 at 09:26:53 UTC.

Coordinates changed from:
S 36° 48.587 E 174° 25.733

Coordinates changed to:
S 36° 48.592 E 174° 25.732

Distance from original: 31 feet or 9.4 meters.

The cache location is no longer viable due to geological disturbances.
The helpful hint should guide you to the new location

My first cache Found it, but the stumps gone due to erosion..

GPS all over the place, searched by the wrong stump for a bit but got there eventually
Nice hide .. Tftc

Found it after a bit of bush-wacking! SL. TFTC

#1,137, quick find. TFTC

We started off on the wrong track so arrived at GZ by going cross country... GPS was wandering around so we used observation and came up trumps. t4tc

Walked along the river and scrambled up bank. Great spot. TFTC.

TFTC

Found after a nice walk, awsome view from the top. Thanks for bringing us here.
TFTC

Brilliant fun out with family & Budakan!

Came in from the top - the pampas/cutty grass was out to get us but made it through. Certainly a nice vista. T4TC

Found on the way back from the View of Okaihau cache. Attacked it from the road rather than scramble up from the riverside track. Took a few moments to find. Thanks for the cache.

We startled a deer on the track at the start of the walk, which was a nice start. Eventually found the required stump at GZ but no cache was found NE (magnetic) from its location. Eventually found more NNE which sounds close enough, but made a big difference at the actual site. A great vantage point to view the surrounding area. The dog spent most of the time retrieving sticks from the creek. TFTC

This entry was edited by tparty on Monday, 09 July 2012 at 07:57:55 UTC.

Great stroll along the river to this one. Have spent lots of time running through this forest but didnt know the block to the north had been felled. Certainly made the area feel new to me. After trying to avoid the full scramble I finally decided to trust the gps and the nice hint meant I soon had the cache in hand. Always a sucker for a great vista and this one didnt disappoint and enjoyed celebrating the find. Sent a few texts to my mate hanjac to explain where I was and about the spot.
The photo is for him but if you want to see it in full colour you will need to visit.
Drooped a TB I found in a bat infested cache in Hong Kong last week. It wanted to visit NZ so thought this was a good place for it to start its visit.
TFTC and this one easily earns its fav point. TFTC

Great, loved the scramble up, took a couple of minutes (we're new to this!) but got it. Took a smiley face magnet, left a spiderman tattoo. Thanks tanetops!

Found at 4:11 PM on 5/04/2012.

Nice stroll along the path by the stream, didn't take too long before I had the cache in hand.

TFTC tanetops

Definitely a favourite spot for me. Was a bit of a bush bash to get here, but once arriving at the right spot, and finding the right stump, cache was quickly located. Time was made to sit and enjoy the view for a bit, before strolling out and onto the next one. Thanks for bringing us out here!

Doing a few caches out this way today and found ourselves searching for this one. Initially our trajectory was a little low but nothing a quick scramble up the sand couldn't fix. Next issue was finding the right spot to start searching which was hampered more by the awesome view than anything else. Quick find when we got the right one. Great spot, TFTC

Wow, what a spot. Pity about the ants, I can still feel them on me as I type this! Took a badge, left a cider cap. Thanks.

Hint... the cache is suspended in mid air?

Well, after spending too long in the heat and not finding it we jumped down the sand-bank and strolled back along the stream.

Pays to work out which tree stump and be careful not to fall off the cliff

Nearly took all of Auntie minxies iphone battery to find this one! Put paid to our other searches in the area for the day. Mental note, charge phone before hunt Cheers

Really enjoyed today, walking in some beautiful countryside thanks for bringing us out here. + Daphne - Ducky TFTC

Beautiful walk on a sunny day. Nice tricky one. Lucky we like climbing cliffs. Left a trackable - rubber ducky.

Found during a nice winters day out!

Found with the able assistance of J&J's and 3 dogs

Newbees couldnt find it

From previous experience making an orientering map, getting there was familiar and easy, apart from the scramble up. GPS said 20m to GZ but failed to say that was also 20m vertical. I was seriously stumped by the hint which gave a direction from a feature, but when I ultimately found the cache the direction was 80 degrees different (using true north). Excellent views. TFTC.

What a nice hide. We were down and the black sand was so hot, unbelievable hot. Needed to walk all the way round.
Not as easy as you think...but happy to find it.
Will reward this one with a favorites point.

Great walk up the river to the cache. The dog thought all her Christmases had come at once. In and out of the water. Great stuff. Thanks.

Forestry was marked as closed due to "harvesting", but popped over to nab a quick one. Area busy with dog walkers (as we were), Great spot and will be back to explore more of the area soon when it is open.

A great place, we are definitely coming back in warmer weather to slide into that bend !

Had a nice walk in the middle of the night waiting for another cache to become available . Nice spot. Dropped off TB. TFTC

Out and about caching in the area. Moon so bright tonight we didnt even need to use torches to get to GZ. TFTC.

Cool spot. Plenty of dog walkers strolling past below. Cheers! TFTC

Dropped off the geocoin
:I

OCHYA5 A bit barking mad this one!

A very hot day today, and everyone else was parking and heading for the beach. We parked and headed up into the pine forest. Turned off the track where our GPS pointed, and walked through the trees until . . . WHOA! That IS a Big Bend Vista! Thanks for showing us.

# 1330

nice area, close to where we live. Much more interesting when your cacheing.

A zombie film was being filmed near the cache and we met lots of people dressed in strange outfits.

[This entry was edited by facalis on Sunday, January 17, 2010 at 12:01:41 AM.]

We know this area quite well from the orienteering events here. We knew we were in for a hot walk, but it wasn't too bad on this beautiful day. Thanks, Tanetops and Happy New Year.

Have been through this area lots of times orienteering but this has never been a control site! Had to make a special trip but did visit the gannets at the same time. TFTC

A great spot and easier to find than I thought it might be. Just look for the easy way throught the trees, I had three little ones with me who made no comments. Will come back to the big bend. TFTC

Out with TWS, FMZ and -OGP-. FMZ and TWS had found this one so -OGP- and I headed out through the cutty grass (Have the cuts to show for it too). Should have know there was an easier way which we found on the way back to FMZ and TWS. TFTC

[This entry was edited by Gadget-tron on Sunday, November 29, 2009 at 12:34:59 AM.]

Out with Gadget-tron, Funkeymonkeyzone and The Wonderstuff.

Gadget and I pushed through the Toi Toi on the way in and came back a little differently.

Highly reccomend a direct approach as soon as the GPS right angles from the trail. If you wait for the end of the fenceline you have to beat through the Toi Toi.

Great little overlook of the bend at GZ. It would make a nice slide spot too.

TFTC

We had attempted to visit the two caches in the area during winter however the access ways were closed off. No problems todat and an easy find after we battled our way through the Christmas trees. T4TC.

Great cache with cool look out.

TNLN

TFTC

Found it, and it was beat up pretty bad :-0
Had a large zip-loc bag, and have sealed it up, but it have put it back in the same place.
WARNING: Noticed young muggles 'surveying' area later....

Another great location in a beautiful beach settlement. Found this with nongeocaching family members. TFTC. Took bangle, left snooker ball keyring and balloon. Fun departure!

One of the best things about caching is that you get to see parts of the place where you live you never knew existed! BookwormMum, Kayaknkiwi, Indiana Jill and I followed a lady walking her dog up the road. Thought she might have been another GCer. We veered off to the left and followed the gps to the GZ. Cute baby pine trees along the way! Lovely view from the GZ. TNLN. TFTC!

A part of Murawai I'd not been too before - followed a woman walking her dogs up the road then struck off from there. Couldn't understand what the title was about and then ta da! amazing view! Thanks so much!

Lovely walk even on a damp day. SB liked the baby pine trees. I gotta remember to mark where we leave the car though. This woulda been a good place to get turned around in, except the sound of the surf kept me right. KnK & BWM make up our team. Thanks for the cache and the journey.

Off caching with Indiana Jill, Seattle's Best and Bookwormmum today. What an amazing area, I would amagine that there would be some great tracks to explore here. Few good kodak moments. Thanks for bringing us here. TFTC.

We found it fairly fast. We scrambled around up and down the bank, and through the bushes, we didn't realise untill after that there was a path!

This was on our list to find today however there are large signs across all the access roads stating that the area is presently closed to public access due to large trucks. Keep Out! There were no dates given on when it would be open again [?].
Will attempt this one again at a later date.

Nice place for a cache, lots of dog walkers out.
But no trackables in the cache

Rough and windy day at the beach , Muriwai at it's best.
It's amazing how far the sand has spread from the beach.
TFTC and walk, vista
Jim

Great cache location but swamped with ants.
Out Micky
In ???

Was in the area so poped by to drop off Mickey Travel Bug and picked up the travel gnome

Quick find on a nice day on the way to the beach. Left travel bug took hair clips. TFTC

A nice quick find was made, after doing the nearby Woodhill Walkabout. A nice Vista!
TNLNSL
TFTC

#501

[Lovely spot and, depending on the route one takes, a nice cardio work-out for man and dog! Despite light rain and a torn bag, the cache is fine if a little careworn. Replaced torn ziplock bag with a new one.

+ Badge
- Simpson key ring.]


As for the hint, which of the *many* stumps?

The Yeo Geo team sprung us at GZ. Nice area, and view, TFTC.

- GC(bf)

TFTC!!

In simpsons keyring

Out- Scissors

A quick find with The Wonderstuff after doing the Bombing Run. Liked the view of the lazy old river from GZ.

In: Wind up Bug

Out: Pink Car

T4TC.

#943
Easy find. Muggled Zork and TWS, so we let them do all the hard work. Nice views of the big bend.
TNLNSL, TFTC

Out celebrating Hopeful #2's end of exams. We had such a beautiful day finding this cache. However, be warned that there is a grumpy ranger in the vicinity who is convinced that driving to the cache site is prohibited (even though the sign doesn't say anything of the sort). Anyway, that didn't dampen our spirits as we decided to enjoy the stroll to GZ. Hopeful #3 even had a great time sliding off the dropoff into the stream!

Edit: Forgot to mention that the ziploc bag in the cache has a large tear in it. Apologies that we didn't have a backup with us for replacing, but it may need some attention soon as the logbook is liable to get wet.

[This entry was edited by 2 Hopefuls on Tuesday, November 27, 2007 at 1:50:06 AM.]

After a bit of shoe shuffling to compensate for the loss of shoes at the Bombing Range cache nearby, Paua clopped up to the cache in her good sandals and still managed to find it first! Nice view over the River bend. TFTC.

Chose the correct side of the stream today.

In: dice
Out: geocoin

Thanks,
Chris & Vera

Wonderful spot for a picnic! TFTC!

This cache had been found by muggles but everything seemed OK.
In: Geocoin
Out: Nil
Cheers for the cache.

Found with no worries at all. Lovely area for a walk. TFTC

Out: Ski Bunny Kiwi TB

Found ourselves on the wrong side of the stream (Google Earth lied!)

Next time.....

Chris.

Wow! Didn't expect this view. Quick easy find. TFTC

Dropped off Ski Bunny Kiwi TB while walking the dog in the forest.

An easy find with a great view at the cache. A woman and her dog parked themselves directly below me by the stream - they knew not I was there. TNLN, cheers!