Okuku (Canterbury) Whiterock, South Island, New Zealand
By Sallies on 25-Jun-05. Waypoint GCPEET

An Epic mission on Heidi the Himalayan today. The mission: the caches of Lee's Valley.Tftc

#4,038: Okuku Smiley!I came out to this one on a nice 6km MTB ride up from the forest sign. Stunning weather, with no wind. It got a little chilly later in the day, but no drama.I was amazed to see another signature on the log from exactly a year ago! But it looks like the online log is from this year, which would mean we both visited on the same day. I guess they passed me on the way up in a 4WD. All in good shape, but there was some moisture in the baggie. I tried to dry it out as best I could, and rehid the container with a little more cover.Thanks for maintaining this "oldie"!SL/TFTC!!

Picked up this one up on a cool winter day. Thank you for placing this cache. Easy find but a sporty road in a 2 wheel drive at this time of year. All in good order here.

Well quite a drive to this one but was my main mission for the day. I only passed a cyclist on the way in and on the way out on the shingle. A beautiful sunny day here and a reasonably quick find by the tree. Container all good a bit damp but the waterproof log is standing up well. TFTH

A quick walk here but took a few seconds to spot it.. the camo was pretty good. The logs were a little damp, but I dried them and the bag as much as I could. Had some fun getting out, I wasn't aware of the slip and the road closure... the problem was the road closure was at the northern entrance and I'd come from the South. No drama though, I made it through ok, but finders over the next month or two may want to be aware.

Thanks for the placement!
TFTC Sallies, the cache was found in good order Signed, sealed and returned to GZ. 6 find(s) of 6 today, making this find #3109

Found with 1066. Container was full of water but drained and shook it. Where does this road come out I wonder.,,

I needed one last cache to complete the S43 latitude challenge. I need 06 and there are very few of them available. I convinced Beeba and M that we should drive all the way to "Okuku" at the top of Okuku Pass and we did. It was a lovely drive through the beech forest and pine forest. The pass was not as high as some we have been over (maybe around 600 metres, I forgot to check). The road was pretty good though there were parts I wouldn't want to do in an ordinary car. I just hoped that we would have somewhere to turn the car when we got to the top. There was a large area to turn which was great. We were glad that we didn't meet any cars on the road up the hill. When we got to GZ M and I searched and searched as per the hint. While we were doing that two utes came from the other direction. I wonder where they came from? Beeba chatted to them, telling them we were treasure hunting. When she came to help us, she read a log mentioning that the cache was closer to a tree. Is this it? I was so relieved after such a drive 7.5 km after the sealed road runs out but now I have my 06 for S43 latitude challenge which is now complete. We had a safe trip back to Christchurch so that we could have tea before our aqua fit class.

Found it

Found it (more the tree than the fence)

Not two litres.

Our last day before we head home so headed out in the car to grab anything we came across. We had 29 finds and 2 dnf's so not too bad a day. Most of our finds were nice and quick and caches need no attention. Anything extra I will detail below. Thanks to all CO's for their caches.

Had trouble locating this to begin with but knowing it was replaced and found recently we had a second look and there it was.

Great drive with son making most of his car being down here! Quick find of the cache, TFTC!!

The container has been replaced - thanks Jude E. All well now.

Found this a couple weeks ago but forgot to log here. TFTC!

Staying at Mt Thomas DOC campsite & decided to come for a drive. A quick find & everything dry inside container. Not another person around. TFTC

Good heavens! this was like Picadilly circus for a while!! The cyclist was very muddy, goodness knows what he had been through! The cache container has been replaced with a 500-750 ml round camoed container supplied by Jude_E, CO's have given permission. Old container and log have been saved if required by CO. VERY glad to get this cache for it's 43 degrees 06. I can now sign off a challenge. Our 4WDriver for the day and new cacher 3Coconuts did a sterling job in getting us safetly around the area. Our 4th lady cacher was Lytteltonwich. We had a really great day. TFTH and enjoyed the journey to the cache.Very glad I didn't take my saloon car!!

Very interesting drive up to this cache with lovely views. Supprised at the traffic, very popular place. Cyclist looked very muddy but happy and must of flown down as never saw again. Motorcross bikes also had fun. The experienced cachers with me replaced the container and log book with the owners permision and is holding the logbook. Signed this log individually. Thanks for this cache Sallies.

We were finding our way to the cache after an epic drive in when a mountainbiker appeared. He'd come from the Lee's Valley. Makes me tired thinking about it. Replaced container with 500ml round camouflaged one. Hidden as previous was. Thanks, Sallies.

Cache was a quick find by Girl Power team of Busy Paws, Coconuts3, Jude_E and lytteltonwitch. One of our group replaced the cache container with permission of the cache owner. The man who had biked up from Lees Valley looked very tired. Then a couple of men rode past on motorbikes. A busier spot than we had expected.

14.00: Our second attempt of doing the loop through the Lees Valley. Second historic cache along our tour. It took some up to the top of the Okuku Pass from "Lees", as there were a considerable number of gates to be opened and closed and there were some time-consuming negotiations with a herd of cattle which decided to reside at road for their lunch break. They all were busy with chewing the cud and the calves tried to impose against our Landcruiser. Afterwards it was quite funny but at thst time we did not know how far they would go against an unknown vehicle. The adult animals called for discipline later on and so we were able to proceed. There are a lot of forest roads in the area so it was the right idea to prepare the GPSr with a number of waypoints for intersections, bends and turns. The cache itself took a moment to find as it was very well hidden, mainly due to the activities of the local vegetation. The lid is broken, it looks as if a cattle stepped upon, there are some of them around. We used thie cache for our daily coffee break and for getting an idea which road to take as the next...[|)]

For all of you who want to ford the Okuku river on your way to/from the cache, we add the [link for a report/prediction/estimation of the water level](https://www.ecan.govt.nz/data/riverflow/sitedetails/66213). A 4WD with high clearance is definitely required for the ford as there are lots of fairly large stones in the river. And do not hold on too much to your map at the GPSr, the ford may shift - about 200 metres upstream today.

Weather: overcast, rain is over, 12°C;
Wheelchair: no, tussock embankment, within calling and viewing distance to the road;
State: soaked, lid broken, logbook wet, we gave a new one.

Thank you for bringing us here! A favourite point goes out for this one!
Oliver+Gabi

I did the loop via Lees Valley which was a great yet rough track to take. At least at this end it's a way more comfortable drive. I stopped and took my time wandering over to the cache as it was nice here to take it all in. When I did find the cache I discovered the container was fully broken. Unfortunately I didn't have any kind of spare container with me so after signing the damp logbook I put it all back together as best I could and replaced the big flat rock it had originally on top of it. It won't stay dry for long so some attention will be needed soon. Thanks Sallies for hiding this.

This geocacher reported that the container is damaged.

The Seagnoid, Zara, Toby and I are exploring around the Ashley River this weekend. Left Zara in Sefton and headed out in Toby. We have located the elusive turtle, but lets see what else we can find today.
Oh Toby and I are loving this road - but where the hell are we going. The Seagnoid knows so we should be OK. Park just past the cattle stop. Time to snag and tag this one. Cheers

Taybeedragon, Toby, Zara and I came down this way to search the nursery for the world turtle having heard it was in this vacinity. We found it yesterday, and now are just wandering around, collecting all the rest of the cache between the Kowai and Ashley rivers.

Love the drive up here, love the decent sized cache with toys for the kids (eg, me!). Gets a favourite. This road is exactly why I go geocaching! Dropped in a pathtag.

this cache helped me where the start point for hike is. logbook in good condition. found on nice day. thank you

06/05/2017 10:48:00 AM
7987
A beautiful weather day, and time to make the most of it, get out of the house, and have some fun, get some exercise. So hubby & I came here - these caches were in need of ticking off, and if there were some nice views to be had, and a big walk, hubby wouldn't mind the caches!!

So we came out here, bundled the baby in the hiking pack, ready for the walk.

A bit of a chilly breezy morning. But a quickly found cache - once I realised which way the GPS was trying to point me - felt like I was wondering in circles for ages trying to figure it out!!

TFTC!!

Great day for a wee drive on ANZAC day and found a few caches on the way

TFTC beautiful day up there today

This was the last cache I needed for the 43 degrees challenge. I stuffed up a bit because I could've found another that qualified on my way down from Arthurs pass just over a week ago. However if I had done that I would've missed out on today's wee adventure. Bounced around as we made our way up and were rewarded with a quick find and great views at the top and again on the way back down. Delighted to find this older cache today thanks Sallies. TFTC #8990

A bit of a winding drag up from the Lees Valley with a few stops on the way. I'm sure the view us much nicer when it's not raining though. Cheers

A quick find by my muggle husband. TFTC.

Quick find.

On the hunt for a cache to satisfy the 6th minute for the 43 degrees latitude challenge. It was either this or the Arthurs Pass, and having just been through there recently, there were more unfound caches near or on the way to here, so done and dusted for this end of the scale. Bit of a bumpy drive up the hill as promised, didn't come across any other cars though, which was good. Cold and blustery up here, only a tiny bit of snow and ice around, surprising since there was a bit of a blast in the city overnight. TFTC (2227)

Took a 'mental health day' with Mrs G. Dropped the boys off at school then headed out here to have a walk in the hills. Crisp clear day warming sun, big of snow still clinging to the shadows...and just a gentle waft of a breeze here at the pass. This was a quick find beside the car before heading up to Mt Karetu....cheers.

after a great drive through the ashley gorge in the motor home we made camp just above the first bridge on a nice grass area, next day we traveled on to the upper river reserve and camped there.next day we set of early as it was going to rain and did not want to have trouble with the river crossing.
as it was ok we climbed up to the okuku pass had lunch,got GC then on to home. buy the way we do have 4x4 so did ok,

Nearly 5 years since i was last here. Must have been blind back then. Montana lead me straight to it today. Quick find with Dj16 . tftc

A quick find before heading up the fenceline to Mt Karetu.

These are my favorite sort of caches, great spot that you wouldn't normally go to. Awesome view, TFTC

Out tinkering with a power trail today fairly close by so drove up to check on this one and have lunch at the top of the pass. A beautiful day. Everything clean and dry. Glad we put this one up here so many years ago - pity we can't use it for Bald Ed's challenge like everyone else can!! Will just have to come back up one day soon and risk the dicky knee further up the hill to get the 06!!! Rodney and Iris.

Stunning day today, just have to climb a hill or two. Very quick easy find, and now onwards and upwards!

Tftc

TFTC great spot, next time up will have the tramping boots on and travel to the top to grab the others.

Enjoyable drive on a somewhat misty morning.

Hoorah for Saliies - this cache ("06") is one of a rare breed for Bald Ed's S43 Challenge - ventured out this way today.
I'd love to do the round trip to Lees Valley but not at this time of year. Still some frost on the ground in places (on the road) after 2pm.
Thanks for the cache - all in amazingly good order for a relative oldie.

Out with some mates MTBing - could hardly bypass a ride-by. So nice to see a proper sized cache again. Thanks.

Slightly surprised I had not visited this one before, a bit of added impetus to do so today as minute 6 was the only one I had missing for Bald Ed's S43 latitude challenge. Nice easy drive with good road conditions, and a quick find. Not often I find a cache these days that was published before I started geocaching, which was pretty cool, but also a bonus to find such a decent sized container, a real cache!

Thanks Sallies for the placement, and keeping it going.

Came to walk up Mt Keretu with some friends. We parked the car here and this was the first cache. Laminsky found it nicely tucked away. Thanks for placing a nice big container.

Quick find tftc

About to start the hill hike to caches. First cache.

Quick find tftc

Out and about in North Canterbury today doing cache maintenance. This one is now fine. Brand new, larger, container and replenished contents. Weather today up here was terrible and the road was very slippery but no mishaps. Rodney

Logbook a mess so left a replacement in a new plastic bag. Thanks for the hide.

Found it, but found it completely saturated. Too wet to try and dry it out while we were there. Lovely drive in there. We parked up and headed on up the hill to attempt a few FTFs on the way up Mt Karetu

Found it easily enough but the contents were very soggy. Drained the container but wasn't able to log my visit in the notebook.

We found a very soggy Cache,it was half filled with water.Dried the Container out,and replaced all the Plastic Bags,and left Silica's.We usually use the warm Engine to dry out Log Sheets, but this Log Book was to thick to be able do that.Signed it the best we could.But thanks for the nice drive up here..TFTC.

TFTC. This is a fantastic place to locate a cache. The drive in was super, I love windy shingle roads. Views from the pass were impressive. Sadly I had to retrace me tracks from here - hopefully next time I will be able to explore this road more.
The alps looked so inviting today.

This ones been on my to do list for some time,TFTC

Had a clicky, sore knee for a while and went to see how it managed mountain rides again. Pleased I rode MTB up no worries enjoying the effort, the scenery and the solitude. Strong nor-wester on top but located the cache in pristine condition exactly as described. Good, fast exhilarating ride down. TFTC providing incentive to get out.

I needed to find a cache today to keep my current streak going - today is day 20. Spent a bit of time having another attempt at some nearby unsolved puzzle caches without sucess. So where to go on this very wet day? Chose this one which I had been reserving for a sunny summer day when river levels were low along with the other Lees Valley caches. Decided the others could all be done from the other end avoiding a river crossing. So I had pleasant drive. All water ways in flood and very wet and windy at GZ. A lonely cache easily found and completely dry. TFTC.

What a great drive thru Lees Valley then up thru Okuku. Good to find this one after a DNF at Lees. SL. Mopped up some moisture.

Came the long way round to find this cache. Never realised there was so much flat land back behind all those hills. An exciting time getting thru the fords and a beautiful sunny day with lots of new born lambs enjoying themselves. TFTC

I won't comment on the eye sight of the previous person to look, but it is still here, right where the hint suggests, but it was very well covered. There was a bit of snow around today in the shade. Nice area, well worth the drive. TFTC.

yesterday everything was under snow. today it was all gone. i must be blind or else it has also gone

A long way to go but an easy find once we got there.
TFTC

Enjoyed the last bit of the drive, would like to continue one day (maybe have to hire a 4WD to do so). Absolute beautiful day and good views. TFTC

Finally stopped here long enough to search & find. A family outing instead of a bike race! TNLN Cache in good condition. Thanks

Cache had not been disturbed for a while and was not easy. But it was there and I logged it on the way home from Tarn View.

[This entry was edited by Cydd on Friday, January 09, 2009 at 4:30:40 PM.]

Drove to the cache site ok but no sign of it. A great lunch spot nonetheless!

There was still a little bit of snow on the ground up near the cache - but only in the shade. Nice bush drive once you get past the forestry. Cheers Gav [2250]

A great day for a drive up here.
TFTC.

A nice easy find but I just had to wait for the muggles to change his flat tyre first. Cheers Bo

nice easy find after the long drive,
tfth,
p.s. a mutual friend Tiffany W says hi!!
traded a few swaps for the geo-kiddies

Enjoyed the drive up through the beech forest to the summit of the pass. The wind was whipping up the dust on the road. TNLN.

Parke at start of gravel road and jumped on my bike. A decent ride up to the pass, about 16km all up. TNLN

Just passin thru on the lees vally circut, another find by Mrs ST.
Thanks,
ST.
+ Flute
- Zazu

A nice quick find, nice day up here. Took whale keyring, left seashell. Thanks again Sallies for another great cache.

Bit of a drive as one of the roads is closed, but awesome views on the way.
-3D puzzle
+crystal stone

It was very slippery and slidey getting up to the pass this morning with snow on the road. Memo to BaldEd, "It's time to put the chains in the back of the 4WD - it's winter again!". + Zazu. - Zespri peeler. Thanks Sallies.

To Grandalf: thanks for the opportunity, but this old codger is still in the workforce and can't just roll out of bed everyday and ponder on which cache to visit that day. Next year it may be a different story.

Thanks Sallies for the impetus to make the trip up to Okuku Pass again - I intend to come back here very soon and do the climb to Mt Karetu. The road is indeed quite easy for most cars, though with the frozen snow on the road right now, you really should be in 4WD. Anyway, it's only a few kilometres walk or MTB up the road from the forestry operations at Ridge Rd to the Pass - but not many vehicle turning places on that stretch. A glorious sunny morning, crisp with the frost - and an FTF into the bargain. I did wait at home on Sunday for others to have a go, but couldn't resist it any more this morning - G.A.S got the better of me!! No swaps, cheers, Grandalf.