Parachute (Nelson/Marlborough) St Arnaud, South Island, New Zealand
By Q moto and Muzzman on 03-Sep-05. Waypoint GCQDQ4

Nice hide and awesome views! Heading back down now, slowly and surely. Thanks

While on my 21 walking holiday with Rose this was our challenge for the day. Got to top and disappointed that no view due to the mist but glad I get this reward. Going down was another reward. Lovely green space here. Greetings from Australia

Yet another great hike with rewarding views. TFTC

Nead Maintenance......!snapfish2 from Switzerland

Our NEW ZEALAND - TASMANIA - AUSTRALIA JOURNEY takes us to beautiful places and provides us with an incredible number of wonderful moments and experiences.Occasionally we also visit a few GeoCaches along the way.Found the can easily and lured out of the bushes for a short time.Thank you for placing, maintaining and caring snapfish2 from SwitzerlandPS: Translated with the Deepl app

Pretty easy find, but unfortunately the inside of the geocaching is damp. I was able to use the broken pencil and record my visit though. Thanks for the geocache.

I decided to head up to St Arnaud Range, make a day of it, and include the Loop Track and the Honeydew Track for good measure! A good day for sure! I am grateful for having found this one - thank you for keeping it going! Amazing spot. TFTC!!

Perfect view from here. Found it on the way back from the top. TFTC

we pushed on to the top and picked this one up on the way back down again! tftc - what a great day!

Beautiful day out. We made it to parachute rocks in just 3 hours. After a well deserved lunch, the group went to the top of the hill, while I rested my ankle. I took the time to look and log the cache. It was a it to reach, but the rating doesn't lie. Both container and logbook were in good condition. Thanks for adding these to the track.

The greatest cache ever!

Headed up to the Lake for a hill climb as the hills around home are closed due to fire risk.
I had been meaning to get to parachute rocks for ages...and now there is a few more caches to encourage me.
Made it!! - Yay - was feeling very tired when I got up here...changed my mind about going up any further as there was quite a few muggles around. Found cache quickly before being spied.
Such amazing views from up here - I will have to go higher next time.
TFTC Q moto and Muzzman

Great hike today with Ricardinho
TFTC

The goal cache for the day. We soaked in the views waiting for a couple of other parties to leave the summit, then we got our photo ops. On the way down quickly grabbed this cache, which is it good condition. TFTC and views.

We have a full day in St Arnaud, but the weather is not really playing ball. It’s a bit gloomy and cold but at least it’s not raining - that was yesterday - so we have decided to shuffle up parachute rock. Of course if it did precipitate it’s snow to 1200 metres today, so things could get interesting.
But up we go anyway, prepared for the worst, and in the end it turns out to be a pretty comfortable walk. It’s bitterly cold above the treeline and we see some bad weather rolling down the lake, so that dispels any semblance of interest in going further up. But otherwise it was all good. 9 caches attempted and all found as well, a good adventure.

You can imagine the excitement in our house hold when we spotted some new caches yesterday that were on the way to this one. If we could find them (or at least one of them) that would take care of our monthly ftf to keep our streak going.
A message was sent to BigglesNZ to see if he was keen for a walk as we have been known to both go for ftfs out in the wopwops near the start of the month. It was arranged for an early morning pick up. BigglesNZ arrived in his little sports car and we zoomed up to the lake. Boots on and away we headed.
Made good progress up the hill and to our delight we found the three ftfs. As we were so close to this one it was decided to take a bit extra time so that I could sign this one off too. BigglesNZ has already found this one, so I was grateful that he allowed me the time to include this one in todays tally.
Thanks for placing this cache and thank you for the smiley.

A long weekend and a chance for a break (and some work). After Mrs and Master B taking on the Parachute Rock walk yesterday, today was my turn. All good here but I took the opportunity to clear out all the rusty trinkets. I also added some RITR paper that lasts a bit longer than paper paper. Container is still ok. Not much of a view today so not heading up to the ridge and no cache there anyway. This should add a few more hundred metres of elevation to the Everest Challenge goal.

Spent a few Days traveling through the Nelson Lakes National Park and this day after doing the St. Arnaud Range Track have gone to do the Loop Track.
Thanks for hiding this Cache at an amazing Place in the National Park. This was such an exhausting way up. But what aren't we doing for a Cache?!
Log was pretty wet, so dried it and gave it some new sheets of paper!
TFTC

This geocacher reported that the container is damaged.

Found this on our very exhausing way to the summit. Very nice place including a spectacular view.

TFTC danifischi

Logbook is totally wet, should be replaced.

Instead of putting a "needs fix" I thought I would put a note just to say that if you read this in advance that you may like to take a new note book in a snap lock bag and something to dry the cache out with as it is pretty wet in side. Cheers fellow cacher elliot13

Found the cache nice day lots of snow the cache was too wet to sign but took a pic of the location.

Very soggy, tftc

Exploring with johgusta, this week's camp hosts at Kerr Bay. Found on our day trip to St Arnaud Range.

TFTC

Sad to report that everything is quite soaked

So cute place and view thanks for invite.

Weather forecast not the best but headed off anyway. Too wet at home for outside jobs so a nice walk beckoned. Arrived at the lake with spits of rain falling and questioned my desire for this cache. Hardened up and 2 hours later had the cache in hand. No sooner was the log signed and photo taken, the hail started - timing is every thing! Sorry to report that the log book is VERY wet, no chance to dry out given the conditions. Had no replacement as this was a hurried trip. Hopefully the next caller will be in a position to dry/replace log book etc. Awesome spot for a cache. Need more of these higher ones. TFTC.

This cache has been on my to do list for a while as I need a few caches where the climb is over 800 meters as part of a challenge. Today seemed like a good day to go for it. I had to have lots of breaks on the way up, it's a hard slog but the view at the rock made it worthwhile. The track was very busy I counted well over 10 separate groups. One woman I spoke to said it's worth the extra 40 minutes up to the ridge to see down into the Wairau Valley, no cache there so no need to go. Another woman I spoke to said it's not a very nice section to come down so I as happy just to sit at the rock and enjoy the view. A lot quicker trip back down again.

I'm pleased I made the effort it was a lovely walk. Next time I'm kayaking on the lake I'll look up here and think about the view. Thanks for the cache

#6192

This is a great cache in a fantastic spot. Some of the best views around. Love the ridge and cache.

View from top is so amazing! Found cache with no problem. Thanks

Had a nice walk to this spot and because of the snow quiet exciting. But could find the cache and log it without problems.
Thanks for hiding it.

TFTC
Beautiful views from up here, even better from the ridge!

What an amazing spot! I HIGHLY recommend hiking the extra 30mins up to the St Arnaud Range verge to see some even more spectacular views. Thanks for the cache

Walked along from Rainbow Skifield along the ridge and down through here. Great views. TFTC

What a climb, nice view from here. Tftc

A good climb up here, but worth the views. Was still very windy, but the cache could still be found well. All in good condition.

Thank you for leading me here!

crystal clear day with views across the lake & onto the kahurangi national park. the containers contents were slightly red due to one of the bags of silica gels spilling so gave everything a wipe. find#33

What a walk. We made our Christmas day activity a walk up to parachute rock. Much to our delight we saw there was a geocache at the top, so that kept the younger members of the party motivated while the older people discussed the birds and plants. It took us 4.5 hours round trip including breaks and going at a steady pace that suited all ages. It was a simple find at GZ and we sat admiring the view while the log book dried out a little in the sun. TFTC

Found with Kiwimykl, refer to his log for details. A FP from me.

TFTC Q moto

NZDi and I have been planning a few days away up at St Arnaud in the Nelson Lakes. Yesterday we took over six hours to travel up the Wairau Valley from Blenheim caching along the way. The trip normally takes just over an hour but we were in no hurry as we could not check in to our accommodation until after 3pm anyway. On the way up I managed to get a nice round fifty caches and NZDi got six more that I already had converted into smiley faces.

Todays aim is to get the cache at Parachute Rock then carry on to the ridge to place one of our own, however I don't think the weather Gods are going to play the game. After that we will play it by ear.

The weather looked ominous as we headed off at 8.15am with the top of the St Arnaud range covered in cloud, however we could still see Parachute Rocks so we pushed on anyway. Two and a half hours later, just as we cleared the bush-line the skies opened up and by the time we got to the cache the clouds were swirling around us. Any thoughts of carrying on to the ridge were well and truly over. We didn't hang around to admire the view that wasn't there and quickly headed down to the protection of the bush cover, the temperature was freezing but we were well protected with several layers of thermals, quick dry clothing, fleeces and high quality rain protection.

four and a half hours after starting off we were back at the car, having bagged a D3.5/T4.0 cache and the only D/T rating in the area missing from my matrix.

TFTC Q moto a FP is coming your way.

On an excursion to Parachute Rocks - my first time up in my 5 years of living here! TFTC.
The trinkets bag is soaked.

N8 and Dad found this on the way to the St Arnaud Range, with spectacular views from the top. Dad was very impressed with his 8 year old son doing this trip!

The run/walk and resulting exhaustion was totally worth it. Amazing view for a bit of energy spent on boxing day. Flax was a bit spiky! But easy to find. Cftc

11.00: On my way up to St. Arnaud Range. Often have we been in St. Arnaud with no time for climbing up here. Today I took the time: 5,5 hours return. I started as early as possible for morning on vacation[|)]. Gabi stayed in the motel. On my way I discovered some interesting and dangerous things: green cyanid-baits[xx(], a lot of traps and just before leaving the forest I saw a lot of large wooden shavings on the ground. I wondered where they came from and looked up into the trees: there I saw a megalomaniac kaka on a dead tree and he tried to cut to tree - somehow. I talked to the parrot but he didn't seemed to be in the mood to respond to my communication. He didn't even look at me and continued his logging work...

The place of the cache is really well chosen: remote location with some effort to reach, good lookout, a good place for a break and the rocks keep the box quite safe. The view of Lake Rotoiti and the village is just spectacular, like looking from an aircraft. Great day!

A question to the end: which kind of animal are those large traps at the top of the ridge for? The ones along the track have been much smaller...

Weather: all things mixed together: sun, fog, clouds, windy, 10°C, very good visibility as the clouds are away;
Wheelchair: don't think of, narrow mountain track;
State: wet content, but dry logbook, tried to dry and clean as good as possible.

Thank you! No doubt here: a favourite point goes out for this one!
Oliver+Gabi

This entry was edited by OliGa on Monday, 23 March 2015 at 18:10:49 UTC.

This was the special highlight during this NZ trip! [^]
I watched this cache since years, back in 2009 we were only for one night here so I missed it. In 2012, I was not prepared to walk up here alone. Today it was the day, so I met Mr.KE (Thanks again for this honor!) and off we went. We made it to the 'top' in under 2 hours and saw a Kea It was a beautiful day with a good caching friend and exactly this is what Geocaching is all about - at last for me [^] Thanks again Mr. KE for this special day and the fine dinner some days later [^]
And this cache get another blue point for sure!

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[size=1][font=Impact]Cache.Mike[font=arial][/size]

Up at the Lake with a group of friends for a mid winter Xmas. Saturday dawned overcast and drizzly but the 3 men decided to tough it out and do Parachute Rocks. It took just over 2 hours up but the cold wind and cloud meant it wasn't going to be a long stop as there was no view. Quick cache find and great to get this one done. TFTC

What an amazing day walk - thanks for bringing us here! The cache is well hidden but was quickly found using the helpful hint. We carried on up to the St Arnaud ridge, another 20 minutes for superb views on a perfect autumn day. A favorite added

Amazing place! Found it during our summer traveling across New Zealand with sasuch, retropop and Zulekal. I reached this cache myself, only Zuleka came several minutes after that, too difficult terain. The weather was getting worse, so we had to go back quickly. 12 days after we returned home to the Czech Republic. Sorry for very late log.

This entry was edited by Vlada380 on Wednesday, 09 July 2014 at 20:00:56 UTC.

Such an amazing place TFTC

24-01-2013 # 800 @ pm. 3.00

as my written English is very bad, I hope that I can get a good sense rather than using google translated from Danish to English, I expect our online time is short, so hope you even want to do it ... thank you

vi blev enige om at denne cache skulle blive vores nr. 800..

der hvor vi kommer fra er et af de højeste bjerge " Himmelbjerget" på kun 148 meter.. så dette ville blive en stor udfordring for os.. og det blev det..
ja ja det gøres på 2 timer, så det kan jo ikke være så svært, men at vandre så meget op af bakke har jeg aldrig prøvet, og jeg måtte havde mange pauser under vejs.. faktisk brugte vi 3 timer på at komme op.. men udsigten var en kæmpe belønning.. og hele turen værd, men havde der ikke været en cache at gå efter havde jeg været vendt om igen..ikke engang nedturen kunne vi gøre på 2 timer.. 2 timer og 15 min men det var også blevet regnvejr..

mange tak for en fantastisk tur og den for os til dato den største udfordring og sværreste cache

HC & HAT from Denmark

Good tramp up to GZ with CO.
TVMFTC

Very nice tramp through magnificent beech forest. TFTC!

The second time in a week where a change of plans took us to a cache to favourite. Plan B had us heading to St Arnaud to finally do this walk - Plan C was to do short walks if the weather looked nasty. We did finish in light rain but had great weather for most of the walk and sun at the top. Up in 2 hours including a short lunch stop, which made us very happy. Longer in fact to get back to the car, but that included sidestepping to collect 2 new caches. SoBad went most of the way last 40 years ago - Mrs thinks she was here 30 years ago, but her memory is erratic. Regardless we had a great time today. Saw three other couples on the walk - only one set made it to the top which was a shame with such great views. Took a TB that has not yet been logged in. Left nothing. Thanks very much for this cache.

Found with votik during a perfect trip up above Lake Rotoiti. The view was just amazing - TFTC In: TB

Found on our first day in Nelson Lakes National Park. TFTC

Beautiful day out! Thanks.

It is always great coming up here, perfect day. Pleased i got off to an early start as on my down i past 3 groups of students on their way up, plenty of noise but all nice and polite. Thanks for a great hide for a cache.

I've been wanting to do this one for a while now, so with Kiwi Explorer in tow (or was it the other way round) up the hill we went. Although it was windy down in the valley, conditions up the track and at GZ were perfect. Awesome. TFTC, Biggles.

Definitely Mr KE in tow today (but thanks Biggles). My energy levels weren't quite right this morning so lot's of small stops on the way up. We got to gz in just on 2 hours though and back in just over 1.5 so not too bad. The views this morning were brilliant, top spot. TFTC. +gc +/- BC coin

Last time I did this walk I was a teenager. For some reason, this time it seemed a lot steeper and longer than I remember! The climb was well worth it though as it was a fabulous day. TFTC

Probably the longest/hardest climb I have ever done to a cache, but the views were really worth it. I then continued on up to the top and the world opens up even further up there, marvelous. Thanks for placing a cache at this spot, I liked the hiding place.
TFTC #383
Heikster (British visiting from the US)

Found while on class camp with Room 8 Broadgreen Intermediate. GPS Kept the majority interested on the way up with the question every few minutes "What elevation are we now?" However, this achievement class weren't settled for parachute rock, and continued onto the top, and then along the ridge to 1783m ASL (the highest point in the nearest vicinity). TFTC. Made the trip so much more interesting.

Great day for a walk up here. Sunny and virtually no wind. Magic. TFTC.

chased funman0561 up to this,not a cloud or breath of wind in the sky after southerlies and snow showers yesterday.magic,thnx

great place for a cache. A bit of snow and ice about to add to the fun

GZ was looking clagged in when I set out and when I arrived it still was. However as I started to write the log 80% of the cloud blew off and views where enjoyed.

Whenever I go up mountains such as this I always take water and warm clothing no matter the forecast, shame the English family I seen 10 minutes below the bush line didn't. The time would have been 12pm and there at 1400ASL was a whole family in street shoes, t shirts and shorts with not one drink bottle or extra piece of clothing between them; its no wonder people die in the mountains - STUPID.

Had a great walk up the hill in the low cloud. Cloud lifted on top of the ridge so had some great views. Mountain flowers and bird life was great. Dropped off appropriate Geocoin. Was going to save it for Mt French but I thought I better drop it off in case I didn't make it (which I didn't, next time). Great spot and awsome countryside. TFTC

lovely walk up we met the rest of the family here the others did a harder tramp we all met here to have lunch and do cache then we all walked back together

T4TC!!!

Found with Anna, cachehunter007, kache cat and kache rat. Tramped here with cachehunter007 from Tophouse Saddle. Starting at Alpine Meadows Drive, along St Arnaud Range and down St Arnaud Track. Met rest of family at Parachute Rocks for lunch. Enjoyable trip in spite of a stiff westerly breeze. TNLNSL. T4TC.

Nice walk up to cache.Found by cache hunter007.Had lunch and cool view.T4TC

The ranger suggested doing a loop around the lake since the weather was bad, but I couldn't resist hiking "up" something. This cache was an additional motivation.

Found the cache quickly (TN,LN), although I can't say that about the parachute--it was windy and drizzling, and my views were similar to the pictures at the top of the cache page. I could see the rock slide through the haze, but not much else.

Continued upward until reaching the ridge. That was a minor adventure in itself, as I could only see the next post going up, so was wondering when it was going to end. The wind was fierce at the top of the ridge.

The sun came out as I reached the bottom of the hike. Was up and back in well under four hours, including doing the additional "Loop Trail" on the way up. Even with the bonus distance, it was only 8.3 miles. I don't know how the park comes up with the incredibly long time estimates.

Will have to get upto this spot next time we are in the area, enjoyed the view from bushline hut looking back across the lake towards the cache.

I'm glad to finally get this one. I've been up here once before in the summer time, but wanted to come back in the snow. After a cold wet night I had my wish, and we made it up to some beautiful powder snow. TFTC!
Took GC

found towards the end of a tiring walk up the ridge - a lovely recovery spot though. I'll add a picture of the coin we dropped off when I have the chance

Found on a days walk after six days tramping

Quick trip up, enroute back to Nelson from the Coast. It was fine and sunny, so great views of the whitecaps on the lake! TNLN

Had hoped for better weather for this one but set off in light rain which turned to snow above 1200m. Clouds briefly cleared enough to show us the ridgeline above the cache site but not much else.
Found the cache easily amongst the snow.
TNLN

Saved this one for last and after walking up 3 other hills today it shore earned its (4 Stars) rating still I made it up in 1.5 hours had a nice rest and a snack at the caches site and took in the great view before the faster trip down just over a hour, I should sleep well tonight

Called in on our way down the hill after a 6 day tramping trip: Travers-Travers Saddle-Rainbow Pass-Begley River-Hamilton Saddle-St Arnaud Range-Camel-Arnst Basins-Parachute Rock-St Arnaud. Great to see lots of muggles around the cache site including one 86 year old. No swaps.

Have been wanting to do this one for a while.Was going to do it 6 months ago when TB was there but someone else got it.Hardly a cloud in the sky,great views.

Had a muggle friend check on the cache for me and its still all good.
Hope this cache gets some more visits ,
Its not that hard to get up there.

[This entry was edited by Q moto on Monday, January 29, 2007 at 7:46:05 PM.]

Great views, worth the climb (1 1/2 hours to cache). Co ords spot on. Checked out the caravan on the bush line on the way up and carried on to the top ridge. Fantastic basins over the other side. Carried on south and went down a trappers track to the lake and joined on the the lake track back to the car. 4 1/2 hours all up. Left Eat More Chicken TB there. TNLN.

The boys did well with not to much complaining about the up hill grunt to this cache. Unfortunately we werecovered in cloud so diod not get to check the view out. Nice to log a FTF - ping pong soccer ball + a jandel key ring

Published

helped to place this cache