Kawakawa Lake view (Taupo) Kinloch, North Island, New Zealand
By ClanMacDonald on 07-Jan-06. Waypoint GCRX9M

Amazing view! Now to get back before dark! TFTC

The lake was so stunning today i decided to walk to this cache & get the view down into Kawakawa Bay. Parked on Nisbett & from there the walk was 10.6km return and i took an hour each way (if that helps anyone). I came across 5 bikes & zero walkers. Had GZ all to myself. The walk there was worth the views today! Nice quick find. Dropped 2 TBs. Great old cache. TFTC

What an amazing spot!!!
So worth the walk. Found the cache super quick.

What a great spot for a geocache. Great view. Tftc

Nice to have a rest here. Amazing view

As if the reward of the view after a small amount of toil up the hill on the bikes from Kawakawa Bay wasn’t enough (it was), finding a GC here was just the icing on the cake. TFTC

Wow what view. It was well worth coming here. Love these big containers.Tftc

Totally enjoyed our walk out here today. People around but not to many. Saw some climbers at Kawakawa Bay and some trout in a stream on way back. Cloud was low on way over but had lifted on way back. Really nice view. Hint was perfect and cache was found quickly. Left a tb for next finder. Tftc

So pleased to be able to travel now we are in Civid level 2. Come to Taupo for the weekend to increase the number of domestic tourists. Out for a bike ride doing the K2K loop. It really is worth the effort. Didn’t have my phone with me but had read the hint and had no problems finding the cache. Surprised it hasn’t been found since 2018. A favourite from us for getting us out to such a spectacular place. Thanks

Wanted a bit of exercise today, so off we went. Very pleasant well graded track with the occasional view out over the lake. Near GZ it started to rain so we didn’t linger and headed off back. Great area. TFTC

Quick stop on our run in to the bay for a weekend of climbing. Meant to stop for the cache at top of mellow yellow but we were too occupied with other climbs and ran out of time. Will pick it up in the new year.

Awesome viewing spot here, well worth the walk in to see it!

Day Two of a 12 day, 3000 km road trip around the North Island with the primary objectives being the Taupo Ultra Marathon on the 13th and my first ever caching Mega event in Wellington on the weekend of 20th & 21st. With thousands of possibilities for caches to look for on the way, I had to be very selective and decided to concentrate on special types, solved puzzles, ones that would fill missing spots in my statistics grids and those with good numbers of favourite points, plus maybe a few extras that were close by those.

Today was the day of the 100 km Ultra Marathon. I was doing leg three for our team which covered the trail from the airstrip on Whangamata Road down to the lake, then up and over past this cache and down into Kinloch, with an additional 6 km loop up the valley there. Even though I was competing in an event, there was no way as a keen cacher that I was going to run right past this, especially with it being normally at least an hours walk in from the nearest road access.

There was a bit of a glitch at the 2 - 3 changeover point and consequently, I missed picking up my phone and only realised this after 1 km into the leg. So without any GPS guidance, I was left to rely on my memory of the description and hint. 13 km in, as I approached the top of the hill, I spotted what looked like the prominent rock and so dropped to my knees about where I thought the cache may be. After assuring a following competitor that I was okay and waiting till she had continued on, I was lucky to make a really quick find of the cache right where I stopped. Signed the log with the enclosed pencil and then replaced safe and secure as found. Total time taken was less than 90 seconds, and really pleased to be able to do so without any electronic assistance. In the end, our team was 5th out of 24 teams, 30 minutes behind 4th place, so my caching sidetrack didn't affect the result at all.

A fave point here from me for the beautiful location and the whole experience of getting this one. TFTC

Tftc. Great spot.

Gefunden!

Qwik find once I realised we had come the other way!Fantastic view on a beautiful day-tftc

Great hiding place!

03/01/2018 7:41:06 AM
Stopped off for look while riding from Orakau car park to Whakaipo Bay.
This was a popular spot when we stopped and there was another large group of riders and a couple of hikers who where sitting right where my GZ was so i only managed a cursory look so as not to arouse suspicion

Nice ride to the top and back...TFTC

Walked from Nisbet Terrace car park, morning was cool and fine, took longer than I expected but no major on that, only one downfall being the first on the track, spiders must know how high to put their website across the track, ( face high,) amazing view from flat rock. TFTC Cheers

Awesome trip with Avcol PED to Kawakawa bay. Sea kayak, mountain bike and rock climbing. Day 2 of our trip on the K2k trail. Ttc.

On a mountain biking weekend with sveppi and 2 muggle friends. Today we are doing the Kawakawa section, tomorro the Waihaha-Waihora sections. Turned out to be a beautiful weekend, lucky after the rubbish weather from the past week! Views all the way to The Mountains with a nice coating of snow on the Kaimanawas as well!
This is a revisit for us (probably 4th or 5th for me). Cache had crept quite a long way from where I originally found it 6 years ago so I put it back closer to where it used to be, while still allowing for good camo. There is a muggle log in the book so we'll blame it on them. Left a GC.

2933 Walking the K2K trail from Whangmata Road to Kinloch. After coming up the hill it was nice to have a break and enjoy the view on a great Autumn day. Spotted the cache as I passed GZ so dropped my bag and went back for it. After signing I placed cache a little bit more discreet. Thanks for the placement.

Mt biked from Whangamata Rd to Kinloch, great place to stop. Had the wrong right to begin with. Quickly signed log before a lot of other cyclists turned up. TFTC

We enjoyed the views here and made it our lunch stop on the superb K2K trail from Kinloch. Well hidden cache and nice to see another of these ammo cans in use. TFTC.

On a bike ride and well worth the stop.

On the K2K to Kinloch. Lovely view and good excuse for a break at the top of the climb!

Have been meaning to make this journey for quite a while and as its been quite some time since I have done the circuit around the lake.
So managed to set off nice and early for this and arrived about 15min after dawn heading for the first cache of the day at Picnic Bay.

As I now head back up the Eastern side of the lake the chance to stop for this one presented itself. Back and into Kinloch township and concentrating on caches with a DT=<2.5 so of course I had to stop here. the track was very quiet so managed to enjoy the pace and grad of the track without being pushed aside by MTB's. Fantastic views from the lookout and a real pleasure to have made the journey.

thanks for the placement, thanks for the cache

A great walk, and a great cache Thank you

We made the entire walk and even swam in the lake at the end of the trail. There was a lot of wasps near the cache, so we couldn't enjoy view as long as we wished. As in the end of trail there was only lonely toilet icon in my Garmin (and unfortunately no geocache there), we called this 20 km long walk "Hike to the toilet". Wasps still got me when we came back to the parking place. At least I know now, that wasp stings in NZ are the same as in Latvia. Thank you for the cache! Found it with kazhe.

Havung a great bike ride from whangamata rd to Kinloch via the cycle trail. Lovely flowing track mostly downhill. Lunch beside the lake then headed up the hill. Pleased to get here as this means we have reached the high point. Quick find. Like these big caches when you have come all this way. Fun bike back down to Kinloch. Tftc.

Found it on our bike trip from Kinloch to Kawakawa bay. Great view. Thanks

We - a Dutch girl from my hostel and I - wanted to walk a bit after spending all the day indoor, so we picke the k2k as a light afternoon walk. We did it quite fast! Rushed through the forest quickly, there and back, great exercise.

This geocache should have gotten much higher terrain and difficulty rating. Not because of the walk but due to the massive hoards of sandflies. Tons of them, all over the place. We were left with constant itching reminder of the trek for the next week after.... ouch.

Seen also tons of cute rabbits on the way back. I know they are not local kiwi animals but introduced specie, but after the sandflies attack we prefer wildlife that doesn't bite.

The cache was easily found and made a big impression on my muggle friend. Who knows, maybe she will try this again.

TFTC from far away Israel.

With fanfan-77 on a lovely Saturday afternoon walk. I'd done this track before but never picked up the cache. It's a great walk with a super view. Found easy with the clue, cache in good condition. Thanks.

Another revisit, can't remember when I was here last but it was probably 4 years ago. Brought sveppi along for her first find of this cache. The goal was to go all the way to Kawakawa Bay to see the flowering Kowhai and the Tuis, but with a recent back injury it proved to be too much for me so we had lunch on the rocks and turned back. Cache is in great condition, dropped a TB, and will add to my favourites... Not sure why I hadn't done that before!

Jippie! Second Cache in NZ! Combined with a 20km hike! Great! Thank you for the fantastic break i really enjoyed Thema view while the sun was shining

Found it! TFTC, what a great day for a bike ride around the bay!

Found with the Treblicos after great ride. TFTC.

Nice ride good view:)

Very nice view and walk

My first official geocache! Quite easy to find and in v good condition.

Found while riding the MTB trail - what an excellent trail and this scenic spot certainly deserves to have a cache. Always good to find such a good sized container, and one that goes back to the earlier days of geocaching. Thanks secretsquirrelnz.

Beautiful outlook and great cache filled with lots of swag

(1152) Found while mountain biking the track today. TFTC

Great day. Stunning view TFTC

I came out here with my taupo cs host and even though it was a little rainy this place was worth the visit for it is beautiful.

great view.tftc

Quick find, but harder to log, busy track. Thanks

A massive trek but worth the sights. Easy find.

Great view

Beautiful view worth the effort

#5017. Good walk. It doesn't require wading anymore, as the Otaketake stream has now been bridged. Met several mountain bikers on the track, but no other walkers during our time there today. Excellent views at GZ. Cache in excellent condition.
- Shape Shifter
LNSL. TFTC.

Fantastic view on a beautiful day. Great cache full of interesting treasures. TFTC

This is my favourite spot on the kawakawa track. Well worth a visit! It's a nice 1/2 hour ride up from the kinloch domain for those who are that way inclined (and an amazing ride down into kawakawa from here!) TFTC

Walking over to Kawakawa to do a couple of days climbing.....awesome views and glad of a brief stop. Easy find thanks to the clue....signed with muggles (to be converted?) DaveO and LeviO.....TNLNSL

Weather was much better today so we did the whole walk from Whangamata road to Kinloch, only a few others out on the trail. I recommend the walk or bike ride if that is your inclination its great. The view by the cache is great. Thanks.

A really good walk from Whangamata Road through to Kinloch with a GC along the way. Great views up the lake from this high point .

Great view. Nice weather although forecast said rain. Big box! Thx for this one. Left TB stamp only to discover in logbook. Together with Pandabär13 from Germany.

Found today with crispyhaugio.
TFTC

Great place for a rest go team saunders

Left a trackable frog go team Saunders

Pleased to reach this one, good reason to stop and look at the view on our mtb ride. TFTC

What a view! TFTC

After an overnighter at Kawakawa Bay for a day of climbing we grabbed this on the way out.
Nice views during daylight hours as we missed them in the dark.
Cache well hidden and in good condition.
TFTC

Had to wait for 18, yes 18 muggles to go on their way before looking for this one. An easy find once they were gone. TFTC

Found while on mountain biking trek to kawakawa bay

Nice walk . A few high speed MTBs to contend with.

Wow we're higher than I remember here! The walk is a bit more "plain" than it used to be, now that the track has been widened and flattened. The good news is that now mountain bike enthusiasts are able to come and see this great little spot too! I'm glad I forced myself to finish the walk all the way down to Kawakawa bay, that was the prettiest part of the walk. The kowhai are in bloom!
Ammo cans make great caches, I'm yet to find one that is wet or dirty inside. Out: Mario Bros coin, In: TB and seashell.

This entry was edited by fanfan-77 on Sunday, 01 July 2012 at 06:33:58 UTC.

Great views between showers. Did not make it in one hour walking, took a very fast 1.5 hours each way. Well worth it though. Was way flatter than we were expecting. Thanks for taking us back there.

Visited for a second time, brought the irishman with me for a night ride. 10pm night cache. This is a brillant track to do a night ride on. Very dark tonight the moon was hidden behind cloud until the last 10mins of the return ride. Give it a go. Heaps of fun.

Fabulous spot for a rest and a view. Despite it being overcast, this is still an amazing site. Met 4 guys possum trapping on motorbikes, but i bet I had more pleasure hearing the tuis call and sing out on a damp day. Great riding on the mountain bike. Love finding the ammo boxes. TFTC

Lucky find for me this was as I was in Kinloch Mountain Biking. Happen to stop at the top and admire the views while catching my breath and the rock looked familiar so checked my Geocaching app too find a cache 9 meters away. Like the big containers and even better when they are full of goodies. Signed log that was very dry and looked through the swag without swapping anything as I didn't have my Geo gear with me. Replaced where found. TFTC

Nice hide and beautiful views. On our way to fin mellow yellow 5/5.
Tftc.

What a stunning day in Taupo. Decided to leave the family on Kinloch beach and head up into the hills with the MTB. 6 km trek up to the cache. Very gradual climbs and not too technical at all. View from the GZ is just stunning. Decided to head back and join the family for an afternoon of kayak and swimming. Great day all around. TFTC

Easy to find with a spectecular view, worth to walk the trail. TFTC

kuudi

awesome week spent at Kawakawa Bay climbing and on the walk out wanted to get this one. awesome!! TFTC

Made our walk out even better

was a really cool container was really good to find it on that track after a good week rock climbing at kawakawa bay

yay

A real good walk on a sunny day. ! hr 15m up, 55m down.
I was the only person on the track today, and disturbed a wild pig having a scratch while standing in the middle of the track on the way down.
An easy find, the ammo box is enormus., I wouldn't have wanted to carry it full.
TFTC NINO

Nice walk from Kinloch and beautiful view! No need for GPS and easy to find. Cache in good condition.

My eleventy-first cache. A welcome break on the way in to Kawakawa Bay - our packs were loaded with both climbing and camping gear, so they were very heavy! The skies were looking threatening when we reached the cache, and we wondered whether we'd get to climb; but the sunshine returned, and we had two great days on the rock. It was only as we passed the cache again on our way back out that the weather broke - at which point great drops of rain started coming down, as lightning flashed and thunder rumbled overhead!

It's a beautiful place to climb, and I'm sure I will be back - the rock is fantastic, and nothing beats a dip in the lake afterwards. Lovely dawn chorus in the morning, too.

What a hike for a couple of older but fit cachers. A more realistic time frame would be 1.5 hrs one way. Allow at least a 3 - 3.5 hr return trip especially if starting in the afternoon after daylight saving finishes. Awesome views and one of the best caches we have found.Took cycle repair kit (just what I needed ! ) Left a lighter and a lizard badge.

Awesome cache. Fantastic walk. Many thanks. TNLNSL.

What a great family outing, thanks for shring the fantastic view. Finished off the with a swim on a beautiful Autumn day. Collected Jenni, we will take her on another Geocache soon!

Found while on a mountain biking trip round the central north island. This ride was a stunner, with perfect weather and views (a contrast to our 1st 2 days riding the Bridge to Nowhere track in rain and mud).

Rode down to Kawakawa Bay and explored the tracks to climbing crags around the base of the headland.

Will definately come back with my climbing gear sometime!

Thanks for the cache! Was meaning to drop off a TB, but left it in the car.. doh!

Great views and walk. Introduced a friend to the game and she loved it too.
Dropped in travel bug and took out a magnetic tiki.
Thanks for the cache

Great spot to have a cache. Well worth the walk, but give youself enough time to get down to Kawakawa bay and the cave if you can. Picked up the Filbert Travel Bug and will put it near an airport.

We were in Taupo for the weekend and I had selected this cache as our first priority. The weather forecast was for rain starting around midday so I got the gang going early in clear sky conditions. We took rather longer than the suggested time to reach GZ.
The guys thought we had it made when a couple of ladies headingthe other way greeted us with the comment of
"Hooray! finally here are somwe men"
Apparently all the other the other walkers (10 or 12)they had seen were female.
We had to wait for a party of young women to vacate GZ before Caroletess could finally find the cache.
TNLN.
We then headed on and ultimately reached the cave where we found camping gear stached away in the further reaches.

The clouds built in the afternoon but thankfully the rain held off.
What a great walk. And thanks fot a decent sized "real" cache.

Great walk on the first day of spring. Had to wait for muggles to leave before searching for cache.
+ Filbert travel bug
- Tennis ball

This cache was well worth the energy getting to! Found without clue after a short search at .706/.695 by our reckoning.
Left magnetic Tiki, took one DVD-R
Thanks.

Best cache so far, Thanks

-sellotape
+bath heart

A great walk and beautiful place for a cache. Only others on the track were 2 mountain bikers we saw coming and going. We left later than planned due to technical problems with my GPSr then I found the going tough because I'm unfit and useless on hills. Hence, there was great satisfaction in getting there through hard slog - although to Rich it was just a walk in the park... Managed to fall over on the way down but not too much damage done. Didn't mind getting my feet wet. However, we did run out of light before we got back to the start. Fortunately I had my son's old scout torch in my bag. Thoroughly recommend this cache as a stunner.
TFTC
- pen
+ mini pen

Longest walk for the trip. Somehow you don't expect that for a coastal walk. Good exercise. A couple of people mountain biking it too.
Cheers ClanMacDonald - M@

Good walk in the bush, we tried getting as far as we could with Mountain Bikes but locked them to a tree just before the stream fording.
Out - Survival whistle/compass
In - Cycle repair kit

Great walk on a nice day, not to hot, not to cold, and great views from GZ. Lots and lots of Muggles around today. A whole bunch of them turned up just after I opened the cache and none seemed to think it strange I was sitting in the sun, in the middle of the bush with an ammo box, making on effort to open it. They took ages to take photos, have a bit of a chat, look around before finally wondering off, just as the next lot turned up. Eventually managed to have a look in side, sign the log and stash it back in its hiding place. Then we carried on down to the lake searching for the cave. To find cave follow the track around the edge of the lake. It’s a bit rough in places, but not to bad. Worth the walk. 5 hours total walk.

A great spot, pleased we made the effort.
TFTC.

Great day out. A really beautiful walk. We went all the way to the cave.

Out - DVD-RW In - Jandal key ring

Great way to break in the new GPS I got for christmas with a find in a wonderful spot. Thanks for the cache, it was in good condition too.

Great walk, I Thought I had better go do this one cause I have adopted it!!!

Brilliant day for a walk, warm with a slight breeze. Checked the cache all is cool, enjoy the walk this Summer.