Rocky Road and the Leaping Lizard (Bay of Plenty) McLaren Falls, North Island, New Zealand
By Zorgon on 19-Mar-06. Waypoint GCTZ17

This one is a bit far from home to maintain adequately so time to go.

Thanks for the advice. Should be an easy find so almost certainly gone. I will pick a fine weekend (a bit of a challenge mid-winter) and inspect and replace.

Cache not there - Thought it was and put my hand in to find half a beer bottle - at least the person had not put sharp end out - Clues were very good and I am sure where it should have been - Miles also did not find - nice walk but very slippery and bit disappointed a muggles may have taken cache

Loved the bolder hops. Got to GZ which matched Coords, and all 3 clues exactly. 99 % sure I searched in the correct spot but found just BROKEN GLASS in the possible spots. CAUTION to others.
Enjoyed a swim on the way back

best caching adventure of the whole weekend! had great fun boulder hopping. a drizzly Monday, so not a muggle in sight, but probably made for a few more slips and skids! quickish find once at GZ, coords accurate for us, and a great clue. took TB. TFTC

Excellent cache location. Beautiful spot, that's for bringing us here. Easy going but challenging traverse up the rocks. Highly recommend doing this in summer

Good on ya Zorgon, no point making it easy! Been wanting to do this for a while now but every time it was either too wet or too frosty. TFTC

A real challenge to do this one! Slippery rocks everywhere, Took quite a while to get to GZ, but was extra careful as didnt have rescue helicopter on standby. A real potential to get hurt here, although think it would be easier in summertime. Found cache. Having said what I have, I want to add that I enjoyed it and am pleased I made the effort. SL TFTC

On a mother's day picnic up the road with several families and enjoying the local park and autumn leaves. Decided to finish off the day with a rock hopping adventure to this cache. Kids aged 5, 8 and 11 had a ball rock hopping. Kids did some swaps - although two decided the lightstick to swap into the cache was more fun to keep! Took the 2 geocoins to move on since they'd been sitting there awhile. TFTC

Great way to bring up the 50th find. Really enjoyed the Boulder hopping on such a nice day. Left 2 geocoins. Took travel bug. TFTCSL

What a great cache. On a fine Autumn day daughter and I went rock hopping and had a blast going up the river. Not much water as you can tell from the photos but enough for a daredevil to jump from the bridge into the pool below - incredible.

Anyway the cache was great exercise and the river level was really low compared to last time we came through when it was in flood so that made it easy to get up. We didn't get our feet wet although we wanted to by the time we got back and waded in for relief from the sun!! Nioce hide up there and the swimming hole was empty so that made the task easy. TFTC
+ compass - nil.

Man was the area crowded today but not at the cche site TFTC

Great stop off and nice rock hop up to the cache then back for a swim and to watch the crazies jumping from the bridge.

Great spot to place a cache! Was amazed at the geography here - thanks for bringing us here. Enjoyed watching the rock jumpers!

TB Drop

What a popular place on New Years day, muggles everywhere all lounging around like lizards and then cooling off in the various pools around and about. Made our way up the rocky road to GZ and although we made a quick find we lingered in the shade for a while to cool off before making our return downstream. Great photo opportunities along the way. Thanks for sharing this place T4TC.

nice walk across the boulders, gps went a bit awol but still found it.

Whew. A bit of a hike, especially for one of us, but we made it! Well worth the walk, and TFTC.

Awesome. Beautiful day, dry feet. Loved the rock hopping.

Awesome cache. Completed on a day when the river was in full flood. really difficult trek due to the rapids. had to swim the rapids at one stage. do not try in wet conditions unless you have particular skill in navigating and interpreting rapids and can climb well. even then do not attempt in flood!

What a mission! We just couldn't hold out for a dry and sunny day so we trekked in over slippery rocks and through a few small pools....even lost a couple of soldiers on the way! TFTC, this was a fun one.

Great fun rock hopping up the river to this one, a very enjoyable cache at a top spot.
Many thanks for the fun.

Just the right terrain for our 6 year old mountain goat. He enjoyed the rock hopping very much was always ahead of us older ones and even managed not to get wet. The cache was a bit hard to find, our GPS was not very accurate and in the end we had to rely on the hints. TFTC.
In: Figure
Out: Horse

#199. We were earning this 200th. Quite an effort on a hot, muggy day. But we were successful, despite a few slips and close calls. There were some guys close to the falls jumping the rocks on moto-x bikes. That looked easier, I think...
TNLNSL TFTC

[This entry was edited by northwood on Thursday, January 15, 2009 at 12:15:21 AM.]

Great walk/leap to GZ. Awesome views. TFTC

Out: What are you waiting for? Geocoin

good leaping walk with the land scout (muzy man)
easy find once get correct kauri tree
this would be a busy place in summer time with all its little pools
TNLN

Great day 2 be out & about, good leap up to cache on the interesting formations. even the sea scout (aka Jumboz) didnt fall in the water- much to my suprise! Good one Zorgon! Cheers Muzy Man!

Great fun, jumping stones, had a few near death experiences, flatmate just broke her ankle and couold see the same happening to me today.
Great Cache. TNLN TFTC

2nd time at this cache, this time it was a completely story, rocks not slippery and dangerous, in fact had a very enjoyable time leaping around with Mellee. Dropped off What are you waiting for Geocoin. We always seem to be alittle behind Mr Gerbil.

Found it with my Dad. Signed log as GuanoGerbil. Thanks for the fun!

Found it with my Dad. Signed log as GuanoGerbil. OmaGosh, over and out...

Very cool idea for a cache. This involved a bit more distance than I anticipated, but made a very enjoyable rock hopping excursion. The merry gerblings had a great time and didn't quite manage to fall in once! Many thanks for the fun.

the river/falls were quite high, took the right hand side and realised 100m from cache that its probably on the other side, too high to cross. Will try again another day, maybe in summer.

Great place!! Wow what fun! Dad had tramping boots and I had gumboots. He prefered the bush, me the boulders!! After a lot of arguing we got there!! TFTC

WOW what a great location. Its caches like these which you sit back and think "geocaching is cool" THANKS FOR THE CACHE

The Freezer Mice strike again!!!
Was over in Tauranga for a 'work' training day, so managed to fit in 'just a couple of caches' on the way home.
Quite simply this is nothing short of a brilliant cache!!!
A fantastic location, and a good work-out to actually get hands on the treasure.
Thanks Zorgon for bringing us here.
TNLNSL.

It was raining heavy the night before and I was worried we would not be able to do this one. It was a bit tricky with my back pack on so Mrs Taggart decided to give this one a miss. A wise choice I suspect but I had great fun. Needed the clues to find the cache.
- Traditional whistle
+ Fart whistle

TFTC

A wonderful summertime cache hunt - no slippery rocks or wet feet! Took a while to find as GPS had me on both sides of the river ....then lost coverage altogether. So clues were needed & eventually found it. TFTC

This is a beautiful area. Was delayed a while by muggles at GZ. Once they went made a quick find, followed by a refreshing dip in the swimming hole.
TNLN thanks.

#881
Most enjoyable cache, had lots of fun, leaping from rock to rock. Managed to keep dry until we got to GZ, then the heavy dew on the undergrowth got us wetter than the river. Many thanks for showing us this spot Zorgon, how do you find them? – Cheers YuGeo4
TNLNSL, TFTC

What a great cache! Thoroughly enjoyed the rock hop, especially today - sunny, warm, dry rocks. Took no time at all to leap lizzard-like up the river, but had a bit of trouble at the cache site as the GPSr was still leaping!!

This has to rate as one of our top caches! Thanks Zorgon (again).

Thanks for pointing this reserve out, great place. Decided not to tackle this one with no GPS and with Miss 5 and Master 4 in tow.

Had some excitement getting to this one. Thanks Zorgan for the cache and bringing us to this lovely area. The rocks on the right hand side of the river bed looking north are much more slippery because they don't get much direct sunlight...often covered in an invisable slime which makes them deadly to walk on...canned out a couple of times. Much better to stick to the left hand side of the river bed. Was very tempted to go for a swim in the pool but alas a bit cool today. Amazing to see where the water level has been up to...flattened reeds tell it all. Great hiding spot for the cache.

5.45pm. One of the longest 400 metres we have walked!! But still a nice walk and excellent scenery. Took some good photos. A quick easy find once we reached GZ. Used the clues though as the GPS was wandering all over the place.
- Inflatable something. + Key ring.
Thank you David & Noeline

Nice easy find - looks like a great spot for a swim and picnic...

- Hackey sac
+ Frog

thanks

Went back in for a look and despite the flooding during the winter the cache was still where I had originally placed it and still dry
Decided to move it anyway to a better location close by. Not particularly good reception in new location so detailed hints added if anyone needs them.
The kids decided the water hole looked so good they both went for a swim! Still about 4 months too early for me though.

Cache enabled again in slighty different location see log below.

Stopped by at the weekend during heavy rain and flooding was amazed by the flow in the river. Cache is disabled until I have a chance to check that it is OK and move it to higher ground

didn't enjoy the the climb on the rocks to this one very much but it was worth it though [^]
quite difficult to find but found it eventually
in - hacky sack, pen, clicky skull, lighter, batteries
out - alarm clock
thanks!!!

Interesting clamber to this cache. Very slippery rocky road. Cache in good condition despite it's desperate position. Thanks for the chance to be in such great surroundings. TN LN SL. [B)]

Hey...

Concur re cache site. Is why it took me so long to find cache (2nd TF) as I (initially) did not seriously look below the watermark from prior heavy flows...

I think it should be moved vertically if it is to survive the winter. My opinion.

GenCuster

Very enjoyable rock-hop - what a great river! Rocks that haven't seen the sun yet a bit slippery, so tried to keep to the right side. The cache area is a bit damp so I guess it does see some water. TNLNSL
TFTC - M@

Thanks for the advice guys. I had no idea the water would get that high! Will move slightly next time I go past (won't be this weekend though)

Found this after a rather up and down trip along the river. The real interesting was part was finding our way back out after the sun set while we were writing in the log book.

TNLNSL

PS I can understand that you thought the cache would be high enough to avoid flood waters, but I can assure you that it needs to be at least another couple of meters high up the bank. The cache has been swiming in the recent heavy rains. The contents of the cache are dry though

found this after a nice clamber around the rocks, it looks alot more inviting after lookingat this area during our recent heavy rain and no rocks were visible.
did this with tgawookie and it got dark real quick did we come this way or that way mmmmmmmmm, not down there.

cache is dry but has been visiting the other side.

Found this morning.Without a clue it was very difficult indeed.GPS all over place as a gully.TNLN.Terain all right. i t00k wrong route comming back !
I can claim ftf as no log in book when I did it-prob early afternoon.
I went from here to Arapuni cache to get FTF but just missed out



[This entry was edited by psychrn on Tuesday, March 21, 2006 at 4:41:56 PM.]

18:25 TNLNSL TFTC

I 'thought' I was FTF as no logs on gc.com and only activated yesterday. Hmmmm

Very difficult find. At least I did it the hard way...

Well done Psychrn and GenCuster for finding this without the hint. The hint has been added now so the difficulty rating should be about right if you choose to use it.

Cache originally contained:
Logbook/Pencil/Pencil sharpener/Stash note
Trade items: clock, bone carving necklace, chiefs Patu, whistle

Published