Upper Huia Dam (Auckland) Huia, North Island, New Zealand
By M@ on 03-Jun-06. Waypoint GCWCPT

When for a walk after tea last nite.
After 2 Possums and some cave Weta's in the little tunnel got to GZ just as it started raining.
Quickly found the cach and signed up log.
The cach is safe and dry.
Thanks for placing and maintaining the cach.

What a nice adventure!

Oh so long I’ve wanted to do this cache because of it’s rare 1/3.5 DT rating.

Well today I had planned a 12km run, but I’ve been a bit bored of street running so I wanted to change it up.

Looking at the trail, I realized it’s almost exactly 6km each way, too perfect!!!!

So I came up here for the run, most of the run was fairly easy and consistent, but some of those steep hills are major work!

Many recent slips of the road are apparent, including in major one just 125 meters from the cache. Repairs are underway and don’t impact getting to the cache!

Well I was up and down in just over an hour with 300 m elevation gain and finding this cache!

Cache couldn’t have been easier to find and in excellent condition!

Thanks for the excellent cache location! Fun adventure!

I had this cache long time on my to do list.
1) Missing hide by by hidden month
2) To see how low is water level as we are into Water restrictions from next week in Auckland region
3) Last found more than a year ago.
Found this cache during Covid19 Lockdown Level3 as we can stay in our Region (local)
I was thinking to take my bike here but really missed hiking during Lockdown Level4.
Enjoyed my stroll to cache location. Container is in great shape , logbook too.
Thanks for bringing me here and T4TC

P.S Piha Road track is closed

I was looking for somewhere different to walk while the weather stayed good. A non caching Friend posted photos on his facebook, I could not remember if I had been there before. Long walk but not too challenging, remembered visiting inthe past when the bush tracks were open, shame you cannot get to the top 8f the dam now Cache in dusty but great condition.

Nice and easy wander up to find this cache today!
Perfect weather for it.
Can't believe I haven't got this one before !
All good here.....
Last finder was in 2017!
Thanks M@

A good spot to stop and have a bite to eat before making the return walk. Nice quick find. Tftc

We found this one easy enough, but just had unfortunate timing with muggles so it took us a while. We did laugh a bit as we were covered in mud, you couldn't see our boots for the mud and it was all over our pants and legs. The muggles arrived wearing white sneakers and had pretty wide eyes when they saw us - obviously they took a much more sensible track in and out!!!

Found it after a bit of scouting about, had to wait for muggles to pass. Signed as gernaze TFTC

We stopped up on the Dam for lunch. as it's taken us just over 2 hours to make it from Piha Rd to here along the Upper Huia Dam track. It was so muddy! Up on the Dam we met 2 groups of muggles who were astounded by how dirty we were. We were astounded by how clean they were! We explained where we'd come from and the plan to do the loop via christies trach and the experienced hikers said the one we'd been on was meant to be the dry track! Has us a little worried about mud levels for the 2nd half of the day!

Cache in nice clean condition. I picked up the TB

Found with Pazzzabella Bertie Blowfish and Merlot58 tftc

Although I got a head start looking for this one, I was beaten to the find. This fill a hole in my statistics [^] Left Tb here. Tftc

Out & about with Merlot58, Geocchi & Pazzabella, on a gorgeous autumn day, doing the loop track.
Stopped here for breather & a bite. Merlot had found the cache, before I'd even managed to set my weary bones down on the grass! Tftc

After checking out the dam we came down here and decided it was a good place for lunch. Pazza was looking in totally the wrong place and I read the hint then put my hand straight on this decent sized cache

So I am on a "technical" walk today

Have finished lunch at the to of the dam, and am now dropping down to its base. Not been here before, so loving it! Thanks for the hide, and bringing me here.

Nice quick find and enjoyed the Dam and view.

Walked from puiha road

Tftc

As the rain had finally stopped I thought I'd spend the day tramping some Waitakere trails, but I ended up very muddy and finishing the tramp in the pitch black lol This was the 7th and final cache of the day. It was a nice quick find thanks to the hint! Even found an awesome sparkly blue nail varnish in the cache! Yay swag for me instead of the kids The sun was going down and I still had to tramp back through to Piha road so had to forgo searching for the caches on that track - oh well I guess I'll have to come back TFTC!

Back in the areas today (got a ride with Watercare)
Quickly sneaked out while the WC guy did some work in the shed.
Easy find.
TFTC

Thought it was a nice day for a walk in the Waitakere's today.
When I approached GZ, a few Watercare technicians were having their lunch nearby.
I'll try to get it another time.

My mission for today was to walk the dam to dam track and find as many caches as I could along the way. It took me about 5.5 hours car park to car park. I was trudging back to my car along the road when a very kind Brazilian couple stopped and gave me a lift the last couple of kilometres which really helped to save my legs at the end. Very pleased to finally arrive at this dam and this cache. A real classic indeed. Enjoyed walking on the much easier road from here for a bit too. TFTC, Biggles.

Quick find nice spot not many people around today.tftc

Brilliant stashes. Painted the nails whilst we sat for a spot of lunch. #FionaM is very excited with her finds. So we sat, babbled and absorbed the rays.

Fun stash! Lots of goodies inside including some bright blue nail polish!

Had lunch at the dam so took the opportunity to drop off some TBs.

A shortish hike to wear in my new boots, after destroying them on a previous hiking / caching trip. Quick find here with a very precise clue. TFTC

Found a bug here from america but couldn't fulfill it's purpose so decided to leave it. Great spot, tftc!

Tftc

With the weather not having been *too* wet this week, ANZAC Day seemed like a great day to meet up with KirsTim and yorkshirekiwi83 to tackle the loop of caches along the Upper Huia Dam and the Christies Track, before finally finishing at the carpark of the Upper Nihotupu Walk. Luckily no large slips came in the way of our plans, and all the tracks were still accessible. A great day with some good terrain and fun company, along with some fun caching to boot.

We found this one after a stop for lunch and something to eat before carrying on. Also enjoyed admiring the view of the dam, very impressive! Dropped off a trackable. Thanks for the hide!

Vamber organised a tramp out in the Waitakeres and was kind enough to invite me along with them KirsTim attended as well and we signed as VKY. We stopped to have lunch on the dam before contiuning our journey and finding this cache. Hide spot was quickly located. We droppeed off a couple of TB's between us. TFTC


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After an early start for the ANZAC dawn service, we set off with Vamber & yorkshirekiwi83 to gather all the caches on the Huia Dam & Christies tracks (hopefully). The 'track closed' sign was a bit concerning as it wasn't dated and we couldn't work out whether it was on 'our' track or not.
After a nice lunch in the sun, we had a toilet stop and grabbed this one, tftc

Unfortunately the Upper Huia Dam road is closed until further notice due to a slip that has completely taken out the road. It is impassable just after the summit. The only access now is the Upper Huia Dam track from Piha Road, or via Christies track.

Enjoyed the walk from Piha Road to the Upper Huia Dam and back again. Unfortunately it started raining an hour into the walk which made the fairly rough tramping track even rougher with the slippery exposed tree roots and rocks. Even after adjusting for geocaching time, the return trip took me a lot longer than the suggested 3 hours. The well placed cache which was full of goodies was soon retrieved. A favourite point from me. TFTC.

A pretty straight forward and quick find. Very quiet on this track today having passed only two other people in our time on the track.

From the top of the dam there was a spectacular view of Kowhai, Clematis...and pink Rhododendron in flower! A great lunch spot. TFTC!

i love finding big boxes with heaps of treasures in it. I decided I would take a trackable after my 100th find... not long to go now ...Lochnessmonster placed one there and probably took one away...
TFTC

continuing our journey with Alligatorsnz, natoratia and our excellent muggle...left TB to let it continue on its journey. nice cache and good home for TB's as warm and dry!

out for a stroll with lochnessmonsta and Natoratia looking for stormy weather and mud plenty of mud.. darn rain stopped as soon as we arrived, so had to settle for the mud.. plenty of mud... cache present and correct .. bit of entertainment seeing if they could find the cache with out the clue (didn't load it since i knew where it was... they did real good)TB out

Out tramping the tracks of the Waitakeres with Tufty seeking geocaches. We stopped at the far end of the dam in beautiful sunlight and ate lunch before proceeding down to this cache. Arrived to find a couple of electricians sitting eating their lunches almost in full view of GZ. Whilst Tufty distracted them I made a quick signing of the log book. Nice one Tufty. Thanks M@ for placing this cache.

Easy enough find, cache in good condition too, TFT hide

Found it with the rest of the Gang of 8--a good group of folks to be out with spending the day in the woods. Doing the loop anticlockwise today. Picked up this cache after lunch on the dam. Pretty interesting spot here and definitely wishing I had an MTB for the return trip along the access roads. Signed in with the rest as "Tinkerbell and Friends". Cheers for the cache.

My first decent caching adventure in a long time. Great company, with FMZ, slieschke, greenblat, stretch.kerr, evilno9, lemski & paultaps. My first time around this loop. Thoroughly enjoyed it, although my personal cache finding skills were a bit rubbish today. Logbook collectively signed "tinkerbell & friends".

Found out caching between the two upper dams with alpenmilch80, evilno9, funkymunkyzone, Greenblat, Lemski, Paultaps and stretch.kerr. A great Saturday's caching with great company, a great walk and some caches to find as icing on the top! Caches were signed as "Tinkerbell and Friends". Thanks!

Another find on our group outing today - slieschke (aka tinkerbell aka special tool - it's a long story), greenblat, stretch.kerr, alpenmilch80, evilno9, lemski, paultaps and myself. I had never been down to (or up to, depending on your frame of reference) this dam before. Quite spectacular, and that's a long way down! The group signed in as "tinkerbell and friends". TFTC!!!

Today’s hiking trip included FMZ, slieschke, greenblat, stretch.kerr, evilno9, lemski & paultaps. We started at Upper Huia Dam Track and connected via the two dams via the Christies Track. We returned to the Upper Nihotupu Walk to collect some of the cars. I enjoyed the tunnels, dams and laughter along the way. Another great day out.
We enjoyed some time off the muddy trail and brunch.
The logs were signed with the group name "Tinkerbell & friends". TFTC!!!


This entry was edited by alpenmilch80 on Saturday, 03 May 2014 at 22:40:14 UTC.

Nice to visit again - haven't been here for a year or two but been often in the past. Dropped a TB & a GC. T4TC

Today we walked down the Upper Huia Dam track from Piha Road to the dam and beyond, collecting the FTFs on the 9 new alligatorsnz caches.
We couldn't go past the dam without stopping to collect this one as well. Nice bonus that this is a 2006 hide too.
The road from the dam seems very popular with bike riders. We were passed by 3 riders, some more than once. This section looks like an easy ride up the gentle slope and through the tunnel, and the bikes just coast back down.
TFTC.

Out for an ANZAC day hike with Alligatorsnz and arrived at the dam for lunch. The cache was a quick easy find as Alligatorsnz pulled it out to check on it, not realising I hadn't found it before! TFTC!

Dropped off TB.

After a good long six month wait, the work on the dam has finally been completed and is now accessible. The cache is still there and in good nik. It's a shame it was closed all summer, but it still makes a good all-year-round trek.

Yes, the access road has been sealed off just after the Christies Track junction. So disabling the cache until January. Thanks for the heads-up - M@

Nice easy find. I have the good fortune of coming up here every year for work to survey the dam, and so could drive right to the cache!

Note to future visitors: as of tomorrow (8/10/13) until January 2014 the upper huia track will be closed due to dam upgrade works. Not sure if this is just the track beyond the cache, but I suspect it's also the road in - either way it would pay to check before heading out in search of this one.

Beautiful spot and well worth a visit once its reopened! TFTC

Doing my bronze level Duke of Edinburgh hike - found this one easily during our lunch break - no GPS needed

Found it

just wandering through the area looking for some real mud with mates, saw this one out standing so had to give it a tap on the head.. no water care people around to catch us and provide a bonus.. ah darn.. dam still in place and no leaks.. just found a little tunnel with a cool little rail car thing but they must have seen me coming and chained it in place;-)

Needed another D/T combo for the Provisional Licence so dragged the mountain bikes out and away we went. After finding the cache we hid the bikes and then walked to the top of the dam. Didn't realise that it is a gradual climb all the way up the valley until we were able to coast most of the way back .

Not the most brilliant idea to go for this cache after a night of heavy rainfall. The track down from Piha Road was very technical and slippery and half way on our way back out, our brain was getting tired of always paying attention where to step next. But Rala wanted a mud adventure for the weekend - she definitely got exactly that.
The dam is well worth a visit. There are some nice spots nearby to stop for a picnic at the shore. Rumo got fascinated by the old tramline that once must have gone along the track and that strange collapsed tunnel about halfway.
We also surprised a bunch of teenagers who somehow had gotten hold of a tramway cart and had taken turns to push each other to the dam. They definitely had lots of fun.
The cache itself was an easy find and dry and in good condition.
Took: Figurine
Left: Torch
TFTC

Thanks for the cache and 2 TBs
Will drop them off somewhere soon (will do my best)

dropped of two TB's I need to be moved.

So I got fully busted, cache in hand by a Watercare guy coming up the road in his truck. Not much I could do to hide! But he was all good and interested in the phenomenon, and even let me into the smoko room to get out of the rain to have a look at the goodies. Took nothing left nothing. Thanks for the cache!

After a good slog up, down, around, and through the waitaks we popped out at the dam, and awesomely, evilno9 picked up number 1000!! Although not quite as planned it was still a great way to reach the milestone. Was definitely challenging getting here as the tracks were a mess after the recent rain, so it was welcome to sit down for a bit, in the rain albeit, and celebrate the achievement. TFTC tofska, and mark...here's to another 1000!

Loved the track walk, the ninja way trying not to dive in the mud and it was great to see the much talked about dam.

So this cache got to be my 700th cache. Another milestone for me. (I know it is a small one but I am getting there slowly)

Seemed it was just yesterday when I started caching with no9. Time really flys and it has almost been year and a half since I started it and looking forward to hit the four digit number like him with him!!!! Congrats by the way. Thank you for introducing me to my new hobby which has taken me places that I have never been before with my buddy "most" of the time

PS: If the area is mind blowing, I take my family there so that they can also see what a pretty place our country is. This track is on my list to be revisited, in the next couple of years, once Miss Little snakelion can start to run around so that uncle Mark does not have to carry her....

TFTC tofska

After an epic hike of mud, boulders, crossing streams and falling over, we made it to this, the 1000th cache for my good mate Evilno9. I have to say by this point I was quite glad to be back on something approaching civilized terrain and it was good place to stop and celebrate with some mince pies.

This will always be a memorable find as it was my 1000th find. Couldn't have asked for better company to have found it in - cheers snakelion and mel_ramsay in particular for being there for most of the 1000 and eatorbeeaten for not letting a broken ankle slow you down too much - the weather behaved itself for the most part and in the end we clocked up 20 kilometres in the 9 hours we were out there for.

We had a pretty tough trek to get here - LOTS of mud, the odd shower and plenty of hills to navigate but it was all worth it. We came via the Karamatura Track, then up to Huia Ridge and finally the Nugget track to end up here. Grabbed the TB on the way out.

Great day out and very pleased to have cracked 1000. TFTC

This entry was edited by evilno9 on Sunday, 18 December 2011 at 06:56:14 UTC.

Dropping off Signal TB

On a caching circuit in the area with Tufty and Rosmar. 4th of the day, but not a bad place to stop for lunch. Pity about the access restriction nearby. Thanks

Out and about with Tufty & Coldstream on a mission to find six caches in the area. Well done Tufty for recording the finer details of the trip, great fun was had by all even when the going was tough. Arrived at GZ and at first thought we may have had to break into the securely fenced off area but with a bit of a stretch it was possible to get our hands on the fourth find of our trip T4TC.

Please read the previous chapters in this long running (well actually, walking) saga, in order, in Kiwicouple's King of the Kakamatua Castle, M@'s Nihotupu/Summit Junction, KiwiGary and The Moor We Hunt...'s Between the Dams.

We left KiwiGary and The Moor We Hunt...'s Between the Dams at 1124 hrs for the Upper Huia Dam. It was back along Christies Track, walking the logs at the stream,
and back up to the Huia Dam Road. We hadn't gone more than 5 minutes before we encountered a couple running towards us down the road. The first humans we encountered and half the day had almost gone.
It was a nice gentle walk up the road, passing through the tunnel, and then onto the Dam. We arrived at 1200 hrs. The building where the cache is located is now behind a security fence as there is upgrade work going on here. Though there was no problem in locating the cache.
It can be done from outside the fence. In fact it is easier to retrieve the cache while outside the fence.

All signed the log.

We then decided to have lunch here so we very quickly sat down.

For the next chapter in the continuing saga please read my log for Nedd's Up There.

Cheers for the cache

The area is fenced in at the moment due to a construction area. Had to sneak in to get to the Cache.

Biked on up after doing Between the Dams. Cache is in great condition. What a great ride back down!
Note: the lower gate at Huia is now permanently locked, so the 3:30 deadline is no longer a factor.

Did not even need the GPS for this one. I have passed this spot many times before but never quessed anything was in hidding.

A great day in the Waitakeres. Got seriously rained on, but still loads of fun.

From the snowy mountains of Mt Cook park to the rainforest of the Waitakeres, this coin has come a long way. Now so close to the international airport, perhaps someone will take it off shore.....

Onwards and upwards to this cache on the big walk.....

Decided this was a good spot for a bite, and after the cache was found headed up to the dam for a feed.

Grabbed cinderella TB to move on.

TFTC M@

Found this cache as part of a big day's walk with The Wonder Stuff from the Piha Road to the south coast.

Came in from Piha Rd via Nihotupu dam, onto Chisties track, then up the dam access road. Was a strong head-wind coming through the tunnel today. Didn't see any other people about today, strange for January saturday with a bit of overcast making it a perfect walking day.

Soon had cache in hand - T4TC.

Had lunch while admiring the view from the dam then on to the Nugget track to complete our 19km 7.5 hour southern Waitakere cache raid...

Having a guided tour of the Waikatere Ranges from KiwiGary today! We met up early in the morning to walk down to the Upper Nihotupu Dam, then started on the bush track from there to Upper Huia Dam. This was a very challenging walk, with plenty of mud after some recent heavy rains and many fallen trees to climb over or around. We loved the walk and it was a beautifully hot day to be walking in the shade of the bush. Glad to sit down for a rest and drink when we finally reached the cache, which was found safe and well. Picked up Swiss Geocoin and Will You Marry Me? Geocoin. Dropped off a number of trackables that KiwiGary has taken to move on and also left our new TB, Seeking Cinderella, to start its travels alone from here. Walked up the the top of the dam before returning the way we'd come. A great 8 hours walking and chatting, enjoying KiwiGary's company. Many thanks. SL. TFTC.

12:10 Well the Moor we hunt wanted an adventure and this cache provided it with bucket loads. That's bucket loads of Waitakere mud .

We approached from the Nihotupu dam via the Christies track. It was a great walk that provided some real challenges with the mud and the number of fallen trees across the track.

It was great to see the regenerating Kauri's in the area. It would be sad day if Kauri die back took hold in the area.

We arrived at the dam and Rachael located the cache in its hide. This is when Rachael hatched a plan to make me carry half of her TB collection back up the hill by giving me a few TB's to take home with me .

We then scaled the nearby track to reach the top of the dam. Some great views from up here indeed. Shame the sign is missing, would have been keen to read the history of the dam.

After the walk back I was rewarded with a hot cup of coffee from Chris and Rachael's camper van. After nine hours of walking, it was the best cup of coffee I had in ages. The camper van is great caching vehicle indeed. Thanks guys for coming along and making today such a great day. Hope you enjoy the rest of your holiday in New Zealand.

Took: Wellington Womble TB, Mr. Quacker,The Way Geocoin, Double Dutch TB, Madison's Plane TB, SIGN'n'SEND TB, The Goodwill Comb TB, 'Blaize' TB, TUSWECA TB, 2006 Kiwi Geocoin and V n R's USA Geocoin No.1
Logged in Nelson and Boo for the mileage...

Thanks for cache Matt.

Really nice bike ride out there. Amazed to see that our dog, Palin, kept up the whole way and never dropped the pace.

TFTC

Came back here to drop off a geocoin we collected in Rarotonga. Love doing this ride with the whole family and figured it was a nice spot for the coin to start its journey in NZ.

Out for a ride with Kiwi Whanau. An awesome ride despite the rain. The construction of the dam and the tunnel enroute still amazes me given that they didn't have any of the high tech gear we have these days. Dropped of the goodwill comb and took the Solomon Island dollar coin. TFTC.

Found it Dropped off geocoin from australia.

Took the dog for a good long walk. met kiwiwhanau on cycle with cool buggy. took a break at top of dam and got back to the car in the dark - good walk. removed Tofka's teasure key #2

Went up on our bikes on a stunning autumn day. Nearly broke the dog who couldn't quite keep up!! Great cache location and great excuse to get back up here. TFTC!
Took: Clip key ring
Left: Tofska's Treasure Key #2 and $1 Solomon dollar

Found it.

Great ride, would have brought the kids, but the thought of all the uphill(hard to have a dam at the bottom of a hill), with the possibility of rain,meant they stayed at the bach. Wonderful views, clears the cobwebs from the city. In Doll, Out Dominos.

Just under the wall. Easy to access. Thanks.

(1141)
Might have bitten off more than we could chew, with this one. The GPSr said 4.2KM DLOS from the outer gate, but it was more like 6.2+ Km each way. Any way many thanks for the enjoyable walk – took us longer than we thought, but that’s what caching is all about. Thanks M@ - cheers YuGeo4.
Out On the Go DONALD TB
In NIL
LNSL, TFTC

A sorte out west with a couple of objectives. One to drop off M@'s Treasure Key TB for key replacement after recent muggling... and to knock off a couple up Huia dam..
Just enjoyed finding Waitakere Wonder and continued up the track on manual MTB's.. Motorbikes (Xena and Splat) resting this weekend. XC zoomed off leaving TK floundering behind.. hehe..
Got to GZ with copious amounts of sweat dripping off XC.
Of course I chose the wrong corner and TK caught up and soon uncovered. Mumble mumble...
TK signed log and I uplifted Geocoin in residence and dropped in On the Go DONALD TB
Excellent ride.. even for a motorbike rider. Enjoyed the ride downhill most of the way back to Car. Including a chat with a tramper muggle.
Thanks for bring us up here M@... Always great fun.
TFTC #590

Roared out West with XenaCommander aboard the rocket ship with mountain bikes lashed to the stern. Afte being left behind in XCs dust en route to visit another cache(note to nobble his tyres) we arrived at GZ. Cache was quickly found by TK due to a sense of direction not unlike that of a caged budgerigar - hopeless but a useful handicap on this occasion.
Thanks for the fun and the hunt.

I needed a good bike ride after spending a week in Sydney, despite the drizzle. Very impressive watching the water spill down the plughole at the lower dam.
Dropping off Cashe Crusaders' Ice Rose Geocoin

Beautiful day for an easy, picturesque walk to the dam. No need to worry about the car being locked in behind the gate as we couldn't get in! We planned an early start for this cache & found gate didn't open till about 11am. TFTC

Decided to get my Bro's Mountain Bike and give the cache a go. Started at the Lower Dam upper gate at 11:00. That first hill was a killer, carried along the track, didn't see any signage at the first split in the track so kept on going, got to the second split and found a sign up the track pointing to the Upper Dam, so followed it. This track after a big hill (down) split and the track got smaller and wasn't suitable for a bike. One of the tracks just stopped at a stream, the other had steep steps down to a bridge. SO after much contemplation and back tracking ended up carrying the bike down the steps, followed this track (not really bikeable) till it finally came out to the road I should have been on, it emerged close to (Waitakere Wonder). Carried on up to the Upper Dam finally arriving close to 1245hrs. I was so happy to see the sign 'Upper Huia Dam'.
Found the cache rather quickly, went on to the dam for photos and lunch. A really nice spot well worth the effort.
Stayed on the correct track all the way back, except for the detour to 'Waitakere Wonder'. That gradual climb up wouldn't have been too hard, compared to the other track. Was a nice ride down, until that first hill. Got back to the car at 1400hrs.
Will have to come back again and will remember to take the first fork in the road, left!!
Cheers for bringing me out here, i totally enjoyed it and needed the excercise !!
TFTC TNLN SL

Came in from the south walking, 25 years ago was the last time I was here before going over seas. Very hot day for a long walk. 50 minutes (cache to car) for the return walk. Lots of people walking and biking. Out TB
TFTC

Dropping Secret Agent geocoin.

The track to the dam from Piha Rd is now open! , so tried it out today. It's a great walk - especially through the cuttings of the old tramway.
M@

What a marvellous walk, not a soul about, until I arrived at the cache location to discover 3 workmen milling around. So I wandered up to the dam and watched as they soon drove off, then back down to grab the cache. Can't recommend this cache highly enough. Excellent exercise too. TNLNSL, Cheers M@

Out for a bike ride this morning. I talked to some dam workers on top of the wall - they said the lake was lowered so they could do some maintenance on the valves.
Some development going on here with some bush being cleared, but cache is still safe and sound. Track to Piha road still closed though.
M@

We decided to follow Zorgon's example and cycle to the cache. Hubby is a keen mountain biker but I had to blow the cobwebs of my bike Had been prepared for the first hill (or vertical mountain!) from the logs and the gradual incline there after. We had thought the lake levels might have risen after the recent heavy rain storms but it still seemed on the low level. Found cache no problem and had amazing, fun ride back.
Took ET travel bug and left Vans wristband

TFTC and the exercise!

Given previous logs I decided that bikes might be a good option despite it being 18 months since I had last ridden and it was my sons first attempt on a bike with gears. Half way up that first mammoth hill we weren't so sure that it had been a clever decision and we almost pulled the plug. The gradient improved thereafter so we just pottered along and enjoyed the scenery. It was a slow trip there (49 min) but the ride back down was just magic!!
Like Tramper Ted we were surprised how low the water level looked for this time of year. I hope Auckland is not relying on this supply too much for the summer!
Thanks M@ for taking us out of our comfort zone on the bikes. A most enjoyable ride. TNLN.

Excellent training opportunity. Walked fast, 53 mins each way, were appalled by the low water level of the top reservoir. Good case for water conservation if this is what happens in winter, awful to think what it will look like in summer. Bikes would be a good option but they got left at home! TFTC M@

My first geocache. Woowoo. Think I'm hooked already...

It was a great day to do this, and we weren't the only ones with the same idea, as we met AGS walking out as we walked in. Stopped for lunch atop the dam, before quickly finding the cache.
Have been to the dam before but never via the road, so this was one of the very few walks in the Waitak's that we hadn't done.
Thanks M@ for a good workout. + white jeep TB

I think the last time that I came up this route was when it was a 'open day', in the then closed water supply catchment. Most of the road follows an old narrow gauge railway route, so it's an nice easy walking gradient. I spotted the ruined remains of a railway bridge at Nuggets Creek.
Beautiful day, but an early start made it extremely cold out of the sun. Another day in paradise...
Thanks for the cache!