Logs for S-Man42 

My first trip to Denmark.

I had a three weeks vacation. Originally we wanted to spend one of it at the German North Sea Coast, but because of bad weather we decided to stay home. However, after two weeks I needed to come out and immediately I planned a visit to Zealand for finding some the oldest Geocaches ever.

This and the nearby GC1D7D were the numbers eight and nine on my tour across the island. Always 15 to 30 minutes ride, and 2 to 5 km hike. I already hiked something between 20 and 30 km. My legs were tired, my motivation down. But there was an old gem. 2001 hidden year. A must have. A re-motivator!

So I began with my 5km round trip. A banana in the left hand, the device in the other. And I reached the destination much faster than I thought.

Now another kilometer to the second cache. A even farther away from the car. I needed to walk all this way back... Well... We are all crazy on this hobby, aren't we?

Thanks for keeping this nice piece of Geocaching history alive!

TFTC

+++++
**GC Wizard** - The New Geocaching Multitool:
OpenSource for Android and iOS

[Google PlayStore](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.sman42.gc_wizard)
[Apple AppStore](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1506766126)
[Web-Ansicht der App](https://gcwizard.net)

[Blog](https://blog.gcwizard.net/de/)
[Twitter: @GC_Wizard](https://twitter.com/gc_wizard)
[Facebook: @geocache.wizard](https://www.facebook.com/geocache.wizard) 

Second out of five countries in one day.

Originally we only wanted to visit this one the Maastricht Kookhuis, but due to the route given by Google Maps, we decided to enhance our tour to a five countries tour. So the start was a bit disastrous, because due to Sunday, the Kookhuis was closed. However we found a nice Netherlands' alternative.

Of course, the Belgium Geocache must be this historical artifact. And naturally, these old Geocaches are in fact no highlights, but I like to see the history of our hobby.

So, it was a great moment to find this. A bit pity that the box was only an emergency one, and not a great ammo box. But thanks to the owner, that we were able to log this anyway. It would have been very sad, if we made the long tour from Berlin and would have missed this tour hightlight.

Thanks for keeping this piece of history alive!

+++++
**GC Wizard** - The New Geocaching Multitool:
OpenSource for Android and iOS

[Google PlayStore](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.sman42.gc_wizard)
[Apple AppStore](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1506766126)
[Web-Ansicht der App](https://gcwizard.net)

[Blog](https://blog.gcwizard.net/de/)
[Twitter: @GC_Wizard](https://twitter.com/gc_wizard)
[Facebook: @geocache.wizard](https://www.facebook.com/geocache.wizard) 

This geocacher reported that the container is damaged. 

This geocacher reported that the container is damaged. 

Write not for Coin visit. Complete Found log follows. 

So, that was it. The end of our New Zealand journey. Four weeks of beautiful natures, great people, nice (and not so nice) geocaches. In a few hours was take off. Time for the very last geocache in the country.

We had some time, the flight was planned for 6pm. So we made all touristic stuff you could possibly do in Christchurch: Taking a tram tour, eating good and expensive ice cream and visiting the nice botanic gardens. And when we were right there, a short walk more cannot be that bad, right?

So we headed towards this cache. A little bit sporting action before sitting thirty hours in airplanes and terminals.

I had a look at the current log photos to decide whether it is possible to go for this geocache without any equipment. In the end it looked much higher than it finally was.

No muggles, and so: Up there in the trees. Was much easier than I thought

Thank you for this little action! Thanks for maintaining the cache. Greetings from Germany! 

I wanted to log a geocache in every single New Zealand region I passed during our journey. And now, the very last region was entered. Canterbury. Visited region number twelve (out of sixteen, not bad for a four week travel, isn't it?)

Which one should get the honour? Hm... What is that? A hitchhiker geocache? Highly favorited? That has to be a MUST HAVE for me! The 42 in my nickname has its reason!

So, when we planned our last route up from Dunedin, we programmed the navigation system with certain stops: The Boulder beach, the Steampunk HQ in Oamaru and then this coordinates.

When we finally made it to Christchurch and to this cache, the sun went down slowly. But its very nice light shined through the suburb. Really nice. Ok, was no Thurday morning, as it has to be, but maybe the owner may excuse

I put out my babel fish. I would not need it anymore. We saw the country. We saw many beautiful nature and met many beautiful people. And finally we saw a great great geocache!

I had much fun with it! Very nice done! Appreciated so much. Now, I have seen all the best. Now the hyperspace highway can appear!

So long and thanks for all the fish! 

We came up the long way from Dunedin this day. We saw many beautiful spots on the way: The Boulder Beach, the Steampunk HQ in Oamaru and even the beautiful Hitchhiker geocache in the south of Christchurch. Nice trip. But too few walking and physical action. A higher Terrain value geocache was needed to fight the lazy car sitting action before ending the day with a nice dinner.

While my partner inspected the restaurants nearby, I silently walked away to inspect this small nice island.

Fortunately the few muggles went away. I searched good place for passing the stream, put out my shoes, went over, put them on again and then...

Yes, I needed some Google lessons in botany to decrypt the hint. And even then I searched the wrong plants

But finally I saw the box. Well hidden from sudden muggle views. Well done!

Way back. And yummy pasta!

Thanks for the cache and greetings from Germany! 

When we planned our trip to New Zealand, it became quite clear, that this would be the chance for me to reset the new record for the most southerly geocache ever logged.

But our schedule was heavy. No chance for the southern scenic route. The most southerly point we would reach would have been Balclutha. Ok, one simply traditional cache there and go on.

But then, suddenly, there was an unexpected gap in our plans. One day more! Great chance. Instead driving from Te Anau to Dunedin in one single day, using the State Highways as directly as possible, we decided to take the scenic route, splitting the tour into two parts. And then: New chance to get even a few kilometers more to the South.

Of course, we wanted to visit the Slope Point when we decided to take this route. Even more, it came out, that this point is nearly exactly the half way. So great point for staying. Booked a Bed and Breakfast nearby and then heading to Slope Point.

What a surprise when I realized this Virtual Cache! More southern than the southern most point of the South Island is quite impossible (ok, yes, I know Steward Island, but this was not part of our plans!). Great. So this log might mark my South record maybe forever!

It was quite stormy there, but nevertheless a nice atmosphere include a nice litte rainbow.

Thank you for topping the visit with this geocache! 

Although I already had my geocache log for the region Southland I was curious how the best voted geocache near Te Anau would look like.

We just came back from the Overnight Cruise on the Doubtful Sound. It was still early and we had the chance to seize the day. Went for a small lunch, sitting at the lake... And then? Of course, Geocaching!

So we drove to the car park. It was empty. No one on the tracks? One of the few that kept open after the heavy rain falls? Ok, might be.

My partner had more luck than me this time and she called for the found. I really laughed out loud! Nice one. Well done!

After all we visited the nearby view point and enjoyed the look out over the Lake and the town.

Thank you for this funny cache! 

[Logged nearly a year later]

I have no idea, why I missed this one. When we went to New Zealand last year, I was looking forward to log the Earth Cache on the Doubtful Sound. It was one of the Geocaching destinations with highest priority, I had in mind, when visiting the great country. Last week I had a look at our photos, all these memories, no idea what a crazy year we would get. My girl friend and me, we always think back to some of our greatest weeks ever. Then I had a look at the logged geocaches... And then I saw this one. Why did I miss it in my preparations? So bad.

But luckily, we went to this place, we had that great view over the Doubtful Sound, we took some really great pictures. So, I could answer the question and I am able to log this so much time after

Last year, when we were in New Zealand, a huge rain fall destroyed many ways to the sounds. The Milford was completely cutted, and the roads down from Queenstown, where we were in the morning, were closed until early in the morning. But we were lucky. Nonetheless we decided to drive the closed signs and than, six in the morning, a few cars were guided throught the destroyed route. We lead the convoy (ok, right after the construction vehicle).

And so we could enter the boat at 11am which took us the Doubtful Sound trip, where we booked a great Overnight Cruise.

The weather was quite ok, the best one we had in the last few days of heavy rain. A bit cold, a bit cloudy, but nothing special.

And then we entered the busses to the sound. And they stopped at the view. Great! We saw our ship!

The weather became better and better. I believe, it is the most beautiful and peaceful piece of nature I've ever seen. We saw some seals, and then... far far away I saw something. I triggered the camera and when I zoomed deep into the picture I saw that I took a photo of a jumping dolphin. Wow, the first dolphin I've ever, well... , "seen" in my life! Pity that it was just as short as an eye blink and too far away to see them really.

Next morning, clear sky, mirror calm sea. What great shots were possible. And again: Far away we could see some back fins of a small group of dolphins.

When we were back on land, the busses stopped a second time at the view because of the much better view than the day before. Now we could see the ship. What a great final view for one of the most remarkable trips ever!

Thanks to the owner that I can log this after all this time! 

What a trip!

We came down from Queenstown. But we heavy luck. One day ago, all roads were closed because of the heavy rain. But we wanted to do the booked overnight cruise. We really really wanted to do it. But how? There was literally no single road which stood open. Not even the very very long bypasses.

But then we got an email. Forwarded by our travel agency which got it forwarded by its partner which got it forwarded by the national travel agency which got it forwarded by the road company. Maybe there is a chance for a convoi through the blocked roads early in the morning.

We tried. We went to the road block 6 o'clock in the morning. But the guy did not know anything. He asked us just to wait. We tried to phone every one, including the guy which wrote the email originally. But we only got his colleague. He knew nothing about a convoi.

Crazy. But the original guy was right. 6:48am a Downer car arrives and took us through the road block.

Yeah, heading to Manapouri! We made it. And then: The weather became clear, the sky became blue.

And we made the trip on the Fiordland Navigation. What a great trip! We saw a lot of really really amazing landscapes throughout the whole country. But now, nearly at the end of our journey through New Zealand: This was quite awesome, the most beautiful spot I saw so far in my whole live! Great!

Of course, I wanted to log the Earth Cache (my first T5 Earth cache!) and so I took pictures. Many many pictures. And went to the captain to asked for a view onto his instruments. Great!

Thank you for the cache, which was the cherry on top of the most incredible trip and piece of nature I ever had the honour to see! 

During the day I had to visit the Cookie Shop. Ok, I confess, all I got, was a nice milk shake, but no geocache log. But I got an idea. I would come along later.

Meanwhile, waiting for less muggles there, we decided to go for a dinner and then... What the heck? A disc golf parcours? Eighteen holes? What a pity, that it was getting dark now. How I would loved to play this. Great?

Some days ago, I was heavily into Ultimate Frisbee (until I got a bad back). And when there was not Ultimate tournament, I went to the Hyzernauts Disc Golf Park in Potsdam (near Berlin, Germany) with its nice fourteen holes.

Fortunately there was at least this nice little box, to honour the great sport. We had to do this at least.

Well, it was not that quite easy. After some time, I understood the hint, but... Nothing. It must be there. This could not have been that hard... Aaaaaaargh... I really do not wanted to have look at ...., but... Well, fortunately it does not came to this. My hand stubbed to the right point, accidentially. Ok, this was quite nice. Did not see this idea before, although so simple. So, what should I say? A few millimeters away can be really hard

Thank you for the geocache! Greetings from Germany! 

Rain, rain and even more rain. We stuck in the rain two days ago in Fox Glacier. Road block. Nothing came through. Queenstown was unreachable.

Fortunately the Haast pass was opened just a few ours the day after. We could pass with the first convoi. Rain, rain and even more rain.

When we passed the mountains: Blue sky. Magical! Every single car in the convoi stopped, laughed. We left the wet hell behind us! We made it.

And then? Arriving Queenstown. Clouds at the horizon. And a bit later: rain, rain and even more rain.

We brought it with us. The rain followed us. And then it stuck with us. Again the whole day - like in Fox Glacier. We had to wait in the Bed and Breakfast room. Boring.

I could not do it once more. I took my rain poncho, and headed to the town. I just saw this interesting geocache on my device. Maybe, have a look.

Ok, I searched, I drunk the very great milk shake, looked around, had ideas, failed every time. Hm...

Asked the kind girl from the Cookie Shop. She smiled and gave me the tool and the direction. Instantly I had an idea. Really? Should I really do this? I was not sure, I did not want to destroy something - under the eyes of the whole public.

I took a picture of the object, showed the girl. She smiled again. I thanked for the help and the shake, I said, I would come back later. Much later.

But still I was not sure. What if I misunderpreted her reaction? Wrote the owner. He smiled.

We went for dinner. After a small round through the park, logging the frisbee golf cache, we came back. Wearing my own tool.

And then? Hm... Sometimes you have to do what you have to do. And then do it as it would have been the most normal thing in the world. Do it like you are paid to do it. Be audacious. Do not look around. Just do it.

Thank you for this adventure  

After our visit and meal in the Cafe Lake Matheson the rain was gone. So, we decided to have a look to the village and check the road. Could we go the next day to Queenstown? We had an appointment we do not wanted to miss.

The nice guy at the road block told us, that they do not know so far. But there would be great chance to make this in the morning. But currently all he could say for sure was, the new information would come next morning, 10am.

But he insisted us, to do the Glowworm path, which started just ten meters away from the current position. With the very slightly rain, and the upcoming darkness, it would be the very best weather for the magical walk.

It was not too dark at this moment, so we went back for a moment, trying to log this cache. This one was easy, and even more than its brother we logged before, I was really wondering how it could have survived all the masses of water.

Nevertheless, thank you for the geocache. And visit the glow worms. They are magical! 

It was wet this day. I mean, REALLY wet! We arrived one day ago, followed by the rain. When we checked in into our Bed and Breakfast, the hostess said: Ok, you have circa five hours until the storm and the rain arrives. Use it! First go the view point to see the mountain peaks. After that rush to the Lake Matheson, run around them, hope that the mirror effect can be seen using the silence before the storm. Run! Go go go!

What should I say? She was right!

Next day the rain destroyed a power line and all our plans for the day. Furthermore, the road to Queenstown was blocked. Luckily we wanted to use it one day later. So the road block was exactly on the day, we planned to have break. LUCK!

So far, I had no log in the West Coast region. I needed one. In the evening the rain was nearly gone. We tried. Because the power problem, we had no food. Only a few restaurants had an own generator. The hostess told us, the Cafe Lake Matheson would be such a restaurant. We entered the car. On the way, we tried to do the log. First try: DNF! ("Water", what a hint in the current situation )

But finally we were lucky at this easy won. Wondered why it was still here, and not gone with the rain.

Thank you for the geocache! 

I had to accompany the dad of an old friend from Germany up the Middle Earth! He always wanted to see that spot but no one ever wanted to go with him.

So we made it up. When we went down, I kindly asked him for a little bit longer way down... Of course, for absolutely no reasons... *whistle*

Of course, the reason was this cache and the good old man was interested to see, what we do in our free time and what this geocaching really is.

But this one was not that easy for the first moment. First, we went much too far before I was looking at the device. And then... Yes, seventeen meters can be really much when there is a mountain or a cliff.

We searched, we climbed, we enlarged the search radius up to fifty meters. Every large tree, every not so large tree and in the end, every little tree has been inspected by us. The old man was amazing, he wanted more - even when I wanted to go.

I had a last look at some former logs. And there was a passage, a phrase. A former logger said, he "climbed up". But from our position, climbing up, increased the distance. So... maybe...

Yes, it was worth a last try. We went down, to the ground level. And then it got easy: A path to really large trees lead us to the box. We learned: When you are seventeen meters away, you are on the wrong way!

Thank you for maintaining this cache. Thank for the lesson! 

Ok, the third day in Nelson and no geocaching log so far. Disturbing! All these family priorities! Irks...

No, of course, it was not bad at all, but I still needed a log for the Nelson region. I chose another one for this, but suddenly there was an option. The dad of our friend from Germany always wanted to get up here - and nobody wanted to come along. Poor man.

So, quick look at the geocaching device. Yep, I am on! There are some logs waiting for me

The walk up was a nice little one. Not quite hard, but beautiful. And very noisy. The cicades did the best they possibly could. I forgot my ear plugs No, that was very interesting. Nice

At the top, the view over Nelson is amazing! Thank you for sharing this with us!

Thanks for the cache and greets from Germany! 

When I had a look out for my region Nelson geocache log, I recently spotted this one. More than 130 favorite points is not very often in New Zealand. I needed to see this one!

We stood three days in Nelson. But it needed the very last evening to get the time to make the visit here. Meanwhile I had two other logs in Nelson, so I did not really need this one as region log, but of course, I was still very interested to see, what is the matter with this one.

So, literally my very last action in Nelson was searching for a Geocache in the darkness on an area signed with: Danger, no trespassing! Great!

But really, first I was not sure, what to do, when I saw this sign. I really needed to enter this area... Hm, maybe from the other side? Yes, there was a little path down the way plants.

So, I found the object. But, I am honest: I had no idea what to do with it. I did not wanted to use my torch, to not get the attention of certain muggles.

Fortunately I saw a tool, obviously left by a former geocacher. Thank you for that, dearest unknown! And then it was not any problem. Great mechanics! The best I have seen so far at this country! Keep this level! For that, one of my very rare favorite points need to left.

Thank you so much! 

It was a spontaneous trip. Kayaking in Abel Tasman. It came to us sitting with beer with a good old friend from Germany who lives in Nelson right now.

What a great thing! What an amazing experience! What a colorful water! What... everything was awesome!

An what to do when having a kayak for own unlimited usage? Right! Look out for a nice possibility for logging T5 geocaching. And really, we were lucky! There was one!

So, we started from the Marahau beach. But we had not much time. The kayaking instructor told us, landing on Adele Island on high tide would be nearly impossible. And the water was jsut coming back. Rushing!

Indeed, when we arrived, the beaches became small and smaller. But what and amazing picture when a seal from the nearby colony suddenly came out of the water, only a few meters from the cache coordinates away. And right at good landing point. Thank you, good boy! (or girl?)

First, I went down and up the shore line, hoping to spot the mysterious sign. But I found nothing. I decided to land at this (smaller getting) landing point, put on my shoes and try it by foot - as long as I had the chance to. I can say: My shoes did not stay dry

And then I saw the sign behind an old plant. OK, I was expecting something... bigger

The rest was easy. Even if I was really skeptical to find it - in the last few days there were so much DNFs from owners that are not active anymore. But this one was fine, luckily!

Thank you for this little adventure!

After that, went for the seals! 

When I planned the trip through New Zealand, I realized that I would cross twelve of your sixteen regions. That is much, so I decided to try at least one geocache log in every single Kiwi region I pass.

In the morning we went from Wellington to Picton by the ferry. In Picton we received our rental car. At the North Island we were not that independent because we made all our trips by bus or train. Now we could stop whenever we liked.

Since we would make it up to Nelson this day, we would pass Malborough only in this afternoon. For a little break for the first time driving a car on the left side I watched out for a nice little walk.

So I found this cache. Actually, we had an appointment in Nelson, soon. So we had not that much time. At the map this walk seemed to be not that hard, but I was wrong.

The path became small and then really narrow. The plants sometimes make it hard to see the path anymore. Fortunately, my partner made my taking a water bottle with me.

But I made it to the top. But I did not find a fine geocache. After some extensive searching all I found was a little piece of paper, washed out by the rain, but containing three different logs. So, after the hard walk, I decided to take it as found and put my name under it.

I am not quite sure, if the owner is still at the game, but a complete maintainance is absolutely necessary!

Nevertheless, thanks for leading to this beautiful view! 

I decided to log at least one cache at every New Zealand region I pass. At this day we went from Picton to Nelson. Since, our trip would go counter clockwise around the coast line of the South Island and would end in Christchurch, I would never go Malborough again. I needed a log today.

Although I just made another log after a hugh walk through the bush with an amazing view at its end, I only found an old washed out piece of paper with former logs instead of a real box. Even if i signed it, I am not quite sure, if this would be accepted by the (maybe inactive) owner. So, I needed a backup log.

What I learned so far about geocaching in New Zealand: It can be really really frustrating. Geocaches often are destroyed and not maintained anymore, and even more often not even exisiting. I had many DNFs in that country so far.

We were running out of time. We had an appointment in the evening. And we were running out of possibilities, since Nelson came nearer and nearer and with it the end of the region.

We wanted to get a fast log right now, so we stopped down at the War Memorial. But either we were blind or it was the curse again - no found. So, fortunately there was another chance, the way up - and if this would fail - a second one at the top of the mountain.

Fortunately I did not need to climb it. I found it. But again: In a bad condition.

Nevertheless, thanks for this cache and the great view! 

One year ago began the planning for our New Zealand trip. In this time I still were in my geocaching break which started in 2014. But at the end of the last year I refound my love to this game.

In that time I was on tour with an old Geocaching buddy. He said: OK, you are going to New Zealand. Do you know that some of the very oldest caches exist there? And many of them are still active?

No, I did not know. But then I had a look. Great. The oldest still active caches: Two or three in the United States, one Virtual in Australia and then one near Wellington, New Zealand. This is even older than the first Europe geocache, would fill even very first field at the "Hidden Month" matrix: May 2000. A must have!

Of course, there were more old ones, but unfortunately our schedule was quite hard, and did not leave much spaces for driving that far around our route. But it included a three nights stay in Wellington.

At the North Island we had no rental car. For our trips we used guided bus tours and the Kiwi Rail going through the country. At home, in Berlin, I am using car sharing services very often. So, I had look if there is any similar service in Wellington. Indeed, I found on, which accepted international drivers without any problems. I signed in. This would be my first time, driving on the "wrong side" . Crazy.

So, when we arrived Wellington, we took such a car in the afternoon. I was very VERY excited. It was not that easy to manage the left-side ride. But we made it to the car park for the geocache.

The afternoon sun was great, clear sky. So we went the "Gum Loop Track". Such a beautiful landscape, such a beautiful nature! Everything we saw so far from the island was so amazing. This place was it, too - of course.

In the end, the actual search and hide was easy. In Germany, we call it "Cacher Autobahn", the path leading directly to the geocache hide, like a small highway.

I was lucky. This was one of my must-have goals when visiting New Zealand. Thank you so much for maintaining the geocache for that long time! Amazing! 

From Auckland, our next stop at the North Island was the Tongariro National Park. Not only the beautiful - so different - landscape made us visiting it. Also our love the Lord of the Rings movies. So our first exciting view, of course, was the "Mt. Doom". But after all, we decided to visiting "Mordor".

Unfortunately my partner cannot do this walk from the Chateau, so we hired a transfer shuttle up the Iwakau village, using the Bruce Road, of course. The first look was for this cache. It was still early in the morning, so we had no troubles with that many tourists. The hint lead us directly to the hide, so the found could be done relatively quick.

After that, I got a little bit injured by the dumbness of myself. I overestimated the solid rocks, struggled and let some of my blood in Mordor - well, how many people can say this? Don't worry, was not really bad.

We had a look a the fields behind the village and had much fun the reproduce the Gollum scene at Mead's Wall.

This cache now marks my personal record for the highest located found ever. Of course, there a some higher located ones in that region but we were not willing to pay $100 dollars for the gondolas. One hundred dollars! For getting up there (five minutes) and down (another five minutes). Heavy!

Thank you so much for the cache and for showing the area! 

Finally, my sunblocker did not do its job anymore. And without any piece of shadow the walk became a bit harder now. Although there were so many places to stop and look around, taking pictures and wondering, I wanted the get back to the hotel now.

It was a very nice trip. I really really enjoyed it. Although I did not took all your caches along the route, I appreciated the beautiful stops and the nice points of hide.

Thank you for you caches!
----

In the end, I was blind again. Yes, I found the object, but not the little box. I searched, looked around. Because I was sure about the right place and the not-find I wanted to log a DNF here. But as I was some geocaches before: At the very last moment, my fingers found the right place. 

This part of the track was great too. I loved it, that the round way it divided into two completely different landscapes. But I still find it unbelievable how both types of nature can exist that close. I mean, one is wet, one is dry. And it is only one step between them. Crazy. Yes, I fell in love with this country! At least now.

[To be continued]
----

I had to search a little bit longer here. So many possible hides. But additionally I had to wait some times, because of some muggle groups. Nevertheless, the beautiful view and my camera let me forget the long waiting times between the muggle groups. 

Unfortunately the forest walk came to an end. Suddenly I stood in front of a small bridge, crossing a small gorge, containing a small water fall. First I thought, this were the Taranaki Falls, the main attraction of the track. But I was wrong, of course. Walking a few steps further, the real falls were visible at the horizon. Not very high, but embedded into a beautiful scenery of rock and plant.

And empty. I had to take a shower. Really!

After the freezing nature action I went along. The tourists came from every direction now, I wanted to go back to the lonely nature. So I headed forward. Again I found myself in the grass land of the very beginning.

[To be continued]
----

Again: TWO ends!!!  

I loved this forest walk. It was so amazing! Yes, I visited the rain forests of Coromandel just a few days before as part of a touristic group, but walking such a forest alone, staying as long as you like, enjoying the smells, the sounds, is something compelety different. I loved the stream, the many plants and trees. I stood that many times, I tried to take a lot of pictures, but honestly: Photographing such a place is completely impossible.

[To be continued]
----

Remember: Not only the sausage has two ends, the boardwalk has got two of these guys, too  

But suddenly the nature completely switched. Just one little step was it from a dry grass land to a wet rain forest with huge fern tree and a beautiful little stream. That was my first time completely alone in such a forest. I enjoyed that so much.

Suddenly, a little path could be seen beside the main track. Curious as I am, I had to look for its destination. It lead to a small, lonesome place were you could cross the stream right at a water fall. What a charming place!

[To be continued]
----

Here the hint was quite unclear to me. I misinterpreted the "above the steps" as "above all steps", so I completely was wrong. I found some electronical stuff: THIS IS NOT THE GEOCACHE! I wanted to skip this after all. But as it comes: Sometimes you see it in the very last moment. Logged. 

I started my walk at the Chateau. At the first sign for the track I went left. Quickly I recognized that the real direction of the track was thought the other way round - absolutely no one walked it my way.

First I crossed the typical vegetation for the Tongariro National Park. Bush and grass land. After some days in the north of the island this was a huge difference. But nevertheless absolutely beautiful, too.

[To be continued]
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This was a really quick found. After my first problems, now I knew how the geocaches were hidden and how they looked. So, the log could be done easily. 

When we came back from our tour from Mordor (yes, you CAN simply walk into Mordor! Just walk the Bruce Road ) we had another half day to do something. So, we decided to split up. I wanted to do the water fall walk.

Because I went alone, I could log some nearby caches without disturbing any other person with the stops. Fortunately a part of the Lord of the Rings series laid along the route....

[To be continued]

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For this cache, first I went too far. Two hundred meters behind the cache was my first look at my device. So, I had to walk back. But I had the learn, that two hundred meters directly as the crow flies can be much more in reality... After I came to the hide area I found the hint a little bit misleading. So: It is absolutely never necessary to leave the ways at these geocaches! In the end, I found it, everything was fine. 

Our New Zealand trip was already three days old. It became time to do some more Geocaching. So we went to Beach Haven and had the chance to meet some local Geocachers. We approached by ferry, coming from the Auckland Harbour. When we landed, our new friends stood right there and waited for us. They firstly lead us to this geocache.

Well, unfortunately we visited it in a very unlikely time. The area was filled with litter and worse. With the help of the others, we managed to find and log it without being seen by the numerous muggles. (Indeed, it was a very nice day at all, so every single reason to get out - beside to your beautiful country, of course - was very welcome)

Thank you for this cache,
Greets from Germany! 

Coin drop, log follows later  

Thanks for the cache!

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Haha, no, of course. You would never see such a log from me. Especially not in this case.

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We planned the trip to New Zealand. So far, so good. But I wanted to log a terrain five geocache that far from home. So, I checked our route and all options concerning such geocaches along it. Not that much. I definitely could not take my climbing equipment with me, so it has to be a kayaking cache with a rental boat.

I checked the locations. I asked the owners. And kiwiscot19, the owner of this nice little geocache series, answered. Yes, he confirmed, that there are some options to get a kayak nearby. So, this would be our tour!

We approached the location by ferry, coming from the Auckland harbour. Since we arrived in New Zealand just three days before, a lot of action already happened. So, after sleeping till noon, we felt ready for the next adventure.

We received the boats. And next to it, we were accompanied by the greatest guys you can meet in New Zealand.

When we arrived the water, we really needed to put on the sun blocker. But we nearly forgot this because of the great view. What a bay, what a water color!

And then... Noooooooo! I forgot my GPS receiver at home! I felt like a rookie. But our friends gave me theirs. So nice, thank you!

It was not that easy to do all the many things at once: Taking picture of the beautiful nature, navigating and paddling. So, we must have looked very strange - no straight and clear line to the destination. But in the end we found the right place and logged.

And a little cut in the toe later (better put your shoes on, when leaving the boat, kids!) we could head against number 2!

Thank you! 

Coin visit, log follows later  

Leaving number one, we had to set the right course for number two. It became a little bit difficult because of the sun, the display of GPS receiver... showed nothing. We needed to create some shadows under the clothes. Must have looked very funny

Our friends, which came with us, were extremely patient with us But, after all, we finally found the right course.

Again, we passed the great, natural forests, which seemed to dive right into the green-blue water. The geocache was not the first destination anymore - it was the amazing landscape all around us. Sure, we became slower and slower, but in my personal opinion, it was worth it.

When we reached the searching spot, our friends helped a little bit. So, the found could be done really quick. That way, we ensured to disturb the nature and plants as little as possible.

The hide was extremely great chosen. What a beautiful spot!

Thank you for sharing it, thank you for maintaining the cache! 

Coin visit, log follows later  

Now, the little series came to an end. Much too fast! What a pity!

But this one definitely was its highlight! Such a great hide! The GPS receiver showed just a few meters to the destination. But that sounds much easier than it was, in fact. Finding the right spot, the entry into the mangroves became slightly difficult.

But when we entered it, a feeling of another world came up to us. We loved it. Really, we thought about staying here for a while and just enjoy this nice little place. Only we, the plants and the water. Nothing else.

Thank you for sharing this spot.

Of course, this trip was an absolute highlight of our entire New Zealand journey. We want thank our three new friends and the owner team - for everything. What an amazing day!

Sometimes, a thousands words are not enough to express the feelings. But maybe a picture could. So, I decided to increase the log with something special. Hope, you enjoy it! (better version: s-man42.de/gc/logs/oruamo.jpg)

Thank you so much and best greetings from Germany!
S-Man42 and the Wollpirat (in English: wool pirate) 

After we did our great kayaking tour for the Oruamo series, our great guide and friend asked: Wanna do a last geocache?

What a question! Of course!

And so, he changed its course into an unexpected direction. This way? Was he sure? Seriously?

But it came out that he was the best guide you could possibly find for that trip. I took some crazy secret ways passing the plant made maze.

When we reached the final destination I laughed out very loud. Just a few minutes ago, I said to my partner that I could not understand why all geocaches in New Zealand would be on the ground. Why do the Kiwis not use their amazing trees, the Z axis. So many great possibilities for climbing caches.

And then this one. Great! Climbing and water at the same time. What a great one.

I took me a lot of time. In the end, our friends helped and showed me the right point. I was much too far. When you know it, it is absolutely simple

Thank you so much for creating this nice climbing action!

Greetings from Germany! 

After the great sight seeing and kayaking to trough the bay, we needed a little break. So we headed towards this nice little beach. Of course, we had absolutely noooo reasons, why exactly this one and not another one *whistle*

No, of course, our friends lead us to this nice little box.

The camouflage is greatly done. When I first saw the object, I just do not wanted to touch it. I thought it would be something else, something you better do not touch

But our friend encouraged me. Yes, I was right. Just do it!

Afterwards I am impressed. The location is very public. Although its camouflage is very well done, I am completely sure, in Germany this would not stay alive for more than just a few days. Too many dumb muggles out there. I wish, Germans would be more respectful. Just as the Kiwis are.

Hope, this great work can be enjoy but a lot of Geocachers more. Thanks for that! Appreciated. 

Do not leave the group. Do not go away. Oh, how I hate these organized travel groups. But I took part in one of them this time. To see Hobbiton in Matamata. After that we went over to the Glowworm Cave.

In Hobbiton, the staff didn't allow me to leave the area... Uhh, it's dangerous... Because there are - suprise! - cars on the street. WTF?!

So. I needed still needed my dauly cache. After arriving in Waitomo, I jumped out of the bus - fast, so they could not hold me back again. Ran 300 meters down to this cache. My group entered cave right at this moment. But I did not find the box. This could not be that difficult. Ahh... wrong tree. Not the VERY big one.

Signed the log book, ran up the way back again.

Fortunately the group got a very intensive and yet very long introduction. So I could join them before entering. Happy End!

TFTC 

After a four hours bus trip from Auckland we saw the beautiful landscape of the Bay of Islands.

Of course, thr first step was not the step onto a boat to discover this outstanding world. As a German geocacher, of course, I had to step into the direction of the German titled Geocache.

I had the right idea already sitting in the Bus. I spotted the nice objects because in Germany we have some of these as well.

So ignoring the awesome view, searching for the right one. It was very easy, of course. But it was very nicely done. I really like it!

So, logged and went over to the boat cruise. They wanted to show us some dolphins, but the dolphins had weekend as well. So, returned without any dolphin spot (what a pity... still never saw one) but with many many landscape pictures and a log of a very nice cache!

TFTC 

First Cache in New Zealand!

We arrived yesterday in the afternoon. After fourteen hours of sleep we looked for a small, easy and not so long sightseeing tour through Auckland City. This one was absolutely the right one for these conditions.

Because we needed a laundry service before, we visited the stations backwards (what a good idea! ). Finding the stations was very easy, reading the information not that much. Because of the many tourists (Always these stupid tourists ) and the dizzy light some of the tables' insights needed a little bit more concentration.

At the end we made two calculation mistakes, but we could correct them very fast.

Thank you for the interesting tour!
Thanks for maintaining this cache! 

After visiting Mayor Rob, we headed towards the two most favorited caches in the nearer region. Of course we had to look at what the Kiwis most beloved caches. How may these look?

This one was found very quick. My muggle girl friend saw it right before me. Great. Fast log. TFTC.

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Ok, no... not THAT fast. The necessary execise was clear. A little pity: The necessary tools were available right below the object. Because some of us cannot take their trash away, the tool collection seems to be growing. Not really nice in my opinion.

Nevertheless it helped, of course. So, taking the two of the tools let us reach the middle. Twice.

But with a little bit more patience we made it at the third try! We logged at the right moment, immediately right before a car stampede rushed through.

Thank you for showing this nice place and thanks for this amazing little exercise in the evening!  

After visiting the whole Queen Street and Mayor Rob, and after fighting with the gravity, thus one should be our third and last find for today. Still jetlaged, even after a fourteen hours nap, we got tired too early.

Nevertheless, this one seemed to be as great as its sibling some blocks away. So went over.

After some GPS based problems, we found the correct location. I found it very fast, but I wanted to make my muggle girl friend smile, too. So I looked around until she was lucky, too

Nice little box, great hide. Thanks for this cache and explaining the environment!