Logs for d-dixon 

Found at the beginning of the last leg of the Thames Path (OK, I still need to walk the first 170 miles...) and fortunately it wasn't too busy on a grey November morning. An interesting spot, and a nice quick find - many thanks. 

A quick visit to drop off a couple of TBs that don't appear to want to go to the UK, before our flight later today. 

That's handy - this cache was just 100m from the pub where we were eating, so between courses my young helper and I trotted across and found this nice and quickly. Some interesting history - many thanks. There's the start of a wasps' nest very nearby with a resident wasp actively building it up, so take care as the nest grows... Picked up the travel express coin. 

We came here for the multi and nearly missed the earthcache as it was 'buried' on the map. Did eventually spot it though, so grabbed the info & photo as quickly as possible on a very wet day. At least we had the area to ourselves! An interesting feature - many thanks. Logged with permission. 

A nice straightforward offset cache without much walking - good job today as it was very wet! The long grass in particular managed to soak shoes & trousers. Nice spots for both clue & final, and a great choice of container - many thanks. 

A nice quick find on a very wet day - no time to stop and admire the view! We parked very close and made two brief trips - one to retreive and one to replace. Anyone watching would have assumed I'm barmy! Many thanks. 

A small diversion from our Coromandel travels, and a few minutes of searching turned this up - nicely tucked away! A lovely spot - many thanks. 

A quick stop-off on our way through. A decent sized cache and a nice straightforward find in a very pleasant spot - many thanks. 

A quick stop-off on our way North. There's a parking bay on the N-travelling side so not too tricky, just keep an eye on the traffic. A nice quick find with the clue in a magnificent piece of woodland - it's amazing how quickly the traffic noise drops away as you enter. Left the grape TB in situ. Many thanks. 

The waterfall walk looked like an interesting stop-off on our trip to the coromandel Peninsula, so off we went. A quick check via the WAP ste identified a cache at the lookout - an added bonus! A nice walk up - not too difficult for the two young ones - and a fantastic view at the lookout. Not too many people about on a grey, humid day. A nice easy find at the cache site; log signed and rat TB retrieved. Many thanks. 

A cache-and-dash on our way North. A poignant reminder of a sad day. Only one place to hide a cache, and there it was... Many thanks. 

I took myself off for a walk after a day exploring Rotorua. I picked what looked like the quickest route - parking at the mountain bike carpark to the SSW and followed the track to the survey point. My map didn't show a path continuing but it did, straight to the cache. A fantastic viewpoint over the whole of Rotorua, and of course the geysers. Cache found quite quickly and all in good order. The round trip took less than an hour - well worth it for the view. Many thanks for bringing me here; it's a pity the cache doesn't get more visitors.

[This entry was edited by d-dixon on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 1:29:12 PM.] 

An amazing park - great to wander between the steaming pools and the bubbling mud, and see that apparently quite often, new vents pop up! I wonder where the nearby swimming pool gets its hot water from . A fun earthcache, logged with permission - many thanks. 

A great spot and a nice easy find once I'd orientated myself properly! We left the TB there in situ. We loved wandering around the park, and paticularly liked the bubbling mud. Many thanks. 

I took a break from a visit to the nearby geothermal attraction and gave this multi a go. I was a bit concerned when the waypoints starting taking me away from where I wanted to be, but it soon changed direction and I wasn't "missing" for long. No problems with any of the waypoints and the final was found in good condition. Many thanks for an interesting multi.

[This entry was edited by d-dixon on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 1:27:40 PM.] 

Another Earthcache stop-off on our way North. Another interesting spot, and lots of good information to read about. The last big eruption must have been huge - an awesome sight (if there'd been anyone around to see it) but you wouldn't want to get too close! We gathered the appropriate information and photos, and are now logging with permission. As well as the interesting geology at the point, there's lots of nice pumice pieces all over the place - a good source for the other Earthcache just along the coast? It took much cajoling to get the youngest helper to leave as he was busy trying to empty the beach of pumice into (onto?) the lake. Also found an interesting rock pool that was completely covered in pumice... Many thanks for bringing us to this fascinating place. 

A fantastic hidden spot that we'd never have visited without seeing the cache writeup. Quite busy today despite the hot weather, so while the rest of the family went for a paddle, I disappeared off to find the cache. An easy find with the clue and having read previous logs. My coords were S38°20.113' E176°23.176'. The container appears to have had attention from a little nibbler and its water sealing has been compromised - the contents are starting to get damp. Many thanks. 

Great spot, but I couldn't find the cache! I always have trouble with "easy" ones though... 

My young helper and I gave this a go and walked pretty much all the way around until we found a way in. We were then promptly attacked by a series of pukekos, so did a quick dash to the cache, sign and out again! The cache was pretty much uncovered when we found it but we weren't going to hang around to find new camouflage so left as found. Many thanks. 

This looked like a fun earthcache so we took the small diversion while heading North to grab some pumice. The pumice clearly fascinated my young helpers as a lot ended up in the lake, although it quickly got washed onto the shore again. We chose what looked like a decent lump and took it with us as we didn't have the appropriate measuring facilities with us. Our overnight accommodation was also lacking in measuring jugs so we tweaked the method slightly and used a coffee plunger instead, using a ruler to measure the height of the water displaced by floating & fully submerged pumice. Helper #1 really enjoyed helping with the experiment and we've learnt lots about pumice - many thanks. 

Our first wherigo cache, and it worked flawlessly on a Windows Mobile 6.0 GPS-enabled mobile - no crashes, all the hotspots worked well and we got the correct answers first-time. We had a very pleasant family walk on a hot Sunday morning through a lovely park, and the variety of simple problems added to the experience. The final cache was found easily with Roobi's help and the log signed - many thanks, I'll log on the Wherigo site when we get home. 

This took longer to find than it should have! Not too busy today and a nice quiet spot with the nearby trees in full blossom. Many thanks. 

A nice quick diversion while completing Roobi's wherigo cache. An easy find as the cache was partly exposed - I recovered better on hiding. An interesting area - many thanks. 

I'd considered taking a short-cut for this one, but we did it as intended today and the locations are interesting enough, and the distances short enough, that we're very glad we did it properly. The final was found after switching on my caching nose. Many thanks for the interesting little multi. 

I'd considered taking a short-cut for this one, but we did it as intended today and the locations are interesting enough, and the distances short enough, that we're very glad we did it properly. The final was found after switching on my caching nose. Many thanks for the interesting little multi. 

Another hidden gem of a spot, and very suitable for an Earthcache. Quite busy today and we weren't geared up for a soak, but managed a paddle instead. It must be magical here in Winter! Logged with permission - many thanks. 

A nice short walk across a fun bridge, and a nicely tucked away cache - many thanks. 

Never one to do more work than necessary, I tried this one out with a single known point and a few guesses and approximations. A location close to our accomodation popped out - worth a try! Set off with young helper in tow and quickly found a likely spot not too far from my best guess. My helper went in for the find and came back with cache in hand - hoorah! Picked up Texas geocoin. Many thanks, and apologies for missing out most of the varied sights of Turangi... 

A slight detour from our circular walk, and a very different TB hotel from the usual fare. A lovely quiet spot, and a very considerately placed bench! Dropped off It's Not All About the Numbers... coin, picked up Pikorua TB and left Sumatran Elephant coin in situ - I couldn't decipher its goal. Many thanks for the legend info, as this will help my young helper when he goes back to school in the UK and has to talk about his travels. 

A fabulous sunny dat today, and all the peaks were on show. IT was a Saturday too, and the carpark was packed. We were out with our two young helpers so there was no chance of walking the crossing, but it was hugely tempting! Instead we ambled up to the cache site and back, so at least got near the volcanoes. A nice easy find - container was partially uncovered, which was rectified on rehiding. A few walkers about, but we had plenty of decoy and hiding tactics in force. Dropped off Pole2Pole TB. A fantastic spot - many thanks. One day I'll come back and do the full walk... 

A quick stop off on our way through, and found in good order after a short search. The road was very quiet this morning which helped. Nice clean water flowing fast through the canal. Many thanks. 

This one took a bit of searching, but again it was obvious when we eventually looked in the right area! My young helper is fascinated by the pumice, and at least it's nice and light, unlike most of the other rocks he insists on bringing home. Many thanks, 

We took a little while to find this one, but saw the tell-tale signs as soon as we looked in the right area. The cache was still damp so we left everything out in the sun for a few minutes and wafted the log about a bit - still not dry, but certainly better! Some nice woodland - many thanks. 

A nice straightforward find at the start of the circular walk for me and my young helper. Some interesting information about the trapping - many thanks. 

Another fantastic location for an earthcache. Information duly gathered and email and proper log will follow. 

Another fantastic location for an earthcache. Very quiet - only other visitors turned out to be my Uncle & partner! Information duly gathered and email and proper log will follow. Many thanks. 

Another fantastic location for an earthcache. Very quiet. Information duly gathered and email and proper log will follow. Many thanks. 

Another fantastic location for an earthcache. Very quiet - only other visitors turned out to be my Uncle and partner! Information duly gathered and email and proper log will follow. Many thanks. 

Another fantastic location for an earthcache. Very quiet - only other visitors turned out to be my Uncle & partner! Information duly gathered and email and proper log will follow. Many thanks. 

Another fantastic location for an earthcache. Very quiet - only other visitors turned out to be my Uncle & partner! Information duly gathered and logged with permission. Many thanks.

[This entry was edited by d-dixon on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 2:29:57 PM.] 

A lovely spot in clearing weather - still plenty of cloud around the peaks though. Quiet busy with other tourists, but they were too busy with the view to notice me. Cache easily found; as others have noted the container is somewhat worse for wear, but the contents were dry. Many thanks, 

30/10/09: A short diversion on our trip North in wet weather. A great spot for a cache - fabulous views (I expect!) and nicely off the main road. Took a photo - the bottom parts of the volcanoes could be seen. Many thanks. Dropped off South Africa coin. Jeep and Snoopt TBs were in residence. 

A nice quick findwith the clue on our day in Wellington. Very impressed that a decent sized container was able to be hidden here. Left the TB in situ as I've got too many in my bag at the moment! Many thanks. 

29/10/09 - A nice quick find on our day in Wellington. Quiet today in the cold, strong wind, but I sent my young helper in to recover and replace - nobody takes any notice of kids poking about! An interesting area to wander around - many thanks. 

We are staying nearby so gave this cache a go this evening, along with the earthcache. Lots of people filling up bottles, but cache easily and discretely recovered. HOWEVER - despite being careful, only half the cache was retrieved! The other half remained in situ. We're leaving first thing tomorrow so what to do? I had to walk away with the cache in pieces in my pocket, and luckily came across a general store that was still open. Bought some superglue, reassembled cache (without getting superglued myself) and dashed back to the spring to replace. Hopefully the cache will be secure now, and that I haven't accidentally glued the lid shut... Many thanks. 

A cold and windy day, so not many people loitering. A nice quick find on our day visiting Wellington - many thanks. 

An interesting spot and background - many thanks. I've collected the required info and will log properly once I sort everything out. 10/11 - Now logging with permission.

[This entry was edited by d-dixon on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 2:22:37 PM.] 

I don't know why, but there's something compelling about visiting such an old (OK, not old, but early) cache. We made a special trip from our overnight accomodation to do this and arrived after 4pm so found the gate locked and thus had a very pleasant ~2.5km roundtrip walk on a fine early evening. Some lovely woodland and lots of interesting birds about. A very easy find! Many thanks for keeping this one going. Dropped off Anya TB. 

We had a fascinating visit to the reserve today. Lots of interesting wildlife. I had real trouble taking GPS measurements of the mine's dimensions (i.e. the GPS decided I'd gone downhill while climbing the slope to the top) so I had to resort to some "proper" but rudimentary surveying. Apparently my numbers weren't *too* bad! Logged with permission - many thanks for the history, geology and bringing us to this fascinating place.

[This entry was edited by d-dixon on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 10:26:32 AM.] 

A nice walk for me and my young helper. It took a while longer to get there than planned as the footbridge shortcut was missing its central span! A lovely warm sunny afternoon, and a small flotilla of dinghies were making good use of the breeze. Many thanks for bringing us here.