WOW! This cache was a mission and a half to place and so will be quite the journey to visit! Amazing scenery and so many different landscapes.
We parked at the Te Werahi Gate (there is a cunning little geocache there) and walked the path to the beach, when you see the cache you will appreciate more the effort required to carry it to its resting place! From the gentle farm land start to wetland boardwalk to a bushy hill walk, then there was the first section of sand dunes, somthing like a kilometer on undulating dunes to reach Te Werahi beach. To the south of the beach is a small hill which the path goes over or around, you can choose. Following this looms the largest sand mountain I have ever seen. You will need to look to the left of this to find the trail markers which take you inland around the mountain. Unfortunatly we did not see this and instead tackled the mountain head on which resulted in the two steps us, one step back, of climbing sand dunes followed by a rock climb which I do not deem safe for the average traveler. Once at the top of the mountain we were greeted with a downhill sloping sand dune stretching a further 2 kilometers to the west. This long elevated beach is windswept and barren and on the day we traveled here there were high winds which picked up the sand in gusts causing small stinging sand storms, some you could see coming like a wall of bronze wind. The waves and water here however are beautiful, a real surfers dream. Long peeling 5 foot barrels in green waves. Perfect if I had thought to carry a surfboard as well.
The following final hill was a maze of flax with multiple small tracks disapearing in enough ways that we eventually chose our own path to take. Cape Maria Van Diemen. Named so by the Dutchman Abel Tasman before capt Cook and his Endeavour came to these shores.
In the picture you can see Motuopao island where the light house was before it was de commissioned and the light house was built at Cape Reinga.
The round trip from Te Werahi Gate to place the cache and returning on the same path took just over 4 hours. See the attached link for the walks in the area as you may choose to return via Twilight beach which ads around an hour to the journey.
This cache also happens to have two brothers. They were all made from the same mold. Its a sign can be found at the entry to the Te Paki stream, and Vodka, Gin, Rum! can be found in Spirits bay. Find one and you will have a huge advantage for the other two.