No kidding this walk does make you feel like you are entering a lost world. The Te Toto gorge is surrounded on three sides by cliffs up to 200 m high and the fourth side is protected by the ocean. It takes about 30 min down a steep track to get to the cache passing through a unique forest on the way. The Department of Conservation (DOC) purchased all this land in 1998 to allow public access. The DOC website doesn’t say much about the walk but it does mention that they believe Maori used the area to grow food in “rock gardens”. For what it is worth here is the link.
The track starts only 30 meters on the Raglan side of the carpark at S37 50.576, E174 46.429 and is clearly marked with standard DOC orange triangular markers EDIT 29/3/2013 No longer any markings at the start of the track but you should see a well worn track at these coordinates. Before you head down the track you might want to have a look at the view from S37 50.545, E174 46.341 where you should be able to clearly see the pinnacle - your destination.
There are no tracks as such when you get down to the same altitude as the pinnacle but DOC says you are free to wander around down there. It is recommended that you go to S37 50.451, E174 46.250 before your final ascent as from there you should be able to see the best route to take. It is a bit of a scramble and is only recommended for the sure footed but you don’t need any climbing equipment to do it. My 9 and 10 year old children made it up OK but some might question Zorgon’s parenting skills – thank goodness Mum wasn’t there to watch! If it wasn’t for this last climb up the pinnacle the cache would have received a 3.5 star terrain rating.
It is too dangerous to conduct a search up there so for safety reasons you are advised that the cache is a 400 ml Sistema container painted black and is 1 meter below the “summit” on the south side under a largish wind blown bush (see “The bush” photo below). Please do your best to tuck it away carefully when you have finished to avoid it being blown away in the next gale.