This cache was published on the eve of February 6 - Waitangi Day, or New Zealand Day. On this day in 1840, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, which made New Zealand part of the British Empire, guaranteed the Maori rights to their land, and gave the Maori the same rights as British subjects.
This past fall, soccer12 and I drove a sleepervan around New Zealand for almost a month, and explored this magnificent country from top to bottom. This is the best, and possibly the only way to REALLY explore NZ!
After losing a (very close) game of mini putt to soccer12 last month, I was required to plan a "fun day or evening", and I thought, what better way to fulfill this requirement by creating a puzzle to drive soccer12 mad... with a puzzle... in the race to be FTF! Will soccer 12 solve the puzzle? Will this be the first time she ever logs a find online? Will she even want to leave the house at all, in the cold, to participate in this crazy game of ours, or let someone else beat her... only time will tell! Soccer 12 was indeed the FTF, congrats!
So, get ready to see some beautiful photos of a beautiful country, put your thinking caps on, and give soccer12 a challenge...
You will need access to the internet to solve some aspects of this puzzle. You will also need to use observation, creative thinking, educated guesses, and logical deduction. Make sure you use all five of these elements in order to arrive at your answer. Have fun!
The cache itself is a matchstick container. STF prize is a $5 gift certificate to a Toronto location where you can procure some New Zealand baked goods and coffee. (The cache is not hidden near this location).
No geochecker - perhaps I'm old fashioned that way. However, when you have the correct coordinates, you will definitely know it... ;-) The puzzle is definitely solvable by anyone, all though having been to New Zealand may give you a slight advantage. Once you have the solved coordinates, please do the following calculation to get the CORRECTED coords: *Minus 3* from the last three digits of the N coords and *add 7* to the last three digits of the W coords.
Click here for high-quality image.