Drop bears are carnivorous, tree-dwelling marsupials found throughout Australia. Their preferred dwelling is eucalyptus trees or gum trees. They are related to koala bears, though larger and equipped with sharp teeth and razor-like claws. Sometimes people refer to them as the koala bear's evil twin.
There is some dispute as to whether drop bears exist but it is obvious that they do as when you search "dropbear" on Google you get thousands of hits (if you don't believe me then go ahead and try it), and if you can't trust Google who can you trust ?
And if they didn't exist then this cache would not exist would it ?
Now we have established they do exist and seem to have migrated to Lower Hutt, you need to know some things about dropbears before blindly looking for the cache - make sure you pay attention as these facts could save your life.
Drop bears prefer to feed at night. They wait in trees and then drop down on top of their prey, usually instantly knocking it unconscious. They will then proceed to devour it. They will quite readily attack creatures larger than themselves, including humans.
One way to deter a drop bear is to spread toothpaste or vegemite behind your ears and on your neck. It's unclear whether the recent immigrants to NZ also fear Marmite (which is much nicer than vegemite if I say so myself) so to be on the safe side stick with vegemite
Other remedies include urinating on yourself, sticking forks in your hair or wearing a wide brimmed hat which will scare less aggressive dropbears as it presents a much larger target from above.
Other people say if you speak with an Aussie accent you will be safe as dropbears can detect foreign languages and will target these, and using Aussie terms like "Sheila" and "Crikey" will further reduce risk of attack. Basically speak like Alf from "Home and Away" for guaranteed immunity
A good way to find out if a drop bear is in a tree is to lie down beneath the tree and spit upwards. If a drop bear is sleeping up there, it will wake up and spit back.
BYO pen and extraction device as while the cache is small the log is tiny.
***** BONUS FOR FTF ****** In recognition of an intrepid first find and the great risk of personal injury there is a small FTF prize at GZ
Congratulations to Skaga for having the courage to take the highly desirable FTF prize after 4 months of being unclaimed by previous finders
Helpful hint:
GPS coverage can be a bit dodgy on this track. About 2/3 of the way up from the bridge turn-off (where this track leaves the main Rata St Loop) there is a vague track heading off to the right but ignore this and keep walking straight uphill. After 50-60 metres further up there is a small semi-clearing and the cache is approx 5m off the track on the right as you face up hill. A metal marker (a.k.a. baked bean can lid) attached to a tree branch at head/dropbear height lets you know you are the right general area
After finding this one, head back down the track to Croaked and down the main track to the last few caches on the trail.