We had an amazing weekend attending the New Zealand Geocaching Adventure (colloquially called the “TurangiMEGA”), finding heaps of great caches (only 4 DNF’s in over 100 finds), and meeting up with a load of great people. Our caching name for the weekend was IFTBNZ.
On the Sunday, three of us (Taybee, Taybee NZ & Infoferret, later joined by Azago) started this part of the LOTR powertrail and collected the Silica Rapids earth cache information as well. A lovely walk, on a beautiful day – hardly a cloud in the sky and amazing views of the mountains and over the Central North Island!
We decided to place this cache to say thanks to YorkshireKiwi and all the other ‘unsung heroes’ who organised the event, and to give them something to look forward to whenever they next have a maintenance run to do.
This is an improvised cache, with what we had on us at the time, plus a container we found on site which gives a little more protection from the elements. This temporary container will be updated whenever one of us manage to head out here again (probably around New Year) and the cache page updated. The reverse of the initial logsheet has part of the event programmer on it – as this was the paper we had with us & which gave us the idea for the cache name. There are a few swopables in the cache.
The Track from way point P1 Distance
7.3 km
Time: 2.5 hours return
The Track from way point P0 Distance
Distance: 3.2 km
Time: 1 hours return
This is an easy track that can be walked in either direction, The track first go through mountain beech forest along a stream opening up to tussock and subalpine plant country, You will get great views of Mt. Ruapehu and Mt. Ngauruhoe (a.k.a Mt. Doom) on a clear day.
Safety
1 Tell someone your plans.
2 Check the weather forecast and track conditions. Weather is extremely changeable all year round on the mount. If in doubt, leave it for another day.
3 Take adequate clothing (warm, water- and wind proof layers), comfortable shoes or boots, something to eat and drink, sunglasses and sunscreen, and a first aid kit.