"First New Zealand" GC45 Memorial Plaque (BOP) Virtual Cache

The History

On May 2nd, 2000, the US Government switched off GPS Selective Availability, improving civilian GPS accuracy to within a few metres. Overnight, the GPS system had effectively been "upgraded" so that users worldwide could pinpoint their location precisely and reliably.

The next day, on May 3rd, the very first geocache was famously hidden near Portland, Oregon, in the USA, by a man named Dave Ulmer. It was GCF, named "The Original Stash". He announced it on an internet newsgroup for GPS users with one simple rule: "Take some stuff, leave some stuff".

Nine days later, on May 12th near Rotorua in New Zealand, the first geocache was hidden in New Zealand by a GPS enthusiast from Rotorua named Peter McKellar. It was the 9th geocache hidden anywhere in the world, and the very first outside of the USA: GC45 "First New Zealand".

GC45 went on to be found at least once, but no finds were ever logged online. The geocache was eventually "muggled" and all of its remains were later removed by Peter.

The Plaque

The GC45 memorial plaque you will find at this location was unveiled to coincide with the 20th anniversary of GC45, and to commemorate Peter McKellar's pioneering spirit as the first to take the brand new sport of geocaching international 20 years earlier. From Peter's description of GC45: "Lets get some more stashes going out there..."

The plaque, located at the coordinates of this virtual cache, was not placed at the original hide location of GC45, because that location is now part of a working forest and access to the location is prohibited. Please respect private property and do not attempt to access the original coordinates of GC45.

Approvals for the plaque's design and installation were obtained from all of the relevant authorities including Groundspeak and the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) on whose land the memorial plaque is located. The plaque was designed, funded and installed by geocoins.nz for the geocaching community.

In their words, "The significance of this location within the sport of geocaching is second only to that of The Original Stash, in Oregon, so it was very important to us to highlight this important piece of geocaching history to the world. A visit to this location should be on every geocacher's bucket list, along with Original Stash Tribute Plaque, Mingo (the oldest active geocache in the world), and Lane Cove (the oldest remaining geocache outside of the USA)"

Logging Requirement

The logging requirement for this virtual geocache is very simple. Obviously you must physically visit the location - remote virtual visits are not allowed.

In order to log your visit to this important historic location, you will need to post at least one photo with your Found It log. You can post as many photos of the plaque and the location as you like (we encourage you to post more than one if you want to), but at least one of the photos you post with your find log must clearly show the plaque and conform to one of the following:

- A photo of the plaque looking down at, and including, your feet, OR
- A photo of the plaque looking down at, and including, the feet of everyone in your group*, OR
- A photo of the plaque including you crouching or standing by the plaque, OR
- A photo of the plaque including everyone in your group* crouching or standing by the plaque.

*If your photo includes multiple geocachers, you must include the geocaching usernames of all of them in your find log, and everyone's find log must include the required photo, even if it is the same one repeated - this is to ensure that no one else steals your photo and pretends it is theirs.

Please see the example photos below. These photos illustrate what is and is not an acceptable photo to meet the logging requirement described above:

Note that there is no requirement to include your face in any photo, if that is something you do not wish to do. Find logs that do not include a photo that resembles one of the acceptable examples above (indicated by a green tick) will be deleted.

Parking & Access

This location is situated conveniently adjacent to a SH5 rest area that provides safe off-road parking suitable for any car, SUV and up to large RVs. Under no circumstances should you park on the side of the road as it is a busy highway, a corner, and a passing lane - please use the Rest Area Parking waypoint (at S 38° 13.822 E 176° 17.888).

The parking area is safest accessed when travelling south on SH5 by staying in the left lane and signalling early to indicate that you are pulling off, as the entrance to the rest area sneaks up on you pretty quickly. If travelling north, please go past and find a safe place to turn around - there are a number of side roads where you can safely do this just a short distance north.

Do not attempt to access the original hide location of GC45 - that location is off limits, now part of a working forest and access is specifically prohibited. Trust us, we asked if it could be allowed, and they said no. Please respect private property and do not trespass.

Geocoins

There is a series of geocoins that celebrate this plaque, the location, and the significance of this spot in the history of geocaching. The front of each coin is an exact 1:4 scale replica of the plaque and the back has a brief outline of the history.

Virtual Rewards 2.0 - 2019/2020

This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and December 31, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog