Sunday 12th December 2010–Month Challenge
Today was the big geocaching day. We met up with kai_gotti, 8am at Altura Albany for a coffee and breakfast before going out East Auckland to get the big numbers. We needed 28 caches to reach 400 finds.
The first one was GC1HYRM Glen House (Auckland). I didn’t know it then but most of the caches for that day would mean walking down a lot of hills and hence, walking right back up them! Kev was designated driver for the day so Kai and I jumped out of the car and went searching. I came up with the first find – yay me! I left the travel bug WBL-Race ’10 – HoGiPoGi – Zwerg. Here’s Kai and me walking back up hill number one.
Next cache was a quick drive away GCJFV1 Beached Flax (Auckland). Guess what, I made this find too! This hill was even bigger than the first one! To top it off, I got mostly to the top when I realised I left my hiking stick behind. I quickly went all the way back down and ran back up the hill – phew that was tiring and it was just cache number two!
Another quick drive to the next cache GC1H7VD Power box road view. We parked right up to it and even though Kai and I gave it a thorough search, we just couldn’t find it. Our first DNF.
We didn’t want to spend too much time there, so went to GC20825 Tamaki River Views (East Auckland). This was along a walking path next to the water, and there were a few caches spread apart. This cache was straight forward and Kai quickly spotted it. The heat is so humid by now, my glasses are off and the sweat is dripping on us all.
Further along the beautiful walking track GC252GV Snakes and ladders Park (East Auckland). This was such a neat little park. There was a couple of muggle families playing there but the three of us discretely searched the area. We had a fair idea where it should have been, but no, we just couldn’t find it. This was our second DNF for the day, and the worst thing is, a day later someone found that cache!
For the next one we had to walk another five or so minutes around the path for GC11367 Plain Sailing (Auckland). I spotted this cache and Kai retrieved it. We loved these quick finds, perfect for a numbers run! This is a picture of the walking track.
The heat is getting unbearable now, so instead of a extra long walk along the track, Kai and I opt for our driver Kev to drive to a closer access point. We quickly got to the location for GC233FF Estuary Views (East Auckland) but just couldn’t find the cache. After reading a few of the recent logs we decided to extend our search area, and yes, another find for me! I also retrieved the lovely geocoin Canada 2007 Geocoin.
The next cache was another park and wildlife area, GC1HHTH Pukakaranga (Auckland). Again a few muggles away but Kai was able to find and retrieve the cache with no problems. Here’s me and Kai walking back to the car.
This cache GC22EWZ "Open Sesame – revisited" (Auckland) was a killer! Not only was it a bit of a walk from the car, you had to climb a rocky hill to get to the top. We spent a good fifteen minutes searching all the nooks and crannies but no luck – Open Sesame was closed today! It was a good walk though, have a feeling I’m going to be losing some weight today!
A little bit of a drive away brought us to GC1D1E0 Te Naupata (Auckland). Kai was in the zone and quickly discovered this one. Here I am at the end of the bridge.
Up the road was GC1ZD4H AMJC04 Musickally Inclined (Auckland). I hardly ever come out to East Auckland and it is absolutely beautiful. There are so many beautiful views and this was one of them. It was my turn to find the cache then Kev took some time to take some photos of the scenery.
At the top of the hill was GCZ31K Musick Radio (Auckland). Kai and I went off for the walk and take in yet some more beautiful views. The GPS’s were going a bit crazy but I decided to have a little walk about and I spotted it.
This cache GC2JTR1 Hidden Beach (East Auckland) was the stair challenge. We walked and walked all the way down to a beautiful secluded beach. Kai found it even before I had a chance to look! It’s so hot I was dying for a swim but we had to move on.
My thighs at the top of the stair climb was screaming “ouch ouch ouch”. My wedding is in March, so I should have really ran up those stairs!
Just down the road was GC1K2ZC Somewhere in the Domain (Auckland). Yet again Kai and I had to walk and walk. Once at the right spot Kai spotted the clever disguise. Now it was time to walk all the way back to the car!
Our next cache GC11HRM Marion’s Canada Cache (Auckland) was yet another breath taking sea view location. We took a little bit longer to find this one but Kai did it in the end. Here is a pic of Kai’s travelling companion Ratty, with the Moose that was inside the cache.
The next cache GC298PE The Twister (Auckland) Kai had found even before I had walked across the road!
Another quick drive lead us to GC1DD1Z Eric’s cache #3 (Auckland). I can’t remember if Kai or I found this cache, hmmm have a feeling it was Kai. I took a picture of Kev with the beach in the background.
Kai and I went off walking again for GC222D6 Lodged in Murvale (Auckland). He spotted it but the cache description recommended a small hand to retrieve this cache. I don’t know how I did it, but my chunky hands managed to pull out the cache. Here I am posing – my legs are getting skinnier as the day goes on!
If we thought that walk was long, we were off for a hike for GC1KM4H Box o’ Books (Auckland). Again we walked all the way down, down, down. Once down, we had to walk inside the bush for quite a few minutes. I located this massive cache. The idea behind it is to swap books – a clever idea. We walked most of the way back and I had just started the big stair climb when we realised another cache was a few extra minutes along the path. So we walk all the way back and beyond for GC2FANM Prope Phyllostachys (East Auckland). This was one of those caches that could have been a long search, but I was lucky and spotted it rather quickly. Now it was time to walk all the way back and up yet another step an stair laden hill climb! This is an exhausted me, at the top of the hill and back at the car (Kev was waiting inside with air conditioning!).
We had been hard out for a few good hours now, so needed a quick lunch break. And it was just quick, we had plenty more numbers to go! Here is Kev making us some lunch.
With our tummies nourished (it didn’t need much as it was so hot and tiring to eat!) we went to GC2CPQ9 Look Out To Cockle Bay (Auckland). Guess what – it was another steep climb down then back up! I found this cache and I left the travel bug Ireland 2007 Geocoin.
Down the road was GC2JGT4 C.B.D (Auckland). This was a bush with plenty of good hiding spots but Kai and I couldn’t find the cache even after a good fifteen minutes searching! It has now been disable and the owner is going to check up on it.
Here we go again for GC2HPMF Cockle Bay (East Auckland), a lengthy steep hill to climb down then right back up again! There has been some recent work in the area but the cache was fine when I had discovered it. Here is a picture of the lovely Cockle Bay.
The time was running out before the event, so on our way there we made just one more stop for GC2132N Sommerville Workout (Auckland). It took us a fair few minutes but Kai finally came up with the find. Here’s a picture of our driver. Kev’s been a bit sick all week so dedicated himself to driving and it really makes a big difference as it doesn’t wear out the search team.
The main event of the day was GC2GBM1 Tramper Ted’s Christmas Campaign (Auckland). We all had a great time catching up with old and new friends. We really enjoyed watching the cache throwing contest even though none of us had the energy to compete.
We stayed for about an hour then had to move on to get more caches! For a bit of a change we went to the top of One Tree Hill for the virtual cache GCB5A9 Auckland’s Panoramic Paradise. Nice and easy and took some beautiful photos of our city.
We then travelled down the road to GC2J4YA Fishing in Greenlane (Auckland) and met up with tmann421 who was also at the event. I made the find; I’ve done rather well today!
Slowly we were reaching 400. We were so tired we wanted just quick drivebys. GC17KP0 Rose ? (Auckland) was exactly that and I found the cache in no time.
This cache GC2K4GC Chicken Cache (Auckland) was a chirp, our second one to do. Kai took charge of this one and found it with ease. I took the travel bug FC Arsenal.
On the way to drop Kai off home, we stopped in the City at GC22PCT A Saint to be sure (Auckland). Kev tried getting this cache last week but with no luck. Kai pointed us to the general direction and the cache was glaring at us! We took the travel bug Quinty.
It was time to drop Kai off home and Kev and I were going to do just a few more caches to get us over 400. On the way home some cache notifications came though. We couldn’t resist the cache in Glenfield, GC2JYR7 View From The Top. I took charge of the search and after ten or so minutes searching Kev yelled to us that we should be up higher as the title is “View from the Top”. Rolling my eyes at my basic mistake wondering if I lost the FTF for us, we went up to the top level and started the search again. Kai came up with the find – and best of all, a blank log! A joint FTF, yay!
We had dropped Kai off and decided to get some close by caches. The first one was GCN9W6 Bringing Power to the People (Auckland). This cache just happens to be in the backyard of my friend. She wasn’t home as I walked past her place, but I didn’t have time to stop and chat, it was getting late and we needed two more caches to match kiwifamily’s 401 finds. With my mind back on the cache, I quickly found it – our 400th cache!!!
One more cache to go, and this one was just a few roads across. GC2AEVP Hanging out in the Wharf Rd Mangroves (Akld) was meant to be a easy find but took me a bit longer but I wasn’t leaving until I found it! With the cache in my hand I could smile and relax, we have finally caught up with kiwifamily! Here is Kev using the iPad to log in our final cache.
It was now 8pm, Kev and I have been out since 8am in the morning. We travelled 133kms, found 29 and had a DNF list of four – a great day!!! We have another big cache run next Saturday in Hamilton for Twelve Days of Christmas (Hamilton South, Waikato).
Day Twelve of Month Challenge – tick!
19 days to go…
Geocaching Journal