Arapuni Geocaching

So the plan was to head to Arapuni on Friday evening, pack up the car after school and head off. There was going to be plenty of daylight to set up.  Funny how plans can change so quickly.

After work on Friday there were drink. After a couple of drinks I decided to have a couple more. Well needless to say we didn't leave friday. Got up early on Saturday packed the car and headed for Arapuni.

After a quick drive I found myself scrambling up a bluff to collect my first Geocache. It wasn't long before we were in the full swing of geocaching.  Collected the puzzle cache, 'Cycling Delimma' then stopped at the start of the Waikato River Trial and started clearing out this area.  Parked under a big tree to double check the different hints and different clues to be meet by some of the locals.  After a quick walk (1hr 10min return) I had collected 3 more and was back at the car.  Having completed a total 5km round trip it was time for a well earned rest.  Sat under the tree and had a little snack before we were again visited by the locals.


The journey towards the camping ground was somewhat slow but very productive in terms of caches.  A quick stop at the Arapuni dam had me collect another 5.  Was really feeling good about collecting the different puzzle cache's around the area and claimed the Waikato Bike trail challenge.  The closer we got to Arapuni I was getting that excited feeling. Claimed two more puzzle finds and that was it for the day.


Eventually we made it to the lake and set up the tent. Its always good to get away from everything and relax.. only my brain was in caching mode and I just wanted to get out there and find more and more.  Cooked some awesome lamb burgers and realised that we forgot the fry pan for pancakes in the morning.  Decided that we would get up early and by one in Taupo then have pancakes at the lake as a bit of a brunch.

Saturday night saw the rain come down and me remember that the tent leaked. Despite weather proofing the tent at the end of last season it still leaked real bad. Must be time to get a new tent.

Sunday was going to always be a great caching day. Had many planned but there was just one that I was really focused on, and that was to visit all the dams along the Waikato river so that I could then claim the 'Power to the People' cache up in Taupiri.

To cut a long day short it was amazing.

Stopped at the first dam Waipapa where the cache was quickly solved and then collected. There were a couple of others close by so with the walking shoes on we quickly headed off.  Beautiful country all around really made me appreciate being up at 8am.

Such beautiful views and great geocaching.  Traveled all the way down to Taupo stopping at the different dams to collect the clues.

On the way down I remembered that Aratiatia was a great sight and that a visit would suit the theme of the day.  After a check on the web we realised that we would be in perfect time to see the dam.  Stopped at the spillway with only a couple of other viewers and waited for the action.

After a long drive and lots of sights we arrived at Taupo where we had lunch and brought a much needed frying pan.  By the time we got to Taupo Chelsea was a little tired as we had done a couple of big walks so she resided to stay in the car a read while I go out caching.  On the way back from Taupo there was just a couple more dams to pick up and a few quick stops to collect Trads.













The day visiting all the different dams really gave me an appreciation for all the engineering work that goes into harnessing the power of the water.  A great series of geocaches.

Again the rain come down sunday night and by Monday morning we were both a little wet around the edges and ready for home. Another great weekend camping.