Post 2 of 2013

The end of the second day of the year and I'm treated to the importance of friends. Chris and Tiff, with their tribe of children turned up at the beach for the day.

We spent an hour at the eastery swimming and kayaking. A quick trip to the bakery for a very expensive lunch then it was off to the surf club for a swim in the waves.

We didn't realise that there was surf racing on so the beach was absolutely backed. Im a firm believer in 'swim between the flags' but it was very had to do when there was so many people that you kept bumping into everyone.  The surf was pretty good with some good breaks coming. I had to have a bit of a laugh as Chris got a little water logged a coulpe of times. For a guy that has the surfer look, necklace, boardies, he struggled with the swimming part.  Apparently it has something to do with his heigh... or lack of it.

Chelsea was normally found with one of the kids in hand and it made me realise what a great mother she will make some day.

It was great to catch up with friends and have a bit of a laugh at Chris's expense.

Post 1 of 2013

It's the start of a new year and I'm reminded of people's words about it being a time to start fresh, leave behind past mistakes, make plans for the future and be happy with the present.

After a quiet New Years at the Bach and being able to go to bed with my wife I find myself struggling to find last years mistakes. I mean there maybe so things I'd change but nothing that I regret or am desperately ashamed of. Therefore does that make last year a success?

Waking up on the first day of a new year to me always feels a little different. Start of work now feels like its getting closer. Everyone gets a year older. Plans and goals for the year are set in motion.

I want to get back into my running again this year so on the first day I pull myself out of the warm cozy bed, tie on my shoes and start pounding the pavement. I did my best but it certainly wasn't vey far. Still you have to start somewhere.

On returning from my shoe run and having breakfast Kevin decided to try his New Years luck with a spot of fishing. Unfortunately there was no luck involved as we didn't catch a single fish. It was still a nice day out on the boat with beautiful sun and crisp fresh air. We were blessed with a visit from a large pod of dolphins and Chelsea was kissed by the sun.

In all it was a great first of the year and if this is how the year continues its bound to be a great one

Royal Standard Battery

Day 3 of the Christmas holiday and it was time to head off on another adventure. This time it was one that the wife was able to tag along.

We organised ourselves the night before so when we woke up we could leave straight away. The body is getting into holiday mode as we didn't leave Whangamata till 8am. It was a short drive to Quarry rd and by 8.30 we were ready to start the walk. The DOC sign said the whole loop would take us 3hr 30min so we were ready for a descant stroll, what we were not prepared for was the mud. This is only Chelsea's second hike so she was still in the 'try and dodge the mud' state of mind.

Seeing the new bridge made us both grateful as after the recent weather the river was a little high. If we had to use the ford we would had gotten very wet.

There was a lot of cool sights to see with cuttings for the old trains still clear and every now and again sections of rail tracks still visible. The glimpse of the stream and boulders kept us interested wondering what it must have been like working here back in 1890's.

We eventually came to a clearing that had another DOC sign - 10min to the battery and 30min each way to the waterfall. We decided to take the 10min direction as we thought the cache might be that close. Turns out it was at the waterfall so had to make the full 30min walk anyway. Glad we did however as there was so much to see. A fun tunnel to walk through, making our shoes wet through, mines to search, swing bridge to walk and waterfall to view.

Clearly collecting the cache here was high on the priority list and I searched the whole length of the tunnel, finding many cave wetas before eventually finding it only 3m from the entrance.

With the cache found and a snack had we decided to complete the loop track. We left the tunnel and crossed the swing bridge. turning right we headed up the hill and begun to wonder if we were on the right track. It kept going further from the car and climbing. Thankfully it eventually turned and headed back down stream, and by down I mean down. It was a very slippery slope down and I was impressed that the wife stayed on her feet.

Glad we completed the loop as it was a pleasant walk and we were back at the car at 12 so it took us about 3hr total. A real fun day out and well worth the walk. Now heading back to Whangamata for lunch and a swim.

Day 1

Got up nice and early to pack our bags and head off to the beach. We were taking with Ashley on Christmas Day and organised to pick him up so that he can get an extra day at the beach.

Ended up leaving Hamilton at about 09.30 and made our way to Paeroa. Why Paeroa? I head you ask, simple, there was a cache there that I HAD to pick up. Turns out that it was a quick grab at both locations (it was a multi) and we were back on the road

Was quite surprised at how empty the roads were. Saw a couple of cops out and about but with no crashes or long lines of traffics it was an enjoyable drive to Whangamata. Stopped in at Waihi to grab yet another cache and some groceries.

Now I'm yet to mention that Ashley was not the only passenger that we were carrying. We also decided to bring Charley. I was a little worried that the trip may cause him a bit of distress but in actual fact he seemed to enjoy the ride. Only after a couple of minutes was he back to chirping, cleaning, and eating. Now that we are in Whangamata he is super happy outside relaxing at the beach.

4hr into day one and already grabbed 4 caches. Not bad

My Weekend

With the car all packed up ready for a relaxing weekend at Whangamata I had a quick look on Geocaching.com to see if there were any caches close to my travels.  The short answer was no but then again what does 'close' really mean.  Decided that 'close' was 20km there was a couple that I could get.

"Thanks to Zork V" was the first cache on the trip. The second that I turned off the track the wife asked "Where are we going?"
"Just to get a cache"
Oh... how far is it?"
"Not far...."

Luckily that was enough

Approaching GZ as the sun started to set was a magical experience. Full moon on one side. Sun setting on the other. This cache really had some great view.


By the time I'd collected the "Thanks Zork V" cache and reached Paeroa it was dark.  That was going to make this a little harder to find..... On the other hand...With the wife asleep id have more time to search.

Felt like a long way to GZ but finally the gps beeped to say I was approaching.  Parked the car at the top of the hill and begun searching with a very weak torch.  After looking all over there was nothing for it but to call another cacher who had recently found the cache and ask for help.  He got me looking under the right tree and sure enough the cache was soon found.

Arrived at Whangamata and set up for a great weekend. Went to sleep early because it was going to be a long day for Chelsea as my slave.
To wake her up at 1201 or not now that was my first dilemma.  Decided to let her sleep and in the morning would wake her up to get her to cook me pancakes.... and oh how they were good.

The day was going to be a good one. Started off with pancakes then geocaching.  What more could I want.

The third cache for the trip this weekend.  Collecting this cache brought back a lot of memories.  For many years as a young one I used to wonder why we had to drive around the hill and why no one had made a road through it.

Then one day it happened. Someone decided to cut a path through this hill.  Quickly pulled into the pitstop and had my slave collect the cache.  A great spot.


Then moved on to Tairua where there was a couple of caches to collect.
This was my second attempt at find the cache up on top of the Tairua hill. Its a nice climb to the top with beautiful views of the surrounding towns.  This time the cache was quickly spotted and signed. Grabbed the TB that was taking up residence to move on.





After these caches we moved on to Cooks beach. Id like to say that this was an enjoyable experience but there is a new cacher in the area who I believe is quite young. They have placed many caches in the area however have put little effort into them and the hints are hopeless. By the end of the day I was fed up and angry. Lets just say I let my anger out in the logs.

Once back at the batch I was time to get into the full swing of Slave day. Can't really get into to much detail but dinner cooked, drinks refilled, food passed to me it was all a great day in general.