More Geocaching

I've really been enjoying more geocaching on my weekends- great excuse to get out and about and have some walking or cycling exercise. Plus I keep discovering places in my own city I have either never been to, or that have changed massively since I was last there... There are also those geocaches that have been oh so close nearby when I've been out walking previously and I simply had no idea...

Last Sunday in the Esplanade I discovered my second 'trackable' which came from someone in Germany. I logged it, moved it to another cache, and it has since made a journey onto the Sledge Track in the ranges near Palmy.

On Sunday last weekend I also unsuccessfully sought a cache along the Turitea Walkway, but in the process 'discovered' this lovely colonial home near where I had parked my car. I returned yesterday and found the cache I'd missed. It was very cleverly concealed- yet right near where I was seated!

My last find last weekend was in a small park I usually just drive right by. In the process of finding the cache, I saw some 'muggles' who alerted me to the group of monarch butterflies - this tree seemed to be an 'overwintering' spot.

 Yesterday it was time to return to the Manawatu River series I have been following- I was up to #6 and #7, and these took me down the western end of the river track, further from home, and where I've seldom ventured.

 It was great to finish the series with the clues from #6, plug all the clues in to get the final coordinates, and find the last cache position. And meanwhile, I got to discover how much work the Council has done to upgrade this western end of the track. Last time I was down here I got a bit lost in the scrub, but now the track is easy to follow, has variations and has plenty of interest.

Next stop was up Pork Chop Hill, great place for a view of Palmy, though I was at a cache site on the other side of the river recently from where it was clear how 'precarious' this cliff site is. The view of Palmy looked great with all the autumn shades in the trees. Must remember to come up here next year, perhaps a bit earlier in autumn. The cache here was easily found, would be a great place for a family geocaching expedition, and was quite well protected from possibly muggles.

Today was a public holiday and I decided to head out for one cache close to home- Linklater Reserve, another park I'd never been to before.

 It was lovely to see this path wending its way uphill in the morning sunshine.

 

There were quite a few potential troll hiding places in the wetland, but fortunately they must have been all asleep.

 There were some beautiful views back over the ranges from the hilltop, and you might even spy an old hall as one of the buildings. (I probably wouldn't have, but they had some great information plaques around the reserve.)

 On the way home, I made sure I stopped off to get a closer view of the old Kelvin Grove Hall- clearly well maintained and in use for a Kung Fu school.

And I am at the stage of geocaching where I'd be quite keen to place a couple of caches of my own. This park is very close to home, and I could see a couple of possible places for a new cache here- but the close proximity to a kindy might be a drawback. I'll keep looking...

PS If you want to find out more about geocaching, here's the site to visit.