DJM

Aloha I visited New Zealand in Feburary. See thread "Visitor". Although its cannot be uploaded to a Garmin an excellent digital map is available at: www.topomappro.com. The TopoMapLite ($99NZ) was fine for our purposes. DJM [This message was edited by tgsnoopy on April 25, 2003 at 02:48 AM.]

1970--1972. Conscientious Objector, Draft Status 1-W, Alternative Service Worker. ASW's were required to perform civilian work "contributing to the national safety, health or interest," in my case two years in Nome AK with the Jesuit Volunteer Corp.

On a recent trip to New Zealand I had very good luck by posting an inquirty to the country forum. You can see it here: http://opentopic.Groundspeak.com/0/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=1750973553&f=2860999683&m=8660959345 Hopefully the Brits and Italians will be as helpfuls as the Kiwis.

Thanks BaldEd and Donavan. Based on our reconisance of 47/168 we concluded the only possible way to reach it on the ground would be to hire a D10 catepiller and bulldoze a road to it. You'd probably want to do this under the cover of darkness as roadbuilding might arguably be inconsistent with DOC management objectives for the area. We truly did enjoy the entire NZ trip. Good as gold, as you say. Regards Joe

Well, I should have predicted I wouldn't do much caching with three non-enthusiasts in tow. But I did get a few, all of which were enoyable: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=39494 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=11495 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=41108 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=5701 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=431 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=8140 I had another GPS adventure also: http://www.confluence.org/confluence.php?lat=-47&lon=168&visit=1 All in all a great trip. You have a wonderful country. Joe PS: Sorry your yaughting team didn't do better.

Thanks for the sunset report. Can't wait to get underway. We're wheels up from here--my house--N43 36.602 W116 10.354 at noon tomorrow for the 11,500km (straight line) journey to Chch. Thanks to everyone else who has provided tips. Best Joe

When I said Yikes, I was refering to the hospital, not Donavan's suggestions.

I don't think I'd go anywhere near there at night--unless there was a lot of wine left over from lunch. Joe

Sounds like a great idea. I should have thought of that. Why would you visit the hospital at night? Regards Joe

Thanks for this excellent guidance. If I can roust my companions out of bed early in the morning in Chch we should be able to do most of these and still reach Dunedin before sunset, it appears. Based on your obvious knowlege of the vicinity, what would you reccomend for a place to stop for a mid-day meal? Regards Joe

Thanks for these three suggestions. They all look good--senic, relatively easy to get to--just what I want. Currently, our plan is to drive by auto from Chch to Dunedin on one day-- 4 February. Do you think it is feasible to do Never Never Land, Puke Mataa, Trotter, Shag Point and Seacliff Hospital on the same day? Having never traveled this route before, I don't have a good sense for how much time is required overall or how much time would be required for side trips to the caches. Best Regards Joe

How could I have forseen that my two innocent questions would spark an international debate on spelling, usage and grammer? To take things further off topic, here, from a lawyers perspective, is the correct usage of the word "color," however spelled: "An apparent right; as where the defendant in trespass gave to the plaintiff an appearance of title, by stating his title specially, thus removing the cause from the jury to the court. --Note: Color is express when it is averred in the pleading, and implied when it is implied in the pleading." Blackstone Legal Dictionary. You can ponder the meaning of this the next time you're out for a long walk looking for a cache. DJM

Thanks for your prompt replies. Both questions now answered. Where, by the way, is Canicukstan on the world map? Somewhere close to Britishcolumbiastan? Or, is the later a smaller part of the former?

Here are two unrelated questions, the answers to which are probably painfully obvious to non-newsters: 1. On my etrec vista, when displaying heading and bearing, the read-out is in letters--"W", "SE" and so on. Is it possible to somehow set it to display numeric degree read-outs for more accuracy? 2. I've read posts where the discussion includes specific caches. The author is somehow able to make the name of the cache a link that takes you right to the cache in question. How the heck do you do that? Thanks for your patience with neophites. DJM

Thanks for all your suggestions. Here’s what I’ve come up with for a plan. How does it look to you? It may not happen exactly like this, as travel always involves some amount of improvising once you get started, in my experience. I haven’t yet decided whether to take a laptop, so don’t know if I’ll log them when found or do them all upon return. 2 Feb 911 Firefighters 3 Feb Nick’s Nautical Nest Godley Boulder 4 Feb Shag Point Seacliff Hospital 5 Feb Mount Cargill 6 Feb Slope Point 8 Feb Bluff Hill 9 Feb Clifden Bridge 10 Feb Dock Bay 11 Feb Lazing on Sunny Afternoon 14—16 Feb Auckland Panoramic zuhe gongju Tamaki River Rocks In return for your generous suggestions, I’d be pleased to buy you a beer/other refreshment when we pass through your respective locales. Let me know if you’d like to connect. Regards Joe

For the cache tips. They look good. We do plan to visit Doubtful Sound. I don't have the precise date with me at the moment. Why don't you e-mail me seperatly at joe@mcdevitt-miller.com and we can arrange to get together. Would be fun. 47S 168E does look like a challenge. Like you, I've concluded helicopter may be the only option, particularily since I'll only be there one full day. The proprietor of our lodging accomdations at SI is investigating to see if one can be organized. You can read about him here: http://www.portofcall.co.nz/. He's been very helpful. Look forward to hearing from you. Joe

Thought you all might be interested in this recent New York Times article regarding New Zealand travel and Lord of the Rings DJM http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/31/business/media/31RING.html

"I hope you enjoy your visit, Cheers, Neill" Thanks Neill; these look great. I'm sure we'll have a fine time. My wife & I visited NZ about five years ago & enjoyed it so much we've wanted to return ever since. Accumulating enough frequent flier miles for ourselves and companions is the only thing thats held us back Joe

Thanks Nick-- I should have been more clear on "relatively easy." What I had in mind is that I'll be traveling with three other people who don't share an interest in geocaching, so I should probably try for ones that can be done somewhat quickly so as not to be a drag on group activities--wouldn't be fair to ask them to cool their heels while I struck out on a 10 hour trek. Thanks for the pointer to Nandor's map. Very cool.

Hello Kiwis-- I'll be visiting your lovely country for two weeks starting February 1, and would like to do some caches along the way. Here's my planned route of travel: Chirstchurch--Dunedin--Invercargill--Stewart Island (where I hope to visit 47S, 168E)--Manapouri--Lake Wanaka--Queenstown--Auckland. Any suggestions for relatively easy caches along this route? Also, I have a Garmin etrec vista. Is there a prefered mapping software for uploading to this unit, in your experience? Thanks in advance for any help you might provide. Joe Miller Boise, Idaho USA joe@mcdevitt-miller.com

I've placed a total of one cache, so I'm a complete newbie, although my cache has gotten decent reviews. You can see it here: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=37359&log=y&decrypt= Last Sunday I took it out of service and archived it because it is in fragile spot when precipitation arrives. By coincidence, a cacher visited the cache, apparently a short time before it was removed, and did not have the opportunity to log his visit before I archived it. By e-mail, he's asked if I can re-activate the site so he can record his vist and get credit for a vist. Is there a way to "unarchive" the site so he can log his visit? I tried clicking the "unarchive" tab on my page but that didn't seem to work. Shows you what I know about this stuff. Not much. Thanks for your help. DJM