Wednesday, April 11 2018
My geocaching event was planned long before I went. When traveling far while I have my birthday why not getting some people gathered to talk geocaching and celebrate a little bit.
The event is set to take place between 17:30 and 18:00. The first guest to arrive has actually bought a cake for me and candles with the number 40. Unbelievable. That was a very nice thing to do.
The second to arrive brought me a bag of local crisps. Now the park is filling up and I gather 15 people who came to meet and greet in Nelson. A fantastic group and there is a lot of talking and laughing – not like in Christchurch where everybody kept to themselves.
I brought some PET tubes from Norway (I had to many of them) and give them away. This kind of cachebox seems to be unknown here. But I don’t have to take home many of them. More caches to come in the Nelson area.
And I get more Travel Bugs. My inventory was 4 when I came and now on my way back it is 22…
After the group picture with cake the group starts singing Happy birthday and two young soldiers passing by start a triple Hip-Hip-Hooray for me. This is a great birthday with strangers. 🙂
One of the men has a small pocket knife so I can cut the cake and all can eat. That way I don¨t have to take it with me. 🙂 On of the cachers asks if I have been to the center of New Zealand (a survey point close to the city) where I have a great view over the city and can get another virtual cache. He wanted to take his dog for a evening walk up there anyway.
That was a climb. from 0 to 150 meters only up. But the view from the top is great, even in the dark (we missed the sunset time where it is much better). Cache logged and the way down is with torch on the mobile. A very nice walk. He leaves me in the city center.
This was a perfect meet and greet. They have a big and active cacher community and are very open and welcoming to new people. I like that a lot. They told me that the area around Nelson must be beautiful to visit for at least a week. Maybe next time.