Two years ago a friends father, Reece Johnson aged 47 years of
Hamilton, went missing while hunting with two mates in the
Hakarimata ranges west of Ngaruawahia. Sadly he is presumed dead
but his body has never been found. You may recall the media
coverage of the massive search and rescue effort at the time.
To refresh your memory of what we know about that fateful
day:
Reece was out pig hunting with two friends deep in the bush out
the back of Ngaruawahia. Although they found heaps of sign that the
pigs were about they hadn't managed to find one. Late in the day
they agreed to separate for a while so Reece could place his very
first Geocache. Not long afterwards Reece's mates heard a blood
curdling scream. They headed towards where they thought the noise
had come from and tried to find Reece, presuming it was him that
had made the noise. The two searched until nightfall, but couldn't
find any sign of him in the dense undergrowth. Reece was a seasoned
hunter and bushman, and had his GPS with him, and despite it being
a Magellan they were hopeful he might still make his own way out
… but the scream played on their minds.
They called the police when they finally got out of the bush who
sent in a search and rescue team including a dog handler at first
light. My friend was desperate to help in the search himself but
has been wheel chair bound since he and his mother were involved in
a car accident some 4 years ago. Unfortunately the day brought
stormy weather, high winds, and rain. The Police thought that
perhaps Reece may have fallen over one of the many cliffs in the
area, and was lying injured somewhere. Another theory was that he
had come across one of the massive wild boars known to be in the
area. Reece didn't have a gun - he preferred to hunt with a knife.
After failing to find him after 24 hours the police tried to
escalate the search by getting some of the local men involved but
they were too frightened to help. Three other people had gone
missing in that same area in the last 20 years and had never been
found. There have been rumours circulating for decades about some
kind of evil presence in this part of the forest and legends of a
huge hairy beast that roams the forest at night go back to
pre-European times. Other locals wondered whether Jim Simkins could
still be out there somewhere after escaping from the asylum many
years ago and going bush.
After a week the official search was called off, with grave
fears for Reece's safety. However, his two mates continued to
search despite feeling that something or someone was watching them
whenever they ventured too deep into the bush. Strange sounds and
odd movements, even to these very experienced bushmen, seemed to
surround them during their searches. A feeling of foreboding hung
in the air like a heavy fog. They always made very sure they got
out of there before nightfall. On the 10th day, they found Reece's
hunting knife with its hand carved bone handle, covered in blood,
deep in the bush, but no sign of Reece or his backpack! What had
happened to him? Had the pigs eaten him? Where was his body? There
were signs of a struggle, but no drag marks, and no footprints to
speak of, probably having been washed away by the constant rain
over the past days.
Now, two years after Reece's disappearance my friend has made an
amazing discovery on his father's old computer. He found some notes
that his father had made about the cache he had planned to lay that
day. He took this information to the police of course but they
didn't believe it was useful and refused to follow it up. Reece's
old hunting mates now live in England and my eyesight is not the
best at night which is why I am appealing to the greater Geocaching
community to help me help my friend. We are convinced that if you
can find the cache that Reece had been planting that day it might
somehow solve the mystery of what happened to him, and give his
family closure.
This is what was found on Reece's computer:
Terrain: 3.5
Difficulty: 4
This cache can only be found at night! You will need a
reasonably powerful torch that produces a beam of light. LED type
torches are no use at all!
The stated coordinates (S37 41.114, E175 07.429) might be
a good place to park REFER REVISION NOTE
BELOW but apart from that are no use in finding the cache
Follow the track, marked by standard DOC Orange triangular trail
markers, across the swingbridge and into the dark forest. After
crossing two wooden bridges (ignoring anything less than 2 meters
long) you should start holding your torch at eye level (very
important) while walking the track. Scan all around until you see
an orange glint (NOT the DOC marker!) - the first marker is less
than 200 m from the second bridge but I won't say exactly how far
for fear of making it too easy! Go there and look for the next
glint. Go there and repeat the process again and again. Two glints
in the same location means it is time to go off trail up the steep
hill and continue following the glints. When you find the spot
where there are three glints within a handspan of each other then
you have arrived so start looking for the cache. The distance from
the carpark to the cache is less than 500 meters but you will need
to go off trail for some of it and the terrain is reasonably
challenging at night - see notes below.
This is a very special place untouched by humans that I
stumbled upon quite by accident some time ago. I believe it might
explain some of the old myths about this area. I will say no more
and will leave it up to you to explore on your own.
The cache in an extra large camo'ed water proof container.
It contains a logbook, pencil, pencil sharpener, stash note plus an
assortment of trinkets to be traded. The cache is actually quite
delicate so PLEASE BE VERY GENTLE WHEN OPENING IT. It is designed
to be opened where you find it so PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO MOVE
IT.
Some Safety Tips and General Notes:
- Getting to this cache will involve some scrambling up and
down some reasonably steep terrain off trail but does not require
any special equipment other than a torch and sturdy footwear. The
terrain it is not suitable for young children or adults unsure of
their footing. If in doubt I suggest you don't attempt it. Also
bear in mind that it would be very slippery if wet.
- Please tell some where you are going before attempting
this cache. There is no cellphone coverage
- It would not be a good idea to do it alone
- Don't forget to mark some waypoints as you go along so
you can find your way out again - I wouldn't want anyone to get
lost!
- Whatever you do, be very very quiet… this is an
unusual piece of bush and you don't want to disturb any of the
local "inhabitants". You may be surprised at what you
find….
Hints: (transferred below)
REVISION NOTE (1 April 2009): The listed
parking coordinates are for the "old" track entrance. DOC has
officially closed this track entrance and removed the swingbridge
across the creek. However, you can still gain access here if you
want to but you will get wet feet crossing the creek. The official
new parking area and track access is approx 1.5 km along the main
road towards Ngaruawahia. You can't miss it. This new track takes
you to a picnic area which is just across the creek from the old
track entrance. To cut a long story short - if you don't mind
getting wet feet the old parking coordinates are still valid but if
you want to stay dry you will need to use the new track entry and
you will have an additional 1.5 km to walk
My friend also approached the Waikato Times with the news of the
discovery of Reece's notes and the Times actually published a small
article about it a couple of weeks ago. There were quite a few
people who contacted him offering support after seeing the article
but there was still nobody willing to head into the forest to
follow the trail. Some have warned him that it would be foolhardy
for anybody to attempt to enter the forest after dark.
There was also one very strange and rather disturbing note
apparently written in some kind of red ink that arrived in his mail
after the article was published. We have no idea what it means and
it is unfortunately almost completely unreadable except for a few
words due it getting soaked in his letterbox. We have copied what
we can read of it here anyway just in case it proves to be useful.
The police think it is from some nutcase and is not related to
Reece's disappearance:
I ... where he ....
coffin ...
Thank you so much for helping us. I do hope
someone will find Reece's cache and maybe even find out what
happened to him that day. We are desperate for any
information.
Good luck.