NZ Ringfinder Tag | The Ring Finders

Phone Lost in Russell, Found in Dense Scrub

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)

Jimmy contacted me as his houseguest had lost his phone in some scrub near Russell.

He had been helping him clear invasive trees from a steep and very overgrown hillside, with his phone ‘safe’ in a leg pocket, secured by a hefty press-stud.

At some stage in his wanderings and stumblings through the dense undergrowth, the press stud on the pocket had been caught and come undone – The phone likely found its way out shortly after. “Murphys Law” came into play with zero reception, so his attempts to ring or otherwise locate the phone were futile.

The going was very tough with a large coil, negotiating the many trees lying where they had fallen, in places the branches meant I couldn’t get closer than a metre or more to the ground surface so I focussed on clearing the more accessible areas with the big coil and the machine running in full sensitivity for the merest whisps of a signal. Constant impacts from branches and vegetation, coupled with the mineralisation of the ground made the machine extremely “chatty”.  It took all my focus to decipher the barrage of sounds, whilst trying to stay upright negotiating the steep slippery ground, fallen branches and trunks.

I was already planning on how I would go about searching the area with the small 6″ coil on a special wireless rig I custom made for such scenarios, to be perfectly honest, I wasn’t looking forward to the many potential hours this recovery might take. However it was a tightly defined – albeit extremely difficult,and relatively large – area, so I knew it was just a matter of getting a coil close enough to pick up the missing phone.

I worked my way through the gorse and scrub, and in one area where several trees had been felled, I got a faint, but repetitive signal coming from under a trunk.

Placing the machine down, I slipped my arm in through the tangle of branches and stretched my fingers out under the fallen trunk.

It was with great satisfaction that I felt my hand close around a shape and glassy texture definitely not encountered in nature.  After facing a potentially very slow and intricate search across the hillside, I was possibly more relieved than the owner!

Gold Ring lost at Kai Iwi Lakes – Found!

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)

Back at Kai Iwi for the second time in three days for another lost ring. Thanks to Halley sending me a detailed video clip taken on the day, I was able to save him the three hour trip back up from Auckland.
I was a little concerned seeing evidence of metal detector activity from the last couple of days, and despite their tracks walking right past the ring, they had missed it!

This where the experience and skills of Ringfinders comes in, with patience and a disciplined approach to ensure 95%+ coverage of the loss area.

As a result, just after sunrise I had the ring in the scoop. I sent a photo of it to a very relieved Halley, followed by a quick swim to celebrate, and headed home.

Against all Odds – Keys Found on Paihia Beach

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)

Two Tourists Stranded in Paradise!

I was just heading down onto the beach for a random hunt when I was approached by Derek, “Will that find keys?”.

“Yep, where did you lose them?”.
“Last night walking between that pole and those toilets… They’re the keys for the campervan and we’re stuck here without them”.
The time of night they were lost put it at low tide, which left me with roughly 1.2 hectares of beach where they were hiding – And that’s assuming a walker hadn’t picked them up since. I was brutally honest with him about the very slim chances of finding them with a coil the size of a dinner plate, but had to give it my best.

I checked the waterline first as the tide was already coming in, then once I had cleared a buffer there against the encroaching tide, I headed up to the probable line of their route to the beach.

A short time later, I got a big hit in the dry powdery sand. Scuffed the surface of the sand off with my foot and there they were. I quietly pocketed them and headed back to the van, head hung in mock defeat.
I couldn’t help but wind Derek up a little about how it was such a huge area, and the chances of finding them today were virtually nil…before pulling the keys out of my pocket.
Derek and Gemma could now continue their holiday through NZ 

 

Metal Detecting on Whangarei Roadside to Find Lost Ring

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)

I was just doing a casual beach detect at a very small, unassuming patch of sand tucked away on Whangarei Harbour in New Zealand. It is the sort of place that would struggle to have 20 people squeezed into it on a busy summer day.

After I had been detecting for maybe thirty minutes, a beach-goer wandered up and asked if I would be able to find his wifes ring.  Quick background of,  “It fell off her hand outside the car as we turned at a junction, six months ago – I saw it rolling across the road”.   This was a new scenario for me!

I said I’d give it a go.

Packed up and followed the gentleman to the scene. I was envisaging a sea of can pull tabs, the usual metal detritus that litters the roadside, and possibly a flat and chewed ring.

When we got there, I didn’t have my usual high vis gear with me, so it was a very cautious operation to ensure neither I or the detector got clipped by a passing wing mirror as I nosed the coil in and out of the undergrowth and leaf litter. My helper made life easier by shifting all the crushed cans and foil packets he could – But there were plenty of scraps left for me!  After four to five minutes and another crumpled up bit of foil, I got a hint of a clean tone under one of the plants. I couldn’t get the beach coil in properly, so scuffed the leaf litter out into the open, and left behind, lying in the dirt was his Precious.

Happy faces all round back at the beach!  A quick pose for a photo, and I went back to where I left off twenty minutes earlier.

The beach smiled kindly on my good deed and gave me an old and ornate silver ring shortly after – This would have been lost well before there were RingFinders to save the day!

 

 

Lost Ring at Russell Beach Found for Christmas

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)

Dec 21st, 2017

I received a call while at work from a very upset lady, the usual story of a slightly-too-large ring and the sea.

The previous day she had gone for a morning swim, and returned to discover she and her ring had parted company.

I knew the beach in question is a very mobile shingle and notorious for ‘swallowing’ rings so time was of the essence. It already had a two-tide head start…

Next low was in two hours, so I cashed in some of my leave and headed away in order to catch it.
An hour and a half and a car ferry later, I arrived on site. Looking at the steep beach angle, coupled with recent wind and wave conditions I could only realistically give her a 50:50 chance of finding it.

After a quick walk through of the timeline and reenacting the whats and wheres leading up to the loss, I marked out the area of highest probability and started searching between the tideline and the waist-deep point where it dropped away to deep water. Figured I’d do the hotspot first before getting the wetsuit on!

A lot of litter signals from can tabs and so forth caused several stops to listen carefully and determine if it was the ring… all were discounted for one reason or another.

Then, on the third line a strong clear tone and the scoop went in for a big bite out of the gravel. I checked the hole to make sure I had the target, dropped my marker float and waded ashore to empty the scoop.

Dumping the gravel onto the beach, sitting quite brazenly on top of the pile of stones was the ring, and in only 12 minutes from switching the machine on (Largely thanks to an extremely accurate start point).

Handed her the lost ring with a smile and a “Happy Christmas!” accompanied by a small round of applause from onlookers.

One extremely grateful, and very relieved couple.

Early Christmas Present

In the space of 30 or so hours, it had already sunk 6-8 inches. I was quietly pleased to have snatched this one back from the beach!