CRYPT-X Nelsons Plains, New South Wales, Australia
By darth trader on 01-Dec-10. Waypoint GC29ACM

Unfortunately I can't keep up with the maintenance necessary.

It's highly likely I have contracted a giardia infection from the water in the crypt. Stay out of there people! There's no need to get wet. Or to touch things in the water. And if you do, please make sure you wash up really effectively afterwards. Not much fun If you don't! Still an awesome cache though.

Found the second of the two prequel caches yesterday and just couldn't wait to come and find this one. Discovered that I had lost the coords from one half (it has been maybe a year) and went back to discover it was gone and disabled). Contacted the CO who happily filled in the blanks and sent me on my way. Was forced to do manual labour in the yard all morning though before the geofamily gave me permission to take them for a drive. Parked right at GZ and briefly contemplated jumping the fence but the barbed wire looked a bit bitey, so walked around through the gate near the house as advised. Once at GZ I stupidly investigated the darkness both with a torch, and then when I couldn't find it, with hands and feet - only to then read through previous logs and discover it wasn't in there! Oops. I even blew out a thong! Pretty nasty down there - and the mud is deep! Yuck! Then took a lap around the site, discovered the cache, and spent what felt like an age trying to decipher it. Tried multiple combos with no luck. Fortunately a recent find is a mate, and a PAF had me headed in the right direction - I was close - but the exact Codeword was eluding me. Even when I had it right, it still wouldn't open - what a sensitive cache this is - no brute forcing this! The construction is amazing. A little tweaking and realignment and it slid open perfectly. Stoked to write my name down and to clear one more spot off my map. Only 32 to go until I clear the map for 50km in any direction from my place. FP awarded for an amazing construction job, and a really cool GZ - even despite the loss of a thong and the murky cow poo water. TNLN TFTC

I had managed to find the two bits of required information (had to ask the CO to confirm one of them) a while ago but never had the opportunity to get out here and find the final. The wife had the day off and we were wondering what we were going to do so I suggested lunch out at Morpeth if we could find this. I searched around for a while then looked inside only to find it floating on a manure water bed out of reach. I can only imagine how deep the water is. Luckily the owners were driving past and asked if I had found it. I told them off my predicament and they kindly offered to go back and find a long pole. I fished it out and opened it (I made sure I had the correct spelling of the code word) and I was expecting it to be saturated inside but surprisingly it wasn't too bad. Managed to sign the paper and tried to dry it out the best I could. I sealed it up and left it beside the structure under a bit of grass hopefully to dry out. TFTC.

I had done the other 2 parts of this cache some time ago and I had collected the required information, and today I ventured out to finish the series.
Arriving at GZ, I was confronted with a brand new and very vicious looking barbed wire fence. I was pretty sure I had to go past it by about 5m. A quick phone call to DT confirmed it.
I went further up the roadway and spoke to the inhabitant of the abode, who knows about the cache and the new fence. She said just to go through the gate near the house and walk to GZ.
That done, I arrived at CRYPT-X and found the container. And then the fun started!
After trying all the combinations I could think of, and then some more, and then doing it all again VERY carefully to get everything aligned, the container still would not open.
A read of the description, and the clue, revealed nothing to me which made sense. I then gave up and resorted to a PAF to the CO. He only gave me a cryptic answer which still meant nothing. Another communication, DT laughing on the phone, and me swearing at him! Because I'm a bit dense, he had to lead me by the hand and guide me to the final solution. Thanks, DT, for your patience.
So, the incredible machine was eventually opened and another amazing puzzle completed.
Another classic DT cache. TNLNSL TFTC

I had visited the other two caches from this series quite a while ago last year and thought it was as good a time as any to find this one as it will show up as my 400th find, even though it is my 401st (as a lab cache only half counts).The car GPS didn’t show this custom POI for some reason so I drove straight past. Twice. The third time I pulled into the driveway and parked on a siding. The lady of the house saw me park in the front of her yard and walking towards the house, before stopping half way there at the crypt. She came over to see what I was doing and why I parked so far from the house. She realised I was geocaching before I could even explain. I had a little bit of trouble finding the cache first she suggested looking inside, I had a torch and could see it wasn't in there. Then she explained to me, the grass was a LOT shorter when the cache was placed. She wished me good luck on opening the cache and asked how long it will be here for, but she left halfway through my answer. I had a fair idea of what the codeword was going to be, unfortunately I had some difficulty with my spelling. Even when I looked up the spelling I got it wrong. This is such a great design and very well put together. It cannot be forced or tricked and needs to be lined up perfectly. I was a bit sad once I had signed and put it back together and was time to go.
Thanks for an amazing cache, definitely a favourite for (strange/spooky) location and great container!

Found at 3:19 PM GAFF3. On our way home now and we had all of the information to find this cache - or so we thought! Got to the crypt and p-pprass put his head in and immediately pulled it out as a few small bats flew straight out . Right - so maybe it's in there we thought. While scratching our heads as to who was going to go in, c-pprass casually pulls out a nice cylinder and a very well constructed piece of home made machinery was uncovered - great job I must say.
We then started to muck around with the 2 code words, but nothing. Then p-pprass realised that there was a 3rd code word. So we looked all over the container, but nothing. After a few minutes we decided to call the CO and tell him that the 3rd code word was missing, only to be told that it was in the hint, which is bad news for us as we do not look at hints if at all possible. So we looked at the hint and nothing much was illuminated - even with darth trader's cryptic verbal clue while on the phone.
After another 10 minutes of pondering, we went simple with what we know and what do you know - the bloody thing opened [^]. I told DT that we pulled it to pieces, but that was a lie to get him riled up
Really appreciated the scroll of information about the crypt and were relieved that no one was "home" any more, so all in all a great adventure.
Thanks darth trader.
Feedback: We were in 2 minds whether to give this cache a favourite point as we do not think that it is appropriate to put vital piece of information in the Hint - especially as the hint is optional to view. However when looking at the series as a whole it definitely deserves a favourite - and the manufacture of the cryptex is quite outstanding.

Had to do something special for our 100th cache and this seemed appropriate
Waited for the Rain to clear and headed to the crypt
Guessed that code first try, signed the log, admired the cows for a bit then we went on our way
One of the best caches far

This is the 100th cache I've found so it had to be something special. The crypt was so cool; I love these type of things. Found the cache easy enough and guessed the word correctly on the first try. I love history and although I've lived here my entire life I never knew the history behind this. Love the series.

Lovely warm day today, drive up to maitland for some caches and special garage sale... Excellent enjoy your series, got clues, then final GZ to found cache, long long workout clue for open cache as still fail, POC as wrong word... YAY PHEW open , thanks god... Very excellent cache, favourite for us... Thanks

Yah my 200th cache.
I did the other 2 about 8 months ago but had failed to get the coordinates and code woed from crypto so had to go back and get the information today. After driving to the final location found the cache after about a minute then to get to the secret code. I had a good idea what it was from the code words but not being the best at spelling I had to do an Eddie and phone a friend(mum actually) to help with the spelling. After she looked it up in the dictionary the cache was opened and the log signed. Thanks for this series Darth Trader it was a lot of fun

The cache was found a few days previously but it refused to open( we found out that we had the wrong word). Toriaz has wanted to find this one since a visit to the area the previous year and since all good things come to those who wait, this was hers to open and open it she did. I had the camera poised to record it. Thanks Darth trader for the history lesson as well.

#1328

We came to Maitland last October long weekend for a caching trip, and I noticed this series of caches then. They were my main goal for that weekend, but we ended up only finding Crypto, as Cryptozoology was cunning disguised by a fresh coat of paint that weekend.

This weekend, having previously redeemed my DNF on Cryptozoology on a visit earlier in the year, and knowing this wouldn't be too far off our route north to the Mid North Coast Campout, we planned to finally find the final cache.

I'd studied the clues and formed an idea in my mind that I knew what was needed. I carefully dialled up my solution and failed to open the cache.

Great consternation! We tried & tried & tried but eventually gave up. We returned the cache to its hiding spot and resumed our journey north.

Saturday morning we bumped into Marcus Vitruvius and found out that my solution was wrong. He gave us a hint & we guessed what the answer we needed was.

So when headed south on our way home, we detoured again to try out our new solution. With much holding of breathe, I dialled up the new word, and miraculously it opened. We had finally managed to complete this wonderful cache .

Thanks for the challenge & the fun cache series

We had tried to do this cache on our way north to the Mid North Coast Campout Event. We'd found the cache but had guessed at the wrong word. In fact, Toria had come up with the word and it was the right length and seemed to fit the clue, so we tried and tried, wondering whether the mechanism was just being difficult, since the CO had said he had had difficulty, himself, when checking the cache. In the end we left it.

While at the event we spoke to Markus Vitruvius who said we had the wrong word. He didn't outright tell us, but he gave a hint and we worked it out. Here's the thing. If there was a naughty option and a nice option (which the solution does allow, believe me) which do you think Toriaz might have chosen to start with. Whichever it was, it was the wrong one.

So we went back to this rather interesting location on the way home and had success. This was a clever and imaginative series of caches, and a favourite from me. Thanks

Whoop whoop gotcha!!! I have a morbid fear of cows so this was a challenge for me !! I was worried at fx that I had to go in but a closer look spared me that horror!!! loved loved loved this series! Thanks for all your efforts!!!

Great fun doing this cache series, definitely the best one in the area.

TFTC found on this rainy day with cutsprocket. We are so glad to have done this series. Gave darth trader path tag too cutsprocket as I have 2 already one blue one yellow. Loved the cache and trying to unlock it. Thanks darth.

Cache check. All is in good order here. Dropped in a path tag and a badge. But had trouble spelling the code word. Which is silly, when I built the thing.

This is the best cache that we have done to date. After working out the co-ord the geowife and I headed off to GZ. Arriving to find the cache easily, opened it to find a nice surprise. After several attempts the geowife finally figured out the puzzle. Very clever thanx darth trader. TFTC

cheers team wooness

Reperio at 1530. Well...we were expecting a cache to remember with this one...and that's exactly what we got, but not quite all to do with the cache. Having done the required caches to get to this GZ, we spotted a likely location from the road, but were a bit hesitant to enter until we re-read the cache page and realised it was all good. Once there, the cache was soon found, in which we headed back to the car to open it. In looking at the container, I was pleasantly surprised in how well it looked and felt, and wonderfully made it was....Now just need to open it. In using the code words, we tried many an answer without success. After 30 mins of trying to crack the code, we finally turned our attention to the hint. Once we had read the hint, we soon changed our mind set, and Darwinian came up with the magic word we needed. I don't think we would have made the connection with just the code words...but the hint gives it away almost immediately.

So...with much joy and happiness, we signed the log, and returned the cache to it's place. Jumped back in the car...turned on the ignition...and nothing! Tried again...and nothing. We very quickly realised that the battery was flat...no...I mean dead! Tried a couple of times to tick it over, but there was no chance. So after sitting around trying to work out the best course of action, we gave a call to NRMA to bring out a new battery. After a couple of minutes, the land owners must have seen the hood up and came down to say g'day, and to see what the trouble was. Once we explained what had happened, they had a good chuckle, and offered their assistance. Since NRMA were already on their way, we didn't want to trouble them, so we said we would simply wait until they arrived to see what indeed the trouble was, and then go from there. Since NRMA were going to be half an hour or so, I decided to use the time wisely and go for walk to grab another cache 800m away. Just as I came back, NRMA arrived and fitted us with a new battery, and we were on our way. So after 2 hours or so...sitting in someone's driveway...trying to open a plastic cylinder...waiting for a battery to arrive...we finally left GZ.

Well what can I say! The cache container is certainly one of the best I've seen...and the location, along with the preliminary caches, makes for a wonderful set of caches that I feel privileged to have completed. As for the experience of it all, as I mentioned at the start, I don't think I'll be forgetting about this one any time soon, if ever! That's what makes geocaching so much fun.

Gratias maximus tibi ago DT.

After hearing good things about this cache we set a day aside to get this one and a few others. Talk about an adventure, what an afternoon. After searching for a long needed couch we finally got on to the caching. After completing the first two parts we headed out to GZ. The container was everything we had expected and so we began trying to crack the code. After a few attempts we started to think we were missing something. I suggested we look at the hint, within minutes I had it ..... Signed the log & replaced the cache. I was excited as we finally did it and could now head off fora few more.

MV went to start the car, and .......... Nothing.... We looked at each other and knew it was dead! The batt had been on its way out so I figured it most likely needed replacing. MV's idea to sort this out was to go out on foot and find another cache.. yeah right I wasnt spending the night out there- I had to sort this car out before it got dark!!! Good one MV. So I got NRMA on the job and waited while MV went out leg brace and all to make another find.

As I waited a girl drove up to us who owned a horse on the property. She was coming to move the horse. She checked to see that I was ok & if I needed a jump start. She asked if I was on my own, I replied " No my boyfriend is walking up the road". She laughed and said " Was that him wiht the leg brace on?"... "Ahhh men she said"... I think she was starting to wonder why we were there.I gave her the short version about caching and seemed to have some idea about the cache we had been looking at. She said she would drive back to get MV,but I explained he was unstopable ha ha....

Anyway MV and NRMA soon arrived back and we were back on our way in no time, well just before dark.

So crept into the crypt, crept out again than oh CRAP!!

Thanks Darth Trader for the fantastic cache, we sure won't forget it!

This entry was edited by Darwinian on Tuesday, 31 May 2011 at 00:00:52 UTC.

21:56 Hrs

This one was a "Must Do", so we obliged by completing the pre-requisite caches and arrived near GZ.

Not sure that we were in the correct location, Webguy and Mr. Hancock investigated while Webguy Jnr and I waited with the car and tried to look inconspicuous.

They returned quickly with the goods and we inspected the cache container.
With the puzzle solved and the container opened, we inspected the workmanship and unanimously voted this the cache of the day!

Mr. Hancock returned the cache to its resting place before retreating swiftly to the car.

A well planned and executed cache! I wish that they were all more like this.

Thanks.

10:01pm
It's dark, we half half a pack of cigarettes and we're wearing sunglasses...

Certainly the best cache of the day! Big Matt had said, you must do this series and when someone the size of Big Matt says to do something, you bloody well jump to it. So, we jumped.

Glad we did. Though when we arrived I was seriously beginning to doubt our scribing abilities... A quick call to Matt to ensure we were not being lead astray by any pooches and he confirmed we had arrived in the general vicinity.

Hmmm, aint driving in there at this time I said... I'll walk in via moonlight with Mr Hancock, but I refuse to hold your hand.

So, we walked in, the fog wafting all around us, the full moon above, very eerie indeed. We had no idea what was to appear out of the gloom when we got to GZ. Now, seriously, was not expecting that at all...

The cache was appropriated and we walked through the swirling fog. Yeah, it was no longer wafting, it was swirling, which is spookier, wafting fog or swirling fog??

Back in the car we opened the container to reveal what was within, excellent, my first of this type!! Did not take too long to figure the magic word and the contents revealed.

Our names inscribed, Mr Hancock was made to make the return journey through the wafty-swirly fog, man, he was back quickly!!

A superb series, if only everyone put this much thought and effort into caches, caching would be far better off.

Cheers

Loved this cache! As Webby says, the series was recommended by Big Matt, and this final one was the icing on the cake. We can see why the attributes suggest not doing it at night but there was enough moonlight shining through the eerie mist to light the way without having to use torches and possibly draw attention.
Having said that, there were several inquisitive cows that seemed to watch every move we made, staring at us like we were nutters. You know what? I reckon those cows had every right to stare at us like that!
Anyway, Mr Webby & I soon found the goods and we headed back to base for intelligence to work out the cryptic part. The riddle was solved very quickly and before long the cache was opened. What an awesome and ingenious contraption - well done! A super cache to end this very enjoyable series.
Left geocoin. Thanks,
The Hancock Clan

How the hell do you find these spots really good crypt-x puzzle Team unibolt worked out the answer while I marveled at the construction
of the thing. Ten out of ten from me

Been dieing (crypt joke) to do this one for a while but the zoo kept us at bay, finally got here .
Had a chance to work out the puzzle while being chauffeured by Jonignite.
This is truly a fantastic container, thanks for all the effort & TFTC.

Our 4800th overall find.

We always like to do a nice cache for a milestone and today is no difference. This cache was fantastic! So much effort has gone into the container and the research into the GZ. darth trader has become synonymous for quality caches in the Hunter area and he has well and truly pulled out all the stops on this one. This was a great cache (and series) from start to finish. This is certainly a *Recommended* cache. Thanks for sharing the cache with us for our milestone.

Thanks to darth trader for the cache. *Overall Experience: 5* http://wiki.geocaching.com.au/wiki/Rating

TNLNSL

Rated: for Overall Experience

Cache find 200 and what a nice series of 3 to bring up our double ton. Finding it was easy enough but now for some thinking and after reading the hint and trying a couple of words J came up with a possibility that was indeed correct. Very well made cache and a great series. TFTC darth.

cache check today.
all is well.
Dropped a quality stash note off.

hubby and i took off to find last cript-x and found out we had the coords right and ended up finding it. After 5 minutes we cracked the code and wrote in it. . . TYFC DARTH TRADER. . . a real achievement for us both. GO TEAM STEVENS

Found with TheWobblys and The-Don while on a daft invader tour of Maitland.

After obtaining the two clues and co-ords from Crpytozoology and Crypto we set off in search of the Holy Grail.

On arriving at GZ it is an amzing piece of history in itself. A crypt in the middle of a paddock. How do you find these places?

Eager for the prize we put in the two code words in both orders with nothing. A quick read of the cache page says that you need a cyptic clue at GZ. A search of GZ and the container revealed nothing.

We thought perhaps we needed to go to the posted co-ords to get the cryptic clue but a look at the GPS seemed to indicate the Trig Point above us.

We then went to the clue on the cache page. King Wobblys came up with a possible answer (the correct one) which I pointed to him was wrong because we needed a third clue. I knew the cryptex had been inspired by The Davinci Code which I had not read or seen. I knew the magic word would come from the book.

I sent a message to the dark lord himself who was vague and cryptic and was not going to give up the game.

After about half an hour we could not worked it out so we had two options. 1. The Hack Saw or 2. King Wobblys word.

Well we put King Wobblys word in and amazingly it opened.

The worst part was King Wobbly whinging about not listening to his wisdom, all the way home. The time we wasted, etc, etc, etc.

We engraved our names on the honour scroll to mark the end of our journey.

Thanks darth trader an amazing adventure.

Rated: for Overall Experience

Found while out caching with The Cashman and The Don.

Great bit of local history here at Gz.

The King Wobbly is always right but once again The Cashman said i was wrong.

And yes i did let The Cashman know how much time we wasted.

Thanks darth for great day of caching and looking forward to some more great cache's.

The Cashman's photo tell's it all, the good and the bad.

Wow. Amazing. Brilliant. Excellent and last but not least very clever ! (yes I know I always say that Darth)- After completing crypto this morning and cryptozoology last week I was not waiting another day to finish it off. Oh yes, getting to the co ords were easy, but opening the vault was not so easy. After trying the codewords unsuccessfully in all combinations, I resorted to reading the past logs and hint. God bless instant internet access. After the second guess the ancient scrolls were revealed. We added our name to the logs. We haven't done a lot of caches, so my next comment doesn't hold much weight, but it is the best I have ever seen! I couldn't imagine there being a better series of caches around. Thanks a lot Darth for your imagination and work. You are the Master!!!

After getting the coordinates and code words from the first 2 caches i charged off to get the last of the series but not knowing what the code words had to do with anything. On arrival i found the cache quickly but on opening the cache i was left with this combination i had to work out. I must of spent a good 20 minutes trying to work it out but ended up going home with a log unsigned .After a bit of internet searching and the good old wikipedia, i headed back the next day with a word i was pretty confident of. I put my combination in and bingo ,out come the scroll. Finally i had the log and scroll signed. Thanks Darth for a week of headache and a series of great caches.....It was truly a great experience. I praise you for all your time and effort you put in to these caches and for that matter all of your caches....THANKS.

WOW! What can we say except that this would have to be the BEST cache we have ever done!! Thank you so much Darth Trader for all the time, thought and effort that went into making this such a great experience. We have to be honest and admit that the final step did take us a few attempts though. We had searched and found the first two caches yesterday and got the necessary information to locate this cache - but had our first DOH! moment when we drove to the listed co-ordinates instead of the co-ordinates we had gathered!! Once we drove to the correct location we spotted the cache easily, but then began the head scratching with trying to open it! We thought there must have been a code word written somewhere here at GZ so we searched and searched, but when that was a dead-end we tried to open the container with all sorts of words spelt forwards and even backwards - but we had to leave it in the end and go home to do some more thinking [and googling!]. After dinner last night we thought we had the answer using a bit of a pop culture reference, so we drove back out feeling rather smug only to find that it didn't work either!?! So back home we went to do some more research and we eventually came up with a list of words that might fit. So we headed back out there this morning and put in our pick of the words - but no luck. We tried another word, but went back to the first word to try it again as it made the most sense - and BINGO it worked. After much cheering and hugging we then checked out the contents and enjoyed reading about the history of the area and then marvelled at the skill and workmanship that went into the container. We signed the log and returned everything to it rightful place and left feeling very pleased with ourselves and very impressed with Darth Trader. TFTC!!!!!!!!!

After gathering the coordinates we needed from the other two caches, Dimand and I set off through the fields for this one. I was quite a poor navigator, and I think we took the most convoluted route possible! We eventually got to within 200m, so we pulled over and walked up the drive to a very impressive cache location! The cache was easy to find, and we were examining the best cache container I'd ever seen when a car pulled up from the direction of the house. We had a nice chat to the lady who lives on the property, and explained geocaching to her, as well as how we were meant to open the cache. She also told us a very interesting story of a man who showed up at her house in the dark and rain with a screaming child and asked if he could leave something there for some people to come and look at. I wonder who that was... After she'd driven off, I said all the code words we had again, and Dimand had the answer straight away! I then quickly spelled it out and the cache opened! We signed the log and the scroll, completing a fantastic caching experience, and one of the best ways I have ever spent a day off! Thanks so much

parked off the road and walked down the path. found the cache easily. clever design. pvc pipe would definatly be the easiest way to make these. not being much of a riddle man i quicly "picked" the first three letters with the small amount of play in the cylinders. once i spotted the first three letters the answer came to me. then i handed it over to kimsy so she could spell it. i would have been there a while.

awesome cache.

We headed out to the CRYPT-X, brimming with excitement and exploding with wonder. We had been waiting for weeks to get our hands on the masterly crafted cryptex. Darth had teased us with drawings and photographs of a container that could only be described as a ancient safe that any Egyptian would be proud to have in their pyramid. What would we find?
We arrived at GZ in the afternoon, waved at the locals, then recovered the tube protecting the cryptex. Now the fun part. We had a rough idea of the word, gleaned from the code and hint, that we would have to dial into the cryptex to release it's hidden treasures.
We would have to say this word out loud over and over as we attempted to open the cryptex.
Finally the cryptex slid open, we were amazed at the contents. An ancient scroll detailing the origins of the cache's location, ancient tags and toys.
The scroll was signed with goats blood and sealed.

We left the area ecstatic and praising the work of Darth. Truly a master craftsman. We greatly appreciate the time, research and workmanship that Darth freely put into this series of caches.

Our favourite by a long way. Highly recommended. 5 stars all the way.

After two second to finds I was obviously off for another one here as it turned out. I found the cache quickly enough and tried the obvious codeword which didnt't work, then after trying a few more possible codewords Ireverted to the first and this time got it open.

Thanks for a great series Darth.

11th FTF! And the third in the series! Woohoo!

We had the coords from the other two caches and an idea of the code word. We drove up the driveway and knew straight away where the awesomeness that is the cryptex would be waiting for us (you will know too)! What a beautiful spot! We pulled out the cryptex from its hidey hole and counted the number of letters required, knowing that we would be correct but scared that if it was incorrect and we needed brute force we may destroy the papyrus scroll when the vial of vinegar broke.

As Mr Chippyroo sat in the long grass and twirled the dials a ute drove down the driveway and we waved but they didn't stop to see what we were doing. The cryptex opened with a click and out came the scroll (nice), we were FTF again! We signed our names on both the scroll and the little log book. Thank you for the geocoin, we will release that soon in one of our new caches.

An awesome series of caches with a twist at the end! Our favorite caches so far now! Thanks you Darth for a great week of FTF's!

Published

Micro Signal FTF coin included as FTF prize.