Swamp Prince Helensvale, Queensland, Australia
By Herbz on 03-Oct-10. Waypoint GC2G3V0

With all the recent wet weather we need to re-think the location on this one. So archiving now.

No log. Looks like the bottom of the container has rotted off. Great hide though. Didn't even mind wading out to it.

Such a fun little cache
TFTC

This geocacher reported that the container is damaged.

Will check up on this soon.

Slopped our way from the King down to the Prince - part on the track and part in the swamp land. We arrived and found the stump but no prince. Sad. Then I saw something in the middle of the water and guessed it might be the prince. With lots of effort and using very long sticks we managed to get the Prince to shore. After cleaning him off (as best as you can with stagnant water) I tried to put him where he should be sitting but the shelf broke off as it was rusted through underneath. Oops. So, I have sat the Prince inside the stump but CO will need to come and do some maintenance. I have left a note with the Prince to say that the log book is at the back of the stump. Log book is also full. I didn't have a new one, so just signed my name on a small piece of paper and put that with the log, but it won't last long and is only small. TFTC.

NEEDS MAINTENANCE! Cache's stand has rusted through. Prince no longer looks out over the swamp. Log book is full - note bison with log is not with the Prince. Bison is behind the stump.

After finding an easier way to get in here last weekend, It was a short walk under the train line to get to GZ, no Gumboots needed today and loved the hide, but logbook is full. Squeezed my name on though, TFTC

Bahahahaaa.... good one! I am very glad I came out here today to find this series. I’ve had a nice walk and learned a bit more about the Gold Coast. Now to dry off my hiking boots!! Thank you so much. This is one of the great series. I wonder if I will meet the CO?

Came back, love this one can do without the mozzies hahaha, needs a knew log book

Cute.
i wore water shoes this time. TFTC.

Can see the swamp prince throne back need wellys to get to it.

Got to come back with gum boots...see the throne

Unable to continue the recent rain has made a central channel that is waist deep, tried to go around but no dice, this is beyond the equipment I have today, so will have to try another time

After a trek through the swamp, I spied the probable location of the Swamp Prince. Had to get my feet wet to reach it, only to find that the cache guardian was swimming several metres away in the murky water. With the help of my trusty walking stick I was able to restore him to his former, though somewhat algified position. A fun though messy cache. Thanks Herbz

(no pen, so photo as proof)

Found today with Uksquirrel. The Swamp Prince is Lord of the Ants when disturbed.
Log signed but needs a new one.

Nice find with ShazzyP couldn’t of this one alone

Uff had a joy to get this one here. Piece of wood helps a lot to get close to GZ. FP awarded for hide and adventure. TFTC All good at GZ

I found this

On the way to a Gold Coast CITO with Swellerfungus & Seffnjarah, we figured it was time to swing past this bit of bushland and pay a few unloved caches a visit.

That discarded paling that Fungus used as a bridge to traverse a gap is obviously stronger than I expected.I had the camera ready to record the inevitable fall. Sadly, he disappointed. A nice quick find.

Many thanks, Team Herbz

Pete

#4,123

A 'Bromance' run around the Gold Coast today to catch some unloved caches, nice D/T caches, some unusual caches and a CITO. A great day with 18 finds, 6 DNF's (A higher DNF count is not unusual when you are hunting down the unloved!).
I was the first to head in for this one, so had the duties of 'testing the waters'. The obvious GZ had a good path to it without too much water, and the little critter soon came into view. Once again all good with this one.

Having stood by and watched from the sidelines at the first swampy cache this morning, it was Swellerfungus' turn to play Jesus and walk on water to get out to this cache. With cameras at the ready to record the inevitable unplanned swim, Crookedpete and I were left sorely disappointed when he managed to make it to GZ and back with barely a splash on his boots. All found safe and well and signed our names into the logbook. TFTC.

After very wet feet we are here tftc

Very wet feet. Tftc

Little fella still gaurding this one
Tftc

Slightly damp feet but well worth the hopping and jumping and log surfing.

**Smilie #4964**

Having just found another cache nearby I checked the app for the next one & began following the compass as directed.
OMG!
I've stepped into another world!
All the movies I had ever watched about swamp beasts, the everglades, escaping slaves, giant anacondas - the list goes on - came to mind as I followed the narrow trail through an almost alien landscape.
I was so enthralled with my surroundings that I was well past GZ for my chosen target & much closer to this cache so after a brief moment of self debate I pushed on thinking I could always come back for this one at another time.
Decision made, I pushed on still in awe of my surroundings.
What a great spot to make a movie! LOL ...
As I neared GZ I thought the co-ords were out a bit as surely it couldn't be 'in there!'
Paced back & forth checking the compass & it certainly was indicating one spot & only that one spot.
Really? LOL ...
Oh, well, there's nothing else to do but go for it!
A bit of island hopping, log walking & getting the feet wet soon had me on Terror Island!
I can't believe I'm out (or rather IN) here, especially on my own!
Aha!
There you are!
Great cache container.
Made our mark & gingerly exited stage left, right, right, left, jump, paddle, shake, sigh!
Made it!
Knocked off a few more happy snaps & headed for safer & saner territory!

**TFTC Herbz **
Anyone who finds this cache & doesn't leave a favourite needs therapy!
Actually, everyone who comes here will probably need therapy! LOL ...
Great cache, great container, great location & great mini adventure!!!

This was a fun one, I enjoyed hopping to GZ avoiding the swampy water. My feet only got a little wet and I was pleased to discover the Swamp Prince. Mozzies were ferocious today.
TFTC

haha, let Akasha be the sacrificial lamb to go fetch this one.
"Welcome to real geocaching" I yelled as she walked through the mirky water, "This will get you ready for some of my caches"..."beats those pesky park and grabs in suburbia".
Seriously got to get this girl on some 'walky' type caches.

Thanks Herbz

Found it such a cute lil fella

#2074

On the Gold Coast visiting family and now it time to do some caching.

Todays task is to finding D/T caches combinations that I have low numbers in..

All I have to say about this one is .... bloody mosquito!!!!!! oh yeah and the green frog

TFTC

Cool cache bit of a challenge to get to tftc

The prince has been cursed by the swamp witch

Brandon also noticed bubbles in the swamp so maybe there is a monster lurking about. Wear insect repellant

Take off your shoes.it gets a bit stinky. Watch out for wet mud

We are back at the Gold Coast for a week, visiting family & time to get away to do some geocaching.
Todays trip was caches closer to where we are staying.
From the swamp fruit we continued on to find the prince. We did not have to kiss him for us to be offered up his contents.
Very wet & had to make a wooden bridge to get accross one wet section.
Thanks for placing this cache Herbz

Out with a group of caches to achieve the 25 caches Unique D/T Rating Challenge. After about 11 hours we had found our 25. Great day but quite warm.
Enjoyed the caches we had on our list to find in this park. Thanks Herbz.

I agreed to do some caches including tree climbing. The tour should be around 10 caches. That sounds easy. In the end we were 8 geocachers who did the challenge of finding 25 geocaches with unique D/T rating. We spend 14 hours of the day geocaching and it was such a fabulous day!

We strolled on and came upon Prince Charming sitting surveying his kingdom. Cute little fellow, would go well in DiamonJs bathroom. TFTC

What a cutie and he looks so happy sitting there. TFTC

Cute cache. Thankyou.

Nice quick find and lovely cache placement, will have to return some other time to complete the rest of this great series as the mossies have come out in force to carry me away!! TFTC

Nice castle you've got here Prince. Lovely view too!

Avoided a snake in your kingdom which is full of ants!
TFTC!!

Love this one, was lots of water around today. Got to be my favourite yet. My 12th cache . Thankyou

Last one! Night had fallen but as I didn't plan ahead and look at the list of caches we were aiming to find for the challenge, I sadly found on the day that I had already done one of the 25 planned Though the others were kind enough to assist with finding this one as my replacement. Thankyou very much!

When we arrived near GZ, jackxena62 and king-fisher8 announced that it was time for them to head off, so we said our goodbyes and they headed on their way. We then got ready to head into the swamp! Lots of insect repellent was sprayed, and Team Benders put on their wellies. Ready to go? Okay! On our lights went and we were off! We headed along the path and closer and closer to GZ, we trod our way through the mud, under the overpass, through some more mud and along the path that runs parallel to the swamp. When we had gone far enough and the only way was in, we stopped and let Team Benders do the honours of going in to find and sign it as they were the only ones who brought their wellies. Don't get me wrong, we helped out too! We shone our lights in their direction to help them out ... as much as we could. Good thing they had head lamps on too! They found it quick enough and signed it off for all of us. They even took photos of the container to show us. Very cute! TFTC! - Will be back for the King! As well as the others around this area.

This one was an added bonus to the day.
I had just completed what I needed to for the 25 difficulty/terrain challenge.
Geopartner and I put on the gumboots at closest point to GZ.
It was dark now but there was a group of us.
We headed in armed with torches, GPS walking stick to check depth of where we were going.
Mozzie repellent on and in we plunged.
Arrived at GZ and geopartner said nothing here.
I never give up and looked further and what a surprise I got.
A few ants gathered there but other than that the log was signed and photos taken.
TNLNSL TFTC Thanks Herbz All good with this cache
A favourite from me

An opportunity to complete a D/T challenge in the Coomera area with RoddyC, Team Benders, King-fisher8, Jackxena62 and Sezzz.

This one was completed in the dark under torchlight. Team Benders and geopartner did the honours with this one as they had their boots on! The prince was a little lonely and was welcoming visitors today. TFTC Herbz

We were out today completing the D/T 25 Unique challenge, and our group consisted of Team Benders, King-fisher8, jackxena62, Sezzz and NurseyJulie, along with Mrs and Mrs RoddyC.

We didn't need this one for our individual challenge, but as one of the team had already done another of the caches, we slipped this one on for her as a substitute. Team Benders and Mr RoddyC visited this previously at night to see if it would be suitable as an additional "Just In Case" backup, but that day we have no "Wellies" to wade through the swamp. Tonight, though both parties in Team Benders came prepared with their "Wellies"so with appropriate cheering on they gingerly waded through the swamp water and found the lonely prince. Thanks guys!

Found at 6.05 pm on 16th May 2015. TFTC.

Number 4 for today. There was water everywhere. My geo buddies didn't want to get there feet wet so I went out to the spot I thought it was at.(my geo buddies had the gps with them) I looked around for a while and couldn't find it.

Then they yell at me a say it might be over there..... so over I walk and saw what I was looking for.
Lesson learned...... Take the gps with you.

TFTC log was over full put a new log inside for you CO.
Off to the next one the caches have all be unique today and that's why I geo so great afternoon

Thanks to DChanell for replacing the log in this one.

Yeah

Gum boots and aerogard highly recommended here, but well worth it. Swamp Prince doing a great job watching over his kingdom. Tftc

This entry was edited by MrsFlag on Saturday, 27 September 2014 at 05:29:45 UTC.

This entry was edited by MrsFlag on Saturday, 27 September 2014 at 20:35:41 UTC.

Its ok for Mrs Flag to claim the find, but she sent me in with the gumboots first, lol, to check out the marshy depths! The swamp prince was proudly surveying his patch of the world, like Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now, so his prize was sneakily extracted and peacefully replaced. If I had favourite points I'd allocate one. Tftc.

Nice find.

Nice find

Had to walk through the muddy swamp, and the cache was full of ants but great fun

Pretty easy find but fun walking through the swamp !!! Great Cache

great fun finding the cache!

Lol. Thanks for the cache.

Log book full.

From swamp fruit we continued along and found a nice little path to follow. When we got near gz I headed to where was most likely and popped my head around and there he was waiting. A very cute little fella. It was a little smelly around here though, happy to visit the prince but happy to move on. Onto the next. Tftc.

Such a handsome fellow!

Very cute

Out caching with Bennyboppers, Lisylou and Misssusan. Easy find by Lisylou. Loved the cache!

Finally after two DNFs the swamp has given up a prize. Vampash saw a bit more if the swamp than I did and has damp feet to prove it. Although heavier I seemed to pick the princely path to gz. Cute container.
Thanks Herbz for the cache.

#8448

Found him! Not without getting my shoes very wet though. Nice to find one of Herbz though after being unsuccessful with others. TFTC

My favourite! No kisses from me though. Thanks Herbz.

On our approach to the GZ I could see exactly where this cache was hidden, but the question was 'how do I get over there without getting swallowed up by the swamp'? Whilst nanganator watched on (he didn't have the right footwear for this one) I skipped and jumped across the marshy grounds whilst trying to stay on high ground. Things got inevitably messy, and on a few occasions I paid the price for stepping a little too hard, but I got there in the end and was pleasantly surprised at what I found. What a great idea for a cache! I transported the log back to nanganator for signing and we were soon on our way again. A favorite point for me, thanks for the adventure! TFTC

A short walk through some freezing cold water and cache located quickly yay TFTC

Went for this one last on my way back,walking along the path the arrow was pointing in to the swamp.
Herbs,you must be crazy,and anyone doing it must be crazy,so anyhow I signed the log when I got there.Glad it was in the tube within the prince away from the ants,but all was well,this gets my favorite point for the day to confirm I'm crazy.TFTC.

Oh my! Doing these caches in the swamp in the heat of the day nearly drove me to despair.

The mozzies were as big as horses and the hides were well-concealed. It was quite a workout

Two boys on bikes gave me a wave and I checked they were gone before diving into the bowels of the swamp. Much to my relief, this turned out to be an easy peasy cache

Cache is in good nick Actually it's in much better condition than I was by the end of this jaunt

TFTC Herbz! Neat trail, although I turned out to be the buffet... Nom nom nom.

Out on a half day caching with my 4yo daughter Natasha in the Gold Coast area today. Only 16 finds and a few DNF's today. Still a good clean up day.... Thanks to all cache owners for hiding and maintaining their caches.

Great spot here. Walked in from the kids playground area, and the ground was dry enough for a quick walk to GZ. Cache found quick. TFTC.

Working the late shift at work does have its advantages.
Like...going caching before work.
A lovely walk out to this one.
And then the fun began...a little bit of island hopping but I eventually met the prince.
Thanks for the cache.

With talk of another cyclone heading towards Queensland and chances of more rain I thought I'd better go and find the prince while the swamp water was low. Parked up and headed into swamp territory with a newly bought pair of gumboots. On the way in it looked like the swamp had dryed up a bit since the last time I was here, maybe I wont need the gumboots. Great walking tracks through here, a few kangaroos to help waken up the sences in the early morning. At GZ and I was glade I brang the boots. I found the prince sitting high and dry looking over his swamp but unfortunately I think he had his fill of ants. Those little buggers had built a nest inside him. After a few minutes of digging them and there nest out I signed the log sheet and headed back to the geotruck. Thanks for another cool cache Herbz.

This was going to be the last stop for me this morning. I only had two hours to burn and I don't think I'll make it to the tenth one on my list. I headed back the way I came and then kept following the fence line. I found GZ ok but there's no way I'm swimming through that for a cache. Mite have to come back when its dryer.
Well what an awesome morning. I found 8 of the 10 that were on my list. Even though I'll have to come back, thanks so much for a great group of caches Herbz. Very enjoyable.
Back in my car heading home and in front of me I see a red 4wd with two kayaks on the roof and a geocaching sticker on the back window. I pulled along side them at the lights and I'm pretty sure it was Mr&Mrs Herbz. How funny.

What a novel container, I loved it when I saw it. It brought a smile to face, definitely a favourite of mine. As it was now almost dark I made my way back to the car, looking forward to returning in the future to look for more of the caches around here. Thanks to Herbz for the cache.

We would never have thought it, but swamp princes are much easier to find than swamp fruit. TFTC Herbz

I had to hide for a while when a dog walking muggle strolled past. I crouched down to be more hidden and came face to face with the prince. Managed to resist the fairy tale ending though Another great container.

Some months ago this one was a 'Did Not Attempt' for me as the area was very much a swamp and I wasn't in the mood for wet feet and wading. Today though, a different story. I'd checked out the monster and followed the only trail, hoping it would lead here, but not sure. But yes, it did and soon I found myself on a familiar stretch of track and walking right towards the icon on my GPS. It was raining so I wasn't sure what GZ would be like. I got as close as I could, then walked around the bulldozed trees and into the swamp. As dry as dry can be, no issues at all, I don't think the soles of my shoes even got damp. I headed for the obvious feature and began to poke about. No luck. I walked around the thing and sure enough, how obvious can a cache be and still not have me notice it for a few minutes! I said hello to the prince and signed the logbook. Replaced all as found and had a look at the construction here, very well done indeed. TFTC Herbz, I'm happy to have this one done now

The Prince was back in his rightful position when we arrived here. Both had a laugh.
Thanks Herbz

Found with stairman1. We headed down the path and into the bush. After a quick search I spotted the container. I decided against kissing this prince and let stairman1 sign the log. Headed out in search of a monster. Thanks Herbz. Another favourite coming your way.

We checked out this cache today - Swamp Prince had left GZ to visit another part of the swamp some 20m away. Maybe he was lonely where he was. We replaced him and he is happy for now. Please visit him so he doesn't get lonely again.

Found the log book but it seems the prince had gone a-courting as he wasn't on his throne. TFTC.

TFTCSL Eeeew! Creepy walk over swampy ground!!! Enjoying this series with Berken!!

Only bison tube here ? Had camo??

Will all your other quirky containers I was looking for a FROG. Good thing about she-oak needles they stop you from sinking in the swamp. (Do you have a thing for smelly watering places!!). Love the caches and the work that you have put into them.

Had the afternoon spare and just couldn't wait to get out and do my favorite game.

My targets for today were all "Herbz" caches and all quite close together.

It was a beautful day to be outside, a little overcast to keep the temperature down and I just love the bush particularly when I have a track to follow.

I had just found "Swamp Fruit" and decided to to attack this one from that direction.

It was quite an easy walk for most of the way and I was very happy I had waterproof shoes on nearing GZ.

GZ was very obvious and really was well named with the island surrounded by shallow water.

The Prince was happy to see me and turned on his extra green colours for me.

Thanks Herbz TFTC SL

Found it No. 6751 ... thanks to the help of AL we were able to get this one ... but its outer container seems to be gone ... TNLN ... TFTC P & J

We started searching for caches in this series yesterday and loved the experience so much that we vowed to come back today to continue hunting caches in this excellent series. Thanks Herbz for options for accessing this cache - really helpful. We found our way to the area near GZ and then started to wonder how me might get to GZ. We concluded that there was no other alternative and we set off, getting wet feet in the process. We got to GZ and made a quick find of a loveable cache (but not that loveable for a kiss to be offered with those possible consequences). This was another great Herbz in a very different area. Well, that was four of the caches in the series found today. With the light starting to fail, we will defer our return visit to the two remaining caches until tomorrow morning. Thank you Herbz for a great cache series - A1 experience.

This was the last cache on our list for the day as we turned to head for the walk to BC. Due to the water being up to the elevated trails all the rest of the way round our planned track & GPSr pointing straight into the middle of the 'lake' this was always going to be a soggy effort. Walking up & down the trail to triangulate the GZ in I went. The prince was well in his element, plenty of friends IN the hide. Getting out of the water to sign the log was a stupid idea but had to be done wouldn't want to drop the log. Epigal bolted as was getting mauled by mozzies followed by the rest of the crew & I was left to remove all af my biting crawling hitchhikers as I waded back to the trail. Thanks for a great day out herbz...

Just one warning to anyone coming into this area. BRING MOZZIE REPELLANT!!!!

Swamp indeed. Whint and Baddal and I headed to this one from the Bush King, lucky enough to see another train whizz past on our way. It had been raining a lot here for the last little while and the area was certainly wet. We could see where the cache should be, a few dozen metres away, but there was a lot of water between us and it. As we stood there looking at it, we all decided dry shoes for the rest of the day was a good idea, so left this one for another day. Back to the car past the last two caches.

Time to invest in some gumboots I'm thinking.
KateRX and I stood on the edge for a while deciding if we would attempt this cache today. We had come this far why not just go for it. So with our thongs on were made our way to the middle little island and found the cache. As I lifted it up a million ants came spilling out! We managed to sign the log and tip most of the ants out, the log was in great condition considering the invasion.
TFTC

I read the description prior to departing for an afternoon of caching, however, I don't own a pair of gumboots, so I wore thongs instead. Hmmmm... not such a great idea. Noo82 and I reluctantly trudged through the murky and smelly swampland to find the cache. Noo82 picked up the cache and disturbed a large nest of ants - the ants had made their home inside the cache, we emptied as many as we could then signed the log with ants running up our arms!

The prince was out viewing his princedom when I turned up. He then had to suffer the indignity of an anal search - poor fellow. TFTC Herbz

Another good cache. I can see why waterproofing may be required. Got mine a bit damp even with some carefully placed steps. Mozzies were starting to really come out, so I signed the log and tip toes back to the path.

Well -he got kissed but naught happened -Oh well better luck next time -so we signed his log and moved on.

TFTC

Swamp prince is right! Wear gummies! Lol - nearly stepped on a snake!Ahhhhhh! Mrs geo braved the path for this one!