We ❤ the Gong Thirroul, New South Wales, Australia
By The Rats on 21-Jan-18. Waypoint GC7HE3H

Last time we visited it was outside opening hours. Better timing today. A bit of fun and great views.TFTLBH Brad and Janet are on another epic trip. This time across South Australia to Broken Hill. Then through central and Northern NSW and up into Qld where we will be picking up a new hybrid house-on-wheels. Then we will head south down through more of NSW via Sydney to catch up with B2. Then further south until we get into Victoria from where we will head back into South Australia. Along the way we will grab caches of opportunity.

Perfect day with perfect views today. Cache was received without drama and we sat by the view as we completed our drawing.TFTC!

Day 20 of my interstate trip. Today I left Sydney continuing on my slow trip towards Canberra I got as far as Nowra where I stayed for the night. I managed to find 13 caches today and no DNF's.A cool idea for a cache and I left a little art behind but nothing overly great as I don't have an artistic bone in my body.TFTC The Rats

Found after years of driving past this without stopping! Finally got it today.Tftc!

Full time Nomads, travelling around Australia since 2014. Staying at Coledale camping reserve, today we headed out to check out some of the many nearby lookouts! This of course saw us up and down many windy steep roads, some more than once. [:o)]Having looked at thiis cache last night we knew what was required. Mr F wandered up the car park to find another cache whilst Mrs F waltzed in and asked for the cache, then ordered coffee and cake! Once the artist (Mr F ) arrived it was down to business!We have actually had a few of these caches ourselves, but eventually they have been muggled and let go. This one doesnt look like that is going to happen here Fave point added. We will upload a pic of our log. Picked up the trackable.TFTC The Rats

Came to enjoy the views and have a bit of lunch. My learner driver displayed their artistic prowess.

After finding a nearby cache, I headed to the information centre. There, I asked the lady at the counter for the cache, as instructed. She was happy to pass it to me. I took it to the cafe and had a cup of coffee and a piece of cake whilst I did my drawing. Despite the drizzle, the views were still amazing. Thanks for bringing me here and TFTC

A nice day for a cache or two. Asked at the desk, sat outside and did my drawing. Give this a favourite point.

Some of the drawing show so much talent.
At least we tried
Special thanks to The Rats for hiding and maintaining this Geocache.
FP Given

My first ever Letterbox Cache!
In the area to find my 1000th cache today on my 100th day of my streak! This was find #1001! ️
What an amazing idea for a cache! I love the idea of having to ask staff members for a cache like they’re guarding the treasure you’re after, that’s awesome! And they were indeed so friendly!
I’m no artist but I definitely had fun with this one; thank you so much for this cache, it was awesome and lovely!

#7082- Well that was an adventure just getting here! Coming from Wollongong direction was a problem with traffic, but we eventually made it after lots of extra km's.
The cache was well worth it all, including got last cache type for the monthly souvenir.thomo31 and I both did our wonderful artistic duties and left some pathtags. Thanks for a fantastic cache! Pity you can't place ones like this anymore.
Happy international geocaching day!

Done with WaywardWoman.
After what seemed like hours trying to work out how to get in here from Wollongong, we did a few loops a few U-turns and finally arrived!
Staff saw WWs t-shirt and said they knew why we were here!
Did a very simple log. Heading back to the Blue Mountains now. Hmm, more twists, turns and loops to come...

TB Drop of the key

My drawing is terrible, I'm sorry I'm so crap. This is a cool spot and I'm always a big fan of caches in information centers. Found a lot of cool ones overseas like this. During COVID lockdowns and afterwards I had work to do in Wollongong so I would always have to drive past here and it was either shut because of the time of day or shut because of lockdowns. So it was nice to finally lay this one to rest. I placed the pirate travelbug key in here for the next person. I also came across a Dolphin TB that I had brought back from and event in Austria (Wien)! A lady I was speaking to at the event said to me "you have dolphins in Australia, yes?" and I said of course. So then this little guy came with me in my luggage all through Italy back to be put in the Building Bridges to Pittsburg cache last year. Glad to see the TB is still getting along well.

It was an overcast day and quite misty down the coast. Almost the perfect weather for Geocaching today - as it keeps the muggles away.

TFTC

TFTC Thank you for hiding this cache. You have shown us a new place and have helped make geocaching an enjoyable activity.

Spent a while here getting info about the area after which I obtained and signed the log. I remember last time I was here, the fog was so thick you couldn't see more than a few feet. Glad to see the views this time.
My picture reflects our previous visit. Mostly white!
Thanks

Heading down to Callala Bay, we happened to stop for a break. It was only then we realized that the letter box was here. Absolute great spot. Thanks Rats. Gets a FP from us.

Decided to start my day of caching at the top of the escarpment, and this was number 2 on the list. I was slightly intimidated to find I would be the first to draw in a new log book!

I had brought my own pens to draw with, but used the supplies in the cache to supplement after discovering one of my greens had dried up.

I haven't drawn anything in years but I gave it my best shot, and I'm pretty happy with the result.

Dropped off a travel bug looking to see beautiful views around Australia - this definitely qualifies!

Thanks for the cache, The Rats!

New logbook and drawing implements added to the cache

TFTC! 31 December 2022 9:54:46 am 4568
Opened late today so grabbed some ice cream and waited out! View was fantastic! Spoke to the lovely ladies at the desk about geocaching.

Very friendly people around when retrieving this cache. Shame with the fog there wasn't much of view.

Lovely lady at the front desk. But there wasn't much of a view due to the fog

#11706 9:15
A day out with Everest High to do a loop around Lake Illaware to find the SES caches from The Rats. When close to our route, we also picked up a few other caches.
It was a great day out; very hot but the cold seabreeze made the drive very pleasant.

The first one on the way in was a great letterbox cache. After admiring the view, albeit a bit hazy, I let my creative juices flowing. Love it how the employees are aware of the cache and keep it in great condition.

TFTC + Favo.

I am a terrible artist but that didn't stop me from drawing. My creation was hideous but at least I had fun. Thanks to The Rats for hiding this cache and highlighting the view. Favourite.

Meme28 and I C Nothing are heading off on another geocaching adventure leaving the West and heading into Sydney to explore unfound territory.
Our aim is to find some older caches we wouldn’t be able to find in WA and then anything else that takes our fancy. Today we found your cache and happy to report it was in good condition. Left Meme28 to the drawing with myself having no artistic skill and just the thought of drawing breaks me out in hives. Have FP it was definitely worth the stop.

On a geo tour of Sydney with ICNothing. Well I love the gong!!! I tried to draw and added a path tag. I am super happy!
Cheers for the cache!

Found with 999Hunter

Most times we just bypass Sydney via the M7 & M2 so haven't had the chance. However this time we thought we would try to grab a few new LGAs and travel home via the East Coast. Unfortunately the standard (nee - terrible) Sydney weather, stopped that happening. Yes I can bag Sydney weather, I lived here for 5 years.

We the Gong! Yes this is very apt. We were able to quickly see the view from inside to avoid the strong wind and then very quickly the next storm came thru and there was no view any more. The Information Centre does make some great moccas.

Thanks for the cache The Rats, definitely a favourite.
Hunter

Sydney to Alice Springs Road Trip.
Day Two: Sydney to Yass via Wollongong.

An unplanned and unexpected delight here. I had picked up the van in Sydney, but now have to pick up some bulky goods in Wollongong to make the trip to Adelaide with me. The weather deteriorated as I left Sydney, and then thick fog on the M1 south. I pulled over here for a break, checked to see if there was a cache nearby, and was rewarded with a letterbox and an ammo can. I’ll move the TB to SA.

Thanks Rats!!

Thankyou for this great cache. Took a TB and left one that I picked up at the Wangaratta Mega last weekend

Heading further south after Christmas to visit some family in Canberra, we took a detour here and stopped for a break and a wee drink. The stunning location and view meant it was hard to walk by without taking the time to relax and enjoy our surroundings.
We decided to have a drink and celebrate this beautiful location.
Checking in with the staff, we soon had the large container in hand and then Mr Domsky set to work with his pens.
Thanks The Rats for such a wonderful location. A great hide, given the amazing views and the opportunity to sit down and relax and even have a drink from the cafe.
Perfect.
Definitely a favourite here.
Domsky

Good day for an indoor cache and a picture . Nice sit and inspect this classic cache with the Krew . Dropped off a tb . Tftc

Wow what a amazing view of the Wollongong it was my first trip with my family as I have been pass here few times but finally today was lovely day and staff was friendly TFTC the rats

Decided to take the bikes down to Bulli for a bike ride along the foreshore. Was a beautiful day out. Stopped and grabbed a few GCs also. This one was fun. Gremlinkid #1 loved drawing a picture. TFTC!

Find 226 for the tribe and find 6 out of 9 different cache types in the Illawarra today

The Visitors Centre closes at 3pm on Sundays these days so after lunch with some friends we made the mad dash and arrived with just enough time to find the cache and do some artwork. The geokids drew their best impression of the view which we apologise for not including in our log.

A stunning spot which also has a "Lookout Wollongong" adventure lab cache which we claimed while visiting. The Illawarra really is a beautiful part of the world.

Picked up some "We Love the Gong" stickers from the shop and picked up the "Lego Love Boat" trackable from the cache to move on.

Thanks to the Rats for another wonderful cache.

Surprisingly, the visitors centre was closed today on a Sunday at 3pm ️ so a DNF today, but I did find a gelato and a nice view! Will be back

We were reluctant to try this cache as we were embarrassed about our drawing skills. Today, Dan was at GZ finishing an AL and had no more excuses. Dan approached the counter and quietly mentioned that he was a geocacher. The lady at the counter was extremely helpful and he was soon off to the LO with the sketchbook and pencils under his arm. He had the place to himself for a while and started to enjoy sketching the view. A young lady approached, noticing his artistic talent(?). She needed someone to take a photo for her. Dan tried some sort of French accent, mentioning that his name was Rem, Rem Brandt.
This was a great idea for a cache. TFTC The Rats

Touring around NSW with our van Hilda the HiAce. Stopped in Wollongong for few caches with higher favopoints. Got to stamp our travel journal and left some amazing artwork in return, haha! Tftc!

Found with Junni1

The nice ladies at the counter were great, too much fog to draw anything, thanks.

A really cool cache at a great location (again, I've never stopped here!). I'm a terrible artist but still really enjoyed the challenge and the view Dropped off a TB here also. Tftc!

fount with Rubymoon05 but forgot to log it

find 515
a trip to the Illawarra area brought my first ammocan find and a chance to use my new stamp I carved. TFTC

Such a great view. The geo kids loved this one and we stopped on our way down the coast for a play at the beach. TFTC

What a great cache! We had lots of fun making our art. TFTC!

This was a fun cache. Thanks! Roomar_S and Sam Snail had fun making our sunset themed art.

Been here on a rainy andfoggy day with no sight

#7018 (7 of 9 today - including 1 Lab Cache)

Well, it's Leap Day again, my second Geocaching. Four years ago I decided to find 50 caches in the day - walking a powertrail to get them.
But what to do this time?

With a CITO scheduled early in the day I thought I might be able to increase my current best of eight different cache types in a day. But that will require a lot of travel, and getting a WhereIGo is a real issue.
So realised I could get nine - CITO, UNKNOWN, EARTHCACHE, TRADITIONAL, VIRTUAL, MULTI, LETTERBOX, LAB CACHE and EVENT - but would need to travel almost to Wollongong and then up past Windsor. Well at least I already have GZ for quite a few puzzles and a multi.

Got my nine. HUZZAH!
Better start planning for 2024...
###END OF CUT AND PASTE SECTION###
Seventh for Leap Day - seventh different cache type.

The two problem cache types for me today are Letterboxes and WhereIGos. I finally came to the conclusion that I couldn't get a WIG but that this letterbox was in range.
So headed south from my last find.

First cacher here for two months I note. And I picked the right arrival time as everyone was either outside or in the restaurant - so had the visitor centre to myself. Got the cache from the lovely attendants and set to work.

Artist I am NOT!
Never have been, never will be. My sense of perspective is seriously out of whack.
But had a go, and if I say so myself my drawing is less than ordinary! [:p]

Signed my "work of art", returned the cache and headed for the gelato.
Nice idea.

But now I need to head to Windsor! And beyond. Two cache types to go.
And a lot of driving...

SLTNLN
TFTC

This log is trackable: **AR3KGF**, **ADVM8C**
Feel free to log them anytime.

On Friday I departed Brisbane on my way south to spend Christmas with some relatives in Vincentia, NSW. I had allowed myself a few days of relaxed travel, which gave me plenty of time to do some caching along the way. Today I had planned to rendezvous with the rest of my family at Sydney airport. After collecting them, we continued the drive south. Along the way we received notification that the road we were planning to travel along south of Nowra had been closed due to bushfire. This gave me some additional time for caching and this proved a convenient stop.

My daughter snatched the notebook first to complete a rather pathetic attempt at sketching the scenery. My efforts to rectify the situation were hardly worthy of the Archibald. TFTC

Nice spot a shame of the haze ruining the view. Milsty92 was the artist for the day TFTC

TFTC. I appreciate good art but am not the most artistic person. Still gave it a crack & drew my impression of the beautiful landscape & Wollongong area.

Been waiting nearly 2 years to log this but had to wait for geobuddies to be around the area. Miltsy92 was the artist for the day. TFTC

Thanks for this wild fun find on a hazy afternoon. Given the smoke, my drawing was all foreground!

Nice to see the cache and get the mail.TFTC

Nice place to enjoy an ice cream . Centre staff very informative and friendly. Sure it deserves a fav from me. TFTC

queenofscots & bobstaf have been geocaching & sightseeing for the past 2 1/2 weeks with over 30 other cachers from USA, canada & puerto rico....... we left auckland on 11/8 aboard the celebrity solstice......cruised around new zealand and over to tasmania, finally arriving in sydney, australia, ......

now it's time for the two of us to say goodbye to our friends as we continue to explore southeast australia .......so we pick up our rental car at the sydney airport as our adventure continues .....driving on the opposite side of the highway will add to the thrill......while we enjoy our final week at a time share as we can explore the beaches & 'bush' before returning to virginia

look right....KEEP LEFT....it's my job to make certain so that we don't craash...... & we now have 'sim' cards in our smart phones so that we can be 'smart' enough to find some geocaches along the way......sooooo off we go, hoping to see some kangaroo and more.......TCTF, queenie

drew a quick picture and headed for the gelato......yum!!!

Queenofscots and I are touring Australia enjoying the sights and finding a few caches. Like the high quality of containers here in Australia.
This cache was a lot of fun. Draw out picture and enjoyed the sights
Having a great time.

Tb picked up

Another great day on our one-year tripp around Australia. We love to travel in this country and we love to look for geocaches. This geocache has again shown us a place that we might not have visited without geocache.
Thank you for the geocache !
Greetings from Switzerland.

Our Aussie friends have toured us around the coast all day. A stop here at their favorite ice cream shop found us this LBH. What a view! TFTC

Superb you and we love the idea. Lots of fun. TFTC

Icy cold blustery gale force winds today. The visitors centre was a haven from the Wild conditions. Our OC is the most artistic of the team, but geokids made their mark too. Picturesque views, fab location & fun cache. TFTC The Rats xo

Love the view and cache TFTC

Brief chat with the lovely girl behind the desk.
Now back to Canberra....but Ill be back soonish;-)

Grabbed the TB

Quick find with Ris768 while looking for the Postcard for the Adventure Lab


Log 2024 Streak Day 932

Quick find with Deep_99 to keep the streak going. SL #4167 on streak day #2572 TFTC took TB

Tb drop

Tftc

Thanks to CO for placing & maintaining this cache. Happy to have added my scribble or stamp to the log. All good with log book and cache. Cheers. ??

? Cache: We ? the Gong ?
? Found on: 9 July 2019 by Runawayz Find #200 ?

OCW PDG, EH, BR & the Bebes. This is a cool little secret. Amazing views! I enjoyed making my physical log. Worth a FP. TFTC The Rats!

Called in for the lab cache, got the postcard, enjoyed the view and gelato, and completed "artistic" log!
TFTC

Initially the woman behind the desk couldn't find the cache, but finally she spotted it. It was safely there and in full view the whole time. I filled up the bush part of the scene with wattle stamps. Well it would look pretty with lots of bright yellow wattle out there . I liked this cache. Worth a favourite tick. TFTC The Rats.

Found while OCW *Throsbyonchurch* and *Little Kitten* while enjoying the *2019 OzGeomuster - The Gong*. Had a yummy Gelato afterwards. TFTH.

Found OCW *Throsbyonchurch* and *DustyJasperJet*.

Found with *DustyJasperJet* and *Throsbyonchurch*. Talk about a challenging getting in and out of this location if your not coming south. We wanted to go back to the Scout Camp and ended up going via Wilton ... ggrrr ... just could not turn around due to the traffic, double lines, and the cement thingys in the middle of the road. But that aside I really liked the letterbox here and the fantastic views which we enjoyed with gelato.

Oz Geomuster 2019 Wollongong at Cataract Scout Park. Day four was another day of caching around Wollongong wit Fitzy and MinnieK. We started by finishing the Wollongong LAB caches up near the Bulli lookouts and then went to the Pt Kembla CITO. After that it was a fun day of getting caches that a few of us as possible had not done before.

I sat and drew a view picture while the others collected postcards for the lab cache. A great visitors center.

Thanks.

26946.37 TNLN
Visited: World Traveling Gold GC A#6 & 2012 Ninja Star A#231

**Albida**

I was pretty annoyed when I stopped here last night to find the lab only to find I needed to enter the building to complete it. All was forgiven today when I found a couple of additional traditionals and this letterbox. TFTC The Rats # 14,116

Out today with Snickersallan and bluewattle on the Adventure tour and stopped here for the clue. Found the letterbox cache in the info centre, SL and took many photos of the view. Stunning!!!

Found on 8 July 2019. TFTC, The Rats.

We came into the centre for a Labcache and saw a geocache straight away..... woohoo a bonus Letterbox Cache! Thanks for the cache!

Found

Tftf aroha from nz gave for me

Love love this place

Out for a big day of caching on this fine Monday with Djant, Jedi_Anakin

Thanks The Rats for placing the cache this one is find #362 for me TFTC.

Found with Jedi _Anakin , and dart16,
Thanks for the cache The Rats
This is my 1050 find

Found with Djant and dart16

TFTC found with Snickersallan and Patrol14

Beautiful scenery and a great place for a letterbox, found with Bluewattle & patrol14.
A favorite point from me, well done CO.
TFTC The Rats
Found July 8, 2019

Here for an adventure lab we couldn't go past this one. With the letterbox hybrid located we were able to add our name and picture to the logbook. Thanks for placing this here.

We tried to get this one a couple of days earlier but after the roads sent us down hill in the morning we didn’t make it back until 5:04pm and the shop was shut!
Arrived with plenty of time this morning after having some fun on the escarpment.
Figured I’d draw that abseiling fun into my picture as well.

Nicely executed cache!
TFTC

Day 282 - It being the last day of the event today is the log for the event and it was a great day with the cito and collect a lab and some other items today but nothing like it should have been but hey thats caching.

This was a bonus whilst doing the Tour wollongong adventure lab stopped her to collect the information and then with others in the area informed us of the letterbox cache so the log was signed and returned.

Thanks The Rats for this place to stop and cache.

We visited the Gateway Centre as we completed another stage in the "Tour The Gong" Lab cache. While there we became aware of this cache. This is a great cache in a wonderful location. The find was straightforward and the cache and its contents were in good condition. Thanks The Rats for the cache. It earns a favourite from us.

found with geomonster10... catching up on my logging

Found with littlemissleft and Gazkersh
Found this while at the mega bit forgot to log it
Thanks for the cache

while oz geomuster 2019 Thanks for the cache
here I am now sitting at home in front my computer after almost9 weeks since i had a stroke and ended up in hospital. momry is somewhat impaired to due to serious brain damage
hence the rather short and vauge found it to many my logs sincie:' tricky'

Love this. Good to see something different. Awesome location as well. Fav from us TFTC ??????

Lovely spot and great little idea ?? had lots of fun completing this. Tftc and a fave point awarded.

Spending the day around Wollongong for the Oz Geomuster doing the lab caches and whereigo. TFTC ????

What friendly people the info centre staff are! Tried my best to replicate one of the photos in the info centre - I think I took a creative licence instead. The staff were very helpful telling me to be careful opening the cache and were telling me about experiences with other cachers before.

Got a bit confused... love the views tho

Found with littlemissleft and littlemisslonglegs
Great cache idea love the logbook
Thanks for the cache