A Day at the Bay:Bonus cache Port Stephens, New South Wales, Australia
By Banj5150 on 17-Oct-20. Waypoint GC91FTZ

Find#3053After a weekend of drinking and catching up with my old high school friends, I came here to claim this cache before going home. I have completed this adventure lab with my family in January 2022 but left the bonus cache for a later date. Today was the day. Made a quick find with great coordinates and hint. Cache and log in good condition A favourite from me TFTC Banj5150

Two swiss guys on our Australian trip . After travelled from Darwin to Perth over the GRR, now on the Eastcoast .Starting from Cairns, Port Douglas, Airlie Beach, Platybus Camp and Bush Camp Broken River, Graignesh, Maryborough, South Nanango, Noosa, Brisbane, Grafton, Sout West Rocks and now somewhere at Anna Bay on the road to Sydney .We slept at Boat Harbour with a beautiful sunset, but with a rainy sunrise .Recreation Area, luckily the gate was open .The coords are pretty bad, but the hint is clear .TFTC# 18'144

A lovely extra cache and another lovely bush walk. TFT extra C.

With Sillybugger. A bit of a search but worth it. Just beat the rain. A lot of development going on behind the path TFTC. Good hide as per the hint

Enjoyed doing the AL a couple of months ago. Back in the area to claim the bonus. Got lucky with the way I approached the cache and made the find. TFTAL and TFTC

This bay is amazing

Having picked up the required info, it was time to have a shot at this one before heading back to the airport for the trip home. I'm not sure if I approached GZ from the correct direction but the way I went was a tad concerning. The closer I got though, the better things looked and once there, it wasn't long before I was signing the log at 14:35.TNLNSL, although our BYO pen geocoin had a visit to mark the occasion. Thanks for the journey and the cache Banj5150.

Lucky last of the day and a quick find. I had seen this area driving past yesterday and hoped I wouldn't have to bush bash and was very pleased to see a path.Thanks for this AL. There's a lot of driving to be done around the bay area to get from place to place, and I think I've paced myself really well to get through as many caches as I have in two days. Who knows what the weather will do tomorrow... it's predicted to rain but when?Generic summary of the day:Today I cached from before sunrise till just after sunset, at which time I grabbed a pizza from Soliders Point and went back to my camp. Weirdos encountered: not necessarily a weirdo but saw a dude emerge from the barbers with the freshest mullet. He shook his head around like he was feeling good. I still cant believe people get mullet haircuts unironically.Worst public toilet of the day was at the rest area heading north to tea gardens, best was the loos at Fingal Bay surf club.Snack situation: a Bahn Mi at Lemon tree passage (or around that area) for lunch. Started the day with a Banana and about mid-morning discovered a donut from the day before so that was a bonus.Munzees Collected: zeroWeather: cool but sunny, with an afternoon of pleasantly warm and sunny.GPS conditions: greatOverall this was a very fruitful day and I am happy to find all of the caches I did. Thanks to the cache owners for placing the caches and maintaining them.TFTC!

Hello Banj5150 thank you for the cacheThis one took a couple of days to getting around to finding.A nice quick find one I worked out where to park.The misquotes were out in force today.I found this cache during our Newcastle 2024 trip to see the grandchildren.Found on Monday, 22 April 2024 at 1512**TFTC**

Like others, we approached this from what we thought would be the easy route, but it's been gated off! Easy enough from the other side. TFTC!

TFTC...follow wrong road but finally got there in the end..Thanks fr the AL awesome art of the world.

Found followed the wrong road, but once we worked out the other way in soon found the pathway in. Tftc

Found at 3:17 PM GAFF1.Now that was a huge circuit to complete for us tourists, but very interesting and worthwhile. The final location was absolutely amazing with some trees being possibly a thousand years old and absolutely immense! A great little insight as to what the whole area would have looked like before European settlement.Thanks to Banj5150

First drove into the wrong street. But on the second attempt I saw a walking path and it was quickly found.

Found during a great day out caching in the area.

Completed the fun AL and set off in pursuit of the bonus cache. Nicely hidden, thx TFTC BanJ!

This cache was found today and brings our overall cache find tally to 12715.

Found this one today after a lousy day at work. Good to keep the streak going! It’s been a long time since I finished the AL, nice to close it out.

Thanks Banj5150 for the cache.

13:53
The last day of our stay in Shoal Bay, probably the best weatherwise, we spent the afternoon seeking out the little green icons showing on our geo-map, to create a smiley front on our Port St Stephens area map. We thoroughly the adventure and it was a real bonus to add our name to the log here.
Thanks to Banj5150 for creating the adventure and adding this cache to the gameboard.
35010

Another lovely view from the parking spot. Cache is in good condition in the expected place. Thanks for the adventure.

Had a great day out and about at the various adventures lab locations.
Thanks

A drive around all the bays this morning learning something at each stop. This afternoon a drive out to collect this one in a lovely little track.

Thanks Banj5150 for A Day at the Bay:Bonus cache

#5859

Gevonden. Na een mooi avontuur
Bedank voor het uitzetten van deze cache

After finishing up the adventure cache we picked up this mystery cache.

TFTC.

Dr. Gold

After picking our way through the scrub to GZ. We found the cache at the described location from the hint.

A pleasant walk to GZ. I’ve enjoyed the tour of this beautiful area. Thanks for the adventure lab and bonus cache

Great way to finish a really enjoyable day out TFTC

This was a handy tour guide with this being our first visit to Port Stephens. tftc

Happy Easter! We arrived for the long weekend from Sydney on Good Friday and used this great Adventure Lab to do an area reccy. Excellent! Today we came to GZ to find the bonus cache. Without giving the location away, it was a nice bit of bush and just up the track from GZ we saw a big black skink about 60cm long. SL TFTC Cheers… Gaztek

Found in light rain with the help of the very useful hint.

We thoroughly enjoyed the AL. Thanks Banj5150, please accept a favourite point.

It took a while to find the way into GZ but once there the find was made quickly.

Thanks Banj5150 for the great Adventure Lab. A favourite from me too.

Road Trip to Nelson Bay
Found with GrimRaider on a trip to Sydney and Nelson Bay to attend a family event. I met up with techsavvy9 and we had fun making the find together. Cache is in good condition. Thanks for hiding this cache Banj5150

TFTC after a great day at the Bay I found my final cache for the AL. I was standing amongst the ferns trying to find the cache and by the way I wasn’t very “ frond” of being there when Kitty Katch came along and we found the cache together. Had a good chat on the way back to our cars. I was going to do more caching but decided to come back. Lucky I decided to leave as I hit traffic and heavy rain. A good day in all.

TFTC.We are visiting friends in Salt Ash for a few days. A lovely day so we spent some time exploring the area using Adventure Labs and caches as a guide. It had started to rain as we completed the Lab. When we got close to GZ the weather seemed to have eased a little. Wandered up the track and quickly found the hide. A great trip around the Bays.

Had a Day at the Bay with Steam-Koala and completed the lab cache. A perfect spring day for a drive.

#1425
Out today with nellc we did a day at the Bay adventure lab. After the nice drive around Nelson Bay area this was an easy walk to finish off the day.
Thanks Banj5150 for this adventure

Out for some socially distance exercise so grabbed this cache. TFTC Banj5150. Took TB,

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

Came back to collect after completing the adventure lab a while back TFTC

#2728 Found after completing the fascinating AL. Thankfully we read the previous logs and located the trial to GZ. The coordinates were pretty accurate and quick had the cache in hand. TFTC

Found after completing the fascinating AL. Thankfully we read the previous logs and located the trial to GZ. The coordinates were pretty accurate and quick had the cache in hand. TFTC

Became blood donors at this cache so we worked as fast as we could to grab this one. I headed though the ferns in the wrong direction cursing the CO for the placement, but of course I had it wrong. Stepped out, recalibrated, and found that the GZ was much easier than I made it out to be. A great AL for us tourist types. Thanks Banj5150.

Finally got to this after completing the AL, great morning walk. TFTC.

Wandered around a bit too long, attacked by mozzies! GPS cords were a little off, and you don’t need to venture too far from the track!

We realised that we had approached from the wrong direction but found our way eventually. Thanks for the tour and the cache.

Found it. Not sure but pretty positive the nearby retirement retreat is closed and vacant

Found today while on a nice drive, had an awesome 'day at the bay'!!!.

TFTC FP for the amazing AL

#4383
We needed the date for our date-found grid, so decided on a 'day at the bay'. We used the so-named adventure lab to set our course, and grabbed what else we could along the way. It managed to get pretty warm and very humid, so we've left some of the more adventurous caches for a future outing. We managed 15 finds all up, including a handful of GA virts.
This was fun - noting the position of the '?', we started at Anna Bay, then tracked across to Nelson and Shoal, then to Fingal and Salamander last, maybe this lab could be called 'A Day at the Bays'
Sunday brunch time was not the best time to drive through and park in Nelson Bay, for sure, but we managed in the end, enjoying what are some of the best vistas in the Hunter for a great morning. We sat and 'solved' the final at Salamander, the kids were very keen to spot a wetland koala, but none were out today, then we took the wrong approach for the final, maybe giving us an extra 500m walk. We did spot a large 'land mullet' near the cache, and were amazed at that bad boys speed when he took off! The cache was found with good coordinates, and we added 3 TBs before heading off..... TFTC, and TFTAL! Adding an FP for your efforts....

Great AL I enjoyed driving around doing it TFTAL!!!!!

Last night we completed the AL and saw many beautiful views.

Today it was off to a strange GZ that I found with the hint after my GPS settled.

Our bonus was the little beach nearby that we are lovely pure at and had a paddle.

TFTC.

Found with Shaneo58. Caching around the Port Stephens area. The hint helped in making the find.
Log signed and cache replaced as found.

**Thanks For The Cache** Banj5150.

This is the 2nd cache of 2 for today making a grand total of 3032 at 10:44:00 AM on Wed 10Feb2021

Found after an interesting beaches around the area. TFTC Banj5150

Lab caches are a great idea and having a bonus cache is even better!
Came and collected this one today while out exploring
TFTC

The bay is always a great place for a walk and outing. Thanks for the lab and cache.

We had a day at the Bay today. My brother and his wife are doing a road trip in NSW at the moment but couldn't come and visit us on the Central Coast because they're from Queensland and if they did, they'd have to go into quarantine when they go back over the border. So, we met up with them for a long lunch at the Shoal Bay Country Club today.

That also gave me the opportunity to do this AL. We detoured into Anna Bay to knock over that waypoint on the way up and then did the others, starting at Fingal Bay and working our way around the coast from there, after we parted ways with my brother late in the afternoon. As it turned out, that was the right way to tackle the AL as we then only had a short drive to this bonus cache, which I had no problem finding thanks to good coords and a helpful hint.

We're regular visitors to the area and have been to all the AL waypoints before, but we enjoyed visiting them again today, as we do whenever we are there. The bonus cache, however, took me to somewhere new and I enjoyed the short walk it took me on through the rainforest ... so thanks for that Banj, and also for taking us back to some of our favourite places at the Bays.

Great POI, found not where we expected, but still a relatively easy cache. TFTC

Caching around the bay today. Dodging the showers, but otherwise good conditions. Lots of great little discoveries and good fun. Thanks to all the owners for placing the caches. Great to combine with the rest of the day!
TFTC Wilbert67

Thanks for the tour of the bay. I leave for home today and this is my final cache for the trip. This is a great reserve. TFTC

On a trip with teamMerlin and TARDIS 0061 into regional NSW a lot of kms were covered in a few days. Last day of our road trip on our way back home today we found 6 caches along the way. The lab caches were done last night and this morning we did this final first thing this morning

With cache in hand we signed the log and replaced as found. Both the cache and log are in good condition. Thanks for bringing me to the area and thanks for placing the cache Banj5150

The following TBs visited for the distance - Hawkesbury Tiger, 2011- 2019 NSW geocoins, Area 51 Tag, Cache In Trash Out Geocoin, Cache In Trash Out Tag, CITO Micro Geocoin, dirty Black Juke, Four Elements Geocoin, Mary Hyde's compass, Optical Illusion Geocoin, Spindoc Bob Memorial Geocoin, Trackable Building Brick, Wales Flag, Wheel of Caching Geocoin

Out with the boys (team merlin and phlphotos) on a road trip doing LCA adventure labs and bonus caches Thanks all the cache owners for their placement and apologies for the tardiness of the the logs Cheers

The following trackables came through for mileage and log padding
TB7P7N4 Compass Rose Geocoin 2015 - LE,TB7P915 10th Year Anniversary Compass Rose LE,TB82Q5X 2016 Lackey Geocoin ,TB7MVWE Travel Bug Origins Tag,TB65R7Z First To Find Micro Geo-Award ,TB7AZ5H Geo-Achievement 24 Hours 150 Caches Geocoin, TB8F3Q6 Geo-Achievement Finds 1,000 Geocoin ,TB91M45 Geo-Achievement Finds 2,000 Geocoin
TB91M78 Geo-Achievement Finds 3,000 Geocoin ,TB8WE12 Geo-Achievement Finds 4,000 Geocoin ,TB90RFR Hidden Creatures Geocoin,TB84JVY Nametag Geocoin, TB7MVWE Travel Bug Origins Tag, The Paradiddle Puddle FTF travel bug, Interupting Cow

On a caching run exploring regional NSW and collecting some previously unfound LGAs along the way with phlphotos and TARDIS 0061. Another quieter day today as we made our way towards home with a total of 6 caches collected plus the accompanying 5 lab caches to this bonus cache. After completing the lab caches after dinner last night we tackling this bonus cache this morning before it heated up. Enjoyed a pleasant walk up to the cache and made a quick easy retrieve at GZ. Signed the log and replaced as found. All caches and logs found are in good condition. Thanks for the cache Banj5150.

The following TBs came through for the mileage : Bob geoMinion, Dave geoMinion, Evil geoMinion, Jerry geoMinion, Larry geoMinion, Mary Hyde's Treasure, Stuart geoMinion, teamMerlin's 7 Deadly Ducks Tag (Lust), Vanlith The Youngling, Hidden Creatures Geocoin TB, teamMerlin's Football, Searching for Paradise, Moneypenny Deadly Duck

We spent a morning touring the different bays collecting the information as we went.
When we only had one number left to collect I did a rough guess to where the final may be, as luck would have it, the final was only about 1km from where we were camped.
That was a real bonus.
This is a great area so thankyou for showcasing the area.
FP given

Not knowing the area around GZ all that well, I drove up a few streets before finding the right access. Not long after I held the cache and logged, although this was done really quickly as a cloud of mozzies arrived. A quick dash back to the car and we were off home, thanks for a great lab adventure and top bonus cache, loved the location.

A fun afternoon exploring the area again and having a swim. Took what was likely to be the hard way to this as it seems there’s a perfectly good path! Ha ha

The mozzies were very friendly tonight too. TNLN TFTC

FTF. Our first. The car GPS gave us a bit of a challenge to get here but we obviously eventually found it.Didn’t know this place existed. Many thanks for bringing us here and for the adventure lab. A truly great experience.

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