Rural Safari 2023 Crows Nest, Queensland, Australia
By Xixau & Shenzi on 02-Dec-23. Waypoint GCAEB7D

I would like to thank everyone who came out to the Rural Safari at the weekend. The weather did force some of the more adventurous roads to be removed from the event with one having to be detoured at the last minute due to the overnight storm and the lack of road surface, but the day itself proved spectacular. It was really great to see everyone out and hopefully enjoying the day.Results have been published [on my website](https://eb5f7dcb-1f1d-47a3-9215-169d9b607e31.usrfiles.com/ugd/eb5f7d_bd14c70021ef416f89cbd6884adecc61.pdf) so please review them there.Thanks again, and please publish any photos you can here and/or the [facebook ](https://www.facebook.com/groups/forestchallenge)page.Until next time.Xixau.

Archiving, because I always get in trouble for forgetting )Feel free to keep logging.

A few changes for us this year while attending yet another outstanding edition of this event. This year we decided to stay in the caravan park rather than camp in the back yard of our relations who live in town. And then it took us a little while to get used to the new style of play for answering the questions. And lastly, it was Max being taken out for the drive this year, while Victor Del Prado stayed behind on its lonesome. Our team of Seffnjarah and JezNDez, aka Winifred Sloosh, missed a few questions but still managed a respectable position on the podium. Pity the number of participants seemed to be down this time around. Hopefully the crowds will be back for the next edition. Can't wait. TFTC

Team Canyonero rides!. Day trip today from Brissy, so a real early start, and a late late finish. Made for some tired travelers - but oh so much enjoyment (as always - did not, never does, disappoint). Today's posse was Fangsoki, myself, La Kedi and Captain Terror. After arriving, we departed and trundled off on a mere 200km journey over the next 8 hours. Yeah, 25kph sounds about right. Even so we still managed to not spot 11 questions. But we did have four sets of eyes on a swivel, forward, sideways, backward, near and far. We had "I think the answer is ..." and a little bit of google in action to prove that were more often accurate - but not always. Learned a few new things. From each others as well as Google.Chatting, laughing and argu<<< *{Overall find #11875}*

TMZ59 and I made it a long weekend to attend this event. Having been on a few in the past, we were looking forward to this one. Only the 2 of us as our usual crowd had other things to do (eg work, trip to Sydney) but still surprised how well we did.Many times we flew by a question only to screech to a halt and reverse back to grab the question/clues. Certainly got our brain cells working overtime as well as testing our internet searching skills. Handy having a retired nurse for the body questions as well as being well-travelled around Australia and having a stash of cash to refer to. Still missed about 18 questions and the 2nd bonus question but we are happy with our 6th place. Thanks for another interesting Rural Safari and taking us out into the country where everything was very green and the cows plentiful.

It is not a difficult decision to attend a Xixau & Shenzi event. Literally, unless I am interstate, it's a yes. And still, I am yet to be disappointed. This would be no different. At past events, I have camped or stayed in a cabin. Maybe driven up alone. But this year, it would be just a day trip with Fangsoki, Pprime and La Kedi. An early start from Brisbane, sure. But good company and coffee on the road helps that along.Arriving and hearing the briefing, it's the proven method - a ~200km course and the need to have everyone's head on a swivel. But a bit of a different twist thrown in this year too. Sounds like a good day out. Naturally, as we started, there was chatter about checking the back of signs, underside of letterboxes and interrogating cows, as clearly we don't have high expectations for Jerry's sneakiness. But eventually we calmed down and with four sets of eyes constantly staring, we moved through the waypoints and questions.For a little bit I was given the wheel, and yes I may have gotten the car muddy. But at least I didn't pull any phat skids (unlike someone else). Nearly the whole time, Prime runs the mental maths of how many questions we should have found and how far along we should be. And you'd think that would take away from the fun of it all, but it is enjoyable nearly always having a podium finish to defend.We stopped in Peranga for a BBQ lunch, and for a handful of geocaches along the way. There was also much disbelief at my obscure, niche knowledge around the bonus question, but ultimately, I was proven correct! By the end, we finished in comfortable time, but missing a few questions (srsly, where were they!?). No matter, a scoot into town for a snack and a few geocaches while the CO crunched the numbers. We talked a lot about the massive effort and expense that goes into these events. It continues to set the bar for events in SEQ.By the awards announcement, it had been a big day. I was personally thankful for the showers in the campground to refresh some life back into myself. And then chatted among mates until the results were announced. Pretty please to have come second. Slightly niggled at ourselves that we missed winning by just one question. Alas, the joy of these events. Absolute ripper day out, not complaints at all - I'll be back if/when next time. Thank you for this spectacular event, Xixau & Shenzi

Unfortunately we aren't able to make it. Mr Herbz is recovering from a knee op. We hope you all have a wonderful day, we're really sad that we won't be joining in with all the fun this year. Stay safe.

Sad to say I'm not well enough to attend. Have a great day and enjoy the green scenery.

Ill be there =^.^=

Our 8th Safari. We haven't missed one since we started caching and we always have great fun. Thanks for the event Xixau & Shenzi

We were looking forward to this event, and yes, it was another wonderful experience. We teamed up as Muddy Mux with Russell who was the driver, and we discussed those many questions with him.The landscape was really enjoyable, the views, the colours, the animals, and we even spotted a Koala.Thanks for all your efforts, Xixau and Shenzi, working out the track, the waypoints , the questions: very highly appreciated by us!Thanks for organising this rural safari!

I have always enjoyed these Rural Safari's. They are a great weekend away, with lots of laughs whilst touring the countryside and camping. My family had deserted me for the weekend, meaning that camping was off the menu as our two puppy dogs needed attention (and food!). So, at the last minute, I opted for a day trip to Crow's Nest to join SwellerFungus and Lady Sim in the Red Dog team. Lady Sim and Rosie opted for the rear seat and I was riding shotgun in the front with Swellerfungus. We had an enjoyable day touring around the Downs collecting clues. The recent rains have greened everything up nicely and vistas from some of the ridges was fantastic.Often, we would be passing the clue, a flash of white would catch the corner of your eye and a frantic "Stop" call would go out. Fungus would throw out the anchors and then reverse back. My primary job was to photo all the clues, and when we couldn't get close enough to them for a photo, to jump out and take a photo. We learnt quickly to recognise where earlier cars had pulled onto the verge. And then, occasionally, we pulled onto the verge ourselves where there was no clue, laughing at how the following cars behind us would be searching aimlessly! The questions provided some lively debate, with disputes settled by Dr Google during the periods of phone reception (yeah thanks Optus) when there was uncertainty. Not a lot of time for caching today, but I did manage to collect one or two along the way. We had an extended stop at the railway tunnel where an echidna was spied as we walked to the eastern end of the tunnel. At the bonus disk waypoint, my usual caching blindness set in as we searched endless further up the bank. Other cars soon turned up and thankfully Ruzzelz spotted the bonus disk container. We did discover the Council's camera setup for recording illegal rubbish dumpers and also a sleeping fat koala in a gum tree.Thanks for the efforts to put this together, Xixau and Shenzi. Whilst I enjoyed looking for the photo clues in previous events, I did like this years trivia style format. Perhaps a hybrid of both would combine the best of both worlds? All round, the day out was an A+. Pete#7,504

Thanks for a nice day

Well what a lovely adventure we had as Team FamBam which included myself, MrGravel and CashewsAU. We had Cashews as the driver, me as the navigator and MrGravel as the get out of the car option ??Having no clue about how the safari works or how to deal with the files we opted to take a little while inputting the 79 waypoints manually LOLOnce we were on our way it was a delight along with some navigating frustrations when my geo app just kept self closing ??But MrGravel would save the day and have us on the right path quickly. We enjoyed the questions and like other before us we quite enjoyed pulling into some random spots just to have those behind us thinking there was some random clue!! ??Due to our delayed start and our newness to this kind of thing we didnt get to cover all areas but were pretty happy with getting the bonus token and answering nearly 3/4 of the questions. I now know we got a couple of those questions wrong. Not sure who won but we know it wasnt us ha ha ha. Congrats to whatever team won!Congrats and thank you to Xixau and Shenzi for putting on such a great event - I appreciate just how much time, effort and money would have gone into it. This was CashewsAU first ever event, cache or safari and she very much enjoyed it so was good to introduce someone new to the world of geocaching. As many cachers know by now, I have terminal cancer so very unlikely to be around for the next safari so this was on my bucket list of things I would like to do and it really was so much fun and I appreciate it. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the results/award night as I had run my race for the day. I hope we scored not too horribly LOLThanks for a great event and I hope many more cachers get to experience this kind of event in the future.????

What a fun day was had with HippyDonna & CashewsAU up front & with them being sisters well you know, I should have packed ear plugs. ?? This safari was a first for the 3 of us & we had lots of kicks & giggles. Greatly appreciated the work of setting this up. TFTC

Had the absolutely best time at the thoroughly expertly organized event. Many many many thanks to Jerry for all the work in researching all the questions, printing them all out, and then planning all the routes. Then the placing of all the questions, organizing all the waypoints which worked perfectly, and reviewing the roads after the storm. Then of course the questions all had to be collected after we all finished. It was such a delight too to see this beautiful countryside in lush emerald green. The scenery was showing its very best self. We could not have had such a great day without Xixau & Shenzis expert skills. We hope we are still around for the next one. Cheers and happy eventing!

Xixau & Shenzi **NEVER** disappoint with their Safaris.. formerly known as Challenges And this was no exception. The occupants of our car - Catpain Terror (sic), Pprime, La Kedi, and I - mooted how much it would cost to do this - printing, petrol, prizes, petrol, time, petrol. I am very grateful for all you have done, Xixau & Shenzi As with other years, we were worried about the amount of clues we were finding. Pprime doing maths to see if we're on target to having the right about,... me reminding him that he could have all the questions in the last kilometre for all we know....We enjoyed our pleasant drive around the countryside. Foolishly, I let Captain Terror have a drive of the Canyonero. Within about 2.6 minutes, it was covered in mud. That's okay. I'm sure he will clean the car for me... hmmmm We were fairly pleased with our efforts - we had obviously missed questions but guessed others would have two. We can in a very close.. and respectable 2nd place this year. It was good to catch up with some dear friends at the Event.Many thanks again Xixau & Shenzi - we appreciate our prizes and the effort you have put in. TFTE

What an amazing introduction to geocaching! HippyDonna & Mr Gravel have been doing this a while and were the best teammates for this safari!It was fabulous to get off the black and into the dirt LOL. The scenery was amazing & I thank the organisers for all the wonderful work they did ??I look forward to participating in future safaris too, wherever they may be.

Done.

As the sun sets on another Rural Safari, I find myself exhausted but as happy as I always am at the end of these events. Spending the day with Fangsoki, PPrime and Captain Terror in the Canyonero, cruising around the back roads looking for clues, spotting goannas, a wombat, an echidna and a koala among other things, seeing it greener than weve ever seen it before, chatting and laughing and googling answers, cementing friendships- thats what the Safari is all about for me. We didnt collect too many caches, being a bit pressed for time, but still managed to have a quick BBQ lunch in Peranga, courtesy of the Captain. Despite missing 11 clues, and almost missing the bonus token as our GPSrs all agreed it was closer to the council camera (!), we still managed a respectable second place, thanks to all the trivial knowledge in our car Many thanks again for a stellar day, and TFTC, Xixau & Shenzi. =^.^=

We werent sure we if would manage to get to the Safari this year but everything fell in place and we joined the other keen drivers and spotters on the rural roads of Crows Nest. The format this year suited us well, especially as we only had a team of two this time. We had a great time keeping our eyes peeled and screeching to a halt every time a flash of white was spotted, even those ones that had fallen off the trees and were laying in the long grass. Unsurprisingly, we missed a few along the way but we did manage to pick up a few caches and visit the tunnel as a bonus. We almost missed the token but a departing team took pity on us and directed us to the container. We were fortunate to spot a koala there as well. It was great to catch up with some of our fellow participants as we awaited the awards presentation. A hearty congratulations to the winners and everyone else for doing their best and a big thank you to Xixau & Shenzi for all the effort put in to the creation and hosting of this wonderful event.

Looking forward to it.

Yup. TC rides again

Course has been set after 500 kms of redirecting. Not because of weather but because of so many sets of road works blocking a lot of the tracks. All tracks in great condition, there is only one section that may need diverting from, will know in the morning. The rest of the tracks should hold up well even if we get some rain overnight. Waypoints are on the webpage ready for download. [HERE](https://xixaushenzi.wixsite.com/safari/general-clean)

If anyone has a list of the actual written waypoint coords that I can manually add could you please message me. Im unable to use anything other than the geocaching app on my iphone or cachley. Thanks if you can help.

Documentation page has been created on my [website](https://xixaushenzi.wixsite.com/safari). The waypoints will be available from [here ](https://xixaushenzi.wixsite.com/safari/general-clean)when published, which will be 12 hours prior to start. i.e. 7pm Friday 1st.The event course will be set factoring in any weather considerations. I do not anticipate the forecast to be too bad anyway, some of the smaller roads may be removed from the event largely to protect the roads from damage as they are essential to local users. The final course will be set on Friday based on my findings at the time.

Sorry, I have to pull out at the last minute. The gods just didn't align.........I hope everyone has a great time, and stays dry!!!!

Will be there

Its a tentative yes from me and MrGravel along with a muggle friend depending on whether said muggle friend will be available with the car Living in Crows Nest I have not yet managed to attend one of these safaris so would like to tick it off the bucket list. Cannot promise to complete the whole day (health) but will sure try!

Only one ruzzelz attending.

Were a definite maybe at this stage.

Have had so much fun on the last ones, so couldn't miss another one. Not sure who I will driving/as a spotter.. Must avenge our last Safari's 2nd place!

Unfortunately I now how to bow out. I will now be in recovery during this time but I wish you a successful event. The Crows Nest area is one of my favs around the place.

Would love to attend but have a work function on that day VERY much looking forward to the next one - these events are great

Yep

It's in my calendar now, so there's no stopping me! Always an excellent weekend

We plan to join you all. It's always a great weekend.

I am planning to be there. Don't want to miss the fun!Thanks for organising, Xixau and Shenzi

I'm hoping to be there, if all the gods align......

Will be there

Will be there as some part of a Sloosh / Bromance / Tip group. Unfortunately, our usual camp ground in Crows Nest has become unavailable, and so we'll have to rough it in the proper campground with everyone else! Looking forward to it, as always!

Wild horses etc etc.. Look forward to it

At this stage were there.Looking forward to it.

Bob and I will be there and maybe towing a few others with us as well.Can't wait.Thanks Xixau & Shenzi for organizing this event.

Its in the calendar. Thank you Xixau & Shenzi for placing this cache for me to enjoy!

I will be there with CaptainVimes

I'll be there in some way, hopefully as a team ??

Start your engines!