Drum Beat #14.1 Alderley, Queensland, Australia
By Willis007 on 13-Oct-23. Waypoint GCAF9HC

Out with IolantheK to finally collect this one This cache puzzle had been maddening both of us We had tried lots of solutions but none of them quite worked let alone giving a green light from the checker So in desperation I reached out to the CO.Well we got a "Well done" for working out the first step , but you need to do this for the next step Then this for the next step, then finally you can use that other detail from the cache page to do the last step One must get into the mind of the CO puzzler This was a great puzzle, might even deserve that last 1/2 point making it a D5 T2At the final both IolantheK and I took a while to spot the container but the retrieval wasn't too difficult as lower branch provided a convenient snooker cue rest to steady the approach All done and dusted, Ill give this a fav point for the adventure TFTC Willis007

T-Tech and I have had several looks at this cache with no result, but recently he got some help on it then spent hours nutting through it all. The look on his face when he finally got the numbers was hilarious! Today I had some spare time so headed out to grab a few caches and this was my first stop. I located the container within a minute but the fetching was difficult. The loop is pretty small And returning it was even more of a fiddle. Glad to make it a smiley. TFTC, Willis007.

This was the last of the Drum beats for me (with help) to solve. But it's not the last for me to find in this series. I took about 25 minutes to spot the "fish". Then it took about 5 minutes to land it. Then it took another 30 minutes to get it back on its perch. I am getting used to the Tree Fishing, slowly. TFTC and the series Willis001.

This puzzle was definitely one of the trickiest of the series. I spent many hours staring at it, trying many different approaches. In the end, I need both to partner up on it, and get a couple of tips from the CO to solve it. There were some new techniques in there I wouldn't have figured out by myself.The cache itself turned out to be the of the trickiest of series to catch and release. Using my TOTT, I required several attempts to access it and then return it to it's perch. Overall, it was a very satisfying cache to log.

After a great morning paddling on Hays Inlet and some group caching in north Brisbane, we are now heading towards home, grabbing a few target caches. This puzzle was tricky, we tried all sorts of things and at first we were way off. It was very exciting when we finally cracked it and got the green light. Peppa and I both called found its at pretty much the same time, Peppa fished it and in doing so managed to bring the branch down with the cache! We signed the log and replaced on a nearby branch at similar height. Tftc Willis007Find #5864

After the Paddle Palooza up on Hays Inlet a small group went a-caching that group has now whittled down to just Davinells and I With a couple of targets on the Southside of the river, we collected a few random caches on the way and afterwardsThis puzzle is a doozy many a discussion was had, many a deep dark rabbit hole was visited, and many an incorrect answer was submitted Maps were consulted, and the lets walk around looking in trees method was considered but I now have way to many other things to do Davinells and I spotted the cache almost simultaneously, however, in retrieving the container I managed to bring what seemed like half the tree down with it, but was more likely a small twigWe found a similarly placed branch and ensured it wasnt about to come down before returning the containerThanks Willis007

That was quite an effort to solve and required some help. Thanks for the cache Willis007

Regarding this puzzle, what is to say about this puzzle?! Overall and as I mentioned to the CO, this was one very tough puzzle, and perhaps easily worth a 5.0 difficulty rating, irrespective of the additional retrieval requirement with TOTT.When it was first published, I solved the first step and then like many others, I used the same technique that the CO had utilised on other puzzles. However, this was where I had reached a dead-end, and made various in-roads to other methods and techniques that I thought may be referenced from the hint. Admittedly, I had only given this puzzle a couple of hours in front of the television, and it sounded like others had given this puzzle much more time than I had, and made as much (or as little) progress as I had. It was then that the CO had removed the unintentional red herrings, which had included the method I had suspected, and I was too stubborn to believe that that path had been wrong, but I didn't know what other avenues to travel along. The puzzle was even discussed at a catchup night via a group discussion, and interestingly, there was an element of that discussion that did prove to be correct, but perhaps that was by chance than anything (throw 1000 typewriters at a 1000 monkeys, and one of them will churn out a novel!). I had travel plans for November, so I didn't give a lot of effort towards this puzzle, and so I was pleased to see [chamad](https://coord.info/PRPP06G) jet ski the cache for a find, as it then meant I could deprioritise this puzzle. Admittedly, I had the same idea as [chamad](https://coord.info/PRPP06G) as I didn't think there were a lot of options for a tree fishing cache within the vicinity, and I think scoping the vacant areas was a reasonable plan.I continued to look at the puzzle on-off, and reviewed other puzzles in the series hoping that I would get inspiration for a method that I had forgotten of the CO's. When [Teamtinda](https://coord.info/PR5E2BH) managed to be FTS, I once again tried a few things, but these drum beats continued to remain wild and lost. I did receive a tip on the first step to undertake, and I exclaimed that it was a stage that I had not considered. Further progression and ideas, and more rabbit burrows explored, but despite reading the puzzle's couple of sentences more than 50 times, I didn't feel any closer to having a set of coordinates drop out. Yesterday, I sent a message to the CO showing my progress and calculations attempt, and it was noted that I had two further steps to undertake. Perhaps this puzzle was another example of is difficulty rating representing the number of steps per 0.5 rating haha. Still completely lost, I put it away, but a few hours later the brain gave me the inspiration that I needed, with the checker giving me the tick. Phew! Sorry for the log length, but I do believe that a solid puzzle deserves a log proportional to the amount of time that I've utilised.Following my afternoon trip to Windsor, I thought I'd grab this cache as my final hurrah to 2023. Thankfully, the cache retrieval was the easier part of the cache find, and with TOTT in hand, I made the short walk to GZ, and after a few minutes of searching upwards, I spotted the cache. The cache retrieval was uneventful, and the cache container and logbook were in good shape. Thanks [Willis007](https://coord.info/PR70EP3) for the cache placement and ongoing maintenance.----------Today, wrestling between Sunshine Coast and Crestmead plans, and it was the closer and half-day Brisbane south plan to Crestmead that turned into reality. The morning commenced with the [Crestmead CITO](https://coord.info/GCAHCQ9) clean-up event, and then after coffee, I joined a small group visiting a few target geocaches within the vicinity. After farewelling the group, I proceeded to visit Berrinba Wetland, where I completed the two aptly named Adventure Labs [Berrinba Wetlands Part 1](https://labs.geocaching.com/goto/9611d1ab-35e7-4aaf-b271-dbd67111d8b3) and [Berrinba Wetland Part 2](https://labs.geocaching.com/goto/b7665ffb-ef73-4051-9afc-b42d8b02a81a). The remainder of my morning was spent driving around the industrial area of Crestmead and Heritage Park performing a couple of small walks, before returning home for a late lunch.In the afternoon, I did need to pop out for a couple of errands, and a fortuitous newly published geocache had me jump out of the door to visit Windsor sooner than I had anticipated. A final smile to finish the year out.

After about two months of on and off-again solving, I finally cracked it this morning. I had been close for a while but lacking the last step, which is a bit of a doozy and needs some sleuthing.The good news was knowing Id solved it. The bad news was knowing Id gone on a JetSki expedition yesterday and had literally stood right underneath the cache without seeing it. Doh! However, in a strange twist of fate, if Id seen it yesterday, I would probably have gone home after signing; instead of which, I kept on jetskiing, which led to my stumbling across another mystery cache I havent been able to solve. So now Ive found both of them - got to be happy with that!I returned to the GZ and saw I may have missed it through just standing in a spot where branches obscure it. Its pretty small, with a small loop.Getting it down was OK, but getting it back was challenging. I ended up losing another white hook and rubber bands somewhere in the area, so improvised with a shoelace and the other hook in my pocket.It was nice to wrap this one up before Christmas and conclude the series once again. TFTC!

*FTF*A drive down to Eleanora sees me about to come home empty handed again. Turning a sad moment into a better time, I decided to grab a cache to take my mind of everything. This was great therapy and what turned out to be a very profitable day. I first went and grabbed a cache up in the hills and watched the plains go over head. From there I headed off and grabbed an earth cache. Nearby was a multi that I had been to once before and had no luck. Just three caches but a lot of fun. On the way home and a stop off at the geocaching clothing store, oh the people you meet there. Happy with my purchases I headed home. Oh wait, there is a little spot I wanted to check out. In the last three weeks I have been searching different parks and trees looking high and low for a particular rare drum beat. There is not a huge amount of free space available and with a terrain 2 rating. I had no idea as to what steps were involved in the puzzle and while the CO did give a little hint, it did not and still hasnt given any light bulb moments for me. I resorted back to my trusty jet ski and away I went, I was super hopeful today as I did not have much more to look at. Yesterday I was here and found a frog mouth owl in the trees, stood on a curlew, was checked out by a frizzy lizard, found a nest with some baby owls in it and finally attacked by some meat-eating ants. I'm sure people watching me were wondering why I was performing a rain dance when it was about to rain. Anyways the rain and prevailing storm sent me off home with the task incomplete. Today I returned to finish my search of the area, found the curlew, the owls and stayed away from the meat-eating ants. Happy it was not here I headed over to my next option. Oh wow this looks like other places and again promising. I went to the most likely tree first and there it was. I could not believe it, my first solo jet skied cache. Unbelievable, I was so happy. I texted the CO and told her I found it and how. I think she was happy for me yet had a comment of you havent solved it though and laughed. I dont care, my name is in the log with a nice *FTF* beside it. Lol. This cache has been very enjoyable in so many areas and gets a favourite point from me for the fun I had.

As this hasn't been solved yet, I have made some changes on the cache page. I fear there were too many red herrings.

Published