Word Association Darnley Island, Queensland, Australia
By Leek on 02-Jan-03. Waypoint GCB890

This cache has now been removed from its location outside Ipswich hospital...

For those of you who are interested, it was hidden just above head height in a tree and was a small glass herb/spice jar covered in brown gaffa tape... Its last location would probably have qualified as a 1.5:1.5 cache...
Its hiding place was definitely not dangerous and should not have involved more than average searching...

Due to the overwhelmingly negative reactions and accusatory postings this cache has attracted I have decided to remove it from circulation in Brisbane. I will reintroduce the concept in Sydney soon...

I would like to express my thanks to the several Brisbane cachers who expressed their support in e-mails for the concept behind this cache and for my humble attempt to introduce new gaming forms to Brisbane...

I will be back in Brisbane sometime in the future and may try to brighten your lives again... Watch Out!!!

[last edit: 2/2/2003 3:04:18 AM PST]

Hey, Leek what is the 'word' associated with this cache?

Luckily, I was going to attempt this cache next week.. keep us posted if you get it moved...

Pitty about the open conflict... is this a preamble to a war between Qld and NSW cachers?

Thanks for the challenge... is 3 stars enough...

Hey Tony, do you think that security is onto us... or do you think that there could be another attempt made at it?

Any clues as where not to look?

Cheers,
KETTLE

The security that was on at the time we visited sure knows about it. Despite what others think, there is no way you could approach the cache without security seeing it. They may or may not take action. They didn't kick us out they just said they were concerned for ours and other peoples safety. To cool the situation down we told them we were leaving shortly.

Hope your GPS works better then mine in the area. The buildings throw the signal off alot. We ended up taking numerous average points and plotting the given coords between the ones we got. The point we estimated the cache to be was in the middle of the road. The closet thing to this is the garden in the median strip in the middle of the road. Hard to search a garden without destroying it and trampeling all through it. The other point it could be is the physical structure of the hospital itself. Lots of nooks and crannies here. We had a good look but couldn't find anything. Perhaps our GPS was throwing us way of course but we had 3 pairs of eyes looking in that area for quite a while and turned up nothing.

As I said in my previous post, my advise would be to keep away from this cache until someone that knows the location can retrieve it and re-plant it in a more responsible position.

I have been assured by the Rats that the cache is not in a dangerous position and is relatively easy to spot...

Attempted cache today and was very disappointed. The last cachers have hidden the cache in a very irresponsible (read immensely moronic) place. The cache has been hidden right outside the main enterance of Ipswich hospital, under at least four surveillance cameras. Not only that, it's in the middle of a main road used by emergency vehicles. During our search, we were questioned numberous times by security, at one point the head of security interviewed us with four other security guards surrounding us. They also made mention that this was a dangerous and stupid place to play a game like this. I am still shocked at the stupidity of hiding a cache in a location such as this. Worst of all, we had no idea of what we were looking for. There are an infinite number of tiny nooks that a cache could be hidden. I think we were expected to trample through the garden in the road island while security watched.

I would highly recommend that for the sake of geocaching's reputation and personal saftey that people keep well away from this cache. Sorry Leek.

Tony,

I find it very strange that you requested that this cache be archived without discussing it with me first... There is certainly no reason for the cache to be archived... At worst, I can arrange for it to be picked up and moved to an easier location.

I obviously haven't been there, so can make no assessment as to how dangerous a place it is...
From your description, the location does sound a little tricky, but a lot simpler than many urban cache locations I have encountered (e.g. Kirribilli House, busy shopping centres)...

Urban geocaching demands the use of stealth, especially when there are people about. I have visited some urban caches 4 or 5 times before getting a clear run at a cache.
I consider not knowing what you are looking for to be part of the fun. I'm sorry if this cache and cache placement was a little harder than you are used to, but that's the level of game we are used to in NSW.

I will personally consult with the Rats on where they placed it and will advise here on further action I plan to take.

I am sorry your upset about my posting but I wanted to be sure that nobody else had to go through what we did. I am sure your crack New South Wales geocachers can manage to do a stelth caching run under 24 hour video surveilance but I was unable to. There are reason that places like employ security staff is because they take security seriously. This is not a place to play games. I am also disapointed to learn you have been placing caches at locations such as Kirribilli House (the private residence of the prime ministor, not open to the public) - another example of a location where security is not a game. I hope someone does manage to move the cache to a better location, until that time, you should mark the cache as unavailable. I notice that the New South Wales cachers have managed to get caching banned in national parks in that state. I for one would like the reputation of Geocaching in Queensland to be alot more respected than that. Keeping a low profile and keeping well out of the way of security guards and the federal police would be a good start.

Tony,

Re: Archival - In that case, you should have sent me an e-mail asking me to make it unavailable while it was investigated - rather than trigger the geocaching.com archival process...

I'm afraid that I don't agree with your observations about security surveillance...
This is quite common in urban cache locations and not looking suspicious is the key to a successful cache retrieval...
If you weren't happy with the location, perhaps you shouldn't have persevered with your search at such a busy time, especially after 'being questioned numerous times by security guards'!!!

Also, as it was a travelling cache, it should have been easier as you didn't need to replace it...

I don't think there are grounds for disabling the cache, but in response to your comments I have increased the difficulty to 3...

Actually, the cache WP outside Kirribilli House is well known to the security guards there and they get a good laugh out of putting the wind up geocachers... No problem at all...

Your statements about National Parks are slightly misleading... NPWS ( A National Body ) came up with that policy without any provocation from NSW geocachers... We are currently in discussion with them to urge them to adopt a more realistic policy regarding geocaching...

I'm really very sorry that you didn't enjoy this cache... but that is no reason to request its Archival or to be so disparaging about other geocachers...

I hope that other geocachers will take on the challenge and will successfully keep the cache moving...

[last edit: 1/30/2003 5:50:11 AM PST]

Drove to this one Wednesday and around in circles to get a fix. Decided to give it a mis when it was in the middle of population.

I concur with your comments Tony.

This one is off my list of do's, particularly after getting frigged around at the last location........

Might do crossing over agin for the hell of it!!!!

Just so that there is no confusion, The Rats picked up this cache first and re-hid it within a day... The coordinates have been updated to reflect the place they put it...
It is still awaiting its lucky 2nd finder...

There was a note left with this one, however the area was teeming with people including a number of people who seen me pick up the cache. So don't be surprised if the note was picked up by the curious after we had left.... For your info the cache was tucked up on one of the beams in one of the corners.

Have a go at the new location - you will be surprised.... The Rats

can everyone make sure they leave the note if they take the cache. thanks.

Three times I went to this cache, and it is 30 km from my neck of the woods..... (mumble grumble)

So, Leek..... Where was it seeing as there was not a note left to indicate..

Sorry DD... You should try doing GetSmart in Sydney - I have been to every waypoint at least 3 times and its probably cost me a couple of tanks of petrol so far... Nearly finished it though... I hope...

The Word Association cache was initially hidden about 2.5m high in the roof of the shelter/lookout furthest from the road. It was in the left hand corner over the water where the diagonal met the horizontal...
It was almost exactly the same colour as the wood, but was fully visible... Who knows what it looks like now!!!

DD, I hope you get some enjoyment out of this cache somewhere in its future...

Why not go for the Lane Cove or Bust cache??? I believe that's still in place, but can't believe that it's taking so long to get started on its travels...

Daylight now here, 2 sets of eyes, no luck finding it... checked over and under the structure, out near the corner, checked other structures..... found out that duck poop is hard to wash off....

I am giving this one away as a bad joke.....

Sorry you couldn't find it guys... It was not a joke I promise you... I will despatch my Brisbane operative to check on the cache's wellbeing and in the meantime will make the cache unavailable... Cachers are welcome to look for it, but be aware that it may have been stolen...

looked for the cache today with no luck. has someone else found it and not logged it maybe???

Aha... that would explain why everyone found it so difficult to find this cache...
My apologies to the Brisbane cachers for this false start...
I will pay the Rats back for their late logging at the NSW BBQ in two weeks time...
It's on the move now and up to you to maintain... Keep it moving fast...

[I know a couple of you have looked for this and failed... The cache wasn't designed to stay in place for this long, so in order to get this cache on its way... Here's another clue for the initial location...]Cornered under cover, above head height...

To hard for me as night was falling... I presume that it is dark in colour, and therefore difficult to see without the aid of a torch.

Will return tomorrow

Sorry for the delay in logging this cache but thats what happens when you're on holidays. We drove over 1000km's for a virgin cache and hey presto!!! The Rats got it. The GPS was all over the place, but eventually knabbed it..... The cache has been rehidden, the star rating can remain the same and the key word is QUACK.

Thanks Leek - The Rats

Thought we might have gotten lucky and been first to this one but were unable to locate it. Coordinates given seemed to indicate a pretty inaccessable location, unless you have gills. Checked all obvious, and less obvious, hiding spots within 20 metres of coords for more than half an hour but still no luck.

[Clue: ]The cache is very near, but not in water... Just get as close as you can to the coordinates without getting your feet wet... The cache blends into the background...

[last edit: 12/29/2002 11:00:54 PM PST]

The first word was DUCK