QLD Geocachers Summer 4WD Bush Bash Tin Can Bay, Queensland, Australia
By The Four Bears on 19-Dec-04. Waypoint GCKRZH

Fame at last! Our exploits at the 4WD Bush Bash have gone international.

Check out http://www.geocachingtoday.com/

Eveyone who attended has now logged so this one is off to the archives.

Thanks again to everyone for helping to make this such a great event.

Somehow I totally missed all mention of this event. Will try very hard to get to the next one.

HOTANDSWEATY

We had a great time even though we didn't go on the tour. Hopefully next time we'll be a little better organized. Thanks Four Bears.

We delayed our Christmas Holidays in order to attend this event, but let me tell you that it was the right thing to do! We had a blast! As you can tell by the photos posted here and the DVD that is sure to follow all of us who attended were in our own little paradise. As OMY put it, geocaching, 4WDing and good people is about all i can ask for in a weekend, OK it would have been nice to have real campfire, but certainly Manta will take care of that next year. Thank you all for making this come together, and thank you Papa Bear for making reality out of a simple suggestion. Consider this my RSVP in advance for next year.

We have been asked by the editor of Geocaching Today magazine(www.geocachingtoday.com) if we would like to write an article about the Bush Bash.

Thanks Fourbears for the idea and organisation. We had a great time. Was good to catch up with everyone in a great location and atmosphere. Will get the DVD sorted out soon, and post a note here, if anyone wants a copy, give me a shout, will be done at cost.

Jerry.

Seems we are a bit slow in almost everything... Logging, joining the party, driving around

Mates, we are really sorry that we missed the campground evening and the first part of the 4WDing. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the ride with you very much! I guess we would never have had the courage to try those tracks... What a big big fun it was for Arved, Priska and myself [^]. I sure hope that there will be a chance for us to join in another QLD 4WD Bush Bash - then we'll be right there, you bet!

Thanks to Paul for his assistance beforehand, and thanks to all the nice people we met that afternoon - what a pity that it was over so quickly. Great pictures, BTW. If there is a DVD, make sure that we get one!!!

Hope to see ya all soon!

The HoPris

Briefly showed off "My Nuts" at this event. Will find a physical cache to jam "My Nuts" in to soon.

Well, Rogainer & family made it to this event & while we missed out on most of the 4WD adventures due to other commitments, we still had a good time. Great to catch up with a few fellow cachers. A couple of us stayed up to solve the worlds problems around our fictitous fire while sounds of snoring emerged from pappa bears tent.
Sunday morning saw a group effort to tackle nearby virtual Double Island Point.
Thanks Paul for organising this weekend and I look forward to the next one.

Paul Linda & Emma

I think I can safely say that the inaugural 4WD bush bash was a resounding success.

The weather was wonderful, the driving was great but the company was even better. Thanks to everyone who made the effort to attend - it was great to catch up with faces old & new.

I think this is going to turn in to an annual event. I have volunteered Team Manta to organise the next one in return for scaring me with the horn.

Thanks again guys for a great weekend.

If there's anything better than 4wding & caching, I'm yet to find it... Thanks to Four Bears & thank you everyone who showed up. It was a blast.

'OMY130' ... Geoff Leah & Tara ...

Great weekend! Starting early and heading up with Four Bears and Xixau&Shenzi had its advantages - we were able to grab a couple of caches on the way and see a little more of the territory surrounding the event location.

Excellent job organising this one, Bears. Special thanks to Mrs Bear for being our unofficial security detail, minding camp while were were off throwing our vehicles (and bodies) around. Thanks Robyn.

Happy to take on the organisational role for the 2005 event and although I've got plenty of ideas for locations would love to hear from others with theirs. I envisage a similar time of year, though end of November/early December will hopefully get us out of trouble with last minute Christmas commitments. The late date couldn't be helped this year but with more lead-in time we should be able to lock something in that guarantees a big roll-up and doesn't interfere with other arrangements.

Thanks everyone for a great weekend. What I think was particularly noteworthy was the international flavour - we had Aussies, Brits, Americans and our new German friends. Geocaching is truly a global phenomenon that unites people across so many borders. It's great to be part of such a game.

Simon, Stephanie, Ashleigh and Emily.
PS: Sorry about the horn Paul... my hand slipped.

[This entry was edited by Manta on Sunday, December 19, 2004 at 11:11:00 PM.]

[This entry was edited by Manta on Monday, December 20, 2004 at 12:01:25 AM.]

I have decided to call this off since there’s an exam timetable change for today [:(!][:(!] and I have other exams in the week I have to study for.

Hope you all have fun because I certainly wont be [:(!]

OK, this is my list of those attending:

Simon & Family [Team Manta] (2 adults, 2 children)
Jerry & Jenny [Xixau & Shenzi] (2 adults)
Craig & Other half (sorry can't remember name) [llourd] (2 adults)
Paul B & Family (2 adults, 2 children)
Holger, Prishka, Arved & friends [Team HoPri] (4 adults, 1 child)
OMY130 (unknown numbers)
Lt Sniper (maybe - 1 adult)

These are the people who have confirmed they are attending. Please notify me if I have the details wrong or if you know of anyone planning to attend who isn't on the list.

Note to Sniper - if you're still having trouble getting there let me know and I will come and pick you up from the Bymien Picnic Area.

For those travelling up on the Saturday we are meeting at Burpengary services (BP) northbound on the Bruce Highway at 08:30.

Let me know if you plan to join the convoy. We will be on UHF channel 27 or you can ring me on 0415 785582.

For those joining the convoy and who may not be familiar with the territory...
Co-ords for the "Big BP" at Burpengary are:
S 27deg 07.458
E 152deg 58.626

See you there.
Simon, Stephanie, Ashleigh & Emily.

Sorry for the late reply folks, but work has been mad this week. We (my wife,daughter & myself) should be there Saturday night. Won't be there till late as we have some other commitments saturday. What are the tide times? - they are probably written somewhere, but there are a heck of a lot of logs there to go through..
Should be able to take 1 (maybe 2) passengers leaving brisbane lunchtime or pick up at tewantin saturday arvo.

Actually I found the tides here :-
http://www.ntf.flinders.edu.au/TEXT/TIDES/qld.html
for Noose heads :-
Low tide Saturday is 06:53
High tide saturday is 13:30
Low tide Sunday is 08:06
High tide Sunday is 14:29

I have been looking at this for days hoping we can get there but are still busy cleaning up from our move and settling in and looking at new houses etc so unfortunately cannot attend. You are staying in gods own country which is really wonderful. A few of the boys from work are going fishing there this weekend. Will be thinking of you all so have a great xmas and new year see you at the next picnic.
cheers
John and Helen

Hi Bears, Sorry for nor replying sooner, We can't attend this one - but it sounds like lots of fun! Maybe next time.. Have a great time everyone and Merry Christmas ! Andrew and Maryan.

Will be attending, 1 adult and me! Will be in touch directly regarding timing.

Jerry.

Less than a week to go now and I'm sure we've all got our fingers crossed hoping the weather holds.

I need all who are attending to confirm ASAP please. Just write a note here and tell me if you are camping or just coming for the day.

A few of us campers plan to arrrive on the Saturday morning to have a quick last-minute recce of the route and a play on the tracks, along with a bit of caching maybe. If you are going to be there on the Saturday I need to know in advance so I can pay the camping fees.

I'm putting together an intinerary for the day and will post here later.

Directions added.

Those not camping and just coming for the day will need an early start as we plan to depart the Freshwater campground at 9:00 sharp.

If you are late don't worry. We will be up at Double Island Point at the northern tip of the beach having a swim or walking to the lighthouse before returning to Freshwater for an early lunch at 11:30.

Once lunch is over we'll be heading off down the Freshwater track, past the Bymien Picnic Area and on to the bitumen heading west. After a short while we turn off on to the Kings Bore Rd and some fun on the sand tracks through the rainforest.

We end the day back on the beach and either back to the campsite or home. We aim to get back to the beach by 17:00 at the very latest.

The route we have chosen does go past some caches but there will not be time to grab them all on the day as some of them require a long walk. If you want to grab these caches then you'd be better off coming up on the Saturday and doing them then.

Just noticed a new kind of log you can do with event caches.

You can log it as "Will Attend" or "Attended".

If you are coming, please log a "Will Attend" with details.

We'll be camping over Sat night. See you all soon.

... OMY130 - The Michels Clan ...

We're (2 adults & 2 kids, 7 & 5 y.o.) staying Saturday and Sunday night.

Team Manta will be in attendance and will be camping. Anti-rain dance being done in earnest and we hope we've got the steps right.

We will be there. There are 2 of us.
We will be coming up Saturday morning and staying until Sunday.
Really looking forward to it!!

Sorry to hear you can't make it guys. A QLD event cache without the Dohertys just doesn't feel right.

I'm sure there'll be plenty of pics for you to see and we'll all catch up at the next picnic.

Have a great Christmas!!

Unfortunately it turns out that we are not going to be able to attend this event. This will be the first Queensland event cache that we will have to miss since the very first one that Jfreak organised for Christmas 2002.
We hope you all have a fantastic time and that no-one requires towing or RACQ plus, and that you all enjoy that beautiful part of the state - one of our great favourites.
Cheers from the Dohertys

Jerry (Xixau & Shenzi) and I were up here doing a recce for the bash. We've got a good route worked out which, whilst loads of fun to drive, is not too challenging for those without much experience.

We checked out the group area at the Freshwater camp ground. It is quite large and very private and just a short walk from the amenities (we have our own tap).

I will be sending out details of the route complete with times and waypoints in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime check out the photos from the recce.

Hi there!

Greetings from good (c)old Germany . We are really looking forward to meeting some nice people who share our enthusiasm for Geocaching.

We started with Geocaching about 2 years ago, shortly after our son Arved was born. As we are outdoor enthusiasts anyway, hunting for "treasures" and discovering new "secret" locations was and is really fun for us . In the beginning, we were quite into difficult (and long) multi-caches (i.e. long hikes), as well as mystery caches with hard riddles to solve. But since Arved wants to walk himself most of the time , we are now more into traditionals, which offer more flexibility in case we want to cut things short and which are also fun. But - we still enjoy challenging and creative tasks for caches, and we do appreciate clever and interesting, non-standard hides of a cache (it doesn't need to be a long hike, though ) We are definitly looking forward to seek out some interesting caches in Queensland and New South Wales. But, even more so, we are looking forward to meet some cachers... [^]

We currently discuss how exactly we are going to attend, the issue being Arved, and whether we take him with us and stay overnight, or whether we must drive back to Hervey Bay on the evening of the event.

We bring a number of travel bugs, and for the event TB Jeep 4x4 #5002 will be most appropriate! (It's not one of these original Jeep TBs, but it's a good fake... )

Best regards and see you soon!
Priska and Holger




[This entry was edited by HoPri on Monday, December 06, 2004 at 2:42:16 AM.]

I've received an email from Holger & Priska (Team HoPri) all the way from Germany. They will be visiting the area at the time of the event and would like to join in the fun and meet some fellow cachers.

They are still unsure whether they are going to hire a vehicle but if they choose not to I'm sure they'll have no trouble getting seats in one of our vehicles.

I'm sure you'll all join me in making our international visitors feel welcome.

[This entry was edited by The Four Bears on Monday, November 08, 2004 at 5:45:50 PM.]

Hi Damian

You are most welcome to tag along, the more the merrier.

As you are travelling quite a distance I assume you'll be camping on the Saturday? If so, you are in luck as there is one spare vehicle place in the group camping area we've booked.

I will be drawing up a little information pack for all attendees close to the date and I'll email you a copy, but for now most of the details are on this page or in the logs.

Although we haven't been real active in the GeoCaching department lately, We were thinking about tagging along..

I can't say that we will definately be there, But at this time it looks good. We have a spare seat if someone wants it. We live in Murgon and can pick someone up along the way...

Let us know.

What time does this all start?

[This entry was edited by damian007 on Friday, October 29, 2004 at 3:22:00 PM.]

Thanks for the info Dohertys. Looks like lunch will be at Freshwater then.

Do you have a 4WD guys? If so I'll keep the spare vehicle place open for you until your plans are known, otherwise you are welcome to the spare seats in our car.

SilentHunter has had to pull out due to work commitments so there is now a spare vehicle place at the camping area.

I just read through all the posts for this event and noticed that there was some thinking about the Bymien picnic area for lunch. Please be aware that the picnic area has been scaled back. There is only a couple of picnic tables now and the BBQ's have been taken out. The composting toilets are still there though. (I just updated the Poona Lake cache comments).

We are hoping to be able to come along for the day, but won't know for sure until closer to the time.
Cheers from the Dohertys.

OK. We have discussed preparing lunch and I'm willing to prepare a simple
community BBQ with a little help, for those interested.

For simplicity I was thinking self assembled burgers (so you can put on whatever
you prefer as indicated in your email order).

"Bush Bashed Burger" (The Lot)
Contents may include all, some or none of the following.
BBQed
Steak or meat patties.
Onion.
Eggs.
Bacon.
Pineapple .

With fresh
Lettuce.
Tomato.
Beetroot.
Carrot.
Avocado.
Cheese.

Please place your orders and note any special dietary requirements before
12/12/04 with me via email indicating what you would like with each burger so I
can purchase accurate quantities. If you want all the ingredients on your
burger just ask for a "Bush Bashed Burger". Include your team name in the
email.

Cost per burger will be, total cost of ingredients divided by number of burgers
ordered, payable on the day, before lunch, to a designated person. I estimate
to be less than $5 per burger but take no liability if it's more.

I would love to attend this 4x4 rally if anyone can find a spot for me in their car.

Paul B, I will be able to help you out with the chicken for the BBQ.

Lt. Sniper

I think it's a great idea, it all comes down to the timing really.

I'm planning to meet the non-campers at the southern end of Teewah Beach no later than 9am. It'll only about an hour to get to Freshwater from there (stopping off for the cache along the way of course) so that's a bit early for lunch.

From there the plan is to drive up to Double Island Point where those who want to can walk up to the lighthouse and others can have a dip in the sea. Now normally I would go from here to the Leisha track and on to Rainbow Beach (depending on the state of Mudlo Rocks) but I thought it would be better if we go back and drive the Freshwater track as it is a much more interesting route (also we don't need to worry about the state of the rocks).

I was thinking of stopping off at the Bymien picnic area near the end of the Freshwater track for lunch (and nabbing the cache at Poona Lake too of course), but that might be a bit late for lunch. So it might be better to stop at Freshwater for lunch before driving down the track.

The thing is, would you want to stay at the campsite cooking a BBQ while we are having fun up at the point?

Also, I love a good BBQ but some people might prefer to bring their own food (and some might have specific requirements - veggie etc).

I think the best thing to do is ask those attending what they'd prefer to do.

As for the other point, I've only arranged camping for the group for the night of the 18th.

You could ring the ranger and ask if it would be OK for you to stay the Sunday night too, but I imagine if someone else books it for the next night you'd have to vacate the area.

The booking reference and phone number are in the logs below.

The NPWS people said the giant camping area we've booked won't be busy on 19/12/04 & they said we (any of us) don't even need to notify them if we're staying on, as they reserved it for us anyway when you booked yesterday. I'll get back to you as to weather I'll sacrifice having fun up at the point to cook lunch. At least my family can go if I can't. Some of you should start thinking of food and if you like this idea, but don't post any notes yet until I've made my decision and discussed it with the Mrs. I will leave further notation soon.

Low tide at Noosa Head on 19th Dec is at 08:06, with high tide that afternoon at 14:29. This is just about perfect for our purposes as we can scoot up the beach at or soon after low tide. The return journey down the beach after our trip will then be on an outgoing tide.

For those not camping, I plan to meet you at the southern end of the beach, just after the Noosa River ferry. It would be good if we could meet there by 09:00 so we have plenty of time for the day's activities and to make best use of the tides.

If anyone has problems getting there early let me know and we can make alternative arrangements to meet up with you later in the day somewhere along the way.

In response to a query from llourd, we will not be taking the dogs with us.

They are not allowed at the campground and the area we will be driving through is national park so dogs are prohibited, at least from leaving the vehicle.

I believe dogs are allowed if you camp on the beach. However, bear in mind that we will be stopping often during the day and the dogs will have to be left in a hot car on what is likely to be a hot day.

OK guys. I have spoken to the ranger up at Freshwater and managed to grab their offical 'group area' for the 18th.

The area accommodates 8 vehicles and 24 people. However, the people limit is more of an advisory thing based on 8 3-man tents. We're likely to be able to fit more people than that, especially the geokids.

It might also be best if you take a tent that's just big enough for your group. That way we can make the best use of the available space. If Mama Bear is too pregnant to attend then I will be taking up hardly any room in my little hammock (if the trees can take the strain).

The cost for the night is $4 per person per night. I will pay that on the way through by stopping off at the office in Tewantin so I will need accurate numbers closer to the date, otherwise we might pay more than we need to. I'll get the money off you at the campground.

If anyone would rather get an individual site then of course you'll have to make the arrangements yourself.

If anyone else would like to camp, they will need to book their own site. If you want to get one near the group site you can ask the ranger. The group booking is under my name, Paul Brian, and the reference number is 145602. You can call the QPWS office on 54497792.

As you can see we've already filled our quota of 8 vehicles as follows:

The Four Bears
Manta
Rogainer
Paul B & family
Silent Hunter
OMY130
llourd
Xixau & Shenzi

Let me know if I've made any mistakes.

For those of you with OziExplorer here is a calibrated scanned map of the Cooloola area: http://paulbrian.com/geocaching/ozi_cooloola.zip

You will have to play around to change the path to the jpg file etc. If you need any help contact me.

Four Bears, Thanks for the map. Boy! This log almost grows by the minute! What do you think of the lunch at freshwater idea mentioned below? I would be willing to prepare, as the convoy approaches, a simple community BBQ with a bit of help financially & physically from those left at the campsite during the morning. This would enable the group to optimize recreation time. Let me know if you think this is a good idea and I can arrange this independently. If we're going to stay Sunday night as well, would we have to move to a smaller camp site or will the group campsite be available for individual campers afterwards?

Looks like Llourd is back in the mix - our plans for the holidays have changed and we will be able to attend.
looking forward to it!

I have been trying to contact the ranger to ask which campsite might be best for a group of our size and see if we can get some sort of group booking. I'll let you all know when I finally manage to get through to someone in the office.

So far I have the following people camping (I will refer to team names)

The Four Bears
Manta
Rogainer
Paul B & family
Silent Hunter
OMY130

Anyone else who wants to camp please let me know. If I can't arrange a group booking then it's every man for himself.

I will endevour to be there for the camp the night before. I will need to secure myself a seat in a fourby as my little toyota will need lots of pulling otherwise.

Will check back closer to the date to see what else has been unveiled.

Jfeak

The "roar past on the beach" thing sounds good, though that could be close to lunch. Mabe the convoy could stop at Freshwater for lunch and afterwards continue with those not already a part of the convoy. I found another link to a PDF publication about "Great Sandy National Park, Cooloola Section", here
http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/publications/p00096aa.pdf/Cooloola_Section_Great_Sandy_National_Park.pdf

We may even stay the Sunday night yet.

Thanks Bears, we will see which vechicle requires recovery.
Can you please get back to me if the date showen as the 19/12/04 is the date it is being heald. I will also need to camp the night befour.

You're most welcome Silent Hunter. Always good to have some new players join in the fun.

Now just don't get talking to Jerry (Xixau & Shenzi) about Landrovers. He always says the fastest his old 'Rover went was on the back of a tow truck

Luckily he then went out and bought a Nissan

Would like to come will have two spare seats in the Disco, would also prefer Bush driving so i dont rust out the new car to quickly.

Count us in Paul. We will find a way to be there. Could also offer 2 passenger places.

Jerry.

Proposed route fine by us. Pity Llourd can't make it that weekend - we'll just have to organise another trip when he can.

Yeah, shame about llourd, sorry mate.

I'm rapidly finding out that organising events like this is not as easy as it looks and you're never going to please all the people all the time. I'm actually surprised that we've managed to find a date that most people can make.

I'm hoping the 4WD event will become a regular thing. If so, we'll make sure llourd can make it next time. In fact, seeing as he won't be there, I wouldn't be surprised if he is 'volunteered' in his absence

Proposed route is also fine with me.
Just had a look at EPA web site - re Freshwater camp area
http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/projects/park/index.cgi?parkid=66
there are plenty of sites available on the saturday night - some people may like to camp there the night and then catch up with the rest on Sunday as they roar past on the beach.

Thanks for that link Rogainer.

We be there on the Saturday so we can recce the route. It is quite a long day if setting out from Brisbane so we will probably be camping there too.

If anyone else plans to camp then let us know so we can get sites together. Choices are along the beach or the Freshwater site.

Anywhere, any date... If it means engaging 4wd, we're there. Keep us a camp site.

'OMY130' ... Geoff ...

Seems more & more like 19th Dec is the go then, as this is when most people can make it.

I have a good route worked out in the Cooloola area which includes both beach & rainforest, with some existing caches thrown in for good measure. The terrain is mostly easy sand driving that should pose no problems, even to 'soft roaders', so if you have a RAV4 or similar then you'll be fine.

The route starts at the Noosa river ferry and continues up Teewah Beach to Double Island Point (see picture below). Depending on the state of Mudlo Rocks we can take one of two tracks to Rainbow Beach. From there we enter the Cooloola National Park and drive the sand tracks through the rainforest back on to the beach.

Please let me know if you are all happy with the proposed route or if you have any suggestions for alternatives or amendments.

Change of PLans!!
i may be able to make it after all. Bookings for my trip back to the states has not gone as planned and i may be here and available this weekend of the 19th. So thank you Bears for being so vigilant, i have been looking to get to this very spot that your route proposes.
woo hoo - lets get into it!

Will probably be there. Around the Cooloola National park, Double Island or that area is good as you can get the bush and beach perspective on things. Please make sure some people bring Toyota's as atleast then we will all have something to go home in. Don't you just love the rivalry between car brands... I should have 2 spare seats but i will see how i go.

See you all there,

CaspianJVC

Dec 19 is likely a no go for us, as we will be headin back stateside for the holidays, in fact we are prob leavin that very weekend!
that being said, if anyone needs a TB relocated to the other side of the world, let us know.

Obviously someone needs a lesson in Toyota capability: A 'five' rating only means that there's a possibility we MAY have to actually engage 4WD.

Looks like December 19th is shaping up nicely then.

I'll say it again, any non-4WD owning cachers who would like to attend please contact one of the drivers to see if they will be kind enough to accommodate you. We have at least two spare places in the Patrol, maybe three.

Seems like the beach might be the go, with perhaps an overnight camp for those who are keen. Might be a bit cramped up there at that time of year but we'll manage.

Dec 19 should be ok for me (depends on how the christmas shopping is going...) - I'll write it on the calendar this time
Other dates open for me at this stage include Oct 17,24 - Nov 21, 28 - Dec 12.
I am more of bush person than beach, but will tag along wherever the group goes.
Like Manta, I will also take my Prado so that we will be able to assist pappa bear when he gets himself into trouble . With over 80k on the current tyres, I think I will use this as an excuse to get some new ones.
Not sure on availability of spare seats at this stage - it could be from 1 to 4

Count us in, pretty much any weekend between now and Chritmas will work for us.
I noticed that you rated the terrain as a 5, I hope that doesnt scare off those Toyota drivers out there...

We'll be there, as will our trusty Toyota Prado. Someone's gotta fly the flag for the world's most trusted and popular 4WD maufacturer!
Unfortunately, the only dates available for me at this stage, assuming a Sunday drive, are:
Oct 24, Oct31, Nov 14 (though coming off a night shift[|)]), Dec 19.
If none of these suit anyone else then I wish you all a very pleasant jaunt and I look forward reading of your adventures via the logs. I'll catch up with the next one.
Simon.

We will make a weekend camp of as it's likely to be available. Bush or beach, both are good, though beach takes more organizing, preparation, pack up & cleanup time, it's proportionally more fun. If it's close to Christmas, time may be in short supply. We prefer 7/11, 14/11, 28/11 or 12/12, but can attend 21/11, 5/12 or 19/12 (close enough to start Christmas celebrations ).