Booloumba #4 - Mt. Allan Elaman Creek, Queensland, Australia
By HawMorFords on 18-Apr-06. Waypoint GCVGEM

Found this cache on my finale duke of ed gold camp

Good spot tftc

Thanks first cache found ever, bit of water on the note pad though will probably need a new one

Supreme organising skills got me and the world famous BUGS up Mount Allan today. Why is everyone laughing!? Starting in the early afternoon it was a pleasant walk in good weather and great company. The track is well maintained and easy to follow. It was certainly a lot easier than yesterdays bash through lantana on a mountain up near Gympie. Great views from the fire tower. The logbook was slightly damp but names were added without an issue. The return trek was quick and it wasnt long before BUGS joined me at my campsite for a couple of cold drinks. I cooked us some snags and steak while we continued to share stories and discuss geocaching topics. Thanks for the cache and generous hint. Fav Cheers

Long long 1 1/2 hour walk to the cache .relatively easy find, with a bit of help ! TFTC

This one had been on my to do list for a long time and today was the day to make it into a smiley. So the intrepid four which comprised of Chrisaust (geocaching friend from the UK), my daughter, my grandson and myself. Parked in the day use area of Booloumba Creek and set off on the 11kms return trip walk. The walk was a gentle grade all the way up to the Fire Tower with plenty of shade. The cache was soon found as the coords where spot on for me, log was signed although a bit wet by all of us and returned as found. Took photos of the Fire Tower, had a a bite to eat and a drink then set off on the return walk, arrived back at the car in just under 3 hours. Then off to the pub at Kenilworth for a celebrational beer, a FP for the adventure. TFTC HawMorFords

Found

Such a beautiful location. So lucky to be a ranger working in this amazing country.

On the fourth day of a multi day hike we climbed Mt Allen to find this cache.
We set off from Booloumba Creek car park, spending three nights at walkers camps, ticking off many kilometres along the way. Leeches, snakes, wild pigs and hungry mice were encountered, as well as many magnificent waterfalls and lookouts.
There were three of our group that were cachers, and 5 muggles. As this was the second trek we had undertaken as a group, the muggles understood our need for the detour, and assisted with the search when we had climbed to the fire tower.
The fire tower was closed pending repair works. After a couple of false starts, the cache container was found.
It was quite wet inside, but we had half an hour to take a breather, so the contents were laid out or hung to dry. We carefully reviewed the old logbook separating each page. Great to find this antique cache.
Our names were entered into the logbook, and everything was re-packed. We didn’t take or leave anything today. We made our way back down the mountain to our awaiting packs, and then on to the finish line.
Well worth the climb. Thanks for the cache HawMorFords. Cheers

Thanks - found it with minus and ‘are we there’.
Hint through us off initially - the compass on our phone suggested western rather than northern in the clue - but phone compasses are pretty rubbish.

Finishing the great walk today - has been fantastic journey - lots of leeches and a few nice and wild pigs but thoroughly recommend

Big lace monitor guarding the tower - still closed for climbing which is a big shame

Today I was taken on a lovely morning walk and found this great geocache. . Thankyou

Accio 12:37:36
Can't tell you how many times in the past 5 or 6 years that i have planned, intended, and once even started the actual walk to climb Mt. Allan in Bouloomba National Park. Dozen or more. Finally finally got here today ... And it was as fabulous as promised. Three creek crossings above wheel height in and out again which Suzee handled with ease. Hour and a half hike up and about the same back down. Coolish in the cloudy sky today, a couple of light showers on the way up, but the rainforest canopy kept rain and sun largely at bay and really only served to keep things comfortably cool.

Amazing views from up top. So happy to tick this one off at last. And... Yes a geocache or two, one an old old one with an original logbook. What's not to love eh?

Thanks HawMorFords for entertaining me at this location.
*{Overall find #10309}*

A place I've wanted to see for many years. Finally got here whilst hiking the 4-day Conondale Great Walk. Unfortunately couldn't climb to the top as it's currently closed. But still a great place to visit. TFTC

quick find
TFTC

An early morning walk up to the fire tower. I have done this walk before and was reminded today that is unrelenting! Beautiful at the top where I found my favourite type of cache container. Lovely and peaceful up here. Fav from me. TFTC

Hiked up from the Booloumba creek day area, the tower was closed but still had a nice hike and chat to the blokes painting the tower.
Nice easy cache to find but the note book was wet. Left a raffle ticket behind.

Happy trails,

How wonderful to be out and about again! TFTC

A cool find after a big ride up. It was a bummer that the fire tower was closed but the cache made up for the disappointment. TFTC!!!!!!!!

Found on the 4th day of the Great Walk. Sadly the fire tower is still closed, but a cache is worth a climb Thanks for adding one up here!

We found it!
It has been a while since we went looking for caches. This was a great come-back!

It was a wet return, the Bureau rainfall station 40169 - PEACHESTER. recorded over 100mm of rain during the days we stayed in the area. The creek-crossing back from Booloumba was exiting, but we did it!

The cache was in great condition!

The fire tower on Mt Allan is temporarily closed. We hope to see it opened soon again.

Thanks for the cache!

NQ78 and the family

Great to have a cache up after a good sweaty hike. Hint lead straight to it. TFTF

Tftc amazing views found by the geo wolves, Tiger and George

And what would a trip to the Conondale NP be without a visit to the Mt Allan fire tower.

What a fantastic four days in this glorious part of the universe completing the Conondale Range Great Walk with K8nCo. and a couple of muggle friends!

This was part of the last leg of our journey. I was grateful to have my pack off for a while and I was up at the fire tower in no time. After exploring the tower K8 and I found the cache without a hassle.

Thanks for the smiley HawMorFords

Early start today Mrs.K and I made our way to the top picking up another smiley on the way . Finally we made it to the top after stopping many times birdwatching on the way with many good sightings logged [^], once at the top we found a fire tower which was open to climb and peruse the map table - this must one of the few that are available to the public as most towers are decaying structures blocked off as unsafe to climb . After 20 minutes of taking in the views and well earn't rest we made our way back down the stairs to locate the cache .
A container which has been here for 12 years is still doing its job perfectly . Upon Opening revealed dry contents
Signed logbook Kingfisherau 14/09/2018, 11:00 AM and replaced all as found, left a few phone cards and then did the trail back down to the carpark, Geomobile & Coffee [^].
HawMorFords - TFTC.

Found it

quick grab on this once sunny and once rainy day. awesome view! tftc

Tftc

Made my way to the fire tower this morning. Nice stroll from the Summer Falls Walkers camp after a small break, I headed up the tower took a few photos and headed down to make the find. After adding my name to the log I headed back to the car nice way to finish the Great Walk!

Made the hike up to this from Charlie Moreland campground on a beautiful autumn day. It was nice to have a cache as a reward at the end of the longish uphill climb. The return trip was much easier on the heart and lungs but tougher on the legs. TFTC

Walked up from Charlie Moreland with a bunch of kids doing a Duke of Ed training hike. It was excellent to be part of showing many of them a geocache for the first time. Well done on a well maintained "ammo box".

It's misty on the mountain today.

After a climb to Mt Allan reached the summit. Looked around and with help of hint found it. A very nice spot with old firetower

Out and about on the mountain bikes we left from Charlie Moorland and headed for Summer Fall then up to this spot to the fire tower. Tough ride up but then we went down via Booloumba. Lots of trees down on the trail down soe took a little longer than expected. With the rcent rain the creeks were high meaning hike a bike for a few of the crossings.

Returned to Charlie Moorlands via the road.

Nice to find an old cache still in place'

Found while out mountain biking with Russelz. The climb up from Sunday Creek Road was tough, but the ride down to Booloumba Creek Road was a lot of fun

Nice walk. I think d/t should be higher. Quick and easy find

Great walk from Charlie Moreland camp ground... What a view. Tftc

Fantastic walk to get this cache.

Snow Bear and I camped at a near by camp ground and got an early start on the hike to this cache. We found the walk great but the views at the tower was better. So worth the walk. And the cache was easy to find thanks to the hint direction's. We had the place to ourselves today so we took the time to flick back through the log book and check some of the other comments on this cache.
After putting things back just the way we found it, And taken a couple of photos of the views it's time to hike back to camp.
This was such an enjoyable day out to this cache.

TFTC TNLN

Long walk uphill, warmer than the last time we were up here as the hoop pine plantation had been harvested and there was not as much shade. The views are a good deal better now. Needed to loiter as there was a few muggles about.

Walking with some students on a school camp and thought that it would be a great opportunity to find a cache. Easy find and beautiful spot! TFTC

Walked up from Charlie Moreland - "arduous" you say...."unrelenting" I say - uphill climb for the first 2.5 km with no shade. Glad we started very early in the morning. It got cooler and shadier for the last 1.5 km. Just as well we were very keen to conquer Mt Allen. The cache was a terrific bonus for us. Lots of booty and in very dry condition. Thanks for a terrific cache.

Directed some muggles to their first cache from top of the fire tower

Great spot quick stop on our last day of great walk tftc

Another find - On a Duke of Edinburgh trip with Cooloola CC and managed to find this cache on our way to the Fire Tower on Mt Allan
Great Cache Hiding Spot

Great View too

I found it already on 8.7.2015 but had no chance to log it. A really exhausting walk, but beautiful area.

Up from Brisbane for hike starting from Charlie Moreland camping area today with IolantheK, Brother Colin, Selva Girls, Team DNA, Slow Puncture and La Kedi.
The way in was a nice steady steepish 4WD track that lead all the way to the to the top , an accent that tested the aerobic condition of several bodies.

Here we enjoyed the climb up the tower and a celebrated ms teamDNA BD whilst signing the logbook TFTC, HawMorFords.

!

A hike up a mountain, says Slow Puncture? Why the heck not, says I. And so at sparrowfart this morning, I roll into their lovely abode, transfer my copious amounts of hiking stuff into the car along with SelvaGirls and off we drive, Mr SP playing chauffeur (very nicely, at that). The drive up to Charlie Moreland was lovely, though we decided that living up here so far from civilisation (read: other geocaches) was probably not worth it.

We stopped for a bite of brekky in Woodford and continued on our merry way, arriving just a fraction later than advertised at the camping area. In time to pick up a nearby cache, though! A fair group had gathered, comprising IolantheK, T-Tech, Brother Colin, and Team DNA in addition to the four of us. With Bushman's and sunscreen applied, water and snacks loaded, it was off up the hill we went.

And up. I believe the word used in the description for this approach was arduous, and I'd say we would mostly agree with this. Slow and steady wins the race though, and we all successfully trundled our way to the top along a track I'm positive we could've driven... mostly successfully. It did seem some someone had tried this, for at the top there was a gate which had been flattened by some large machine with more horsepower than the horses you could've tied to the nearby solid hitching post. Note to self: bring horse next time. The conversation and behaviour was getting a bit frisky by this time (I blame exhaustion), with Wanda flashing us all, and someone nameless rabbiting on about big knobs everywhere...

At the top, the tower proved to be in excellent condition, as was the cache, and invited us to climb it, which we did. Great views from the top, as you'd expect, and plenty of photos were taken. And snakes eaten. And logbooks signed. Well, just one of those, really. Naturally, having seen no other soul for the 2.5 hour ascent, we were suddenly beseiged by other hikers, with three other groups arriving not long after we had and disturbing the peace.

Mission complete, we packed up and headed back down the hill for a much easier (in my books) descent through the native forest along the ridge and the lumber forest below, pausing often to snap photos and admire the views. Overall, a great hike to test the ex-broken ankle on, with a fantastic group of people and the perfect mix of challenge and achievability. I had a wonderful day. TFTC, HawMorFords! =^.^=

Brother Colin is visiting for a few days, as we have a big hike today with some friends, and an Event tomorrow [^]

T-Tech, BC and I set off early from Brisbane and made our way to the Charlie Moreland camping area to meet up with Selva Girls, Team DNA, Slow Puncture and La Kedi. The group soon gathered and after getting the cache nearby, we kitted up and set off on the hike. There was rather a lot of seep UPness, and some had more of a struggle than others, but in there end everyone made it all the way to the summit [^] Here we enjoyed the climb up the tower and a celebration of lollies while we signed the logbook TFTC, HawMorFords.

Kerry from Slow Puncture invited me to accompany them and a few others to walk up Mt Allan. I drove to their home and met up with La Kedi there too. We all piled in one car and headed off. lucky for me, Mr Slow Puncture seemed to know the way...sort of....Mrs Slow Puncture kept him on track After finding a cache near our meeting point, we gathered our packs and walking sticks and set with IolantheK, T-Tech, Brother Colin and Team DNA. It wasnt long before we started going up....and up....and up! Luckily there were little bits of flat ground, from time to time, where I could rest. After amny stops on the way up, I finally made it to the top Once we were all there, the cache was quickly located and the log signed. Oddly enough, we found some "up" pieces on the way down. i swear they werent there as we were on our way up :p

What an awesome trek with a great bunch of people!!

We were first to the parking coords... Wow, we were first?! Anyone that knows us knows how strange this is!!

The trek was up from the start and didn't get much easier for awhile.

There were many interesting conversations, some about Wanda's flashing incident , some about some big knobs...

But we finally made it to the top... And realised we needed to climb the fire tower, not to log the cache, but to enjoy the view!!

Cache was located by Brother Colin and we took it up with us.

Here are some 360 degree photos of all of us up the tower and on the journey!!

https://theta360.com/s/c0YM92teUHE40qvcWSZWRQRKW

https://theta360.com/s/iEFjiAbAE9mECiee9sksHewrs

https://theta360.com/s/iMoHxabkBC5NIV34XNfrTmJng

TFTC

This entry was edited by Team DNA (Ange&Dave) on Sunday, 05 July 2015 at 11:07:06 UTC.

Today a small group is out this way to hike to the top of Mt Allan starting at the Charlie Moreland campsite.
The group consisted of T-tech, IolantheK, Selvagirls, team dna, Slow Puncture and La Kedi.
As always, the group headed off in high spirits. But soon the UP began. With a few rests along the way we all made it to the summit for a well earned rest. Lunch, photos and the signing of the log book were all done and then we headed back down.
The round trip took a little under 4 hours.
Thanks for the cache.

1236

Saturday. Both Slow Punctures ventured north with some other members of the Northside Puzzle Group: Angela & Dave from Team DNA, Brother Colin, Wanda from Selva Girls, La Kedi, IolantheK and T-Tech. Our quest? To storm the fire tower on top of Mt Allen and also find a cache there, in reverse order.

What can be said? Firstly, the author would like to give thanks to whatever greater power deemed that today would be reasonably cool. It did get a bit warm on the return trip towards the middle of the day, but that was on the downhill leg.

Because the uphill leg was, in places, VERY uphill! Some of our group (and I include myself (Luke) in that list) were mightily greatful that every so often their was a small area of level ground to rest on. After what seemed like an interminable time, we finally reached the ridgeline, where there was a period of level walking. This had the effect of lulling some of us into a false sense of security, however, as more climbs kept looming into view.

Amid repeated statements like "Are we there yet?" and "I wanna banana paddle pop" we edged ever closer to the top. The last ascent was just as steep as some of the others, but when the top of the fire tower is in sight, it suddenly didn't seem QUITE as bad...

We all made it to the top. T-Tech was so happy he bypassed the cache and went up the tower. Brother Colin located the cache and we all went up into the tower. Good to see it has been re-opened since Captain Terror's log entry. The views from the top were quite spectacular. We all signed the logbook and the container was returned to its hide.

Some hikers arrived soon after and were somewhat surprised to find so many people already there. i believe the comment was along the lines of "Grand Central Station".

During our return to the camping ground, we came across a number of other parties going up. All shapes and sizes. It was a great walk but it was also good to be back.

This was the 1st of 2 caches we found on this trip.

Thanks [Blue]HawMorFords[/Blue], for showing us this interesting place.

I was in the area supervising a 3 day scout hike and couldnt resist the climb on the 3rd day from sunday creek rd. You carnt let the kids have all the fun.Made it to the top in plenty of time to climb the tower and nab a cache.TFTC

Found again with some friends, dropped of travel bug that wants to travel the back roads

Fond this while exploring the conondale national park. This was 1 of three fire tower I managed to get see that day.
My phone was flat and I had no gps but figured there would have to be a cache up there somewhere. While having morning tea I wondered around for about 15min checking all the places I though a cache might be and bingo, Found it in a typical cache hiding place. Glad I did cause would have given up not long after.
Cache was in good nick. doesn't look like it's found very often so didn't leave trackables.
TNLNSL. Tftc,
Shanet4553

A long walk was in order today as we stayed home to mow yesterday.
I had been wanting to do this cache for 12 months but did not want to go by myself.
I had been up here twice so this was my third time. It has been 5 months since the last cacher has been here.
Once from the Bolumba Creek side when the old track was there and once from the Charlie Moreland road side which is the way we went today.
A lot of things have changed since we were last up here.
A lot of the forestry has been cut down and replanted.
One part of the track the sides of the bush has been slashed.
The track up could do with a tractor mow as it has rather long grass in places from the recent rain and I was a bit dubious about the crawly critters.
I just made it across 3 creek crossings and with any more water we would have had to abandon going that way for the moment.
There is now a gate about 100 metres from the top and another road up to the top has been created past the gate coming from another direction.
The tower is fenced off and wire at the bottom to stop climbers as the fire tower needs repairs and is not safe.
I climbed up the tower when I was here the first time quite a few years ago before I was a cacher.
I found the cache before geopartner was even up the mountain and was checking it out when he arrived.
I enjoyed the walk up again with the cool breezes today and the lovely views and thanks for bringing me back.
Took beetle magnet and left rope anchor clip.
TBMLACSL TFTC Thanks HawMorfords All good with this cache
A Favourite from me
Its ANZAC Day, Lest we forget.

(..continued from above)
Feeling refreshed and ready to hit the proverbial road again I threw my backpack back on, checked the clock and set off the same way I had come. It had been a shade under 2 hours to this point, walk up and lunch included. I felt I was making good time and it is a rewarding feeling to do a little better than expected - despite the intense heat of the day. I barrelled off, almost at a jog into the bush again, and steadily slipped and slid my way down the steep muddy part. Back along the ridgeline I could hear tree tops clattering above me and I knew the return journey, aside from being downhill, would be gifted in a refreshing wind. I motored out into the midday sun, although interspersed with shade cast by the trees now and I took my usual time occasionally to again appreciate the views and admire the wildlife that had come out to play. Most memorable were swarms of glasswing butterflies, magically flittering around the thistles and flowers. Strangely though, and very unlike me, I hadn't seen any snakes about. Almost a disappointment in this area. Still chugging water from over my shoulder I pressed on down the hill and pressed hard. Jogging along, being careful of each footfall and trying to not slide about too much is always fun. The sound of bells, as if straight from the fields of Holland, brought the cattle herd back into my mind as I neared the edge of the lower forest. As I passed them, they hadn't moved far and although I couldn't see large head nor tail of them, had fun picking their location from sound.

had the small creeks been deeper, a dip would have been tempting to my burning feet. Not far left, past the giant fig and I popped back out in the campsite. Sticky and sweaty, hot and smelling of bushmans, but happy to have succeeded at a great walk, making an excellent morning. It took me just under 3 hours and just under 3 litres of water to visit the summit of Mt Allan and all that stood between me and the road out of here was a cold shower from a bucket in the toilet block and clothes change.

A beautiful part of the world, well worth the time to come to. I'll be back, there are still geocaches and tracks left for me to visit, just maybe in next year's cooler months. An easy favoutire from me on a cache that I was surprised for a while there to still be in place and of course, unfound for a sliver under a year. TFTC HawMorFords

‘Oh, it’s not Allan. Steve, that’s Steve’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaPepCVepCg

(..continued from above)
The area here certainly was well looked after - even gardens of sort beside the various paths. I noted a tap but with no tank nearby I shouldn't have been surprised when it gave no water. I headed to the base of the tower. Works in progress indeed, one pillar (the pillar mentioned in the hint) has suffered severe dry rot and going up for the view prohibited. Right, onto the cache. An obvious place leapt out at me. I looked in there but nope, nothing but a snake skin. How about over there? Look here, poke about there, check under that, what's under this? No cache to be found. Where is it? where is it!? I was losing hope. A regular cache could have been easily found by workers, muggles or rangers and relocated.

I had all but given up and was going to sit and ponder for a moment on a covenient rock 'corall' when I kicked a rock beside a stump. It moved slightly and I heard that distinctive 'clonk' of a rock hitting the side of an ammo tin. COME HERE ROCK! I moved it aside and sure enough, tucked down in there was the cache. A few more rocks and I freed the container. I relieved it of its eight legged guardian and sat down to open it. A very satisfying sound is that of an ammo tin opening at the top of a long walk. Inside, naturally' was in perfect condition. I sifted through the swaps inside and located the logbook. Such caches motivate me to read the previous logs - a piece of history in every one. I added my name and story to the next page and rehid all as found. Out of sight, but under everyone's nose when hidden.

The tower was closed for works. It would have been irresponsible of me to bother climbing it anyways. The 'blockade' to the stairs looked easy to pass for the eager. If one did do such things, a careful and nervous climb up the stairs would have followed and I am sure ended in a magnificent spot for one's lunch. I believe there is a beautiful hut up top to shield from the elements, especially the brash sun and watch the world go by from. Being closed it wouldn't be a good idea to crack open a few windows, letting the day's first breaths of breeze in, grab some lunch and watch the forests stretch as far as the eye can see, picking out familiar spots and looking for the other fire towers. Even a basic half chicken and flatbread served with a pocketknife would be extraordinary with such gourmet views. But the tower was closed, right
(continued below..)

(..continued from above)
I wondered if there would be livestock tangling with the ocean of tree stumps, all uniformly cut a few inches from the ground and I didn't have to wait long. Just outside the forest a herd of large beasts were grazing, a couple of them wearing bells - not something I've seen very often. Somehow a herd of animals several times more massive than me was spooked and disappeared into the bushes with the rib rattling thunder of hoofs on dry earth mixed with the comical dingling of a few bells. I carried onwards.

The heat of October was not to be forgotten by any means. I was glad with my early morning start to beat the worst of it, but as I powered up the slopes, not a whisper of breeze nor relief from that piercing star I was also powering through my water. The walk was constant. Constantly up. Constantly steep. Constantly conscious of each step and push. The walk was suggested to take 4 hours but I decided I would put some muscle in my hustle and was pushing hard against the slopes, impeded only by the occasional sidestep of a bovine landmine. It was so very hot already. Not being someone who deals with heat well, there was sweat pouring out of me, dripping from fingers and my nose, trickling with full stinging force into my eyes.

The Rangers have done a good job of marking the trail to the tower against the multitude of intersecting trails well, there is no real risk of getting lost. I would briskly move along a hundred metres or so before I'd have to stop for a drink and stand still, feeling with wet skin for any hint of a breeze. There was no such luck. Each time I'd turn around and take in THE VIEW. Not even at the top every stop would yield a slightly higher vantage point, able to see slightly further. The silence was deafening. Almost. The air alive with sound, buzzing insects, a distant rattle of cowbell, and even more distant rumble of an occasional plane overhead. The stark, almost barren landscape near me blended into the lush forests along the creek and extended out to the horizon, laid over the many mountain ranges to the north. At one point, just over halfway up I recall being overcome with that that is so iconic about this part of the world, of Conondale, Queensland of the freedom of taking a hike up a mountain by yourself on a Friday morning.

My GPSr was constantly feeding me lies. With no tracks marked on it's maps it gave only a straight line distance to the cache. '2km to go' it would read, just as a 2.5km signpost came into view. Such things seemed to make the legs grow more tired with anticipation of the upcoming steep and windy trail. As I came to the top of what I thought would be a ridgeline, the track left the vast farmlands and re-entered a dry rainforest. The shade was glorious, but even still I had to take every moment to grab another mouthful of water. Onwards, walking fast, listening to bird calls, watching lizards and small mammals scurry off to safety. Through the bush I went until the GPSr said I was getting much closer, but the terrain got a lot steeper and somewhat muddier. The final stretch, I kept up my pace for this steepest part of the walk, up, up, up and then around the final bend. There must be a few tracks come together here as there were a bunch of signs and gates. I followed the GPSr pointer and just as the trail mercifully became what I shall call horizontal, the tower came into view.
(continued below..)

Earlier this year I was in the Conondale National Park and in the space of a day managed to fall in love with the area - away from the noise of the world, fun offroading, peaceful camping, cool, clear creeks and covered with the canopy's green filtered light. I knew I'd come back and find the rest of the geocaches and see what I could when I could. I noted this poor cache never gets much love so felt it would be a good target for the day. With an event cache in the evening I decided on a very, very early start on the two hour drive to the park.

I love a good mountain climb, but rarely do them by myself. I don't doubt my own ability but I don't like the possibilities of something happening to go wrong and nobody with me to help. With a little research (I note the links on the cache page are broken (unsurprisingly considering that government department has changed names twice since this cache was placed) but a quick web search brings up the right pages http://www.nprsr.qld.gov.au/parks/conondale/about.html ) I decided on taking the route up from Charlie Moreland. It looked more constantly 'up' and steep but a little shorter - my favourite. Having sat for 2 hours behind the wheel (but too early for any traffic) and staring down that white dotted line, it was a great feeling to hit the last few kilometres of roads near here. Fast and furious bitumen lead to the turnoff and I sailed the mighty Corolla down the corrugated, dirt Sunday Creek Road. I came to the day use/camping area and drove to the walk entry point. Always a nice feeling to confirm you are in the right spot. I parked near the day use area and began final preparations. Normally I travel light, but on my solo mission had a few extra items just in case. Least of which was not a replacement cache seeing as I had read that the fire tower up top was undergoing works. I began with the ritual of the bushmans anti-bitey marinade - forgetting such things is asking for trouble. With boots strapped on, waterpack filled, lunch and machete packed, GPSr trip information reset and a map picked up from the info centre, I headed off past the '8.8km return sign' and into the Australian bush on a class 4 walking track about half past 0900.

The stark silence in there struck me. Still near the creek nature had been let to strike for the sky. I was amazed as usual with the biggest trees of the area. A particular fig towered above the rest, casting shade for many, many metres. Even some kilometres and hours later I could still pick it among the rest, marking my point to return to. Across one, two, three small creeks. It has been dry so I could skip over the concrete and rocky fords provided for the management vehicle access.

The thick forest ended and opened into the plantations on the foothills of Mount Allan. A few times I have been in this area, screaming along 4WD tracks for the Forest Challenge events and oh how familiar this type of country looked. It has been harvested recently here and so could see for many miles across steep gullies, over zig zagging trails and to the boundary natural areas. The sights of such farms are somehow, distinctly, homely.
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This cache has been on our must do list for a long time now, as my family used to own the property just after the second creek crossing, and before the first camping area [^]. I have so many fond memories of this mountain, and i have lost track of the amount of times that i climbed it ... the last time would have to be about 27 years ago . We used to scale this 'wee hill' in about 50 minutes using the older, more direct track ... and my younger brother (13 at the time) would push his treadly to the top with us, and ride back down at a great rate of knots [:o)]

Today, with Master 3 on foot and Master 1 kicking back in the pram, we tackled the 'new track' to the top with Mrs & Lil' Miss Parko ... all 11 klms of it . We set out from the Booloumba day use area on a perfect morning, winding our way slowly up through the amazing and ever changing forest [^]. The track just kept going and going, and rarely the direction that we needed it to . There was only one small section that was unsuitable for the pram, where we removed Master 1 from his vehicle, and carried him safe'n'sound up the narrow steps

Upon reaching the top, there was much relief and satisfaction from everyone, and we all decided to climb the tower before doing any treasure hunting. Master 3 was most impressed with the doorway made 'just for him' . We enjoyed the view for a while and did some pretend firespotting, before heading back down to begin the hunt. After checking a couple of spots near the 'north pillar', i decided to follow the GPS'r . It led us to a very likely looking place, and although it seemed closer to the NW pillar, after a small search around .. the treasure was in hand . We were a little unsure if the cache would still be in place after a recent DNF, so we had brought up a replacement ammo tin just in case ... but happily, we didn't need it .

We sat in the shade to examine the contents for a while and then added our names to the log, before re-hiding as we found it. All was ok and dry (of course). Very chuffed with our little achievement, we headed back down to meet Mr Parko for a picnic lunch

TFTC HawMorFords ... and for bringing back so many memories [^][^][^]

Wow...What a beautiful walk
After chatting with jasenjanine last night, we decided to tag along and join them on the walk to this one.
Miss teen and I were both amazed at the beauty of this walk and the ever changing scenery along the way. We were not quite expecting it to be so peaceful or pleasant, even if the 5.5km track from Booloumba Creek seemed much further
After finally reaching the top, we just had to inspect the fire tower and the beautiful view from up there.
On the walk down, miss teen and I came across a snake on the track that didn't seem to want to move for us Scrambled around it and kept our eyes on the ground for the rest of the journey. Great walk, Great spot, Great cache. Thanks HawMorFords for bringing us here

(This cache will count towards our Rambler's Reward Challenge - GC2XBA7)

Walked this morning from Charlie Moreland Camping Area, up the hills through pine forest, a fair bit of it harvested, which gives you views most of the way up, and definitely on the way down! Some Brahman cattle with bells add to the Switzerland- feeling. The roughly 1,5 to two hour walk to the top starts at 16 meters and on top of the fire tower (awesome views) you're at 605 meters altitude, 4 km's later. By the way, as you get closer to the tower there's a sign prohibiting horses to proceed, with very solid posts and a rail to tie you horse on to. We were wondering who would dismount there and walk the rest... Would you?
After a break on the fire tower we started looking for this cache. Found an obvious hiding spot but alas, no cache. Might be me... still was a very rewarding walk.

Few months ago walked up from Bouloomba #3 - which is a more varied walk with rainforests, gorge-views etc but felt like that one took for ever! The approach from Charlie Moreland is more what you see is what you get.

Am curious to see if I was looking in the wrong spot or not... Last find was 6 months ago...

One favourite on this cache??!! Really?

First thing I did when I started this log was tick "Add to you Favorites". I loved this walk and the destination. It was maddening that the 1.4km distance (as the crow files) ended up being 12km on the tracks for me. I parked up at a Booloumba Camping area and set it off.

There's a lot of up - in fact - thats all it was to the cache.. was "up" I could tell I was the first on the trail today judging by the amount of spiderwebs I was collecting with my face.

The area is very beautiful - gradual change from rainforest to bushland - and back to rainforest agian. The wildlife was abundant and noisy - making me jump when I heard something in the bushes. I saw a sizeable snake at GZ that was relaxing in the sun.

The most maddening part was shen I was less than 200m the cache - and it ended up being another 2km of walking. But I am not much of a scrambler - and it looked very steep anyway. I eventually arrived at GZ and found the cache safe and sound after a small hunt. I shouted it a new plastic bag. (not that it needed it - the ammo box is holding up nicely).

I decided to inspect the fire tower. Imagine my surprise when there are signs not only inviting me to climb the tower - but to also go inside the tower. That was a learning experience - was great to see how they tell where fires are etc.

The walk back was a lot easier. It was a fair trot but is highly *RECOMMENDED*. Good job HawMorFords - my favourite of this little series. TFTC

excellent hide ...love the military ammo box makes it safe and sealed ....did some swapping of treasure ....

[:8] Found this one on a very warm day after a hot climb up the hill from Charlie Moreland camp ground. Great hiding spot, well done.

Set off from Charlie Moreland campsite. Such a shame all the trees seem to have been cut down, so there is little shade, and the track just goes up and up and up . Boy was I glad to exit the State forest and enter the National Park. This one sure tested me but with a fire tower and a geocache luring me on I finally made it. Had a nice picnic at the top of the tower and didn't see a single person on the whole walk. Including the picnic it did take about 4 hours. I'll be a lot more careful if I ever see another cache listed by HawMorFords! The cache was full of goodies but I left it all there because I hadn't lugged any swag up the mountain. Thanks (I think).

Found with Pure Sri. Think I carried the bag most of the way.TFTC

866 - Loved walking through this forest on this lovely Easter Sunday morning. We made it to the top of the hill as a few people were descending the fire tower so we climbed it and checked out the views of the surrounding landscape. The views were well worth the trek up the mountain. I was going to take some pictures but unfortunately the battery was flat. Dohhh hate that! We then turned our attention to searching for the cache in between the three groups of muggles that climbed to the top of the mountain when we were there - it was a popular place today. After about 30 minutes of just resting in the area near GZ, we were eventually alone and I managed to find the well hidden cache in great condition at 11:24am. It is still well stocked. Thanks for placing this cache HawMorFords, it made the trip up through the lovely forest just that bit more rewarding for us.

Walked in on the fire tower road from the top. Only a 2k walk in. Saw a red bellied black and two deer, and was attecked by a leech! Great views and a great bit of history. Thanks.

Would not like to be in that tower during a storm. However, the views are magnificent and the track completely empty.

Enjoyed the walk up Mt Allan with SureThing. Have been here before, but never realized there was a geocache. All is well. Thanks.

I found it (in the company of Wonder Wits). Nice when I got back to my slushie in the car. TFTC.

This one was looking out of reach, time-wise, until Just a Trifle's story of driving in finally filtered through to consciousness about 5.00 am this morning ... Found a likely road in off the Kenilworth-Jimna Road, pleaded with geoson for us to walk just 20 mins in to see what we could discover, updated plea to 30 mins, and low and behold we arrived at the cache with no time to spare! (And, in my case, exhausted.) Cache is in good nick; GZ has survived the landscaping endeavours and fits in nicely. Enjoyed clambouring up the tower. Trip out went a little more slowly, but it was all well worth it. TFTC HawMorFords.

1140hrs. We never set out to do this cache. But after le Deck the better half said it is only a k as the crow flies. In the end after all the zigs and zags I wish I had been a crow. Well worth it though and coming back was easy. TFTCSL
- Bug "Geo-Jim Travel Bug" taken

A great walk for camp 4 along the "new" path.
easy walk -ie not taxing.

I spent the weekend camping at Booloumba #3 campsite - a very pleasant spot indeed.

On Saturday I went for a stroll up Mt Allan. Got to the top and found the cache fairly quickly - signed the log and then climbed the fire tower to enjoy the views and the breeze.
The day was overcast and humid - so a refreshing dip in the creek was had on my return!

Note that there is now a new track which zig-zags its way up the mountain from the Booloumba ck side.
It is quite a bit longer (about 5km one-way) than the old track which went straight up, but the grade is easy which makes for a pleasant walk. See attached images for my track log.

The new track can be accessed from Camping area 3 by following the the Booloumba ck circuit walk at the southern end of the camping area - or from day use area 2.

Thanks HawMorFords - an enjoyable outing.

Found on our way home after attending the Winter Challenge 2008 Event at Peach Trees, which was a lot of fun. We had to wait a bit before commencing the hunt as just after we arrived, another vehicle turned up. We took our time admiring the views, and checking out the red bellied black snake curled up in a nearby tree stump, thankfully not near where the cache was located. TFTC

aaarrgh!,after ridin' are deadly treadlys as far as we could from charlie's camp ground we decieded it' not worth pushin' ye' bikes any further up!,so ye' pirates and ye' spuds leaned them up against a tree and set up ye' climb on foot.
up'n'up we went with moans from ye' wenches but we were rewarded with a fantastic view from ye' tower!
booty was still safe'n'sound even with a bit of earthworks at g.z.
ye' walk and bike ride down was awesome!
thankin' ye'

This one was a great challenge and took just a mere 4 hour trip we cycled from Charlie Moreland Camping area as far as our little legs would take us and locked our bikes up agianst a Tree we thren continued our venture on foot(very slowly) all up hill for a futher 2.5km reaching 600m above sea level. Beautiful view and very pleased the journey home was all down hill. TNLNSL Thanks for the hide I think?[}:)

While the track on the Booloumba Creek side is closed, you can still get to the cache from the Charlie Moreland camping area.

Track is still closed and by the looks of it it will be a while before it opens.

We'd planned a visit to this cache but the Mt Allan walking track is closed from the Booloumba Creek end. Oh well. Gives us an excuse to come back another time.

What a great spot with a great view.!Took us awhile to get there but well worth it.Cache location spot on.Thanks
T clip L.keyring
TFTH d.d.dudes

I decided to test out my new tomtom 920 with it's navigator 7.1 beta version with voice recognition software today. As I was finishing work and heading home, I told it "Bulimba". It dutifully said (what sounded like) "Bulimba" back to me and off we went
After finding myself at a picnic ground north of Brisbane instead of in an inner Brisbane suburb I decided that some of the software needs some fine tuning [:o]
Good news was that it did show some caches nearby, so off we went
The stroll up the hill from the picnic ground was pleasant enough in the early morning Queensland cool. Glad I had a couple of litres of water with me though
The view at the top was worth the climb and after a cool down I went in search of the cache. A couple of false starts and I found it about 10minutes later
I took a keyring and left a bouncy thing.
Oxyuranus microlepidotus Travel Bug visited
After another look at the views it was a far quicker run back down

Tackled this from the Charlie Moreland side on foot (should have taken the car!) and just made it back before sundown. Exhausted from the walk, we went straight up the fire tower to rest and decrypt the clue. Came back down the tower and then tried to penetrate the lantana at the suggested spot before realising that there are two such signs mentioned in the clue. Great spot, great cache, though next time I'll drive. TN Left dragon toy. TFTH

had intended to do this one today to complete the Booloumba Series - no good - track still closed!!!!
Was running out of time to attack it from 'Charlie' side, so it will have to be one for another day...cheers

Yep... the sign was there when we placed it. Not sure why but it could be as a result of works going on in the day use area.

You can still climb Mt. Allan (And access the cache) via Charlie Morlands.

The Mt Allan walk from Booloumba Creek side has a big sign across the track “Closed for Track Maintenance†DON’T Know how long it is closed for.

Actually, having a permit, we drove up to the top (much faster that way). Fantastic views - we thoroughly recommend it to everyone. IN: keyring and sticker sheet. OUT: Listerine & geocaching Germany sticker. SL

Next time we visit - we'll do the others. TFTC

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