Rockabye Baby Cradle Mountain, Tasmania, Australia
By sirius Tas on 16-Nov-07. Waypoint GA0929

Gone

Altaire and I climbed Cradle mountain. There were people seated right near the summit cairn so this made searching difficult. It seems now that I may have searched in the wrong place because I didn't really know what a SPM was and I assumed the marker was the large cairn, seems not. Needless to say my search came up empty handed. Be good if this cache was still there.

Rated: for Overall Experience

wanted to do something special for my birthday so I organise 'gobush' for a quick weekend trip to Cradle and Barn Bluff. Fantastic day up here with not a breath of wind and fantastic views. Still a bit of snow on the last saddle and the last steep section that made it a bit tricky. First ones up here today and we had about an hour before others stared to arrive and we left for Waterfall Valley.

Rated: for Overall Experience

What a day!!!!! Perfect weather: sun, no cloud, virtually no wind outstanding. A day to sit and enjoy some of the best of Tassie's natural beauty. And I had to enjoy it for quite a while as dad and son muggle sat on top of the slab eating a late morning tea. Once they left I had the simmit to myself and after quite an extensive search I had the cache in hand. Even then I sat for a time to enjoy a little solitude. TNLN. TFTC Sirius!

Rated: for Overall Experience

Got within maybe 200m of the cache, though the weather was too wet and dangerous to proceed.

Enjoyed the climb so much I forgot to check for the cache.
Must have been bloody sitting on it from the angle shown in the picture I took of the SPM.
Note there appears to have been a beacon up there at some stage, since the concrete footings are still present. Also note the holes in the rock where you can set up a tripod.

I took 5 friends to Cradle Mtn for a few days.
Excellent weather but they struggled with the route (the steep track past Lake Wilks).
While having lunch at kitchen hut I suggested we have a crack at the summit but they weren't keen and as their 'guide' I had to keep them happy and pass by this one - again!!!
I am more determined than ever now and will be back as soon as I can to nail this one.

Had a mate who wanted to go to Cradle and it had to be today. Overcast conditions and drizzle as we set off from Dove Lake and it did not improve. Upon reaching the summit there was a bit of views between cloud scuds. The mate was wrapped with the achievement and the views so all was well. By the way, I took this opportunity to bag another one of the great Sirius caches. Hint was good but boy is there a lot of flat rocks to look under. Hint for those attempting this one. Take a tape to measure 5 meters as jumping over rocks trying to guess distance is not easy lol. Especially between unwelcome visitors. Another great cache Sirius and worth the 5 thumbs. Thanks

Rated: for Overall Experience

Yippee from the owner too....as I thought the cache may have become water logged or had gone as it's 21 months since last found...and yes SPM is a Survey mark embedded in the rock....well done deadolga...2TF too....Cheers.

Climbed to the top of Cradle Mt in overcast foggy conditions. Tested UHF radio reception while waiting for a couple of muggles to depart. Searched for some time and then decided to use the clue, but what is S.P.M? Found it is a little round disc embedded in a rock not far from the Summit Plate. Used my compass to set me in the right direction and measured out the correct distance. Still took a bit of searching but noticed some small rocks that looked out of place. Yippee!! Filled in the log and hid it just before the next lot of climbers got to the top. Then the sun and views came out. What a beaut day.

Had my heart set on making it to the summit today but ended up just taking shelter at Kitchen Hut with two experienced walkers that had come from Waterfall Valley. They were also wanting to reach the summit but the weather was just absolutely appalling and the visibility wasnt great.
I stubbornly continued on after our discussion but there came a point where I knew the safest thing to do was turn back.
So this one remains on my 'cant wait to do list' and I have no doubt it will be some time soon just wasnt meant to be today.
I took some pictures but my camera wasnt waterproof so in the real nasty stuff it had to stay in my bag.
Thanks sirius for the challenge! I'm more determined than ever now to nail this one

Damn....I was too excited about the climb and views....totally forgot about the cache. I was even standing on the clue and it didnt register. I was having a blondy moment. Took a photo instead

Since the first person to find....karaf...hasn't yet logged their visit here(6 months to do so)...even after an email from myself...I'm regarding that entry as a muggle entry only...hence FTF now goes to geoskid....so well done. Cheers

I wish I had found this one before voting closed!
It would have got my vote for best Traditional cache placed in 2007,and best Tassie Cache of all time (in my limited experience).We had planned this trip to show a German tourist friend this awesome area and then I looked to see if there were any caches to find as a bonus, and blow me there were three!,and THE one was still up for a
FTF. I definitely wouldnt go to the effort required to chase FTF, but if its there Ill take it, thank you very much! Anyway - we set off at 10am (slept in) to walk the Marions Lookout,Cradle summit, Face Track, Hansons Peak loop. It was a little overcast to start with, but cleared by the time we got to Marions Lookout.Got the photo required to log Maid Marion, and spent time taking in the views. Could see walkers over on Hansons Peak, and making there way up and down the Summit track. I did this walk about 13years ago, but the body feels about 20years older. I seem to remember bounding up the summit track back then, but i found 2 spots towards the top mentally challenging(big drops). Once at the top,yippee! there were a few muggles, so we looked out at the views from various seated positions, whilst using peripheral vision to look
under rocks. Once cache was spotted,we proceeded to have lunch in that position, and retrieved cache whilst muggles were occupied. Was surprised to find another cacher,Karaf,had signed log on 3/1/08.Putting it back was harder because new muggle decided to lay down on rock, put hat over eyes and have a snooze!Anyway, put it back unseen and proeeded to descend which I found easier, although a lot of walkers thought going down was harder. Along to face track, filled water bottle at twisted lakes, and back to carpark in 5hrs 15mins. Thoroughly enjoyed, Thanks Sirius. This cache gets 5 thumbs up and its first recommendation.

Rated: for Overall Experience

According to log book, karaf found this cache on
Jan 3, 2008, and therefore gets the FTF,although
the cacher hasnt logged the find on website.

A beautiful day for a walk, cache or no cache. Not a cloud in the sky to spoil the view either. I'd say it was perfect if it weren't for the billion trillion tourists.

I can comment on the location for this cache. It's great on a day like today, but not on the cache itself, as I wasn't even really able to look because there was never fewer than about 10 tourists on the summit today, and most stopped to have their lunch. That said, it was a great view, one of the best in fact!

Thanks Sirius!

P.S. I can certainly reiterate the warning about not attempting it in wet/icy/snowy conditions. It would be horrible, and quite dangerous.

Rated: for Overall Experience