Sand dunes, shells and birds Wiltshire, Tasmania, Australia
By
Tassyexplorer on 29-Jan-12. Waypoint GA4218
Cache Details
| Difficulty: | |
| Terrain: | |
| Type: | Traditional |
| Container: | Small |
| Coordinates: | S40° 48.235' E145° 17.287' (WGS 84) |
| 55G 355599E 5481599N (UTM) | |
| Elevation: | 3 m |
| Local Government Area: | Circular Head |
/145.288117,-40.803917,14/400x200?access_token=pk.eyJ1IjoiY2F1Z2h0YXR3b3JrIiwiYSI6ImNqa2l4ZzNzMDE5bjgzdm1sZGpuODF1Mm0ifQ.q8YMzVyzDJJlJHHV8EMjwQ)
Description
Only attempt on a going out tide and watch the weather change on East Inlet
It is a two K walk across sand and sea water inlets one way. Best to start a couple hours before low tide. No chance while tide is high. Sand crabs, fish, many sea birds large and small will be seen. Walking on bed of small shells and sandy banks. Container hidden beside a high sand dune covered in vegatation. Great views of Stanley a fishing town and a land form called The Nut a solid lump of rock 143 metres high. Water up to waist hight on southern end of sand bars. Were water running into Bass Strait very deep and dangerous, watch children. Take camera and drink with food. Half hour one way walking quickly.
Hints
Qba'g arrq nal fubhyq or rnfl frra va terra fpeho. |
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Decode |
Logs
Our main objective of returning to the Stanley area was to grab this cache. Camped last night at the Black River Camp ground and walked down to the mouth of the Black River to see if an approach was possible from this side. Even though the tide was at its lowest the water was running very swiftly and was difficult to walk through. Decided to come in from the western side instead and after travelling down some farm roads returned to the main road in to Stanley and parked at East Inlet track and headed off. Left 1 hour before low tide [1.1m today] and took 35 mins to reach GZ. Return journey was a bit more direct and had us back in 30 mins. Total time spent was 1 hour 15 minutes and the deepest water we had to wade through was just below waist level. All in all this was one of the most satisfying caches we have found in a long time. 
The crabs and several flocks of black swans were the only wildlife we encountered.
Last night as I pondered all the imaginary things that could go wrong [tsunamis, being stranded until low tide tonight at 9.45, etc, etc] I was convinced that only sadists would put a cache in such a place but the whole experience turned out to be safe and most enjoyable. So thanks for sending us out there.
The crabs and several flocks of black swans were the only wildlife we encountered. Last night as I pondered all the imaginary things that could go wrong [tsunamis, being stranded until low tide tonight at 9.45, etc, etc] I was convinced that only sadists would put a cache in such a place but the whole experience turned out to be safe and most enjoyable. So thanks for sending us out there.
Rated: for Overall Experience
After spending the night at your one-night camping cache (GA4217), we went for a walk up the Nut. From the various lookouts up there we had a fine view of East Inlet and watched the tide recede with interest as we walked around. I had made a careful note of the tide times before we left, so knew exactly when low tide was going to be. We still had a few hours, so went and ate a nice lunch in a cafe in town, then headed for our beach adventure.
We began our crossing at 1pm: one hour before low tide, from your cache 'Trainline was here once' GA4216. We left that cache for later because we were on a time-critical mission. It was pretty easy walking across the sand bars. The channels were shallow and warm and didn't come further than knee height, though some strategy was involved in trying to avoid the deeper water; we avoided the darker areas and went for the lighter patches as much as possible.
There were thousands and THOUSANDS of little soldier crabs, but despite their vast numbers these are harmless and scurry away at your approach. A flock of seabirds wasn't too happy with us passing their nesting site on the sandbar and made quite a noise hovering in the air above us!
It took us 45 minutes to make the crossing. Upon reaching the dunes, we debated whether the cache was on the left or right side. It appeared to be on the right (south), but upon attempting to go that way found it boggy. So we walked along the beach on the northern side of the dunes, which was much easier walking, till about 150m from the cache, whence we climbed the dunes and approached over the top.
The cache was found easily, where we discovered we weren't FTF again.
Signed the log and then thought the best way back was to retrace our steps (the GPS helped greatly with this!) Climbed back over the dunes and along the beach again, following the same route through the channels... till my partner decided to take a short cut, and then we hit waist-deep water. (Lesson: don't deviate from the plan!! ) So a couple of articles of clothing had to be removed. But it was a warm day and the water very warm so it was actually very pleasant.
So we had no problems with the crossing, it was quite fun and easier than expected. Agreed with everything that has been said about carefully researching tide times as there is only a small window of opportunity to make the crossing before the channels become too swift and deep. This is an excellent cache to do on a hot day when you don't mind a paddle.
Thanks Tassyexplorer for a very enjoyable cache!!
We began our crossing at 1pm: one hour before low tide, from your cache 'Trainline was here once' GA4216. We left that cache for later because we were on a time-critical mission. It was pretty easy walking across the sand bars. The channels were shallow and warm and didn't come further than knee height, though some strategy was involved in trying to avoid the deeper water; we avoided the darker areas and went for the lighter patches as much as possible.
There were thousands and THOUSANDS of little soldier crabs, but despite their vast numbers these are harmless and scurry away at your approach. A flock of seabirds wasn't too happy with us passing their nesting site on the sandbar and made quite a noise hovering in the air above us!
It took us 45 minutes to make the crossing. Upon reaching the dunes, we debated whether the cache was on the left or right side. It appeared to be on the right (south), but upon attempting to go that way found it boggy. So we walked along the beach on the northern side of the dunes, which was much easier walking, till about 150m from the cache, whence we climbed the dunes and approached over the top.
The cache was found easily, where we discovered we weren't FTF again.
Signed the log and then thought the best way back was to retrace our steps (the GPS helped greatly with this!) Climbed back over the dunes and along the beach again, following the same route through the channels... till my partner decided to take a short cut, and then we hit waist-deep water. (Lesson: don't deviate from the plan!! ) So a couple of articles of clothing had to be removed. But it was a warm day and the water very warm so it was actually very pleasant.So we had no problems with the crossing, it was quite fun and easier than expected. Agreed with everything that has been said about carefully researching tide times as there is only a small window of opportunity to make the crossing before the channels become too swift and deep. This is an excellent cache to do on a hot day when you don't mind a paddle.
Thanks Tassyexplorer for a very enjoyable cache!!
Rated: for Overall Experience
At our second attempt, we finally found access and made a find. About 10 days ago we attempted this cache, starting about 2 hours before low tide. We took, as much as possible, a fairly direct route towards GZ but were thwarted when we were within about 400m of the cache by a deep, swiftly flowing channel. We waited until low tide but still could not find away to cross. After studying the topography of the area on Google Earth, realising that sand and sand bars often move, we set off again today. The low tide at Stanley was to be 0.3m (0.7 on our previous attempt). We decided to walk southwards along East Inlet until we could find a safe spot to cross the main channel. Again we started a little over 2 hours before low tide. After walking on solid sand, sea grasses and, in places, sinking up to our knees in very soft sand/mud, we found a point to cross the main channel safely (S40 49.060 E145 17.267). After that it was relatively easy walking. After about 1.75 hours we reached GZ where we made a very quick find - this surprised us as there was a cache difficulty of 3! We set out on our return about 20 minutes before low tide. We were very surprised how much the water had fallen in the last 60 minutes. So, we headed off in a direct route back to the car. Were able to wade through the channels quite easily (deepest was only up to our knees but previously it would have been another 0.4m higher) and we returned to our car in about 40 minutes. This was a great cache in that it provided a real challenge requiring a preliminary visit, research and development of an access strategy. It also took us to a location where there are so many different types of water and sea birds, "millions" of crabs of different sizes, many different shells and, today, one very big jellyfish. Based on our experience we suggest that: this cache be attempted when the low tide at Stanley is 0.3m or less if possible; the walk be started about an hour before low tide so that the deepest channels (on the eastern side) are crossed (over and back) within about 30 minutes of either side of low tide; and that great care be taken when wading through the channels as the tidal flow is very strong except at the turn of the tide. Thank you TassyExplorer for a great cache and a great experience. However, we do suggest that the rating be changed to 1/4 - the terrain certainly justifies a "4" but the very easy find at GZ only warrants a "1". Oh, by the way, a FTF.
