Richard [Pet Rocks at Brimbank] Keilor East, Victoria, Australia
By
caughtatwork on 30-Jun-12. Waypoint GA4451
Cache Details
| Difficulty: | |
| Terrain: | |
| Type: | Traditional |
| Container: | Micro |
| Coordinates: | S37° 43.908' E144° 50.242' (WGS 84) |
| 55H 309425E 5821740N (UTM) | |
| Elevation: | 61 m |
| Local Government Area: | Brimbank |
/144.837367,-37.7318,14/400x200?access_token=pk.eyJ1IjoiY2F1Z2h0YXR3b3JrIiwiYSI6ImNqa2l4ZzNzMDE5bjgzdm1sZGpuODF1Mm0ifQ.q8YMzVyzDJJlJHHV8EMjwQ)
Description
R is for Richard [Pet Rocks at Brimbank]
Do you remember the fad of pet rocks? Did you want one? Do you even know what I'm talking about?
Take a stroll around Brimbank Park where you will find 26 pet rocks hiding out just waiting for you to come and find them. They may be tricky. They may be easy. They will all be identifiable as pet rocks and you'll understand why when you find the first one. If you bring your smart phone with you, at the top of each log sheet is a QR code which you can scan into your phone and it will take you directly to the log page for this cache. This means you can log each pet rock while you stroll to the next.
Brimbank Park is situated in the north-western Melbourne suburb of Keilor. (Melway ref: 15 A10). Entry is via Keilor Park Drive which is off the Western Ring Road. In 1976 Brimbank Park was opened as part of the Maribyrnong Valley Park, combined with the adjacent Horseshoe Bend Children's farm and Greenvale Reservoir Park. The Maribyrnong River has hollowed out a valley some 55 metres below the Keilor Plain, with a steep bank on the northern side and gentle terraces on the southern side forming a huge amphitheatre. The park has several sheltered picnic areas, gas barbecues, picnic tables, and playgrounds. For those who forget their picnic basket, there is the Leaping Lizard Cafe in the visitors centre. A network of cycling and walking tracks cross the park, as well as self guided walking trails.
Come and take a few hours to walk around the park, picking up some pet rocks along the way.
Hints
Haqre gur yvc bs gur ynetr ebpx ba gur "vaare pvepyr". |
|
Decode |
Logs
#GA5114 - 15:25; In Melbourne for a couple of days and between errands, there is time for a spot of caching. I collected "the magic box" for the Victorian Reverse Geocache (GA6859) from its CO and then set off on my mission. Collected some caches along the way, then did a bit of work for the geodaughter before getting back to the mission. I originally had company when the trip was planned and the unfound caches in this series wasn't on the agenda. That all changed after the recent COVID cases and I was travelling solo, so decided to clear some of the caches I hadn't found, but my usual caching companion had. Managed to collect eight pet rocks today and not sure how the other one didn't make it into the PQ! Looks like I'll be back again for that one. Found this one on hands and knees wit the aid of the hint. Log container and the top half of the fake rock located, but no bottom half. TFTC caughtatwork 
Rated: for Overall Experience
Following a 1,300 km round trip over the last two days, I decided a good leg stretch was in order.
Reading the last line of the cache description "Come and take a few hours to walk around the park, picking up some pet rocks along the way." I was hooked.
This was the ideal location to wind down on the way home.
The weather looked somewhat threatening, but hey, it is Melbourne after all.
Donning my raincoat, eTrex10, pen and phone in hand, I set off.
Leaving "Noah" behind I took the road less traveled as I gained lots of elevation.
For 1,085 days "Richard" has remained in seclusion. Today I paid him a much overdue visit.
I tentatively approached his abode and with much trepidation began to go room to room until he was spotted, sound asleep in the side room. As others have noted, he was a little short but his camo top was still in good order. Signed, photo taken and returned, Richard is longer *unloved* and is now also *recommended*
As I admired the commanding views from up on high I spied my GeoVehicle way down there in the distance. It kind of adds some perspective to the journey.
I ended up with five finds and no DNFs for my wander.
Thank you for placing this cache up here caughtatwork, I doubt that I would ever have taken this trail otherwise.
Reading the last line of the cache description "Come and take a few hours to walk around the park, picking up some pet rocks along the way." I was hooked.
This was the ideal location to wind down on the way home.
The weather looked somewhat threatening, but hey, it is Melbourne after all.
Donning my raincoat, eTrex10, pen and phone in hand, I set off.
Leaving "Noah" behind I took the road less traveled as I gained lots of elevation.
For 1,085 days "Richard" has remained in seclusion. Today I paid him a much overdue visit.
I tentatively approached his abode and with much trepidation began to go room to room until he was spotted, sound asleep in the side room. As others have noted, he was a little short but his camo top was still in good order. Signed, photo taken and returned, Richard is longer *unloved* and is now also *recommended*
As I admired the commanding views from up on high I spied my GeoVehicle way down there in the distance. It kind of adds some perspective to the journey.
I ended up with five finds and no DNFs for my wander.
Thank you for placing this cache up here caughtatwork, I doubt that I would ever have taken this trail otherwise.
Rated: for Overall Experience
GCA Find #100
My 100th GCA Cache. Back to Brimbank today hopefully grab all the remaining caches. Found using the hint. It was with caution that I found the cache. During the search another set of eyes was looking at me. A Blue tongue Lizard was keeping this cache company. The plastic base of the cache was missing.
Thanks CAUGHTATWORK
TFTC.
My 100th GCA Cache. Back to Brimbank today hopefully grab all the remaining caches. Found using the hint. It was with caution that I found the cache. During the search another set of eyes was looking at me. A Blue tongue Lizard was keeping this cache company. The plastic base of the cache was missing.
Thanks CAUGHTATWORK
TFTC.
Rated: for Overall Experience
As I rod along the ridge had the chance of some great plane spotting.
This one was a little obvious on its hide.
I sat and signed the log before moving on.
TFTC
This one was a little obvious on its hide.
I sat and signed the log before moving on.
TFTC
Rated: for Overall Experience
Another one I missed last time round...and one geo_jas needed to complete the series, so we headed further along the trail and soon had this one in hand.
Good to be back and to finish the series off.
Thanks again caughtatwork.
Good to be back and to finish the series off.
Thanks again caughtatwork.
Rated: for Overall Experience
Found at 09:19
Sol de lune and I headed off to grab some pretty rock caches before the event officially kicked off. This was the only one that I wasn't able to find when I did the series about 14 months ago so it was nice to tick it off the list.
Thanks caughtatwork for the cache. This was a really fun series.
Sol de lune and I headed off to grab some pretty rock caches before the event officially kicked off. This was the only one that I wasn't able to find when I did the series about 14 months ago so it was nice to tick it off the list.
Thanks caughtatwork for the cache. This was a really fun series.
In light of the last logs and the event coming up in Brimbank Park this weekend, Mrs. caughtatwork and I took a trip out today to replace the cache with one I'd prepared earlier. We arrived at the park at 5:00pm to discover the gates shut at 4:30pm. Dang!
A 1km walk across the flat of the top of the park to get to GZ was in order and we headed off into the slowly fading light, careful to try and avoid the bunny scratchings across the fields. The setting sun was quite a sight as we headed towards GZ, but sans camera, we had to admire the sunset privately.
Arriving at GZ I can confirm that the cactus is gone (dead rather than removed) and that the cache was not in the expected place, but, what, only about 1m from the hide, there, out on the grass was Richard. It seems that one of the aforementioned bunnies may have kicked the cache out of the hiding place and onto the grass. Luckily this park does not get regular mowing.
So with the original cache in hand and a duplicate, we decided to save the duplicate for any future replacements and replace Richard back in the hide for future finders.
Everything is ready to go at this location.
A 1km walk across the flat of the top of the park to get to GZ was in order and we headed off into the slowly fading light, careful to try and avoid the bunny scratchings across the fields. The setting sun was quite a sight as we headed towards GZ, but sans camera, we had to admire the sunset privately.
Arriving at GZ I can confirm that the cactus is gone (dead rather than removed) and that the cache was not in the expected place, but, what, only about 1m from the hide, there, out on the grass was Richard. It seems that one of the aforementioned bunnies may have kicked the cache out of the hiding place and onto the grass. Luckily this park does not get regular mowing.
So with the original cache in hand and a duplicate, we decided to save the duplicate for any future replacements and replace Richard back in the hide for future finders.
Everything is ready to go at this location.
I had a good scrounge around both big rocks and the grass where the cactus had been (it's long give) but couldn't find Richard. That's annoying, I was hoping to get the whole series.
Ran out of time for this one......want to finish the series so will head back next time I'm in Melbourne....
Thanks anyway....
Edit...actually, I've walked past this one on the way to Q and simply missed it. Oh well, one for another day....
Thanks anyway....
Edit...actually, I've walked past this one on the way to Q and simply missed it. Oh well, one for another day....
Found on our caravanning and caching tour of the area a great series that we enjoyed.
Appreciate the time and effort gone into placing these caches and the pet rock theme bought a smile to our faces every time we found one. Thanks caughtatwork.
Appreciate the time and effort gone into placing these caches and the pet rock theme bought a smile to our faces every time we found one. Thanks caughtatwork.
Rated: for Overall Experience
Found during our christmas lunch in the park.
A bit hot to be out and about so we only picked up a few.
TFTC
A bit hot to be out and about so we only picked up a few.
TFTC
Date: 18.11.2012
Time: 1:24
Today, my caching buddy SedgwickDave and I were headed for Brimbank Park to find the 26 GCA Caches that had been placed there. It started as a rainy morning but ended up as a beautiful sunny day. but first thing is first, find a few caches on the way. Also, as is also a self imposed requirement for our caching runs is to find at least three different cache types. We managed five today... Trad, Multi, Puzzle, Earth and Letterbox.
Another quick find on our cycle around the park
Apologies for the copy and paste, just too many to remember
Thanks to caughtatwork for the hide and the series.
Time: 1:24
Today, my caching buddy SedgwickDave and I were headed for Brimbank Park to find the 26 GCA Caches that had been placed there. It started as a rainy morning but ended up as a beautiful sunny day. but first thing is first, find a few caches on the way. Also, as is also a self imposed requirement for our caching runs is to find at least three different cache types. We managed five today... Trad, Multi, Puzzle, Earth and Letterbox.
Another quick find on our cycle around the park
Apologies for the copy and paste, just too many to remember
Thanks to caughtatwork for the hide and the series.
Rated: for Overall Experience
Found with Ahomburg today while on the bikes riding around this great park. Got a flat half way thru so not only did I find caches but had to pump the tie up every 5mins. A fun day with a work out taking about 4hrs to complete. With only 1 not found and 1 other not attempted due to muggles.
With the sun out and the grass long I wasn't keen on poking around here too much. This was the first of this series that I attempted. It's probably there but I didn't want to find an unfriendly stick in the grass so let it be.
Back on the trail of the Pet Rocks after a pathtag interlude 
, this was next on the journey. It had me going for a while, even with a look at the hint but finally I looked deep inside the soul of the cache and had the stash in hand not long after at 13:10 .
TNLNSL. Thanks caughtatwork.
, this was next on the journey. It had me going for a while, even with a look at the hint but finally I looked deep inside the soul of the cache and had the stash in hand not long after at 13:10 .TNLNSL. Thanks caughtatwork.
Took the opportunity of a quiet and wonderful Winters day to go to the park and complete the series in new day. Not many people about, which helped me to ho end.
Great series, certainly worth the effort to complete. Thanks for taking me here. TFTC
Great series, certainly worth the effort to complete. Thanks for taking me here. TFTC
Rated: for Overall Experience
12:20
A beautiful sunny Sunday... perfect for packing some sandwiches and taking a stroll in Brimbank Park. Time for some Quality Family Time™, and all that entails: niggling, whining, complaining... and that was just from the adults.
Seriously, though, we had a great time finding the last half of the Pet Rocks together, with the girls taking turns at retrieving the containers for me to log. All in all, a fun day, finished off with the reward of hot chocolates and coffee at the cafe.
Thanks for a great series, caughtatwork.
A beautiful sunny Sunday... perfect for packing some sandwiches and taking a stroll in Brimbank Park. Time for some Quality Family Time™, and all that entails: niggling, whining, complaining... and that was just from the adults.
Seriously, though, we had a great time finding the last half of the Pet Rocks together, with the girls taking turns at retrieving the containers for me to log. All in all, a fun day, finished off with the reward of hot chocolates and coffee at the cafe.
Thanks for a great series, caughtatwork.
Rated: for Overall Experience
Found by Team Ladava as we continued our stroll around this delightful park.
We had a couple of hours to spare between a little shopping in Highpoint and the appointment with the dog groomer so what better use could we put it to?
Our thanks to caughtatwork for your work in putting together this mini powertrail.
Cheers
Ian & Sandra
Team Ladava
We had a couple of hours to spare between a little shopping in Highpoint and the appointment with the dog groomer so what better use could we put it to?
Our thanks to caughtatwork for your work in putting together this mini powertrail.
Cheers
Ian & Sandra
Team Ladava
Rated: for Overall Experience
We were looking at a map showing caches in the Woodlands area. We then looked at the surrounding areas and noticed a very interesting group of caches, the Pet Rocks at Brimbank. We decided to visit today for some preliminary work to assess what may be needed to attempt the series. We found the first Pet Rock at 3:15pm and were back in the car by 4:30pm heading to an appointment having found a total of 14 Pet Rocks. In every case we found that the coordinates were very accurate and resulted in short searches. Normally we would write some comments specific to each cache but to do so for caches in this series may disclose too much information about the hide. So, we have opted for a commen log for each find. We really enjoyed the walk through this great park and the hunting down of Pet Rocks was a great way to spend part of the afternoon. We hope to return tomorrow to look for the remainder. Thanks for a great concept caughtatwork and thanks for the caches.
It was a cold start to the day but great for a walk around Brimbank Park searching for a few new GCA caches. After a DNF on the first one we got into our caching groove and had a fantastic time finding all the hides. We will return to finish off the series very soon.
TNLNSL
Thanks C@W, we appreciate the effort put into this series.
TNLNSL
Thanks C@W, we appreciate the effort put into this series.
Rated: for Overall Experience
I saw these get published, then my heart sunk when I saw pwags was quickly on the scene to gather up the FTF goodness. Needing a good string of finds in a day, I decided to give these a go instead of venturing south to pick up the JackSpeak series. I awoke far too early thanks to the cold so after giving the sleep option a miss (it just wasn't going to happen) I got up and planned a day's geocaching - priority #1 get the pet rocks! I detoured to grab another GCA cache on the way, then headed to Brimbank where it was still kind of quiet, although the dog-walkers were out and about, from Chihuahua to Irish Wolf Horse, uh, Hound - and a few of my favourites the Staffy. Richard wasn't a tricky dick, quickly revealing his hiding place - as time goes on he may be harder to get at though. FTF #11 for today
Today was my opportunity to clean up the remaining half of this mini power trail, after grabbing the first 13 caches as FTF's last weekend. As there were no other logs yet online, I thought I'd be getting another 13 FTF's but as I opened the log for each one today, I found that I'd been beaten to them - congratulations to quiet1_au!
As I said last week, this is a great little power trail - many thanks to caughtatwork for hiding these cute little rocks.
Found this one at 2:12pm.
As I said last week, this is a great little power trail - many thanks to caughtatwork for hiding these cute little rocks.
Found this one at 2:12pm.
Rated: for Overall Experience
