Mission 8: Wattle’s Edge Elgar Park, Victoria, Australia
By Project APE on 12-Jul-01. Waypoint GC1058

Can this cache be revived?? The category is still live.

I visited the site of this cache today and can confirm it is no longer there. The cache used to be next to a tree and covered in branches. The branches are now strewn around the place in the long grass with no sign of the cache. A sad end to one of the most visited caches in Victoria. Perhaps the location was a bit too public.

I may have to place another cache in this area...stay tuned..

We found the note mentioned by the last poster when we failed to find the cache earlier in the month.

It was under the tree that looked like it had been napalmed. We moved the note a bit so it might not have been so obviously under the right tree. This tree best matches earlier descriptions of the cache location.

We agree that it would be useful for someone to check the cache - we too checked very comprehensively.

I will archive this for now until I can get someone to go out and check on it. - Admin

This was a first attempt at finding a cache, therefore disappointing.

Visited twice: yesterday and again today with reinforcements, taking all previous hints into consideration. Neither time successful. However, we did find the remnants of a plastic covered note that might indicate someone else's treasure hunt game had a target near by. It read something like: Here it is, the far away tree. Climb up to collect your prize.

Perhaps, someone from that hunt found this cache and the rest is history.

It would be great if someone who has previously found the cache could confirm whether or not it is still there.

Couldn't find it after a great deal of looking. There was a big tree within 30m of the GPS point that looked like it had been napalmed, which makes me suspicious.

This was found in an area I'd been to once before. There were people everywhere. Our GPS put us about 30m from the spot. Someone else wrote the same thing in the log book. It took us awhile as we thought that it may have been hidden really well seeing it was a commercial cache. We took the puzzle and left the CD....were off to the bakery now...

Mark (embi) George, Kylie, Zach and Jess (goanna)

Fond this one with embi.

First cache!

Didn't have anything with me to swap, but found it none the less. It was a pretty cool trying to find my way down there without using a map, and slowly wandering through
the streets to get there.

Pity my wife and I missed the APE items, but it was still pretty cool finding one anyway!

Well, with a bit of luck I will be exploring more of Melbourne with a stack of cache replacements.

Found by Greg and Bev on our second visit. Didn't look hard enough the first time. Swapped a puzzle for the lighter.

Yeah!!!!
My first cache find. Found it last night, not too hard to find, even in the dark. Left a message in the log only.

Found by Ray and Maya at 12:10 PM on Sunday the 29th of July 2001. An easy cache to find, despite the fact that the GPS placed us about 40 metres from the cache location. Maya found the cache by searching whilst I waited for the GPS to restart. The trees did not appear to be affecting the GPS. The cache was well camouflaged, blending in with its surroundings. We took nothing but left a Guardian Angel Bear to protect the cache. Thanks for the outing, Ray and Maya (Nomads).

Great cache and I especially liked the container. Found it quite easily and for a change the weather was great.
We took the blank CD and left a packet of hot glue sticks.
Found by- Darryn, Ross, Phillip Wendy and Sheree.

Woohoo! I was so close to it yesterday - I looked from the other side of the tree and didn't see it. Was much easier today after checking some of the logs here last night. No exchange took place.

Either this agent is incompetent or the authorities have removed it. Hmmmm. After just reading others comments, I will have to have another go tomorrow!

What a find congratulations. I hope APE comes our way soon. Very exciting.

OK - by popular demand here are some photos of the ape knife taken with my brother-in-law's digital camera. I'll post photos of the cache when I get them developed from my somewhat less than digital camera.

User's web page
Is that knife metal ?
I hope not... imagine if the police discovered that someone had placed a nice big knife in a box in the middle of a public park... hmm...
Looks cool though! congratulations!
Zaph

Had a second go this morning following all the helpful hints. Found it virtually straight away but about 30 metres from where my GPS repeatedly says it should be. Might need new batteries! No sign of any tickets. Swapped the cassette for a CD-R. The location is a bit exposed, especially if a bit of gardening is done. It also doesn't contain a Geocache explanatory sheet so if a non-caching foreign agent does discover it, it'll be gone.

So how about as an added bonus for all the participants of the search; Tickets to the Melbourne premiere of Planet of the Apes.

Joint effort with Tonymid who found the actual cache. We drove to the site together but when we arrived in the general location it was a race to find it with us both having our GPS's with us. We too found ourselves around a very large tree but after the other Tony read the comments from previous cachers he headed of in the wrong direction, I thought! but he found it straight away. Nice spot. My son Daniel was with us and he swapped a can of Coke & a cigerette lighter for the overseas coins. Thanks for the lunch time challenge. The Brierley's

Sunday 15/07/01 14:36
Our team of three, discovered the cache on the second attempt.
(The 1st attempt @ 9:30 last nite was called off for fear our torch lights may attract unwanted attention from authorities).
After 30 mins of searching, we found the ammo box, and took the Ape Cap. The signed log-book & instant camera were returned to the cache and we added a cassette of The Corrs 'In Blue' and a GPS rental business card.
***
The colour of the ammo box camouflages the cache quite well, the descriptions below are quite accurate and there are alot of branches at the base of the tree.... Good luck

Quasar,
Could you post a picture of the item you found..
Sounds like an awesome find!!

The GPS took my daughters and I to a large gum tree about 20 metres off a path. The ground around was covered by leaf litter, bark and small branches but there was nowhere obvious as a hiding place for the cache. After searching fruitlessly under the debris for nearly an hour we gave up when it started raining. Any further clues?

User's web page
*** JNEAVAT - PBAGNVAF FCBVYRE *** Gur TCF qbrfa'g tvir gur rknpg cbfvgvba, ohg vg jnf jvguva 30z bs gur cngu.Cyhf gur gerr pbire znl perngr reebe va gur TCF ernqvatf.Vg gbbx hf 30zvahgrf gb svaq va gur qnex, vg jbhyq unir gnxra 10-15 zvahgrf va gur qnlyvtug**** JNEAVAT **** FCBVYRE **** Jr sbhaq vg nobhg 5-10z FR bs gur ybpngvba zl TCF frggyrq qbja gb.gur pnpur jnf haqre n fznyy cvyr bs oenapurf ng gur onfr bs n gerr. Znal gerrf unir gurfr cvyrf bs oenapurf fb lbh unir gb ybbx nebhaq.Gur ybpngvba jnf nobhg 20-25z fbhgu bs gur cngu, gbjneqf gur ohvyqvatf.**** JNEAVAT **** FCBVYRE ****Bs pbhefr, vg'f cbffvoyr gur fvgr jnf pyrnerq naq gur pnpur fgbyra, ohg vg jnf gurer 24uef ntb.Mncu

V qba'g guvax gur cbfvgvba tvira vf va reebe. Zl TCF mrebrq va ba n srj fcbgf jvguva nobhg 40z bs gur npghny fvgr...ohg gung nyjnlf unccraf...gerr pbire jnfa'g onq. Nf nyjnlf V uhagrq nebhaq n snveyl jvqr nern orsber V sbhaq vg...ohg vg jnf va bar bs gur fcbgf V gubhtug V jbhyq'ir chg vg, vs V jnf uvqvat vg. V qvq guvax vg jnf n ovg rkcbfrq, naq fbzrbar zvtug unir pbzr ol naq gnxra vg...ohg gung cneg bs gur cnex qvqa'g frrz greevoyl cbchyne jvgu gur ivfvgbef.

User's web page
I've just posted some night-vision video footage of the cache from our hunt (no audio, it was innane) on my website - (visit link) The footage shows us opening the cache, the logbook and instructions, the Tshirt and cap, and shows us hiding it again - all in Blair-Witch style nightvision.
Zaph

Should be called the Lunchtime Cache for all of us who work in the Eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Found this one with Tonybri and Daniel. Good fun, easy cache. I didn't exchange anything.

Mission successfully completed 14/7/2001 approx 13:30. This is a popular area on a Saturday. There were a number of suspicous looking individuals (possibly government agents) posing as civic-minded people removing rubbish from the park. I was a little concerned that they may stumble across the cache and remove it. After a half hour search I found it and took the curiously shaped knife inside. Took 2 pictures on the camera and left it for the next visitor. I left some examples of current and historic planet earth currency, which could be useful if a future mission involves time travel....

User's web page
Wow - I looked on the geocaching site this afternoon to discovere that the Project APE cache was in Australia...
and in Victoria...
and when I checked the location, it was within 10kms of my house !!!!!

We quickly found some batteries for the GPS, and as we were getting ready to leave the site updated and we knew someone else had got their first - who cares! - we hopped into the car, and raced to the location. It was dark by the time we got there, so we were hunting around with torches (very cool fun, made it feel more sinister)
Finally my girlfriend found the actual cache - much to her excitement! (we were all looking at the same spot, her eyes were better
I took the T-Shirt, and left some boring items (all we could find as we rushed to the site) - some USA and AUS currency, a McDonalds voucher, a girls hairclip with a star on it, and some business cards

I imagine its really easy to find during the day, but at night it's pretty hard.
I recommend anyone in the vicinity goes for a look, take the kids if you have them - anyone can find this cache.

I took some video which I will place on my website later tonight (in Blair-Witch style nightvision!)

Zaph