The Case of the Missing Masts Diggers Rest, Victoria, Australia
By Team Ladava on 17-May-08. Waypoint GC1CBHQ

Well, it's time to say goodbye to this one as it has been destroyed, I suspect by someone jumping on it. Thankfully with the heads-up by WambatWarriors3 we were able to quickly check it and were thrilled to find the two TBs amongst the litter.
In the two and a half years of it's existence the passing traffic has grown enormously so it is time to go.
Our thanks to all Teams for their favourable comments on the significant history marked by the cache.
Cheers
Ian & Sandra
Team Ladava

Driving past today and noticed debris at location of cache. Fear that this hide has been compromised - urgent attention required. Too many people around for me to have a closer look.

found it with Crank1 and Laker63

forgot to add drop TB

saw lovely picture of Australia flag which the garage's painted.
Found with Laker63, Alchemy2.
Drop TB
TFTC

quick found with crank1 and alchemy2

Always love a story behind a cache hide.. easy to cache to retrieve at 08.30. Might be harder a peak travel times with plenty of vehicles around.
Thanks for the history lesson

found with xesist, very windy ! tftc.

Found with vicbradybunch, our first cache off the ranks for today, almost our last as the wind tried to blow us off course and the doors off the car!! TNLN, TFTC.

Found on a very cold windy muddy day.

Quick drive-by while travelling from Werribee to Sunbury. TNLN TFTC

A nice drive-by, but had to take the cache back to the geomobile to avoid being spotted by muggles. We did replace it though!! Took a dinosaur & left a soldier. TFTC

[purple]iGude[/purple][font=Comic Sans MS]

yep. this cache doesn't need a hint. Maybe if there is some snow but I guess that isn't very likely

[green]Dankeschön & Cheers
Philipp[/green]

[url=http://twitter.com/derfuzzel][green]twitter.com/derfuzzel[/green][/url]

A nice piece of history but the retrieval was a little tricky with so much afternoon traffic. Luckily there's a place to pull over nearby. T beads, L Glass Easter Egg. TFTC

I was wondering why this cache was ere! Now I know, interesting stuff. I must admit it was lost on me as the streams of Longweekend traffic poured past barely allowing 30 seconds to grab, then replace the cache! Cheers from Sydney.

Rated: for Overall Experience

Found while on a day trip to Bendigo. I just love old military bases TFTC SL

Quick find on the way through to Bendigo TFTC TNLN SL

Last find for the evening... just as I was walking from the car (where I had logged it) back to return the cache a car pulls over and lights start flashing - an unmarked cop car! 3yos are useful - I just said she was needing to pee and we were heading behind trees for privacy. He apologised and left quickly. I was telling the truth, she DID need to pee and I just happened to be returning the cache at the same time.

Tristan the Travel Turtle Tag (TTQWTC) has come for a flying visit back in time.

We found this one when it was quite dark, luckily we found it quickly.
What an interesting snippit of information.
Thanks Team Ladava for this cache.

Care had to be taken a lot of traffic.
It is a pity we lose so many little bits and pieces.
I talk about things that have gone from town & my kids just
shake their head telling me to stop living in the pass.

Found on our way home to NZ following the Wagga Wagga MEGA Event.

Out and about at night, one of our finds.
TFTC

Couldn't see any masts in the dark either Cheers Gav [5612]

Quick find at night. T4TC, M@

We visited this spot at night.
One of many caches done on our Wagga Wagga MEGA Event trip from NZ.
TFTC

Found it No. 2520 ... quick find ... TNLN

Found by The Empire
Cool, quick drive by! Thanks.
- M

tftc T-white car,L-puzzle

Based on the informative notes provided by 'Team Ladava' and the Logs of other Cachers I just had to make a plod for this one located not too far from Diggers Rest Railway Station, albeit along a busy road. It must be the 4WD capital of Victoria near this Cache. I'd never seen so many of these 'Tanks' and had to deploy a range of non-Geocaching disguises in order to 'carpe diem' to grab the Cache. This included, 'pretending to take photographs', 'being a Tree Doctor', 'repairing the barbed wire fence', 'tying up my shoelaces', 'putting on my sunscreen, again', etc. A gap in the 4WD procession occurred and I quickly grabbed the Cache, filled the Log, and returned to the Cache again to its hiding spot least be seen. Nearby, in a small copse of Eucalypts were the noisiest and loudest flock of Cockatoos I had ever seen. I'd reckon in the thousands - but how do you count a flock of Cockatoos? Answer: with great difficulty, if at all. From GZ you can see the plains and some Hills including Mount Cottrell, site of an excellent Earthcache. Thank you to 'Team Ladava' for the well researched notes and for a quirky placed Cache. A caching plod with a difference! TNLN. TQP

Grabbed this while passing by.
TNLNSL
TFTC

Nice little Saturday arvo drive to take little AMM9449 out of the house.
Interestig the airplanes were landing from the west today..??
Anyway - TFTC TNLN SL

Found on a big day driving to Western Victoria. This was such a busy intersection we had to wait for quite a while to be able to return the cache to its hiding spot. Left a matchbox car, took nothing. TFTC.

A nice quick find on my way back from the airport where the planes today were all using much more modern means of communications. We'll I think they were. I guess I really have no idea what they were doing.

At one point somewhere in far north Qld a Virgin plane few right over the top of us (at 80 degree angle). He seemed very close. I hope they were using appropriate comms at the time.

TFTC.

Nice bit of history here tftc!!

Quick drive by cache. SL TFTH.

Rockbank stole them , look there .
Interesting history on radio communications thanks Team Ladava

This was cache # 21 of 43 for the day, on my trip to the Intervening Days II caching event. I enjoyed reading the history on the cache page, the cache took a few minutes as I waited for a break in the traffic, My thanks to Team Ladava for the cache.

We could not believe how many cars came past this spot. We relied on timing, rather than diversionary tactics though! Thanks for an interesting cache.

Found quite easily in this quite busy spot. Geoson employed some diversionary tactics ... details not needed! TFTC TNLN

My dad worked here in the 60's and met my mum while he was here.

This was a very easy find. I can't see why red tag had so many problems last time. maybe if she stopped telling trouble where she'd be it wouldn't find her so easily. Thanks Team Ladava

almost came to grief a time or two on that roundabout, nice spot

motd guided me here an d pointed out where the army barracks used to be and where the two masts were located...obviously mobile phones work so much better these days #995

A pretty straightforward find - there's not a lot of potential hiding places around here! - but an interesting slice of history attached.

TNLN TFTC

[This entry was edited by monch's mob on Sunday, August 23, 2009 at 6:22:23 PM.]

Nicely done, tried not to look too conspicuous while at GZ.

NINO, TFTC!

Find # 117 @ 13:00 on bleak and wet Tuesday. Had to wait for a grader to finish and move on before I could pounce on the cache. TNLNSL TFTC

FOUND @ 1:25 LOTS OF ROAD WORKS TFTC

found at 5.55pm nice size cache for the locaction. i remember when the old arials used to be there from when i was a little kid being in the backseat and only just being able to see out the window.

TNLNSL

cheers scott&nat

Found 17:10, a nice easy find.

TNLN, CSi=1, thanks Team Ladava.

a quick spin around the roundabout and we were there. we had with us non geo friends (they have however been with us before) and before i could get out of the car male frind was out and looking. but i found.

Nice easy one. Road works going on at the moment, but don't seem to be affecting GZ.

This was a nice quick drive by with very few passing cars. Nice bit of history as well. Thanks for the cache.

A quick and easy find, only a few horseless carriages around at 11am. No sign ofr any masts .

Great Cache!

We found the missing masts on the way home from the Airport. Luckily it was Sunday morning and most people were still in bed so it was a nice quick find and replace this morning.
Thanks Team Ladava.

Found at 3.00pm GAFF1 - a very un-Lavadish hide this one!
Maybe the masts went over to Kununurra? Not being from the west, we never saw or knew the history of this site. Wonder if the the animals realise what they are standing in!
Thanks Team Ladava.

Found it today in the rain. New roadworks on that road made it very had due to muggles, as there are traffic lights less than 15 meters away. Had to wait for green lights to get out and get it and put it back. Enjoyed the History, thank-you.

9th of 18 finds for theday @ 0830. Quick easy find while pretending to make a phone call conversation to avoid suspicion from passing motorists. Thanks for the history on the radio masts.

TNLNSL TFTC

Found by Bob at 1140

Another nice, uncomplicated hide from the Ladava team. I must admit to wondering about the cache name until coming to do my logs and reading the description in full - maybe they just miniatuised it all and it now sits in a microchip somewhere in the middle of the field .

TNLN

Thanks again Team Ladava

I drive past here every day. Thanks for the radio tower info. I had no idea. High volume of traffic made this cache difficult to retrieve & replace. Lucky I was wearing a high-vis top. I don't think anyone suspected anything. TFTC,

Lots of Traffic, but had my Hi Vis Vest on, so no one blatted an eyelid.

TFTC - and History!

nice easy find....was not hidden that well

had to wait about 5 mins for a decent break in traffic to put it back, and try to hide a bit better...
TFTC

Well I am never going to forget this cache !!!!!!
I'd been up since 4am and flown over from Tassie for a morning appointment and then spent the rest of the day caching so I was starting to feel and LOOK pretty scruffy.
I thought I was doing a pretty good job looking for, finding, replacing, covering etc etc of the cache all whilst picking the gaps between the traffic but every now and then because it is such a busy intersection at 5pm I just had to make out like I was collecting firewood.
Unfortunately I didn't spot the police car and they had been watching me the WHOLE time and were certain I was planting drugs.
They were quick on the scene and their questions were very direct.
I pointed out that I was collecting firewood just as a distraction and when they said that I would be taken in and strip searched my reply of 'oh no I am too dirty for that' definitely wasn't the smartest reply either.
So I went with "have you heard of geocaching??"...they looked at each other while I madly prayed and they replied "NO". Figured I was pretty stuffed then and took a deep breath and then gave them the speil. Sheesh it was really only when I offered to show them the container they started to believe me.
It all ended well and they even forgave me for my comment about how I would have expected them to have known about geacaching because supposedly most experienced police officers do.
I shivered and shook for a little while after but then saw the funny side of the whole thing, and they were doing their job so it's still a very big thank you for the cache Team Lavada

Enjoyed the historical notes, as always. Thanks.

#271
Found with SweetnSweet.
Lots of muggles driving past, but cache was quickly grabbed.
Thanks for the history. Very interesting...

We found our 13th Team Ladava cache at 11:30am as the 5th of 40 on our Sunbury and Beyond Tour IV. A quick duck back and forth across the freeway to pick up this one. An interesting bit of history and a lot of geocachers seem to have had some connection to this spot. I may be the only one who doesn't? Thanks for the cache from D,H,H & A B-A.

Found with Jyetara family on a full day of caching.

Let Daughter Beatrice find this one .. she was all smiles.. very cool spot....

Dropped by and left a TB

NIce and easy find to finish off a trip around victoria for new years. Thanks for this hide and a historical insite! Cheers

Rated: for Overall Experience

A quick maintenance check and picked up a TB in preparation for a road trip north.

RedPaw64 found this cache at 1123. Did some caches in this area while up for the caching event at melton.

NINO TFTC Team Ladava

Nice and simple find at 8:45pm. Not much traffic around. Enjoyed the history, and riblit's annotated image was quite interesting.

TNLN. Thanks!

This cache should be known as " The Case of "Why is this road so busy" Cache! It was out in the middle of no-where and every 30 seconds or thereabouts, cars kept arriving at the roundabout making life difficult. In the end Swaggie1 had to feign car sickness just to get hold of the bl##dy thing. TNLNSL. Thanks Team Ladava for the cache. And did I tell you that the wind out here was b........ freezing with a windchill of minus 10....... Cheers.

Found 22/11/2008 11:13 . A nice quick find in rather inclement conditions on the way to the Xmas event at Bullengarook. Quite a few bogans zoomed by while I was writing my log but they paid me no heed

TNLN

Cheers Team Ladava

Found today. I do remeber all those mast and the ones further over at Rockbank. Thanks for explaing what they were all for. (just a quirky point,is the waypoint GC1 Citizen band head quarters?) In dolphin out screwdriver. SL TFTC

Certainly no sign of radio masts now - just flat rural scenery. Had to bide my time between the traffic of what seems an unusually busy round-about given the location. Thanks.

Found at 13:10 on the way back from Bacchus Marsh. It was a nice sunny warm day and we enjoyed the easy find. TFTC Team Ladava.
T: Geocoin
L: Gauze Pad

This was more like the case of the misguided GPSr, which had me looking on the wrong side of the road at first (and since there is really only one suitable hiding spot, I'm annoyed with myself for being convinced to follow it). I tried to imagine what the area must have looked like, although I was also very aware of the muggle cars speeding past. A nicely stocked cache; I dropped off the Spunkey Monkey TB, which made the cache a bit full, even though I removed Mamaloo's Car TB. Thanks Team Ladava.

The nice early morning caching continued onto this spot. I remember looking at the picture when this cache was published and couldn't believe the location had changed so much. Shepparton has a similar set up which is also the subject of a cache, although our towers are still transmitting I believe.

Wonderful history, thanks for the interesting write-up.

R - B

(BTW, I hate spiders, but I didn't see one here fortunately!)

16:25
Found whilst on our way to Melbourne (slight diversion in a good cause). We remember the multiple masts well and had wondered where they had disappeared to. Cache was quickly located and when found was being guarded by a large member of the arachnid family.

TNLTB .. SL .. TFTH Team Ladava.

Found quickly whilst passing by, I hadn't even noticed the masts missing so I have not been by in a fair while. TNLNSL TFTC

Found today after dropping a friend at the airport. This place would have looked very different not so long ago.

Took: Nothing
Left: Nothing
Thanks for the cache!!!!
Cheers
Whitejaegar

Found by baby&Mrs gopher at 1315.To think at one time this area would have been abuzz with the either being pushed and pulled by radio waves.And now just silence.CQ.CQ.CQ.Took coin left a dog to guard the fence.Tnx Team Ladav

Found by Mary & David at 0950. A fascinating amount of well-researched detail on the background to this site. David was involved with Defence communications in Canberra in one of his postings there, and visited both this site and the one at Rockbank in that capacity. The RAAF had similar, but smaller, sites off the Point Cook Road (Transmitters) and Ballan Road (Receivers). The latter site was still used for lineman training until the late '80s by the RAAF School of Radio at Laverton. Collected 'Taylor Teddy Bug' and dropped off 'Eris' geocoin. Our thanks to Team Ladava.

Found in company with Team Crackers whilst we were on our way to Broken Hill for the fireworks at the Broken Hill Show.

Had to wait for the passing cars and the passing tractor of the farmer ploughing the field before we could make the find.

TNLN TFTC

This was our first cache for the day heading to Broken hill with Vombatus to do the fireworks for the show there. As we pulled we guessed where the cache would be and after the farmer ploughing a paddock where the mast's must have once stood had his back to us Vombatus had the container in hand.
We took nothing but left a tb
Thanks Team Ladava

Found today at 1030.
The 4th of 24 for the day.

Nice easy find.

Took - NIL
Left - NIL

Thanks for the cache,

VKC1SR

Found by Uncle Jiffy on 13 Sep 2008 at 12:34

I knew of the radio masts that were in this area. When I was younger I used to drive past all these wonderful towers, antennas etc and do lots of drooling (I have a hobby in radio). It has been many years since I had been out here and was a touch suprised that all that I drooled over along time ago was now gone. Progress I suppose.

Thanks Team Ladava

Took - Nothing
Left - Nothing

Found with Highrod on our Sunbury Saturday Day Trip.
We smashed our most finds in a day record which was 17, 23 will take quite awhile to break I'm sure!
Find 21/23 at 4:20pm

a quick drive by and a little exposed when logging but who's going to stop anyway?
thanks for the find
cheers

Found by caughtatwork at 12:34
I knew nothing of the masts, so I knew not that they were missing. Uncle Jiffy who was along for the afternoon knew of the masts and was quite surprised that they were missing.
A nice easy find and just at the base of the cache a small reminder of the missing masts in the shape of a huge U clamp.
Took nothing, left nothing.
Thanks Team Ladava for the history of the masts and the opportunity to find this cache today.
*Overall Experience: 3*
GAFF 1

Rated: for Overall Experience

Thanks for an easy drive by cache.
took ear phones
left flashing dolphin badge & figurine

Thanks for the Cache TNLN

At 1545 Found by WombatWarrior3. Nice easy find at a very busy intersection.

TNLN SL
TFTC

Got to gz and retrieved the cache ok despite the traffic. The masts haven't gone, in fact I can see one on the horizon - they are just trying to get away while we aren't looking.... TFTC.

I remember the masts at Rockbank, but not here. Anyway, it's a busy intersection here, but the muggles seem more interested in getting to point B. TFTC.

Found @ 7:23:13 AM (Cachemate time)

I know where they have gone, down memory lane.

I remember a time where all three paddocks had antennas & masts of different sorts. Rhombics, Log Periodics, Curtain Arrays. . . The HF power radiated from here sent signals all around the world.

The station ran 24/7& I spent quite some time doing shift work in "the shack"

I remember a time when there was an electrician working in the roof - he needed a light so he was handed a lit fluoro tube, without any electrical connections!! The look on his face was priceless!

T: N
L: Screwdriver
SL
TFTC
3/08/08
- Bug "Taz In Trouble" taken
- Bug "Crikey Fundraiser Geocoin" dropped

Our first find for the day, and was also to be our 800th Find.
We made this one a drive by, and signed the log in the car.
An easy find as it was fairly exposed and not much around to cover it with.
Fairly muggle free area though.
Took nothing , Left Taz TB.
Thanks Team Ladava

Great cache... reminds me of my time working at the Belconnen Naval Transmitting Station in Canberra in 1989. More masts there..

Something I love about these old Military bases.. of what was, a hype of activity in days gone by. They were a world within a world.. once you go inside the gates you're in a different world.

be great if we could look inside the building and take some pics etc..

Good quality cache, good hide, good swaps..

TNLNSL, TFTC - Ian, VK3JAP