Not Drowning, Caching - Mussel Rocks Cowes, Victoria, Australia
By Hell+Back adopted by Gonefishen07 on 19-Sep-08. Waypoint GC1GDE9

Very sad but it is time to let this one go

Out on another maintenance run with the CO. It was quite warm today but not as hot as the rest of the week has been. Muggles everywhere but all so absorbed in what they are doing that they don't even see us. After a short search I spotted what I was looking for.
Thanks Gonefishen07 for the cache and the fun day

Wild windy day forecast so we headed out early to nail this one. Clever puzzle and hide tftc

The last one before we find ourselves some lunch in a nice 'wind-free' location. Thought we were going to have to record a DNF here, but finally eyes and fingers made the find. SL at 1pm and carefully replaced out of sight. Lucky it did not blow away in the gale force winds! Not quite enough 'unlove' to help us on a challenge quest, but we are sure the CO is glad to know it is still safely in place. #4062 once again thanks to Mr Harrowang for sorting the puzzle. TFTC Gonefishen07

We were expecting a white pointer but found something entirely different although just as sinister. Anyway carefully retrieved the cache and SL. Replaced the cache and made sure it was out of sight. TFTC

Tried for a long time but found nothing

Interesting camo....needed a safety stick.

Finally found it. It wasn't where I thought it would be but on further inspection AlanC found something out of place and further poking proved it was safe to touch. Nasty again, Gonefishen!

So frustrating . We looked forever!

Replaced cache with something a little different than what was here. Please make sure it is replaced so it is not muggled

Please check that the cache is still there after a few DNF i have come to this conclusion

Think I found the right tree, but too high for me to look and probably not the best to try with a twisted ankle from last weeks geocaching adventure.

Think I got the right tree, maybe not. But it might be missing???

Yeyeee

Good hide. TFTC glorious island weather!

Worked out final GZ sometime ago, went back today for an easy find. TFTC GF07

I cannot say it was a DNF but rather a could not reach without a ladder and yes I have one in the van but not this trip.

Not Drowning, Caching - Mussel Rocks was transferred from hell+back to user Gonefishen07

Arrived early so we have to wait for the lodgings to be made available so we thought that we would while away a few hours at the beach. I had solved most of the puzzles a few days ago so it was just a case of retrieving them. Luck was on my side today as the cache was in the first place I looked. TFTC.

Date: 5 January 2015
Time: 10:44
Find #4410

After a reasonable nights sleep at the Big 4 Caravan park, it was time for an early start on an anti clockwise loop of Phillip Island. The weather was looking simply Awesome, so off I went in high spirits ready for a big day caching.

This one did take me a while to locate, a combination of muggles and not really understanding half of the hint. Cleverly hidden.

Thanks to Hell+Back for placing this cache.

We worked on this puzzle as a collaboration last night as we knew we'd be in Cowes for a pre-wedding breakfast and ended up eating directly opposite this cache (seriously good cafe by the way!). After reading the hint, I was glad I had the 198cm geohubby with me and we approached gz where he spotted it immediately because it could very well hit him in the head if he got close enough. TFTC hell+back, nice puzzle.

Oh boy, [u]great [/u]puzzle. Love the connection to the name. One of Tardis' fave's though strangely we still had to turn to Mr Google for a little assistance. As for the hide, our longest search yet. We had GZ sorted but no matter how many times we circled nothing appeared. So we went for the clue. Hmm, that was more of a red herring for us as we totally misinterpreted it. It didn't help that something approximating our misinterpretation was visible nearby causing us much more fruitless searching. Finally Mrs Tardis spotted "the real thing"!! Very clever hell+back.

Nice clue!

Found it! We have just begun our journey for this weekend, our goal is to find our 1000th cache. Our co-ords were a little out. TFTC

We found this cache with You_Can_Do_It_2 that we met at the CITO event that was happening a short distance away

You_Can_Do_It_2 had completed all the work in finding out as to the approximate location of the GZ and we helped with the final piece which allowed the cache to be found

Thank you to You_Can_Do_It_2 for your much needed help on this cache

decided that I would go for this one as we were close by at today's CITO, so I worked out most of the hints before we left home with only one to find when we arrived, but this was not as easy as one would imagine.; Finally, with the help of my phone, I find the beach number and sent Geo-husband off with the GPS as I had injured my calf muscle and was finding walking difficult. In the midst of the search, I noticed that CITO photos were being taken so after a slow gallop back along to where I had come from, I snapped a few quick group pics and then headed back to geo-hubby and Team Ruphace who had joined the hunt. The log was soon in hand and signed and my aching and limpy leg set off, once again, back to the barbeque area to bid our farwells and head for home. TFTC.

Another day of caching on the Island with the family....another day of changeable weather. Great excuse to be out and about. Cute container. This would be tough on a nice day I would think! Thanks again.

Found this with the familiy. Mum and Dad worked out the puzzles then we all went to find them together. Thanks for this series - it's been great fun!

Finally got back here with the foreshore muggle free. A quick find. Clue noted. Hint makes sense. TFTC

Woke up to a dull & dismal wintry Wednesday; just the sort of day for geo-caching on & around the Island beaches. We decided to start on the northern beaches today and work anti-clockwise around the coast, hopefully finishing up at Shelly Beach.

Found this one quickly more by luck than judgement. Enough said or I might give it away.

Stopped here previous night but soon realised should come back in daylight - still no joy & fairly confident at correct place but might be more challenging for a solo attempt.

Parked the car and we trot
All holding hand as we walked down to GZ. We should have gone the other way but that would have taken more time A few slips here and slips there [I]
We started our search and wondered if the cache was in that good little hidey hole?? How would we get it?? Check the descrisption...OH...another look and found the little buggar Thanks for the fun 'hell+back'

Found with Liz & Bruce on a perfect day for caching on Phillip Island. I was very lucky to be able to tag along with this team today, well ok maybe I chauffeured them around soon as how I knew the roads a little better. We had a fun filled day and it was great to be able to show Liz & Bruce around the island, which was made easier by Hell +[Blue][/Blue] Back hiding caches in some great places. A variety of hides some very hard to get at some not so. A great day all round [^] Thanks to hell+back

We just could not leave this area without revisiting Phillip Island in an endeavour to finish off the Not Drowning series and to collect some other caches in the area that have been on our list for a long time. Again we were lucky to have a perfect day to go exploring this most scenic island and with what better company than Gonefishen07 and Zobo04 (after school hours). Loved finding this cache, it get a fav point, we also had lunch here at the picnic bench overlooking the sea. Thanks to hell+back.

Another DNA for me. The afternoon was off to a bad start. I searched two trees. The first lower down the slope did have a pointer on it but it was more orange than white. Even a spot to put a small cache, but it appeared empty.

The bigger tree farther up the slope also brought no joy.

Takes for the puzzle and hunt he'll+back

fallen branches removed, area reopened and cache still in place

My gps was sending me to an area that has been roped off due to wind damage...there are branches hanging precariously (one big one was hanging by a thread) and quite a few on the ground. Will wait until area has been made safe.

1stcache of the day with Mr G
Thanks for the riddle. We won't try to get the whole beach series as we are here only for one day, but riddle was fun and the hide was unexpected...
Thanks again.

Decide to get out do caching today beautiful day..
But where? hmm oh why not Phillip Island!
Done homework ages ago
Enjoy found your cache.
TFTC

We had a lazy morning which included breakfast at a nearby cafe and then a walk down to GZ. It was howling a gale, so thankfully it was a quick find. Thanks for the cache, our first in this series.

We had started to find caches in this series over the weekend and had made a small number of finds. With only this afternoon and tomorrow available to us, we made a concerted effort today. It was a wonderful winter's day and as the sun set, the weather remained quite mild. It was so mild that we were able to cache with torches until 7:30pm before it started to turn a little cool. When we got to GZ in the dark we were confronted with seraching an object which we thought required slightly greater physical attributes than we enjoyed. Try as we might, we could not serach where we thought that the cache was most likely to be hidden. Reluctantly we thought we may have to return tomorrow with some other gear. We took one final survey of the object and, to our delight, we discovered something which made sense of the hint and didn't require additional equipment. The cache and its contents were in good condition. Thanks for the puzzle and cache hell+back. It was now starting to cool off and we made this our last cache for the day.

A few weeks solid work saw us work out a number of these caches. Sharp eyed Mr G saw this one first in todays sunshine as Mrs G searched nearby. Enjoying the challenges hell+back
TNLN SL
TFTC
cheers
greynomads - Bill and Diana

Geomum solved the puzzle while waiting for our lunch to arrive down the road. A tricky find had us thinking we were at the wrong location when geodad spotted the prize. TFTC

We found this cache on our May caching holiday to Phillip Island.
The area is really beautiful and we got on the bikes for over 50kms for the 4 days we were in the area which we would never have usually have done on a holiday before geocaching!
Thanks to the cache owners for the fantastic caches you have placed in this area of Victoria.

Found with Mum & Dad on a holiday to South Gippsland.
The weather was fantastic and the caching was fun.
Thanks to everyone who hid caches for me to find, I had so much fun!

Team Mornington, Hazey1, Biger12, MrMcGee and Saulman1010. Having solved this awhile ago, time to actually go collect some on our way out and about. Picked up this one while eating tea in a nearby structure. Easy find, and interesting camp TFTC

Team Mornington, Hazey1, Biger12, MrMcGee and myself on an April Fools day caching run on the island again today.
Grabbed a few and finished off others.
Nice day, for a few caches, looking for one of the new "TINY" caches
Much work done in past to solve most of this series, now is the time to start picking them up.
Really enjoying this series.
TFTC

Did our research and the real thing was quickly in hand on a cool autumn day. TFTC

A trip down memory lane working out the puzzle clues. Another awesome location, only metres from where we had our tea last night! By the time we had our dinner last night we were feeling a bit numb from so many puzzles, multi's and lots of beach walks, and decided that we needed food and sleep. On returning this morning we thought we'd stumbled on another familiar cache series. Loved the cache. Thanks hell+back.

Suscoe 's 9th find for the morning, solved the puzzle last weekend and headed down here on an early morning walk to town.
Nicely hidden and a nice container to go with it.
Magnificent views from here too, and it is cooler than yesterday thank goodness.
We are really enjoying this series and this one is continuing this enjoyment.
Thanks to hell+back for another nice challenge.

Took several attempts to solve this puzzle.
Then two attempts to locate this despite the accurate co-ords. Tag along came up with the goods. Info noted and container replaced.
It was very busy, think I will come back when it is less popular down here.
TFTC hell+back

No problems with this one! A few nearby muggles were too intent on simply staying upright as they continued with their New Year's celebrations - I'm not sure they would have lasted until midnight, and would likely miss most of tomorrow too! Thnaks for the cache hell+back

Rated: for Overall Experience

We put the wrong beach number in first but when it came back wrong we put the right on in and bingo we got the green light. Found the cache well hidden, signed log collected the clue.Thanks Hell & Back for the cache.

Tagged along with the Bounty Trackers, signed log. Thanks Hell & Back for the cache

Dearest daughter found this one on our second attempt. Definitely something a little out of place about this hide. Very clever.

Found on a geocaching weekend trip with ST37E and highrod.

A nice quick find on the last day of our weekend of cache finding !

TFTC

11/11/12 12:19 PM Find #2172
Found with ST37E and S_4_Sammy
Thanks for the cache, Highrod - Ballarat

Found in the company of S 4 Sammy and highrod during a weekend of Phillip Island geocaching, nice quick find while avoiding muggles

TFTC

This entry was edited by ST37E on Sunday, 11 November 2012 at 10:20:07 UTC.

Our first forour trip to cowes.beach number had us Stumped for a while tftc

Enjoyed solving some of these before a quick visit from NZ. TFTC

Well thanks to Mrs Madstars love of puzzles we actually got a mystery completed. The beach numbers had us a while, then it made sense.

We thought we might of been out with our co ords because we were eight meters away but I realized the GPS was probably playing up.

Note for new comers the white tags are yellow.

Great cache container. We loved it.

Thank you very very much for the hard work you have put in. It was fun.

Madstars

Found at 1145 hrs, didn't know they could climb trees, TFTC

Nice easy find with Akushi, our visiting Japanese teacher. Cant understand how we didnt find it last time. Thanks again Hell and Back.

Enjoying the walk along the beach and the chance to grab a few of these puzzle caches. Solved the puzzles last year during a long cold winter in Tasmania, but this is the first chance we've had to look for them.
Loved the puzzles and so far we are really enjoying the cache trail.
Well done and thanks hell + back.

# 647. Another puzzle solved at home before arriving on the Island. Wasn't too bad a day - weather-wise and being school holidays there were a lot of muggles enjoying Cowes. Honed in to GZ fairly easily but the hide was not what I was expecting. A good one, nevertheless. TNLN, Thanks H+B.

Log replaced

#2854 Again a great puzzle concept based on an iconic song - so much so we were doing a rendition whilst sitting and logging our find.....The GeoPrincess has never heard it so once back at home her horizons will be broadened . A lovely GZ which was enhanced by a glorious sunny day. Our thanks to Hell+Back for the puzzle and series - a nifty cache container [^]

After a full school term with exam after exam, I didn't get to do much caching. This was all going to change however when I started to plan an assault on Philip Island. I started to think of which town would be best to assault to raise me from the dead after my abysmal effort in the earlier months. With 3 different series, a power trail, and a handful of other caches, Philip Island was the place to go. So I started solving the puzzles and making a few phone calls so I would have the best chance of finding a heap. I solved most of the puzzles, however some of them required a bit of a nudge or someone else to realise my error. I started to think about my route in a way that would get me the most finds possible. We ended up with 55 in one day, and 87 for the whole weekend which was a fantastic effort . The weather was very on and off for the whole weekend which made some journeys quite unpleasant, however on the whole it was awesome. The Nobbies was a definite highlight for me. We started off the day with the 'Pathway' and managed to complete it and all of the other caches along the trail in just over 4 hours. What an awesome weekend! Thank you to all of the owners who contributed, but especially hell+back and The Three Geo Amigos (you know who you are)!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

At this time of the morning, there were little muggles around. However, a couple with a dog did come along and they were giving me some very suspicious looks. They came pretty close to me as well (foul creatures, they smelt horrible). I thought I was going to require Dad's assistance to reach the cache, however I soon spotted it and retrieved it easily. Another one down in the series. Thanks again

10/06/12 6:02 PM Find #1049 Its cache skirmish for ABL973 and Square_Pegs today on Phillip Island and this was one that we found in the dark with the aid of my new super maglite. It proved to be our biggest challenge of the day with 2 visits and probably an hour or so searching and then just as we were about to give up SP said "whats that?" and sure enough it was the cache...how did we not see it earlier?! Thanks hell+back.

This entry was edited by abl973 on Monday, 11 June 2012 at 03:42:37 UTC.

This was the final cache of the day for abl973 and I on our day trip to Phillip Island. At this stage though it had become an evening trip. This turned out to be a tricky find for us. When we initially arrived on dusk, there were still some muggles on the beach which hindered our search. After waiting for them to move on, we began searching but couldn't decide which object was the one that held the cache container. After searching for a while we decided to head off. We then returned at the end of our trip, consulted the hint and some logs and decided to have another go. Thankfully this time after more searching we finally spotted a possible spot which turned out to be correct . We then headed for some well earned dinner. Thanks hell+back for a tricky hide (well for us today anyway)!

Found it on this cold and rainy Sunday. Mrs Iamapom has got a sore foot so stayed in the car for this one. She had done a lot of the prior work on this puzzle, and we knew we only needed another piece of data to find the GZ. Our initial calculations placed us in the sea. I made a quick assumption about which co-ord was dodgy, and a much more likely GZ found. After a short work I arrived at GZ, and spotted the cache pretty easily. The tube containing the log was jammed too hard down the "throat", and I was unable to pull it out as I didn't have my leatherman with me. So wasn't able to sign the log, but took a photo of the cache container to prove I was there (happy to forward that to CO if it needs to be seen). Funny container BTW.
TFTC

Another legendary night caching run by TDC (The Demolition Crew) + 1. A sensational 78 find run to Phillip Island and back with the usual TDC members - myself, TrailRunning and Quasar3671 and one other, the legendary "Roostaman" from Wagga. The trip started in the Dandenong area, and progressed around Westernport and all the way to the other end of Phillip Island. There were several foci for the night, those being the powertrails up the middle of the island, as well as the Drowning, Not Caching puzzle series. We didn't get all the puzzle series done, but we did smash the powertrail. A sensational night, great company, chicken rolls, and an impromptu stop at an abandoned lounge suite on the side of the road, which made for a great "chicken roll" break.

Nice quick find here, no trouble, just a bit cool. TFTC.

Well it was another Monday night, and it was time for the Demolition Crew to get out and grab some caches. This time the Roostaman joined us for a night fun in the area of Phillip Island. As Quasar3671 had already done many on the Island, he joined Blacklegend and I in the wee hours of the morning to collect those caches he had not yet done. All in all it was a fun night with cheerful banter, chicken rolls and the odd refreshment. While we were not able to clear out the whole island, we grabbed as many as we could, with only 2 DNF in 80 caches. The run started in Dandenong, with a few caches for Blacklegend, but we soon found an area where all of us were happy to collect the smilies. A quick find here.

I wasn't going to head out tonight for a cache run but late into the evening my circumstances changed and before long I'd loaded up and was heading down the South Gippy Hwy to Phillip Island to meet up with the rest of the TDC crew (Blacklegend and Trailrunning), who had also joined by Roostaman, to clean up some more caches on Phillip Island. I'd already found many on the island so my plan was to grab some caches I hadn't done before meeting up with the gang and continuing on with them.
I'd met up with the crew by now as they completed the power trail. I'd had a DNF here almost a year ago to the day so was more than happy when we found the cache and I couls finally sign the log. Thanks hell+back.

Found on a fantastic night caching run around Phillip Island with Blacklegend and TrailRunning, and also joined by Quasar3671. Another good hide and luckily we could reach it, then we were on the road again. TFTC,
Roostaman.

Found @1630 #1471
This cache has been a nemesis and was one of the first that I attempted when I first started doing this series over a year ago now.
Man I was so close the first time and it was only recently that I finally had confirmed coordinates. I had made one silly assumption which I should have had correct in the first place. Still fast forward to now and this afternoon I finally had the cache in hand with thanks to the GF as we both spotted something odd during the hunt, a sneaky hide. Enjoyed the hunt this one took me on over during the past 3 attempts, glad to have it finally off the list at last.
TFTC Hell+Back, clue noted.

No luck on this cache tonight on a 24 cache run with Marcus Vitruvius. Never mind - gives un an excuse to return to this beautiful part of Victoria!
Thanks hell+back

The second DNF in a row for us here, and after going beyond the 1.5 terrain rating to the only possible spot it could be, we still couldn't find it.

this one had us looking for quite some time
nice hide
tftc

Luckily we found this one remembered the clue as by now I have somehow lost my pen I can send pic of cache to owner as proof if need be don't want to upload pic here as might give the cache away also was with sksjd who also didn't have a pen tftc

Dr Eid, a torch, and the collective wisdom of the Quickreidbouckleyburg come through again! Chomp!

DNF – Should have brought along a step ladder…

EB Nano got hoisted, no luck. Wal got hoisted, still no luck. Just happened to spot something slightly out of place and viola! Luck! TFTC

After a bit of a climbing effort the cache was located easily?? TFTC

checked this one after the dnf ... it was still there, but a nest of ants & a red back spider were also there, so the cache has been relocated at a new, hopefully wildlife-free spot at the same co-ordinates

I was on the island today and was going to finish what I started on the Monday - an island caching run. Took a few goes before the puzzle was solved but once at GZ and good 20 minutes search high and low and I had to leave empty handed. Maybe next time.

Couldn't find anything at this location either. This one looks like a tricky cache and it beat us here today. Ahh, well, not to worry, lots more caches to find.

What an interesting hide - like nothing we have ever seen, however I can understand given the possible prevalence of such things in the area! TNLNSL and enjoyed the hunt and avoiding the curious nearby walkers. Thanks hell+back.

Found at 1000hrs with KI Bug on our "Not Drowning" caching weekend, wow what a hide, we were here Saturday night whilst the night market was on and there were muggles every where so did not have any luck where we looked. In discussion with the cache owner on Sunday about other cache issues, we had the right location but no other clues gathered. Came to do the Cowes caches today and bingo there it was. Log signed and the cache returned to its hide, thanks hell+back for the puzzle and cache. This is my 400th find.

We had been over to visit phetlern in the Geelong area yesterday and now we are following there trail around the caches over here to. TFTC.

14:45
We didn’t get Evince approval with this one, but thought we were close enough to at least have an explorative look. Perhaps we initially looked too hard with this one – a very sharp hide. Again, we enjoyed the puzzle associated with this cache. Our calculated co-ordinates were only off by 2m to the north.

TNLN . . SL . . TFTH hell+back.

Found it... twice..
Found wrote in the log, got back to the car and realised I hadn't written down the clue.
So back down the steps again I went.
TFTC, I liked the camo.

We have searched for this cache once before but couldn't locate it, we went back home to check our workings and came up with the same co-ordinates. Two years later we are back searching again and Diane spotted something that turned out to be a very clever hide. This is the first time that we have seen one of these containers used.
Many thanks for the cache and a trip down memory lane

did with froghoppin on holidays
sorry I havent logged these yet but this is really the only time
I have had to log the caches
that were done on holidays Easy find TNLN TFTC

Geo son climbed the tree hoping for a quick find, but geo dad beat him to the prize TFTC

Found on our big adventure around Phillip Island with crank1(mum) and Everlasting.
A little slow with logging, but better late than never!
TFTC

Aaaahhh I though I will be in the water but not phew!!!. Love your camo - good one. SL. Thanks Hell+Back

Poor Everlasting, almost fall off.. when she goes down.. Littlecrank helped her.. I wish to take the photo never mind. loves this cache one.. Good idea. Found it. TFTC

Found with friends got a laugh out of it great hide

Mon 29/3 No laptop/internet access on holidays so logging at home on Fri 2/4
Luckily not many people around when GMelb was searching for this cache which he found very amusing!!
He even took us back to show us this on yesterday before we left P.I.
Had a little bit of trouble on one of the answers to the puzzle questions but once that was sorted all was ok.
TNLNSL
TFTC hell+back
GJMMelb