4x4-1 Homeward Bound Labertouche, Victoria, Australia
By Team Crackers on 01-Dec-08. Waypoint GC1JKRD

Wow, did we have fun here!We were in the neighborhood, caching but not 4x4ing.We could see this cache was not far from where we were and thought lets go for a bush walk.It was short but there was some impenetrable bush.We started off ok and then noted 3 very high clearance, obviously bush bashed, huge tyred beasts which were driverless all in a row facing us.Then we heard lots of shouting and calling in some sort of Asian lingo. Then reving and reving and reving until the engine was screening as we rounded the bend and witnessed the 4x4 slipping and sliding UP the hill. The track behind its path totally churned up. Clay mud flying everywhere and ruts deeper than the huge tyres. The wheels were all at different angles. It was on the point of tipping and rolling down the hill sideways.There was too much mud to see what type of vehicle but it would be a good endorsement for the strength and endurance of this beast. There were about 8 small Asians busy yelling and doing things appearing to be willing this car to continue on its upwards journey. They were shocked to see us and could speak perfectly good English. They had been stuck and all had spent the night in their cars. They were trying to turn the last car around, but it could not manage to turn on that angle and the completely churned and rutted track. At that point we needed to go bush.It was as thick as! There was razor grass, prickly shrubs, tee tree and lots of other dense stuff which made the going long, slow and tough.We again came face to face with the 4x4 drivers still trying to get that car UP the track to turn it around. This was about 50 metres below the cache, where we popped our heads back into the bush and emerged opposite the cache, crossed the road, gingerly, and had a good quick find.We retraced our route back and surprisingly enough we had forged a bit of a trail through the forest. We left the 4 wheel drivers to continue and got on our way. Driving away we could clearly see where they had illegally crossed over a significantly fortified barrier ie wall of dirt and boulders and enter the seasonally closed Tee tree Rd which was also signed as closed due to post fire risks.An interesting start to the morning!TFTC and all the entertainment it provided us!

Hello Team Crackers thank you for the cacheThis track is closed at the moment due to fire damage in the area.I walked up the extremely slippery hill and into the bush to find your cache.It took a bit of guess work to work out where the cache might be as I reckon the growth is a bit higher than when it was placed.Of cause it started to rain while I was looking for it.I found this cache during our Newcastle 2024 trip to see the grandchildren.Found on Sunday, 07 April 2024 at 1206**TFTC**

I had a few hours to myself and was looking for somewhere to go for a short hike. I've had this series saved on my offline maps for some time and thought I would head here this morning.

Heading to this one first and there was a lot of guys in the car park setting up their dirtbikes. Parked and started the stroll, and then got to the gnarly bit and it was very muddy. Would like to see someone go down this in the mud.

Signed at 9 am.

Thanks for the cache Team Crackers
Hunter

Well this was one that for some reason I’ve missed in my earlier years of caching the area . We strolled up the track admiring the potential chaos that could happen if one was to take a 4b up here in the wet , well unfortunately we had a “Mighty” Triton and the driver seemed to think his big rig was a monster truck and decided to go on an explore nearby, despite being told DONT!!! oh no he makes his own rules , Thats it im getting out cause what could possibly go wrong
We survived lucky the red haze over Toolmans eyes subsided and his ears seemed to be able to hear again .
Thanx for the Adventure Stay Dirty ️

2003

Out with the DGS boys Team Smokey-Bear and 1TOOLMAN on a morning escaped on this moist muggy hot day. This was the second cache on our list so I could clear this section of my map. After parking nearby it was a 300meter slog up the 4WD track where 1TOOLMAN made the find.. we then went on to refuel with a well earned BBQ, a drink and some 4WD tips for 1TOOLMAN.....future Note to 1TOOLMAN - when a downpour has just finished and you see a 4WD with seriously F up tyers hobbling out of the area...and you see a steep muddy hill ahead.....and TSB says DON'T, I wouldn't and Tiz13 is sitting in the back with her hands our her eyes not daring to look....Note this does not mean YOLO let's give it a go lol.. thankfully 1TOOLMAN soon slid back to reality and the Geo 4WD lives to tell another tale.

Solid walk with the track shut signed the log which was a bit wet, good hiding spot

normally we detest bushfire regrowth
creeping tendrils, grasping grasses, everything that nature shoots up after fire seems purpose-built to block our way
in the bushland west of here, chasing the bunyips round and round in circles, the flourishing undergrowth has been the bane of many hiking expeditions
we have waxed lyrical many times about our hatred
and we are sure we’ll do the same many times in the future

and
while we will not go so far as to extol the wonders of bushfire regrowth, here we can see its virtues

here the regrowth provides the perfect shield against someone randomly stumbling upon the treasure
you could hide an ammo can half a metre off the road, and no one would be any the wiser

though
any more than half a metre
and we will revert to cursing the regrowth

I came out today with a plan to check out the trails. Unfortunately all the gates were locked so decided to come for a stroll To check out the tracks. Looks like I might need to get some bigger wheels looking at the ruts. Very muddy but made it to the cache. Will need to return another day to explore more

Thanks Team Crackers for the cache.
Found at 3:08 pm on 10/7/21.
Find # 2312

The weather was so terrible, My daughter and her husband take me there. The Gate closed, so walked up and it was very hard to walk with mud but I wont give up. Found your cache Team Crackers, thank you so much for placing it.

After driving to the first cache of this series and aborting the full loop for today, we walked up from the bottom of this climb given the track is closed at the moment (Dec20). A good leg stretcher. Soon had the cache in hand, ammo can getting a little rusty but logbook still in good condition.

Took a few snaps and headed back down to continue our drive. Thanks for the placement.

Covid-19 restrictions are now lifted and Geocaching is allowed so it is back on line.

Due to the new Covid 19 restrictions Geo Caching is not a reason to be out so we are disabling our caches untill safe to enable again.
Please stay home and be Safe.

This are is now open, thanks to Biggles1024 for letting us know.

This are is now open, thanks to Biggles1024 for letting us know.

We have been told this area is still out of bounds.
We will check it as soon as we can get in.

Due to the fires in this area we are disabling our caches

We had spotted these series quite some time ago but didn't feel that we had enough experience to attempt them on our own. So when we got an invite to join in with others, we were very pleased. Unfortunately, due to the weather, it was called off.
Then we were told that another date had been set so it was on again. We had been watching the weather, and although it didn't seem to bad, we weren't sure if it would be called off again. It wasn't, YAY. We met up with two other vehicles at a fuel stop, struggled our way through Friday afternoon traffic and road words and were soon on the road to adventure. It was a shame that the 4th vehicle couldn't make it (but I'm sure the CO has done these tracks more than once.)
There were some awesome views and great tracks. There was only one that was undriveable, (in everyone's opinion) although an alternate route was chosen for another cache. Considering that there had apparently been rain only a couple of days earlier, we were lucky with the tracks. We only found one of them to be a little slippery but no worries.
A winch was needed in one place but nothing major and no damage or harm done so really doesn't count.
I had a fantastic afternoon out so a huge thank you to our awesome travelling companions for the invite and another huge thanks to the CO's for placing these caches.
Really hope that we can get out to do some more.

Found with Geoturtle37, The Tritonz, beckNmonts and micaparamedic. We had been eyeing off these caches for some time, so when we received an invite to join a small but intrepid band for the day we were all over it. The CO was set to join us as well, but a postponement due to rain unfortunately threw a spanner in that plan. The rain stayed away this time around and a great time was had by all rumbling around the Bunyip area. We tackled all but one track in our vehicles, that one was deemed too risky by unanimous vote. There was a bit of slipping here and there, but only one winch recovery required and everyone stayed shiny side up so that is just part of the fun. Thanks Team Crackers for bringing us out here for a great day out. We look forward to hitting the trail and sharing a cold one over a tall tale down the track somewhere.

In the company of beckNmonts, micaparamedic, Geoturtle37 and Papi4506 in 3 capable 4WD's we finally knocked off these 2 4x4 series with little mishap. Mr. Weatherman had predicted much rain but beckNmonts convinced us that he was wrong as all previous days predictions had failed to produce said 50mm of rain that was supposed to hit Melbourne in a big way. Taking her word for it and lets face it, not wanting to have to cancel once again, we met up at a local servo and then made our way in convoy to enjoy a wonderful adventure with great mates testing our skills in the Bunyip State Park. The small amount of rain that had been through here on the Wednesday made one track slippery in spots but we managed to avoid most of it and still claim the hides. Good hints made for easy finds and our team names were all added to the logbooks held captive in their ammo can prisons.
Working backwards we started here on the first series after accessing the track was safe to tackle.
Thanks very much Team Crackers for the effort put into both series, for us and others to enjoy.

The target of the day and pipped by a month on the unlove! Oh well, I contented myself with the knowledge that a find here would satisfy another month on the T5 Monthly Challenge. So after a drive which went from highway to paved road with soft shoulder to gravel road with no shoulder to randomly potted hard packed dirt I finally arrived at the parking lot for the track.
I toyed with the idea of driving up the track and seeing how I went but decided against it. That was a wise choice as although the first 30m from the parking area could be negotiated by my XV it would've had no hope further up the track. I'm really glad I wasn't here in winter as I can imagine how boggy the ground (calling it a track is perhaps a little generous) would become.
Once close to GZ both my Garmin GPSr and Android led me on a merry dance through thick bush until I stopped and thought about what I knew about the COs, backtracked to the track and looked for some telltale geocacher activity. Sure enough I spotted some a little north of the spot where both devices wanted me and then discovered the structures mentioned in the hint. The quite rusty ammo can was then spotted and log duly stamped.
Thanks for keeping these T5s going. Not only are they a boon to those who haven't made the transition to TTCs and kayak caches but they're a bit of a historical anomaly as you couldn't rate a cache requiring a 4WD to get too a T5 anymore or so I assume.

Track was locked off, and we don’t think the Kia Carnival would have coped anyway.

But we enjoyed the short walk up the hill nonetheless; only problem was a swordgrass slice to dads finger - ahh well, what’s a caching trip without spilling a little blood?

As I was driving around the open roads today, I parked up and walked to this cache, as the track was frustratingly closed. I will be back to do the rest of the series when they are open. TFTC Team Crackers

Woohoo, my 7th for today!

Out for a solo ride on my dirt bike, thanks for bringing me here! Stupidly I didn't bring a pen so I couldn't sign the log.

This will be my last for today as I have ran out of time. I will return in about a month we I have another day of work.

TFTC

Today tackled the 4x4 series 1 & 2 and enjoyed the journey to this cache. We would not like to tackle this one in the wet, but no dramas reaching GZ today. We enjoyed this series challeging our Geo 4x4. Cache and contents are in good condition.

Thanks for placing and maintaining this cache for our enjoyment.

What a fantastic spot. Be willing to walk to get it if in winter months as I did as 4wd road closed. Tftc.

We were on our way home after not finding "Riding Shotgun" and decided we had better make the morning count by finding one or two. The walk up here is certainly a good heart starter.Thanks and well done Team Crackers.

After a pleasant stroll up from Tea Tree Road the cache was found fairly quickly. A significant slope in places but it was quite manageable. I seem to recall consulting the hint fairly early as GPS was swimming around a bit. Thanks Team Crackers!

Out for a day 4 x 4 trip today. Going backwards......cache series not reverse. Tyftc.

Found on our Australia Day caching run TFTC

Finally catching up on some logs now that our laptop is home from the computer doctor!

Out for a day drive with hubby, nothing planned, nowhere to be... After driving up through Jindavick hubby was itching for some 4WD-ing.. A quick search had us heading for this series. The tracks were amazing, although a little hair raising in parts... Hubby handled them all with confidence while I held on for dear life! The kids giggled and laughed the whole drive.

Thanks Team Crackers for placing this cache :)

Found 1:39:00 PM, whilst out with Muzza on our December caching expedition, to Bunyip State forest. A 4WD expedition this time, so the Wrangler could do what it does best

TNLN, thanks Team Crackers (F=17447 H=129).

Out and about with Biggles Bear #1 in the 4WD, we decided to take advantage of its capabilities and headed for the Bunyip State Forest to do both 4x4 series there. On advice from the CO, we attempted the second series first, then the first series in reverse order, although things didn't go as planned. This was the first of the 4x4-1 series, and compared to series 2, these were easier to drive to. Found without too much trouble.

My thanks to Team Crackers for the cache.

A great day out and a bit of wildlife around. Once finding the right tracks in to the area the beginning was no real issue although there were a few puddles around. Once at GZ we pushed in the bush and got to the right spot and made the find. We completed the signing duties and great to see an ammo can. TFTC
We continued up and got to a steep hill that was deeply rutted which with some damp parts meant we would not get up so double back and picked up the rest of the first series in reverse being Homeward bound (quick find), Annie (certainly well cover log - how did we miss such a large log to start with) and The Rocky Bit (quick find). All logs signs and caches re hid. TFTC

Found it walked up 4x4 track

Find # 1134 Found @11:19Hrs

Well this was the next cache for the day & it has been a great day it has been caching in the company of the CO's with daughter getting some great photos picking up some great caches, we were not on our way home yet as we still had some more caches to find.


TNLNSL
TFTH

Great series of caches, reasonably easy drive in dry weather. Nice easy find, and a great excuse for a little 4WDing!

Had a magnificent day out in Bunyip Forrest. The main aim was to pick up a few of the 4X4 series (on foot) as well as explore some interesting features I had spotted from satellite imagery (as possible places to hide some new caches).

Was able to negotiate the Subaru along Tea-Tree track to the car park and then a nice short walk up the 4X4 track and the cache was in hand.

Great spot for a cache Team Crackers, makes me wish I still had my 4X4.

This entry was edited by day1976 on Tuesday, 16 July 2013 at 07:49:37 UTC.

Out for a bit of fun geocaching with Earthbound Chief and Co. We decided to head towards Bunyip State Forest and a bit of 4x4 excitement. Cache was easily located without too much trouble! lots of motorbike riders out here today. TFTC

The last cache in this loop discovered, it was decided a short break in proceedings was required. We ended up at Lawson Creek picnic area where Nano discovered the creek and some naughty dirt bike riders flogged our CB aerial. Bugger! (I hope the Bunyip gets them!) Luckily that doesn't really affect the reception when you are this close to each other. Imagine if we didn't hear the lead car say "Bikes ahead on track!" and we ran them over! Oops! Now that would be karma. Enjoyed the 4WD loop immensely! Now for part 2!

This entry was edited by Earthbound Chief on Saturday, 27 April 2013 at 23:53:18 UTC.

Coordinates changed from:
S 37° 58.355 E 145° 47.678

Coordinates changed to:
S 37° 58.363 E 145° 47.682

Distance from original: 52.5 feet or 16 meters.

A maintenance visit today with a group showed the co ordinate were a bit off so correcting them.

Out for a days caching and some cache maintenance with Alansee, Maccamob, Pprass, Rabbitto, Rebel Acts and The Coffees. After they had found the cache we found the co ordinate not quite right so the cache page has now been adjusted to suit the new ones.

We found this cache today at 11:20am as the 7th of 18 on our 4x4-2 Bunyip Tour in company of Pprass, Maccamob, Team Crackers, The Coffee Clan, Alansee and Rebel Acts. The original aim for the day's journey was already complete by 10:20am so we continued on to the cache in the previous series that wasn't here last time through. Thanks from D & HA B-A.

Found at 11:17 AM GAFF1 in the company of Alansee, maccamob, Mr. Coffee, Rabbitto, Rebel Acts and Team Crackers.
A very pleasant drive after observing some of the really tough parts of the track that have been by passed with the new grading. We were all looking about 12 metres into the bush when Rebel Acts pulled the cache out.
Thanks Team Crackers.

Done today in the company of Team Crackers, Maccamob, Rebel Acts, Rabbitto, pprass, and Mr Coffee. This really is great country well worth a cache or three, and I was very much enjoying being ferried around in such fine vehicles. Many thanks to everyone for the ride and Team Crackers for the caches.

Found in the company of Alansee, maccamob, Mr. Coffee, Rabbitto, Pprass and Team Crackers, on a little 4WD adventure. The dozer sure made life easier. Had missed this one last time we were here, glad to get it this time. Thanks Spook for the cache and driving us around.

Found by Mary & David, in company with Team Crackers, Alansee, Rebel Acts, pprass, Rabbitto and The Coffees, at 1120. With one series completed, and suitably refreshed, we started on the other 4X4 series. The cache was found after a brief search, but the coordinates seemed a bit off, so we recorded new data. Lovely to see all the new growth. Our thanks to Team Crackers.

Out on a motorbike ride for the first time in 18 months and this was my first cache. It was also my muggle brothers first ever cache as well.
Tracks have had a lot of work done on them being bulldozed smooth and lots of gravel in steep sections made access very easy today even after the rain. TFTC and my brother for stopping his motorbike ride to look for strange little boxes in the bush. My favorite cache of the day.

After finishing 4x4-2 we are starting at no 4. TFTC

Tftc

Nice day for a drive
beautiful part of the bush
some friends
and a geocache or two what a great day.....

found on our way home after a long day out 4x4ing and caching of course on our way to this we were heading up the hill and one of the cars decided to break its back axle so we just decided to walk up to the cache while they did whatever they needed to do to get it moving again and found it really quickly and signed the log and back to see what they were doing lucky for us they got it going enough to keep going but we went for the main rd for now tftc

Found @ 11:40am, find # 1154.
A day out motorbike riding in the bush, so we decided to have a look for a couple caches while in the area.
This one is certainly no walk in the park, we came across 5 4WD's going nowhere fast, we were able to get past them and continue up to GZ.
the vegetation around GZ was alot thicker and taller than the photo's on the cache page but I was able to find it in the end.
We were lucky that the track was fairly dry today, if it was wet it would be very difficult even for a bike.
Thanks to Team Crackers for this cache and series.

Found GPSr all over the place and had me traipsing into the thick undergrowth about 15 metres from GZ, needed a machete or a brushcutter. Eventually read the description and saw the photo of Fullonphil near rocks, hadn't come across any where I was looking. After that I soon had the cache found and logged. Well that was when the fun started if you could call it that, heading down the track I came across about 200 metres of really treacherous, muddy, slippery rutted track. Nowhere to turn around the only choice was to carefully proceed. The geopatrol slipped into a deep rut and I thought it was going to end up on it's roof, it didn't but I was wondering how I was going to extract myself from the situation, I could see myself stuck here for many hours, the first recovery method I tried was successful, so I was only there for a few minutes, but the reg grundys have gone straight into the bin. TFTC I think.

This is supposed to be the easier drive? There were 3 landcruisers bogged on this stretch of road. I walked up and grabbed the cache, but certainly didn't attempt to drive any further. Our attempts to get in from the Gentle Annie end for the rest of the caches in this series were foiled too, the road is just too rutted at the moment. A trail bike could get in but that's about it. TNLN. thanks for the cache.

First find of the day as we attempted this series. Easy enough find but had rained the previous night so this section presented biggest challenge in terms of grip keeping in mind that "biggest" means we slid around a bit but never had concerns re making it up. Fortunately was able to stay out of rutts and our 2 vehicles got up OK although if the rain had of been heavier or over several days, I don't think we would have managed it as this track looks to be a real bugger in those conditions. Later parts of track (earlier if you do it from Beginning instead of Homeward Bound end) present different challenges mainly in the way of clearance on a few rougher sections. To put into perspective, I have a Prado with standard suspension which scraped underneath (rampover) and the towbar on exit (likely OK if I had removed...lazy I know but does help protect the rear bumper and I did remove later on the rocky bits) going over a few of the humps graded across the track, and new Bridgestone D694 tyres (2nd set) which have performed very well for me over the years. So, if clearance is questionable or you have standard dealer tyres rather than AT's to handle wet conditions, perhaps this is not the track for U. Hope this helps others make an informed decision.

Amazingly, when we pulled up to this area, I recognised it from a trip taken nearly 2 years ago when I had first got my Jeep. In the dry and with some experience (plus club training) this last section didn't seem anywhere near as daunting as it was back then. Oh, and there was the fact the tracks were bone dry now, and slippery clay back when I first saw this track!

At around 4pm, it didn't seem too late to have a go at 4x4-2 so we set off having all thoroughly enjoyed our day out on 4x4-1 with all vehicles going well and without having had any problems.

Finally got to the end of the series and am pretty tired after spening a few hours "exploring" before we acutally started. Caleb & Rhys were about ready to head home by this stage too. No problems in the dry.

Although it's magnificent to see the greenery coming back, its still kind of sad to see the lack of animal wildlife 1 year after the fires. Am sure they will be back though. As I always say, "nature doesn't give a rat's, and will keep goin" (or something like that)

Thanks for bringing us here.

Found at 1305 hours, as you can see I did not do these in the intended order.
But due the fact, the way I came in it was better for me to do in the order I did.
Beside I did the hardest 2 first then this one.
I parked within 300 metres of this one.
Walked up to GZ, found the cache.
TNLN SL
TFTC again thanks Team Crackers for more of the adventure.

Rated: for Overall Experience

We came through today with Fullonphil to check this series out.
We had no trouble finding this one but it was RS and has been replaced with another ammo can.

bunyip opened on thursday since the fires so we went and looked for all the geocaches to see if any survived

we found this one the ammo box is burnt

inside is burnt paper maybe a stubbie holder and some egg cups ? i have some pics of it i can upload

it has got that hot the rubber seal was sealed on very tightly i didnt think i was goin to get it open for a minute

sorry to be the bearer of bad news

Hi nomex,
We realise this cache has been off line for awhile but after the fires of Black Saturday we are waiting for Parks Victoria to reopen the tracks.
We have been told the area of the 4X4-1 series could be open by Christmas but at the moment the public is not allowed in at all.
If it can not wait that long we will replace them as soon as we can get in and relist the series.
Thanks
Mark and Diane.

For safety reasons this series will be disabled until the CFA has the fires under control and given the all clear for the public to re enter the area. We will then check and see what has survived and replace if nessessary.
Thanks for your coopperation

Easy find, for some reason we are doing the 4x4-1 backwards.

found at 1731 as 2nd find today good place for a cach had to park in wash off gps had a fit but found it with the clue and went right to it tnln sl T4TC

Found this one relatively easily. Know the area well from 4 wheel driving.

2nd to find, should have looked last weekend, drove within a couple of metres of it and all.

Took nothing, left nothing, signed log
Thanks for the Cache

Davidman (+1)

Our second FTF ever and both on the same day! We are a tad excited.
Found at 2.05pm.
T - magnifying glass
L - envelope/bag slicer/opener
Great to see a nicely stocked cache. A beautiful day for a drive. This is the first time we have been up here when it hasn't been wet and crappy.
TFTC
The Looney's of Cranbourne aka Ann and David

[This entry was edited by The Looney's on Thursday, December 11, 2008 at 12:15:15 PM.]

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