Hidden Valley Gaven, Queensland, Australia
By Herbz on 03-Dec-08. Waypoint GC1JME8

Archiving this one, as this area has deteriorated over the years and is now unpleasant with a lot of dumped rubbish.

A quick getaway to QLD with my youngest geokid for some warmer weather and took the opportunity to grab a few caches.

This cache was not luck today. I contacted a previous finder that confirmed my location and that cache was indeed missing and needs maintenance or archiving.

Thanks to Herbz for the fun and the adventure.

This geocacher reported that the cache might be missing.

A day of caching on the Gold Coast today.
Walked in, sad to see that the area is used as a dump.
After carefully searching for the cache I read the most recent logs and guess what was happening here.
Hope that this found is ok.

Thank you for hiding this geocache Herbz, without hiders the game wouldn't exist

A lovely day out today and this little walk was part of it. The track in was tough going but the valley at the end was nice. Logged with permission

Accio 13:54:32
Out for a little leg stretch and decided to head here on the way back from Tweed Heads as it wasn't urban. Parked at the old WP1 ish and with T4mmmy we trundled on along up and down the, umm, track? here. That's a rough track indeed. Once at the appropriate pint we headed off to GZ and hunted around for a while before determining the best spot - upon which we excavated beyond expectations. Confirmed with CO what's needed here.
Thanks Herbz for entertaining me at this location.
*{Overall find #10657}*

Found nice and quick

TFTC

Found

This unloved cache was one of my targets for today... I got the easy option thanks to WP1 being MIA... despite the abundance of illegal dumping the walk in was easy enough...

You don’t find many 12 year old log books... so many familiar names... was nice to read thru...

Thanks Herbz for keeping this cache active...

Left Signal Stocking Tag from Australia to carry on...

What an interesting spot! Headed up the track, clearly well used by 4WDers. It’s disappointing to see the amount of cars and other rubbish that’s been dumped and left. Up up up and then a little down, some more up and some more down and I located the cache safe and sound in its hidey hole. Now to beat the mozzies off and scramble back to the car before it gets even hotter! TFTC!

Found. Lots of rubbish and burnt out cars around unfortunately. Kids loved it.

We decided to do this cache and as I read the cache notes I came across a wonderful bonus, thank you Herbz. We enjoyed our wander here and found the cache in good condition. SL TFTC

My knees absolutely hate me now but so worth it, great spot weather was bit dodgy but loved the area TFTC

Nice hide. Dry inside even in the rain. Room for a snoozy wombat. TFTC.

No luck today with uksquirrel.

Been a long time waiting. Great spot for a brisk afternoon walk.

Great challenge!

Beautiful valley. TftC.

This valley is fantastic and I enjoyed my walk through the area today. It is one of those spots that you would otherwise not realise was even here. The weather wasn't too hot today and it made for a pleasant journey through the Hidden Valley. It was funny to see some tires along the track, looking more like the track had won than just being dumped as rubbish. Of course there was a nicely sized container, I always enjoy finding these particular ones!

The cache was found on 29/01/2018 at 11:40:00 AM. Thanks to Herbz for placing this cache.

Final is at: S27 57.471 E153 19.769

WP1 (posted coordinates) is missing and will be difficult to replace. Until then, or until we decide to archive this cache, go straight to GZ as above.

Out geocaching today and even though it's winter time it was still warm doing the treks up hill and down dale. So glad we picked winter though as it would be way hot to do in summer, though there is plenty of shade. We took a short cut from waypoint 1 to the track and followed it for a bit only to realize we needed a different track. Back we walked and got on the right trail. We see this area is very popular with the 4WD enthusiasts and there's plenty to see of their challenges as they traverse this terrain. It was good and dry for us today at least so no slipping for us. A few more ups and downs and we were at GZ. A nice sized cache found in good condition and the log signed. Now all we needed was to make our way in reverse and head back to the geovehicle. Thanks for a great walk in an area we'd have never known was here if not for the cache. We enjoyed the adventure! Cheers and happy caching Herbz!

After an extensive search at WP1 we had the approval of the CO to continue to GZ. After a short distance we found we were on the wrong track - headed back near where you come in and we found our track - weather conditions made for a lovely walk up and down the dale! Thanks Herbz.

This was a great little adventure today with geo friends Aussie Liahona and joojoo57. On arrival at the first WP we searched and searched and came up empty handed, we knew what we were looking for but nothing to fit the bill was spotted. Well just like in the previous logs help was required, so it was time to PAF and thankfully the CO was kind enough to assist us with the co-ords we needed to progress. From there it certainly was a scramble up, across and down the hill but well worth the effort to reach the big prize.
Thanks Herbz for this good multi, a favorite point from me and TFTC

Found with the Bug and GeoToddler, no sign of WP1 but thanks to insider info we were soon on our way to a really awesome cache, original log book all dry, great spot. Left TB Netherland Pirate . TFTC and maybe need to sort out the WP1 issue so more people can enjoy.

I couldn't find WP1 so I got the final coords from a previous finder. There was a fair bit of up and a bit of down again, then up and what's that over there? A kangaroo, how cute! Hang on that's not a kangaroo, that's a massive dog...and his smaller friend. They stopped dead in their tracks when they saw me, and eyed me waryily. I continued on towards them talking gently and then they came over with their tails wagging and said hello. They were unaccompanied and having their own bush walk. Luckily they were friendly. So I continued up the hill and then found the hidden valley and then located the cache. In good condition and dry.
TFTC

Good stuff. Anyone who has figured out wp1 will understand

Couldn't find the cache nearby so we thought we'll try this one as we have got the final waypoint. Nice hidden valley!

TFTC Herbz!

Looked in the wrong place first.... Which we thought was the most likely one ... Eventually found it!! TFTC!!

Still try to source original replacement for WP1. Until then, please PM us if you'd like direct coords for GZ.

Only came to check if I can find wp1.

Hopefully when checked co can help me out with a hint

Will check on this cache soon.

Have to log a DNF for this cache. We couldn't come up with waypoint 1, and without that one we couldn't get to GZ. Will give it another go another time.

ahhhh yes, I see what you have done there Herbz.

Have been here before for the first WP and came up empty handed. Came back today and I was able to acquire the numbers. Was a bit of a scramble at GZ but I was very determined to get my name in the logbook for this one.

Thanks Herbz for another fun little rural area.

Maybe not my day. Found a semi mound but no small cache with cords
A father out here with his 2-3 year old on quad with no helmets!

Today teamdfl and I are attempting Fangsoki's Challenge Cache, GC5C5PB "The Unique Difficulty/Terrain Challenge (QLD)". As per the Description, we needed to "find AT LEAST 25 caches in ONE SINGLE DAY - each with a UNIQUE Difficulty / Terrain Combination."

This is my D3.5/T3 cache. I was a little put off by the ratings for this one, and thought it was going to be a lot harder and tougher than it turned out! At WP1 teamdfl made the find very quickly. Great camo! Then after one false start, we found the right track which led us most of the way to GZ. The old car is definitely a rust heap now. We took the short bush bash to GZ and made the find. Nice to see such a big container here. A neatly done multi. TFTC, Herbz.

And we are off! Out with IolantheK today on a serious mission. We need to find 25 caches with different Difficulty/Terrain ratings. A reasonable challenge for any cacher, but more so when we have over 9000 finds between us. We need to travel much further afield to find caches neither of us have done.

A multi was not exactly the best choice for today's challenge, but it did have a unique D/T rating that we could use.

We parked near the start and set off. The first WP was a nice quick find. We then set off towards GZ. A nice track to follow most of the way and it is not too steep.

We took different paths to GZ and IolantheK got there first.

A nice easy and fairly quick multi thanks
Find #19 of 25

Last December Captain Terror and I visited this cache. I had only just gotten out of hospital after minor surgery and the heat of the day plus the 'up' part of this cache caused me to turn around halfway through and head back to the car. I was quite upset as this cache could have ticked a DT box for me.

8 months later Captain Terror and I were working out where we were going to go caching and this cache popped into our minds. We pulled up in the same spot as last time. I grabbed a hiking pole which I didn't have last time. We headed across to waypoint one which was where we remembered it being.

We started up towards the finals and I got to the point where I turned around last time. We started talking about how nice it was doing this cache in winter compared to the middle of summer. It felt like it took quite a while before we got to the right elevation. We were soon close to GZ and the Captain dropped back and let me in front to find the cache. There was a very convenient bit of camo over a cache container and I thought that was probably it I shook off a spider and opened the container. I signed my name in the logbook and replaced the cache as found. I purposefully kept this DT box empty so then I could tick it when I found this cache. Thanks for the cache Herbz.

What a hike! Not suitable for young children yep I'd say so. Not suitable for unfit middle aged men either I say

I had done some chores around home and the calendar was free so I headed south to clear up a few down this way.

Geo Wife was not able to be with me as she was going to a conference but she gave me her blessing to "Have a Great Day"

I don't really know why this one has sat dormant for so long on our unfound list, maybe it was the Terrain/Difficulty Rating, but today was the day I really felt like tackling it.

I walked the short distance to WP1 after parking safe and started my search.

The mound was found easily but I was searching for a different type of hide so I delayed myself.

When I looked again with new eyes I spotted the hide straight away, accessing the information proved a bit of a problem as ants had decided this was a nice place for a nest.

Ants dispersed I plugged the final coords in and headed up.

I'm feeling a lot fitter nowadays so the terrain didn't bother me too much.

Nearing GZ the GPS started to swing so I was able to take a fairly easy path thru a depression and then over the hill and down into the valley.

I had only just started my descent when I spotted a very likely hide and the GPS was spot on so I put it away and proceeded slowly and carefully down the hill and was soon at GZ.

The bush was particularly pleasant today with a slight breeze blowing thru the trees so I took advantage of it and sat down at GZ and had a bite to eat before headed back down the hill to the car.

Well the execution of this cache was far easier than I had imagined, I really enjoyed the experience.

I will give you a favourite point!!!

Thanks Herbz TFTC SL TNLN ( I meant to leave something but I forgot!)

The terrain rating had turned me off this one for sometime. Today was the day to conquer two herbz caches. This was the easier of the two. WP1 needs a bit of attention as it was sitting loose on the top. I put it back where I think that it must have came from but some more attention is needed.
Interesting cutting near GZ.My imagination had them mining for gold there. Of course this isn't true but they were extracting something years ago and it made my hunt more interesting imagining all sorts of things. Thanks Herbz.

I recommend not wearing thongs for this,but very enjoyable and well thought out cache

Stick to the high road an don't be scared of sleepy hollow

Loved this one. Nice hot walk through the bush. Took the easy way back though. Wp 1 was tricky. Got kicked off of mound before it was found

I was sitting at home trying to work out a place to go caching with Captain Terror. You see it is getting hard finding places that neither of us have touched. We generally have to work out which coast we were going to and today was the Gold Coast's turn. We sat online picking which caches seemed the most interesting for us to get on our last day of caching together for 2013 and this cache made the list.

We got to the first waypoint which was found very quickly, surprisingly, since I had heard the Captain had issues with this one before. We started the hike towards the finals. I wasn't 100% well... to be honest i probably wasn't even 75% well and subsequently part of the way up the final approach before it got a little hairy I was forced to give up. I sat down for a while and told the Captain to go on without me.

When I wasn't dizzy anymore I called him and let him know I was heading back to the car. I am quite annoyed at myself since I needed this cache for my D/T grid but it just wasn't possible to keep going without needing to be carried back. I got back to the car and stood in the shade. A minute later at the most I saw the Captain come barreling down the hill towards me.

I will hopefully be back when I am whole again and attempt it then. Nonetheless I enjoyed as far as I got.

Two years ago I was here in November and decided it was too hot for this cache. So why did I make the choice to come back in December for another go?

Net88 and I were chasing some interesting D/T combinations and I was keen to have another go at this one. I parked in the familiar spot and headed for the posted co-ords, Net a few paces behind. I remember looking all around in vain when I was here with Gaz'n'Kab, but today spotted the waypoint from ages away. It must have been blending in super well back then. I grabbed it and admired the usual Herbz creativity in the handiwork.

With the numbers entered, we headed for the final. Did I mention it was a hot day out? We plodded along and I was impressed Net was getting along so well - recovering from a major booboo and all. But after we got to the bottom of the little gully on the track the Terrain 3 became obvious and she mentioned it was too much for her current condition part way up the slope. Top points for getting as far as she did. Hmm.. I noted we had full phone reception and figured I'd have a go at the final. I shot off up the hill, hoping to make this as quick as possible. Up, up, up it kept going. This little hill really does not mess about. I found myself straight out from the cache but it was across the oddest little gully I've seen. Oh well..

I slipped and slid my way down then using a small tree, groped my way back up. Now just for a lot more down. I feel like in the heat and the route I took I earned a few more Terrain stars. More skidding down a slope and finally! At the final. Net called to make sure I wasn't being eaten by a python and she was headed back to the car - shame I still had the keys on me. I made with the quickness to sign the logbook and replace all as found.

I noted the sweat was now pouring out of me after my hasty trip. I turned around and followed somewhat of an animal track up the slope, then a BMX track across the small gully. Right, now on more palatable terrain I ran back down the slope, sidestepping any loose looking parts and met back up with Net at the car, thirsty and out of breath but happy I'd done it - and possibly in record time.

There is no doubt in my mind this cache was placed by Herbz and even less doubt that it is best done at a leisurely pace in winter. A fun multi though and glad I made the effort. TFTC Herbz

Oh, and I didn't see the car, but did see some other junk strewn around - most notably a decent looking wheelbarrow.

Another day out caching.
Another day with a cache found for the August challenge.
Another souvenir.
Another Multi cache found. (that much closer to my 200th multi. )
Another Herbz cache.
Another way point where I am going in circles.
Another nasty container found....eventually.
Another hike off to 'only herbz knows where'.
Another log book signed. [^]
Another smile on my face.
Another 'thanks for a fun cache'.
Another TB found and taken. [^]

Thought Id stop here for a short walk before work. Headed on into the bush after leaving the geotruck in the cul de sac.
WP1 clue was sitting high and dry. Clever hide I must say. Entered the new co-ords and took off. After a short walk I realised this was the wrong track so turned around and found the right one. Nice quiet bush walk is always a good thing at any time of the day. Made it up the top and figured i'll have to cut across through an old cutting. Was this an old rail way track from southport? definitely man made.
Made it down the hill to GZ. Left TB but the other two weren't there. SL. On the way back I past the old Torana. Not much yellow paint left. Time for a respray.
The amount of rubbish in this bush is unbelievable. I saw paint tin, 6 mattress, wheel barrow tubs, washing machines, general rubbish, plastic buckets and lots of other stuff. It really gets on my nerves when people just dump rubbish in public bush land like this. Would need a lot of skip bins for a CITO event here.
Thanks Herbz for another great multi.

Well Team Herbz has delivered again.......

I found the first waypoint with no problems. A very sneaky hide but as I have been looking at doing the same thing for a upcoming cache of my own it just popped out at me.

Having read the part about the scrambling i decided to follow the arrow straight to the final GZ. We soon came across the river. After a short discussion with the Geodog we decided to go back and follow the path. Apart from a bit of GPS bounce around GZ the final was fairly easy to find.

Took the My Old Garmin Emap TB
Left the Gail's Prayer TB

TFTC

This entry was edited by The_young_1s on Saturday, 04 August 2012 at 11:12:44 UTC.

Rains must have helped again to hide this little monster at WP1. It was very natural and a very clever hide. We like your style . And the short distance, yeah right what is short? Well it was not that far either but we expected is just a little closer but it was good fun on this beautiful afternoon.

This is my 2nd attempt at this Cache.

Last time I had 4 kids with me. Today just my Nephew and me. Once we found the 1st find (very cool hide)we were off.

Took me a bit to find the 2nd of the puzzle but well worth the hunt.
No TB for me,but left another behind.

Thanks Herbz

Concerned about doing this one with the experience of previous DNF's. Walked up to WP1 and how easy was that. As for making our way to the GZ we took the bush bashing statement too seriously. Note to self.."the shortest distance between two points is not necessarily the quickest. Found an easier way on the way out. TFTH

found with barbbowman and fasted59 on our 2 week holiday of caching fun [:-)]

what the...

didnt even get to look for wp1 and fasted had it in his hands

amazing walk

now know why the valley is hidden...no one except cachers are crazy to walk in here

took small green frog
left green ribbon

found the car on the way out...took the 'o'

WP1 was still there but rains had helped to nearly cover it completely. We dusted it off so it's now discoverable.

Out with Gaz'n'Kab for the walk in the bush here today. Soon we had blasted up the hill and were at posted co-ords in pursuit of the first waypoint. Unfortunately that was as far as we got. Read the hints, the description, past logs, the whole bit and still couldn't spot anything that sported a set of co-ords. I tried a PAF (who found this over 18 months ago) but still we saw nothing. It was too hot too try and guess the finals so we will have to try this another day.

We arrived at GZ today, and searched for a good half an hour with Captain Terror. After a quick PAF, we still couldn't spot WP1, and had to call the search off

We thought we were in the right spot, and knew what we were searching for, but just couldn't spot it

TFTH Herbz

Gaz'n'Kab

Our second DNF for the day. Great place for snakes-but didnt see any thank goodness! WP1 eluded us but we are down -not beaten. We will be back soon.! I like these tricky hides. It makes it so much more satisfying when you do eventually find them . Thanks Herbz

Well, I started with a Herbz cache and finished with one today.
I started with lots of spider webs and finished with even more. Big suckers up this valley. Even a web guarding the cache.
Serious CITO required. I contemplaated removing a mattress for a nanosecond.
Great multi. Almost got away from "traffic" noise too.
Ammo can 2 of 2
TFTC

Hmm a Herbz multi - this should be interesting. I made my way to the first WP. Thankfully, it was located only after a small hunt. Very clever camo job - I must say! I plugged in the co-ords and made my way to the final GZ.

I took a moment to check out formentioned car. Poor old Torana. There is a special place in hell for anyone that makes a cache out of it and sticks a nano on it

On I trudged. Up.. down.. up.. down.. and finally GZ. I found the cache safe and sound in its home. It is in good condition. A very interesting cache - TFTC Team Herbz

We had been watching this one for quite some time, not sure why we hadn't stopped in earlier. And today was probably not the best of days to try, with 30+ degrees and having just sweated it out at another cache not too far away, we thought how bad could this be?
WP1 was found quickly (like the camo too), but we are sure we also took the wrong path (the same as lat&long junkie), by the time it was obvious we were not getting any closer to gz the call was made to head straight to gz down through the bush, across a creak bed, up the hill - arriving at what ended up being the track we should have taken just above gz! So it was a short climb down to collect the goods - found safely tucked away, took army man left ball. Then it was back up the hill and down the correct path - which was much easier! Spotted a Kookaburra, hare and two old cars.
Arriving back at the car very hot - home for a swim!! Thanks Herbz, we worked for this one!! (No 350 for us).

I always enjoy Herbz caches this one was another TFTC

This one has been on my "To Do" list for a while but I decided to attempt in while the sun was shining..... and glad I did.

After a bit of searching a WP1 the answer was found...... by my shoe. (Clever hide Herbz)

There were plenty of CITO options on the walk to the final waypoint. The yellow car (Gemini ?) was not going anywhere and who leaves a mattress in the middle of the bush?

I left an army dude in the cache. There was also another army dude in the cache but it wasn't Captain Chris the travel bug.

While signing the log one of those pesky cache dwelling frogs hopped on in.

Ms Wig.had found this one before, but she wanted to "share" the fun

She laughed at me trying to find WP1.... Oooh that was nasty

Then headed of to GZ... A little scrambling required hey??... again... Nasty

After doing what was required, found the cache a lot easier than WP1


Thanks Herbz, Well up to your typical standard

WP1 was a piece of cake. The problems started when I headed up the wrong path. By the time I decided something wasn't right, it was too far to go back so I headed bush. Wasn't too bad. Didn't encounter any lantana and crossed the correct track just above the cache. Of course, getting from the track to the cache is a bit of a challenge, isn't it ? TN/LN/SL and saw the dead car on the way out.

Wow..cool hike.
[^] *sweat*
Be sure to track your way .lol.

Out & about with Ozibags today this one I had been wanting to do for a while but not on my own, so Ozibags graciously agreed to come along. Herbz had told me the 1st WP was tricky & he wasn't wrong! But luckily Ozibags spotted it & we were away again Up hill & down dale we trekked with our skin leaking under the searing afternoon sun, until we 'thought' we had found it but once again in true Herbz style it was not to be that easy. A combination of heat, humidity and the knowledge that an airconditioned chariot awaited not far away was just too much & so I whipped out my trusty 'communicator' (ohh there is coverage out here!) just as Ozibags discovered the cache, signed log quickly & headed back to the waiting chariot with thoughts of cool water & a chilly AC. with Ozibags in the lead & me scrabbling up in the 'rear' suddenly there was a bit of sliding right in front of me with only one hand free (the other had a firm grip of a water btl) it was all I could do too stop Ozibags tumbling down on top of me so grateful am I that there were no cameras this time as there was my hand firmly planted on Ozibags butt (oh dear!) Thanks Herbz for another interesting adventure....

I arrived at the coords with Ms Wig2, armed with the knowledge that WP1 was tricky. Sure enough, it was - but not so tricky as to escape my sharp eyes We then embarked on a bush walk in the heat of the afternoon that got us to GZ feeling very hot and dehydrated indeed. But a cache was to be found! - we pushed through our discomfort and sweat-induced blindness, stumbling around for the cache, and finally found it - at about the same time that we had rung Herbz for help.

We both signed the log then headed back to the comfort of an air-conditioned car and drank several litres of water before moving on. TFTC Herbz

AT LAST. Third time's the charm. After a small hint from Herbz decided my GPSr was deceiving me, went back and turned over lots of things including a wheel barrow. Still no success, about to give up. Thought I'd give the GPSr another go back at the WP GZ and Ta Da there it was. Must have missed it lots of times. Great camo on the WP, could have kicked myself. And on to the GZ quickly, I thought. Arrived at the GZ by slightly roundabout route, went too far along the track. Good search at the prospective site, no sucess, widened search to other likely spots and found the cache. Checked co-ords with what I'd entered and discovered I'd put in slightly wrong co-ords. Valuable lesson there, double check your own entry. Great adventure for a short cache Herbz. TNLN TFTC

Great to live in a place where you can feel you are deep in the bush at the same time as you can hear cars on the pacific highway. It was also a bit sad because of the dead car (as well as a surprising collection of mattresses further along). Why are Aussies so good at leaving a mess in otherwise pristine bush? And why are these cars often upside down? Anyway great hide on WP1. The cache itself is very obvious even from 40M out. Neither of the Travel bugs were in there today Thanks for the cache. TNLNSL.

Hunted around for about 30min for WP1 without success for the second time this week. Will have bring Mrs Grundies with a fresh set of eyes to spot WP.

After 1 hour and 18 minutes we gave up! We were going on google map pic on our laptop. Realised that you can't play this game without a GPS ( we're noobs- cut us some slack!) Will return after looking at the pics tonight. We went round and round that darn tree! Had fun, though!

Had to do with out the cordinates, did not update corect ones,
managed to locate the cache with the aid of partner for the day big fella, plus the clues

In company with Cockney we searched for WP1 for around 40 minutes without any luck. It now appears that I was using the original coordinates.

In the end we got sick and tired of looking and decided to use the car body hint and search for the cache without WP1. After another 25 minute walk/hunt....bingo! With a whole lot of luck we had found it. This isn't the first time I've succeeded using this method by the way.

SL Took CD and left a whole bunch of stuff. TFTC

Nice little peaceful valley.

Best one yet for us to find. Really enjoyed the hunt. Eldest geokid found this one which is a good thing because geodad was going the wrong way. Took travelbug and swapped glowstick for soldier and yoyo. WP1 was a tricky little one. TFTC

** Coordinates Changed From **
S 27° 57.378 E 153° 19.968
Distance From Old: 34.4 feet
Went back to check coords with new GPSr. These are a bit closer and may help you find that tricky little WP1.

Not worthy this time! BTW does the clue relate to WP1 as I only saw it when I got home !

Geokids found WP1 quickly using new coords. Nice walk to GZ but take note of Herbz' cache description as the final approach was too much for my 6 & 9 year olds. Took kids game & left audio book. TFTC

Tricky stuff Herbz - The first waypoint was challenging. then off for a stroll in the Scrub. Nearly stood on a goanna who frightened the tripe out of me as he left. Bit of a scramble but the cache was soon in hand. took a couple of TB's and left "Capt Chris" TB. TFTC

forgot to bookin Capt Chris

Ducked out and found it during my lunch break! Sneaky hide at WP1, took a bit of a search, then off to find the cache. Slight hiccup when Trimble Navigator crashed on the way, but had taken a photo of the coords so it was all okay! Thanks for the exercise and distraction from work. Dropped off a bag of bugs.

Rated: for Overall Experience

Published