Golden Birthday Presents Illabarook, Victoria, Australia
By vp4 on 10-Apr-09. Waypoint GC1PRX3

Good piece of history TFTC

Tftc. Staying at the rec reserve overnight and grabbing some smileies while here

Tftc

What a fabulous spot. Entertaining the grandsons for the day we decided to go caching. When we arrived the boys were so interested exploring the various structures we nearly forgot to log the cache! That deserves a favourite point in our books. Thanks for bringing us here.

Ab x2 great little hide

Thankyou!

Got to GZ and made a quick find. Nice peaceful afternoon here!! TFTC!!

Great site for a cache!

Such an awesome and interesting location! TFTC

Found it on my 52nd birthday!!! All is good with the cache. Was a bit wary of snakes cause its a gorgeous day

*SueHut Birthday Cache Bonanza Adventure #1*It's apropos that this is the first cache today - the only cache within 200km that has "birthday" as the theme (and its not really the theme, ssshhh!)Thanks heaps for bringing us out to a pretty part of the country... and for the cache!

Tftc

Enjoying the drive in this interesting area, so much history here with the relics of the gold mining days. We located the cache , perfect co ords. Thanks vp4.

Out for a walk and a drive with Shumba7 around Enfield State park. Thanks for bringing us here for your cache.

TFTC found with algae on a day out driving grabbing some caches. Quick find.

It’s time for a weekend road trip. After speaking to the bank and remortgaging my house I managed to scrape enough together for half a tank of fuel. So I buddied up with OzHockeyChick who took out a loan for the other half a tank so we could get home again. Definitely won’t be leaving the engine running this weekend .

Grabbing these two unfound caches so as to not leave them alone in a sea of smileys. A nice quick find amongst the relics.

Thanks vp4 for placing this gamepiece in the wild for us to find.

A weekend road trip to the Ballarat area, incorporating an event, a cito, a couple of solved puzzles and exploring Enfield Forest.
Found this one out in the open. Signed log and returned it and covered with extra camo.
Thanks for bringing us here today by placing this cache, vp4

A quick grab whilst heading back home after exploring the Enfield area. Nice green bushland here with some hidden history.

Can’t wait to explore this place, tftc

Tftc! Some prickels around

Awesome history in this area! Thanks for the great geo

Great little fine in the scenic countryside

May 30, 2020 12:03 PM #2942
Out for a drive after picking up a FTF on a new cache at Smythesdale. Interesting ruins here. Thx vp4 FTC.

The ruins are beautiful

I was ruined after that! Such a big hole

The ruins were beautiful

The day was spent caching in Enfield state park along back roads enjoying the solitude
I located the hide which a muggle had kindly discovered and left a note acknowledging their kindness of depositing kangaroo poo inside the cache. The cache was cleaned and a new water bag for the log were added before signing and replacing.
Then I went on to explore the site, that is certainly a deep hole, just couldn't get the right angle to see how deep.

Thanks for the cache vp4
#5,683

Neat little find here... another one of those ‘if I didn’t cache I would never have known this spot existed’ moments. Tftc

TFTC. Interesting spot. Cheers.

Just to warn others as the cache owners already have in their attributes to this cache there is a WHOPPING big mine shaft that is extremely deep, unfenced and not signposted. Please, if you have children especially to be very careful here. TFTC

Found at 10.45am, Continuing our Forest drive, Lots of brick foundations given an idea of how extensive the Gold mining was here, Slowly being overgrown with gorse though.
TNLN
Thanks
K&M

The history of the area is seriously interesting, how many more tales would come to light if the people were alive to tell them. SL TFTC

Luckily I have been to this spot before some years ago so it has been on my list to revisit when next in the area. I took the road I remembered taking some years ago, fortunately my memory served me well as when I arrived I had no ph service. Decided to hunt around anyway and the cache was found, phew! A very interesting place, can only imagine how bustling it once was. TFTC

Find #6998

A day off work and what else is there to do.... yep, go caching in an area I've never really gotten into and to do some site seeing on the way around

WOW loved all the old building relics, was quite strange to see all the brickwork so deep into the forest area.


TFTC. vp4

Day out caching with kazzacosmo, we enjoyed our visit to the area and reading up on the history. TFTC

More interesting history

Having a drive around the Linton area. Impressive ruins nearby. TFTC

No rainbow birds seen today,
but plenty of olde mining history was on display,
as I made me way,
between the caches ... ay !!

TFTC

Found during a Bushwalking trip.
TFTC

I loved exploring around here and finding the cache. Tftc

Quick find today with FerociousFlea.
Found on our way to Ballarat for a day of Christmas Eve caching.
Found after dark on a warm night... billions of bugs and spider webs!!
TNLNSL
TFTC
TTFN
Beaker

Found with Beaker on our way to Ballarat. Raining bugs in the torchlight! Thanks

Had a bit of reception problem but found the cache anyway. tftc

** Smile # *3884* / Traditional # *2986* **

After a successful day in and around Ballarat collecting some puzzles, I made the long way home detour to find a few more. The day was pre planned a number of weeks ago but when I looked at the weather for Friday a few days ago, I was very worried. Oh well, it won't stop me. The morning was nice and mild until the sun came up and then the rain started. I had a little help on some of the puzzles and others I was able to solve myself.

I was so very glad I stopped for this one. I was only expecting to stop for a quick cache find but ended up exploring this great little location for some time. Cache was found quickly. Thanks for bringing me to such a great location. Signed and returned as found.

**Thanks for this trad cache, vp4** [^]
**A favourite from me** [^]
**Cache container and log good in good condition**
**Took Nothing, Left signature**

Tftc

Another great hide. Never knew this area existed til now. One of the things I enjoy about cacheing. TFTC

In the midst of old gold ruins. Another historic spot. Thanks for bringing me here. FP. TNLN TFTC

Tftc

Found while staying at Berringa. Thanks for the Cache.

Found. Beautiful spot.

Such a lovely area and so much history, we were out for a lovely drive exploring the area and even though we have passed here many times we have never really stopped to explore, Thanks for giving us a new reason to stop here and TFTC

Quick and easy find after exploring the surrounding mullock heaps and the foundation of building past
Spent a while here exploring our mining history

TFTC

I had no idea this was hear, my George kids loved the "bottomless pit" thank you.

Found It.....Found this one while on a return trip from Ballarat. After pulling up the short walk soon had us holding the cache and with the log signed we moved onto the next one. Thanks vp4 for the cache

Found this one after geobuddy had to do something else golden. Lol. P.s. Not any where near the cache though.

found after a quick dash before school pick up!! Tftc!

Quick find in this great historic area that I otherwise wouldn't have visited

TFTC

Out and about this morning with the two geokids (aged 4 & 5) placing some caches on the BSRT. We detoured the long way home and stopped off to grab this cache. Such a beautiful area. Can't wait to come back and explore further with a proper GPS so I get reception!

This was my 8th find of the day.
I had a nice time exploring the area.
Thanks for bringing me here to claim a smiley and take in the sights.
Quick discovery.
TNLN, SL and on to the next one.
Cheers & T.F.T.C =]
Safe travels and hoppy caching!

We had just arrived home from a caching trip to Queenscliffe, when the call was made by Beckster 22 to have a go at some of the caches in the Enfield Forest. Hmm, do we stay or go? We go!
A great historic area. Thanks for bringing us here vp4.

Pulled over near gz and after looking around at the relics, we found the cache.nice hide.

On a nice drive with the family we found ourselves finding a few geocaches in the area that we were yet to turn into smilies. We located the cache in quick order and admired the nearby ruins. Thanks for bringing us to this spot. TFTC vp4.

Nice place

Found the cache quickly then spent time exploring the ruins and climbing mullock heaps. TFTC

Number 6 on caching run lots of prickly bushes beware

In the area caching today with Westall0299 and Tomstache, we located this cache quite quickly. Very interesting remains of brick buildings. Thanks for giving us a reason to stop vp4.

Very interesting place this with all the old mining remnants. TFTC

Found by Chris, Andrew and Lorraine on the 06-01-14 TFTC

Found by the-geobots, 6/1/14 - TFTC.

15/12/2013 1:14 pm
We thought we'd pick up the few in the "thanks to" series that we are missing and others in the area, on this lovely Sunday afternoon.

Nice big container!
took nothing, left nothing. cache in good condition.
thanks vp4 for the cache- Highrod

Petite marche tranquille dans la forêt pour découvrir quelques caches
Merci pour la découverte de ce lieu !

10:26
It is always interesting to wander around in the bush and explore the remnants of Victoria's golden past. Later in the day we learnt more about the extent of the Birthday group of mines at the Beringa Information shelter.

TNLN . . SL . . Thanks for the hunt vp4.
7069

A great place to have a look around and a place I would not see if I was not caching. A nice quick find. TFTC.

I wonder how many people drive past these ruins because if it wasn't for your cache I would have done the same thing! I understand why the cache isn't in them, got rather scratched been noisy, your cache was visible so hid it well when signed the log. Thanks

A quick find this arvo with Shamus1. We just follow the geo-trails right to the cache! Thanks vp4.

What a golden cahe this was find thak you for the hide

another day out with Teamranger had abit of a late start today but all is well we have started our day of caching now thanks to VP4 for bringing us up this way TFTC

This was one of over 110 caches I found during a huge day and night of caching with my fellow cachers Trailrunning, Rebel Acts and Blacklegend (The Demolition Crew). As we all had the day free we carefully planned in advance the run and decided to call it Ballarat Smackdown II. The plan was ambitious and resulted in almost 22 hours of continual caching.

The day started in the early hours of the morning in the far eastern suburbs of Melbourne, then moving through the northern suburbs then onto and along the Western Freeway to Enfield State Forest then north up to Ballarat itself. We cached through Melton, Pykes Reservoir and Bacchus Marsh and many of the country roads north and south of the Western Freeway as we made our way west.

We had a fantastic day finding all the different types of caches and there were some quite inventive, very tricky and well constructed hides that we found. I thank all the cache owners for the time and effort they have spent in placing all the caches we found today.

I found making our way through the Enfield State Forest to be the highlight of the day and my Prado handled it very nicely. We couldn't believe it when some more caches were published in here the next day so we immediately began planning our next Ballarat Smackdown trip.

Another legendary cache run by The Demolition Crew (myself, TrailRunning, Quasar3671 and Rebel Acts). We have dubbed it Ballarat Smackdown II. This was a huge run taking us all the way from near Cardinia, via the northern suburbs of Melbourne, to Bacchus Marsh and Melton and finally Ballarat. A massive loop, and over 100 caches for the run. The company was as always fantastic, a lot of laughs, good dinner, and great caches. Many thanks to all the CO's for the hides, without them we wouldn't have been able to find anything.

Glad to visit this one, loads of history. Love it. TFTC.

This was, cache # 76 of 117 finds for the day in the company of The Demolition Crew. Nice historical area. My thanks to vp4 for the cache.

This cache was found by me today in the company of The Demolition Crew.

While I strive to make my logs personal to every cache, I have far too many logs to do, that I apologise in this instance for using a generic log. I thank you for the placement of this cache as it was one of many that made up a great day for me and the crew..

The Day's Blurb...

The annual holidays is always a great time to relax and take it easy, but not today. The Demolition Crew had decided that after such a long break from caching together that we would start the year off with a bang! So the planning minds were put into operation, and Ballarat Smackdown II was conceived.

The smackdown started along way from Ballarat, in fact in the hills around Cardinia Reservoir and from there is was a push across the northern suburbs of Melbourne through Melton & Bacchus Marsh. It being such a hot day, the waters of Pykes Creek Reservoir cooled and refreshed us, and we were soon off to start on the Ballarat caches.

Since our first Smackdown in the area, many new caches have popped up, so it was a fruitful run which ended well into the early morning. A couple of caches were replaced as a way of saying thanks to those who took the time to place them, and I think in the end my tally was well over 100 for the run.

It was a completely awesome day, and I thank you for placing the cache. We will return to the Ballarat area soon as there are still a number of caches we left undiscovered.

A quick find as intended. There are so many of these types of ruins from not so long ago. Such was the lure of gold.

Wow- you wouldn't want to fall into the mine shaft its a good 30m drop into water at the moment! I am surprised that it hasn't been fenced off in this day and age when safety reigns supreme. They took a fair bit out of this area looking at the mullock heaps. Intersting what still remains and what has dissappeared 100 years on. TFTH!

Found and signed the cache , then had a look around . Climbed up the mullock heap for a better view of the place.
That is a very deep looking hole there too..

Thanks vp4

Curious names for a mine. Haven't been out here for years, so thanks for bringing me out here again, it really is a beautiful drive. TFTC

Found with Mum & Dad.
This was a very quick find.
Lots of ruins around.
Thanks VP4.

We headed on down the road and this was a nice easy find.
Lots of old ruins here it must have been very busy at one point.
Thanks VP4

This cache was super quick find as it was sitting on top of the stump as we pulled up.
After signing, I replaced it in the hollow and re-covered it as best I could.
Thanks for the cache, and the history here vp4

Suscoe found this fellow fairly quickly.
What a brilliant spot, if only the ruins could talk.
Left antelope, took workman.
Thanks to vp4 for showing us this place.

A beautifully serene spot. The ruins and mullock heaps an echo of times gone by. Thanks for bringing us here, an area neither of us have explored before. Tftc. Tn l:path tag.

sunny day out with geo-kids

I didn't notice any of the mining remnants, I was too busy admiring the smooth unpaved road that runs right next to this cache. No potholes, no corrugated bits ripping your car to shreds, it was like driving on clouds.

Some serious evidence of mining here with remains of substantial buildings and monster mullock heaps. Great area to drive thru too.
TFTC.

very interesting spot.

Great spot out of the way, picked up while passing through getting some other caches. Interesting to poke around here - it must have been a pretty major operation in days long gone. TFTC

Found by Team Ranger on a full day round trip caching.

What a little treasure, this area is well worth the trip out even if a cache wasn't the goal. Cache found, retrieved, logged and replaced. TFTC

One just never knows what little treasures are to be found whilst Geocaching.... Discovered whilst out caching with micaparamedic. Cache was in hand quickly, logged and returned followed by a brief stroll around the structures. Thanks for the cache and for bringing us here. TNLNSL.

Nice spot to have a look around.
Thanks for the Cache.

What an interesting site!! So much infrastructure left!! It is fascinating to wander around and try to interpret just what some of these buildings were used for. There was almost certainly a battery, (probably steam driven,) but what were the big concrete-lined pits for? Hopefully not some incredibly noxious chemical treatment (eg Cyanide) that was then drained off into the watercourse! Driving through here, it certainly seems the whole valley was given a decent workover. Many thanks, Vp4. I'd been meaning to take this trip for some time. It was rewarding to finally get out and do it.