Mechalumpus Scotsdale, Western Australia, Australia
By roymerc on 03-Mar-11. Waypoint GC1W1ZD

After 8 months of waiting, Parksc and Wildlife have finally finished the new Harewood Forest Walk Trail. And it has given Mechalumpus a death sentence. Due to ongoing fears of spreading Dieback, all geocaches must not be placed more than a couple of metres from the official track.
Lumpy needs some privacy!
However all is not lost! I have another ideal location nearby. So watch out for Mechalumpus the Second!

Hi Geoff,
Time for an update. Penetrating oil didn't work even after a week of soaking. Having spent eight months of the wettest year without any action or the occasional squirt of WD40, mechalumpus had completely seized up. I had to cut it open with an angle grinder! And as expected, the interior was a sorry mess. However I have managed to rebuild it, and even made a few improvements.

But placing it 'back on track' is less successful. I can't find a spot the will satisfy the Department's requirements and mine. It does need a bit of privacy. And there is the need to hide the box of tools somewhere nearby.

However there is a 'Plan B,' I still have access to the original hiding spot of 'My Myst Take' on my neighbour's property. Which would be ideal. And I'm never going to replace 'Mysty.'
So, in the Fullness of Time, I suggest I archive Lumpy and immediately announce Mechalumpus Has a New Home. Is that the best way to go? I need to clear it with Rod and Linda, but I don't expect they would object.
Cheers, Roy

Ve Haff Good News and... well, let's discuss that later!

The new Harewood Forest walk trail is now finished and open. And The Black Box cache is now accessible. In fact it's even easier to find; it is now right on the side of the new path. Good for geocachers, and I hope that because it is at the extreme end of the track, most vandals won't walk that far. And it's a pretty strong construction anyway, Time will tell if it can survive.

Mechalumpus hasn't fared so well, its bit of track has been removed from the new path and is out of bounds to all walkers. So I will need to negotiate with Department of Parks and Wildlife to find a new spot. Seeing how they've 'allowed' the BB to stay I'm hoping I can get permission to place Lumpy adjacent to the track. It is fairly robust too, and if I can place it right up at the highest part of the track, exposure to evil minded muggles will be reduced.

But before I can do that I need to see if it still works. We've recovered it and it is now sitting on the workshop bench. Preliminary inspection has come up with at least one fully rusted-in bolt which will have to be drilled out. Currently it's soaking in penetrating oil. Until I can gain access to the works I can't tell how long it would take to repair. And DP&W aren't known for rapid response to awkward questions.

Watch This Space!

Hi Geoff, not ready yet, in fact both ends of the track are closed now so I’ve had to disable “The Black Box” as well!
I have just now checked with Parks and Wildlife and the word is “as soon as we get some fine weather to finish the job.” So, who knows! It is supposed to be Spring now, bu nobody has told Hughie.
I snuck around the warning signs and checked on the cache. It’s in a very poor state. I will have to go back with the relevant tool and remove it back to the Workshop. Give me a couple of weeks…
Cheers, Roy

Well, the new track building was going good, until the Big Storm hit! It’s very steep country where they are cutting the new walk track and there has been a lot of run off and gouging. With more weather to come! Parks and Wildlife are on to it, but there is no current estimate as to a new finishing time. I’m monitoring it and will post an update ASAP.

Thanks for the 'heads-up' JJ52. The Walk is being extended and will eventually be a loop. I've checked it out and talked to one of the guys working on it and they are aware of the cache and will keep it safe. Completion is estimated as being around the end of June.

I was very disappointed that I could not attempt this one as there was a fence blocking the path with tape and big signs saying do not enter, authorised personnel only. It seems like they are upgrading the track.
I did think about going through, but thought better of it.
I'm sure it is a great cache and I'm sorry I wasn't able to attempt it.
Thanks anyway roymerc.

Mechawow! Your caches just keep getting better! Tftc. Found with BJP?

Brilliant cache loved the mechanics and personality it has! Found with Boggsyoneill. Well worth a favourite point, these caches keep getting better and better thanks roymerc

Thanks again roymerc!

Another Cache favourite Very clever

Interesting little cache with a quick field puzzle l. Tftc

Loved this one. Lots of fun ... great for kids although track a little tough going. TFTC

I got distracted and took a wrong turn on one of the paths and seemed to be on one of the “follow the arrow” paths. By then I was too far in so just kept going that way.

Found the tools quickly and worked out how they needed to be used. It could use a bit of a lube as it was a bit hard to open.

Another well constructed cache. FP added.

Thanks for the cache roymerc.
Found on 19/3/21 at 10:37.
Find #13273.

Awesome

Craig had fun working it out
Thanks Roy

TFTC another exciting cache!

Awesome

Another creative cache from RoyMerc. we had a good laugh. Left a trackable. TFTC

We found it, one word to describe this cache; AWESOME. Obviously so much thought has been put into it. TFTC

Found on my second attempt after a bit help from the owner. I wanted to check I was trying the right thing. Kind of glad I came to do the cache twice, it's so great! the walking path is a nice little stroll too. I left happy, even though I had more than a few mosquito bites from all the time spent here. Thanks for the cache.

The most inventive and clever cache we have come across in our early days, only 300 finds. Genius

Quick trek through the bush and a quick find of requisite tools. Mechanism a bit hard but got there. Fave tftc

On a little getaway down south with Spike.
Picking up a few caches we missed last time we were down here.

Catching up on logs for my last visit! TFTC

Hi found you

So much fun to use all the different tools in the kit. What an adventure! Thank you

With multiple hands and an engineering mind JLB007 and bosto1 conquered this cache.
Beautiful to be amoungst the forest!

Terrific hide.

Very clever

One of THE best caches I’ve ever seen!!!

This is so cool, and was a quick solve once we had the right tools for the job. Thanks for the fun Roymerc

Knowing how tough it is to maintain caches, let alone inventing and constructing brilliant caches like this, we read the instructions and accessed the cache.

What a cracker! The mechanics are very well thought out!!

The trail to GZ is marked with red flagging. Maybe the Shire are going to build some extensive tracks here.

TFTC roymerc #4 favourite point added for today.

Day 2 of our roymerc tour of Denmark. I am going to have to do some power trails before I return as I am fast running out of favourite points!!!

Two most dangerous things that threaten geocaches: Lazy idiots who don't read instructions and indulgent parents! A combination of both is deadly. Luckily this one had the gall to complain about the lack of logbook so I was able to track him back and confirm his little darling had taken one of the vital tools. And give him his due, he posted the missing part back.
The tool box now contains a note explains that it isn't the cache, and encourages READING THE INSTRUCTIONS!

Sorry, off line. One of the tools has been stolen and I'm waiting for it to be returned. And I have regrettably had to make this a Premium Cache.

Took a bit of a bush walk but great cache overall

Nice hike. Simple find

Fairly easy find

My first geocache!

Kids loved it.

Another fabulous creation. TFTC

Second day of geocaching with newbie Marijke and found it!!!TFTC what a brilliant cache

What a great one for the kids to get into.

Awesome spot and I love your idea! TFTH

Thank you! Day four of my five day somewhat random road trip. The plan for today was to do some roymerc caches, hike Mount Lindsey and make my way north-ish. Happy to make the find here. The tools made complete sense and I soon had the log in hand. A fav for the ingenuity.

Found it

Dropped the cute green roo in here

Fun cache!

Great

Yes! Birthday cache finding on this iso-weekend

Just as great as the others, wow so much fun. Great job.

??

Henry found it… thanks!

Go left go left!!!! Great hide a beautiful walk. I especially liked working out which tools to use!!!

With the tools we opened it easily.
TFTC

Wow, just wow. I'm so impressed with the creativity and ingenuity that goes into these caches. Not to mention the sense of humor. Thanks so much for the big time fun roymerc!

The location was really awesome as well. I enjoyed the walk through the kerri forest and was grateful for the red flagged trees on the return walk. (My GPS batteries were drained at the vampire cache so no back tracks. )

I was able to access the cache fairly quickly all except for the third barrier. The simplicity of it fooled me.

Well, thanks again for the fun. I am running out of fave points but still one to spare for this magnificent one.
I

What a great walk through the bush. Another ingenious effort from roymerc. Def worthy of a fav. Thanks for bringing me here

One of the rules of geocaching is that the easy path to the cache is only ever found on the way out. On the way in to GZ every possible barrier and difficulty gets in the way.
And at GZ the required TOTTs did not immediately reveal themselves. Until some digging was done. At least it was not too deep!
From there it was a couple of minutes of thought and some applied engineering to find the logbook and sign it.
Sometimes Brad is very glad both his father and son trained as engineers and that some of that leached out into Brad’s medical brain.
Anatomy, physiology, and applied pharmacodynamics are not so useful when solving field puzzles.
And so this was another one where you just have to walk away smiling (and not just because you found the easier path)
Did we mention that we are haemorrhaging FPs today? Look. There goes another.

A lot of work has gone into this. Well done!!

Lumpy is a top mech! We found him and enjoyed the problem solving challenge immensely. Huge thanks to you for this cache Mr Roymerc. You must be the coolest dad/grandad ever!

So cool

Thanks another brilliant cache. Kids loved it!

Awesome!!

I was hoping the warm weather would dry out the logbook. No such luck! So I printed and bound three new logbooks and installed one in the guts of Mekalumps today.

Another awesome cache for today. Log book very damp.

Found it, all good. The logbook is a bit wet. Great cache. Thanks for the effort.

Clever!! Log too wet to sign with @smfoz

Out caching with @justplainkate managed to find this awesome cache log was too damp to sign so will have to return later. Thanks again roymerc

Fun to do

Tftc , amazing and so clever. Loved the googly eyes.

Today we found Mechalumpus on our travels. We have looked forward to visiting for so long, especially after doing a Roymerc lab cache at the Parkville Mega in Melbourne last year. We had to visit Perth for work this week and it didn’t take too much convincing that we needed to spend the weekend before heading back to Vic. Loved this one, once we’d figured out which component belonged with which step the cache was very quickly in hand

Thanks roymerc for being part of our geocaching fun.

Thanks

Another fantastic cache. We are visiting from Tasmania & the quality of the caches in Denmark has blown us away! We expect to find our 100th cache today, so hope to set some puzzle caches when we return home! Thankyou so much for your effort!

Out and about in Denmark after spending the week walking sections of the Bibbulmun Track south of Walpole. I am constantly awed by the natural beauty around these parts. It really is a special part of the world. After climbing Bluff Knoll yesterday, today was dedicated to hunting down some caches before heading back home to the city. Thanks roymerc for another inspiring creation. This was my favourite cache for the day. Great how interactive it is.

While staying in the Denmark area we thought we would do some caches. Amazing ideas. Thanks for the cache

Excellent thanks
Log is a little damp

In Albany / Denmark for a weekend with friends visiting nearby wineries. We were last here in 2012 and couldn't miss the opportunity to do some more roymerc caches, including a couple that were inactive at the time.

This was under repair when we were here last so we were happy it was active today. Mr Tiger Rose had it worked out in a flash and produce the log to sign in quick time.

Thanks for the cache Roymerc, another rewarding experience.

I told myself years ago that I should get my butt down to Denmark to do some caching, and now I'm finally here!

Brilliant cache. Absolutely fantastic. A fav for sure,

TFTC,

Found with Ollie, Pia, Sierra, Tejas and Fiona

Made a run down to Denmark to visit friends and to grab caches as the weather was getting warmer. This one has to be my last one for the day as I have to head for home . TFTC and I worked it out very quick but the log book is wet and I didn’t have a plastic bag with me so if the next cacher could bring one .

Ingenious!

Very good

Introduced our friends (Shynae and Linden56) to geocaching a few weeks ago and have come down to Albany/Denmark for the weekend to show them some of the best geocaches we found when Cravo10 and I lived down this way back in 2015.

Excited to show them some of the best RoyMerc caches today, and to find some new ones myself. TFTC and TFTC.

Very nice walk through the bushes. Very adventurous

Fun little adventure and bush walk. Love the cache thank you

Great cache we really enjoyed this one.
TFTC

Found it! Thanks for the cache. Another great one!

Flash new bridge installed, all set to go! I haven't had time to check the cache but it should be okay.

Conservation and Land Management have in their wisdom decided to rebuild the bridge over the Scotsdale Brook. So this cache is Inaccessible until it is finished. And that looks like being some weeks.

Thanks Roymerc. I love the humour and work you've put into the caches around here. My first caches were some of yours around here that I did with geodaughter Emily_Pemily a few Christmases ago. It's taken me that long to get back here and do some more.
Still at less than 100 finds but loving each one..

Really worth finding this cache. Best one so far for us.

Found with geo friends thank you so much for your time and effort that has gone into placing these geocaches. A favourite point awarded for the three we've found this afternoon. ️

Roymerc, this is a great series of caches. A lot of work been put in. TFTAC

Another creative hide . Loved it! With favourite 3 geo mates. TFTC

Found this on a group hunt. Very inventive and love the work. SL. Tnln tftc

Did the extra 2 km on my normal letterbox stroll and check on the 'problems' with mecha. No Fault Found! The tools were where they should be and the yellow ribbons marking the trail all in place. So not finding the tools and falling down a hole is an amazing achievement!

Found the googly eyed monster

Found the structure after a slog and got 2 out of 3 off. Could find nothing at the base of the fence post so I couldn't get any further.

Take care on your way back - it's easy to get off the track, if only by a couple of metres, as some paths look easier on the return. I took an easy sidestep and fell down a hole that took me 5 minutes to climb out of, and I hadn't fallen completely through the vegetation covering it, so i don't know exactly how deep it was.

We really enjoyed this charming little puzzle box. We almost got lost on the way in but backtracked and found our way. There was an extra piece in the Tool Kit which we didn't find a use for. Maybe a broken piece of Mechalumpus? TFTC roymerc We are having a great day!

Awesome! TFTC

Thanks for the effort you put into your creations roymerc. Makes finding them so much more enjoyable!!