Hooked on Books 2 - Lake of Shining Waters Forest Hill, Victoria, Australia
By GJMMelb on 10-Feb-10. Waypoint GC23JFZ

I decided to get a few caches done early in the day as the weather wasnt looking great.Now this was a clever puzzle. I worked through a couple of options early but decided they were red herrings (or just random occurrences).I was on the right track without knowing it, but had not seen this tricky way used before.The cache was found much quicker than the solve during my walk around this park.A big thanks goes to GJMMelb for taking the time to add Hooked on Books 2 - Lake of Shining Waters to the geocaching map for us all to find and enjoy.----------------------------------------------------------Wow! The fun just never stops.Join us as we announce the winners in the 2023 Victorian Cache of the Year Awards in addition to celebrating Geocaching Victoria's 10th Anniversary.**When:** Saturday, 16 November 2024 from 5pm**Where:** Yarraville-Footscray Bowling Club, YarravilleLog your will attend at [**GCAWDFX: 2023 Victorian Cache of the Year Awards & Birthday**](https://coord.info/GCAWDFX).Also have you logged your will attend for Victoria's first ever Block Party? (Think Mega but even more special!)Join us on 22-23 March 2025 in Sunbury to celebrate 25 years of geocaching by logging your will attend at [**GCAP417**](https://coord.info/GCAP417).

I have had these vo-ords for a few years, was concerned it may have moved, but still here today, a quick find.Find number 8990 on 24 August 2024. Mystery CacheThanks For The Cache

I was heading into Richmond for a T5 cache today, and took the opportunity to find some caches around Blackburn enroute. I'd looked at this puzzle previously but had no luck at all. Revisiting it and noticing some other details, I tried again, and still couldn't solve it. Reaching out to the generous CO, I still struggled, but got the checker to agree finally. Clever and devious indeed. Today, my device circled me around a good bit before settling. Some likely camo was observed, and the cache revealed. TFTC, the assistance, and for bending my brain a bit GJMMelb

I needed to find a mystery cache today in order to fill in a missing calendar date for [ahomburg's](https://www.geocaching.com/p/?guid=1ded3729-fe62-40bb-9f5f-fd559e7163b1&wid=dc135a03-cc4f-4381-a4b2-0feb0a96e411&ds=2) [WCW - Almost a Complete Mystery Challenge (GC9Z59N)](https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC9Z59N) and with having so much fun finding a few of the other caches in the **"Hooked on Books"** series I decided I would continue to try and work on solving and finding the caches in this series.However, the puzzles in this series seemed to be above my solving capabilities, even this one took several nudges...*ok maybe pushes*, from the very kind [COs](https://www.geocaching.com/p/?guid=590a63f2-f374-4bfe-97d1-a4a965a81ac4&wid=444e94ee-93f4-4958-9764-27a6aec89c7d&ds=2) in order to solve it, but eventually the puzzle concept was understood and after hours of work the puzzle was solved.So today before I heading into the city to attend [RoamingHowie's](https://www.geocaching.com/p/?guid=24963346-56c5-4daf-8308-a01f60f5a5ba&wid=eb5c753a-606c-4dd2-abac-96fc0ae77f48&ds=2) event, [May Mealtime Madness (GCA69W5)](https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GCA69W5_may-mealtime-madness), I headed over to GZ.I was able to find a carpark not too far away from GZ to park the geomobile, before I continued on foot. Finally the weather was getting better and there was no rain today, which made for a pleasant walk over to GZ. Once I arrived at GZ I thought there was too many to look so I checked the hint to try and narrow it down. Armed with the extra hint I then wa able to make a more targeted search and eventually find this well hidden cache! *Woo hoo!*A big thanks goes to [GJMMelb](https://www.geocaching.com/p/?guid=590a63f2-f374-4bfe-97d1-a4a965a81ac4&wid=444e94ee-93f4-4958-9764-27a6aec89c7d&ds=2) for all the help with this tricky little puzzle and for the fun today. TFTC.**Cache Maintenance Status**The cache container was in good shape. The clue for the bonus was very legible. and the logbook was clean and dry with plenty of room for future cache finders to sign.

Maintenance Check, all good. We had actually checked in Feb but forgot to log or take a current photo lol

Found it! At long last I have found this cache! Yay! Ive been looking at it since I first started caching and just couldnt work it out. Initially I didnt get puzzle caches and then when I did, I just couldnt work it out. Occasionally when visiting the lake I would try and find it brute force style but no I didnt stumble across it. More recently I tried to work out some likely coordinates and I probably got within 20 meters of the cache. I finally relented and asked for a hint but still couldnt see it and then I met the CO at an event who was happy to give me a bigger hint. OMG of course. Its funny how you make certain things to try and fit preconceived ideas! Anyway I went for a walk to find the cache after a stressful day with Mum in hospital. Very happy to find and alls well the ends well! Thanks for the cache and puzzle hunt over the years! SL Cache was in good condition, sorry for the late log.

I actually signed the log on 14 Jan 23 but hadn't solved the puzzle at that time.Now, after many attempts at extracting the correct numbers, I was given a hint by a friend and the required numbers quickly were revealed to me.Thank you GJMMelb for this cache and the series.

I used to work at a nursing home along here and would often take residents for walks through this lovely park. It was nice to come back here and gave me pause to remember some of my very favourite residents and the time we spent together. Thanks for this cache GJMMelb and thanks so much for the nudging towards my rainbow! LOL!

With older sister at VSL Box Hill, I took the other 2 kids with me for a 3 hour caching adventure. Large raindrops fell in the morning threatening to turn into rain but held off and the day progressively got hotter and hotter.

Solved this with help from friends a while ago. Today being in the area we decided to stop by and grab it. Cache was found after a little rummaging around.

Thank you for the cache here GJMMelb

Needed a nudge on this one. But today was a good day to collect the last book in the series. This is a beautiful area and i enjoyed my meanderings. TFTC.... and the nudge!

Maintenance visit. Cleaned out cache container. Good to go

The solve took a little while to come but eventually a checker gave me the tick. Was in the area today picking up some other caches so decided to collect this as well. No problems locating the cache with the sounds of nearby birds in the background.

Found with cathlud, TanSaf and MissyEng while attending the event nearby. We were heading for a Traditional but I realised we would be passing close by this puzzle that I had solved so we stopped to find it. Took a little while to spot the correct place but soon had the log signed and were on our way to the next cache. I was hoping I might have a chance to find a couple of others in this series but it was just too hot, so we will have to return at another time. TFTC

After attending a nearby event I was walking through the bush with a few friends (SciFiRulz, TanSaf and MissyEng), one of whom wanted to find this cache. I have not solved the puzzle yet but have signed the log and will solve it before I log the cache. After adjusting our search area due to a wandering GPS we found the cache.
Thank you GJMMelb for this cache. Now I need to find the rest of the series.

I found this cache today in the company of others. Great puzzle and great theme. A favourite from me.
Thanks for placing the cache GJMMelb.

In Melbourne to attend the Mega at Whittlesea with tmann421.
Enjoyed the short trip around locating a few caches before heading to the event
Log signed tm/ww NZ
Thanks to the cache owners for the efforts with the hides

Arrived in Melbourne to attend the MEGA Event at Whittlesea with woolwood9.
We came over a few days before to do some geocaching in the area first!

ww9 and I had a great time and this was a cache we located.

SL tm/ww NZ
*Thank you for helping to show us around different areas and adding to our enjoyment*

This was one puzzle that had me following all the red herrings until I was utterly bamboozled. After a few hints from the CO I was finally able to solve the puzzle. That was nearly two years ago! My puzzle solving skills have definitely improved since then! Today I was in the area and had to come and find it.

Thank you GJMMelb for placing and maintaining Hooked on Books 2 - Lake of Shining Waters for us to find today.

Find # 1306.

Attempted this one 3 years ago, but couldn't get the right coordinates in time before leaving for Japan.
Second attempt, was much more successful. The walking tracks on Googlemaps appear to be outdated, and some bush-bashing was required. Brought Dad along for the adventure.
TFTC

Solved this many years ago. This was my favourite series of books when I was growing up. I still have a crush on Gilbert! Kids footy on nearby so I went gor a walk around the lake collecting caches.

I oved these books as a child. I may just go back and reread them now. tftc

With so much time on our hands during lockdowns, solving puzzles was a distraction from cleaning the house or gardening. I think we are the only people who didn’t start a veggie garden or learn how to make sourdough bread, although in hindsight, we should have planted the veggies. This is a very clever puzzle that I must have read through about a million times before throwing my hands up in despair and getting that all important nudge.

Out on a night caching adventure with Crustyvarmint that unfortunately didn’t go to plan, we couldn’t go home without at least one smiley, and this cache has been waiting for collection for sometime now. Crusty had already found this and agreed to tag along with us while we searched, so with a previous finder, we presumed this would be a quick find. Nope. The GPS’s were having a mini breakdown, sending us all in different directions, and we spent the next 30 minutes with our torches checking every possible location. So much for having a previous finder tag along:). After our performance of imitating the three blind mice wore off, I called it and we were just about to leave when Steve came up with the goods……….in a spot both Crusty & I checked. Thank god.

Thank you GMJMelb for the challenging puzzle and hide.

Had a lovely day with echidna44 walking around The Blackburn Lake. Echidna44 was kind enough to assist us with the answers and we had a great time finding this cache! Thanks GJMMelb

Great feeling to locate this cache after agonising over the puzzle. Eventually solved with hints from CO. Absolutely
love this series. TFTC

I started solving this series of puzzles years ago. I have always loved reading and even recognised some of these and read a couple. This was one I’d read after seeing a series in TV . I’d avoided them as a child with a prejudice against American Literature. This was probably a poor choice. Besides this is really a Canadian author, which until adulthood I didn’t really register as being different to American!
I love visiting Blackburn Lake and was pleased to have another stroll here. Three of us set out. We were impressed with the playground. Had a good look at the ingenious sundial on the way back to the cars.
We found a clear way to GZ. N0w0rries, who found the cache years ago, was impressed with the mulch which replaced the weeds that had covered the ground when he searched for this cache. Accurate coordinates led to a very well hidden cache in good condition.

Maintenance check. Picked up TB. Good to go

During lockdown we solved many, many puzzles. We particularly enjoyed solving the puzzles in this series and managed to solve all of them without help except for this one. This is one we kept coming back to, but nothing came to light. It wasn’t until we had found all of the others, including the bonus (we worked that out using the clues from all of the other hooked on books caches whilst making an educated guess for this one, that we decided we needed to ask the CO for a nudge. With the nudge we finally had the aha moment and solved the final coordinates. Today was the perfect day for this outing. I used to live on one side of the lake and went to school on the other side, making this quite a nostalgic outing. We had a big play at the playground before circling the lake, picking up the cache on the way around. This sanctuary has come a long way since I was small, it was a great day out. We left a trackable for the next series. Thanks GJMMelb for an incredible series that not only introduced us to a variety of books but also took us to many amazing places.

I spent a good deal of time during lockdown solving geocaching puzzles and solved this one a while ago .. today was the day to collect this one .. there were a few people walking and bike riding near GZ but it was ok .. the cache was nicely hidden and is safe from prying eyes. thanks GMJMelb for placing the cache and creating the puzzles.

Another cache in a beautiful spot on a beautiful day. Life is good.

Found with Let Them Eat Cache - she did the research & solved as usual, but I made the physical find at GZ. Took the long route round, but such a lovely area we didn't mind.

Thanks GJMMelb for the cache and the series.

Out early on a crisp Sunday morning to claim a few more puzzly caches we had solved during lockdown 2020.

I had looked at this one in the Hooked on Books series, but couldn't see the solution. Luckily the very generous creator & CO helped out on a Zoom call & it just fell into place.

Thanks again Jen/GJMMelb for placing & maintaining this cache. Cache On!

So frustrating, must be missing something in the clues.

A pearler. Do love the world of books so eagerly began this little series....hmmmm....a few twists and turns and a few hints and searching were needed for some! This one was quite straight forward. Oddly I never read this book as a kid (or adult) but curiosity was peeked when we ended up at Prince Edward Island (was living in Canada) and ultimately visited "Green Gables" for a besotted friend. Located GZ and the hidden treasure easily enough. TFTC and the fun.

We had solved and found most of this series some time ago but the solution to this one had eluded us. However at a recent meeting with other geocachers, the COs had provided some hints and we soon had a solution. I'm not sure we would have been able to complete this without a nudge! Today we headed off the the lake and a short search located the well hidden container. Little was I to know that I would soon be returning to GZ to retrieve a misplace camera lens cap! Thats to GJMMelb for the cache and their advice.

I was a part of the zoom meeting where the CO talked us through the solution for this puzzle. I can safely say that I would never have solved it without that help.
Having the coords at hand, it still took a little times poking around, before locating the beast.
Thanks for the fun GJMMelb.

Found with carkisser on our first day out cacheing.......
TFTC

Street a bit of wandering and moving off leaf litter, JSando had cache in hand. Find number two for Reboit 2020 TFTC

Cache visited and maintained as part of our exercise for 25/10. Cache is all good to go at midnight tonight!!

Cache visited and maintained as part of our exercise for 25/10. Cache is all good to go at midnight tonight!!

Sadly, here we go again. Stay safe and healthy everyone. Hopefully see you in 6 weeks

May we suggest that you please use hand sanitiser before and after finding this cache - thanks This cache is being re-enabled with the hope that Community spread of Covid19 remains extremely low. We will visit each cache in the coming weeks to make sure it is still there and in good condition.

Disabling until.....well I am sure you know why ...but nobody knows when ...

went to check on this cache today, it is there as per hint

Spiffy- was back to his energetic best after being crook last week and so we packed the car with a kayak, a ladder, spare clothes and many others things. The plan was Geelong area for some lab caches, qualifying caches for challenges ans DT loops and puzzles, plus anything else that distractes us on live maps!

Thanks to GJMMelb for the placement and fun.

No luck for me on this one. I searched the base of a lot of trees, but turned up nothing.

This has been on my list for a long time.
Thanks for the fun.
Yeah baby!! We did it!

Whoops, wrong cache!!!

Day 23 of my travels. After leaving Tasmania and getting off the ferry this morning, it was another day tracking down a few target caches around Melbourne. Unfortunately I seem to have brought the Tasmanian weather with me and it was another day of intermittent showers and strong, cold winds.

This puzzle was solved before leaving home in anticipation of my visit. It took me a little while to find the cache at GZ as it was well buried by leaf litter.

Thanks GJMMelb for the puzzle and cache.

I read this book long long ago, so after a refresh, I solved the puzzle. Today I decided it was time to find it. A lovely park, well away from muggles. Thanks GJMMelb

Last day of holidays today for GMelb so we decided a nice walk around the lake was in order and checked on this cache in the process. All good

After solving this a year or 2 ago on the old app and not picking it up before they changed the app and I lost my corrected coordinates I finally got to so,vine it again.
Decided that Geopuppy needed a walk so off we Trott after work to this beautiful little area just near home. My GPS on my phone is all over the place lately for some reason but luckily geohubby tagged along so I used his phone and it finally took us to the right place.
Log signed and time to move on to the next book (more puzzles to resolve)
TFTC

Have had this worked out so long I don't remember what it was I did. Thus it was great to be in the right area to collect this cache today. Thanks for the cache and bringing us here.

I have lived not far from here most of my life and even worked nearby but have never visited this lovely area. Thanks for the cache and introducing me to yet another local place I wasn't aware of.

Second time to find, since I didn't have a premium membership first time around. Originally found with ZimbaW and my mum (who did the spotting), after lots of help to solve the puzzle. I'm kicking myself as I've wondered away and forgot to look for the clue! Great cache and great series, in my old home town. TFTC

F(H)ound It! #2447 @ 9:30 AM

We are leaving today heading back home to Queanbeyan after a lovely visit with the relo's. I managed to grab a couple of caches too.
The Sister-out-law (SOL) and I worked on the puzzle individually and together and got distracted by many herrings and tried a lot of things. Eventually we asked the CO for a hint. Then we seriously wandered down the wrong puzzle solving path. Really wanting to get this one before we go, we finally asked for some more help from CO and with that we soon had coordinates.
Took the geohounds for a last walk up at Blackburn Lake with the SOL and the MOL and after a short search it was the muggle MOL who made the find.
Thanks for the cache, GJMMelb, and teaching me yet another way to hide coordinates in the listing.

Ridgeo-pup and GeoDane pic attached:

This was by far the hardest of the HOB caches to solve. I got a nudge from the CO which still very much had me puzzled for many reads, I notice some things, but eventually had to use a large hint to get the green tick. After getting the tick, I doubt that I would have got the results had I persisted with the little nudge i received. I did try the correct code in one of my many efforts, but was looking in the wrong areas to get the right answer.
At the GZ i went down one path and remembered that I shouldn't need to go over a fence to get there, so went and found the correct method. After getting to the GZ, I removed my bright orange cycling jacket and had a green t-shirt underneath. I thought this might give me some camo while collecting caches. After retreiving the cache, I squatted to fill in the log and get the clue from the log. I spotted a family of muggles who had spotted me from across the way looking curiously to what I was doing, I can only imagine what they thought I was doing. Left a Hulk Marvel Disc, supposedly its quite rare. TFTC.

I read this when I was very young and couldn't remember much of the details. I will have to re-visit. I was saying, to another cacher, that when I was young, (in a tiny village school) I read every single book in the school library, and the staff had to bring me books in from home. I would have read this, by the age of 6. A long time ago. Two facts about me that prove my permanent need to have my "head in a book" are: I once gave myself a very nice egg on the forehead, walking into a lamppost while reading; I once missed a fire alarm at school because I was reading and the headmaster had to come in and find me, engrossed in my book, alarm bells blaring. My Youngest girl is every bit the bookworm, I am. Every night I have to argue with her about putting her book down, and a lot of mornings I find her curled up on a sofa, already a few chapters further on.

Oh my golly, I tried an awful lot of methods for solving this puzzle. I think it was with this one that I piqued VR's interest in the series, upon enumerating all the ways I'd been failing with the pesky thing. We discussed some further possibilities but it wasn't too long before the smartypants from the north indicated that she seemed to have identified the one true path. Yowsah! That's a bit nasty, I reckon. The cache itself was less nasty. We weren't detained at GZ for a terribly long time, I seem to recall. Thanks again GJMMelb!

Not too hard, it took about 5 minutes to find it. I found it with thedoctorswife, MisterDoctor and GeoDog. I like this nature filled place. I left a shining jewel. TFTC!

Lovely spot for a winter's morning walk. Tagged along with mister doctor for this one

After reading the many logs about getting help with this one, it was clear patience would be needed if there was any chance of solving this puzzle unaided! I printed out the story and resolved to give myself a few days of just sitting with it on and off. In addition, having a think about possible coordinates gave me a ballpark on a couple of digits and a starting place to test out some ideas. In continuing to re-read the story, little things began to bug me and call out for attention. Ultimately, the last came first. With a strategy to test, digits revealed themselves - some quickly, some slowly. GeoChecker said "Whoohoo!" and it was time to go!

The lake was beautiful and there was a bit of activity with tai chi, walkers and groups of kids doing hands on bush crafts.

The coordinates were spot on and the cache (now a 200 mL container) was quickly found.

Thanks GJMMelb for another session at the brain gym, I nervously await your next challenge!

P.S. As we're talking books, I wanted to share a passage from one of my favourites that's quite relevant - "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert M Pirsig. It's a very thoughtful book and has a lot to say about the problem-solving process. One aspect of this is the idea of staying power, or gumption:

"... filled with gumption ... you often see it in people who return from long, quiet fishing trips ... Gumption is the psychic gasoline that keeps the whole thing going. If you haven’t got it there’s no way the motorcycle can possibly be fixed. But if you have got it and know how to keep it there’s absolutely no way in this whole world that motorcycle can keep from getting fixed. It’s bound to happen. Therefore the thing that must be monitored at all times and preserved before anything else is the gumption ...
... one gumption trap to watch out for is premature diagnosis - when you’re sure you know what the trouble is, and then when it isn’t, you’re stuck. Then you’ve got to find some new clues, but before you can find them you’ve got to clear your head of old opinions. If you’re plagued with value rigidity you can fail to see the real answer even when it’s staring you right in the face because you can’t see the new answer’s importance."

I had many attempts to solve the puzzle.
And then I had a eureka moment, and now I don't understand how I missed it in the first place.
Once I had the coordinates, it was an easy find.
TFTC

This puzzle should not have taken as long as it did for me to solve, I kept coming back to it, reading and re- reading the story and finding every possible anomaly except what I needed to solve it. I resorted to a nudge in the right direction as I was on the brink of madness and then it finally made sense. Phew! TFTC, off to find the next solved one!

#863 - 3.15pm
This was one of those puzzles I had looked at half a dozen times over some months without making any progress. But on a recent attempt, a penny was heard to drop! And two minutes later I was in possession of some useful coordinates.
A few days afterwards, Mrs Welder and I popped into GZ for the smiley. We wandered all over GZ to a radius of 20m, but the cache eluded us. And here was I, thinking that the puzzle was going to be the most challenging element of this smiley! Lol.
We headed home but the cache continued to play on my mind...
I returned to the scene the following day. There was an idea in a past log that gave me a new strategy. And 5 minutes later the cache was in hand.
I felt myself caught in an oxymoronic position. Firstly, I don't know how I missed it. Yet, I don't know if I ever would have found it without the key from the past log...
Both opposing views were equally true!
Thanks so much, GJMMelb. I really liked this puzzle. And now I'm one step closer to the final...

Was out with n0w0rries getting a few caches in the area that i had not yet found and to make my close to home map filled with smiles. TFTC

Finally got around to finding this one, after struggling with the puzzle for ages. Thanks omegaman1971 for the nudge/shove that I needed. Lovely area, and we'll have to come back for a bigger explore. Finally, I have finished the entire HOB series. Loved them, thanks GJMMelb!

Ahhh!

This was one of my most frustrating caches. I couldn't figure out how to work out the co-ords. I tried a lot of different methods, sought help from family, and co-workers but all to no avail. Finally in sheer despondency I reached out to the CO who gave a clue and when I worked out to solve it, it was with relief that it was read once more and finally solved.

I then set out today to visit each cache in the series and I thought this a worthy cache to drop off a couple of TB's.

TFTC!

Well, this one had me stumped for quite a while...wonder if anyone noticed the strange woman in the bush. I looked and I looked a all the trees...there were so many and the compass was misbehaving. Don't ask how long I was here but I sat down to contemplate, and glanced at the original tree I looked at. I though just one more try, and sure enough there it was. Then as a part of my exercise MUST WALK AROUND PARK BEFORE OR AFTER MAKING FIND, I did just that and walked the lakeside path, which was awesome and even thanked some worker muggles for the great job they are doing keeping these reserves going. Thanks for the cache GJMMelb

omegaman1971
Was great to tick one more off the list from this very fun series.
Was stuck on the puzzle for ages, but then click! Got it!!!
I did get busted by a couple playing the ingress game at Gz.
Sounds very interesting!
Cheers for the cache

10:23
With WWFMXIII event #2 getting us out and about at ridiculous o'clock, I may as well take advantage of the deserted streets and nab a few more caches...

I'd been given a nudge toward the solution of this puzzle while celebrating a Cup Day birthday, then worked out a set of coordinates that made sense. The location was not much of a surprise, but the amount of time between then and now, my first chance at a retrieval attempt, certainly is.

Trackwork on the nearby railway line added another unexpected degree of difficulty, so it was only after a substantial detour that I finally made it within striking distance of GZ. After all that, a bit of foraging was nothing.

Thanks, GJMMelb... I think that gets me half way through this cache series.

#3200

Sorry for the late logging of this cache - doing a little christmas housekeeping - Found on caching run with SirJ-Oz. TFTC

Find #2527. Found @19:36 with Muggle-L

After a frustrating couple of days at work, I decided that I needed to make a few geocaching finds to reward myself. Since there was a new cache published right around the corner from Muggle-L's place, I sent her a message asking if she wanted to go caching.

A few back and forth texts and plans were made. I met up with Muggle-L at her place and went from there. Not quite ready to give up for the night, we returned to the car and drove to collect this one.

I've looked at this puzzle on and off for quite a while now, and every so often I'd get the same information from one of the COs. It wasn't until a recent puzzle solving night that I worked out what I needed (which is a bit dumb, as I've solved a few of these using the exact method in my time). With coordinates in my GPRs, it was just a matter of when I was going to be in the area. That answer is _today_.

A little wander to GZ and it took us a while to find in the dark, we looked and looked, and it was only reading some older logs that I checked the most likely location with a bit more, um, "eye grease". and the cache container was revealed. Now that I have solved 2, my sense of order will let me tackle the next in the series.

Took nothing, left nothing, signed log, and visited some trackables.
Thanks for the cache GJMMelb

Number 6 in this series Hurrah!!!

We had all sorts of trouble with the clue, needed heaps of help from the cache owner. And then when we came to find the container today we traipsed around aimlessly for 20 mins. Finally master 13yo spotted something suspicious and the cache was in hand.

TFTC, TNLN and now off to solve the 7th in the series!!!

I'm glad to have finally found this one! The puzzle was hard and i needed a lot of help from the co (thanks!). Then today I made it to gz where it took me 20 minutes to locate the cache. I searched a wide area but somehow managed to overlook the hiding place the whole time. One more to go...

With a huge hint from the CO; thanks J, I was able to solve this puzzle. GZ was a short stroll and I made a quick find. Getting closer to 7. A favourite from me for the challenge. TFTC.

After a grueling week at work I needed to chill out. Luckily for me I had managed to solve this puzzle today so I had an excuse to grab it straight after work. The puzzle had me stumped for a couple of hours before I spotted something. I soon had a reasonable set of coordinates which passed the geochecker test. I made my way to the GZ and soon had the cache in hand. TFTC.

Suscoe was out and about in this area today.
It was a cool and overcast day with low cloud and the occasional drizzle patch here and there.
This was our 21st and last find of the day.

Well this one has been on the solving pile for a while.
Getting no where really until an EAF provided a hint, well really a bit of a nudge.
With this new info in hand we refocussed our minds and a set of co-ords were soon appearing.

And now to today.
We enjoyed the approach to GZ and the cache was soon located safe and sound.
Well done to GJMMelb for another pleasant puzzle with a literary twist.

We had a great day out but now it was time for the two hour return to home. Atleast the Freeway / Highway traffic was reasonable to us this evening.

I set out to complete the Hooked on Books series on this day - found after 10 minutes of poking around lazily! Gotta get used to caching again!

3:57 pm #268
Wow. What can I say. Tried no less than 15 puzzle-solving methods with this one. Reading through the logs, I was determined not to ask for hints. About to give up when 88andy88 found something in the story. I quickly used this piece of information to go on to solve this very clever puzzle. Then off to the gz to collect the clue. Cheers. Next!

This was OzHockeyChick and my 2nd grab for the afternoon. We had sovled this one a little bit before and was glad to actually grab the hide. Sounds easy hey? BZZZZZTTTTT......we had heaps of drama's solving and finding this little sucker but all the same the co-ords were spot on and the cache was exactly where it was supposed to be just our lazy GPS's playing their own game made it hard. Muggles were about but not that big a problem. OzHockeyChick found this one after crawling around in the low end of earth. Glad to close the find and log the find....TFTC. Grabbed a cheeky little sock coin copy too

Found at 2:44 PM GAFF4/1. When we were kids and when we had nothing to do during the hot Christmas holidays, we rode our bikes from Blackburn South to the lake to muck around and even do some fishing for gold fish. We never told our parents what we were doing and they never asked - we were so free in those days
A great series of puzzles and a lot of enjoyment for Mitchell in reading all of those books
Thanks GJMMelb.

With a huge hint or or should I say nudge from a previous finder I was steered in the right direction with this one after racking my brain with the possible final gz. Found after visiting the area with the geo kids on a sunny morning. Thanks GJMMelb for the cache and the puzzle, now onto number 3....

With a little help solving this puzzle from TurnerfamilyFtg it wasn't too long until we had the cache in our hands. Fun searching with -Jellybean-, geonephew and Paul from TurnerfamilyFtg. Many thanks for placing this cache.

Out for a day of cAching with -Lisette- and the geocousin. At nearby event and took a detour to find this cache. TFTC

I work nearby and a few of these pop up on the GPSr every time I drive by.

We have had a look at this one more than once and even sat by the Lake, watching the water and listening to the frogs, waiting for something to shine out at us.

After a gentle nudge in the right direction the cache was soon in hand.

Took a copy of the clue and left "[blue]2006 - GC&P Club - Sock Puppet Geocoin (copy)[/blue]" to continue his journey.

Visited some more TBs. Thanks for the cache and the gentle nudge too GJMMELB.

A favourite point for the adventure and the ambiance.

I will have to apply myself now and endeavour to complete this series.

Spent a while trying to solve this one. Tried all sorts of combinations for the solution to this one. Got half way to the answer, well, maybe a quarter of the way, but just couldn't crack it and had to contact the CO as we were only visiting Melbourne for a few days. I like to think I would have cracked it eventually but took the clue and had an easy find today. Thanks G J And M.

I have had this one on the solved list for a couple of years, but haven't ventured out this way caching. Today we headed out in the sunshine and this was our first find. Thanks for bringing us to this tranquil spot and for the cache.

2nd cache of our caching run, 3rd of the day and 2nd of the series for today- number 1 was found this morning.

Wow this puzzle was a toughie. We spent many painstaking hours on it and kept coming up with nothing. We emailed the COs who very kindly gave us a massive hint and the puzzle was solved. We did fall for the decoy in the puzzle earlier .

Fast forward to today and this cache. We knew this one would be a hard one but came prepared to search. We kept coming up with nothing over and over again and had searched about a 15m radius of where we got GZ.

Then eventually we went back to a spot about a meter from where we got GZ and geonana located the cache by banging it with a stick .

We signed the log and went on our way.

Thanks for this cache- its a tough one but a good one

Defamily

Checked cache - all OK. Accuracy was within 3m.

No
Find

Have spent ages reading and rereading this cache page I almost know it by heart! None of the numbers I gathered worked so I gave in and asked for a hint from a previous finder (thanks atsmug). Even after getting a great hint it took me ages but last night got the coords right (yay). Headed off to the lake this morning, bribing a grumpy 3 yr old with a play at the playground before finding the cache TFTC and I look forward to completing the series.

Really stoked to have solved this puzzle on my own, and happy to have the opportunity to share the ensuing hunt with my visiting sister. Took us much longer than it ought to have to find the cache, reading the hint would have helped (of course). I think the cache now is smaller than perhaps the original was.

2 down , 5 to go , TFTC tnln sl

In the area so we checked up on this one too. Grass has been cut so a much more pleasant approach! All good

Found this one today. I was on a mission to find some close to home caches that I had attempted previously. This one had become a nemesis cache for me. I had finally worked out the puzzle and had been to the cache a few times all without success. Today I thought it was not going to be found and I rechecked my coordinates and then looked in another cache and voila there was the cache. I think I must have almost stepped on it previously while looking. Signed log but didn't swap anything.


Thanks for the cache GJMMelb.

I have to admit that this one has had me stumped for almost a year. I have looked at it many times, looking for clues, but finding nothing useful. Eventually gave up and emailed the CO for some help and only with J's help was I able to finally solve the puzzle.

On the subtext of a trip to Bunnings, I made a detour to search for the cache. A little wet this afternoon meant that no one was about which made the search easier. A little wet underfoot, but I soon had the cache in hand after checking a few places and then returning to the first place.

Thanks for the cache, GJMMelb...and for the help!

Thanks ladioactive for checking up on the cache!! That's hugely appreciated!!

I'm a bit late - well several months really - logging this cache after being made redundant from work. I'm finally getting around to logging my finds and noticed that the CO had temporarily disabled this cache. So being the last finder I thought that it was only right to have a look for it this arvo after an appointment in nearby Blackburn Rd - you know, one of those appointments that a person suddenly thinks about when one retires.

Luckily I still remembered [^] how it was hidden and that the co-ords were pretty good so after a tiny search I found the cache was still there and that my name was still the last one in the logbook. I've notified the CO and kmace. It's a bit of a tricky hide now that the foliage has shot up since the recent rain.

Oh bother!!
Hopefully it hasn't gone again!! We're off on holidays tomorrow so will check it sometime in the 2nd week of the hols

Attempted this one today and a few other times in recent months. Unfortunately I have not been successful at locating this cache any of the times that I have been here. Have the coordinates changed or has the replacement cache gone as well? Of note the onion grass has grown up majorly since my last visit here. It is nice to see that spring is starting to spring here.