Sacred Grotto Winmalee, New South Wales, Australia
By bikerbuddy on 02-Jun-10. Waypoint GC29KEQ

Tftc interesting spot!!

Not the rock I thought

Loves the walk to this beautiful spot, but no luck logging a find-it is very overgrown with ferns, and very slippery with leaf litter. Will come back with more suitable shoes and a more agile geokid!

This was the one i was looking forward to the most today, a nice walk into GZ I searched the smaller rock before even noticing the larger then it was a quick find.Not alot of water flowing today but a top spot to come and visit.I was about to walk back up then decided to take on the other nearby Grotto.Thanks bikerbuddy for the cache

Had to get out and stretch the legs. Have been meaning to collect this for such a long time. Track closure increased the delay ! Tftc!!!

Found it, nice place

Bit confusing but found!

Nice day for a bush walk after all these days stuck at home. We took the shaws ridge trail up to Grose Head south lookout then came back via Springwood ridge trail. This way back was quite warm on the sunny afternoon.
On the way we found 3 caches: The grotto / above a dappled valley / sacred grotto. We saw few friends on the way!

At GZ it was a quick found. Perfect for a quick cooler break on this hot day.
TFTC
+1 favourite point

Found with Raincatz. Nice walk. A lovely place with a history.

Found with Kooleen on a nice short Geo walk

Tftc.great little find

Beautiful location. The birds were chirping, plenty of ferns and plant life and the water was trickling down above the grotto. Thanks for bringing me here. TFTC

Found while on a nice walk with my fur princess

Found the other Grotto so had to take the detour for this one. Walked up to make a quick find.
SL TFTC

Enjoyed the walk down the fire trails from White Cross Road. Found the local history article very interesting.

Nice find whilst out hiking

Found while out for a hike in the area. TFTC

Seems it was a grotto hunt day today. After finding the Rats version, we decided to walk to this one as well. Area was pretty clean and made a fairly quick find. TFTC

Found with Brandonpuri

Found it

Found it

First find since Covid19 started. Good to get out again. TFTC

Found while out bike riding.
TFTC

Nice cache.

Lovely day for a walk through the blue gums to relieve the isolation. Quite an easy find. Cache is in good condition. Signed and replaced. TFTC

Lovely day for a walk through the blue gums to relieve the isolation. Quite an easy find. Cache is in good condition. Signed and replaced. TFTC

Amazing spot for a cache thank you Bikerbuddy. (Note: filling the cache with ferns might look pretty but not putting the log back in the bag just made it damp and slightly damaged it. I have put it back as best I could and hid it a bit better.) TFTC

#2528
Grabbed this one on my way back from Grose Mt lookout. Nice little side trail for the mountain bike and another great area I would never have visited except for caching. Its places like this that really highlight how badly we need some rain though. Happy to report that I didn't see any rubbish about.
TFTC bikerbuddy

a nice easy geocache to find and a good bushwalk with the kids

Bushbashed to track from houses above. Very scenic little area. Cache all good. Tftc

After a walk with our kids through this beautiful area we could find the box. Thanks for showing this place!
TFTC cznr

It needs water !!

Tftc - nice walk

Our first Cache, found by my 8 year old son. TNLS & TFTC

Found it today on my 2nd attempt. My first find ever, thank you!

Enjoyable morning walk through a lovely area we haven't visited previously. The blue gums are stunning. A quick find in an interesting location. Thanks very much for placing the cache bikerbuddy.

A pleasant walk, listening to birds and frogs and the babbling creek. TFTC

This cache has been on my to-do list since we started caching again last year. I come down here birdwatching a few times a year so know the area pretty well. So with MrT we grabbed my brother Dave who lives nearby and head off for a walk. I thought it had been found last week but on closer inspection it was 12 months ago! Headed down to GZ and had cache in hand fairly quickly. Cache and log are dry and in great condition. The area is very green and the ferns in abundance. Very peaceful. TFTC

Found it, the hint was a bit too obvious

This entry was edited by Nickfish34 on Sunday, 22 March 2015 at 04:21:44 UTC.

This entry was edited by Nickfish34 on Sunday, 22 March 2015 at 04:22:09 UTC.

This is a bucket list cache for me. I came by sometime last winter and rooted around the area for over half an hour. Now I have 2 hours to kill while my son has dance classes. My 3 options are marking papers, riding or geocaching. I could go back home, but I would just waste time playing internet Scrabble. I was armed this time with the Magellan, some inside information...but the clue gave me everything I needed. Thanx Bikerbuddy. I'll be back down this way again next week, but I'll just wave at her holiness as I pass by.

Saw a wallaby near the grotto pool. Came here first in 1977 when the statue of Our Lady and the memorial cairn and plaques were still there. It is a beautiful area. Thanks for replacing the cache.

Yet another of my caches muggled! I will replace this one as soon as I can.

Coordinates changed from:
S 33° 39.852 E 150° 36.226

Coordinates changed to:
S 33° 39.846 E 150° 36.235

Distance from original: 58.4 feet or 17.8 meters.
The old hiding place had been compromised, so I have moved the cache a short distance to what will hopefully be a more secure location. The hint and notes have been upgraded to reflect this

The cache has been replaced and the notes and hint changed to reflect the new hiding place. Hopefully, this should be much easier to find now than in the old location. As always, remember that your GPS will not be accurate in this location. Read the notes and use the hint to minimise your impact in this area.

There has been a lot of regrowth since the fires, well that is my excuse for not finding it. Lovely place though...

spent a good hr searching exactly where the gps told me to find it. Maybe no longer there as the fires went through. Is it still there?

Third time lucky. Found it nice and quickly this time. TFTC

DNF - just as we arrived our GPS batteries went flat but we were in 10 metres of GZ. Searched for ages with no luck

Searched and searched and searched....

After venturing out to find the nearby 'The Rats' - The Grotto cache, with Jnr ASO and whitemushroom, this was relatively easy though given the recent rainfall, it was a little soggy...then a lot more soggy looking when we came to the creek crossing, eventually we 'built a bridge' and all got over it, to find an amazing place! If only our GPS devices knew we were there (GPS was allover the place today). Eventually a find and some rubbish out! Thanks for the cache bikerbuddy!
(Also I checked out the link.....interesting little history to this one)!

The GeoDad and GeoJnr of All Strung Out went to much appreciated effort to build a bridge for whitemushroom across the running water on the track to this marvellous location. GeoJnr (thank you Kieran) not only provided the heavy duty timber but also the guiding hand. What a lovely, lovely place, with the trickle of overflow down the rock wall. The Magellan struggled for a satellite, and 'sort of' had one near the cache ... a decided beeline indication had ASO Snr focusing where need be, and a ASO Jnr for a Cache in hand. TFTC

PS Camera batery carked just as we approached this wonderful location ... another walk in is on the agenda.

Staying at Yarramundi for a church camp. Thought I would combine two of my favourite physical activities and took a group for a bike ride / cache hunt. Parked at the nearby high school, and rode in. What a beautiful spot!

Off on a early morning cache hike with GazMag in an effort to beat the heat. After a very pleasant walk in the cache was quickly located at this gem of a location. Great container so I decided to drop of MY GO Geocoin.

Thanks Bikerbuddy

Found by my lovely geo assistant. Cache was actually under rocks and dirt so we replaced in a manner consistent with the clue. I didn't bring a pen so attaching photographice evidence of find. Great spot. Thanks biker buddy

I didn't retreive this cache because I was afraid that there might have been creepy crawly's. TFTC.

This was found by my geo-mother. Was with my geo-dad, geo-brother and geo-sister. TFTC.

A nice walk on fathers day and a redeemed DNF. Armed with some hints, the curent one seemed slightly incorrect (we had to move some rocks). The area hadn't changed much since last time we ventured down here, well, that may have something to do with the fact it was only a week ago . Nice to find the cache dry and very well concealed.

TFTC found with rollersky, redskydude, bisygisy and the geomum

I first walked to this location 27 years ago. I saw it fleetingly when I rode past on my mountain bike 10 years ago. It was interesting explaining the significance of the location to my geokids today as I never thought I would ever be drawn back to the area.

TFTC found with rollersky, redskydude, azazzlenic and geowife.

A DNF from us today. GPS was going haywire so after a brief search of the area we gave up on it. This one is close by so we'll probably be back sometime.

GZ changed a few times looking for this one. Not sure where to look so we gave up. Find it difficult in these places where there lots of brachen ferns, moisture and a changing GZ. We may have looked too high up for no reason. Might have to come back and look lower.

This entry was edited by bisygisy on Sunday, August 26, 2012 at 10:19:18 AM UTC.

Found at 9:55am

I have been meaning to do this for a while and today gave me the best chance to finally hunt this cache down. Having mountain bike riding in the area in the past, I was able to get to GZ sooner than I first thought. With an extended search around, it wasn't looking good. I then sat down to read through the previous logs on the GPSr. Not too much help there so retraced my steps to begin searching again. I started back at my first spot before, and with a more focused and better attention, the cache was found. The cache and log book were all dry and in good condition. Lovely little area here and really not too far from the suburbs above but I'm sure many don't know it's there. Took TB, TFTC.

Much to my disgust, my muggle BF pounced on this one while I was still distracted by the GPS. Lovely spot, thanks for bringing us here. Took TShirt TB, left Jeep TB. Cache in good condition. TFTC.

Finally got back to the grotto to place the cache back in position. I have had to put in a replacement log book since I couldn't do anything with the mould on the old one without making the problem worse. This can be a very wet area, as is shown by my attached photos, so please ensure both clips are locked on the box before replacing it. It's a waterproof box. I've checked it and it doesn't leak, as long as it's shut properly. Thanks

Madrummager needed my assistance with this one. So my geoson & I joined him. But in the end Madrummager came up with the goods 3rd time lucky...well done!
Tftc.

Thanks to MadRummager for the report about the condition of the cache. I've gone out and retrieved the cache at the moment to try to salvage what was a good quality log book. It's damp and mouldy at the moment, which is a pity because it was in a good quality waterproof container, the type I use on my river caches. I'm hoping to have the cache back in place by the weekend.

This was my third attempt. I thought it wasn't here so I brought 1000+ Jmanjezza for moral support. I did eventually find it. Cache needs maintenance. Looks like the pen might have jammed the lid open slightly. Log book is mouldy and wet. Cache needs a whole day in the sun to dry out. Thanks for cool location.

Given the recent DNFs and all the rain we've had, I'll go check on this one soon. It is most likely still there, so I won't disable it, but debris from the rain may well have made this one very difficult to find if you don't now where to look.

After frantically chasing my tail I used the suggestion in the log of "a mad coin" and tried to get a bearing a bit down the track before the grotto made my GPSr freak out. That seemed to indicate a promising structure to direct my energy at which had a very suitable hiding hole which was unfortunately empty. So I chased my tail a bit more till I go hungry and headed back to my car. It really is a lovely spot!

This entry was edited by jonnosan on Thursday, 05 January 2012 at 09:01:47 UTC.

It was a wet and rainy day, lots of washouts. Two of us searched for 20 min and DNF. We turned over lots of rocks and stumps. Will be back on a good day.

Been meaning to do this one for a while and with the kids at school me and wife decided to do this one

Really great spot would of looked really good in its day but still looks great now gps a little all over the place but did what most others did and went back down track and got a reference and guessed the area, the hint was helpful

And like others have stated you DO NOT need to leave the cleared area

I had some unexpected free time today, and decided it was time to start clearing out my local area of caches. The CO wanted to check on this one, so we set off for a pleasant walk to GZ. Luckily it was a fairly quick find, I was worried with the CO watching with amusement that I wouldn't be able to find it. But my GPSr was behaving itself beautifully today & pointed me to the right spot, leaving me only a few places to check before I made the find.

Left a TB.

Thanks.

Found without too much grief.

My first attempt of this cache was back in June 2010, the second 02 July 2011, both of which were unsuccessful!!

However, with a little persistence and a great deal of assistance from good friends who saw my pain, (pjmpjm and Team Webguy ) this morning four of us ( my GeoWife, Team WebGuy together with his GoeWife and myself) made our way back down to the Sacred Grotto to claim success!!

I was left to my devises once at GZ but with a few words to wise before hand it was not long before the cache was located.

The cache container is fantastic and only an envelope of this kind would keep all the contents dry and in good order.

Left a Geocaching NSW Pathtag for the next participant to claim.

Tks ... bikerbuddy ... GazMag

#747

This is my second "DNF" for this cache.

GeoWife and I made the very enjoyable walk down to GZ, and began to have a look around. Disappointingly the area looks like it has been hit by a bulldozer, the undergrowth has been in some area almost destroyed. I'd say there are many more "DNF" which have not been recorded.

Anyway, we gave it what we thought was a very good search without success and "optus" could not provide coverage so my thoughts of "PAF" went out the window.

Great area, pity about the vandalism of the plants, maybe another day!!

Tks ... Bikerbuddy ... GazMag

This one had to be one of the favourites of the day and it was so surprising to find such a beauty so close to civilisation. This location reminds Team Stilllookin of a location so very close to our home co-ords that we might just have to put a cache out there too.
The cache itself took a fair bit of finding but Mr Webguy came up with the goods in the end and the cache was in a location exactly as described in previous logs and the description.
Anyhow thanks for showing us this great location and it certainly seems to be popular with the locals as we came across quite a few on our way back out.
TFTC
TNLN

15:39 Hrs
As Webguy said in his log, this was the cache of the day!

We had a pleasant walk in to this area and were rewarded with a surprise as we arrive at GZ. This is a magic spot and it was very enjoyable to spend some time here searching for the cache. It took a while to find, but we got there in the end!

Thanks for showing us this great "Sacred Grotto".

Never been this direction before, so it was a nice easy walk out to here and was for sure the cache of the day, though, it did take us quite some time to turn up and will explain why shortly.

This is a really nice spot, and I really would have loved to of see it in it's heyday, with the pool full etc. Not the sad looking way it is today with bugger all water falling over it.

Someone slept here last night too, made themselves a bed of ferns and lined the edges with small rocks. Would have been cold last night!!

So, anyways, to the search, that, we did, and lots of it! But, the surrounding area has been really torn up by one hell of a mutant scrub turkey or lyrebird, leaf litter and dirt and everything has seriously been torn up bigtime all around this area. honestly, if I did not know better, would have thought a pig did some of the damage it was so extensive.

The end result is that where I did eventually find the cache, was partially filled in from all this scratching and took a serious investigation to find that perfect for the job container.

A brilliant and easy spot to walk to for a cache!!

Getas a gold star from me!

I went to check out this cache today after Altaire's log that mentiond a rock. I found the rock and removed it. It hadn't been put there by me. However, you will find this cache well hidden under a rock at the site, but you don't need to move the rock to get at the cache. I have attached an alternative set of coordinates I took there today, just to give you something else to play around with, since the site is difficult to get a fix on, as others have noted. Hope this helps.

Well we certainly had a fun time with this one. We’d been along the main trail a number of times but only Lady Altaire had ever been up this side road and that was some time ago. It’s always nice to venture somewhere even partially new especially when one is taken to a pretty little spot as is this one. There was a steady trickle of water dripping down from the overhang and there is a fine array of ferns to behold as well. A moistly green and quiet location, quite cool in the shade despite the day starting to warm up out in the open.

Now overhangs and cliff lines of the ilk hereabouts are wont to play old Harry with the GPS. We expected this however and did the usual things. Going well away from the interfering escarpment to determine the most promising distance and bearing, letting it settle for decent periods of time during the search etc etc. We were rewarded with about half a dozen GZ locations during our seeking up to 20-30m apart. We had a GZ at the rock where we had lunch, we had a very determined GZ about 12m off into the shrubbery and we even had a GZ more or less where the cache was.

Noting the general tenor of the cache notes and the owners log, plus the last finder’s log, we were very reluctant to go to some of the GZs we were advised of by the GPS. This meant it took about half an hour of searching before Lady Altaire made the joyous find. Truth be told we were on the cusp of conceding defeat. Perhaps we misunderstood the wording or something but the clue alas threw us completely because we did in fact have to move a rock – albeit a small rock – but a rock nevertheless. And movement required nevertheless.

A little tip in keeping with the CO’s intent to preserve the environment. No matter what your GPS is indicating you absolutely do not have to step on a living plant to find this cache. Stick to the cleared area like a muggle would and look sharply. It’s a lovely little spot and well worth the visit. Thanks BB.

I think I was very lucky to find this cache as quickly as I did. It could have taken me hours. In the end, having discovered it, it seems like a simple hiding place -- but it's a place that could be very, very easily overlooked.

Not wanting to undertake a long walk during a busy afternoon of geocaching around Springwood, I decided to go for the quickest approach to GZ that I could find. I parked opposite 29 Ridge View Close in Winmalee, jumped the little fence, found my way down the cliff, and then bush bashed 100 metres to the fire trail. That left me an easy 350 metre stroll to an extraordinarily beautiful spot.

The CO has taken great pains to put the cache in a place that will minimise damage to the natural surroundings. If you're walking in the ferns, you're in the wrong place. And don't even think about climbing the cliffs. Read the CO's clue and think about it. And remember that he's trying to protect the environment. I can't say more without giving away too much.

The nearby high cliff will play around with your GPSr. I found that it helped to stay back from the cliff, get a good reading, and then measure it out. So I think the published coordinates are pretty good, using this method.

Cache container was dry and in good shape. TNLNSL.

I felt very privileged to find this special grotto. If you can take a couple of pieces of rubbish away with you when you leave, you'll have done a good deed for the day.

Thanks, bikerbuddy!

This entry was edited by pjmpjm on Sunday, 10 October 2010 at 02:42:08.

With only a small amount of time and a fast approaching work meeting I was hoping against odds, but didn't want to waste this beautiful mountains weather without an equally enjoyable walk.
Had a 15 minute search for the cache but was probable to broad in doing so as, now, after ready cache notes i figure its not where the heavily trodden slope resides.
Regardless this one is definitely one I'll be happy to return to again, hopefully again when the low lying clouds cling whispfully to the tree boughs

I've slightly changed the wording of the hint to make it less ambiguous. I'll check the cache at some time, along with the coordinates, but I'm confident there are no problems.

After a successful find at the other 'grotto' I had no luck in finding this one. I've been here a few times on group bushwalks and planned to go back again to nab this cache. Searched high and low throughout the area but no cache. There seemed to be a good GPSr reception even with all the great trees around. Will watch and see if anyone else can find it.

I've removed the Members Only restriction on this cache, since the cache has been removed from its original sensitive hide, which was why I originally placed a restriction on it.

A great location. We didn't bring our swaps with us. TFTC TNLN

I thought I'd look for both "Sacred Grotto" and "The Grotto" while in the area.

Unfortunately despite what I thought were my best efforts, neither cache was located!!

I will return with more ammunition next time!!

Tks ..... bikerbuddy ..... GazMag

Woo hoo! Third time lucky!

This spot is delightful so it was worth the walk along a fire trail to GZ three times!?!

TNLNSL. TFTC.

Couldn't find it in the new spot either!?! Will return with a clue!

** Coordinates Changed From **
S 33° 39.855 E 150° 36.216
Distance From Old: 53.9 feet or 16.4 meters.Coordinate Update

I've been down to the grotto this morning. There was some damage to the undergrowth, but thankfully nothing that won't mend. I tried to tidy things up as best I could. I have moved the cache to a location that should not be damaged by cache hunting. Because of the change of location I have also had to change the cache container to a small plastic box (and therefore, also the logbook) in order to made the hide. You do not have to do any climbing to find the cache or damage any of the structure you find at the grotto. Thanks.

I've received information that there has been damage to this area from cache hunting. I'll disable this until I can get down there and assess the situation, and maybe consider a hide in the grotto area that is less sensitive. Please don't search for this cache until I reenable it. I think I should stress that it was a poor choice of hide rather than the action of the cachers that caused this problem. Thanks.

This entry was edited by bikerbuddy on Sunday, 06 June 2010 at 21:57:42.

Found with geo-son on a cool, but sunny Sunday arvo. Glad to have the boy with me to assist in nabbing the prize at GZ . This is our first cache in a few weeks due to a combination of factors including illness, heavy social and sporting commitments etc. Good to be back into it. This was a good one to kick off on. Great little spot not too far from home. TNLNSL TFTH.

This area has been well searched, high and low! Plenty of evidence of that!

Shame we couldn't find this. We shall return!

Made the walk down to GZ with Truja and started our search. After a few trips and slips we came across the cache in a well hidden spot. And a first to find as it seemed. Thanks Bikerbuddy for another great cache. TNLN

First to find shared with Corell amboshler!! A great walk down to the grotto then a decent half hour spent searching for this very well hidden cache. Thanks for another great one, bikerbuddy!

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