Port of Melbourne Footscray, Victoria, Australia
By The Empire on 02-Jan-11. Waypoint GC2KWRK

With construction of the tunnel interrupting the traffic flow around the Port, GZ is now behind temporary barricades. The barricades will be removed when construction is complete. It was always going to take years and not weeks or months. The original cache is still in place and will become accessible when the tunnel is finished. But this seems to have gone on long enough, archiving.
- M

Checked on this location again. Talking to some port workers, they say the roadwork structures obscuring GZ are only temporary. We'll wait it out, this cache is still temporarily unavailable.
- M

Unfortunately for this geocache, the nearby roadworks have continued for longer than expected. I'll check it out again soon and perhaps this one needs to be archived if the original GZ cannot be maintained.
- M

Replaced the cache today, working on some decent co-ordinates and may have to return to confirm them. The location will need to be moved as the roadworks near the old GZ will be in place for some time as the tunnel doesn't look like it's going to be finished in a hurry. This one will be back up and running shortly.
- M

Visited GZ, it seems the temporary fencing is still in place. I'll look at moving the cache further down the road at another time. This one should be back up and running shortly.
- M

Work on the nearby tunnel seems to have changed traffic conditions around the vicinity of this cache. Some helpful cachers have reported that they couldn't get to it today. I'll disable it, hopefully the tunnel doesn't take too long to be build... ahem... yeah... this could take some time. It's disabled until further notice.
- M

When my brother and I were kids, we would always beg Mum and Dad to detour past the docks to see the AT-AT’s from Star Wars. We of course meant the massive container cranes, but when it’s dark and they are lit up they look like they’re straight out of Hoth! A nice quick find, but as I was leaving I realised I was being watched by a security guard. Hopefully I was shielded a little when looking and signing. There were no trucks around, the luxury of this area at 5pm on a Saturday. Thanks!

Found on 9 Jun 2019 at 1:49 pm.
A little while ago I heard a rumour that the Parkville Puzzles and Challenges were going to be archived in some months time so I got my bike out today to finish off these puzzles and challenges and a few that I DNF'ed last time I was here. Another great day for a winter's day as well, didn't even need my bike gloves today.
After finally finishing off those I continued on since I still had some time...

I stopped here and parked my bike and made the find quite quickly thanks to the hint. Lucky too because a few seconds after putting the cache back I was kicked out of the area by the security guard.
Thanks The Empire for the cache, the adventure, the hunt and the fun.

Thanks for the cache

Grabbed along our travels in this great country. TFTC The Empire.

Found easily on my relatively short late-night caching run. TFTC

Quick find as a ride my bike around this area.
tftc

Log book full.

Quick park a grab between trucks.

Easy find
Thanks

I had no real plan for today, other than to head in towards the city with my bike and grab a few more of the Parkville series. The meandered along the bike paths, was very enjoyable but I have a very sore backside and knees, by the end of the day. It was also good to run into a few other caching teams along the way.

It was a bit hair raising today, making my way here today by bike and fighting off the many large trucks, with all the road works in progress. Pleased to make a quick find at GZ, now to make my way back to the bike path.

Thanks The Empire for placing the cache for us to find and doing the maintenance to keep it in play.
8215

Nowhere to park

It took me ages to work out how to get to this spot. In the middle of Melbourne but sort of isolated. Busy but desolate. Once there I had to work out how to get to the cache. These docks are busy and there are lots of signs telling you where you can and can't go. However I managed to grab this little devil and sign the log.

What a fascinating place to sit and watch all that loading activity. No line of trucks, so we were able to access the cache and SL at 3.55pm. We rolled up the log sheet a little better, so it didn’t get damaged any further. Then we went back to watching the machines and the gantry action. #5132 TFTC The Empire - guess we can’t watch for too long - it’s time to hit the Hume Fwy for home in the NE of the State.

Out cruising on bike for the day stopped by for this one.
Tftc

Dropped in on the way home for a squiz at the docks.
Never been here before.
TFTC

Got a very strange look from a trucky as I cruised through here on my push bike. Nailed it!

Well the certainly don't seem to want people to visit here, no standing zones as far as the eye could see... After trying to do the right thing we gave up and hoped for a quick park and grab. G' stayed in the car while I seached for the cache - no problem there as it was found immediately but extracting the log from the tiny ziplock bag was fiddly and took ages!... Even late on a Sunday we had two trucks driving in ahead of us. TFTC

A lack of car parking spots here. Luckily there was no one around and the cache was soon found. Thanks The Empire
GJMMelb

Clever little hide. Not happy with the arrogant stickers from Bunjil though! thanks for the cache!!!

A quick stop on the way home from work. Fascinating to watch the scale of work going on here but didn't want to hang around at GZ for too long. Thanks for the cache.

16:17
It was totally fascinating to pause and watch a few containers being loaded onto the waiting ships.

Thanks The Empire for placing caches for everyone's enjoyment.
19527

**Find #1196**

A quick grab here today. Quickly parked right at GZ. There is construction huts all along the fence line, so they provide some cover, but obscure the view of the large ships. Grabbed a few photos and quickly left, Not wanting to get a parking fine.

Thanks **The Empire**

TFTC.

Quick find of a sneaky hide, with Parkermon. Good one to do at night. TFTC!

Found with Exportswede. Teeny little cache in pretty much the only available spot on the coordinates. Fantastic to watch the stevedores at work above us - also, nearly zero muggles at this time of night. TFTC!

Good easy find (with the hint tho) while passing thru at lunch time. The sleepy truck driver couldn't see me doing a quick sneaky retrieve while he was snoring. TFTC

Easy find but cool location. Just one truck parked opposite but he couldn't care less what I was doing so it was done and dusted in no time. TFTC.

Another day, another cache, now 102 consecutive days with a find. A detour on the ride home along to this cache found ourselves in an interesting spot. Lots of trucks zooming about with the large container ships being stacked or unstacked. The cache was easily found, signed and returned. Thanks for bringing us to this busy and surprisingly interesting spot.

Found by Team Justice #1275

A security guard came over and told me I'm not allowed to park here. TFTC anyway.

My friend drives a truck.
A big truck.
A really big truck.
And probably visits here 3 times a day to help take stuff from those unloaded ships.

He works long hours.
Starts really early in the morning.
He loves his food.
He likes his truck
And loves his job.

He can talk about it all day.

And usually does.

My friend with the truck.

Out for a drive with the family. Both frmen1 and I grew up watching dockers at work, him here, me in Tassie. It was cheap entertainment as kids. TFTC

Easy find

Easy nice web dock

A public holiday was the perfect time to make a quick grab here, as it was a veritable ghost town. The Port of Melbourne is an interesting place with a lot of history; nearby Coode Island is the bearer of sad past times. TFTC

This was amazing! Such a rad location

Questioned by ABF on the way out.. Woops!

Needed some help from Bogonghazy with this one. I could see it but couldn't get it! Sorry for the late logging (I thought I'd logged it, whoops). Many thanks

Love your caches tftc

Felt naughty walking in to this place... security cameras spying on me as I look really suspicious poking around the docks on foot. ... awkward. But impressive to see!

AFP or customs questioned me on my way out! Oh dear.

Loved that this one brought me somewhere I never would have visited otherwise. Luckily it was quiet at 6:30pm on a Saturday. TFTC - a favourite from me!

Just adding a note that I got shooed on by security shortly after logging my find! (He was friendly enough though, and I just told him I was "taking photos").

Found on the way home from our day out in the Eastern suburbs. The third time we had come past, as there were too many trucks lined up the first two. TFTC

I have driven past a few times and it's been very busy or very late but today on s bike ride it was quiet as a mouse. My bike did the cache finding, as usually wherever I place it ends up being the cache. Thanks

Great view...never would have come here otherwise. TFTC

Tftc

The Geokids loved seeing the busy docks area while looking for this cache. The youngest soon retrieved it and the log was signed! Brought back memories for Geodad as he spent some time working in this area many years ago!

Really enjoyed watching the boats. Thanks. Silkyie

We found this one during our city trip at Melbourne.
TFTC
Team Maarhexe

What better excuse to go night caching than free tickets to an apparent scare fest with Arkbell80 tonight at "Escape of the Warewolf"
I've driven down Footscray Rd hundreds of times but never thought to turn off an have a closer look at the ships being loaded and unloaded. This was especially amazing to watch at night. This will definately be a place I will be bringing my Geokid back with me to see. This was a quick fourteenth find for the night.
TFTC!!

Night caching with Bazinga01. Thought this cache would be easy to grab in the middle of the night but there was 1 truck parked near it so we used stealth mode. The driver caught us, so we acted like we were taking photos of the ships. Signed log and returned it to its hidind spot. TFTC

Find 1012

Jumped off the train and onto the bike at Southern Cross for a small caching run out west. This was the first of three finds before I hit the snag of a couple of DNFs. No trucks nearby and I was impressed I was able to see the large ships from so close by. I was quickly able to grab this one and sign it before moving on. Took nothing, left nothing, signed log and visited my personal TB. Steered the bike between the trucks and I was back on my way again. Thanks for the cache The Empire at this very interesting location.

We were taking the scenic route back home to Albury after having a wow of a time down in Casey fields with caching friends, swinging by this area to fill in our last square on the LGA polygon challenge.
We picked the right time of a Sunday to rock up to this one as there wasn't a container truck in sight, so we only had to slightly slip into ninja mode to come up with the nicely hidden cache.
Then we checked out the nearby cargo ships and was amazed at how all the containers manage to stay on due to the overcrowded way they are stacked up on them.

Thanks for the cache The Empire, and the stop off before the long drive home.

Nice find on a wonderful place with a quite special atmosphere. Busy but very very nice.

Thank you for your hide
Greetings from a Austro-Serbian Cacher

Quick find thanks to the hint!

I am a keen geocacher from NZ hoping to claim a few smileys while I am visiting Melbourne. Easy find but
I was approached by security while I was logging this cache and as he had never heard of Geocaching I had a bit of explaining to do. However, you'll all be pleased to know I didn't get arrested. Enjoyed the dock - Saturday was a good day to go. All good TFTC

This is my 3rd visit to this site. The first was in my early caching days, before I'd learned to properly use the GPS. I thought I was being led on the other side of the fence, and that the 'staealth required' attribute meant I needed to duck in there unseen, and I ended up chickening out. The 2nd visit, was much later, and being more familiar with caching and types of hides, I didn't require the GPS and walked straight up to the hide. Unfortunately, there was nothing there on that occasion, so I emailed the cache owner and let him know. Finally, probably more than a year later, I am back.
I finished work at 1, and decided that early morning, mid-week would be a great time to finally park and grab at this cache again. I pulled up blocking GZ as best I could, jumped out, grabbed the cache then jumped back into the jeep to sign the log. That done at last, I returned the cache to its hide then spent a couple of minutes photographing the ships being loaded and unloaded on the docks. This reminded me of my time as a container forky down at the Port Melbourne docks.
Cheers The Empire for bringing me down here, though you probably didn't intend to bring me here thrice. It's a cool spot to watch a usually unseen but essential aspect of trade, and you really get a sense of the immensity of these vessels from here.

Making my way on foot along the bike trail I stopped by and quickly located the hide. I was glad of the hint as I would not have wanted to draw any unwanted attention. With the cache safely tucked away, it was a bit of a stroll back to the car.
Thanks for the cache.

Easy find with lots of trucks and container cranes nearby.

Easy find however after sitting there just after replacing the cache we got pulled up by security due to the fact it's a high customs area.

Find # 4360 @ 2:47 PM. A nice day for caching out with red ranger 2001, TNLN, left my mark in the log, thanx for placing this cache here....

It was a good day for geocaching,with CLOGWOG,and thanx for hiding the cache. TNLN!!!!

Very cool spot, thanks for bringing me here today!

While the stevedores are busy unloading and reloading these huge cargo carriers, there is generally a maintenance crew hard at work inside the engine room, 24 hours a day, replacing damaged and worn parts. This work is carried out by contract maintenance crews who work on all manner of ships. Depending on the nature of the repairs, the ship may not be allowed to recommence it's journey until the work is done.
In my youth I was employed by one such company, who were located at the city end of Lorimer Street. On many occasions our work day lasted until the small hours of the morning, sometimes awaiting parts, which were flown in from Sydney. The memories I have of the hospitality of the crews on some of these ships have stayed with me, for more than 30 years.
As I was waiting for a B-double skel to head off for his turn under the straddle, I spent the time watching these ships and reminiscing.

I wonder if the CCTV camera above is capable of looking straight down...
Thank you for the cache and for bringing me back to by-gone days.

Easy find thanks great spot.

Nice cache. Watched the container shops get loaded. Tftc

Tftc

Tftc!

We found this cache today at 3:00pm as number 7 of 11. An excellent spot that we had not visited before. We spent a bit of time afterwards watching all the nearby work going on. Thanks from D & HA B-A.

Scary area, but easy to find.
TFTC PharmaCacher

Managed to find this while dodging many truckies. Gee they really do stack the ships miles high. Worth a look tftc

Easy little find. Thanks.

Our first Cache in Australia. It was easy to find and the big ships were very impressive. TFTC and greatings from Switzerland.

Just as I returned to the car to sign the log and security guy walked over to ask if all was alright. I complained about the GPS taking me the wrong way and explained just where I wanted to go. He was very helpful.

I jumped back into my car, played with the GPS quickly replaced the cache under cover of the car then and drove off.
TFTC The Empire

Found it and then got hassled by Security as this is a restricted area.

Found @ 1:06pm
Nice little hide in a great location! Forgot to bring pen so took a pic of the log.
TFTC

Enabling. Plenty of ships to see at the moment.
- M

Replaced, all ready to go.
- M

Looks like this one has gone missing, I'll replace it on the weekend.
- M

Yep, the log type says it all really. A quick email to the CO and off I rode.
Cool spot.

Could not find !!! Would you be able to send us a hint just In case it it missing [email protected]

I'd cycled from my home near Camberwell Junction to Newport to help a friend paint his front fence. On the way home, stopped in here because on Good Friday there would not be truck traffic. I found the container lying on the ground half a metre from its hiding spot. I was just in the process of signing the log when a security car pulled up and asked me what I was doing. I was told that cameras around the place had picked up an individual with no apparent reason to be here. So I told them the whole story, with glossy 8x10 colour photos with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each
one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against us. They wrote it all down while I replaced the container in its proper spot and they decided I didn't have to remove the garbage. After admiring the container ships for a bit, I headed off to a dinner that couldn't be beat in the knowledge that future cachers to this terrific spot will be welcomed. T4TC Empire and for the fun!

Not many places to look so it was a quick find. But the lack of safe parking, big trucks zooming around, security cameras everywhere I looked and the exposed nature of GZ made me wonder if this is a good place for a cache.

In the city for a meeting and knocked of after, time for caching on the way to orienteering.
No trucks today, plenty of workers still but clear. Quick grab.
TFTC

This entry was edited by BernieH on Tuesday, 13 November 2012 at 21:02:37 UTC.

Having fun with my geobuddies, Baluke and Belleakelea, finding lots of caches. This area is so pretty all lit up at night time!!!! TFTC

Nice little hide, all in good condition. And I'm only 8 away from my 500! Woo hoo. Out with the BAB Crew trying to get there before 10:30pm beautiful port in the twilight, still active

Quick drive by sitting by the dock of the bay...

Find 406 at 01:51.

After spending a lot of time in the Bayside area recently, Burge and I decided it was time to head back around Melbourne's West. This was our last find on this run and we actually came past this cache earlier in the night but had to abort when there were a couple of trucks parked right near GZ. Although there was still a lot of passing traffic, we were able to quickly grab the cache and sign it in the car before replacing it and moving on just before a security guard on foot turned the nearby corner. The Port of Melbourne is a facinating place and I think I could spend hours just sitting and watching all the things going on around me.

Thanks for bringing us here, The Empire! We're glad to finally knock this one off the list.

Found this one today. It was a bit exposed so after I had signed log I returned it to its hiding place. Interesting place to visit. Sometimes when I couldn't sleep in NZ - I used to go and watch the port from a viewing area. It amazes me how they continue to work all hours of the night. Tonight not many trucks around and it was virtually a drive by. The cache was hard to get out of the container though and it required a cache extraction tool to help it out!

Thanks for the cache The Empire.

Can't believe we are getting this cache but no one around at 2am in the morning. Tftc tnln sl

I cycled to GZ and made a quick find. I stayed a little longer to watch the cranes when a security car stopped, and the officer asked me to move on as this was not a public road. I didn't tell him what I'd been doing (he assumed I'd just been watching the ships).

It might be worth reconsidering this cache location?

TFTC

Gotta love dodging the big trucks in this area. We stopped to watch some of the action on the Docks then make the quick find for the cache. I jumped out to make the grab after parking within metres of the cache. The log was a bit damp so we fixed it up, signed it, returned it and moved on. All good.

Dodged the BIG, LONG trucks to get down the road to this one. And slowed down to check out the container shifters! Cache was quite damp so added a new log page and ziplock bag.

Darted out in in the early evening in between showers and the odd hail storm. Still lots of activity.
The plastic bag of the cache is fairly wet and the log starting to fall apart. But a great place to be and watch. Lots of semi-trailers whizzing past paying me no mind. I never knew you could drive / cycle in here. Thanks and cheers!

Number 4 of 4 on my cycle along the Maribyrnong River today. Sunday was a good time to attempt this one as it was fairly quiet, although there were still cranes in motion. I found the cache on the ground alongside the plastic bag with the log in it. I was able to sign the soggy log page (Sharpies are the go) and managed to put the cache back together and in its hidey place

An impressive location - thanks to The Empire.