Somer Island Hazeldean, Queensland, Australia
By Gizmo's on 07-May-11. Waypoint GC2VPTT

I loved this fence line. TBU joined in a team to hire a boat and to tackle caches on the Somerset Dam.We started our journey from North so this was one of the first caches.Tftc Gizmo's

There was a plan Im not sure who first suggested the plan, but it involved Beardman75, Davinells, wayn0 and I aboard the recently renamed Karicka attempting to collect as many Lake Somerset caches as possibleWith Mother Nature continuing to show her might we soldiered on to closest point where, with words of encouragement from those of us whod been here before, wayn0 made short work of the huntThanks Gizmo's Find #10564

Is that lightning in the distance? I trust the safety of this metal boat. Thanks for the cache! Cheers

Davidwazza and I spent a great morning on the lake today tracking down the last few we never collected yesterday. The hire boat has done us well. We soon located the cache and signed the log.
TFTC

Rather than dock and disembark from the closest land to this geocache, we opted for the shorter boat route via the south-west, and a slightly longer walk going over the hill/ridge. We soon arrived at GZ, and the cache was a quick find with a telltale sign earmarking the location. I was surprised to find a rusted Eclipse mint container here, and the logbook is also looking a little shabby. The logbook was signed as Team "GSW" (as per [GurTheWanderer](https://coord.info/PRWMPWQ), [stairman1](https://coord.info/PR4R27Z), and David"W"azza). I also suspect that the D-T may be the other way around on this cache, since it requires a boat to get to, and it wasn't a difficult find. Thanks Gizmo's for the cache placement and ongoing maintenance. It was also nice to have found this cache with 534 days [17.5 months / 1.46 years] of unfound love since its last find on 28/01/2022.

----------

During this extended weekend, it was a trip north to find the 65 Roses geoart in Kilcoy, followed by two days boating on Lake Somerset to defeat the Dark Side series joined with [GurTheWanderer](https://coord.info/PRWMPWQ) and [stairman1](https://coord.info/PR4R27Z).

Today, we were back on the water and after defeating the dark series lord yesterday, our plan was to head north and detour past the small traditional caches subset. The lake was at 80% capacity with not too much boating muggles about. We launched the boat from the Day Visitor Area's eastern boat ramp early at 07:00 hr, and the lake was still shrouded in mist/fog, which made navigation interesting. Another few hours passed whilst driving the boat and shuttled between geocaches, before returning back to the boat ramp to return our hire boat. We started to return home south passing through Somerset Dam before splitting, and my route was then south through Bryden and Dundas, and then west through Mount Glorious. My final drive/adventure was then the Goat Track up to Mount Nebo Road, and a walk from Boombana in D'Aguilar National Park. A near-perfect Winter weather day!

Down here visiting from Mackay, found with alphag_25. tftc.

27/1/22 Travelling down yesterday from Mackay to do some GeoArt caches. On our trip down lost a bearing buddy from boat trailer near Rocky. Then near Gin Gin blew a boat trailer tyre. Got both issues sorted as had spare parts. Arrived at Dam yesterday and was raining. Setup our camp at Somerset Camp Ground and got a good nights rest. Woke up 530am and on the water at 615am. Rain has moved on. First lot of caches supprised me on the landscape as different to other dams I have done. The water shoes definitely getting a work out. Found caches secured and gps co ordinates good. Have Geokid CAITLYN1105 hiking around with me which is good company. Thanks for the variety of puzzles to solve and some I did get assistance on as good value mysyeries. TFTCs Signed Logs.

Logging old caches originally found with alphag_25. Now have my own account and logging them separately so that i can claim the finds or not as the case may be. TFTC.

A big day ahead on the lake. Muggle65 and I met Brislions at too early o'clock. It was freezing and raining. Rain did not let up till lunchtime. We have a bit of a shortage of photos because of the rain but we did manage to get a couple of good ones. Cache was found in good order. Thank you so much for placing it

I meet up with Green Geckos and Muggle65 today in the cold and wet. I had 24 to get, then home for me to finish my work
I found 23 caches today with one Dnf. The breakdown was 21 mystery and 2 traditional.
Oh what a wet day it was.

Sorry for the generic log

Gizmo’s *TFTC* 5449 *Finds*

Today &I are joined for a while by Bris and so an early start was required. A D/T was required & this was ticked off all three of our requirements a cold wet & dreary start & so just need to concentrate on the goal & how warming that feeling will be upon completion

I started just before 7am and finished my loop of 17km on kayak and walking on land after 4h15mins. It was quite windy by the time I came back to the launch point but I had a great time walking through the countryside and enjoying the quietness on the water.

A very important one for me today as this one completed my next TD loop!

TFTC

Georode

2/4/21 09:04 Heading to the Dayboro mega from Townsville. Out with burgo78 and Karicka. Tike to take a big chunk out of the Darkside and picking up a few Trads along the way. Thanks for placing this Gismos. Do or do not, there is no try. Find them we must!

Down from Townsville for the mega we were up at the crack of dawn to collect this series after solving these months in advance.

With the master Karicka at the helm and Padewans BenM70 and myself we aimed to complete the art in one hit but started with a few traditionals with interesting DT.
Big day in the water which was most enjoyable. Mission complete.

Thanks Gizmo's for the massive effort in creating and placing these for us to enjoy.

An outing with burgo78 and BenM.
After a few false starts and an outboard that did not play we made it here.
A windy day not for kayaking
Thank you for hiding this geocache Gizmo's
Find number 22025
R

Many thanks to my son-in-law who took us out in the boat while he did some fishing. I had a good day picking up some caches. Nice quick find.TFTC

#4906
Lake Somerset Trip - Day 5

After finishing the nearby Dark Side series earlier than expected, we continued on to grab a few more high T caches. This turned out to be a quick find of a rather unexpected mint tin.

TFTC Gizmo's

Day 2 of the GOMs Somerset Dam Assault.
Another wonderful day out in a little runabout with Crash, Canary and Tardis. This was collected at the end f a very full and wet day.
SL TFTC

Full log to folow

After finishing the Dark Side early we came here for hat we expected to be a high Difficulty cache.

We were surprised to find this so easily.

TFTC

Out for the day with our friends Steve (otherwise known as Urdera) and Michelle to see how many of these Dark side caches we could get plus a few other caches that were tantalizingly placed nearby. This being one of them. We were on the water by 8am and we left the water at 4pm. We were sunburnt, scratched, tired and had enjoyed a wonderful adventure. Each piece of headland was different to the last. Some quite hilly others nice and flat. Grass not too high but sometimes where no trail was evident it was bush bashing through head high lantana etc. We saw cows, lots of rabbits, a huge goanna, two snake skins and several turtles. We had leisurely stops in scenic spots as we enjoyed lunch and morning and afternoon tea on the boat. Our thanks to Gizmo's for placing this cache series and enhancing our enjoyment of the area and we would not have visited this area if it had not been for the caches.

Wow another awesome time caching, I just love getting out and caching, a big thanks to 4ando for this series.

A couple of weeks back I tried to organise a few regular suspects to come and grab the dark series. It wasn’t looking good as only one solid confirmation and three can’t confirm till last moment. Then it was a mad week to finish of the rest of the puzzle caches and be ready. A bunch of phone calls in between and a rough plan in place all of a sudden things changed and we had a group to attack this series. An overnight camp Friday, a few drinks and a few laughs. Saturday night brought the excitement and the stories to tell after the event.

A great day, a long and fun day, lots of laughs and some awesome caches. With Team Tyrrell setting off on kayak while we waited for the slow boat to be loaded and launched, then it was Willis007, Simber15 and CHAMAD following up in a “hasty” pace, we had turtles asking us if we needed a tow, we even got passed by a butterfly at one stage, however this was just added to the fun of the day. The caches took us all over the dam area with some great views and some nice cache placements. Mrs Simber15 cured her phobia of cows and Willis007 learnt how to deal with angry magpies. The bird life on the dam is remarkable, there were a couple of sightings of roos and rabbits but nothing could beat the views from the tops of the hills, just inspiring; surprisingly no DNF’s and all caches are in good condition.
I really had a great day, the memories of the day just added to the great caching experience. Thank you to all that came along and be ready for the next assault on the next geoart. Thank you to the CO for the time spent placing these and setting this up. If it took us a long day to collect them it must have taken you weeks to organise and to set them out.

Included in our day were a few Traditional caches, “can’t leave a man behind”, we grabbed these in our days boating as well, thanks for the placements.

Puzzles were solved and a plan was hatched. We were going boating! It didn't take long for the enormity of the task ahead to become clear and so we parked the idea and the second half of the puzzles for another day. A week ago some geocaching friends invited us along for a weekend of camping and caching. An opportunity we couldn't possibly refuse! A quick scramble over a few days and the final touches were made and puzzles solved that had been neglected. We arrived the night before and made a plan of attack allowing for changes as required based on the flavour of the wind. An early start by kayak followed by the SS Slow Boat resulted in 11.5 hours on the water after first launching before the final cache was signed. We couldn't possibly have achieved this task without the help, support, entertainment, laughs and all round fun of Chamad, Willis007 and Team Tyrell. The scenery was stunning and the bird life abundant. Views from some of the hills were magic and we couldn't help but stare in awe up at the bright stars from the campsite of an evening. Mrs Simber15's irrational fear of cows was overcome on a few occasions and a brief encounter with magpies completed. A few times we found ourselves beached or engine stalled and then Chamad would remind us "I know boats" and it wasn't long before we were up and running again. This was a weekend of caching we won't soon forget! Thankyou for adding to the enjoyment of our adventure Gizmo!

Up here to collect the Dark side series with a bunch of keen cacher's, Willis007 , Simba15 and Chamad.

This was cache no 2 for the day and an awesome, clear, flat and picturesque paddle had me near GZ. Co ords were spot on for a nice quick find.

TFTC

A bunch of dedicated cachers - Team Tyrrell, CHAMAD, Simber15 - and our high tech transportation fleet of a super fast kayak and what has become affectionately known as the SS Slow Boat - came, saw and conquered some lovingly placed caches in the most beautiful of locations.
A lot of bird life and cattle were seen through the day, along with kangaroos, a rabbit and did I mention magpies?? Thankfully there were no snake encounters given the super long grass we walked through in some places.
A long but very satisfying day with some great company, a lot of laughs and scratches, a day which will always be remembered.
Thanks Gizmo's for placing this cache here for us to collect today.

It was too windy to put the kayaks in the water so we decided to hire a boat instead! We had great fun with Farket cruising the other trees. We thought we could squeeze our boat through the gap at the back of rabbit island and shortcut our way here but it was too shallow! We had to get out and push the boat through but a few of us got stuck in the sinking sand! After a bit of an effort we all made it through and jumped back in the boat and continued our journey! Easy find at the GZ. Tftc Gizmo’s

Huzzah! With the Davinells

Out doing Dark Side caches. Thought we'd clear these as well. Windy day on the lake. Getting wet in the little tinny.
Easy find.
TNLN, TFTC.

COs- Currently in the process of catching up on my logging backlog- some of it, I'm embarrassed to say extends back a number of years.
I'm logging each cache on the date that I actually visited it, not the day I'm logging. Cheers??

??????????
We'd been busy beavers solving this series and could finally come and collect the goodies here. It took us 3 days in a slow boat but we had a great time out on the water and being away from home.
As Ratty?? said to Mole??...
“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing–absolutely nothing–half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”
We didn't mess about too much though or we wouldn't have found them all in the time we had the boat.

The logs were signed as either team GERSH or sometimes GRESH, depending on the memory of the signee and the caches were where our coords led us and no issues were encountered.

We saw plenty of turtles and cows, both live and not so lively, also all sorts of birds. There must have been plenty of fish too by the number of muggles fishing. We had a good haul too but not of what you could have thrown in the pan.????

One highlight here was finally getting my first D/T loop with this series although sadly I wasn't aware of it at the time. Probably just as well as I may have capsized the tub in my excitement! No happy dancing possible in a plastic tinnie without soggy consequences!???????

TFTC??

We decided to join forces for a few day's caching on Lake Somerset. Our first day, and we are motoring our boats to do the northern end on day two, where there are two traditional caches that we missed yesterday.

Signed the log book as "G.E.R.S.H." (Grannysmith1947, echocage1, RoddyC, Snickersallan and hatzofff).

Tied the boat and up the hill. Nice.

Cache located, log signed and all replaced as found. TFTC, Gizmo's, at 9:05 AM on September 4, 2020.

Another Great day out doors and on and around the water.

Great day, great weather, great company.


All caches signed as GERSH (Granny Smith 1947, echocage1, RoddyC, Snickersallan,
)
TFTC Gizmo's

Visiting from the Gold Coast and spending several days in the local area. This is our first day on the water after hiring a neat little tinnie to get us to and from the various islands and we certainly enjoyed every minute of it especially with the large volume of different types of birds flying around or just keeping a watchful eye on us combined with the herds of cows coming & going.
To save on paper, all our logs were signed as Team GERSH (grannysmith1947, echocage1, RoddyC, Snickersallan and hatzofff)
Well done CO, thank you.


TFTC Gizmo's
Found September 4, 2020

TFTC smile 7154 out and about with Hatzoff, RoddyC,Snickersallan, having a great time boating , walking, caching ,and thanks to my fur baby sitter without you I would be up the creek without a paddle favorite point for you



Thank you,Gizmos for placing this cache for our enjoyment.

Second weekend in a row the better half suggested a yak and bbq outing. We packed the car and headed north to enjoy the beautiful Somerset dam and pick up a few caches to boot.

I think I put in about 8kms of paddling in just over two hours.

Definitely felt it upon my return.

I’ll be back again soon to pick up some geo art caches.

Out and about at Somerset Dam with El Peregrinos doing some of the Dark side series and after grabbing a couple of nearby caches headed to this one.

Once at GZ the cache was soon in hand.

Log signed and all retuened as found.

TFTC Gizmo's

The second of the COs caches found today. Conspired as part of The Sith to flush out all rebel opposition into the Lake and give the Red Claw something to feed on.

Impressed to see a lot of wildlife around here, some native like the roos and possums, some imported like bunnies and Red Claw. The number of pelicans and cormorants to me signifies a heap of aquatic life just below the surface. We did dine on BBQ'd garlic red claw which was scrumptious!!

Had the pleasure of spending a few days at the resort with a few members of The Sith. Thanks for maintaining this cache Gizmo's.

This had been on my target list for a while. Last time I attempted this, the wind picked up and my kayak did not want to go... Better with a boat that has an engine! Group effort around the lake today - all logs signed as "The Sith". TFTC!

To we who dwell in the Force, normal life is little more than pretense. Our only actions of significance are those we undertake in service to the dark side.
“To be a Sith is to taste freedom and to know victory.”
We were today The Sith and we indeed tasted the freedom of boating on the lake . At the end of a day where litres of sweat were lost we had claimed victory with the Dark Side conquered and a few traditionals as well !!! An enormous team effort and a few cows disturbed by the Force. A brilliant art and the trads were awesome too! Congratulations to Ardom on his 5000 find and 6th DT loop. Bestowing congrats on TeamARF for a 4000 target achieved ! What a day!!!

Out caching with a group of 6, plus one semi-muggle boat driver
With the Star Wars theme, 6 of us caching together today, and being Ardom’s 6th D/T loops we decided on the team name, The Sith!
The Lake was beautiful and quiet, I saw lots of turtles and turtle shells today - a ridiculous amount of inquisitive cows, and one cute little fox!
Another amazing adventure with an amazing team. Thanks for the caches and the effort that went into placing them

Finally come today has. Yes, hrrrm. Changed and evolved over the time plans have. Our name for the day the Sith was.. Yrsssss.. Found slowly caches were. Long and hot the day was. Hrmmm. Complete we are.

Enough Yoda! We truly had a fabulous day, the weather was perfect although very warm and humid. The dam ever so quiet thanks to the ban on ‘in water’ activities after the rains. We did get stopped by SEQ Water doing a check on all watercraft and thankfully we both passed being fully kitted out boats and four licensed drivers between the seven of us. I am thankful that we upgraded our motor last year as dang that spread is huge!!! Even though the second boat was much zipper than ours we still managed to hold our own and get the wind in our hair.

Huge thanks to my muggle husband who drove our boat and managed to get us in and out of some tricky spots. Lots of debris up the top end and we may have clunked on a couple of submerged trees. The turtles in the water were curious things almost as much as the cows who at one memorable point thundered past us and down the cow track to the skinny bit of the island about 2m from the front end of the boat where Mr JACS was having a catnap!

I was pleased to see the growing tick piles of caches done growing bigger and bigger, because I was done!!! So glad to be able to finally say this fabulous Geo-art is finished. Congratulations to both, Ardom who completed his 6th DT loop and 5000th Cache and Team ARF who achieved his 4000th Cache.

Mrs slow puncture and I had a plan today to turn Somerset dam into all smileys. We had gathered most of the caches here and mrs slow puncture only ended up needing I more and I needed 10. This was our 2nd find today and the water was smooth as. You could see how far the water has dropped as this is no longer an island. Thanks for placing this cache here for us to enjoy

This trip had many targets but things changed due to fires, lack of boat hire times on a Friday and so on. The end result was dahumbug and B@W spent two days on the water instead of one on the water and one on the Bluff which due to the heat the number of steps taken was probably just as well as despite having a boat we covered plenty of ground on foot not helped by some very low water levels and that the hire boat so slow.
As a result of the leisurely opening times we headed back into town to brighten the start to our caching day although it was not without issue.
We picked up the boat at Somerset Caravan Park and lets just say the speed to get us in the water matched the speed of the boat but we were grateful we could get a craft and it had a sunshade cover.
So with the late launch we changed our plans to two days on the water and decided to get these ones up north before engaging with the art work.
Saw some roos, rabbits, cattle and bird life on the way round.
No problem making the finds, We completed the signing duties and re hid. TFTC

Yes it’s here. Not in great condition. Can the next finder bring a new container. Lovely day out.

8565
Found whilst doing the Dark Side of the Cache Series

Thanks for the great Caches and adventure Gizmo's

This Day in Music
22 Oct 1996
It was announced that, "The Beatles were now bigger than The Beatles". The statement was based on sales so far this year, having sold 6,000,000 albums from their back catalogue and a combined total of 13,000,000 copies of ‘The Beatles Anthology 1’ and ‘The Beatles Anthology 2’. With the release of ‘The Beatles Anthology 3’ a week away, it was anticipated that total Beatles album sales for 1996 would exceed 20 million. A poll showed 41 percent of sales were to teenagers who were not born when The Beatles officially called it quits in 1970.

Hired a boat to do some of the Dark Side of the cache series and decided to do a few of the traditional ones as well. TFTC Gizmo's

# 2103 - Forgot to log this cache which I found exactly a month ago (it's now 05/09/2019).

Visiting friends on the Somerset Dam at a time of low water levels it was made easy for me. We took a ride on the quad bike (as the cache is on their property and they didn't even know! ) and found the container in no time. Found a little snake under a rock too, so be aware!

Nice hide and good to be able to do a T3 terrain rating so easily. Personally I would have rated it higher and made the difficulty lower as the cache is not hard to find once you're on dry land...

TFTC Gizmo's

A good find, didn’t bring pen to sign.

Out on the jetski with geowife Dora the Explorer and CDAH55. Overcaste but cooler day after hot weather earlier in the week. Reached gz and soon found cache

Found it coool TFTC

So excited to be on this island

This was my second stop this afternoon, after a smooth quick paddle across the water. The dam is quite low at the moment so I left the kayak and went for quite a walk up and over to find this cache. Lots of long grass made for a slow and careful walk!

An easy find once I got to GZ. Very much enjoying the views and birdlife around here today. A stunner of a day. Thanks for the cache, Gizmo's.

Arriving at the dam we saw there was a queue to get into the park and thought wow it’s going to be busy, but it turned out the boom gates were busted for the campers and they were having a hard time getting through. Once we were clear we headed down to the water and there are only a few people about so far.

A bit breezy but the sun is shining in its full glory at the moment. The jetski was unloaded into the water and we were off and racing until we reached a certain point and had to slow to the racing speed of 6 knots. We slowly drove through enjoying the scenery, we saw a group of pelicans on the waters edge and then the birds up in the dead trees on nests.

Arriving near GZ Mrs 4ando jumped off and read the hint before making the small walk up as there was a lot of long grass and the intel was appreciated. Wasn’t long before the cache was found, a group of ants had made a home in it so they were shook off the log, the log a bit damp but could easily sign it.

Tftc Gizmo's

Out doing some caching today with Dora the Explorer!

This was our third cache for today. This was the cache that we had particularly targetted. It had a D/T that I needed for my 3rd D/T loop and it was the cache that Dora the Explorer! needed to finish her 4th D/T loop.

A pleasant paddle to here as we were with the wind. Not so easy going back.

Did not take too long to find once we made it to GZ.

The log book is soaked. Neither of us had paper to replace the log and it was too far back to paddle to get some.

Find #1422

TFTC ***Gizmo's***

Third cache of the day. Quick easy find. This cache completes my 3 or 4 loop. Log book is soaked.

We are nomads. Having left Perth WA in February 2014 we now live in our caravan and go wherever the will or caches take us.

catching up with El_Peregrinos for a few days so up to Toogoolawah we moved. Dratz so did the wet weather. Still the boys headed out onto Somerset Dam at 0630 for a morning of fun.

TFTC Gizmo's

It was an early start to the morning with FelixII to grab the caches on Somerset Dam
The good thing was the rain held off so it wasnt a really wet morning.
Thanks for placing the caches. Somerset Dam is an old favourite place of ours.

When you're in a kayak, dead trees in the water are your best friend - ski boats don't like trees. [^] So it was a peaceful paddle in ultra smooth water most of the way from Set Oars on Somer. This may be an island sometimes but when we saw cows lazing under a tree we knew it wasn't today so we docked the kayak and walked to the cache. Pulled it out along with quite a lot of ants that weren't happy about being disturbed. Tough! this is the cache with the D/T we wanted most - come ants or high water we were getting it. With our name in the log we gave up the cache offering to it's protectors and returned to the kayak. TFTC Gizmo's

Some family friends were heading up to Somerset Dam for a day of wake boarding and invited us along. This provided a perfect opportunity for me to have a paddle out on the dam while the rest of the family was otherwise entertained. A paddle out from the Somerset Park day use area and back looked a fairly daunting proposition but some further research revealed an opportunity to be dropped to start the paddle a lot closer to this cache and continue on a one-way paddle to meet up with the family at the other end, saving a considerable amount of paddling.

Arriving at the starting point, there were a lot more cars in the parking area than I had expected. While I unpacked S.S. Portokali (TB8N7QF) and the rest of my equipment, my wife and daughter were being entertained by another would-be mariner who was having all sorts of problems with his engine and had to end up paddling back to shore to rectify matters. No sooner had the keel of the kayak touched the water, than my wife and daughter sped off in the car in a flurry of dust. No long, tearful bon voyages here!

The weather at the start was perfect for paddling - not too hot and barely a breath of breeze to stir a ripple on the water. Despite the number of cars in the car park I only spotted a couple of other boats trolling in the distance, and only the odd pelican and other water fowl to keep me company. With a couple of caches found on Rabbit Island. thankfully the water levels were high enough that it was in fact an island, and I could continue my paddle the shortest way. I decided to beach the kayak and walk the last 250m to give the arms a shoulders a rest. Following some well worn cattle tracks I soon arrived at GZ where the cache was located safe and sound. TFTC

We put in near the boat ramp in the day-use area and this was our second cache find today. Wow! So many little rabbits scampering about here. We were amazed.
Nice easy find. Cache and contents are in good condition even though some ants have built their nest around it.
Thanks Gizmo's for adding more fun to our day.

Found Ok

23/07/2016, 8:23 AM Find #940

I came in from the boat ramp to the east of the lake. Each time I rounded a point, the wind picked up a little bit more. By the time I passed Rabbit Island it became hard going. So, I landed on the eastern side of the island and decided to walk across.

The cache was found quickly and I signed the log. On the way back, I came face to face with a little calf. I didn't see any other cows so not sure if he was alone. I thought I was on an island but now I'm not sure. I also saw cows on Rabbit Island when I passed.

Back at the yak, I decided to get the caches on Rabbit Island and head back. The cache to the south was just a little too far.

TFTC

Another fun find today with HRH54! A lovely day out on the water today, really great. Beautiful scenery, TFTC

2nd one found Nice little island TFTC

This cache was the main target of our visit to Somerset today. Our captain, Trumanato, let us ashore and stortigirls, Nurseyjulie and I made our way to GZ. Once there, I made a quick find. We added our names to the log, rehid the cache, then headed back to the boat. TFTC

This one was a nutcracker.. Lol. Was great to find thanks heaps

On a mission to pick this one up to fill a d/t spot. Alighted the vessel and a short walk yo the GZ. A quick find too. TFTC

A great day spent on the water today with Selva Girls, Nursey Julie and Trumanato in his very impressive boat The goal for today was a particular cache, but of course why not make use of the opportunity to clear the area of caches the other CO's had so kindly placed and maintained? Beautiful scenery and good company made for an enjoyable morning of finds . Tftc Gizmo's

found

Found with barbbowman and fasted59 having a family day on the dams.

Clearing up the dam, this was number2 for Somerset.

Nice quick find.

TFTC

LOVE finding old rows of fence posts in the middle of nowhere

I went camping with my mum mnance101 and sister Pinkypie05.We decided to do a few caches while we're here. TFTC.

While camping at the Lake, my daughter pinkypie05, my son mazza151 and myself decided to do some of the lake caches in our blow up boat. A paddle across to get to this one. TFTC! Now to get back to camp and then rest our arms

While camping being at Somerset Lake, my mum mnance101, my brother mazza151 and myself decided to do this cache. TFTC!

Number 3. Easy find. Thanks

With only a handful of empty spots remaining on my DT grid, a plan was set in place to find some of the rare DT combos residing in this Dam. Slow Puncture was available for a trip, and when I found I could bring the boat rather than paddle, things were looking up! This was the second of the trip, and after finding a suitable place to leave the boat and wandering up the hill, was the last unfound DT combo for me, Yay!!!!! Feels great to accomplish this little milestone, another one to check off the list. The place was just magnificent this morning, quiet, peaceful and serene. Thanks for placing this one here for us to find!!!

1188

Saturday. Slow Puncture ventured out with Cap'n Kieran to retrive a few caches around the Somerset area.

SP had found this one before, so an observer role was undertaken this time. Kieran was followed as he headed in the right direction. SP asked if he thought he could tell where the cache might be, and the Captain had it sussed well before arrival!

Thanks [Blue]Gizmo's[/Blue], for showing us this interesting place. Again

Gotcha !!! Paddled the Kayaks about 15Km today with my sister and Poodleman Muggle in search of a few specially D/T rated caches I need to complete my grid. Picked up a few others on the way.TFTC and a fav. point from me.

Out on the water after hiring a yak from roscoes. Great little 2 seater vessel which got us to where we needed to go. The water was lovely and the Eagles flying over we're just amazing. Paddling into the wind didn't deter us and eventually we got to gz. It was at this stage of our journey I was thankful for the 2 seater kayak. My arms were getting tired from the paddling and we still had 1 cache left to find. A quick find and a little rest in the shade before our next leg of the journey. TFTC

After a day out kayaking on Wivenhoe yesterday, I hadn't got around to taking the kayak off the roof racks. So my solution to this, was to go kayaking on Somerset today. Truth be told, I was pretty keen to pick up this rare D/T combination to fill one of the two remaining blank spots on my grid.

It was hot, but oh-so-pleasant to be on the water again today. It was even better when I paddled past the 6 knot markers and the chance of getting run over by a ski boat was much reduced.

After doing the long paddle and grabbing the cache on Rabbit Island first, I headed over to this island. There was a big flock of pelicans on the northern foreshore sunning themselves. Rather than disturb them, I landed on the eastern point and then walked inland for the remaining 350 metres to the cache.

The cache was found as described and is in surprising good condition for an eclipse tin. Many thanks Gizmos. Now there is only 1 blank spot on my DT grid.

Pete

#2,132

Our mission of the moment is to complete our D/T Matrix ASAP, and would you believe that this cache appears to be the only one in Queensland with this particular combo?
That means that people like us need to find kayaks (thank you Acacia Ridge Kayaks) and make a pilgrimage out this way. After quite a long drive, we got down to the water and then dodged water-skiers and then got ourselves around the corner where we could enjoy the company of none but pelicans and seagulls.
With a bit of effort, we finally came ashore on the Southern side and went straight to... The wrong spot. After reading the hint, it was very easy to stroll a little further and make the grab. The container is in pretty good shape, and the log was OK too. TFTC and the square on our D/T matrix filled today!

Second one we found in our day out in the Kayaks after Somerset on Oars.

Good fun

This log is continued from the cache Set Oars on Somer... http://coord.info/GLF9G7Z9

We were making our way across the Lake, it was getting harder and harder for me to paddle. There were times where I would have to have a break and the Captain would try to keep going. We decided to get out and walk for a while, the Captain towed the canoe behind us as we made quicker time.

It wasn't too long before we had to jump back in and power across to this island. It was hard and windy and wet but we soon got there. We parked the canoe on the southern side and walked to GZ. I found the cache quickly and soon we were headed back to the canoe for the next one. Thanks for the cache Gizmo's.

How good is JimmyProjects log on this one, especially since Mrs Project has recently admitted she was totally out of her comfort zone in the canoe. Great effort Ruth,

This was my second target cache on the water this day and it was a great paddle past some busy fisherman past some dead trees. I had set my sights on this island for a long time and it was good to finally get here. I should of come with the last group but i had financial constraints at the time. Anyhoo, had a great paddle today and enjoyed myself.

Thanks again Gizmos for the paddle.

Tftc. Quick find.

Found with that rowdy bunch, longer log to follow

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip
That started from this little shore (line)
Aboard this tiny ship.

The mate was a mighty sailing man,
The skipper scared for true
Eight passengers set sail that day
For a three hour tour, a three hour tour (well two and a half)

The weather started getting wet,
The tiny ship was tossed,
If not for the courage of the fearless crew
The canoe would be lost, the canoe would be lost.

The ship set ground on the shore of this uncharted desert isle
With Peter prime
Lady Membsec too,
The Flutterby and her man,
The (Sweller)Fungus single kayak
Team LJCC and Angela & Dave,
Here on Somer Isle.


So this is the tale of the castways,
They're here for a short, short time,
They'll have to make the best of things,
It's an (short) uphill climb.

The first mate and the Skipper too,
Will do their very best,
To make the others comfortable,
In the tropic island nest.

No phone, no lights no, no motor boat,
Not a single (a)live cow
Like Robinson Crusoe,
As beautiful as can be.

So join us here each week my friends,
You're sure to get a smile,
From eight happy wanderers,
Here on "Somer's Isle."

Out at Somerset Dam for an excellent caching morning in canoes, with thanks to Nyssa Flutterby and Membsec for organising!

Also present were Angela & Dave, Swellerfungus, (P)Prime, Jimmyprojects and Dav81.

The two members of our team had not been in a canoe in (A) 33 years, and (B) never! Suffice to say, the paddling/steering technique was a bit ordinary!

Nonetheless, we managed to make our way in a more or less straight line to this cache.

By the time we got to the cache most of the others were there, so a quick sign of the log in the light rain ensued, and we were back on our way to the next one.

TFTC

During the week it was suggested by our illustrious leader (points finger at Nyssabutterfly and half a membsec) that we plan an assault on Somereset Dam caches for a D/T matrix cleanup. I eagerly accepted, as some recent kayaking experiences have been most enjoyable. The rest of the team went for canoes, but I am not a big fan of them, having spent a lot of my childhood holidays in them so opted for the kayak.

An early start leaving Brisbane so that we could be ready to launch at 7am gave me one of the joys of coming out this way, and that is a visit to the Fernvale Bakery. The staff are so fantastic, and the food is awesome. Even the coffee is pretty good!

We took off as a group, and I wondered if some of my colleagues had been drinking, as there steering was all over the place! (single person paddle powered watercraft are the best). but as we zigzagged our way across the dam they soon had most of the issues sorted. Some beautiful old dead trees gave an eerie reminder of how the land must have been before the dam. Not to much wind, and the rain holding off, and we soon arrived at the island. as we turned the corner a sad cache guardian was seen.

We beached the crafts and headed up to GZ. A quick find and surprise at the size of the cache! We all added our autographs as a light rain started to fall. Back to the boats to head back.

Thanks Gizmo, though I have been to Somerset often, I have never actually come out on the water. This was a nice change!

Row, row, row, your boat gently along the dam, merrily we were, at least at the start of this venture. Male membsec and I were hoping to do this cache for our 7000th but unfortunately circumstances halted that venture so when I received a message that we might be doing this one this weekend I jumped at the idea, knowing that male membsec wouldn't be able to attend but we really wanted this cache to fill our D/T grid!! He had other things to do like entertain muggle son and two grandchildren.

Plan in motion and we really wanted 4 couples to fill the 4 canoes so we could get a trailer to carry them. Suddenly we had 4 canoes occupied, banana boat and 1 kayak. Originally the weather was suppose to be hot so we decided to go early to beat the heat plus some had to be else where later in the day.

With canoes and kayaks organised, transport organised we all headed to Somerset Dam. It was great to see the canoes all ready for us to jump in and head off. Thanks to Nyssaflutterby and Dave81 who towed the trailer for us. I had the great pleasure of being in a canoe with Pprime........who promised the world but gave nothing!

We decided to head for the furthermost cache, as we thought that would stop people from pulling out. It worked like a dream. Team LJCC, Jimmyproject, Angela and Dave and Swellerfungus along with Nyssaflutterby, Dave81 and Pprime all made it to this special little island with energy to spare, some more than others and some made it in a straighter line than others.

As we headed for our beaching area, we all could see what we thought were big brown rocks!! Oh no, it was a large brown dead cow, and oh boy the smell was dreadful, which made us paddle harder.

Some found it harder than others to put their feet to land but eventually we all made it to GZ. A quick signing on the log, replaced carefully and we needed to head back to the next cache before the rain really settled.

Once again going from land to boat was a bit tricky for some but we all headed off, with Jimmyproject leading the way! Lady membsec, being competitive couldn't let them lead the way and it felt as though I was doing all the hard work as Pprime occasionally placed a paddle into the water as we zig- zagged our way to the next cache.

TFTC Gizmo's, we love the D/T

One of my goals this year is to finally tick all the boxes on the Difficulty/Terrain grid - only four to go now, and on this piece of water there are options for two of those boxes. So I contacted Ms Nyssa to see if she wanted to go as well. Little did I know a whole posse had been looking at exactly this about now, so I joined the party. With Nyssaflutterby, Dav81, Jimmyproject, Team LJCC, Angela&Dave, Swellerfungus and Lady Membsec a small flotilla launched nearby for what ended up being 7km in canoes, both caches found, two and a half hours of immense fun and two D/T boxes left to go.

Having set off rather early the dam was very quiet still, a few fishering boats in the distance, no wind, no sun, no rain, no waves. It was rather gorgeous actually. Lots of birdlife, ducks, pelicans, cormorants, and some others. And the dead trees in the early morning quiet was spectacular too. Well, not so quiet with us noisy paddlers passing by but otherwise ...

Dodged the dead cow and landed on the island and mosied on over to GZ for an easy enough find. Interesting spot.

The return journey was a little noisier - both from us as well as from more powerboats, and the sprinkling rain and more wind on the water made it a slightly tougher paddle, but nothing we couldn't handle.

Thanks for placing this cache, Gizmo's. Found in good condition.
{Overall find #2459}
Check out [url=http://www.facebook.com/groups/303346609684914/]The online home of geocaching in South East Queensland on Facebook[/url]
[img]http://www.qldmega.com/templates/phoneapps-tg/images/logo.png[/img] Will I see you at [url=http://www.qldmega.com]QLD MEGA 2015[/url]?
Easter weekend 2nd-6th April 2015 in Stanthorpe, QLD.

Always love a great caching get-together, thank you Nyssa and Lady Membsec for organising.

Out on the water in some canoes with Dav81, Team LJCC, PPrime and Jimmyprojects.

I don't think either of our team members have ever been in a canoe before and it certainly showed! Much debate ensued about our technique and a little frustration occurred.

We managed to make it to the cache, though not in a straight line by any standard!

It was sad to come around the bottom of the island to see a large cow who had made its way down to the water to take its last breath before laying on the shore line forevermore.

We paddled quickly past and beached our canoes further up the shoreline and headed our for the cache.

Log book was handed about the team for all to sign before returning the cache to its hiding place.

TFTC

Lovely spot, worth the paddle for sure

awesome thanks second cache we found using a boat very fun

Thanks it's great having a great time camping finding some caches

While exploring the area today, these 2 caches were on our list of must do's. We had a stop in Kilcoy for lunch and then headed out to find the best access.
As we hadn't been to Somerset in years, it has changed quite a bit from when we were here last.
We launched our Kayak in the water from the day use area and enjoyed the paddle along the calm water, with only a few boats and jet skis here enjoying the gorgeous weather this afternoon
Mr Parko and I decided we would head for this one first, seeing as it was the further of the 2. Upon approaching the island, we could hear a cow mooing for dear life. It wasn't until we got closer, that we realised her calf was stranded on the island alone
We jumped out the kayak and headed to GZ, where we picked a likely spot and bingo, the cache was in hand
It was at this moment Mr Parko asked for the pen
But I thought you had it [?]
Um, ok, plan b - we found a stick and scratched out name in the log amazing how resourceful we can be when in desperate need
We did take a photo, but I do believe our name will stay in the log.
On return we could see the cow and her calf happily walking back on the other side together, shame we missed watching it get back over.
Suffice to say, I have now added pens to our PFD's, just in case
Thanks Gizmo's a great cache indeed, a fave point from us

This was a hard cache there were so many logs and I had to look in every one. I didn't have a pen so I couldn't sign the logbook. TFTC

Mrs Just a Trifle has just worked out how to update her GSAK database from the GPS to indicate those caches found. Well you know what that means don't you? Yep, we have found a few caches which we have not yet logged so now we are trying to catch up with the on-line logging. Mr Just a Trifle was assisting La Kedi with a few water caches and this was one on the list. By the time we arrived at the island the fog was lifting and the peaceful sounds of the cows was broken by the boats on the lake. We beached the kayak and took a walk over to ground zero through the thick grass. After locating the cache in an obvious spot and adding our names to the log, we stopped for a snack and a drink to enable us to make the long paddle back. Thank you for having placed the cache Gizmo's.

The heavy fog was lifting by the time we arrived on the island, and the sound of motorboats now competed with the sounds of mooing cows from the mainland. Just A Trifle and I decided to beach the kayak on the southern side and walk over to GZ across the springy grass, and we were pleased to find an obvious spot for the cache on arrival. Hooray! We paused for a drink and a snack before beginning the long paddle back. As a first timer, I found this pair of caches just challenging enough to get to even with calm waters! TFTC, Gizmo's. =^.^=

Just a beautiful day for caching!!