Joy of hex #3 - Cheating at blackjack Mount Victoria, New South Wales, Australia
By jonnosan on 04-Dec-11. Waypoint GC38Q54

Solved this one by myself. Great area to explore from car parking spot to gz. Quick find of cache. Cache in great condition. First find in over three and a half years. Fav point for such a scenic area to search in, in the late afternoon sun. More people need to check this area out. Thanks for the great cache.

Having done Esgate Pass with Crash earlier in the day and partly refreshed ourselves with milkshakes the suggestion was go a little further west for this one and Bush Rangers Cave plus as bonus there was trad for Crash at Pulpit Rock. Having done the other Joys of Hex some time ago this one had us reaching for all sorts of archives and some hand computing. Another great track into the bush and after leaving the track for a little came to a likely spot to make the find. We completed the signing duties and re hid. TFTC

#4704

This was the final bit of Joy that I had not solved and a planned trip with b@w gave me the incentive to have another look. I solved/found #2 and #4 back in July 2018, so thought I should start on this one from scratch rather than try to dig up my notes. Having already nailed down the dialect, a bit more reading provided some promising inroads. Quite surprising how useful headers can be and how aviation can help with blackjack. While I didn't fully understand every line of code, I followed enough to figure out what needed to be done, and just like that, I had some coordinates.

After an exhausting but exhilarating morning visiting the unloved Esgate Pass and a few nearby caches in very warm conditions, this was our next target. But not before replenishing our energy at Blackheath. And of course there were a few more descents and ascents ahead of us. Happy to make a relatively quick find at GZ and took a bit of time on the return trip to appreciate the views.

Thanks for another puzzle that I really enjoyed, so giving a FP for the overall experience. Can't tell you how happy I am that you didn't archive these in 2016!!!

TFTC jonnosan

According to BMCC website this area has reopened

disabled due to bushfire hazard across the whole blue mountains - likely to be closed till autumn

We've been sitting on the coordinates for this cache for a long, long time but haven't had the chance to go and find it until today. We've spent many hours looking at these Joy of hex caches! This was a nice walk with Team Webguy and a cool location at GZ. TFTC!
Cheers,
The Hancock Clan

Dunno how long ago I figured the co-ords out for this one but it required just a modicum of effort to get to so it was always on the back burner, til today, Mr Hancock and I got to GZ for an easy find with spectacular views from the red lookout.

Well I have been looking at this mountains series for a while now. For this one I started making some inroads but lacked the necessary hardware to move things forward and programming not our forte though we did spend an eon an eon ago entering line after line of basic into a Tandy 64k. The result line after line of syntax error. I did chance on a manual via a previous finder, but it was all a fog. I ended up getting some inspiration from the cache title and had soon had some numbers that looked ok from overhead. Working out west today and left early to have a crack at finding the box. Pleasant walk down with some impressive caves then a short climb and hey Presto, quicker than one of my uni fortran programs there she was. Signed and replaced, it's still n good Nick. Took note of the clue. Had a quick look at the views from the cliff top on the way back. Great stuff. Will try the next. Thanks jonnosan.

Catching up on old logs.
Headed out with teamMerlin and splitty miller jjcc, signed log under alter ego "Barnaby Jones".

This was a massage effort...which finally came to fruition today when we had time to stop and search for the cache.

The adventure started over six months ago when we came across this mystery whilst searching for some different puzzles to complete. Having an IT background, my interest was sparked when I saw the code. Trying to remember back when I undertook a six month subject on this particular coding language I eventually nutted out what the code was doing and on what particular piece of machinery it was being run on...but still the output wasn't forthcoming. A bit more research followed and then the penny dropped and the final coordinates made themselves known.

Today as we were headed home after enjoying lunch in Leura and an afternoon in Blackheath, we decided to find this cache. With JJCC and BarnabyJones (aka Shanoz) in tow we worked out several access points and picked the one that would enable finding another cache on our return journey. Parking the car at the end of the street we walked along the track towards our final destination. At thirty metres the track turned away as it went around several large fallen trees...so we bush bashed the last stretch. GPSr had us midway up the slope and a search didn't turn up anything. Taking stock we worked our way further up the slope and eventually located the cache container. After we all signed the log we replaced as found...but not before taking note of the clue located within the container.

TNLN.
Seven TBs visited - Bob geoMinion, Dave geoMinion, Evil geoMinion, Jerry geoMinion, Larry geoMinion, Stuart geoMinion, Vanlith The Youngling.
Both the cache container and log are in good condition.
TFTC jonnosan.
This cache gets a favourite point from us - well done.

This cache was again mastered by the puzzle champion Team Merlin.
Team Merlin discovered this cache over six months ago as he enjoys the challenge of a good mystery puzzle. With Team Merlin back ground in computers and IT.
Being able to cipher the code and after many hours of research cracked the code and determined the final coordinates.

With such a massage effort... Team Merlin let us and BarnabyJones make a joint find on this cache.

Visiting Leura today we had in mind to pick up a cache or two our first was the cache Leura Bloome Park found we drove up to Blackheath we venture out to Anvil Rock and had the coordinates for the cache This View Rocks. Time on our side on the trip home from the mountains we decided to find this cache.

With coordinates in hand we worked out the best access point to make a find.
Parking the car we then walked along the track towards GZ. As the track veered away from indicated coordinates we headed off track. Looking within the indicated area but no find made we widened our search area and finally located the cache container. After we all signed the log we replaced as found...but not before taking note of the clue located within the container. Both log and the cache container are in good condition. A favourite point from us.
TFTC jonnosan.

I do have a fair bit of computer knowledge, but programming is not of them. Luckily I have friend working in IT who were very willing to help!
With coords in hand I headed down the beautiful track till I was about 50 meters from GZ. Not surprisingly there wa some bushbashing involved to get me to a beautiful GZ.
TFTC Wilbert67

PS there were pencils and other writing options in the cache and the cachebook was untouched so I don't understand last log?

I forgot my pen so i just folded the corner. The was hard i had to do it by plain slog.

I distinctly remember hearing the story behind this cache about 25 years ago, and was wondering what kind of person thinks that writing a program that relies on the rotational speed of a piece of hardware is a good idea?!? It reminded my of a gold old pacman clone called Chomp that used to run on my XT. If you pressed the turbo button it was very challenging to play. Then when I upgraded to a 386, it was impossible. I'm curious of what kind of a blur it would make these days?

Anyway, back to the puzzle. There was only one way to proceed. I procured a manual (it's amazing what you can find through google), pulled our dryer to pieces - painted the outside with a special ferrous paint, arranged all my fridge magnets in a specially arranged array, and booted the whole thing up. Unsurprisingly, it blew to bits, and I was left without co-ords. Also unsurprisingly, I had some trciky explaining to do to my wife. In the end, I had to rely on my backup approach, which worked out well enough ....

Now to try and sort out the finale!

Found this one this afternoon whilst out on the calendar gap and DT rating cache hunt which brought me out to the Lachlan River, Wyangala State Forest and Mt Victoria.

I needed help with solving this one, so I can't take any credit for calculating the coords. However the difficulty and terrain accessing this one is certainly up there. As CJ is away, I did this one solo on the way back Wyangala State Forest . I had planned the Bushrangers Cave too, but the light was failing with less than an hour to find the cache and get out. It was pretty cold up here today. The month has ticked over to winter and so has the weather. Less than 5 degs, but bushwalking and caching are a great way to warm up.

I parked the car at the start of what I thought was Reinitz Pass Walk. The first 300 metres were a breeze, then the track got thick and tough. What track? Very tough and I got quite scratched up. I think there may be an easier way to the GZ, but I didn't find it. Anyway the coords were excellent, although finding the cache was tricky in failing light. The cache is all good and the log is dry. I signed and replaced it exactly as I found it.

Thanks jonnosan for another of your caches. I'm starting to enjoy them, I think SL TNLN TFTC

Finally after all this time I was in the vicinity and had time. Solved this eons ago. A great little walk in and a quick found. Gets a fave point!!
SL TFTC

I will not pretend that I solved the problem, this is way beyond me. However I did exactly what the cache name told me to do, I cheated!!

I almost did not bother but when I found myself a mere 45 metres from GZ and the topography pointed right to where it should be I did make the unscheduled detour and there it was.

Thanks for the cache, by the way I had to come back this way to move my new cache that turned out to be too close to this one. At the time of placing I had no idea this was here.

Guess I'm now a 'real programmer', that said - isn't self modifying code considered bad form?
Threw the problem at a pit full of snakes - pythons always make life easier

Two down - the hunting party are salivating

No luck this time although did find a special friend

#1021
After our caching weekend and my 1000th cache was done, I decided for a few more before heading home. Having already solved all 3 puzzles, I wanted to complete them, from the furthest away to home and work my way back. #3 was first.

Checking GZ, I found a way and started a walk/run (not good in the wet) down this series of tracks and trails. The track ended with me about 100m from GZ. DOH. No phone, a few high drops, so no chance I was going to continue. Dejected, I walked back the few hundred metres to the car. I then rechecked my maps and found another possible way in. YUP, sure enough a much easier way with great views of the fog while I walked to GZ.

Near the end, I had to bush bash a little and got close before I was lucky to make the find fast. SL, TNLN and read the previous few logs. Nice. Thanx for the help Baktrak with solving this one! Thanx to jonnosan and nice meeting you 3 days into the future at the 29.02.12 event...hehehehehe.TFTC

This was one of the special caches that our team of four had set out to find today. What a fantastic location it is too.
Working out the coords was especially enjoyable as it's a wonderful glimpse of techno-history in itself. It would be great to see one of these machines in action with it's drum spinning and 1950s electronics heating the neighbourhood. This is from an era when programmers needed intimate hardware knowledge to craft tricks and work wonders, well beyond the apparent capabilities of the machinery.
So a really enjoyable puzzle and final location too. Another fave. Thanks again jonnosan.

Found with Baktrak, pjmpjm, Bearded Dave, & Bikerbuddy. A great experience, though the credit is handed to dave and Baktrak. Also found the second today.

Like the first cache in this series, I cannot claim any credit for the smarts in working out the puzzle. The credit goes to Baktrak for that today. All I contributed was the finding of the actual cache when we got to GZ. And what a great location. Like all of Jonnosan's caches, a lot of thought and effort are evident. Thankyou again.

Again, I couldn't have calculated the required coords for this one without BakTrak, who worked wonders with just a pencil and paper!

A great walk in a classic Blue Mountains location together with BakTrak, bikerbuddy and bikerbuddy's son, and before we knew it we had discovered an amazing place -- just the scene for a hunt for an elusive cache container.

Once discovered, the geocache proved to be in excellent shape. TNLNSL.

This is a great walk and I can recommend it to everyone. There are several other caches you can look for in the same beautiful area.

Many thanks to jonnosan!

Thanks jonnosan, for a puzzle that keeps on giving! First a nice puzzle to solve over Chrissy, (and very satisfying too!) and now a Blue mountains adventure! I'm writing from GZ now, waiting for the rain to subside before making the dash back to the car. I'm sure there must be an easy way in, but I certainly didn't take it (for the cache or the puzzle!) TFTC, and to peter_mcc and the_tower_of_song for working towards this solution with me. (Oh, and the few hours I had to spare on the train to Sydney
TFTC. TNLN.

Another great puzzle, leading us to yet another beautiful location - thanks again Jonnosan. I'm hooked on your puzzles!!!

Once again, I was accompanied by Team Canary (sadly only 1 of them because the 2 youngest members were both sick). Alexy was also with me again, plus his friend William T joined us for his first ever geocaching experience.

Yes! First to log!

I once again enlisted the computer knowledge of BeardedDeave, even though this computer was not one he has used!?!

Today, we had arranged to meet up and enjoyed a lovely walk to the cache area. Then it was a matter of searching through all the hidey holes until I spotted something wrong and soon after the cache!

T: Boot Disk Fail TB

TFTC.

TB drop - This cache is reasonably remote (from Sydney at least) and I reckon will be rarely visited indeed. Who will come rescue "Disk Boot Fail"?

Published