Barraba Trig Ellalong, New South Wales, Australia
By al3xm on 17-Dec-11. Waypoint GC39ARV

We parked at Congewai Road and walked up the mountain. Once at GZ we found the cache after some searching - our GPS moved around a bit. Thanks for the great walk and cache! TFTC!

Out with a great group of friends today, and this was a small diversion we made, so a couple of us could find this cache. Have looked at this one a long time, and always wondered if it was drivable to it. We made this a leg of our 15KM journey today, which was slighty longer than expected, but a great day was had. Ou fo 2 finders today, my phone and severaL GPSrs had the coordinates over there, but a previous finder soon had cache in hand. A bit of a sketchy spot really, be nice and welcoming for slithers. TFTC. Shame the views are disappearing like most lookouts/trig points.

I was out caching with a great group of friends today; we were headed for the dutchmans stern but the others kindly diverted to this cache so I could make the find here. My gps had me a little further away but thankfully the others had already made the find so helped make the find. Thanks for the cache al3xm tnln replaced as found sl

Woke up this morning at Barraba rest area knowing that we had to get out to safety from impending flood bringing rains. The rains had been banging down all morning meaning a wet camp breakdown, but I was still determined to make the trig.
It was only a short walk from the campsite to GZ and the find was made easily, but we decided it was far too rainy to expose the logbook to rain, especially on a remote cache like this. I hope the CO does not mind our lack of trailnames in the log and would of course accept if this log were to be deleted as we didn't technically sign the log.
In any event, magical location, we felt uncle keeping us safe during the night. Our thanks to al3xm for hiding this cache here, an amazing spot. Bless!!

-- This log is trackable ! --
-- Feel free to discover --
-- Please mention, in which cache you've seen this code: --
-- 3TABQX --

I finally got the courage to come and make the trek to this as these are getting harder the older I get. It was a beautiful day for it and was glad to finally see my car on the return.?? TFTC

#5052

Novo and I have been planning a raid on a nearby ridge for quite some time. While our availability lined up, the weather was not quite so cooperative today with plenty of fog and drizzle hanging around. I'm lucky that Novo volunteered the transport as my 2WD would not have made it much past the sealed section. There were plenty of spots to test his 4WD skills and he passed with flying colours.

After a great adventure to Dutchman Stern, we continued on to this trig with the rain now getting heavier. Took a good line to the trig and after the obligatory photos, spent too long looking in stumps and logs. A hint in BFJ's log and some good eyes by Novo had or names in the log book. Now for the short walk back to the car and the bumpy ride back to civilisation.

TFTC al3xm

Found today with crash2079 whilst in the area. Weather was ok but just started to sprinkle a bit heavier as we arrived at this trig. Got back to the car at the Georges Road gate ~1km to the SE of GZ before the sprinkling turned to rain. We discussed all manner of topics today whilst on the trails including religion AND politics, all in the drizzle... and yet I think we still manage to be friends lol.

We got up this way today via a very wet and slippy Georges Road. Also, part of Georges Road ~200m this side of the gate has given way in what appears to be a rock fall on the high side of the track which has taken out about a quarter of the surface on the down side and the resulting landslide is impressive as it goes down around 40m in our estimation. Didn't happen long ago maybe days or weeks as the rock mark was still fairly clear on the trail. Pics didn't do it justice. You would not want to drive along there it would certainly be curtains if what's left of the unstable trail gave way!

Trig here at GZ in ok condish although the vanes and mast have been toppled. Seeking trigs out is very interesting and lots of fun. We have logged ~85 now on GCA. Our 100th will be special. TFTC, al3xm and thanks to crash2079 for the fine company today.
#1298

I've had this cache on my must-do list for some years. I was in the vicinity when doing GC6QQPE in 2017 and again in 2018 when hiking the Congewai Road to Watagan HQ campsite leg of the Great North Walk with my brother, but both times I decided it would be too much of a detour on what were already long hikes. With all the other caches in this part of the Watagans since found, this unfound one kept bugging me so I began planning my attack.

With the big bog hole on Georges Road likely to be impassable to non-amphibious vehicles after all the recent rain, I started looking at alternative routes, settling on the Barraba Link Walking Track which, although looking pretty steep near the top, was about half the distance compared to coming up the GNW from Congewai Road. Parking at the southern end of Barraba Lane, I entered the national park along a nice broad fire trail, but it gradually deteriorated as it rose and became steeper, eventually petering out a couple of hundred metres shy of Georges Road. There were a few possible vestigial tracks but they disappeared into lantana thickets and, with the ground becoming crazy steep, I eventually abandoned that approach and, returning to the car, opted for my Plan B via Congewai.

That route along the GNW is also pretty steep in places but nothing like the Barraba Link "track", and by early afternoon I crested the ridge near the walkers' rest area and headed back downhill on the final run to GZ. A couple of hundred metres out I came to a gate which I wriggled around, only to see a mass of KEEP OUT signs facing the other way. Scratching my head about how I'd managed to emerge from private property without passing any gates or signs from the GNW, I made my way along the spur to the trig marker.

Given the age of this cache, I dismissed what should have been the obvious hiding place and began scouring stumps, logs, boulders and ledges within an ever-expanding circle until finally resorting to a PAF to a recent finder for a nudge. Of course it was in the place I should have looked at the start.

Many thanks for the hide and bringing me to this interesting trig marker. A great day of hiking in the autumn sunshine too.

I had been planning on grabbing this cache for a while, today was the day, but due to a rather large puddle I had to park the car near the start of Georges Rd and walk to this spot after stopping of at 125r, Cache was found rather quickly and replaced as found.
After this cache it was back to the car, by the time I had got back to the car I had walked 25 kms in about 7 1/2 hours, TFTC.

We hiked on towards Ground Zero for this cache after having found the D2, T4 Challenge cache. On having arrived we soon found the cache, where we also found a large snake skin! We signed the log book and then replaced as found. By the time we got back to our waiting vehicle our GPS had recorded a 14.2 kilometre hike in 4 hours 35 mins (including hiking to the Challenge cache and short breaks at each location). Our maximum elevation had been 516 metres with a total ascent of 443 meters and a total descent of 487 meters. Thanks so much for the cache and greetings from Zimbabwe

Abit tired, found on a 22km walk in the Watagan's with my bushwalking club. We walked from the beginning of george's road to the rest area, where the others after lunch wanted to just go back before dark. I really wanted this one so let them go ahead and tried to find the track to the trig. I found a caravan there and took the hard way to get to the track, bushbashed. I needed to be quick so ran down the track until I got to a gate and then onto the ridge where I found the trig. At first I thought it was a in a stump but found after checking it out. Loved the walk. Was rainy misty day TFTC

We approached this one like most previous finders using Georges road and parking just at the bottom of the hill from the gate. It was good weather, although starting to get a bit warm, and a pleasant walk. Some great views along the way and some interesting cliffs and rocks as well.

It was great to take a stop at the Barraba rest area, a very nice spot indeed. Spotted plenty of goannas and even an echidna. After the rest area we continued past the old caravans and on to the trig. Cache was quickly found and replaced before the walk back. Thanks for this walk and adventure, TFTC!

Find #1371
Long before we were Project-GC tragics, and long before we knew what a D:T grid was, Barraba Trig was high on our list of to-do caches. Probably at the top - it has always held a near mystical quality?? I've lost count of the times I've read the logs.....
Last year we decided we were go for Barraba, but the hot weather kept us at bay.
We decided on an approach from the east along Georges Rd, as we know it from past trips into the Watagans. We parked at S 32 58.354 E 151 19.839, just back from the locked gate, you can park at the gate, but the road looked pretty ordinary (and that is saying something out here!) and it was only 150m. This was 2.3km from the cache. The road (after the Narrow Place lookout especially) is 4WD only, and getting a bit shabby in places, just after the lookout, and the westerly portion after the 125r turnoff. We had 2 or 3 tyres spinning in spots up some of the hills, 2WD beware....
We walked along the road, having short breaks at the rest areas along the way, checking out the very cool peaks to the south of the road as we went, there would be some great hides up there for sure. The Barraba Rest Area was an especially pleasant spot, would be great to spend the night. Passing those caravans assured us we were on the right track, and then the home run to the cache along the spur.
In all the walk was 8.2km, and thoroughly enjoyable, with great views along the way, and a trig to log with GCA once at GZ.
The cache container was broken, and since we had with us a nice waterproof container with us (we had considered a hide along the way, but everywhere is private property), we swapped it over.
Thanks for a great cache al3xm.

I loved the walk to the cache, especially crossing the fences on the stepping stones and steps. My legs are sore now!

### **TFTC** ###

Found it!
good hide!
went on a scouts blue cord hike!
The hike was lots of fun!!
TFTC!!

Found it!
good hide!
went on a scouts blue cord hike!
The hike was lots of fun!!
TFTC!!

Found with BillHill531 and my eldest son on the way to camping for the Morning at the Pines event in the Watagans. BillHills car GPSr wanted us to approach this from the west, but I did a little more preparation then him, so we came from the east. Good thing too as we ran into so many gates. Junior loved the fence crossing stepping stones. Then our massive walk began. About halfway here I realised we left our lunch in the car, so giving my pack to BillHill I hurried back to the car to get it (and his hat). On the way back a sign said trig point this way, so I followed the shortcut and somehow ended up beating them to the trig point. I can see why they put it here, but it is still weird not being the the very highest point. It was a long slow walk back up to the great north walk. I had to jump one fence with no easy crossing. Is there any other way to the trig point?
Thanks for the big walk, views and cache!

Found with TOMBI! and son, doing some of the more challenging caches near the Hunter Valley Watagan Mountains area, on the way to the “Morning at the Pines” Event. After doing 125R, we decided to ave a go at Barraba Trig and D2,4T Challenge (The Dutchman's Stern), we needed to follow the great north walk for both, when we were about 20 mins from the car we noticed it was getting onto lunch-time and TOMBI! went back to get this as it was still in the car, while we continued on (me and grandson) and met TOMBI! at the trig point as he had gone over the top past the lookout. We had lunch on the way to D24T challange. TFTC

On the way back from the new challenge cache we detoured over to this one. Strange to see some old caravans covered up on the road and the sign at the gate was not that welcoming . We soon left the road to avoid a scramble at the end and headed up to the trig and made a quick find. We completed the signing duties and re hid. TFTC

When I woke up there was call from the garbagemsn on the HAVOC page for caching companions. I didn't have much planned for the day so accepted the offer then quickly packed some supplies as he kindly agreed to pick me up.
This was our second stop for the day and I had time to read the description and some of the previous logs. I was expecting a similar walk to the one we did at Talking Heads however this one had a track the whole way although there were a few more undulations. There were lots of interesting looking caves and rock features along the way that would be good for another cache. Found this one pretty quickly whilst the garbageman's GPS played catch up. We signed the log whilst trying to fend off a number of march flies that magically appeared when we stopped walking. The views were not as good as the ones at talking heads and we were both surprised that the trig point wasn't on the highest part of the spur. TFTC

Got last minute clarification of some babysitting from the geokids Nanna, and then put the word out amongst HAVOC members for the chance to come on a hike, and was very pleased when Orrsome agreed to come adventuring today. This cache was our second for the day, which on the surface sounds like very little but both caches were multiple hours in the getting of them!

This cache is the last of the Northern Watagans caches for me, and I was really pleased to make it out here today after once having made the approach with the family, parking at the private property gate 2.2km from GZ, but having to turn around due to tired geokids and a reluctant geowife in the car (fair enough too). Not so today - we once again drove the might and ever reliable Xtrail to the gate, smashing our way through dips and rocks and mud in many road sections - what a trusty old girl she is.

Sadly unlike in previous logs the gate fairies/elves kept us outside this gate, and we hoofed it in from there. I suspect the actual hike was more like 3km each way, as the last 300m seemed to stay set on 300m on the GPS for an eternity and the path did a few contours around hills rather than maintain a straight line (which was fine by me, and certainly to be expected).

Must have taken about an hour from where we parked, and we made it back to the car on the return trip in 45 minutes, which was pretty good, given that this was the second ~5km+ hike for the day. We got super lucky with the weather too, maybe 25 degrees or so, and slightly overcast, so perfect weather conditions and not bad for photography either. It definitely warmed up as we went though, and was quite steamy by the time we got back.

Some lovely views along the way, especially for the first kilometer or so while the road hugs the mountain side, but to be honest I felt the walk lost a little enjoyment as it went on. The trig was a bit underwhelming when we got there, and the views were not as good as from other sections of the walk. I did appreciate seeing the Barraba Trig campground however, as this is one of the few sections of the GNW I had yet to walk.

Once at GZ we had a few nervous moments, as my GPS said the trig was more than 70m from GZ (WTF) and Orrsome's initially had him down the hill, but common sense prevailed and eventually the GPS devices caught up with our fast pace and recalibrated a GZ which made a lot of sense! Orrsome made a quick find and we took a few happy snaps and headed back.

The biggest question from here was, would we make it home? The fuel light had come on in the Xtrail somewhere near Narrow Neck Lookout on the way out to the gate, and with more than 30km to the nearest petrol station, we were in dire straits - and to make matters worse, we detoured to grab 125r on the way home HAHAHA. Fortunately, we were able to limp back into Cessnock, refuel, breathe a sigh of relief, and then as quick as a flash start to plan the next adventure. TNLN TFTC

*An interesting little statistic about this cache - Barabba trig turned out to be the third cache in a row we found that previously hadn't been found since 2013!*

We drove in the day before but got too distracted by the beauty and impeccable cliffs and views around here. We climbed around the narrow place lookout for quite some time and found a great spot to hide another cache!
As the sun was going down we had to look for somewhere to camp. After scanning through the topos of the area we spotted a cliff with a 125m drop, making it the largest in the area. This caught our attention so we kept on driving until we reached this spot. We made it here with a few minutes to spare before sunset, so the golden orange glows that lit up the valley was amazing and was the best sunset I've seen in a long time!
The next morning the sunrise was equally as good, so after some brekky we were on our way. We read some of the logs before we left and soon realised that we might run into a bit of problems with locked gates. And sure enough after a quick drive further up the track we hit the first gate and jumped out of the car ready for the walk. That's when we realised the gate was unlocked so we jumped back in the car and was able to drive within 800m of the cache until the next gate, which was locked this time.
The rest area is a great little set up, which proved handy for refilling the water bottles, and a place I would be keen to come back to as an option for camping when I get around to competing the GNW.
Following the GPS's we continued down the hill and up the spur to GZ. To our surprise we saw a fairly new looking trig station and immediately hoped the cache wasnt hidden in the old trig. Luckily the cache was still there even after a year and a bit between finders.
Near GZ we heard a car climbing up the other side of the hill and realised we had parked in front of the gate on their property blocking their way, so it was a quick walk/run back to the car to get out of there before they shot our tyres or rolled the car off the cliff.
All was good in the end, which ended a good journey to a great cache. Thanks for the hide!

Found on the morning of such a glorious day. Had just finished setting up a cache at a spot where we spent the night (see my new cache coming out soon for more on that experience) and moved on to this one. The whole drive our here was truly awesome. If the walk is even half as good, it is still definately worth coming back here for. This spectacular drive was made even better by a mysterious gate elf, who had left the gate unlocked for us. Driving on a narrow precipice was made even tighter with a sawn tree that had fallen on the road, which would have made it a challenging drive for heavy, noisy, cumbersome, fuel guzzeling 4x4 Landcruisers and Patrols, but the nimble RAV4 had no worries. Although, no matter how nimble the RAV4, the next gate stopped us, this time locked. The 800m straight line distance turned into an enjoyable 1.5km trek with more excellent views, a handy watertank and some mysterious caravans. (Dunno how they got up here?) Walked down to the trig for a speedy find, and raced another 4x4 back to the gate. A little worried that our car would be pushed off the cliff (as we parked directly in front of the gate) we were very relieved that the car was in one peice. TFTC!!!!!

1820 While down in the Quorrobolong area stopped by to get a cache, and not just a few trigs
With good coordinates I left a Correct Site Marker - surgical marking pen.
Saw MVMB drop off a pair of scissors; left a Correct Site Marker - surgical marking pen.
Will add a book mark for the Challenging Cache elective
Brought through for mileage: 12-12-12 Event, 3 Bros NSW, Auckland NZ'13, B 2 B Travel ingot, Iconic Bridges 2012, cache critters Baa, Neigh Neddy, and Oink, NZ Mega 2013 GCookie Coin, and trackable shirts.
TFTC al3xm
Sorry about the late logging - 9/2/14

Not being a 'trig hunter' like GCookie, I still enjoy a good bush walk or just a ride in the bush. The road out is good enough for a 4wd or mountain bike, but Cookie parked about 4 km out from the cache. We were passed by a couple of guys on dirt bikes, going quite slowly, as the track there had been chewed up a bit. Found that some others had been out to the 'Rest Area' as well earlier on Saturday.
Views are good there at Barraba Spur Trig. A quick find, as I looked at the right spot as we went past. (But it seemed a bit away from GZ.)
Left a pair of scissors
Discover Me Tag through
TFTC al3xm

After receiving a few phone calls about this cache from chippyroo, we organised to tackle this one after work, we made our way out while it was still light, but it was almost dark by the time we got to the locked gate. We made our way along the well formed paths until we heard a discomforting sound ahead, it was nothing but a wombat that seemed more scared of us then we were of him, as he buried hes head between rock with his backside still sticking out in the open. We continued on until we came across 2 caravans, one being relatively new for being left in the bush, but we didn't disturbed them and continued on along the path, we had to double back as we started to continued down hill as we approached GZ, after a U turn and back on track we came to the new and old trig point which the cache was quickly found. Thanks for the cache al3xm

#3305

After a little discussion with TeamSenz we decide to tackle this one. I had previously been out to the first locked gate but being 7pm and by myself I decided against going alone. So a few phone calls later we organised another night attack on this one cause the weather was a bit warm and a 7km return walk in heat didn't sound appealing. Once TeamSenz had finished work we jumped into the Geolux and made our way up the mountain, parked at the gate and began our stroll. No more than 400m from the car we heard a rustle and a grunt and were surprised to see a wombat scurry across the trail. Luckily it hid itself in a hole in a rockwall and we were able to pass by unharmed (have heard they can be nasty). We made it up to the trig point rest area and marked our name in the log book there. We then continued down the otherside of the hill. We came across two caravans which surprised us and we were a little intrigued as to why they were there. We continued down and as we were getting close we realised a mistake. We should have veered off the track along the spur. So back up we trudged and once the spur was a little less impenetrable we made our way to the trig point. After a quick search the cache was found, signed and replaced. We made our way then back up the hill stopping to catch out breath a few times. Once back at the rest area we then made the easy, mostly downhill trek back to the car.
Thanks al3xm for the walk and adventure.

This entry was edited by Chippyroo on Sunday, 29 September 2013 at 14:28:28 UTC.

Came back today with a new plan. Took the Heaton road turnoff from Sandy Creek road then a short distance into the hills to the Georges road intersection where we took a right onto Georges road. Drove a short distance and parked the car and unloaded the 1977 Yamaha DT175 (wearing its Historic rego plates) off the trailer. The plan was to ride the bike up to the trig point about 7ks away. Mrs C was staying with the car.
As they say the best laid plans etc. Had a great ride along the road, (which was a bit rough in places but certainly doing it quicker than a 4 wheel vehicle). Got within 2.5k of the trig to find a locked gate. No way around it either. Only option now was to leg it. So much for a quick find. Parked the bike and took off my jacket, gloves and helmet. My riding boots are comfy for walking and I was wearing kevlar jeans and t shirt. Also had a bottle of water with me - essential.
Mostly uphill with a howling, hot, nor'wester. Through a couple more locked gates. Was hoping I didn't get clobbered by falling branches.
Arrived at a camp site with an old and not so old van, but nobody around. At this point there was a road which wound downhill to the trig point. Found the cache without problem even though the coords were a little out by about 7m. TN left some pennies. Cache dry and in good condition.
The walk back was much better as it was mostly downhill. Got back to the car and Mrs C was very worried that this had taken much longer than anticipated. Thanks al3xm
This now completes my D/T 4x4 grid challenge.



This entry was edited by colleda on Thursday, 26 September 2013 at 06:52:54 UTC.

This entry was edited by colleda on Thursday, 26 September 2013 at 06:56:05 UTC.

We set out early this morning to have a go at this one. We checked a few maps online and went through the previous logs to try and prepare. As the track to GZ was part of the GNW we thought we would see a sign or marker somewhere but no we saw nothing. Having read that some one went from Georges road we tried that. Arrived at the end of Congewai Rd and the start of Georges rd and then the beginning of a 4wd track which Mrs C was not going to let her Forester onto. At this point I decided to see if I could walk it with the GPS showing a little over 6ks. After 3ks I was 7km away from GZ (and that's as the crow flies). I this point I headed back.
This track is serious 4WD stuff meaning 2 (lifted) vehicles, winches, snatchems, etc and even then it would be a lottery if it could be done. After we got home we bought a proper map and it showed that this track links up with ridge road which runs from Heaton Rd. BTW this track is easy trail bike stuff.
Tomorrow we plan to take Mr Cs trusty DT175 up on the trailer via Sandy Creek Rd, Heaton Rd to the ridge road turn off (I'm calling it ridge road as I can't find a name for it but it follows the ridge) at -32.969572, 151.401039‎
-32° 58' 10.46", +151° 24' 3.74"
S32 58.174 E15124.062
and see how far we can go by car then trail bike the rest.

After a long walk from our house we finally made it to the top if the mountain. Glad we found it and that our walk wasn't in vain.

Going it under the old trig ball lying on the ground.
Nice spot, dropped in from Barraba Rest Area after hiking up from Congewai and George's Road.
Tftc.

Found while driving north
Tftc

We picnicked at the Pines yesterday and got as far as the gate across Georges Road, before the heavens opened. By that time no-one was overly keen to walk so far, so late in the day. We did enjoy poking about in a part of the forest we hadn't previously explored though - and spent some time driving around the bottom of the hills too.

Our organisation and enthusiasm levels were significantly higher today, so we enjoyed a late lunch by the gate before setting off at around 4:00pm. We had already seen a swamp wallaby on the track while driving but a different variety was spotted in the rock escarpment early in the walk.

The huge grass trees were wonderful and we all enjoyed traipsing through such lovely scenery - even the youngest crew member (6).

We headed home again a bit after 7pm, after enjoying a well-deserved cuppa and biscuit back at the car. More animals were spotted on the trip out, including an echidna.

The forest has long been a favourite place - thanks for taking the time to put a cache out here, to tempt us even further into the great outdoors!

Looked at this one when it was published but the weather was more than a bit off putting, then a sms the following day confirmed that the FTF was gone as there were at least two other names in the log. Now that the rush was over it was decided to wait for better weather. This one then got pushed back some more for various reasons, however the day arrived. Blue sky's, no rain, a cool breeze and lucky Friday the thirteenth, every thing had come into line. The trek was made to Barraba rest area and then onto the trig. after a quick search the cache was ours and still only two names in the log. Its worth the walk just to visit Barraba rest area, it is spectacular, but with a cache close bye how can anyone resist. TFTC.

Reperio at 0950. FTF!

Saw the listing published yesterday, but with the weather looking a little worse for wear, I decided to head out this morning if the skies looked clear. Parked at the start of the trail, and while the skies were looking quite dark, I was prepared for the worst. Headed off, and soon found the going very wet in parts, and the track was slippery heading up due to the fallen bark on the trail and mud. After an invigorating walk to the top, the sun came out, and I enjoyed the views to the west along the trail. Followed the ridge line to GZ, and after a brief search, the cache was located. Opened up the log book, and saw a name already there, but had graciously decided not to claim the FTF! This is a fantastic walk, and certainly well worth getting out of bed for in the rain, hail or shine. Really enjoyed it.

Gratias al3xm.

Found this cache when it was placed, and claimed FTF in the log book, however, it was decided that Marcus Vitruvius claim honour in FTF. Congradulations and thanks for the walk al3xm. TFTH.

Published