TOMB CACHER I "Corral jewel" Mt Buffalo, Victoria, Australia
By Team☮aky on 01-Jan-12. Waypoint GC3AFZV

My second cache in this distinct area. Found it a worthy challenge to get within 30m of the cache, and then almost gave up with my GPS reading 2m - some serious calisthenics / stupidity whilst alone would have been required for this last bit. Decided to have another look around, and another chimney surprisingly led right to where I wanted to be - how was that hiding before? Climbed up, looked at the view, ate some nuts, looked in the wrong area before reading the hint, and headed back to my nut munching locale.Nice!

Making our way over to Corral Peak now after starting the day out at Mahomets Tomb. It is good to be back at Buffalo! What an incredible spring day to be exploring the plateau today! As we rounded the hill coming out of Mahomets, we spotted some folks at the top of what appeared to be the Castle. We soon reached the turn off to Corral Peak and made our way to the foot of the Corral jewels. This one is going to be serious. Lady novo was happy to perch herself in the sun and to watch the rest of us begin our ascent up this craggy peak. The geokids took the high way whereas I took a different way a little more adjacent to the shoulder for a while. While this was challenging, it was a lovely mix of rock scrambling and bush trekking; taking time to enjoy the very active bird life on display. Meanwhile, I could hear the boys negotiating similar challenges up on their route as, while still out of sight, we were always in earshot.Counting down the metres now to about 60m, a geokid eventually came into view for the first time in about 15 mins. We were now no longer within earshot of lady novo and very much way above the treeline, admiring the dramatic landscape; neither words nor pictures can do this incredible place any justice. We looked back over to the Castle to see the earlier party now making their way down the Castle tors. Noting their route came in very handy for us later.By now it was getting very tricky and the boys wondered if trying to get over to where I was might be a better way to continue on. But from where I was, I was able to guide them through a small pass where we were able to finally meet up. We continued on as a group now, making it up to what we have dubbed "the big lonely tree at the almost top" - a feature that can be seen on almost all the pictures kicking around of this peak, including the one on the cache page. Youngest geokid and I explored an option to the summit while eldest pursued another. I found a pretty good but tight route which involved some tricky climbing and shimmying to get us very high, albeit pretty much at a dead end. Or so we thought. The GPS at this stage was reading just 5m away, but up in a spot that we just couldn't get to seemingly without risking everything. That's when eldest geokid suddenly popped up out of that spot with a commanding "hello" making us all laugh out loud - he's up there! Youngest geokid reckoned he could get there from where we were and so within a few minutes had hopped up to what is probably the highest point of the peak and then over into the spot where his brother was now located. I decided to cut my losses and go back to follow eldest geokid's route up which ended up being a gift compared to what we'd just tackled. Once I was where the boys had got to, sure enough the GPS was reading 0m so we spread out with youngest geokid this time making the find, right where the GPS had just indicated. As we were signing the log, I read pigwigeon's log out loud which we found very interesting as we knew exactly what he was talking about now, right down to the rocks moving. There is something both funny and weird in reading about someone else's experience in this hideously remote place doing exactly what we'd just done, right here in this very spot, but literally years earlier. We only had the chance to get one photo up here due to the intensity of the climb and it is a ripper! TFTC and views, Teamaky. We are having quite a good day so far thank you.#1648

5 star, can’t believe these rock features exist in nature

Wow what a fantastic hide! We did some really sketchy scrambling and once we found the passage we were stunned “that’s not possible is it?”

Stunning, favorite point from me!

This was our next cache for today after conquering the castle. We had previously attempted this a looong time ago and looking back, we didn't really get too far! Anyway, today we were determined and soon we were at the end of the track and were beginning our ascent, this time keeping on top of the rocks instead of going down into those gullies. Eventually after a bit more scrambling and climbing, we were at the base of the summit and we began looking for a route up. Eventually we found one that almost felt purpose built and soon we were up top. We began our search and made the jump across to only find out that the rocks on the other side was loose!!! We quickly jumped back and were glad to find the cache with aid from the hint in a much more secure location. We signed the log and returned before starting our route down. TFTC and the adventure. FP when I save up again!

Bingo bango! Totally thrilled to find this totally UNLOVED cache - 4 years! It is in a most splendid location - one of those that deserves its ooohs and aaahs. I was close to it a week ago but ran out of time to explore that tad bit higher so returned on this fabulously clear still winters day determined to find the treasure. Found a friend (who is equally mad as it turns out) who didn’t mind the chosen route and it was fun seeing last weeks footprints in the snow. The young Portuguese friend he brought along felt doomed and was scared witless but a trusty sling and lots of encouragement got her to a nice vantage spot at least. Since this cache was placed, I suspect the end of track sign and over growth would deter any but the intrepid. Finally with great anticipation we made that last ascent to emerge on top. Love that blissful memorable moment of discovery Happily happy that mission accomplished and log signed. TFTC and the adventure.

Well, that’s bad luck! Wandered over from Mahomets with ‘x’ amount of plenty time but not plenty enough. Also hampered by snow on the ground, but I’m thinking the phone GPS also not playing fair. The big attraction apart from being here is this cache has not been found since 2015, so it’s very worthy of some attention. Hope to be back!

After a long night in the cold camping at the Buckland valley, we got up early and went up to Buffalo. At coral peak we stopped and checked out our options. The quickest route looked like straight ahead. We began to ascend, and as our luck would have it, we came to a dead end. We decided it was all too hard as the geosister was getting hangry. We will be back...

Couldn't log a find here today, despite getting the phone to within 1m. There were a few options, I explored a couple, but had muggles waiting for me 100m away and I was exhausted. I'll definitely be back to try again. Thanks for bringing me here T.O.

No luck here.
Got to the top but once the big rock at the top was found to be loose all nerves went. The bananas jumped to the other side and got out of there as quick as a high powered bullet.
Up until everyone had been enjoying have the heels of their hands ripped to shreds on the wet granite surfaces. Other than the other 20 people we had the rock formation to ourselves. Climbing ropes, head torches and GPS had only proved we were flogs. Because we found nothing.

Other than a very loose rock on top of the mountain.

One of my new fave places to cache! Out with Jamin Appleford, Timmo98 and Skullracing for a day of epic adventure. Tackled this monster with Skullracing as tour leader. Once up top amazing views. Really tested my ability in climbing and confidence - the photo says it all. Living the dream! Another must do cache and fave from me!

A day up on Mt Buffalo was planned and the goal was to get around all of the caches in this particular area. Lucky for us we had an expert guide for the location with us so it was a bit more direct to the GZs.

The third on our list here and a fun challenging climb to get to GZ. I took in the sights from a little higher up while the cache was spotted below.

TFTC

Found with bucketeer
Apologies for the late log

17/12/2014 4:45:00 PM
This was the last of the 3 tomb caches we hunted and should have been the easiest but our chosen path where we circumnavigated GZ meant his was the most challenging to access and locate. Eventually I found something that fitted the clue and went to investigate but it wasn't what we were looking for but lead the way there, and after a bit of head scratching I noticed something a bit and hey I found it. I then directed the others how to reach the point I was at, and we all signed the log. A great day of hunting great hides in a beautiful corner of the world.
Thanks

The Day In Summary

It was a big day of caching. On the road by 4:30am, then 780kms and 23 hours later I was crawling into bed, bruised and grazed but really pumped with how the day had unfolded.

I was looking forward to the challenging day ahead caching at Mt. Buffalo. To cache there has been on my caching wish list for a long time and when the opportunity presented itself, I immediately started the planning.

I’d been preparing the few days before hand, and the weather outlook seemed to change every day, so I just packed everything in preparation for any type of weather. Luckily I did as it poured rain the first half of the day and then by mid-afternoon the sun came out and it got pretty warm. By days end I had a shredded pair of rain pants, three t-shirts and a sweater soaking with sweat, as well as a rain soaked pair of trakkies and hiking boots. With the change in weather though, the spectacular scenery also changed. The valleys below that had fog and streams of cloud rolling through them in the morning later revealed themselves with amazing vistas, as far as you could see.

I had three goals I wanted to complete during the day at Mt. Buffalo : get a FTF, fill in a hard to get D/T combo and drop off a TB at the ‘Holy Grail’ puzzle cache, and I’m very happy to say I did fulfil all three. Having not hiked around Mt. Buffalo before I was amazed at the scenery and the ever changing landscapes as I made my way from cache to cache location. From the plateaus to the monolithic rock formations, each was worthy of a hundred photos. Thanks to the CO’s who took the time and effort to place the caches here and thanks for bringing me here. I look forward to getting back to explore further and find the rest of the caches still waiting for me.

The Cache

After spending some time at 'The Castle' I made my way to 'Corral Jewel'. With about an hour of light left I set about hunting for the cache. I explored many possible hiding spots where my GPS was indicating the area of GZ was but as the light quickly faded away my hopes of another find began to fade as well. I noticed a couple of ways to get closer to the summit but didn't bother to go further. With growing fatigue and the fading light, I called it a day on the mountain and decided another full day would be needed to continue exploring.

I will be back .. Thanks TeamOaky.

Well, we had achieved our goal. We had gone caving, grabbed an FTF, and filled the second last hole in our D/T grid. By this time some of us were tired of hiking. Had left geomum in the car due to her knees playing up. Geoson continued on to this one with some of his mountain goat friends while geodad and a couple others returned to the car, followed by a swim in the beautiful waters of Lake Catani to cool down & refresh the aching joints. TFTC.

Spent a wonderful weekend caching with a wonderfully adventurous group of cachers from the area. Had an enjoyable time hiking, crawling, scrambling, jumping, getting cold and wet and warming up again. Enjoyed the caching experience this weekend, thanks to all the cachers who put in the effort to place all these wonderful caches out.

Another great cache for today, I have really enjoyed getting the caches today they have been very memorable. Loads more fun with the scrambling and climbing to access this cache and the view from the top was AWESOME!!! TFTC

The final cache of the day! This may have been the "easiest" of the D/T combo in the series however personally it was the hardest and most scary! By this time I was sore and more than slightly freaked out, a few times I had to be coached to proceed to the next step (teenagers talking about falling and breaking limbs does not help). The views however where fantastic! Once the cache was found and log signed we proceeded to the pinacal to enjoy the amazing views! Thankyou to Team☮aky for a wonderful series that we thoroughly enjoyed!

Date: 2 January 2014
Time: 12:45pm
Find # 3533
Streak: 155 Days

My caching buddy SedgwickDave and I decided it was time for a bit of a road trip and a couple of nights on mount Buffalo finding all the caches we could there as well as some others on the drive there and back.

After the fun of finding #3, this was next on the list. This one was just as tricky to access and just as we were about to climb down to what looked like a suspicious pile of rocks, I spotted something unusual and there it was a very well hidden cache. Another great cache with another favourite point.

Thanks to Team☮aky for the cache. TNLN

Found @12:43 #3403
Up here on the Buffalo plain for 2 days with Ahomburg to complete as many of the epic caches which have become legendary and highly regarded by those who have done them. This part of the world is truly unique and perfect for the obsession which I call geocaching. The weather over these 2 days were ideal for caching as temperatures were mild and the sun was not always out. An epic geocaching trip which was simply one fantastic overall adventure.

Having found #3 this was the next in the series to be found. Really enjoyed the climb up to GZ which was awesome fun, a little tricky here and there but all good. I was initially convince where the cache would be and about to start the approach when Ahomburg spotted something unusual and I'm glad he did as what I was about to attempt would of been a complete waste of time. Very impressive hide and some amazing views from GZ. Another favorite from me.[^] Now with only one more to go...
TFTC TeamOaky

After finding TOMB CACHER II "Forbidden Castle" with our kids we were all on a high and were getting pretty good at scrambling boulders so didn't hesitate to come over and try our hand at the Corral. We got to a certain spot not far from the top where spirits started to flag and only three of us climbed up the final chimney. Drjim7 and I of course but lobster6 7 was also very keen even though he is the youngest. We got out at the near top and starting searching around. Drjim7 volunteered to go right to the tp and was looking around there when I spotted something which looked familiarly geocachy and sure enough it concealed the cache. It was a bit smaller than the one on TC II. There is always the tension in such caches particularly when their are teenagers around that you have come so far to find it but you can't keep looking forever so finding it was especially joyous. We all safely got down and were starting to feel a bit tired, hungry, battered and bruised. I thank Team Oaky for placing this great cache and are happy to give it a favourite point.

Part 2 of my Tomb Cacher experience.
Most of this cache would be a rerun of my TC II note. However the route finding was trickier here. The eventual final approach is a secret staircase that was not so hard. The hide fooled me but I still think it's a ripper. Luckily josiey scrambled up to save the day. RCFM bumped his head on way down and the kids voted that they had done enough for the day. Josiey and I headed off for a lightweight assault on TC III..
This was another ripper thanks Oaky, with exhilarating exposure at the top. Legendary stuff.

#2422 Our 2nd cache of the day in this beaut series and we were thankful that Lostmonster & Co joined us for the days adventure and glad that we had a beautiful sunny day to take in the great views and to find the most appropriate route to GZ. The girls once again established base camp and enjoyed the sun whilst the boys took off for some serious rock negotiating. The Monkey Boys were primed and ready to go and after a couple of false starts the path soon became apparent. It was some very careful manoeuvring over boulders, across crevass's and up sheer rock faces. The last pull to GZ was just that and thankfully the container was soon in hand - a very appropriate and sturdy container for the location. It was a place you could sit for ages and take in the surrounding countryside - what a top spot. By this stage the exuberance levels were still at a all time high but the bodies were starting to protest after all this mountain goat shenanigans. Onto Mahomets Curse for a group assault. Another favourite from us TeamOaky - cheers for the fun.

Took: Gold Ingot
Left: A couple of really cool pathtags

Part Two......What a Bloody Beauty....!!

Our second of the Tomb Cacher series, and we were thinking - could this day get any better......??
With great weather and fantastic company we were doubtful.
We all meandered and laughed ourway to the base of this challenge and thought hard about how to tackle this one.
It was not to long before Lostmonster & the Monkey man were on their way, this was a tough nut to crack, we turned back and turned around more times than the the track log on the GPSr could handle.
Climbing over Rocks and Boulders as big as some Tourist attractions, and squeezing through crevices that made ribs crack, we soon found outselves near GZ.
We came across another Ayres Rock that had to be climbed, and the Monkey man was right on top of it, Lostmonster had doubts at this point, not so much about getting up, but more about getting back down......LOL.
With a bit of encouragement from The Monkey Man, Lostmonster was soon up there.
From this point it got real interesting.........
With some very careful maneuvers the Cache was in hand.
What an adrenaline rush this one was...........a crazy spin out.
We signed the log book and again took in the sensational sights and began thinking of the "Next" Tomb Cacher.
Many Thanks TeamOaky for this great series.
End of Part Two.

What a way to spend Australia Day! Left home at 0700 with new boy cacher bushhiker (who has been to more than 25 caches with me, but hasn't bothered to log any!) to make our way to the top. It didn't take as long as I'd expected to climb to GZ, although it was bloody hard work, it took a while for the GPSr to settle and even longer for me to stumble across the hide. Let's keep the 100% favourite rating going oh and this log comes from GZ! Better to type it up here than from home

Reperio at 2200.

Having found 'Forbidden Castle' with Haveanez, the decision was made to up the ante of this 'extreme geocaching', by making this one a night assault. We found the way up to GZ much easier than the previous one in this series, although the fun factor of climbing over more granite boulders was much the same...which, needless to say, was fantastic. Once we found ourselves at the right spot, a short search of the area soon had the cache in hand when the torchlight picked up the edge of the well hidden container. Once the cache was signed, we turned off our torches, and say for a few moments in complete darkness...which was quite an amazing feeling. I did contemplate navigating down in the dark, but we still had one more to go, and another walk to do tomorrow, so the prospect of potential injury soon squashed that idea.

These kinds of places are what really makes caching special. May have to return again to see what the area looks like in the daylight. Another awesome location.

Gratias TeamOaky.

Found on a very adventurous hike/camp/cache trip with Marcus Vitruvius to pick up the TOMB CACHER series.

We were hoping to get to this one with a bit more daylight left, but that wasnt to be.
We sure had fun navigating our way through the massive boulders, with a few "hairy moments". This is definately a great challenge.
We were able to locate this cache a bit quicker than the first cache with the torch being very helpful here.
Well Done to TeamTrubble on your 3rd ever FTF!

We took some time out here after signing the log and sat in the dark - truly on top of the world.
Another excellent cache - ones we wont forget in a hurry.
Many thanks TeamOaky & Unluckcharm for the cache, adventure & challenge! Another favorite from us and we will be recommending these to many other fellow cachers.
Thanks for your efforts!
TNLN SL & No injuries so far.

This entry was edited by haveanez on Saturday, 21 January 2012 at 11:22:17 UTC.

Third ever FTF - Woo Hoo!!
This is a very awesome spot. I loved this cache. It was very challenging and I had a great time trying to find a way up to to GZ! Lots of rock hopping and crevice jumping. And what an amazing view to boot!
Found the cache after a bit of searching. Now, how to find the way back down!!
Thanks TeamOaky for this very awesome cache!!
Dropped TB, took pathtag.
This is geting a favourite point!!

I was in Bright for new year too

Published

Due to a few issues in getting this cache published the name had to be changed. Will amend log book on my next visit, also the FTF certificates will need to be updated as well. Can mail a new one out if the cache is found before I get back up there.
In the mean time I hope this doesn't cause to much confusion.
More on the issue of warnings and safety. These caches are meant to be a difficult and  physical challenge, almost extreme geocaching. This cache won't suite a lot of cachers, so  please take note of the attributes & difficult/terrain.  Know your abilities and above all play it safe, it's just a smiley at the end of the day
Happy safe caching
TeamOaky

This entry was edited by TeamOaky on Thursday, 19 January 2012 at 09:15:10 UTC.