SST - David Essex Akolele, New South Wales, Australia
By dghoffy and elysium_au on 06-Sep-14. Waypoint GC5CCZH

We have decided to archive this due to the activity and landscaping at GZ we have no wish to disturb the work that has been done here.

New works are being carried out here so we will disable and when the work is finished find a better place for this cache.

With Tankengine we made our way down to this part of the coast, there would be many other canberra cachers out and about in the area as well and on this day three we often cached with many of them. This was an area I have been wanting to come visit for such a long time for the trail of caches and was so lucky to have fabulous weather and such good company for the three days.

The caches are very different and interesting with a mixture of hide types, styles and difficulty to keep things interesting. I just loved this area with all the lakes, inlets and waterways, the coast... spectacular. A beautiful place to visit.

Day three and this cache: This one had me thinking a second but then remembered the group chat and the spoiler photo and then found the replacement quickly, thanks for the cache.

The long weekend had arrived and off I go as part of the Canberra geocachers invasion for the SST series and any others along the way! A great weekend of camping, caching and socialising with a great bunch of people!

Quick park and grab at this spot. The planters smell freshly oiled!

Thanks for the hide, dghoffy

Found now. Tftc

Nice one. The Men’s Shed is very productive in the area. Saw planter boxes made from there at the harbour in Bermagui. TFTC

Watched this one disable before my very eyes as we pulled up to the cache lol first time for everything. Part of the team giving it a bit of love to get it back online. Tftc

Spending a glorious weekend down the Sappire Coast as part of the Canberra Invasion. Whilst the invasion meant the chance to catch up with many cachers at events and at different spots (and a delightful excuse to celebrate Lovetherabbitohs 18th birthday), I spent most of the weekend on the hunt with the CGI crew: Fitzy_1965, DarzeeDi, Minniek , K8TYBEE , GLISS!, GSC2000 Lovetherabbitohs, B0tmun, death_killer & my_name_jeff_1. Thanks so much for keeping all the caches alive and making this weekend a possibility! Tftc

Out and about with nibletricecakes and the Goulburn/Canberra crew. Scouting the coastline for treasures... my first big caching weekend! TFTC (and trail)

One of many many caches found during our SST caching invasion - thank you !

Headed to Wallaga Lake for a bit of an invasion by people from Canberra & Goulburn. A group of us convoyed for most of the long weekend. The group known as CGI (Canberra Goulburn Invasion) consisted of fitzy_1965, darzee di, nibletricecakes, k8tybee, GLISS!, GSC2000 and my geokids Lovetherabbitohs, b0tmun, death_killer & my_name_jeff_1.

The CO's were only 500m behind us when we asked for help on this one. They re-enabled and we made the find. Thanks dghoffy for your effort in constructing the trail.

This weekend a few of us from Canberra and Goulburn decided to travel down to Bermagui and do the SST series and some of the other traditionals, camping at Wallaga Lake Big4. A nice little drive down this morning meeting up with Aimee and Kate, to start on our caching adventure of this fantastic little series.
The weather was glorious and the great company, laughs and stories making a great day. I just loved the different caches and ability to park safely and enjoy the experience. We signed logs as team CGI (canberra Goulburn invasion) and I could see that they we were going to enjoy ourselves, we got to gz found newly landscaped garden beds and then read the logs, we messaged CO who were not far away and came and did some maintenance, and we all had a chat and so happy to get a smiley Tftc dghoffy and elysium_au

Sorry hoffys, but this is going to be a generic log, as I have trouble keeping up with the youngsters I cache with, let alone making notes for individual caches. It will however save you reading every log!
Weeks ago it was decided to resurrect the idea of Canberra Invasions. I had not previously been involved in these adventures but enthusiastically signed up and this is our second this year. What a fabulous time we had. The main targets were the Event on Saturday night to celebrate an 18th birthday and the SST series. Both were achieved as well as some extras thrown in for good luck.

Thanks to all the COs for the effort they put in to creating the caches we found, but especially to dghoffy . What an incredible set of caches. I especially loved the names allocated to the caches - wow what great imaginations you have, and this spilled over to the creation of the caches. Well done d! It was wonderful not to have a series of mint tins or sistemas and their placement was great too. Evil at times but so much fun! I especially appreciated the fact that there was always good parking on roads that can be busy - glad it was a winter long weekend not one in summer.

All caches were eventually found, sometimes with a little bit of help - thanks to the COs and GrimRaider and were signed or stamped as Capital Crunchers. Brilliant series so thanks again and it was great to have you share the weekend with us.

Seems we may have to redesign this one.

#11176 @1429
Travelling with AngelG27 and BobL27 for the 'SST Bermagui Invasion'. Day 1. A quick find here (Thanks to the recent replacement by the previous finders). TFTC.

Found with AngelG27 and TikvaNZ on a trip to the south coast on the long weekend. Had a great time driving around and grabbing caches. TFTC

All good to go for the weekend

Found on the Canberra Invasion of SST. Signed as Canberra Goulburn Invasion. CGI. TFTC.

Found with Smittengranny, Kittykatch and Grimraider caching as Capital Crunchers. Down the coast heading to Bermagui for and caching catchup. TFTC

Found with Capital Crunchers Team. Fabulous fun on the trail. TFTC

Cache 5132 on 8 Jun 2019.

This was a long awaited and planned geocaching mission to the south coast with a few other Canberra cachers. Bobl27, TikvaNZ and I drove down Saturday morning and picked up a few caches on the way to the main goal which was the SST.

This cache: found quickly.

Thanks dghoffy and elysium_au for the cache and the fun!

No luck for me either

I've no idea where this cache was hiding !! [:o]
There's some gardening work going on at GZ.
But despite a long look,
no cache was seen

The cache name wasn't helping either !!

Spent considerable time looking twice today , searched the wall, fence, palms and turned over every rock we could see, but no Smiley for us

cache checked, all good

Oh dear, no luck here. Lots of freshly swept up vegetation in a heap alongside the search area and raining too so didn’t spend too long searching.

Stopped by on the way down the coast to catch up with some friends.

Cheers

Tftc

Heading south and a chance to get back on the SST. Thanks dghoffy and elysium _au.

We looked for this one a couple of years ago, and logged a DNF. We are back today, and happy to be able to turn our blue face into a smiley.
Thanks for another along this trail.

Domsky

Lots of hiding spots here, took a little search. TFTC dghoffy and elysium_au

This was the first cache we ever attempted to find. No luck on the first attempt but came back with a little experience under our belts and soon found it.

Accurate coordinates and a logical hide led to a quick find. The cache and contents were in good condition. Thanks dghoffy and elysium_au for the cache and the enjoyable series.

this morning i started from Narooma and enjoyed a scenic drive with a lot of caching down to Eden. most of the caches were of the SST series. i was very happy to soon find, that, despite the number of caches, they were all hidden in their own quite unique way. some were quick finds, others took me a bit longer to find. thanks for making a great day out even better and TFTC!

TFTC!

Tfc

TFTC.
hard to find but fun. plastic bag needs replacing.

Took a bit bit no dpikes need to be encounted. Just rock on
Tftc

Now I know where the men’s shed is. TFTC.

Find Number 1544, found at 11:16

With the current Groundspeak promotion encouraging caching for the numbers, GeoSon NationalSteel and I decided to try for all 100 finds in a two day weekend. The only signifiicant series that neither of us had found was the SST, so we set off down South to try our luck.

Managed to find this one from the wrong side of the rock wall. Nobody around, so searching was easy.

The cache was in good condition. We took nothing, left nothing, signed the log using the signature GT/NS and replaced the container as found

Thanks dghoffy for the cache.

G&T had planned a raid on the SST series in the hope of ticking off the required 100 finds for the Hidden Creatures souvenirs. So we came down and had a very successful weekend, with 50 finds on the Saturday and at least 60 on the Sunday, and only 2 or 3 DNFs overall. We completed the SST loop, although we skipped a few here and there when we missed a turnoff or it looked like a given cache might take too long to get to, given we were on a numbers run. But I was really impressed with this series, finding it much more interesting than a boring power trail. There's obviously been genuine thought and in many cases clever workmanship going into the hides. To have so many of such quality and variety is quite an achievement and made the numbers run much more enjoyable than it could have been, were we pursuing endless "tupperware under a bush" hides. People concerned about the lack of hints just need to pay more attention to the clever naming system, in most cases. I also appreciate the thought that went into planning a particular route around the caches - clockwise, which we followed as advised - and the selection of safe places to pull over.

A quick park and grab. Felt slightly like we were messing around on public property but we were stopped so briefly it didn't matter. TFTC!

I thought this series was going to b a walk in the park, alas it was tough and finding every cache was a challenge. No hint, that makes it way harder as u have nothing to go on except previous logs. Hidden well on the south side. Tftc

Nice quick find! TFTC!

Tftc. Glad nothing was opened. Good tip not to ruin rock wall as it is brittle.

Couple of days off work so time for some caching thanks for the cache

Found it on my way round the SST. A great series thanks. Had no idea what this one was about until I found the container. Was looking for a star lol.

Found replaced container

On a two day road trip with Seemyshell and Muppet95 searching for caches around the Sapphire Coast. So many various hides along the way. Thanks to the COs for placing and maintaining these caches in such a beautiful area to visit. TFTC

Overnight trip around the SST with Seemyshell and Brewmaker. I was really impressed with the wide range of unique styles and sizes. Another huge selling point on these were the interesting names for the caches (instead of numbered), which makes it easier to remember each location and find. Thanks to all the Cache Owners of the Sapphire Coast (namely dghoffy and elysium_au) for injecting the greater area with good quality caches. Thanks For The Cache!

Nice and quick

TFTC
Heading south from Sydney with Brewmaker Himself & Muppet95, with the idea of two full Caching days around the Sapphire Coast. Found this Cache as part of our two day adventure...
Cheers
Seemyshell

** Container has no lid.

Heading into NSW on a relaxing few days away sightseeing and caching, not trying big note ourselves on what caches we get or don’t get while here, but to enjoy each others company.

Thanks to the CO for the placement here.

????

On our wonder down to the Vic, mega at Alexandra. . 2581 so far for us. Thanks for placing this cache dghoffy, without cachers like you we wouldn't have a hobby. Signed log. took nothing, left nothing

Found with my Geodad EverestHigh. TFTC dghoffy and elysium_au!

Thought I'd Rock On and find this quickly, and that it was Gonna Make me a Star!, But Oh What a Circus! (Stardust is a good circus). Finally got this Silver Dream Machine CIH, nearly dropped it but Held it Close, only caused a Rolling Stone. Replaced it carefully, didn't need my Lamplight. I have no idea what the clue means but I'm glad to knock off yet another SST cache. TFTC dghoffy

After spending all of yesterday on the SST we set off again today, a bit later though, to rejoin the series at Cobargo and complete it. Yesterday had been challenging with quality and varied hides that had us on our toes and stretched all day. A great series!
Again we burst into song as we pulled up for this cache. Mrs SKI with David Essex, but me with Pink Floyd. But none of that helped with the search as we wandered up and down and one side for the other checking every nook and cranny and surrounds checking the GPSr as we went.
Just as we were about to give up I leaned and looked and twisted at just the right angle and managed to spot the craftily hidden little devil.
So simple yet so effective.
TFTC

Not today. So many to find so little time.

No good today

No luck today with this one.

Hard to find but fun.

Very hard to find:)

Found relatively quickly. Geodaughter found it with her little fingers. TFC dghoffy and elysium_au!!!

We must really have been cache blind when we looked for this one on previous occasions. Good to put a smiley face on this one at last. Kutgw

We didn't find it maybe more clues will help

Cache checked, all good

Hate to admit it but this one evaded us. Will keep an eye out for future finds. Kutgw

Another one I couldn't find today.

Oops...Stumbled upon ol' mates hidden spare key. Two finds for the price of one. Thanks

Another nice spot on the way to lunch at Bermi. Thanks dghoffy

Hooray found it on the third look! Of course it was men's shed day so there was a few curious men coming by. TFTC JenneG and Budgy

Made our way to Bega from Batemans Bay today stopping for some interesting caches and locations as well as several earthcaches. The Sapphire Surprise Tour was varied which kept our interest. Thanks to all the COs.

Time to leave Batemans Bay and drive towards Bega. On the way, we will be doing quite a number of caches by different CO's. Due to the number, that was found, a generic message has been done. I apologise for this, however if I did individual message for each cache, It would take so long to do. Thank you to all CO for placing the caches in their very special spots. TFTC

Sneeky

That was a bit tricky but good hide

Not to sure who David Essex is but I found the cache
Thanks dghoffy

A DNF for me today, scratched my baldy head, looked, walked around looked & more looking & feeling.
TFTHunt.

After spending a couple of hours catching waves, the clouds started to let loose, so after a quick lunch i set off to find geocaches instead. I have a goal to beat my previous max yearly cache find count, and today was the day i should match my previous record.
31 finds total today so my total caches found this year is 2059.
I recognised the name in the hint from Earth caves i have previously done. It still didn't help me find the cache until i approached it from another angle.
Thanks for the cache.

Yes, well it helps if you know who David Essex is, but never mind, I found it anyway !

But if a tricky find with Fairy Sisters
Tftc

Fun find on a road trip with Wandering Stars

A little trick

TFTC

2393 54 of 89 today

It is a long weekend in Canberra and a welcome trip away as work has been hectic the last few weeks. I was pleased to accept an initiation to stay with fellow geocachers Boeing737 & Jetfuselage (hope you're looking after my plane Will). The south coast is beautiful this time of year, however, with the warmer weather, the reptiles are on the move and I spotted numerous lizards and two black snakes.
I was surprised how quiet it was, I thought there would be a few Canberra cachers about, but no: just me. Forgive the generic logs.

This one took quite a while. Not where I expected it would be.

TFTC dghoffy.Thanks very much for the guided tour around this beautiful part of the coast. I look foward to my return.

my son found this one as well, it helps to have younger eyes and fitter legs with me lol

Took a bit longer but got it tftc

Being a Tuesday morning between 10 and 2 we expected a few muggles but we had the place to ourselves making it an easy find. TFTC!
Cheers,
The Hancock Clan

Read through the logs and got enough hints to find it (eg, near a scratchy bush, on the wall but no need to damage the wall). Given the ongoing deterioration of the wall from searching you might want to reconsider the positioning or to give a hint. TFTC Dghoffy

Rocked us for a while but found in short time

Tftc. Took a few minutes but geo hubby came up with the goods

Well after a DNF a while ago I had been thinking about it and thought I had a good idea, but alas after meeting 3/4 of teams Heandshe and Davkez I realised I was wrong again. With a bit of encouragement from the peanut gallery Geo husband made the find in a spot he'd checked before. TFTC dghoffy

#4388 - 16:10; The day had finally arrived to head to the coast with fitzy_65 and mtrax to give the SST and BFH series a run. The initial plans had been hatched with f65 a while ago, with mtrax joining in after a chat about forthcoming plans at a recent event. We had stopped for a couple of caches in Nimmitabel, along with a pie and a coffee at the local bakery before heading on to Bemboka for a couple more. We had started on the main mission of the SST heading north on the Princes Highway, passing through Quaama and Cobargo. Despite a few DNFs along the way we had now completed that part of the mission and were now headed along the Wallaga Lake Road towards Wallaga Lake and then on to Bermagui where we planned to collect some of the local caches and spend the night. This one took a little bit of work to locate, but locate it we did. Apologies again for the generic logs. TFTC dghoffy

10741. Found on a weekend run down the coast with mtrax and LuckyL10n to do the SST and BFH series and any other caches in between !

Left Canberra quite early for our run down to the Bega & Bermagui regions. This was the next stop for the trip and the next of the many SSTs we were to find. We were really impressed by and enjoyed the various cache containers and hides throughout this series ! Log signed, cache replaced, and we were on our way to the next one.

My thanks to my trip companions and all the cache owners for a great weekend !!

Thanks again dghoffy ! Enjoyed the fact that there was always a safe place to pull over throughout the series !

4:11:00 PM: (43 of 53) Find#10366
not sure about the name but found the cache.

Weekend away mission down south coast mainly for the SST series, the start of the trip down brown mountain boy that was pretty cool and by that I mean cold but once we push out of the mountain it warmed up pretty good to a glorious day, and the drive was pretty good .
Came in from Bega and headed towards bermagui for the night Some where hard and some where easy

Found with Fitzy65 and LuckyL1on

Note need to update some of the D/T to reflect they aren't all the same.

thanks dghoffy

Some evidence here that there are cachers that can't read and don't pay attention to the terrain either. Soon found without demolishing the wall. TFTC

Still wondering about the cache name but that does not affect the find. Soon found between school buses tumbling past. TFTC

As we are still at Tathra and we had such fun yesterday we decided to do another run around collecting the rest of the Sapphire Surprise Tour caches. Left the caravan park at 7.30 am and returned at 5.30 pm. This time we made it to Bermagui as we stopped just short yesterday, so it has taken us two days to go the 40 klms! We thoroughly enjoyed this series, the creativity, the sneakiness of the hides and the humour all while showcasing the Sapphire Coast. The amount of time and effort that has been devoted to creating and maintaining this series is amazing. Thanks also for placing the hides near safe pull off spots. Found quickly TFTC

WCache maintenance run. Cache all good. Log replaced

Today's journey was from Jindabyne to Bermagui. Once I hit the Princes Hwy, there were so many caches to choose from, I basically selected a random one every 5 km. or so. (I'll return later to try for the others). I checked many possible spots before finally nailing this one.

My thanks to dghoffy and elysium_au for the cache.

Didn't find it last night, but after a PAF, I managed to find it this morning! Hmmm - I notice numerous small stones in front of the wall, I'm thinking cachers are pulling it apart - Maybe it would be better to not hide it in the stone wall? Thanks for the cache DGH!

F(H)ound It! #1013 12:20:00 PM

The Reluctant Geospouse and I have packed up and are heading back home - but not before we grab a couple more SST caches . We know we are driving in the wrong direction to what's recommended but it didn't matter with this one. Plenty of room to pull over. I'm singing We're gonna make you a STAR-AR-AR! and driving the RGS nuts.
A piece of wire near GZ flipped up and hit me in the leg - felt just like a snake strike and nearly gave me a heart attack! thanks for the cache dghoffy.

Day ten of the Southern NSW Lounge About with BettyBoo3747.
A caching day, Tuross Head down towards Tathra collecting a few SST caches.
Lunch at a sunny Bermagui (again)

Shed supposed to be open, but no one home.
Disturbed a small lizard sunning himself on the wall. But not for long.
Thanks, Robmc.

# 10123. Our first day on the SST Trail and it turned into quite an epic day. We left Tuross Head at 9.20am and got back again about 10 hours later, having covered 200km and getting a total of 43 caches for the day (not all SST caches). We fell short of Tathra by about 9 caches. We had 2 DNF's on the trail also.

It was certainly a fantastic day to be taking in the coastal and coastal forest scenery. It certainly warrants the name Sapphire Coast.

I was expecting to see some platform shoes or big hair or a hairy chest but no, none of the above. Fortunately we did not have a live snake experience here and Rob soon discovered the hiding place.

Thanks dghoffy

Found at 2:01 PM GAFF1 in the company of DiMorgan.
Thank goodness that container was just peeking out a bit, otherwise we would have been there for a long time.
Thanks dghoffy.