Gatakers Bay at Night Point Vernon, Queensland, Australia
By lochb on 27-Dec-14. Waypoint GC5JAN8

I am regretfully archiving this cache since there's been no response from nor action by the cache owner within the time frame requested in the last reviewer note.

GeoCrater
Geocaching.com Community Volunteer Reviewer

We are from NZ and travel over to see family every few months and we were the last to log this as found back in November 2017. We are back here so thought we would go have a look to see if this cache was still here as there had been a few DNF's. This cache is difenetly still here and is in a good and dry condition. We feel that the reflectors to the cache could find it difficult for some cachers, reflectors are much higher than expected. Hope this helps. FapAndGap

Will need to check on this one.

This geocacher reported that the cache might be missing.

Nothing Here

Needs maintenance. Did not find the reflectors.

Defs needs maintenance ....
spent a good half hr with a very good torch at the first gate , up, down , in , out .... no reflectors visible at all.....

8.15pm - Spent 2 previous night looking for this one with no luck. As this was our last night in Hervey Bay we were determined to find it before we left. Today purchased a bigger torch with a range of 300 plus metres so no excuse not to find. Waited for dark and started search again, nothing at first so moved along road following description and info posted from previous finders. Spotted a reflector higher than we were thinking. One to another, back tracking a couple of times searching for the next one. Bingo red reflectors spotted and cache in hand. Great to claim this cache. SLTFTC

Well this did not go as planned. Some of these reflectors are not very reflective anymore. I would have failed at the gates if the description and the logs form the Co were not so detailed.

I only found one set of reflectors on the same side as the gate. I walked a long way on the other side and did not see any. I can see the reflection of a spider's eyes at 500 yards, but not these babies.

I crossed a car park and finally spotted some more. Another long walk with nothing. Got to the "new" mulch and spotted some more.

The last few were quite easy to spot, but the rest eluded me and my 1100 lumens bike lights.

Got there even if it was not in the manner intended.

Ran out of time. Will come back another night. Thanks anyway

Container has been replaced.

Good to go.

Container has been muggled - will be back in action shortly.

After doing the Gables - Noir night cache, we though, what the heck, nothing to lose, lets chase the other one. We had already found the three caches in the park nearby, so knew what the terraine would be. Located the first set of reflectors, and followed them till we were required to cross the road. continued along until we found the newly planted area, then wandered a bit astray for a while. Eventually, back on track we saw the tell tail red and white, used the final instructions to locate the hide. What fun at night. Thanks lochb

Found it but it had some local swaps! We struggled a bit to start with but it was good once we got our eyes in!

This one was a bit hard but after the first couple geowifeE got inside the COS head and we were cruisin. We initially passed GZ and had to back track. Grabbed a cool survival bracelet left some swag. This is not really a beginner night cache, I don't think we would have found it if we hadn't had a bit of experience at night caches back in Melbourne. Thanks for the fun.

Had a guided tour of this one while the CO did a maintenance run - thanks for that, it was very educational. Cache was in good order & with a few replaced reflectors it's all good to go. Nice spot, thanks for the tour & TFTNC! 0

Maintenance visit, in the company of Arachnauts. Added some new reflectors.

The first reflector is visible when you shine your torch past the gate.... from then on, walk in a north-westerly direction following the road (but not on the road) and the reflectors... even if you can't spot the first reflector, walk on the right side and you should see some of the others. A good torch is recommended!

After dinner I thought I would try my hand at a couple of Night caches...sadly, the same results with both of them. I couldn't even find the first reflectors so I am guessing that my little torch wasn't up to the job. Thanks for the experience anyway...

We are staying with a friend at Dundowran so I decided I would have to try one of these night caches. I tried one months ago on our trip, but was unsuccessful. Now I understand why. Geo hubby was with me on that occasion and we were looking for bright cats eyes type reflectors.
Tonight I was out by myself, well and truly outside my comfort zone, but I persevered and persevered until I found something that resembled a reflector. Oh, that's what I am supposed to be looking for. After first, I travelled along in general direction and even managed eventually to find the red reflector. Okay, what do I have to do now?
Oops, I have only ever done this once before, in the daylight! with Pa's help.
Blow. Persevere again - I have to do this now as I have come this far. Eventually I was happy with the new waypoint and soon had log in hand!
I was greatly relieved to add my name to the log and quickly returned it to its hidey hole. I was even more relieved when I arrived back at the car , but decided that was enough excitement? stress?! for one night and cancelled thoughts of trying to grab the similar cache nearby.

The cache is in good condition. Thanks for placing and maintaining this cache lochb. TNLN SL as SG as I often do in small caches. I will award a fave for getting me out there.

We are spending the weekend camping in Hervey Bay & combining some geocaching & sightseeing.
After having successfully completed the easier night cache we moved onto this one. We found the first marker & were on our way. I had trouble seeing these reflectors but hubby was all over it & spotted most of them for us, the kids would then run to the tree & check it really was the reflectors!
We only had to back track once & soon spotted the reflectors we'd missed & continued on our way. We managed to find the final red & white reflectors & used the hint to head us in the right direction for finding the cache. Log signed & cache replaced as found.
Thanks for an enjoyable night cache & a great evening stroll lochb

Having just done "The Gables" up the road, we were now seasoned "Night Cachers". This one really had us hooked - the beautiful balmy night, and clear skies made for perfect conditions. The reflectors all worked perfectly, though we did have to retrace our steps a couple of times to get back on track. We struggled a bit with the first red/white tree, as there were quite a few new branches obscuring the reflectors. A bit of judicious pruning may be in order here. The projection to GZ had us baffled as well, but after reading the hint, we soon had the container in hand. Only comment here is that the 8 metre distance is a bit too long; 8 FEET in the old money is a lot closer to the mark. We really enjoyed this little odyssey, and send many thanks to lochb for setting it up. A definite favourite from us. Cheers from Bindair Dundat and Princess Madelyn.

Our first night cache. This along with The Gables - Noir has inspired us to place one of these when we get home. TFTC lochb. Gotta give this a favourite award.

Whilst visiting geobuddy who was holidaying in the area, we decided to do another night cache. At the start, we looked around for a while before we spotted what we needed and we were on our way. We followed the markers and before long we were searching for the cache. We added our names to the logbook, rehid the cache and then made our way back to the car. TFTC

Whilst back in Hervey Bay on holidays this week, I had earmarked several caches as "must do's". This cache was one of them, as this trip I had a caching buddy with me to keep me company in the dark Arriving at gz initially we had trouble finding the first reflectors, but soon we were travelling along toward our goal After a bit of scrambling around at gz we spotted something which showed us we were in the right place and had the cache in our hands soon after Thanks for the cache and the adventure lochb!

There are now up to three reflectors in each spot to make it easier to see the trail. At the start, try to spot the first lot of reflectors so you know what to look for from then on. Then turn left and walk along the road, on the right side, with the sea to your left. Read the updated description for more details. Please bring a good torch as this cache is not designed to be done with a smartphone torch.

Cache is in place and so are most reflectors, but the vegetation has made it difficult to see them. Will add reflectors over the next week.

Gave this a shot but trail went cold after a few mins. Did wander on other side of the road with no luck. .. oh well!

All good with this cache. The first reflector seems to be a bit more difficult to find than planned. If you can't spot it, please start walking into a north-westerly direction on the right side of the road. At some stage, you will end up on the left side. The total walk should not be more than around 500m.

I was able to spot the markers in my iPhone (flash) torch light - they are more difficult to spot, but once you've seen one you know what to look for.

A very early morning attempt at this one. Woke the geoson up just past the witching hour much to his annoyance.

So off we went and arrived at the starting point. Despite being rugged up expecting it to be very cold turned out to be a quite pleasant night. Found the first marker quickly and onward we went. We were a bit worried about how many eight legged friends we would encounter but there seemed to be very few.

We followed the markers easily and arrived at the final one and quickly found the cache. Great cache and a fav point form us.

TFTC

I had attended the event earlier in the night and as the night was still young joined the eight or so who were going to attempt the two night caches up the road. the first one was found quickly then onto the next one. As with me it took awhile to find the first one then a little while to find the next one to work out which direction to walk and then it was a matter of who had the strongest torch. Walked along en mass then crossed the road then walked on and arrived at the last lot of markers then they had a quick find. Enjoyed the walk in the dark with a great bunch of geocachers.

A crew of us atacked this one after the event in HB. This one wS a bit trickier but more fun
TFTC
2 May 2015 20:56

Our 2nd night cache with a group after a tasty chinese meal in Hervey Bay for the 15th anniversary event. Great to meet up with fellow cachers for a fun night. TFTC lochb

After attending 15 years of geocaching event, a group left to do a couple of night caches.
The reflectors in this cache was so much harder to find than the earlier one that we did.
Luckily we were with a large group with torches of varying degrees of brightness. The first took the longest to find & once having read the description we new which way to focus our attention.
This was a great evening out & a good way to finish a very pleasant night.
Thanks lochb for placing this night cache.

After the 15 years of geocaching event, a group of us in a number of cars left to do two night caches.
The reflectors worked and slowly as a group the cache was completed. This was a great evening out & a good way to finish a very pleasant night. A fav point from us.
Thanks for placing this night cache.

Found in the company of more experienced cachers. Much harder then the first one. A great night out and great company. TFTC Lochb. Thanks Liz and Bruce .

Gotcha !!! TFTC Along with most of those who attended the event.

After our Birthday event for Geocaching we headed out to find this cache. We could not have asked for a more pleasant night as it was quite balmy and we had the help of a full moon. It was also nice to be able to have a walk after the big meal we had eaten. This one took some looking for as the reflectors were difficult to see - we were glad there was a group of us spotting. Fav point alloc. Nice one Thanks to lochb.

Could not find the first reflector. Will have to try again with a better light rather than just our phones.

Found with a walk through with the CO, very lovely walk with the ocean near:) thanks for the cache and we look forward to more night caches!

Dropping off a TB and a geocoin - both are already with TheAussieCacher.

Maintenance visit in the company of Kate & Kurt tonight. Reflectors have been added to and are now stronger than before. Once at the starting coords, shine your torch around... stay on the same side of the road at first. Once you've spotted the first reflector (standing in front of the gate, it should be ahead of you), walk in a north-westerly direction parallel to the road where you will find the next reflectors. The reflectors are not as strong as those for the other nearby night cache and require a good torch. They are all no higher than head-height.

I had conquered the other night cache not far up the road and it is time for this one. I also had trouble locating the start point and after wasting about 15 minutes was on my way. I will admit I had help from the CO but I soldiered on and was soon finding other reflectors. It took me about an hour all up to get to GZ. I really did want to give this one a decent go as it is the hardest of the three other night caches I have done.

Having a very good LED torch for this type of cache was essential. I did actually have a muggle ask me what I was doing and he found the third reflector that was highlighted in my torch beam and then he left. I waited till he was well away before I continued. He would have been in his seventies and he lived not far away and he saw my torch and thought I was up to no good.

TFTC lochb

Could not find the first reflectors. Stood at the gate and looked around for about 1/2 hour. Will come back and try another time:)

This was a find that very nearly didn't happen for several reasons. Firstly it was our last attempt at anything tonight. It had been a long day and we still had to drive home after this. It also wasn't a geocache on my GPSr as being less than T2, I'd overlooked it. Then, we just had a world of issues with the reflectors.

After arriving at the posted co-ordinates, Net88 and I enthusiastically piled out and with a cheapy torch and a lot of wishing, looked and looked for the waypoint. After some 20 minutes and wandering around, we saw nothing. But we weren't to give up. A careful read of the geocache page and logs and we made some assumptions. We hatched a plan and after putting it into action, I finally spotted the second reflector. Alright, we'd carry on.

The torch wasn't that great. Or maybe it was our eyes. Or maybe the reflectors were just hiding, but it was very hit and miss. But, we carried on and it was towards the end I think we saw every reflector. Net had relocated the car while I did some more foot work. It's amazing in the dark how many sticks and bumps you can trip over and make you swear at the mere T1.5 rating.

Together we did the last bit and mercifully the last markers came into view. A little investigation and poke around and I had the final container in hand. Wonderful! It was annoying, partly due I am sure to our lack of preparation, but after about an hour, we'd gotten the smiley. Our names were signed and eveything replaced as found. Best of all, no muggles about tonight to annoy us. TFTC lochb - now for a strong coffee and a four hour drive

Will you be at the.. [url=http://coord.info/GC4X31B]GC4X31B[/url] [url=http://qldmega.com]Queensland Geocaching Mega-Event - Stanthorpe 2015![/url]

After an event ending quicker than anticipated Captain Terror and I decided to head up to Hervey Bay instead of joining the rest of Brisbane's population heading southbound on the highway. We had been working our way around the Bay picking and choosing which geocaches we would find when we got to this one. It was well and truly dark by now so it made sense to grab this one.

We parked the car and headed off to find Waypoint 1. We quickly realized that even with a decent torch this one was going to be difficult. We used previous logs to work out the general direction and spent a lot of time hoping we would see the reflector when we got closer. We missed a few but when we were on the home straight we found them easier to spot. Eventually we were at GZ and the Captain found the container without any hassles. We signed the logbook and replaced the cache as found. Thanks for the cache lochb.

Logging this one now that it's had a couple of finds. Walked it with the CO before it was published to make sure it works Ok. Great concept and trying a few new ideas. Cleverly thought out by lochb as usual. What's the challenge for Christmas 2015? VD

What an absolutely brilliant cache!! I am kicking myself as I had been looking for it for over two hours The night before the 1st to find found it. I just find it! however, after seeking advice from the owner, I had the cache in hand. TFTC, and if I have a fav point left, it will go to this cache.
You're a legend lochb!!

This was certainly a riddle in the shadows that I simply could not leave unsolved and let slip the chance at a second *FTF* slip by. It took me a good hour and a half to finish the hunt. It had just rained earlier tonight and EVERYTHING was reflecting. The trail reflectors were quite difficult to spot. I guess tree branches get heavy when they're wet and they hang lower, often causing a viewing obstacle. It was an enjoyable walk still. Got my feet plenty wet from the grass.

Once I'd crossed the road and found the reflector after that everything became much clearer and in about 10 minutes I had the cache in hand.
Thanks lochb and co-conspirators. My second find for my new home.

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