Watson's Hill Smythesdale, Victoria, Australia
By kenare on 01-Sep-15. Waypoint GC62PXV

Didnt take long before the cache was found with a nice hide. Not sure what was deeper - the cache hide or the nearby mineshaft!!. TFTC!!

A quick find once we got to GZ. We were being lazy and asked Mr. Google to direct us. Firstly, it asked us to turn up a road that didn't exist. Luckily, the landowner had put a sign up warning people it was not a road but private property. So LumpyJ took over navigation. Big mistake! She had LumpyR turn up a track that, according to her map, led to GZ. Was she wrong! Once the badly rutted track dissolved into swamp, we reassessed and found another route. We headed back to town and found the marked route to GZ. Much easier! A quick find was made log signed, and we headed back to town. Thanks for the adventure.

Nice, quick easy find nice tracking and big puddles

Short drive up to this one the way home, however the 4WD as certainly required today. No issues at the cache itself, however I'm my arms are long. Log signed and all was good.

Thanks again kenare...again, cache all good.

Picking up some caches in this country that we had not visited before. Always love a good trip into the bush, glad of the 4wd height today. Tgtc

Found by Mary and David at 14:50. Not much of a hill. We were in the GeoCalais today, so had to drive carefully to avoid the ruts. Well hidden, so it took a while to locate it. Enjoyed the tactile bark, and the vegetation nearby. Our thanks to kenare.

Tried to fish it out with a stick but need up diving in arm deep.

Had to dig deep for this one.

Just didn’t have the time might come back

Nice spot, good hide. Our last one here for now.
Thanks for the smilies in your area!

Came here on a trip to Smythesdale for the arvo, struggled to drive in the Mazda 2, so took a walk. Nice hiding place. TFTC

Looked in the right place too many times before finding it tftc

Great little spot thank you

Cheers BUSHRATZ

Thanks for showing us this spot, found when out visiting nearby nursery TFTC

Found it with Sunsong1, tftc

Tftc! Fun find

Tftc, had to clear some cobwebs to get to this one but we managed!

Find #2396 for me. Found at 3:18 pm while visiting the area from Bendigo. A huge puddle blocked the main track close to the top of Watson's Hill. I started driving up the side-track which by-passed the puddle but I wasn't sure I could get to the top (and back) safely in my little low-clearance 2WD and since the cache was only 150m away I decided to park at the puddle and walk the rest of the way up the hill. Once at GZ I made a quick find. Cobwebs had started to cover the container but I put my hand in anyway to claim the prize. Thanks for bringing me here today kenare and thanks for the cache!

TFTC. We had taken the MH to Haddon for the night to attend the event in Sebastapol tonight and then move on to Geelong for the events on Saturday. We arrived just after lunch so thought we would go out and find some caches.

TFTC

Heading to St. Arnaud for the mega event. Day 66 of our trip. Caching along the way. A total of 14 for the day and 1833 for the trip. TFTC

Some great puddles to play in up here. Thanks for placing the cache for us to find and bringing us to this area.

Caching day with the group
Today It's beautiful weather
Found it
Thanks kenare for the cache.

4:44 pm #7388
Lots of big muddy puddles to play in around here.
Cheers kenare

Inside stump near towerCaching day out with Papi4506/Geoturtle37, OzHockeyChick & crank1 , thank you so much for placing it kenare.

After finishing the rail trail on bike with AusFox; we headed out to a few geocar caches to finish the day. A few unexpected bumps and diversions heading in but all fine for the The GeoPrado.

A cache guardian making sure all is ok, Which it was.

TFTC #2471

After a morning spent on bikes with LeeLee it was back to the car to discover more local caches.
My car continues to venture where is shouldn't but was able to make it up to GZ.
Checked a few likely spots before locating the hide.
Log signed and replaced as found

Thanks for the cache Kenare
#4,840

This was a pleasant detour up the hill for a scramble around more mine workings
Cache found OK !!

Found It...........While on our return trip from Ballarat for some retail therapy. After negotiating the road hazards on the way in we pulled up at GZ were the search started and soon after a minute or so the cache soon revealed its self. So with the log signed we continued our journey towards home. Thanks kenare for the cache

An easy find after very careful driving up the road to avoid the huge deep puddles left by the recent rains.
Won't like to get bogged.

TFTC... a neat hide

Nice hide! Grabbed along our travels in this great country. TFTC kenare.

Found )

Found it

We are not at all sure that the road to the cache is still accessible by 2WD, we would not like to bring one up here. Interesting cache notes but we did not find any gold while looking for the cache. SL TFTC

We looked around for a bit with this one our GPS was jumping all over the place but we found it in the end. Great hide!!

This was an interesting drive to reach Watson’s Hill as I have a vehicle with miniscule ground clearance. With care I made it and the cleverly concealed cache was soon signed. Thanks for the adventure and the cache kenare

Found by geoboy quite easily! Love to find out out about new areas... tftc

After the gps led me on a wild goose chase by sending me up a private driveway i doublebacked and found the right way in to this area. There was a youngster riding his mountain bike on the tracks on my way up and as i pulled up there was a mugglemobile already parked here. I had my doubts as to whether to attempt the find but it turned out they were all together and after saying hello they didn't pay me any attention.
I then found the cache after noticing some interesting looking camo and quickly signed the log and replaced it. Well done on a great hide, my first time into this area too.Cheers

Found at 5:24 PM GAFF1.
A nice drive up and we thought we were going to get a view, but unfortunately there was nothing to be seen other than lovely trees.
p-pprass spotted the hide straight away, but ignored it as he has been caught out before by such a set up. However this time it really was the cache hide! A great camo which I would have given an FP if the D rating was a bit more reflective of the clever hide.
Thanks kenare.

*6/11/17, Found @ 5:50 pm, Find # 7301.*

Today I headed out on another road trip, this time a bit of a loop around through Geelong and Inverleigh and then up to Ballarat for the Giff Event.
My main targets on this run were Letterbox Hybrid and Large caches.
This one wasn't a target but as I was passing by this one on the way to a cache that was a target, I stopped for a look.
I wandered over to GZ, spotted something that was not quite, the cache was then found.

**Thanks to kenare for placing this cache.**

I guess the tracks have deteriorated a bit since this cache was placed because I certainly wouldn't try driving up here in a 2WD that's for sure! The track up from Lock Street was severely eroded with a couple of deep water-filled mud holes to traverse. Nothing too hard for a 4WD but a 2WD? Nope, I think not! Anyway we found the cache and headed off again.
TFTC

Bit of a rough ride even in the 4x4 but we found the cache easily enough.
TFTC TNLN

Found the best bits of the track in our 4WD - don't think we would attempt this track in a 2WD at the moment! Managed to avoid any motor bike riders or any other muggles on the way. SL at 3.28pm Took a photo of the fungi cache guardians. TNLN #4611 TFTC kenare

Nice find out fossicking at least I found one sort of treasee

Found as we enjoyed a lovely day in the area, we grabbed some lunch from the nearby town and stopped near here to eat, and then we managed this find, Thanks Kenare for the fun

After a nice lunch in the town below I drove up here to make a quick drive by find.
Still really cold today and I was glad for the warmth of my car. Amazing for February!
Thanks kenare

I had time for a cache on the way past, so diverted to grab this. I used my geosenses to spot the likely hiding place. TFTC kenare.

Moneydork and Mrs Moneydork had very kindly invited me, last November, for a caching trip to Victoria over the Australia Day weekend [:X]
A massive trip with 13 DNFS and 318 finds over 7 days and many kilometers of travel
My knees don't want to bend anymore after a massive ride on the Ballarat Skipton Rail Trail and then about 145 finds the next day while finishing the Dad's Mt. Disappointment Driving Lesson series [xx(] Seems my driving lesson was about me keeping both feet on the ground as I broke my own record by doing the autumn leaf thing 4 times in one day [xx(]
Still a fantastic trip with great sights and lots of cache finds [^]

We had fun finding this cache

TNLN. SL. TFTC kenare

Out and about with Moneydork and Locus Cache. We stayed in the same accommodation with the idea that we would tackle some of the local caches in Ballarat including the rail trail and challenge caches. This is one of the caches we targeted.

Thanks for the cache kenare!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

What a cool Australia Day extra long weekend! I drove from Adelaide to Victoria and did heaps of fun stuff, including:
*attending a dinner event in Inverleigh [^]
*attending an Australia Day event near St Kilda [^]
*caching around Ballarat [^]
*squealing whilst going on some 4wd tracks (inadvertently)
*hanging with the awesome Wozzle68 [:X]
*caching with Moneydork and Locus Cache [:X]
*riding on the Ballarat to Skipton Rail Trail - first time on a bike in over 20 years!!
*accidentally bike riding straight over a big black snake that was about 1.5m long [xx(]
*walking like a cowboy after all of that bike riding! haha [:o)]
*LOADS of giggles and awesome adventures!!! [^]

I LOVE geocaching!!! [:X]

A nice area and nice hide

Found today while in the area.
The car made it Ok but we didn't go any further to the other cache as there were a few big puddles and washouts.
Nice hide here thanks for the hide.

Quick find today with FerociousFlea.
Found on our Christmas Eve caching day in and around Ballarat..
Great spot... enjoyed exploring the area in the trusty old Patrol.
TNLNSL
TFTC
TTFN
Beaker

Found with Beaker on a camping and caching trip in and around Ballarat. Thanks

Tftc

Found it eventually, very cloudy day and GPS was all over the place
Intersting place with all the old mine workings TFTC

With a big day planned in this general area with trads, multis even a Mystery to pick up, we set off early with Wozzle68 rugged up to brave the cold winters weather. We were lucky with the rain holding off for the days adventure allowing us to eventually achieve our goal.
**Thanks kenare for bringing us here and for the cache.**

Enjoying a day caching in the Enfield State Forest and surrounds with Wozzle68, before attending a work dinner in Ballarat the evening.

This was a day filled with caches at old gold mining areas and this was no exception. We love visiting these areas as we struggle to imagine how hard it would have been for the miners out here.

A quick drive-by in the geo-truck and the cache was found in good condition. Thank you for bringing us here kenare.

It was nice to be able to pick up a couple in the area today considering I had exhausted the map last time I looked. Thanks for hide kenare

.

A quick grab while in the area,

Cache in good condition, Left some coins, TFTC

Tftc wicked place i love coming out here cheers

Creative hide tftc

14:58
Pumped by the experience of The Skipton Cave Event, the Scarsdale speed limit sign slowed us down in time to make time for a few local caches. It was interesting to see the reminders of the past life of the area.

Our thanks to kenare for bringing us to this location.
14486

2:13:00 PM. This one appeared on our GPS screen so a short detour and we made the find. No one around and log signed. Thanks kenare for placing this cache.

Great camouflage

Found this one on an evening of exploration. Interesting spot! The terrain around here was certainly altered during the mining days. TFTC

Today Dunko and I headed to Ballarat with the intention of reaching and passing 9000 finds,
our mile stone was met what a great day of caching fun we had with 69 terrific caches found during our travels many thanks to kenare for the effort and placement of this cache. TNLN SL

Set off today with my caching buddy Slink1 to try and reach a mile stone number (9000) and I am pleased to say that we made that number and a few past (to be sure we counted correctly!). This cache was found as part of our effort to reach our milestone and my thanks go to kenare for the placement and maintenance of this cache. We had a lot of fun and some laughs along the way.
TNLN TFTC

Last find of a 3 find road trip with my boys on what was too much of a good day to waste at home. I love gold mining history and this site delivered the goods. Having old a new so close to each other really highlighted how much the landscape has changed in less than 150 years. The Geo-Triton really enjoyed the trip up the hill and that puddle was too good to not drive through.

Thanks to Kenare for the hide. Keep them coming.

Suscoe was up in the Ballarat area today enjoying a delightful wander about.
It was a beaut Summer's day with some cloud cover and a gentle breeze to keep the temperature very mild indeed for this date of the year. In short it was the ideal day for a caching trip.
We drove as far as we could in the falcon and then legged it to GZ.
The track has seen better days and needs a bit of fill and grading.
A quick find at GZ and we did enjoy taking in the top of Watson's Hill.
Thanks to kenare for showing us this spot.

Followed the sign posted track in although needed to avoid one pitfall before finding the cleverly camo ed ache. TNLN TFTC

Find No. 1208. Found with FUF009 at 3.40pm
No.46 of 56 for today.

After completing the Linton to Scarsdale part of the BSRT on our bicycles which we had planned to do for the the day, we now had the rest of the day to locate other finds. As we headed into Ballarat we chose a few icons to turn into smilies along the way.

Some places our van just doesn't go and with the great big huge hole in the middle of the road, Mrs Tyred n Cranky wasn't too sure on doing this one in the van and wanted to get out to walk it, but Mr Tyred n Cranky insisted on getting around it to go locate the hide.

Ended up at a tower with a hide nearby which was easy to find.

Took smiley badge - Left bear eraser.

TFTC kenare

Find # 2740 @ 1540 H
No.46 for today.

Found with Tyred n Cranky

It was done, we had came down with a plan and had now finished the Linton to Scarsdale leg of the BSRT, there for it is now all found (until more placements)

With the bikes loaded up we though about making a few more finds on our way into Ballarat, so a look at the GPSr and a plan was organised to turn some icons to smilies.

I think Mr Tyred n Cranky had a bit of fun driving up this one. as a number of time he spun the wheels of the van. In the end we did make it up to GZ.

TFTC kenare

Perfect day for a spot of caching. The GeoFerret di the driving and signing of the logs today.

Interstesing little detour off the main road.

This was find 6 of 7 finds for today, being found at 2:31:00 PM.

Thanks kenare for placing this cache and bringing me here.

Took us a while, we all touched it but Motndarg found it in the end. Thanks kenare.

Found while in the area tonight, this was a spot I had never been to before. Thanks for bringing us here tonight kenare. We all had out hands on the cache at some stage but Motndarg made the find.

Round and round we went. GPS was telling me where to look but just couldn't see it. Eventually the brain took over the eyes and bingo the cache was found. Thanks Kenare

Took a while

[font=Comic Sans MS]Hi there kenare. We found your cache "Watson's Hill" at 1:25:00 PM today. This cache makes our find count 12469.
[Blue]
We started off at a random cache and then navigated to the one the GPS said was next closest, and so on. We ended up logging 15 and DNF'd 1.
[/Blue]
Coordinate Accuracy: We found the cache around 2m from where the GPS said we should be looking.
Cache Condition: The container and log book are in good shape.
Took: Nothing.
Left: Smiley Badge.
Thanks for the hunt,
Regards
Ian & Penny.[font=Verdana]

Out this way visiting a friend with Mippy05, we decided to get this one before getting a Christmas tree. We got to Gz easily but once we got there finding the cache wasn't as easy. Mippy05 checked in 3 hidey holes before the welcoming shout of "found it" was heard. Tftc and the "Red herrings".

I was on my way to get a Christmas tree with Sean.75 when we got this one. I looked in 3 places before I finally found it. Tftc. Now on to get our Chrissy tree.

Found with the Geodogs on a nice walk through this part of Smythesdale.
The cache is in good order.
Found an injured Kookaburra on the way home.
Just trying to chase up a local wildlife rescue person.
Took nothing left nothing.
Thanks for the cache.

A day off work today meant a road trip from Ballarat with master 4 to collect some caches in and around Colac. We detoured the back way home to do maintenance on a cache on the BSRT and with enough time to get one more before school pick up of master 6 we headed here. A nice quick find in a new location. Many thanks for the cache

Yay. ... we found it! We are so pleased to be the first to sign your log book! Me and the little blue man are out for the day and thought we would try to find this new cache first. Its a great spot, loved the setting and hiding place. Tftc.

Published