Wally BALNAVES Harcourt, Victoria, Australia
By The Morris (adopted by claybol) on 30-Dec-15. Waypoint GC68W2V

Worth all the favourite points. Fun set of caches! Thank you! TEAM G

Day 2 of my adventure into and around Victoria for a week or so.Slowly getting closer to Melbourne when I seen a lot of FPs on a run of caches and my curiosity got the better of me. So once again I took a slight detour, on the go slow road, and was not disappointed.I enjoyed reading the descriptions of these caches and when finding the caches I was surprised to find such things hidden in the bush They have all earned a from me.TFTC claybolKeep smiling

In Bendigo with my girls for the Hockey JSC over 3 days Saturday to Monday staying at a lovely motel on the main street. Getting out on caching adventures in the breaks between games and in the evenings. Enjoying the wonderful sights and sounds of Bendigo by day and by night which in some places makes the experience all the more magical.It was time to leave Bendigo today and drive back home. Along the way we geocache hopped from one to the other, stopping occasionally as the road allowed.A nice quick find here of an unusual cache. Thank you for the cache here claybol

Wasnt expecting the size of this one, was looking in the usual spots until I saw it

This series of caches was recommended to me, so while travelling from Malmsbury to Bendigo as part of 'The Great Victorian Cache Crawl' I had to stop here. Luckily this was a quick find and the last of the series before I drove to Bendigo as the rain was starting to become annoying.Thanks for the great story and themed cache.

Another quick find in the pouring rain! Thanks for the series - it was awesome TFTC

Quick find in the rain on the great Victorian cache crawl! TFTC

Had so much fun with these..Great cache..

Another ingenious camo. TFTC

Lots of love for this series.TFTC

The final one and we had such a fun time! Thank you!

Thanks for the cache. A very unique hide that I enjoyed finding.

Found with Grubbs1337. A great day out with Dad.Thanks for the cache

Found, Signed TFTC

TFTC

Lots of laughs from us for the stories and the hides. Fantastic work! Another favourite.Having finished our appointments back at home we set off this morning to return to Bendigo where we had left our van. It was a big day with caches and Ad Labs on our way, but they took us to some good things we probably wouldn't have seen otherwise.Thank you for your efforts in creating and maintaining the cache claybol.**SKI Pair****

Thankyou

Awwww

Nice

On my way towards Ballarat. Not aiming on getting there in a day. Lot's of caches to get.

Find 5152 on April 3, 2024Found on our way home from the Capital Geobash. Today we travel from Echuca to Ballarat. Haha that was unexpected. Fun hide. All is well with the cache. TFTC The Morris (adopted by claybol)

Thought I was gonna be up the creek with this one but then spotted the hide . TFTC

A nice quick drive by with a twist. Thank you claybol for placing and maintaining Wally BALNAVES for us to find today.

Nice quick find here now we know what to expect. We're living on the road and using geocaching to discover interesting places. Thanks for bringing us here

4th and final one for the day!Another quick fine. And picked up the pathtag that was there too Thank you for the hide

Found by Aussie Train Driver 20/01/2024. Great to find another one in the series. A not so normal cache hidden in a normal caching spot. TFTC!

Dropped by to replace the lid on this one, but after I arrived saw that the container had changed since I originally found it back in 2016. I'll need some more things that I didn't have on me for a proper replacement, but in the meantime the log-sheet is dry as recent finders have noted, so all good for now...

If there was a lid on this cache it is missing. Log is safe and dry though. TN, left a pathtag. TFTC

An interesting character! We found this one safely tucked away but it was missing its lid. The plastic pocket is still holding up well. TFTC.

This was an interesting and quick find and a fascinating story about Wally. Thanks to claybol for the cache.Lest we forget.

Cleaver series

Easy find with 46x

With dot558 on way back to Melbourne via Harcourt when this came onto our radarThanks for the cache

Back in Bendigo for a few days means catching up on some caching with mum. Had a fun afternoon grabbing as many as we could before losing sunlight.

This series is probably one of our favourites, if not the best now!

TFTC!

Driving down the freeway coming back from Ballarat. Heading back home to shepparton noticed all these favourites and had to see what the fuss was about. I can actually see now why the description was very good and cache suited it very well.

Poor Wally - treading the fine line between eccentric and loopy is always tricky, although being rich will normally keep you on the eccentric side. Thanks the Morris / Claybol for sharing this story

Thanks claybol for placing this cache and contributing to this great game. Another clever cache! Maybe I’d better stop stopping and get to where I was meant to be lol. Happy trails, Deanside

Quick find on the way home from an orienteering event
TFTC

Cold early morning pitstop. This cache took me by surprise as I forgot that there was a theme for these caches. Cache was gratefully not in the first place I looked. a very nice quirky cache find.

Enjoyed picking up these caches on my way to Marong for grandparents day. Saw some well crafted caches and read some great stories. TFTC

A fun themed series to finish off the day. TFTC

Driving from Bendigo to Ballarat for the night and stopped at this cache along the route.

Tftc.


Brilliantly themed cache

nice quick find. Last one for the day.
In Bendigo for the weekend as part of Melbourne Opera’s massive Wagner Ring Cycle. Stopped off on the way. TFTC

#6343
We’re driving from Bendigo to Ballarat today, letting the cache map guide us along.

Cache in good condition…
Great themed container… a bit wet here today though!

TFTC claybol

#6343

That took us longer than it should have, once we checked the images we found it quite quickly, looking in the wrong spot!

TFTC claybol

Having left the Rutherglen Mega Event at midday I decided to do some caching on my way to Guildford to visit my sister who lives nearby. These caches had caught my eye and I was very curious to see what made them so attractive. The stories are great and when I found the first one, I understood why it had so many FPs. From then on, I had a guessing game with myself to see what the next cache would look like. I was never disappointed and I will be adding to their FPs. Thanks for these different caches and congratulations on the cleverness and the history lessons. TFTC The Morris and for maintaining them claybol

Good find.

Wooah loved this hide!! Exploring the area on the old motorbike. Thanks for the cache!

This was certainly an interesting story about a local character. Accurate coordinates led to a quick find of a different style of cache. The cache and contents were in good condition. Thanks The Morris and claybol for the cache.

I didn't realize there were two log-books here until a recent finder mentioned it. Thanks for that dahliyani! I dropped by here today to remove the second one with the soggy log-sheet and put the dry log-book in a new zip-lock bag so hopefully it will stay nice and dry...

Really enjoyed the series Claybol, thanks so much

Ah, last of the series. Enjoyed this strip. Not sure why there were two different log books hidden here, one soggy one fresh. Oh well, covering both bases I guess. Cheers!!

Nice easy find on a nice day. Thanks

These caches are fabulous!! As a kayaker I was looking forward to this one. Many thanks

Loved the cache. Definitely up the creek without a …… TFTC. Now to find the others along this road

After spending the day in Bendigo attending an event, a CITO and hitting some tracks with a bunch of geocaching friends, it was time to head home... but......when is a geocachers direct route home direct? Of course not! Well these few caches along here were well worth the detour.
(just hope I have enough FP's!)

Arrived at GZ and I thought I was up the creek without a ??? but a quick find changed that.

A FP added for a past time I love.

Wally ‘Whitewater’ BALNAVES came to Harcourt from Diggers Rest where on the 18th of March 1910 he had an amazing stroke of luck. He won a raffle and first prize was a flight in a Vickers Bi-plane with none other than Harry Houdini. This was the first known flight in Australia.

At Plumpton Dam Diggers Rest in front of thousands the successful flight earned him the nickname Wally ‘whitenuckles’ BALNAVES.

He never recovered from the life changing experience and moved to Harcourt and changed his own nickname to ‘Whitewater’ just before his very short waterways experience.

Facing an arson charge he chose the option of incarceration at Bendigo Sanitarium.

It was a good afternoon to get the caches near the Calder between ravens wood to Hardcort
I loved this series
Log was wet.
Ttfc

Having a day off work I decided I wanted to spend the day caching so I messaged K9team to see if she would come with me.
I was in "oar" of this cache...
Tftc.
My apologies for the terrible pun.

In town for few days before heading to Melbourne, and needing a small traditional to fill a hole in the calendar, headed past this one while out visiting a few friends. Certainly not what I was expecting to find at GZ, but great to see something a little different. Log was a bit wet and screwed up, so left a new page from a notebook to make it a bit easier to sign. Cache replaced as found and then it was back into car and back into town.

Thanks to both The Morris and claybol. Fav point for the fun....

Great story and great cache camo. Picked this one up tonight on my way through to Benders for a couple of days. Looking forward to returning for more of the series. Thanks The Morris and claybol.

On the way to Bendigo to try and achieve the elusive 7000. Loved these well themed caches. Thanks for the placement #6995

Quick easy find - TFTC

Great to read about Wally and his adventures. Thanks for the story and hide.

Hmmm, 2 cache containers ar GZ, is it this one oar that one?
TFTC

Out for the day with LittleBoss2 trying to get her to 1000 caches by years end.
This was a great little series with unfortunate characters. We loved the themes and the caches.
Our thanks to The Morris and Claybol for the giggles in reading the sad sad stories

Out and about with Bogonghazy. A bit cooler today, so we headed to Harcourt area. Mosquitoes are not as bad today making the day a bit more enjoyable. Fun series. Thanks for placing the Geocache

TFTC

Awesome
TFTH

Fantastic again, are there more? I want more!

Found 2 caches on site both signed. TFTC

Jenno3, kenbryl and I are introducing impany227 to the world of geocaching. We set off early this morning bound for a few ciderys and some caches along the way. tftc

kenare, impany227 and I set off early this morning to pick up Jenno3. Who knows where we will end up but I'm sure there will be loads of laughs along the way. tftc

We were guessing every time now what to expect. These have been fantastic. Tftc

Cruising around the area picking up random caches found quickly signed and replaced...TFTC

Nice easy find. Loved the hero description, we’re kayakers and have had similar sad/funny experiences!

I started today fairly seedy. I had enjoyed some port around my campfire the previous night and not got going as early as I had hoped. But I had decided to just amble along.

This was one of the caches I did find today. Thanks for bringing me here!

Quick easy find

Found ️

Thankyou for the cache the Ewoks

We found the real cache, does look like there is a drop cache there too.

Found TFTC

There is a log book for Millicent event there still. People are signing it and not the actual log for this cache. Just letting you know.

Happy Easter long weekend

Oarsome! TFTC

Awesome series. TFTC

Beautiful story and fitting idea for a hide, cheers Garth

TFTC. We had been caching around the Harcourt are, an area we have largely left untouched as we are usually in a hurry back from Melbourne to home. This morning we wished to rectify a blue face in Taradale and decided to cache around the Harcourt area. We were now on our way home but not before we attempted this series of athletes. All were quickly found with well themed hides.
Have messaged the CO re a repair made to this cache.

Great story! TFTC

Thanks for the cache! So interesting

Tftc

Tftc

oooh this was a super cool spot!! loved exploring the nearby tunnel with tytaylor19 and reading the history of this cache! tftc

Wow! What an interesting backstory regarding Wally! Anyways this had a cool location and me and catherinec19 had a blast. TFTC

Thanks for a fantastic series of caches, We has a ball trying to figure out what the hides would be when we got to each one.

Re-enabling the cache now that lock-down restrictions have been relaxed again

Disabling due to new COVID-19 restrictions

Wally BALNAVES was transferred from The Morris to user claybol

This was a good one!

Quick find on an early morning cache run. This guy sounds like an interesting character!