Colourful Culvert Environa, New South Wales, Australia
By Tankengine on 18-May-18. Waypoint GC7PXZJ

Out and about caching with fitzy_1965.Today we targeted this group of Tankengine caches. It was a nice wander along the railway except for the blackberries! So many blackberries!Found after eventually finding a way in.

Found with minniek during another beautiful walk in Canberra.After a bit of a sleep in (oops we missed the event) we decided to keep to the rest of our original plans and drive in to Canberra for a walk through the bush and along a railway line. The last time I went out around this loop was March 2009 ! Parking at the Paintball place we headed off along the paths until we hit the railway line, which we then followed for all today's caches. This cache was a bit of a doozy. With the required info I thought I knew where GZ would be, and I was right. Access was 'fun' but doable. Stamped the log, replaced the cache as found, then continued on back to the car.Thanks Tankengine for all nine caches today !!

Thanks 4 the cache signed dsd

Logsheet replaced. Old log attached.GOOD TO GO!!!

I've had this geocache open as a tab on my laptop for WEEKS as part of my push to find unloved multi caches. Today, I finally got there I set out after work, having downloaded all of the geocaches in the area. I found the one right next to the carpark so that I didn't have to stress about the chances of not getting a cache today. Then I walked past all of the other geocaches along the railway line because this one was my goal for the day. I didn't know whether, once I worked out GZ, I'd have to walk further away from the car or back towards it.When I got to the first location, my thought was, How did you even know that there was something under here to explore?! I was walking along the railway line and would never have known!There were blackberries to tackle before I could get the required information. And a little bit of a climb to get up there to the graffiti (at five-foot-not-much, this required a bit of athleticism). The information was easy to gather, and then I had the answer to my question about how far I'd have to walk.The sun was getting lower, and I kept getting distracted taking lovely photos of the countryside and sky. I startled many kangaroos!When I got to GZ, I could see the likely hide location from the railway line; I just had to get there. I crawled under the fence where the kangaroos go, and battled a few more blackberries (not as many as before!). I quickly found the geocache; the log was so damp that my pen tore it a bit, but still managed to sign it. (I'll send a photo to the CO.)The sun had gone down ten minutes before I got the geocache, so I was walking all the way back in the twilight. I picked up three or four more geocaches long the way, by the light of my mobile phone. I saw a few shooting stars! It was another glorious autumn night in Canberra Thanks for the cache, Tankengine! This cache has finally had some attention after being unloved for 813 days. I'm inclined to give it a fave point for the location and the walk, but disinclined to do so because of the blackberries. It occurs to me that I need to start carrying secateurs whenever I go geocaching around Canberra

After a busy morning caching to the west of Canberra, I popped over for an afternoon walk along this section of railway line, which again is absolutely screaming out to be made into a rail trail - in fact the southern bit of this line, north from Bombala, has been surveyed for exactly that purpose this week!

Unlike the portion near Hume, which is quite overgrown, this section to the southeast of Tuggeranong Siding is relatively clear and quite easy to walk along, although the ballast reflects the heat into your face even on a mild day. A very pleasant 8.73km return walk in just a shade under two hours.

I had no problems gathering the data here, although the last 20m walk into GZ was a bit of a rabbit- and wombat hole-filled push through the scrub! Cache log was a little damp but entirely able to be signed.

A random pic from today's adventures attached.

Out with Tankengine and Aquilus1 to do a little cache maintenance and pick up a few unfound caches and place a couple too.

We used two cars at either end and walked about 10 or so kms from the paintball end to the last cache. It was a long, hot, hard walk and I felt it by the end.

But it was also lovely and interesting and I think this section would make a great rail trail one day.

This cache: Well it looked a lot harder to get to GZ, but once we ventured down it wasn’t as bad. Tftc!!!

Out with dty73 and Tankengine for a walk out along the tracks. Beautiful day to be out and loved the paraphernalia spotted as we walked along. The flat terrain along the tracks was a relief from the hills we walked to get up to them... clearly my Christmas break was less than active!

Lovely scenery along the way helped distract that the walking became more challenging the further we walked along the tracks. Although not the hottest of days it warmed up, and the stones underfoot slowed things up a little.

The last two culvert caches added to the fun, challenging to scramble down to with the moving sliding rocks on the slope, add in a few barbs, nettles and thorns and the DT was well earnt!

Relief to turn off the tracks and head across the reserves under the shade of the trees, so many butterflies and dragonflies everywhere. Fantastic day out and a great place to walk, although I was so pleased to have crawled under that last fence and be back to the car! Thanks for the cache and the day.

A lot easier to get to than it looked from the tracks which I was very pleased about. The wombat had made a lovely track through to the cache!

There has been plenty of rain recently, and it made some of the creek crossings in the first part of the days walk a challenge. The day was a group of Sol de Lune, Smitten Granny, Joolay, Barb2e and Kitty Katch. Our aim were the puzzles south of the Paintball and the Tankengine caches along the railway line. It was a very successful day with some difficult puzzles and some difficult terrain. All in all a great day.

Thanks for the cache Tankengine

33321.13 TNLN
Visited: World Traveling Gold GC A#6 & 2009 NT Uluru Gold A#150

**Albida**

Out for a day of caching with Albida, Smittengranny, Joolay, KittyKatch and Barb2e.

I know it's not nice to laugh at other peoples misfortune, but I'm still laughing after reading Stars Align's log for this one. Yep, that's a seniors moment alright....(I'm sure they won't mind me pointing that out.)

No such problems for us and once at GZ Joolay did the honours and the cache was soon in hand.

Thanks TE....all good here.

Found on a walk with the Capital Crunchers. Julie made the find on this one. Cool spot for a multi - the area is wet after the recent rain and do much long green grass

Thanks for hiding this cache Tankengine

Out with a group today to collect some puzzles we have solved. A bit of water to negotiate. Good finding by Joolay. Tftc

After all the rain we had during the week, I wasn't sure if Capital Crunchers would be able to get out for our planned walk today, but we made it!

It was Joolay's turn to do the hard work after we arrived in the general vicinity of GZ.
Thanks for another cool cache TE.

Wow such a cool culvert. My job was to get down, get across and then get back up. Managed without falling in

Another adventure out and about with Albida33, Kittykatch, SoldeLune, Smittengranny and Barb2e.

Thanks For getting me out and about Tankengine

Late in the arvo we wandered over to GZ from the Tuggeranong Terminus cache, accidentally walking 250m past the clue area while chatting away. Whoops! Back at the clue site we discovered one entrance was clogged up with blackberries. One scramble over to the other side & we found it was even worse! With some branches, a nice smash fest ensured with some nearly defenceless blackberries clobbered back. One thick blackberry tendril even got pocket knife treatment, being severed and hurled away. Hopefully that lasts a while for some other finders

We collected the info, saw where GZ was & decided to try the rest of the cache another day...

Prickles! Lots of 'em! Had the afternoon to myself so headed off for what had originally planned to be a fairly short sojourn. But as it transpired, I was having fun, the weather was holding, and although I did have things to do I was completely prepared to not do them so I decided to take on this multi. Approached the first waypoint which actually felt kinda familiar for some reason. Tried from the very wrong side first, then up and over and found the other side ...well....still pretty prickly but significantly less so than the first option. Once inside the information was derived in the cool of the cave and a GZ plotted.... hmmmm... that is NOWHERE near where I though. Quick re-check (thankfully) noted that I had mis-typed the minutes! Whew... ok... that is more like where I was anticipating we go next.

Figured those things I should be doing could honestly wait a bit so decided to go the distance. Once at GZ I took a few wrong turns through even more prickles....I mean this is a TE cache - Why am I even surprised!!!!! Think a good whacking stick of PVC should become part of my normal caching kit. Anyway - once I got there a quick, albeit prickle-infested, find.
As usual - these are the caches that stick with me (with me/into me...so similar really) and that in the end, I probably enjoy all the more. Thanks TE!

Headed out for a bit of a wander along the disused railway line in the vicinity of Old Tuggeranong Road today, aiming to collect a few caches. In the end I went much further than I had originally intended and ended up returning in the dark!
I originally only had four trads in my sights, but on the spur of the moment decided to come along here and take a look at this multi.
Once the observations were made and calculations completed I noted the final location was a little further along the tracks so off I went. Along the way I noted that the fence along the eastern side of the railway line is in the process of being renewed. Having done a bit of fencing I sure don't envy them this job! The fence works are only a couple of hundred metres from GZ, so I hope this cache doesn't fall victim as work proceeds.
Nice easy find but I'm sure glad I'm doing this one in winter and not summer!
TFTC, Tankengine

Got to GZ and really happy to see the logical hiding place.

Now to walk back or walk on.

Walk on it is.

A clear and sunny Australia Day, mostly along the disused railway line between Tralee and Royalla. The cool fresh air was great, so much better that hot and smokey conditions over recent weeks. Started at the paint ball car park I wandering through the pine forest above before hitting the slowly rusting tracks. Following them for several kms I eventually turned upwards for an elevated hide. Retraced my steps virtually the whole way back it was 7 from 7, mostly TE hides. My total number of TE finds fast approaching 500. Round trip took approximately 4.5 hours, I think.

Some quick calculations and a quicker find. Careful not to slide to much heading to GZ. TNLNSL TFTC AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE OI OI OI

**THIS CACHE**
We were quick to locate the culvert and then the artwork. Then we experienced our second issue of the day - we could not make sense of ABC. What does "dash 1358" mean?

So what do we do with "ABC = The year the artist signed their work - 1358"

We were really pleased to read in the logs that 'StrangeTrousers' had the same senior's moment BUT he didn't say what it was - Grrrrr. So we looked on the tablet, the phone and then the GPS' to see if it would UNtrigger the Senior's Moment - but nothing worked.

Immediately above the coloured artwork there is a date 25/8/13 (see picture) What a coincidence that it contains the same numbers 1 3 5 8 with the number 2 missing - OK then these numbers must be placed in numeric order 1 2 3 5 8 and we now have a Fibonacci Sequence and from there we got a good coordinate that pleased the checksum BUT NO CACHE at WP2 (

OK - for others having a Senior's Moment the dash is a MINUS, TAKE AWAY, SUBTRACTION etc... We hope that will help the next person with the same issue.

Our 'EMERGENCY" call to the CO saved us however it was made from the another cache along the track from where our third issue/crisis was evolving- these are emergencies, right?

Worth a favourite point (next time we earn one) for being saved from ourselves yet again, and for having fun in the process. Quick and easy find close to yet another, well hidden, culvert. TFTC Tankengine.

**OUR DAY**
With the flu and colds going around just two of us are left standing in our group. So off we went, while nursing the recovery of our own colds, on a less strenuous walk than those undertaken in previous months. That said, the cache challenges made up for the stress with 3 caches providing varying levels of issues. We recovered at each point with help from the CO on a couple to finish mid afternoon.

Today we predominately walked on the train tracks enjoying the superb views back over the Brindabella Mountains in brilliant sunshine although the air was at times crisp when a breeze came over us. We walked, and searched, over 5.5 hours for a distance of 13.90km on and around the train tracks for a total ascent/descent of 297m. What a great day in the outdoors. )

After completing the Lab Caches at the Mega ZQX suggested that we head down to Tuggeranong as there were a couple of multis that he wanted to do.

At the culvert the main task was to avoid the blackberries...after that it was just a case of getting the info and parsing the information into coordinates.

At the GZ it was a quick find for ZQX. TFTC.

Found w frilk. FLTF.
At first the culvert was grey and forbidding. But as we got closer, we could see the colours. I attempted to decipher the large graffito but was unable to do so. frilk spotted all the necessary information very quickly and we worked out GZ without too much fuss (much easier calcs when compared to Melrose Monks).
We set off for GZ, and I found the cache after a mild fern-bash, which as the name suggests is a bush-bash through ferns.
Nice to grab a multi for a change. I find so few of them.
TFTC!

An 18km round trip on the MTB from home finding these 3 caches up here today.

Parked the bike, battled the blackberries, got the info, then rode off to find the cache. Thanks.

A fair walk from the Tralee Tops down to this one. Gathered the required info, then off to GZ. Fortunately mostly Bracken near GZ rather than blackberries (although still plenty around), so cache was found after finding my way down from the embankment.

Thanks,

Colourful and cool, we didn't know you were an Artist Tankengine! Murphies law meant I took the harder entrance to WP1. Information soon gathered and it was off to GZ.
Cache found after another careful scramble at a very fitting location.
Definitely some weird and wonderful culverts along here.
Thanks again Tankengine

Parked at the paintball place, lots of action going on, and followed he track, (road) and track (railway) for a pleasant walk with a few caches along the way.
Liked the artwork, certainly a lot better than some of the other artworks (untitled sculpture Woden square) in Canberra. TFTC.

I walked down the rail trail from Hume about a month or so ago and quite enjoyed the experience. So today I headed back to do a bit more. I parked at the paintball/MTB place headed out with a modest number of caches in mind. Today was more about the experience than numbers.

Didn't find this one.I struggled with the puzzle here. In particular the year ABC bit. Now, at home I finally understand it (insert head slap). I guess I had a senior moment.

Thanks anyway Tankengine

#9261 @1050
I parked near the paint ball at about 0945, and wandered up to the railway line, finding a couple of trads on my way to the posted co-ords of this cache. Cache easily found once at GZ. I then continued on to the newest and hardest trad. TFTC.

*FTF* @11am on the 22nd of May 2018.

Well, well, well....
As you can see by my note yesterday, I was only a few hundred metres away from this cache yesterday! I was out here clearing out some of the bush and getting another FTF in the area.

Turns out that the FTF from yesterday was listed in the ACT while this cache is listed in NSW! So despite them being submitted at the same time, two different reviewers had to publish them and the NSW reviewer was slow! Damm!

Oh well not too worry, just an excuse to come back again today and finish the rest of the caches out here!

It was a really lovely walk to WP1 this morning, the weather has just been fabulous lately! I was impressed by the Culvert, it was pretty cool to be out here all alone in peace! I answered the questions which were much more straightforward than another nearby multi, and was soon off to GZ.

GZ was a lot further than I anticipated, and it made me feel even closer to where I was yesterday When I got there I was worried I had typed in the wrong coordinates and walked all this way for nothing, but trusted myself and went into the scrub.

AHHHHH it wasn't until I was standing at the cache that I realised why you had picked this location! It is so hidden! Don't know how you find these!

I signed the log for the FTF and noticed that you decided to change the name of the cache, as the log had a different name on it! This name is much more unique though, and different from your other hides, good job!

Thanks again Tankengine for bringing me out here, a favourite point for this one, both waypoint were a pleasure to discover!

That's just mean, I found "Tuggernong Trains" (the closest cache to this!!) only 75 minutes ago!!!

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