Vampire Series #80 - The Vampire Of Croglin Grange Tennent, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
By DARKSIDEDAN. on 09-Jul-18. Waypoint GC7TWEB

Found with a fun group of geofriends during a great day of caching. Signed as Vampire Adventure Trekkers (VAT)TFTH

I have reached a part of the year where I have lots of days that I would love to find lots of caches on. This means driving trips or walking trips to area that are not easily reached on a one cache a day basis. Today I Headed to Goulburn and beyond towards Crookwell and Roslyn. I was happy that all the cache I stopped at today were found without any issues and that it did not take as long as I was concerned it might. I headed back to Goulburn for lunch and then home. A great day of caching.After reaching this last cache on this side of the river, we turned around and headed to a track heading directly back to Naas road to exit from the river corridor.Thanks for the cache DARKSIDEDAN49856.13 TNLNVisited: World Traveling Gold GC A#6 & 2011 Chinese Dragon 1 A#202**Albida**

A cache trip to the south of Canberra do some more of the Vampire series. Signing with VAT. A number of caches planned to pick up on the road and a second extra walk along the Murrumbidgee to round of a fun half day outing. and others added on the fly. A fun group outing on a beautiful late warm spring day. Thank you DARKSIDEDAN. for putting the cache out and maintaining it.

Spending some time caching around the NSW/ACT southern tablelands with lots of side trips. TFTC.A great day out caching with a local group signing as VAT.The morning started with a few drive bys followed by a long hike down the Gudgenby River. Lots of blackberries, spiky scrub and even a wade along the river made a challenging yet enjoyable trek.Following this we all headed over to the Murrumbidgee River for another tough river walk. This one ended up hot, hazardous and up the steep cliff side so the walk was called off after the first find to end the great day.Nice quick find

Thought it was the last only to realise I still have some to do on the other side Time to finish the vampires series. Today signing as VAT24-Vampire Adventure Trekkers 24. Made up of Aquilus1, contesta, kittykatch, isopeda. Search4, Albida_33, Flintstones and sacada.Thanks for getting me out and about DARKSIDEDAN

Whoever introduced Hawthorn to Australia should be shot. Out with Contesta, albida33, Aquilus1, Sacada, Flintstone's, Kittykatch, Joolay, Search4 and me - signing as VAT - Vampire Adventure Treckers. Brilliant day, though expecting it to get hotter later. TFTC *Found with [Geooh GO](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobiltal.geoohGO)*

Vampire Series TrailWe are tackling the caches on or near the Vampire Series trail today and the Murrumbidgee River. Walking with Joolay, contesta, isopeda, albida33, Flintstones, Search4, sacada and Aquilus1. Signed as Vampire Adventure Trackers (VAT)Thanks for hiding and maintaining this cache DARKSIDEDAN

Find # 13117Sometime ago, a group of us got together and tackled the first part of the vampire series. Earlier this week plan was hatched to set up a day to finish them off, along with some letterboxes which have been published since our last visit. If theres any energy to spare we will be tackling some of the TE caches along the river.Signing as VAT24 - Vampire Adventure Trekkers - Sacada, Kittykatch, albida, Flintstones, isopeda, Search4, Joolay.Many thanks to DARKSIDEDAN for placing Vampire Series #80 - The Vampire Of Croglin Grange for us all to enjoy. Your contribution to the game through the placement and maintenance of this cache over the years is appreciated.

Found during an attempt to knock off another section of the Vampire series.I have put off doing the Vampire series as it look "hard" on the map. I'm so glad that I finally started to knock of sections of this series as they are far easier than I thought. Today's section I parked at the river crossing (near a TE cache) and mainly followed fence lines and animal tracks to all the caches. There was the usual bush bashing, gully crossing and fence climbing (through) but all up it was a fun walk. I replaced lots of both containers and logs (with the CO's permission) as they had seen better days. This was the next of the day, and here I only replaced the log, then headed up to the road and back to the car.Thanks DSD !!

Getting to this one was an absolute horror show in itself! Reading MountainsBeyond log, the option of walking along the river was not an option after the recent flooding although I did contemplate actually wading in the river (if we could get down the eroded bank) to get back to a bit of a track which led to an access gate to the clear. I was struggling with the horrible hawthorne, dead blackberries, fallen timber and debris, trying to nurse a gashed leg from this series last week and new bloodied bits and pieces - Gerri refused to let me give up! Anyway, god bless those wonderful wombats, followed some of their tracks painfully slowly, inch by inch and finally got to GZ. Was able to keep fairly close to the river getting out and, apart from one steep side gully (one step forward, two steps back!!) made the track and the gate with a pretty easy route back to the car. Could have done with a stiff brandy rather than a ginger tea but was a bit more refreshed after some tucker. Did some further reconnaissance along Smith's Road for next week - had enough for today. Thanks for the challenge, DSD - I think!!

Getting to GZ was absolute murder. Scratchy plants of every description and thick as thick could be. We just had to keep pushing through. Finally made it to the river with more scratches and blood to add to last weeks damage. Cache wet but log dry. Thank goodness we found it easier going out staying closer to the river despite the debris resulting from the floods. Was good to get back to the car and relax with a cuppa and our lunch. Thank you for this series DARKSIDEDAN. You certainly challenged us.

Sharpened my wooden stake again and popped down south for another day of vampire hunting, this time targeting the nest alongside the Gudgenby River between it and Naas Rd. I parked just near TE's Rocky Reinforcement cache (after finding it on my second attempt, thanks to a brilliant hint from Green Martian), jumped over the gate and followed the old vehicle tracks towards the river.

After about 5 minutes I came to a fence line, and followed it north through easy walking country until a point where I was pretty much 75m west of this cache, whereupon I snuck through the fence and headed straight for it.

In retrospect this was an absolutely terrible approach, the scrub is very thick and prickly for that last 75m and I left lots of blood behind (no need for vampires!). With hindsight I would access this cache from #78, then $83 and follow the river north - it would have been a lot easier (this was my exit route from this cache).

Nonetheless I eventually broke into GZ at a spot just above the river which was in full flow today, and located the cache after a brief search. The container was wet, but the log was nice and dry.

Thanks, DSD - most enjoyable!

Out and about with AngelG27 and SpecimenX for a fun morning south of Tharwa.

A quick find at a nice spot. TFTC DSD

Cache 6523 on 27 Sep 2020.

Out on a Sunday morning geocaching mission with SpecimenX and Fox in Jox and looking to grab a few more of the Vampire series. This looked like a good little set on the west side of the quite full river! The walking was pretty easy, just a few streams to cross and fences to follow. Had a car parked at each end to make the trip more efficient. A great morning of walking and chatting!

Tenth and last for the day, Fox made the find on this one, but had to throw it to the gals for the legals. Then a gentle lob back to Fox for replacement. Cache in good condition.

Thanks DARKSIDEDAN for the cache and the fun!

Teamed up with AngelG27 and Fox In Jox for a geowander in the area along Gudgenby River. It was so lovely and green and it was so nice to see the clear water flowing in the river as we were strolling along

Next up for us on our mini mission was to target several of the Vampire Series caches on the western side of the river. All caches were easy finds although some of the logs were a little damp but still signable. All up we had a lovely wander with great scenery and great company!

Thanks for the hide, DSD!

**This Cache**
Started from the track just past the 'Rocky Reinforcement' cache off the Naas Road. Nice to see the river flowing clean with the ash clearly collected on the bank.

Quick and easy find after crossing a couple of small streams and a short walk along the river bank. TFTC DARKSIDEDAN.

**Our Day**
**Walk 1 (morning) -** this was to be a quick pickup on our way down the Naas Road for a long hike along the Murrumbidgee River. But it wasn’t to be that way. The 'Lanyon Limits' cache took us a close to 40minutes to find. With our GPS' jumping around and eventually settling very close to the correct location for the tricky find. But, not before searching 10m out from GZ and on small islands nearby - go figure! It is a very smart and clever hide particularly that it may at times be marooned when it rains. It was 2.47kms to reach this location with 29m ascent/44m descent. To get here and find the cache it took us 1.5 hours.

Then 'The Fish Need Your Help II' had us walking an additional 2+km as we over thought the 'sponsor' question ie: 'sponsor' V 'logo'. A checksum would have avoided this but we did thorough enjoy the easy beautiful walk a km or so further up stream seeing 3 large wombats but no kangaroos , and sadly a dead baby wombat and turtle. We took the opportunity to use a PAF to resolve our dilemma. Once resolved we walked back for a quick and easy find.

In all, we spent to just over 3 hours for 7.52kms for 121m ascent/descent.

**Walk 2 (afternoon) -** along the Gudgenby River/fence-line picking up a string of DSD caches while listening to the water gurgling in beautiful Winter ️ sunshine. We walked for a little more than two hours over 5.1km and 138m ascent/descent. With the bushland, close to the river, dense and full of thorny bushes we mainly took the path of least resistance along the fenceline. We looked for and found elements of beauty along the way taking photos to store our memories.

We did not see any kangaroos or wombats this way but on our way home looking for a road cache we found the skeleton of what looked like a dead brumby near burnt bushland from the Feb 2020 fires at the base of Mt Tennant.

Another interesting day in our outdoor office.

This cache was in good condition. Thanks for the series DSD - very enjoyable!

#5747 10th for today

A lovely cool Monday, so while the masses are working I decided to finish up some caching to the far south of Canberra. Well it was all going so well until this one. The journey down to the rive was murder. Scratchy plants of every description barred the way. I just had to press on through. Eventually made it to gz and vowed not to go back that way. I actually went back along Gudgenby creek, which was very pleasant for the most part.

Thanks DARKSIDEDAN

A big day of caching with J+J.AU today. Starting in Mos Vale with a few quick aches just as light starts to appear. Then a long drive to and through Canberra to get to the part of the Murrumbidgy we were targeting today do finish of the vampire series. A lot of walking for some great d/t ratings and half of the time tracks were not really there! Of track is no problem however and enjoyed the day and perfect weather.
TFTC Wilbert67

Wilbert67 joined us today on a huge day of caching , our target was the vampire series and a few others along the way.
We left home super early and it was good to do some of the trails while it was cool.
The walk at the end our legs felt the effect of the day.
We spotted plenty of kangaroos and birds, occasional fly came to greet also.
Over all we felt quite accomplished with smileys we gathered.
Thanks for the placements of these.
A great day out.

Out for a Sunday walk on Father’s Day to find this secluded place! TFTC

I have been planning this section of the vampire series for some time. It turned out to be a beautiful river with some interesting things to see. I parked next to "Gurgling Gudgenby" where there is a sandy beach - a good spot for a summer picnic and quite kid safe. From there I followed the fence line with a couple of diversions towards the river to cross gullies and collect caches. All caches were in good condition and some are better hidden than the average - but the GPS coordinates are very accurate.
While generally following the fenceline and making short diversions to the caches was a good tactic, between #82 and #80, I found this was almost impenetrable thorny scrub. I would advise followers to go from #82 to the river and follow the sandy riverbank to the cache.
On the return walk, I waded up the river and rock hopped successfully and easily until I reached a water monitoring building near some flood level markers. This was particularly scenic and I would highly recommend the method for warm weather. TFTC's

After a Wednesday Walk to the rabbit-ear rocks on the ridge extending NW from Orroral Hill, I took the opportunity to log some more vampires off Sunshine Rd. Thanks for placing and maintaining these caches DSD.

I felt like a walk and getting out of town today so as the weather forecast was for hot and muggy I opted for flat(ish), shady(ish) and easy(ish). This part of the vampire series seemed to fit the bill. Started a Sunshine Road and headed north following the easy trails and fence-line. All found in good order. I can certainly tell you the best way NOT to approach this one. Whilst all the others had been easy terrain I suddenly found myself tackling a ravine, tea tree and blackberries! SO I figured there must be an easier way and backtracked. I had been planning on this one being my turn around point and will be honest and admit that at 40-odd meters from the cache I was wondering if I should just bail. But I stuck it out and found the right route after a little searching. Whew - at least that made getting back again a whole lot easier. From there I just followed the fence-line back to the car in significantly less time than it took me to get there. All in all a pleasant mornings stroll (except for that stupid 30-40m or so ). TFTC's.

IamCoust and I had been back and forth all week, working on puzzles and discussing where we would try and conquer this weekend in the short time we were allowed out before other family commitments.

We both thought that clearing out some more of the Vampire Series and other caches nearby would do the trick. It had everything, nice easy walking, beautiful views and plenty of caches to keep us busy.

We started early, with IamCoust picking me up from a meeting point on the north side. By the time we got to the first one, it was roughly 7:30am. The day started off cool, before warming up later on.

In the end, we picked up a fair few good caches that we both wanted to tick off. I was feeling pretty good until we were saying our goodbyes and a new cache notification came through. But that's another story. Thanks IamCoust for a great day! I had a lot of fun!!

Last one on this trek, found and signed then walked all the way back to the car to continue our journey. Tftc DARKSIDEDAN!!!

Found with Dty73. More to come

#9983 @0800
Easily found while on a pleasant stroll to pick up this section of the Vampires series. TFTC.

My 2nd day on the Vampire trails. My second walk today along the fenceline and river. All caches found and in good condition.

Thanks

Thought I would do the new ones of the series along the Murrumbidgee. Turned off at Smiths Road and looked where I should park. Hmmm there are no caches showing on my gps. Damn I am at the wrong bloody river !!
Turned around and headed for the correct river. A pleasant stroll along the Naas finding all caches easily due to the very accurate co-ordinates proved by the CO. TFTC.

My main goal was to find a suitable parking spot, eventually found a spot near the gurgling gundenby cache. My aim was to head north picking up the caches until I reached the last one. Walking along the fence line proved a godsend as it didn't require alot of bush bashing and only a quick duck into the bush to pick up each cache. M.R also happened to find these caches on the same day but I didn't spot a soul today. Tftc.

Today was set aside to head further down into Namadgi for a couple of caches of the tougher kind with GreyHams. All was looking good weather wise but awoke to rain, and although the day ended up not being so bad the rock scrambles were always going to be challenging, with the wet rocks, more so, so the call was made for another safer day.

Plan B had us heading out the same direction but the decision was to see about finding some more of the Vampire series, with a few other caches along the way as we passed them.

Arrived to some people enjoying the river close by and then headed off, mostly along a track for most of it, a bit of light bush to tackle on occasions and a few other obstacles but mostly a very easy walk along with the waterway off into the distance at times but others close by to enjoy. Wombat central at times and lots of old and rusted to be found as well.

Thanks for the cache Darksidedan.

Aquilus1 and I were planning a more serious day doing some rock hopping and bush bashing in Namadgi, but with it still raining at my place I called it early that it wasnt the safe option. So, instead we determined that we could do one of the new vampire trails past Tharwa.

This was the fifteenth for the day

Enjoyed day with ALL7 and wow long walked to some caches on way for Vampire run series..
Weather is not bad as feel coldest, look lovely sunny day..
Sign the log with no trouble..
TFTC

Chooo ooo [FTF] on a balmy (well 0° compared to -3° yesterday morning). Hopefully that is the last one up this way, as I saw a big fence blocking the way further north! Thanks DSD.

I helped at time of placement caches to hide with DSD and Loci612.... Good fun...Thanks

Joined up with DSD and ALL7 to go for a walk on a gorgeous and surprisingly warm winter afternoon! A very long drive down to the starting location from North Canberra, almost an hour as the Tharwa Bridge was closed for maintenance this week so had to take the long way around which added time to the trip.

A pleasant walk, and also an unexpected river crossing which wasted about 20 minutes, because we only crossed back again 10 minutes later after realising it was going to be way to hard given the terrain on that side and the fact that we were running out of time! Oh well, was fun to get our feet wet regardless!

Thanks again DSD for placing these caches and for the company. Really love this series just for the locations it brings you and the unexpected walks in land that isn't common for people to visit! Lots of places to explore and strange things to come across! One including the Flying Fox near the start which was an unexpected find!

Published

Found with SA. TFTC