Vampire Series #83 - Hunderprest Of Melrose Abbey Tennent, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
By DARKSIDEDAN. on 12-Jul-18. Waypoint GC7TWEF

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)*

Gotta love the sheep. They keep running in front of usTime 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

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.Thanks for the cache DARKSIDEDAN49854.11 TNLNVisited: World Traveling Gold GC A#6 & 2012 Bottle Opener II A#217**Albida**

Find # 13115Sometime 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 #83 - Hunderprest Of Melrose Abbey for us all to enjoy. Your contribution to the game through the placement and maintenance of this cache over the years is appreciated.

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. This cache: this was near thr exit we were going to take out to the cars. Thank you DARKSIDEDAN. for putting the cache out and maintaining it.

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

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.After a deep dive, cache was found.

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

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 continued on to the next one.Thanks DSD !!

First one of the three left down here on the Gudgenby - so far, so good, found easily, thanku.

Silvereyes and I are back to find the three Caches we didn’t get last week. This one was easy going and quickly found. Thank you DARKSIDEDAN

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.

Approached this cache directly from the north after finding #82, and the walking was very easy as I regained the fenceline (staying on the east of the fence) and followed it pretty much for the rest of the morning. The cache was located after a brief search. Although the container was wet the log was dry.

Thanks, DSD - most enjoyable!

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

Finally found one myself! TFTC DSD

Cache 6521 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!

Eighth cache of the morning and it was bright sunshine at this point in our walk! I had to strip off one of my outer layers and tie it to my bag. I was sure we were going to be rained on, but apparently not!

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 making this the first pickup in this line of caches. Nice to see the river flowing clean with the ash clearly collected on the bank. Quick and easy find. 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 is the best kept secret in town, a delightful spot. The river is really up today and the creek gurgling away - now, among the blackberries or not - I guess incorrectly - no blackberries. Lovely cache, thanku

I really enjoyed this section of the Vampire series next to the river. Lots of mud around today after the rain which made the way slightly treacherous at times. I resorted to walking along the fence line after the first couple of caches. This cache was found nice and dry in the stump. Thanks again for the series DSD.

#5745 8th 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.

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 woody cache! 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

Found with SA. TFTC

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.

A quick find in good condition. I'm amazed how sandy the soil is. Looks like ground granite. The hills here are very rocky and steep to. The walk is fairly easy though with the river valley flattening out and less wooded than nearby land. The trail actually follows the fence with a clear path along most of it. Tftc

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. On the way back to the trail I came across this monster mushroom! (Including boot for size comparative.)

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!!

This would be a really nice spot if not for the fact that it appears to be a cow public toilet. Tftc DARKSIDEDAN!!!

Found with Dty73. More to come

Parked by the bridge and set off to clear up a few more of the Vampire Series. This was a very pleasant walk with a bit of scrambling thrown in for good measure. All caches attempted were found and in good condition. TFTC and the massive effort in placing and maintaining this series DSD.

#9981 @0750
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.

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.

Found at 5:08:00 PM

Decided to knock off these after stopping to do the nearby TE cache. Managed to find all the caches and walk back to the car in about 45 minutes.

Thanks 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 thirteenth 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

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

Chooo ooo [FTF] on a chilly -3° morning! I really enjoyed this walk between the river and the fence - quite a nice spot. Thanks DSD.

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