TDOC23: Present For A Platypus Batesford, Victoria, Australia
By Donutholes on 11-Jun-23. Waypoint GCA9ZEP

22 November 2024 09:17 Everything about this cache is "Wow".Who would think that this pristine area is even here. I am pretty certain only the locals know about this gem in suburbia. You construct awesome caches Donutholes.Goes without saying, but you get a favourite.

22 November 2024 9:19amIt was fairly early in the day, but the flies were well and truly up and ready to spoil the walk. That was the worst thing I could say about this caching experience. We enjoyed the stroll in this bush setting and loved the enchanting forest loving more that others love it too. The kids teepees were awefully cute. The cache was quite the treat as well and a very fine contribution to the TDOC series. The cache guardian was home making sure the log was dry and all was kept in good condition. [^]TFTC Donutholes and.....Merry Cachemas. Fav added.

You could have hung a bison here and it would still be a FP from me.The walk along the river was a marvel. Felt like we were on the Murray. Amazing to see scar trees and other artefacts along the way. Really seemed untouched, save for the mowing (thank goodness for the easy walking). The small forest and viaduct were hidden gems, and the cache itself was exemplary.What a great time we had out here. These are my favourite kind of caches, seeing new places close to home with a great container.Really is a gem out here. Hope to explore more of the river here some day.FP from us, thanks Donutholes.

Nice cache and well worth the walk in!! TFTC!!

**TDOC23: Present For A Platypus**After a few *frustrating* but ultimately fruitful hours in East Geelong, we refocussed on chasing some nominated and/or TDOC23 caches. This one ticks both boxes, so off we headed! Parking at the intended WP, we walked down to the reserve and along the riverbank. Ms Platypus and friends were all being a bit coy today; none were sighted. Well, live ones anyway. It is a bucket list item for me to see a platypus in the wild, so if you could arrange it for next time, that would be appreciated, ta.A wonderment of construction met us at GZ. What a delight! That is one lucky platypus to get a present like that!Congratulations Donutholes for this really awesome letterbox hide and its worthy nomination. This is why I geocache, to see some great new places, and the fun it brings when finding these special hides in nature. FP for all the effort gone in here. Thanks and cache on *Throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Explore. Dream. Discover.* **Mark Twain**----------------------------------------------------------Are you ready for Victoria, Australias next big event?Join us for Victorias first ever *Block Party* to celebrate 25 years of geocaching.**When:** March 22 - 23, 2025**Where:** Hume Global Learning Centre, SunburyLog your will attend at [**GCAP417: The Sunbury Event** ](https://coord.info/GCAP417)Visit our [**Block Party website** ](https://geocachingvictoria.com.au/the-sunbury-event) for more details.

After a few tough hours in Geelong, we wanted to find some of the TDOC and Award nominees in the area, and this one fitted the bill perfectly.A short car trip out of town, through a new village and then a lovely meander down to the rivers edge. It was a late autumn afternoon, glorious sunshine warmed us, the grass was green and all in all a very relaxing walk to GZ. At GZ we thought there was a geotrail - but we didn't really need it, haha, its a little bit obvious, and it builds that excited feeling just like waking up on Christmas morning when you first spy what Santa has brought. What a great hide! Ahomburg amused us and the CO with some happy snaps. This led to us hearing about the CO's other Letterbox in town... and our fun was to continue.Thanks, Donutholes, fantastic hide and well-deserved nomination.

Found 25 May 2024 at 3:42:56PMAfter the nearby CITO, I cached the day away with Let Them Eat Cache and Snips & CO, starting with the caches nearby then moving further afield to end the day.Final cache for the day before heading home.Very nice work done here.Many thanks to Donutholes for placing TDOC23: Present For A Platypus for us all to find. TFTC----------------------------------------------------------Are you ready for Victorias next big event?Join us for Victorias first ever *Block Party* to celebrate 25 years of geocaching.**When:** March 22 - 23, 2025**Where:** Hume Global Learning Centre, SunburyLog your will attend at [**GCAP417: The Sunbury Event** ](https://coord.info/GCAP417) Visit our [**Block Party website** ](https://geocachingvictoria.com.au/the-sunbury-event) for more details on the exciting lineup of events and activities as they are released!

I haven't done any of this series yet, and it was a great one to start with. With the geobuddie DAB & some drive-through in the car, we were off to find a cache. We parked at the suggested coords and off we went. We enjoyed the stroll, an area not yet explored. Once nearby the gpsr took us in a circle before the large cache was spotted. What a large cache indeed. Well done, this one certainly brought a smile.

# ***Congratulations*** #Your geocache has been nominated for the **Best Other Geocache Award** (combining Earthcaches, Letterboxes. Virtuals and Wherigos) in the *****2023 Victorian Geocache of the Year Awards*****.With your nomination, your geocache has been placed in a geocaching.com list with all other nominees so that the community can more easily find the nominated geocaches. You might expect to see a little more activity over the next several months leading up to the voting period.You should feel free to add a nominee banner to your cache page, as well as a badge for your profile if you like, all of which are available [here](https://geocachingvictoria.com.au/2023-victorian-cache-of-the-year-awards-resources/).I hope you can make it along to the Awards Ceremony later in 2024 at a time still to be determined. More information will be available on the event page when it is published, you will find a list of upcoming Victorian events [here](https://geocachingvictoria.com.au/events/upcoming-events/).You can find out more about the awards on the Geocaching Victoria webpage [here](https://geocachingvictoria.com.au/victorian-cache-of-the-year-awards/)*Thanks for contributing to the Victorian geocaching community.***Geocaching Victoria Inc.**

Mintox! This word sums up my excitement here. A beautiful early morning walk listening to the birds along the river AND then finding this letterbox. Oh the joy!I am not surprised its another gem from the CO with a platypus to boot. Btw I did not take him home. Dropped off one TB and took two to move on. Thank you a FP is added here.

On way down to Geelong with gwd.aussie with the aim to grab 75 caches to achieve a challenge cache. Couldnt miss the opportunity to grab one of the TDOC series. Cache found after a short search. Left 2 trackables under the watchful eye of the platypusTFTC

Great to find a Large cache, and it fun too.The platypus jumped out the attacked D@geo, once the door was open. D@geo Left some trackable for the platypus to guard.Out caching with D@geoThank you the cache Donutholes

This was a much easier cache to get to than anticipated. We enjoyed the walk and loved the letterbox.Nothing too hard here.The estate was an interesting drive through to get to the parking position. Large blocks with large unique houses.TFTC

Very nice letterbox, great construction and ants gather when you open up, but only around outside - none inside. Found a ripe plum tree on the way and helped myself to a few. With Alansee.Thanks for the cache Donutholes

Found with Moonb1. The day was warming up as we walked in. Once there it was an easy find although there were a few ants inside. A lovely cache thanks Donutholes. It will be interesting to see how this area develops.

WOW what a cache! This cache sure took us on a big adventure through grassland and scrub full of trees on a very hot 32 degrees day. Thank you for the awesome cache that sure got us out of or comfort zone. Just make sure for all future geocaches beware of snakes.

This cache has been sotting in the to do list for some time now, todays FTF excursion brought my close by so stopped here while I was in the area.A bit of a stroll later I was at GZ and greeted with a suitably large reward, albeit the ants have tried to take it over! Log signed, inspection for any additional i formation completed (which I normally forget to do, so yay for me!) and I was on my way.Cachly for apple watch was my friend today, phone was on 1% when I got out of the car, without the watch I would never have made it to gz with a functioning device. Just another reason that fruit > little green robots :pTFTC!

Continuing my campaign to find TDOC23 caches, I headed down the track to find this cache. A 500m walk on a rough and exposed pathway then cross country to GZ led me to a wall of seemingly impenetrable scrub. I reconnoitered the vicinity to find an easy way for the last 15m. I couldnt find one, so pushed into the head height vegetation. After a few metres I gave up and retreated. I then circumnavigated the area further to find a much easier access and eventually found myself within 3 metres of GZ. I stood to take in the view, looked around and saw the most magnificent, Christmassy themed cache! It was certainly worth the trek in and a favourite point! Thanks for an amazing cache in a magical location. Hopefully in future years shade and wind protection will be planted and grow to make the park even more pleasant.

We have got way behind in our logging and are trying to catch up and get our caching in order.Life has been pretty hectic this year, and a lot of it has gotten in the way of efficient logging of finds.We want to thank all the Cache owners for providing an array of caches for us around our countryside and in our cities.We apologise for the generic logs. We must do this to get through the backlog.Unless otherwise specified, all the caches we found were in good order.Thank you, Donutholes, for this Letterbox cache.

I do like finding the tdoc caches. This morning's task was this one found via the listed walking suggestion. Loved the walk and the river and the Letterbox which gets a favourite point.Thanks donutholes

We have been enjoying this series and with a bit of time up our sleeve we thought we'd make a detour to this new location for us. The scenery was lovely even when the rain came in horizontally! An interesting stretch of the river as well, calling out for a T5 kayak hide. After a 10 minute stroll we found a good path into GZ and a nicely constructed hide that this CO does so well. A favourite from us. TFTC

Parked at suggested wp. Walked down the track. Bush bashed my way through where I figured it was the closest. Lost my pen twice - bushes decided theyd swipe from my side pocket. As usual, once I got to GZ, I found a much easier way to get out of there. Awesome cache! A favourite point heading your way. Thanks for bringing me here by placing this cache, Donutholes ~~

I decided to spend a day out west heading towards Geelong to attend the bushfire event.Ive had this cache on my todo list since its inception. The great parking waypoint and instructions led me on a trail along this great area of parkland. I can see many BBQs and picnics in this area for the new estate residents.I wandered further along the path to find some lambs on the track outside their fence. As I approached, they scurried off and all climbed awkwardly back through the fencing into their paddock. After making my way into the bushes I soon found the well hidden cache. Seriously impressive! Just how did you get this all the way out here . A brilliantly constructed letterbox cache in a very well hidden spot. Well done on finding this location. A definite favourite point for this one. Thanks for helping bring Cachemas to life! Thanks Donutholes for adding this cache to the worldwide collection for us all to enjoy.----------------------------------------------------------The 12 Days of Cachemas series is now live. Check out the list of caches and work your way through the series. Full details available at [Cachemas in July](https://geocachingvictoria.com.au/events/cachemas-in-July) Voting is also now open for the 2022 Victorian Cache of the Year Awards. The shortlist is available [here](https://coord.info/BMC8QYR)[Make your vote count - Vote here!](https://geocachingvictoria.com.au/events/Victorian-cache-of-the-year-awards/2022-Victorian-cache-of-the-year-awards

Its been a while since spending a day out caching. So it was great to head to Ballarat with DonutHoles to enjoy a relaxing day.I wasnt expecting the location I walked through. Preserving the old river gums for the wildlife that was in full voice as I approached them.The cache is well made and themed deserving of a favourite point.Log signed and replaced as found.Thanks for the Letterbox cache Donutholes #7,551

Was out for a day of caching with RyderSpider who was very keen to check out this letterbox.We parked the car at the suggested location and had a little giggle at the cute little designated spaces. The walk to the correct location was so quiet and peaceful and an amazing view. Came across an old water pump and what we believe is usually a little swimming hole. We made it to where we needed and were suprised with the effort and size of this one. A favourite point well earned for sure! Thank you for your efforts and for adding a great ending to our adventure!

Met up with NinnyMuggins in Batesford for an afternoon caching adventure on what was a glorious Spring day. However before anything, coffee was required, so we headed to nearby Bannockburn for a fix and to check what was on offer there, knowing fully well, that we would be back here at the end of our venture to check out a much anticipated Donutholes Cachemas hide.ExplorerChucks nearby one was checked out, but think I might prefer to fashion something at home for that one, and come back. By the looks of it, a few others had the same thought.We ended up doing 7 in total of McPhail's twelve days of caching series in Bannockburn. They were quite cool and enjoyable but we were still excited to get back to Batesford.After parking and commencing the walk up to the river, a cool afternoon breeze greeted us. I recall remarking to NinnyMuggins, that this is by far the best of the day and exactly what I've been craving all week, and we haven't even reached the cache yet.Even though the track ends once past the nearby properties, it was incredibly maintained and it was a easy meander to the Platypuses den.Didn't bring the Platypus a present, but left with the log signed and smiles on our faces.I like to think his home is safe, if in the future, the moorabool breaks it's banks. The presence of the rock is a hint that the CO has also had this concern in the back of his mind.Thanks so much Donutholes for this present of a caching experience. Such a wonderful spot you brought us to. Favourited without hesitation.

*Found on the 9 Sep 2023 @ 12:18 pm.*
*Cache find # 15050.*

After this morning's event, it was time to head out and find a few more caches of interest, I had a small list as my targets, with this one being a TDOC23 cache, it was certainly on the list, so I picked up the Hamfish and off we went.
We made our way down the path and along the river towards GZ, when we were close, it was then a matter of finding the best way in, this time we played the long game and went a littler further which paid off as the shortest way wasn't looking the best.
The nice big cache was found and the log signed.

**Thanks to Donutholes for keeping the game going by placing this cache.**

11:00
You often hear the comment - Make sure you save the best 'til last. Well this was an amazing adventure, particularly as it was our first visit to this part of the Moorabool. We had a great walk in the wind, by the river. We didn't find a real platypus to offer a present, but we did find a fabulous cache and we left our names. Unfortunately we are limited to one FP, we wold like to leave more.

Thanks to Donutholes (F=2810 H=29) for adding this cache to the gameboard.
35600

Alarm sounds at 3:50 am. Time to awaken and head over to pick up one daughter from my other daughters place and take her to Avalon airport for her 6 am flight. I jump into the car from our Airbnb that’s just up the road, noticing that for a change, it’s not freezing cold and blowing a gale!
Arrive at my daughters house with enough time for a quick coffee and then back into the car for the 25 minute drive to drop the other daughter off at 5am. It’s been a busy weekend, my granddaughter’s first birthday which is now being shared with the daughter I just dropped off! So coincidental.
Being a cacher, I always try to grab any opportunity to find a random cache when I’m visiting here from NSW, and being so early, this was a perfect, but somewhat difficult, opportunity to do so. The challenge being, it was dark, and would be for the next hour! Oh well, won’t let that stop me!
After spending a little time at Avalon Beach, with a little success, I made my way to my next target. To make things easy, I used good ol’ google maps to get me, but as I was driving, I kind of felt something wasn’t right, especially when I was then told to turn right onto a street with no name! Then I spotted a big sign saying DLI ( or something like that). Damn. Checked the app again and…….bugger, meant to plug in the parking waypoint . Reprogrammed the device and headed back out, and eventually I arrived at the start of the track after traveling through what appeared to be some sort of housing estate, but it was too dark to see to much. Zipped up my jacket, checked my BYOP, and off I went into the dark.
Fortunately, for my age, my night vision isn’t to bad, so I did manage to navigate my way to the GZ unscathed. But the walk there was a natural cacophony of waking Australian bush. After passing a bunch of frogs literally clicking away. I was met by the sounds of magpies, crows, a massive flock of correllas somewhere nearby, a boobok owl, and a bunch of other feathered Aussies that I didn’t recognise the sound of. I was met at the site by a bit of an obstruction. I began to circle to find my way to where I needed to be, but found myself beside the river, and climbing up what seemed to be the remains of some early structure. Hmmm, a wall of some sort? Hard to tell in this light.
It seemed I had no choice but to plunge in (to the bush), but all I could see in the dim light was what appeared to be lantana. Ok, well, it appears a bit more open here, so I’ll try this bit. Fortunately for me, what appeared to be lantana was something a bit more cacher friendly thank goodness, so I managed to find my way to the final GZ.
Well, that’s something!
Looking at the hide, and being aware of the COs MO, I spent some time investigating all the possibilities. Hmm, this? No. Here? No. What’s this? It’s nothing. After some minutes, it seems the answer was staring me in the face. Head slap moment. After perusing that contents, you signed the log and replaced it into its spot. Quite an audacious hide!
Started my way back, but one other reason that I came to this cache was to try to catch a look at the nearby viaduct, of which I learned about some time ago. But a clear view in the slowly increasing light was to evade me. I did happen to do a sneaky fence cross up the hill, but the best I could do is what you see here.
On my return to the vehicle, you may wonder, well, did I see a platypus? I have seen a couple in my locality back home, but you need to be extremely quiet and very early in the morning to have any chance of catching one. Well, did I? Well, yes I did see a “Platypus”, but not exactly where you’d expect to see one .
Nice work Donutholes, another fun hide under your belt!

Found by Mary and David at 11:10. We enjoyed the walk with both McLookers. Very impressed by the McMansions on the way in to the parking spot, and on such big blocks too. If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it. Certainly haven't been here before. Arrived at GZ and gave a FP for your fun construction. Our thanks to Donutholes.

Really enjoyed the stroll with maccamob in an area I had not visited before. What a ripper, well themed cache. A favourite from me.

Thanks for the cache Donutholes

We were on our way back from Portland after visiting dad and were stopping at any of the TDOC caches. The rain had eased up as we pulled up here but it still felt like we were not too far from the north pole with the bitterly cold wind blowing.
We must have done something wrong with the way we approached as we are sure that it was a lot more than a five hundred meter walk but at least we had warmed up.
As the numbers grew smaller we tried to go directly to the cache and it didn't take long before we realized that wasn't going to work so we headed off the longer but far easier way and made our way to gz where we spotted the cache container immediately.
We were really happy that there were no secret devices needed to add our name to the log.
Once that was done we returned everything as it was and headed back to the car just as the next shower decided to pass over.

Many thanks Donutholes for a fantastic cache in a great location, a favourite point from us.

Having a day out caching locally after attending Bushfire's morning tea event we made our way to the parking coordinates through an estate we had never visited before. Some very impressive homes to be spotted! We then made our way to gz following the river trying to spot a platypus which unfortunately we didn't but we did find his very impressive present.
Thanks Donutholes for the fantastic cache holder and bringing us to a new location.
A favourite point goes without saying.

Well we must say what a fantastic cache this is and we were so glad hat we called past here and visited today.
This is an area that we have never been to before and it was great to wander the track and then along the river banks to the cache.
A favourite from us.
Well done Donutholes.
Wow those houses are impressive.

We set off for a half day of TDOC23 caches over west which ended up being a full day of including other caches and we didn't get home till 7pm lol As we were heading this way we decided to look up to see what COTY22 nominees were in the area as well. This was our last cache for the day. As we started walking we saw a vehicle coming towards us!! Oh, it’s the Ranger! He wound down his window and looked at us and the GPS so GMelb said we’re going for a walk and doing some geocaching… “Oh,” he said, “I wondered when there would be one out here. Enjoy your walk in my beautiful park!!” and off he drove. We made our way to GZ to find the comfy abode for the platypus, signed the log, checked out the river in a couple of spots and headed back to the car and set off for Eastern Suburbs Melbourne where our son was thankfully cooking dinner
TFTC donutholes - Fave Point from us - GJMMelb

It was my intention to find this cache during my weekend visit and baby sitting, but as is often the case with our visits too Geelong to visit my daughter and her daughter (and of course my son in law), before we know it, time is gone! Unfortunately during the winter months here in this part of Victoria, the sun comes up way too late and goes down way too early. Oh well, back next month and I’ll try again. Cache count for this weekend = 0

##Published - thanks for contributing to Geocaching with this Listing.##
*Don't forget that regular visits to check on this cache will keep it healthy as well as keep seekers happy. Be sure to log an Owner Maintenance log each time you visit.*

>**Voting is now open for the nominations of the 2022 Victorian Cache of the Year Awards - use the link [**HERE**](https://geocachingvictoria.com.au/events/victorian-cache-of-the-year-awards/2022-victorian-cache-of-the-year-awards/)**

Joint [FTF] with Sims_Family. Another day of Cachemas and another morning "ping" on my phone telling me there is a new cache nearby. Seriously these notifications are starting sound like sleigh bells! Knowing that I was about 1/2 hour away from GZ when the notification came through I was unsure if I would be unwrapping the FTF present today. Coordination with a fellow cacher meant that we could share in the fun. Having made it to the designated car park, we were met with the most enjoyable walk along the river, keeping eyes peeled for the ever elusive platypus (both the real one and the cache). Around the last corner and through some scrub, we were greeted with a fantastic looking themed letterbox and a fresh log to sign. Very happy to give a FP for the experience and cache. Thanks for placing the cache here and encouraging us all to explore new areas and get amongst nature. TFTC.

Joint [FTF] with ExplorerChuck

Ping ping ping goes the bells or sorry not bells new cache publications. Oh its Letterboxes today. Oh its a Donutholes one. I have done a new Donutholes cache for a while this will be good like always from this CO.
Hmm its over there. Suscoe and ExplorerChuck are closer so a few messages go out to see what they are doing. Suscoe out but we'll meet EC.
This is a new area to explore with new housing going up everywhere. A nice little parking place and a walking track. A few hundred metres down the track and we were looking for a way into GZ. Well you can't miss that. Wow nice build but that was always expected.
Inside there is a lovely little guardian of the logbook.

Thank you Donutholes for a great cache