Mt Despair Murrindindi, Victoria, Australia
By Greg and Bev on 09-Nov-00. Waypoint GCAC

Thats sad - Victoria's 2nd oldest cache - I was hoping to do this as a milestone someday

Called in to check the cache today to find it had been bulldozed and was in a sad condition. Recent logging activity in the area and changes to seasonal road closures has also made the cache area difficult to access and hence the time has come for one of the first caches placed in Victoria to be retired. Greg and Bev

Found at 5.30 pm after some fun 4wding in the area with Biggles Bear earlier in the day. It was getting late so we decided to drive as close as possible to GZ which meant that the new Patrol got a lot of loooooong scratches along the side from the new growth on either side of the "walking" track .
Took: Cutting knife
Left: Calculator

Thanks Greg and Bev.

OK it apology time[:i]
The first time I went there I had the wrong coords wich said a few km to go. This "squared up" with were I thought it should be at the summit area of Mt Despair. I actualy drove right past the cache (20 meters away)looking for other ways in to were my GPSr was telling me last time.
Today I came to see if the gate had gone - It had moved about 100 meters and the signs no longer said to keep out just road close. Knowing I had the wrong data last time I turned on the GPSr to see if a walk in was warrented. It said less that 800 meters to GZ so off I went.
At S37°26,705 E 145°32,503 I headed bush and was confroned with 400 meters of bush bashing throught dense regrowth. That will teach me! Near GZ a familiar track apeared and the cache was soon found.

Left Cutting Knife
Took the Funky Chicken TB that looks like it's "busting" for a pee.

Sorry to Greg and Bev and to the owners of the funkey chicken for causing the cache to be arcived for so long[:i].

The road to the cache has a seasonal closure on it but can easly be walked (looks like muggles had driven it today but shouldn't have).

Thanks Greg and Bev

Mt Despair Rd Closed (gates + signs) for logging. Looked for alt 2wd route - not found. Probebly open in a month or two.

[This entry was edited by Geoƒ on Saturday, April 03, 2004 at 4:05:21 AM.]

Found by The ELTHAM Mob after a bit of a search, we had the wrong datum on a new Magellan that was being tested ... luckily the faithful Etrex pointed the way.
Managed to 4wd up the trail to within 20m, after originally running up the hill without the kids -- and not wanting to run back up the hill carrying the kids

We were camping at Murrindindi Scenic reserve so we came in from the North, the "Rootop's" map of this area make the drive in a little easier.

T: Tennis Ball, Water Ballon Kit
L: TB "Funky Chicken"
Clour change texta stamps, RJ45 patch lead (Cat5e?)

Thanks for a fun search

Found at 3:15pm. We found finding a good road to travel only a bit of a challenge with many blocked by trees or not AWD friendly, this was even with a moving map display on the computer. In the end we followed the road as indicated in the clues - it pays to read the sheet. Along the way I think we must have made a couple nerveous, as we were following the some of the way then when they turned up a track so did we, only to come back out. Later on we ran into them again on another track. Once in the right area the cache was reasonable to find.
Swapped a speaker (out) for a rubber duck (in). Thanks grev and Bev for the chance to see this area of Victoria.

Trying to find our way in was a bit of a pain. A lot of the roads were blocked. But we made it. Muzza and Alan-san forged ahead up the hill while I plodded along behind.
Alan-san was searching when I reached the top and his GPS was leading him astray. Mine lead me straight to the cache. But I couldn't see the cache if I was standing on top of it . Don't you hate that.
Alan-san ended up by finding the cache 1st. Oh well.

Found at 3:03pm swapped a Poncho for a blank tape.
Thanks Greg and Bev for the wonderful cahe and area. I'm sure it is a nice view when it isn't raining and misty

Found this one, but not as soon as I should. Having had satellite problems at today's first cache, I decided to treat it with a little disdain, all to my own detriment. I did a wide search starting at GZ and lasting at least 20 minutes. When I returned to GZ (which was consistent), I found it easily. I don't know how I missed it in the beginning.

Its a lovely area, so quiet and peaceful. No kangaroos, leeches, or feral dogs today, just the sounds of birds nearby. I took the message pad and left a Water Bomb Fun Set in its place.

Thanks to Greg and Bev for setting up this cache and maintaining it.

Found by Mary & David at 1600. A beautiful area with tiers of ferns climbing the hills, sprays of wattle embroidering the valleys; we could hear birds everywhere. Many roads to choose from but we soon picked the right one. Mary literally fell over the cache. The contents of the new container were nice and dry. Took the cat toy and left a magnetic note pad. Many thanks to Greg and Bev.

Spent the day in the area, set one cache, and had some fun on a muddy side track, that appeared on the map to be a short cut to this one.

A great drive despite the gale force winds and rain, and the falling trees. The mist made the forest very moody, and the plentifull Lyre bird calls added to the atmosphere.

Walked straight to the cache without a problem, very easy, and came face to face with a feral dog coming down the track from the opposite direction. Not sure who was more surprised.

Took the yatzy game and left a cat's play mouse, hope the dog doesn't find it. Shook the leaches off after returning to the car.

Found this after very nice drive through beautiful forest. As previous cacher pointed out, a machete would actually be useful. We didn't have one... Not much view because the recently cleared forest has gone crazy replacing itself. Faced with dense gum saplings over 3m high and separated by centimetres only, we came to the conclusion that this cache was placed by a particularly cruel person. Easy to place, hard to find 18 months later. Impassable in a few years I reckon. Then wait 10 years before it all thins out enough to walk between the trees rather than through them. Perhaps a kind person with a chainsaw could make a path to this cache (only joking). We took nothing and left coffee and soap. Good luck to all who follow, you'll need the forest skills of an Ewok for this one.
Dan & Block.

After a hard days work up at Mansfield I thought I might have a go at this cache on the way home.
Unfortunatly I didnt have the cache details with me and just like many others I tried all the wrong routes untill finally finding the right road. The road took me to within 200 meters of the cache, where I got out and said to myself how the hell am I going to get up there. The new forest growth is 10 feet tall and thicker than a rainforest. Well I wasn't comming this far and not finding it, after half an hour of fighting my way through the new growth I finally saw where I thought it would be. After a couple of minutes search I found it. It had half an inch of water in it so I dried it out as best I could, even the log book in its plastic bag was wet although the cassette tapes looked dry but all the electronic gizmos wouldn't be much good. Now all I had to do was find the car again thank God I marked its position before I left.
Still it was good fun.
Thanks Greg

No exchange
PS; Take a machete with you if you intend to do this cache.

Found easily on a 38 degree day
We approached via marginal road from the north with no access problems
There was 1/2 inch of water in cache which we dried out.
Some electronic gizmos were saturated in water and are probably U/S
Took the mouse and left some okky straps
Next stop the river for a cool dip

Kevin & Meredith

Finally found by Tony, John and Consuela.

Took us two attempts to find this one. First try was on Anzac day after three days of rain. Spent quite a bit of time up the wrong tracks and as noted on previous logs, if you've got trees scraping the paintwork you're on the wrong track!! Gave up due to dusk closing in.

This time we took a different turn and knew straight away we were on a better track. Drove until the gps indicated 200 metres to go and was indicating straight up a hill to our right. The guide describes this as a moderate uphill walk but it sure didn't feel too easy with my two year old on my back.

Found the cache pretty easily and enjoyed the views. Took a yo-yo and left some blank audio tapes.

Found by Ray and Maya with friends Terry and Dianne at 3:20PM after visiting Melbourne’s 1st before lunch.
Lunch was an interesting experience at the Strath Creek pub, along with 20 (thereabouts) bikies from the Dandenong chapter of the Harley-Davidson club. Felt a little out of place!
Excellent meal. I can highly recommend the Scotch Fillet.
We parked off the road at the bottom of the hill 200M from the cache.
The climb to the site was a little difficult through the new growth. My GPS showed Zero Metres approx 15M West of the site but with some searching we found it.
The Cache was in good condition. We took one piece of PCB and left a traveler’s toothbrush and toothpaste kit.

Found your cache today (29-DEC-2000). After doing Melbourne’s 1st in the morning I headed to this cache since they are not too far from each other by car. I started out ok but had the same problems as the dingo I was going down some narrow tracks that indicated the cache was 2km away but I soon ran into trouble with trees cross the track and big ditches. Here is a hint for others – if your going down a track that is so narrow that the bush is scratching the side of you car, it’s the wrong way! But I did find it, my eTrex lead me straight to the location once I was on foot. The stash was in good condition. I left an item but forgot to remove the one I intended to take. Thanks Greg that was a good cache! -David

Hi Greg,
Found your cache on 26 December 2000. Had some initial difficulty as I did not have a map of the area, and I missed the correct turn-off on the Toolangi-Murrindi road. I found several tracks marked as Kalatha Road on the wrong side of the mountain but they soon became suitable for 4wd only when still about 2Km from the cache. Anyway, using the GPS to attack from several different directions I eventually found the right road and then with a bit of a scramble up the hill made it to the cache. I used a Garmin eTrex Summit GPS and it took me to within 2m of the correct position.
Nice spot, but as you say, it would not be too great in wet weather. I left you a computer mouse, and took the thingy with numbers on it for a souvenir.
Thanks for an interesting challenge.
Regards,
“The Desert Dingoâ€Â


[last edit: 6/21/2002 6:58:40 PM PST]