Full Steam Ahead Croftby, Queensland, Australia
By bmac, John B and Peter W on 03-May-04. Waypoint GCJC1P

[Muggle65](https://coord.info/PR10G2R0) and I completed the Steamers hike by walking an anti-clockwise circuit from Old Mill Road, which involved walking up to the funnel of the Steamers, before passing beside the mast and enjoying the lookout from the stern. We then proceeded up to Mount Steamer, before returning north past the "very overgorwn section" with clusters of gympie gympie, before following Steamers Creek Road back out (which way to complete this circuit is a mixed bag, but I think we just preferred this direction to do the long walk / boring section last). We set out on this walk departing from the trailhead just after 08:20 hr, and we ended up walking a total distance of 15.2 km across an elevation of 774 m, as per my [Strava record](https://www.strava.com/activities/9997222209). Our total time was about seven hours (total elapsed time 6:50 hr), and a moving time of 4:15 hr. The views from the stern were picturesque and memorable as I expected them to be, and a bucket list hike ticked off!Following our Stern lookout visit, I thought that the hardest part was behind us. How wrong we were, as the ascent upwards through the rainforest was cool, but exhausting, as we followed various trails upwards. After getting towards the top, we rested on that boulder and looked out towards Superbus and Lizard Point, before continuing on along the trail to this geocache location.Knowing that this geocache was recently replaced, we were confident that we would make the find, and within a couple of minutes, we located this nicely sized ammo can container. The cache container and logbook were in good shape. Thanks Brendano / bmac, John B and Peter W for the cache placement and ongoing maintenance. It was nice to have found this oldie 05/2004 hidden cache, of which is one of Queensland's 500 oldest yet active geocaches.----------Today, the plan was to hike the Steamers (Mount Steamer) in Main Range National Park / the Steamer Range, which is situated near Emu Vale in the Scenic Rim region. The picturesque view of the mast and funnel from the Stern lookout will be forever burned in my brain as a South-East Queensland hiking highlight. Following the enjoyable but exhausting hike, we stopped at a few geocaches back along Emu Creek Road, Swanfels Pioneer Park, and Yangan, before returning home.

Today has been fine, the walk is great, scenery fabulous, weather perfect along with the company. This oldie Cache found in good condition thanks to the crew who recently replaced this cache which resulted in a smiley today.

*..continued*But that changed as we crested the Scenic Rim Trail. Here at this lesser summit was a fantastic viewpoint and a logical place to wait again for the group to all gather and grab another bite to eat. Feeling refreshed, from here it was south-east and down. Quite quickly down, really. Again the lead group peeled on, passed through the campsite at the bottom and began picking the trail up.All along the way, there was comment about which sections reminded us of other walks. I was afraid to realise this final push up to Mt. Steamer felt like Spicers Peak - a climb I'd rather not revisit. But the three of us kept well back from the cliff and with a little help every now and then, made our way up the steep section.Behold! The top. This last section, while steep had offered some excellent views to our left. And a bit caught up in the moment, neglected heading east to the probable views, and instead headed west along the ridge towards GZ. By now, looking for a spot to stop and sit for lunch, and wait for the other to catch up. Which, we did.Catching up and appearing from below, the others didn't all carry excellent news. Fangsoki had turned around before the steep ascent and chose to head back. T4mmmy had a very cranky ankle. And After hanging with us for the group photo, Stairman would also double back to hang with Fangsoki, possibly to do the circuit in reverse after, and catch the rest of us on the way down.So here we were, 5 hours after leaving the cars as a group of 11, but now just 8 at GZ. Somewhat frantic, I set about hunting for the geocache, or remains thereof I clambered all over rocks but found nothing. Stairman and Prime both had a clear recollection but there was no geocache left, nor the log it was once in. It was agreed the ammo box had been a good call. The over-sized logbook was passed around and I tucked the replacement in a rock crack just below GZ, but still within 5 metres. See photos attached to my Find log for a guide.Done, then. Having had many plans to visit this place, some firmer than others and no real idea what to expect, I'd made it. We sat for a good while enjoying the views and lunch and feeling of success. I pondered how I was glad to have previous finders as a guide and what could possibly await us farther along and for our descent to the west, completing the circuit. But that's a story for another log. I really do think I'd come do this walk again sometime sooner rather than later. Thank you for this geocache, bmac

This year I have a goal for a very select few geocaches. All significant hikes, and this is one of them. While I pondered a solo run, I had reasonable plans to attack this with a small group. But then I caught wind of a bigger group planning to go, which included previous finders. That seems like a safer option. Especially as I had never located track notes that I fully trusted, and seeing the geocache maybe missing, it'd be nice to have eyes familiar with the hide to check things out.Given the geocache was possibly missing, I reached out to the CO a few times, but no reply. Even still, with previous finders in the group, I committed to carrying a new ammo box up the hill. KBreeAhh and I drove out early morning to meet the rest who had camped the night before. At 08:00 we were joined by Pprime, 1MinnieMoo, Stairman, Goldielover, T4mmmy, Herbz, Fangsoki and Crew 153. Taking the group photo, I had no idea it would be almost exactly 10 hours until I'd next be standing at the cars.Off we go, at 08:11. And I had very little expectation of what the track would be like. I did figure it'd be easy to follow as Steamers seems a somewhat popular walk. It was nice others knew exactly where to start, but the vehicle track once on, was easy going. Across one creek and the incline began. Gentle for a while before picking up. A few reshuffles of the order of walkers, and I wound up near the front; a few times the lead group waiting for the rest to catch up. Mr. Herbz and his busted knee bowed out as planned before the going got tough.Unexpectedly to me, we got to a marker tape on a tree and took a right into signle track. I'm glad that was pointed out, as I'd have marched right by it. The track was twistier in here and a few more stops to regroup. Crew 153 turned around somewhere here, but can't blame him - I'd like to be able to attempt walks like this at his age too! Onwards we marched, slow but not painfully so. Even at the front group, breaks were welcome as the contour lines get real close together for a good while getting up to 1000m above sea level.Right in a saddle of sorts, the track became way less distinct. MinnieMoo, KBreeAhh and I spent a while trying to find it, but with no joy. A storm must've peeld through here and pushed a lot of trees over and the only thing regrowing was Gympie Gympie. After a few minutes we back-tracked and waited for the others at a log and had a snack. It would be Stairman and Prime who managed to forge a path through. I was lucky to avoid all stinging, but others not as much. From that area up to the Scenic Rim trail was just lovely. In among the dense forest, following a wild sort've track. And we found the bones from previous photos; now scattered for hundreds of metres. I was surprised though, that there had been almost no views across valleys or up to the Steamers rocks.*continued..*

Here lies T4mmmy, R.I.P. [:X]
Wow is that a tough walk? A bit beyond my comfort zone, just getting to here let alone the down that was still to come. But I got here ... with a little help from my friends. The up is ok - just a lot of it - until about the last 250m. That's 250m horizontally as well as 250m vertically, or more. Very steep, the ever present 'edge of instant doom', and already tired. But nothing for it but to plod onwards and upwards. The rocks here at GZ are pretty comfy, and the views - oh yes the views are worth it. Thankyou CO for this experience, and thankyou my friends for bringing me here.

2/9/2023 Find #6430
There are so many disjointed bits and pieces I could put in this log, but I will try to keep things flowing and succinct-ish.
Fangsoki put a date claimed up on Facebook a while back as a reminder that this cache was a high priority to plan a group outing to. The date he chose was the weekend before we fly out for an overseas trip, but was not initially intended as the actual outing date. However people (mainly read “Pprime”) ran with it and decided to “lock it in Eddie”.
I had doubts about it being at this particular time, but the decision was made. Plans were hatched and campsite bookings sorted.
The majority of us headed down to camp on Friday evening - some of us arriving substantially later than others, and KBreeAHH and Captain Terror held off until the following morning to make their appearance. Amazingly we all managed to make it to the starting point at the same time, even tho the initial plan was for some of the party to leave earlier to get a head start on the hike.
And what a hike it was. After a mishap earlier in the week with my hiking poles, I was glad my brand new set not only held up but pretty much paid for themselves on this hike alone with the usage they got.
We headed up, then up, and of course up some more, with the group spreading out considerably over the distance. Along the way we had quite the Gympie Gympie to avoid - some of us faring better with this than others. OUCH!
At the top we stopped for some sustenance, before tending to the cache duties - with a nice, fresh ammo can and logbook provided by Captain Terror, once confirmation was had from previous finders stairman1 and pPrime that the cache was definitely gone.
Then those of us who were keen and still had energiser batteries running through us continued our journey to Stem to Stern and down the rest of the circuit, pleased to have signed our names to this old cache.
Thanks for the cache Brendano.

When Fangsoki sent out a call for company for the stroll up to this cache I must have been mad to put my name on the list. I know that I have done some pretty extreme caching with the others who also put up their hand but I knew that I would be in good hands for a hike of this magnitude. I had decided that I would return the way that I went up. There was no way that I would complete the loop. We had camped the night at Broangus farm so that we could have an early. fresh start in the morning.

We headed off from the parking spot near the cattle lick and the start was quite pleasant with a lovely dry crossing of the creek and then some up. This is the first time I have done a hike with 2 poles and I was so pleased that I had them both. Fangsoki and I quickly took the position at the back of the pack and slowly followed the pack who had to make frequent stops to wait for us.

The "easy" part of the path turned into "not easy" and the ground seemed to tilt so that we were looking closely at the rocks near our feet.

After a break I decided that I would head back the way that we came alone and managed the slow trip with no problems. I then had a long wait for the others to complete the rest of the hike. I will admit that I did doze off for a while.

TFTC Brendano

*Part 2 of 2*

This sucked with a capital S. I struggled like all hell as we went the final up. I had been told it was "worth it" to go on. I had decided "No, it's not. Not today". We arrived at GZ to find where the hide had been previously was destroyed. We placed a new fancy container. I was very much in an unhappy place. My name was signed and I immediately started back the way we had come. Stairman graciously said he would come back with me - and I would meet him back where we had lunch.

I got back down the very steep bit and made my way up the other side. Holy crap a duck. I was very unhappy. I had a realisation that I had bit off more than I can chew. A group of three young people caught up to me and scared the living bejesus out of me. They went past and I struggled up very slowly. Seriously, my thoughts had turned to "I will need a chopper to get out of here". I was looking around to see if there was an area for a chopper. Not exactly!

I sat down at the lookout with my three "scary" friends nearby and had some more food. Had a Hydralyte. Had a Maxagesic or two and rested. Stairman appeared and we started heading down the hill. I thank the good Lord, my rest or medication (or combination thereof) suddenly seemed to give me an energy boost. I even didn't think I felt like I slowed Stairman down (though I know I did).

We got back to the bigger "vehicle track" and we just motored on down. While we had service, we had received word that T4mmmy was struggling with a troublesome ankle. I showed Stairman1 where Pprime had pointed where the "exit" for the down was. He decided to motor up and see if he could help out. I continued back to the car.

Net result in the end : Everyone got out alive. No choppers were called. In hindsight, I think I was quite foolish undertaking this. I know I can go "up". What I didn't count on was my lack of stamina in doing this "up and down" type of walk - and that days are not 48 hours long.

I want to thank each and everyone of my kind friends for their support and encouragement. You are all very dear to me and please know I do appreciate you.

Perhaps, I will return to do the "other" cache one day. My name might be in the log - but I don't think I got close enough to claim that beastie.

TFTC bmac, John B and Peter W - you owe me legs that aren't cut up, hands that are not hurting from gympie-gympie - and a will to live I'm glad I can cross this off.

*Part 1 of 2*

I've decided to log this one ASAP.. in my office with deep cycle batteries charging away and camp fridges buzzing around me - while the experience is all fresh in my mind (and bones).

This cache is currently the 101st oldest active cache in Queensland. With the demise of a few in the "list" lately, it was time to put into effect "Operation: Get Fangsoki Up Mt Steamer". I had planned to do this back in 2018 - but very unhappy circumstances saw me not joining my friends back then.

Today, Team Herbz, Pprime, T4mmmy, 1MinnieMoo, Captain Terror, KbreeAHH, Goldielover, Stairman, Crew 153, and I all assembled early in the morning to hopefully grab this cache.

We headed off slowly. I was pleased with the hillage at this point. We stopped a few times to let the slow ones among us (read: me) catch up.

I would like thank my group - as various people kindly hung back with me and kindly gave me encouragement all throughout the walk.

After a debate, we veered off and up the hill. And up it was. Crikey, I didn't quite expect this. I had envisaged steep *open* paths (it's funny how your ideas of a cache before and after doing it clash)

Thankfully, it started to level out for the better and I was able to keep a good pace. The group had slowed down to navigate through the forest and to ward off the plentiful gympie-gympie plants.

After a while, we stopped and had a break. Aint no Fangsoki complaining. And then we were off again. Hmm.. Yes - I can't help noticed we're going down.. I'm losing my hard-fought elevation!

We went down and then back up. And I started to hurt. Dammit I plodded up slowly to our next stop. A nice lookout where we had lunch. After the break, and much to my annoyance, we went down again. My elevation metres on my watch were making me very very sad. I realised how much up there is going to be in the final few hundred metres.

*continues on...*

No luck here today was windy and wet morning

Submitted via Garmin Live Geocaching

Found during a 3 day hiking expedition with Chikin Little and Chikin Littler. Day 1 we hiked up Mt Superbus then up Mt Roberts and across to the Lizard Point campground to stay the night. The next day we headed on out to Mt Steamers. It was quite a slow arduous walk with us having to take care on the steep edges and drop offs, holding the hand of the kids in some sections. We enjoyed the beautiful views, wild flowers and massive grass trees. We returned the same way after finding the cache and walked back to Lizard Point for sunset. Mr EMC had previously found this cache, but this time Mrs EMC and the little chikins were here and have signed the log book. TFTC - great to get a real physical cache during our hike.

Took us a while to find this one but patience prevailed. Visited with Beardman75 and karicka after checking out Stern Lookout.
Cheers

It was a tough old climb up from the steamers but it was great to finally make it to the top. We narrowed down the search area and, after moving a couple of rocks, I finally spotted a glimpse of blue. The log was wet so we hung it out to dry for a while in the strong breeze before signing and returning it to its hide. Thanks for the cache

Walking the steamers circuit today.
After completing the EC and replacing the other traditional one up here we arrived here.
The log in reduced to a shadow of its former self. Beardman managed to find the angle from older logs and came up with a cache.
Dried the log for a while before signing and returning.
The covering rocks have done a good job of protecting the cache, it remains covered.
From here it was mostly down hill for us.
Thank you for placing this geocache bmac, John B and Peter W

A little group of eight cachers camped the night at the nearby campground. This morning we were up bright and early, well the others were. By the time we surfaced from our bed in the back of our car, the rest of the group had hot drinks in hand having already packed up their tents!
Soon we were driving along the bumpy road to the start point. Along the way we got separated as there was a little calf wandering along the road all on its own and was in no hurry to let us pass. In the end Slow Puncture got out of the car and chivvied it along a little bit faster until eventually he decided to duck back into the bush. We were rather concerned as mummy was nowhere to be seen. We had to speed up a little to catch up with the rest of the group. In the end we started walking about 8.am. At first it was a pleasant stroll along the track with lots of amicable banter. However, it wasn’t long before all that changed!
Whew, what a lot of up and up and up and up...did I mention the up? Up we plodded, on and on and up some more. Until...we reached the saddle, woohoo! Then someone mentioned it was the false saddle! Hmmmn. well it’s pretty easy going but then the track took another sharp up turn and up and up and up we went. This time though, we had to keep stopping to admire the views. In spite of a little bit of rain every now and then the views were awesome, looking across to Lake Moogerah and closer in, Mount Bangalore. Eventually we emerged right up the top. Walking along the ridge we we arrived at GZ, Yippee!!! The cache was soon extracted from its cosy little hidey hole, both the new one and the original melted one, and the logbook duly signed. Now time for some Morning Tea. What a great adventure we’re having. TFTC and an FP from us.

Been wanting to visit this oldie for a while now, so after camping near the start with Dosshell, Team Herbz, Slow Puncture, Goldielover, Stairman1 and Ruzzelz, we headed in along Old Mill Road, and then up the track on foot, and up the upness of the track and up some more around the back of this here mountain. And then up a lot more, rather near the cliff edge at times to finally emerge on the top for a well earned brunch .... and cache.

The hike from carpark to here is mostly well marked, a lot of steep upness, but some great scenery along the way. We took a bit over 3 hours going up, although this was not the end of our day's journey so we kept the pace on a tad. A most satisfying hike and a favourite from me today.

Thanks bmac, John B and Peter W for entertaining me at this location.
*{Overall find #6261}*

3758

Sunday. After climbing that last bit of hill (what a hill) I arrived after the speedy half of the group reached this cache and carefully replaced it back for the rest of us to re-find! Cache container was quickly spotted though and log was signed. Container and log is in good order for this cache. What a great spot to drop a cache off though – thoroughly enjoyed this walk – the terrain started off very dry and bereft of any good grass. Then as we worked out way up, the landscape changed to rainforesty type landscape! So very lovely. The paths to get to this cache seemed to be quite clear in places and then nothing, then we found the path again and then nothing. It went on like this for a while. Seems the wild pigs in the area have done much destruction on the way to this cache and is a shame. A few wallabies seen and some lovely little wrens, but no snakes, or lizards. Today was also a great day to do this cache because the prediction was for storms, but apart from light sprinkling of rain from the night before and massive wind gusts, today was overcast and looking like light rain, but as we went on, it cleared up beautifully. I would rate this cache as a 10/10 to get due to the beauty of the area and the views, the landscape variety and the great company today. A FP awarded to this cache. Unloved to boot and also above 1100m for a challenge that I’m completing. Tick, Tick!

This was the 2nd of 5 caches found on today's trip.

Thanks ***Brendano***, for showing us this place.

This came around a bit quicker than expected! THe hunt at GZ was quite lengthy, and I was worried that another fire had destroyed the cache. Cache found and well beyond repair. The log is a slurry... For full log see "Stern to Stern"

#4225 [14:20] this was a good reason to stop a bit here and catch a breath this was a day 1 of our 2 days hike with blech and andrew, not so far to lizard point we stayed overnight. beautifull trip with logical way all around the circuit back to emu creek visiting all parts of stem thanks, i've really enjoyed this area!

Having an awesome trip here with VikoCZ and AndrewAu. It was an amazing time we had here which reminded me all schooling days and mainly we've survived!

Thank you for this exceptional cache!

Please note that log was totally wet. Whoever plans a trip here please get a replacement for it.

The steamers walk has been high on my Geocaching bucket list for quite some
time. Seffnjarah and I had been making murmours for about the last 9 months
or so wanting to tackle this walk. At the recent camping event at Dunethin
Rocks we managed to secure a date that suited everybody in the group and the
date was locked in. Having teamed up with Seffnjarah, Swellerfungus,
Monkeymaker, Crookedpete, K8nCo and Stairman1 it was bound to be a great trip.

Camping at Emu creek on the Friday night, we aimed to get an early start. As
it turned out we had a fairly leisurely start to the walk. Starting at old
Mill Road we walked up the hill to the mast.

Lizard point was the destination for the overnight stay. We walked along the
ridge and picked up clues for "All Steamed Up". Quickly located "From Stem to
Stern", such a fnatastic vantage point, we got some great photos. Onwards and
upwards to "Full Steam Ahead". This cache has seen better days; needs
maintenance. Finally up to "Lizard Point" cache to collect some clues.

The views from Lizard point were fantastic. We continued on down to the
campsite and set up camp. Back up to lizard point to have dinner watch sunset
& moonrise - I think most of our party were underprepared for exactly how cool
it was going to get.

Having made the decision to pack light and omit a sleep mat my sleep was a bit
rough but as expected, I survived.

Setting off walking the next morning my pack was substantially lighter
thankfully.

Heading clockwise around the range we picked up clues for "Mt Roberts" and
"Super Bus". We hit "Tin Box" and headed down to the Lincoln Bomber so
Swellerfungus could pick up yet more clues.

Finally down the gully to the old logging trail & out to the cars.

This was a fantastic trip and one of the best Geocaching/Hiking experiences I
have every had. Thanks to all the C/Os for all the caches up here.

Cheers, Mr Eatmorchikin

I was fortunate to be invited along for an overnight hike to Lizard Point, starting off at Old Mill Road and up to the Steamers, before continuing along to Mt Roberts, Mt Superbus and then to the Lincoln Bomber before heading back down to Emu Creek Road. The course of the journey took our party (Stairman1, K8'n'Co, Monkey Maker, Crookedpete, Swellerfungus and Mr Eatmorchikin) past this cache and we took the opportunity to stop for some lunch here as well. The logbook was a soggy mess and despite trying to dry it out in the limited, overcast-day sun we were not able to sign the logbook in its present state. As we were all lugging heavy overnight packs, spare logbooks were not on board in the interests of saving weight, so it had to be replaced as-is. Hopefully the next day walker is more suitably equipped. TFTC

Just sit right back
And you'll hear a tale
A tale of a fateful trip,
That started from the Old Mill Rd,
Up to this mountain ship.
The mate was a mighty sailin' man,
The Skipper brave and sure,
Five passengers set sail that day,
For an overnight tour,
An overnight tour.

The weather started getting rough,
The mountain we crossed.
If not for the courage of the fearless crew
The caches would be lost.
The caches would be lost.

The ship set ground on the shore
Of this uncharted desert isle
With Gilligan (SeffnJarah),
The Skipper(Swellerfungus) too.
The millionaire (Monkey Maker)
And his wife (CrookedPete),
The movie star (Starman1),
The professor (Eatmorchicken)and Mary Ann (K8nCo),
Here on Gilligan's Isle.

So this is the tale of our castaways,
They're not here for a long long time.
They'll have to make the best of things,
**It's an uphill climb.**

The first mate and his Skipper too
Will do their very best,
To make it down the other side
In their Lizards' nest.

No phone, no lights, no internet,
Not a single luxury
Like Robinson Crusoe
It's primitive as can be.

So join us here each week my friends,
You're sure to get a smil(i)e,
From seven stranded castaways
Here on Gilligan's Isle!

What better way to spend valentine's day then to be hike to Mt Steamer then to the Stern Lookout. After a shaky start for parking then getting slightly lost in the forest at the start we started the long steep climb UP. Thankfully the scenery was grand with huge towering trees, some of which you could see have been long cut down by the mill workers, leaving only the stump. Then forests of black boys as far as you could see. The long climb through the black boys soon came to an end then searching for pink ribbon in some dense forest was next. The ribbon has started to fall apart with alot lying on the ground, we picked up most of it and tried our best to retie it in trees but I'm sure it will fall off again soon.
Eventually we broke free of the forest out into the open air of the ridge line where we took a short break for something to eat and to take in that awesome view. We had managed to stop right where a tree was growing which slightly killed the view a bit but nothing to much to complain about, it was stunning.
After a quick bite we headed on up and before long we hit the near vertical section of the track. While Jan seem to sprout wings and flew up the hill us blokes took our time. Well not exactly on purpose, it was bloody hard going. As hard as it was at times, I really did enjoy the climb up this section.
Once at the top we took a break for a few minutes to sign in, fuel the engines, check out the view on the north end of the saddle, which is amazing by the way, makes you feel like you're on the edge of the world and we were off again.
Thanx so much for bringing us up here Brendano and thanx to the Green Geckos and K8nCo for an awesome day of hiking.

Caching in fine company today, with K8'n'Co and Monkey Maker. We took the longer track route to this cache and managed to get lost a couple of times. The track is not clear at all in places but we somehow managed to stumble back onto it time after time. There are some pink tape markers but they are few and far between and many have fallen to the ground, but they did help us out a number of times. The last 100m to the cache was a bit of a climb but reaching the top was amazing. Thank you Brendano for placing this cache

I was fortunate to be in the company of the Green Geckos and Monkey Maker on this trek to Mt Steamer and The Stern. We opted to take the “tourist” route via The Old Mill road and track to the ridge NW of Mt Steamer running towards Mt Asplenium. None of us had taken this route before and we were pleasantly surprised when presented with fantastic views from the ridge of Mt Moon, Moogerah Dam and Mt Greville. The 200metre rock scramble from the ridge to the Summit was not so good but once again fantastic views, this time of Mt Neilson and Mt Roberts. The sad old cache was quickly recovered, log signed and it was off to The Stern. Thanks for the cache.

Found that one without knowing there was one. thought it was litter until we picked it up the cache is molten as well as the pens inside so byo. lb is still ok. tftc the cache!!

Accidental find #2... after accidentally finding the cache on my super bus we continues to lizard point and then along the ridgeline a quick stop at a log for a breather and one of the group says " look some burnt plastic container, we should take that with us.... hang on there's another geocache!" Great find! The outer container is quite melted. Tftc! We had no pen and the pens in the cache were not working, but we got a pic.

Part 2 - Sunday 25/8/13

We were awake just after dawn, quickly broke camp and headed for Lizard Point for breakfast. Unfortunately, the morning was hazy from planned hazard reduction burn offs nearby. Whilst the coffee brewed, I wandered back to the Lizard Point Multi waypoint and collected the necessary clues for the Lizard Point cache.

The morning was also unexpectedly very mild. It was still cold enough for the iphone battery to pretend it was flat, so I don’t have photos of the Lizard Point view. Thankfully, by the time we got to Stern Lookout, the day had warmed up and the iphone cooperated with some photos.

By 0800, we were pushing our way through the scrub along the cliff edge towards Mt Steamer. This is an interesting section of the walk, with some steep ridges, sheer cliff edges, a variety of vegetation types and great views along Main Range towards Spicers peak, Mt Steamer and back to Lizard Point.

Arriving at the Mt Steamer cliffs, we skirted the rocks to the south. We scrambled our way up the slippery steep slope to the summit for a break. When I caught my breath, thanks to the hint, Full Steam Ahead was quickly found, being a mini-milestone find number #1,300. After the climbs in the last 24 hours, a much bigger reason to celebrate was completing the last major hill for the day! The log was signed and replaced and is in good condition.

Dropping off the summit down the ridge line, the hiking for once was relatively easy in the mostly open forest. We made good progress and by 10.40 had found the track junction for the Stern lookout track. Dropping the packs here, and carrying only sightseeing essentials (a guidebook with ‘that’ picture, GPS, phones), we pushed our way through the waist high ferns the remaining 650 metres to the lookout. The stern plateau quickly became a rocky narrow ridge with cliffs both sides. One last interesting rock scramble, and we were soon at the lookout. The views from the Stern over the rest of the Ship, Emu Creek Valley and Mt Superbus are unbelievable – made even better by the sense of achievement and the enormous effort involved to get there. I got over my initial acrophobia and gradually edged (ok,...crawled?) out to the cliff edge for some photos.

Back at the track junction, we descended and skirted the Stern cliffs to the north. This was really slow going with slippery loose ground, variable terrain and the midday heat! With only quick stops at the cave on the western side of the Stern and another directly under the Stern Lookout, we pushed across the surprisingly short saddle to the Mast and around the Mast to the north.

We had debated skirting the Funnel as well, but with a long drive home via Tevoit Gap to collect some caches, when we got to the Mast –Funnel saddle, we opted to head for the car at Emu Creek South branch. This was a very quick descent. A controlled slide was the best way to descend the loose earth in the open forest, but soon the rainforest closed in and we were forced to follow a rocky creek bed down.
We had hoped that the old track along the Emu Creek would make an easy finish to the trek. Waist high stinging nettle and felled trees eventually drove us back into the rocky creek bed itself. At 1400 hours, we marched back to the car.

A fantastic, challenging two days! Our trek cover 23.9 kms with 2090 m ascent in perfect weather. This would be one of Australia’s best (but highly underrated) off track hikes. Thanks for the cache, Brendano. A favourite, of course!

Pete

#1,300

For a while now I have been contemplating this cache. Then a couple of other caches were published on the hill and I knew I had to attempt it. A rushed long day’s hike from Teviot Gap really didn’t seem to do the area justice. So, with the CO’s advice in mind, I started planning an overnight hiking adventure with this one in mind.

The initial thoughts were to do a through walk from Emu Creek Road up to the Steamers, overnight at Lizard Point, then on day 2 tackle Mt Roberts and Mt Superbus Summit before finishing at Teviot Gap. Whilst this would make a nice hike, in addition to the long car shuffles, it omitted a ‘must see’ - the wreck of the Lincoln bomber. So a circuit walk seemed a better option. In a passing conversation at an event a month or two ago, I mentioned my plans to Brother Colin and he jumped at the opportunity.

With an early leave pass from work on Friday morning, I met up with Brother Colin and we travelled south collecting the odd cache before reconnoitring the Emu Creek area. After a cold night, a slow start on Saturday morning found us fully kitted up at the Lincoln Bomber walking track gate at Emu Creek South at about 0730. The first part of the walk on an old Forestry road was surprisingly steep (or so we thought at the time), but perhaps it was the heavy pack that made it seem so. We lost the old overgrown forestry track a number of times, usually re-finding it again within 20 minutes or so. Brother Colin managed to CITO some rubbish left in the bush including a rope hammock we found off track.
After an hour and half, we soon had some glimpses of the waterfall and crossed the creek. Shortly, we came across our first piece of wreckage at the base of the climb.

This hill makes the other hills I’ve climbed this season look like amateurs. With our 20kg+ packs on (we had to carry water for 2 days), it took us 2 hours to travel a mere 400 metres, climbing up the slippery rock wash out and occasionally venturing in the lawyer vine rainforest. We had numerous stops to catch our breath and search for wreckage of the Bomber. At the main fuselage wreckage, I was shattered, feeling terribly queasy from the exertion and doubtful of my ability to finish the day.

Surprisingly, after a short rest and some food, I felt better. The walk from the Bomber camp to Mt Superbus summit was relatively flat, allowing us to recover further. We frequently lost the path, but the navigation was generally pretty easy - just stick to the ridge line.

At the summit, we signed the logbook (left by the Rangers) in a small container at the cairn. Climbing a tree near the summit provided some great views to the north over Mt Roberts towards Lizard Point.
My toes certainly discovered the front of my boots on the steep descent down to the campsite at the Teviot Gap track junction. Another brief stop to collect the clues for the Superbus multi and we pushed on to Mt Roberts, keen to make camp well before dark. We stopped for a few photos at the vantage point looking towards the Stern near Mt Roberts, before another brief caching stop at the Mt Roberts summit. The scramble down some rocks north of Mt Roberts was a little harder than expected, as the climbing tape placed there to assist has been removed.

We were both very glad to arrive at the campsite in plenty of time to set up camp before dark. By 1830, we had retired for the night and by 1845, I was cursing Brother Colin’s snoring.

Part 1:

What an epic adventure this one turned out to be [^] I have often heard of this cache and figured it was one that was way beyond my reach, but over the last year or two I’ve had plenty of opportunity to hone my mountain hiking skills, and lately I’ve felt that I was ready to tackle it. Recently some friends took on the challenge from Teviot Gap and did the return trip in a day, and of course they all raved about the adventure, which seriously encouraged my desire to have a go. And they smugly announced that they had placed a couple of new caches up there, one on Mt Superbus and the other at Lizard Point, and the lure of 2 FTF’s just added fuel to the fire. So many great reasons to take the walk.

teamdfl is one of my caching buddies, and together we have done some fairly crazy hikes and bike rides, so when she mentioned last week that she was thinking of hitting this one today, and would I like to join her, well, let’s just say the reaction she got was sufficient to convince her I was delighted! Something along the lines of “Heck, yeah!” I think

Yesterday afternoon I headed to her place, in preparation for our planned early start this morning. The alarm went off at 3.30am, and we were out the door just after 4am. It took us a little over 2 hours to get to Teviot Gap and the start of our hike, so we finally got underway at 6.25am. The temperature was around 3 degrees I think, but we were well rugged up. It was still dark under the canopy of the trees as we followed the track across the bridge, so even though we had been told to look for the cairn along the way we missed it, and we had to make our own way UP the hill Did I say UP? That should be UUUUUUUUP!!!!! Eventually we found the right track, and were able to follow it all the way to the campsite on Mt Superbus, arriving about 2 hours later. Oh that was a steep long climb [:(!] Here we found the info for one of our other target caches, then enjoyed a very warming coffee and muffin before deciding not to make for the summit as we wanted to grab all the caches here today and we could not afford the time.

After a fairly steep downhill run where we lost the track lots of times, we climbed up again to Mt Roberts and had a bit of a rest here. This was the highest point of our journey today. Then it was onwards and DOWN YET AGAIN!!!! One part along this section caused us some trouble: a rock wall about 3 metres high! Although we are both pretty comfortable with climbing, there seemed to be no easy way down here and neither of us had brought any rope, so we looked at two possible ways around it, but in the end just had to toughen up and get down there I went down first, and I’ve really got no idea how I did it, then teamdfl came down, and we continued along our way, UPWARDS again, and the track led us along the ridge line with a very steep drop on our right hand side and jungle on the left. We made it to Lizard Point at about 11.15am. Here I was utterly amazed by the breath-taking views. Mt Barney, Mt Maroon, all the mountains between here and Brisbane which we could just make out on the horizon. Spectacular indeed! While here we collected the info for the second new cache, then set off for the furthest point of our journey today, Mt Steamer.

Part 2:

We worked our way along Lizardback, and it was very clear where to walk as there is a steep drop on both sides! Pretty scary stuff. And I could see that we were going to go a looooonnnngggg way DOWN into the saddle then a looooonnnngggg way UP again before we reached GZ Nothing else to do but keep plodding along The last push around the rocks and up to the peak was the toughest part of the whole journey for me. I was so glad when I finally reached the ridge [^] The time was about 12:50pm, so it had taken us about 6 and ½ hours to get this far. Then the hunt was on, and we were hoping it would be a quick find, as we knew there was only about 4 and ½ hours of daylight left for the return journey However, after about 15 minutes of fruitless searching I was getting a little worried, and seriously considering making a PAF (thank God for phone signal ) when I stumbled upon the hide [^] Probably the happiest moment of my geocaching career right there and then [^] Signed the log, got the obligatory photos, hid it away again, grabbed some food, then set off on the long journey back to the car.

And oh what a journey that was… the steep climb back up to Lizard Point was very hard work, but after that the downs seemed to outweigh the ups, and of course we couldn’t take any rest breaks along the way back due to time constraints Climbing the rock wall before the peak of Mt Roberts was pretty tough and then the run back up to Mt Superbus was very tricky as the tree cover made everything dark and gloomy so we lost the non-existent track many times. And to make matters worse, on the final very long and steep down the rain started falling and so the surface became quite slick. Lots of slipping and sliding [:(!] [xx(] So very glad to make it back to the car at 5:05pm. Just on 4 hours return.

An epic adventure indeed, one that I am truly delighted to have achieved! Thanks teamdfl for the company. Always a pleasure [^]

Thanks for placing this cache, Brendano. A favourite point from me.

Out with IolantheK on a totally trippy Tuesday. This was one of our goals for today, but we wanted to collect a couple of others along the way.

The adventure began at 4am when we left my house to drive to the parking area. The drive is a bit longer now because of the closed road, so that was an extra half hour on the trip. The road is in good condition so we made good time arriving around 6:30am.

We began our walk in the first light before dawn and we got back to the car just as night fell. A big day out indeed. We had a gpx file from the last finder to follow so our trip was slightly easier than it might otherwise have been.

A total walk of 15.6km, with a peak at 1339m. 1200m of climbing and descending in 11 hours.

We hunted for info for 3 other caches along the way in amongst all those ups and downs. It was a balmy 3C when we started the trip, but it was not long before we were warm enough heading ever upwards. The weather was perfect until we were making the last ascent to Mt Steamer. We could see the storm clouds building over the hills behind us.

One last scramble and we were at GZ. The size of the container had us fooled for a while as we were looking for something a bit larger. IolantheK finally found it. It took us 6 hours to get to this point, so we had better make good time on the way back.

As we were making our way back we could hear rain falling on the canopy above us. Along the ridge line to Lizards Point we were above the clouds, but it was raining in the valleys on either side of us. We were very lucky to make it back to the car without actually getting rained on.

Two tired, but very happy hunters at the car. Now off to find the other 3 caches we have the co-ordinates for

This entry was edited by teamdfl on Thursday, 27 June 2013 at 02:01:46 UTC.

This entry was edited by teamdfl on Thursday, 27 June 2013 at 02:06:19 UTC.

Found today with Ruzzel and Brother Colin. We had a couple of weeks planning our attack on this cache and gathering as much info as we could on our intended route. Knowing it would be quite a challenge and that daylight could be a problem towards the end. We left home on Friday after work and stayed the night at Queen Mary Falls in order to be fresh and get the early start needed.
Bright and early we arrived at Teviot Gap and set off. All keen following a track over a bridge and ready for the climb ahead. With Bro, leading the way and Ruzzel and I following along. Ruzzle and I stopped at a nice rock cairn for a short chat and discussed it saying it would mean something to someone, then kept going. I think Ruzzle wanted to show us what the stinging tree looks like a little further along, he gave it a little nudge then complained about some pain. After showing it to us we realised we should have headed up a short distance behind us. A quick backtrack and we were on our way up. Had a couple of dramas here trying to follow anything that looked like a track, but we kept heading up, eventually the trail became a little easier to follow, It was quite interesting finding parts of the old rabbit fence. It got steeper and steeper before about 90 minutes later we arrived at the saddle on Mt Superbus where we had to turn left ad head off to Mt Roberts after a short break.
Off we head again now down hill, a little disappointing after having to climb up so far. We managed a few glimpses towards other mountains we had climbed on other hikes. We followed the ridge line all the way now to the cache. Up to Mt Roberts and then on to Lizard Point. We had read about the little scramble around this spot and were very pleased as there was a convenient rope vine in the exact spot it was needed. We stopped at Lizard Point for a short snack break and took in the fantastic views. We could even see Brisbane City buildings in the distance. Heaps of photos later we head off again towards the cache. Still more up hill to contend with before again heading down again. This part was really interesting. Walking very close to the edge of cliffs at times. We soon started the climb up towards the cache. We hit the ridge again at GZ. A short catch our breath and the hunt was on. We spread out in all directions then rechecked the hint. About 5metres away we finally located the cache. It has been a little hot at some stage, but we managed to get the log book out intact even if it was a little wet. Had our lunch feeling very pleased with ourselves we replaced the cache with one I had brought in case. The new one with all the old names and now a couple of new ones in it fitted nicely inside the remains of the old cache container. Replaced safely, It was now about 12.30. Time to head off again. Not long after leaving here the climbing started again, this time the hills seem to be even harder to get up. We managed to get back to the saddle on Mt Superbus at about 3.30, another short break then our last bit of down hill. With only about 1 hour of daylight left we popped out at the rock cairn at the bottom of the hill. Back at the car again now and exhausted but very happy we headed off towards Brisbane.
Thanks Brendano for a great challenging cache. Worth a favourite point for all the peaks along the way. Hope it is not too long before the next visit.

PART 1:

A few weeks ago Stairman mentioned that he would like to go look for this cache. Count me in for sure. Then I looked at surrounding tracks and hills more closely. Good thing I like hiking and have done a few big hikes recently for practice.

As we were going to need every bit of daylight we stayed the night at Queen Mary falls and headed off before sunrise. We arrived at Teviot Gap and started hiking just after 0630am. There was a very chilly wind blowing just to make the day that must more enjoyable or should I say memorable.

Over the bridge and up the old road we headed with me leading the way but leaving the navigation to the other two. It was not too long before we realised we were supposed to UP there. So a quick back track, then a bush bash up too the ridge line and it was not too long before we found the track we were supposed to be on. I wonder where this track meets the track we started on [?] I would find the answer later in the day. This track follows what remains of the rabbit fence along here and goes straight up the hill, and I mean UP.

Eventually we reach the saddle where we can go left to the summit of Mt Superbus or right to Mt Roberts. After a short rest it is onto Mt Roberts. The track along here is faint and at times very hard to follow. It is also covered in vines, rocks, logs and anything else nature can do to hide a track. Did I mention the spiky vines as well. [?] What about the steepness of the track....yep, steep as well. [B)]

Another short rest at Mt Roberts before heading towards Lizard Point. The track just gets steeper, with a short roped descent down a small wall, (we have to go up that when very, very tired on the way back ). You can not get lost along here as there is a cliff to your right and very steep jungle terrain to your left. Before you know it we arrive at Lizard Point.

The views at Lizard point are amazing. Lots of photo's were taken (which did not turn out as well as I liked ) but we could see the building of Brisbane waaaaay over on the horizon, all of the surrounding peaks (which we went....a cache up there...and a cache up there...and another cache over there )
Finally we sat down and had something to eat.

PART 2:

The last push onto the cache started as a jungle bash as we were never really sure as to whether we were on the 'path' or not but a 'sort of' path was found, then lost, then found, then lost, ........ We could not get too lost as the cliff line was on our right again and jungle was on our left...again. One more big downhill where I went for a tumble and ripped my jeans in a big way. [:o)] And then UP again towards GZ. Around a small cliff then along a ridge and finally around a second cliff, another scramble and we arrived at GZ. Now to find the cache, which Stairman1 did after quite some searching.

Photo's taken and then the 'operation' of removing the log book from the slightly melted container. Unfortunately the log book was quite wet so I sat down and separated the pages hoping it would dry enough for us to use. Due to our time restraints this did not happen and another small logbook in a small sistema was added to the cache with everyone's name added in (including previous finders).

Now to make our way back to the car. [B)] We were all very tired just getting here so the trip back was not thought about till now. O, this is going to hurt. I am going to be soooo tired tomorrow. But we made it with only short rests along the way (no one wanted to stop too long and get cold as the wind was still gusting). []:)] That little wall we had to climb back proved 'entertaining' along the way. [B)] And we did find out where the two tracks met right at the start. [B)] We arrived back at the car around 430pm.

A great hike. A great day out. A great adventure. Thanks to Stairmen and Russel for the company. Thanks for the cache Brendano. A fav point from me.

PART 1
About a week back stairman1 contacted me about going for a little hill climb, something about it could be a steamy walk. I’ll not repeat what I said to him at the time but the comments seemed to have stuck in his head. Seems I was a tad excited and offered to trade something precious for the opportunity.

Now while the walk could be steamy at certain times of the year we were greeted with one of those very cool autumn mornings which was every bit around the forecast 2 degrees C. Not to worry that should make it easier to climb the first part.

At about 6:40 am the trio (stairman1, Brother Colin & myself) set off from Teviot Gap (@821 M) to scale the lofty Mt Superbus (@ 1372 M SE Queensland’s highest peak). Now as you do on a walk like this you stop and look at things, in our case stairman and myself looked at a rock cairn and made comments that it no doubt was a marker of some sort. Meanwhile BC had continued on the old timber trail. A 100 m later after an encounter with a stinging tree, the only one I saw (and touched) all day I took the time to check our progress against a track log. Oh dear we seemed to have missed the turn, I wonder if [?]. Well not too much time wasted as by 7:00 am we had found our way to higher ground and the real way up Superbus.

Now the books suggest you are following an old rabbit fence straight to the top. Well they are right you are following what once was an old rabbit fence and even more correct at times the path does seem like it is straight up Still we made good time and hit the highest we needed to go on Superbus by 8:00 am. Now it was all downhill again (back to 1183m) between Superbus and the next little hill Mt Roberts (1327m). We arrived here by about 9:20am. This was actually the high point of our walk as we did not need to go via the Superbus main peak.

It was during this part of the walk we realised how cold the day might get as the Westerly wind was at times blowing fairly strongly over the top of the range. The maximum for Killarney was forecast as 18 degrees, it was much colder on the Main Range and with the wind factor I suspect we were running at between 5- 10 degrees C at best for the entire day.

After scaling down the small 3 M drop on the north of Mt Roberts we made good time arriving at Lizard Point around 10:00 am. The views here were spectacular, we could see west along Lizardback (the ridgeline we needed to take for the next part of the journey), all the major mountains north along the range up past Cunningham’s Gap, a wonderful outlook over Moogerah Dam (and in the distance through the haze the high rises of Brisbane. East was the expanse of the mighty Mt Barney and Mt Marron north of there. [^]

This entry was edited by ruzzelz on Sunday, 19 May 2013 at 10:45:13 UTC.

PART 2
Now the next part of the journey beckoned us. We could see the likely path hugging the cliff line along Lizardback. However what really waited was the elevation drop of 200 M between Lizardback and Mt Steamer with another 150M climb back to the top of Mt Steamer. On the way down BC took a tumble but thank goodness all he pulled up OK, except for the jeans.

However, we seem to have made good time arriving at GZ approximately 5 hours after setting off from Teviot Gap. After a little looking, in all the wrong spots, stairman came up with the somewhat melted cache. Now it was rest time, food time and in BC’s case even some Facebook time.

While I was there I said a prayer for “Brummy” a cacher who tried twice to make this cache several years back. Sadly Brummy never got the chance to try one more time for this one.

Unfortunately, time was ticking and while all of us would have loved to have ventured out further west along the Steamers ridge line that could have had nasty consequences at the end of the day. My call would be to take in the full experience of these mountains you might need to consider an overnight stay. (However, I would not like to lug the extra pack weight of a tent, food and water required to do this.)

We made good time on the return journey making it back to Teviot Gap from Mt Steamer within 4 hrs and 15 min ( a 10 hour day). According to my track log with made a total gain for the day of 1557 M (that also means we lost that during the day) over a walk distance of in excess of 15 km.
On the way back surprise, surprise we connected back on the old timber trail right at that cairn that stairman and I had studied earlier in the morning

Thanks to Brendo for placing this cache and taking me on a journey I would never have considered I could undertake. Favourite point from me. [^]

Thanks also to stairman and Brother Colin – this was a top day out.

First find for me. I'm now a cacher. I'm the friend that battled the terrain with Griffo. Not recommended for first timer's, but loved the experience.

The planning to get to this cache began a few months ago. While looking at nearby caches with GSAK I began to look at caches that hadn't been found in a long time. When I spotted Full Steam Ahead and noticed it had a TB that hadn't been touched in over 2 years I decided to attempt a rescue mission.

With a non-geocacher friend from work we set out from Toowoomba at 6:30am. Our drive along Emu Creek rd was rather eventful. Several trees had fallen in the wind of the previous day. Luckily I had brought some rope and we were able to drag them off the road. The creek was also running rather well and the numerous crossings were rather interesting.
We set out on the walk at 8:45am, a bit later than we had hoped. After about an hour and a half we had reached the base of the funnel. A quick detour to the front of the funnel and there were great views of the prow. We then set off towards Mt Steamer.
We reached GZ about 3hours after leaving the vehicle and had no trouble locating the cache. All is good, no leaks or cracks. Grabbed the TB that I had set out for, took a few snaps looking north from Mt Steamer, absolutely magnificent views and then we set of for the trip to the Stern.

We arrived at the stern after about a 45 min walk and set out to get to the very tip with great views over the mast and funnel. I got within about 50ft of the very tip and vertigo set in. Right in the line to the lookout is a large boulder about 4ft across. You can't go around it as its a 300ft drop on either side. You have to climb over the top to the other side then a small scale up the rocks to the top.
I'm afraid this was beyond me. I nearly had to crawl back 40-50ft to where the stern widens before the feeling of vertigo left.
It was rather dissappointing to go so far and not make the last effort to what is referred to as one of the best views in Queensland.
Defeated and tired we set off for home. descended the Stern, back around the mast to the funnel and then down the very steep and slippery scree slope below the funnel.
We seemed to slide for over a 100m on our way down.
Stiff and sore we arrived at our vehicle at 3:45pm, 7 hours after we set out.
The weather was superb as were the views. Highly recommended.
Signed log in cache, took TB, left nothing. Thanks for a great cache.

Was easy to find. tough walk for my first o'night hike.

Found with Crido and dropped off HAve a Beer TB

Cheers

WHAT A MISSION!!!

Found with Linz69 on an overnight bushwalk from the north branch of Emu Creek Rd.

From ~1km up a right-hand branch in the road (and after a bit of 4wd'ing to dodge fallen trees on the track), we walked straight up to the saddle between the funnel and prow and enjoyed a wonderful sunset over the valley below! We camped in a great spot where we were able to catch both sunset last night and sunrise this morning with amazing cliffside views either side of us!

Today after sunrise and breakie, we ventured over to the mast and then up and onto the stern to take-in the glorious views!

We then headed up the ridge to Mt Steamer and found the cache fairly easily (after dodging a little black snake that was feasting on a frog in the middle of our track!

We returned the same way and made it back to the car in ~2 hours.

This has to be one of the best walks around and the cache was an added bonus - thanks!

Cheers,
Crido

A friend and I had planned a walk starting from Davies Ridge to the Main Range then south to Mt Steamer.
I was looking on the Web for any info on Mt Steamer and came across the description of this cache.
It certainly provided an extra element to our bushwalk.
Given the previous clues it didn't take too long to find the cache. It is still in good condition and didn't have any new entries in the book since March/April 2006.
We got back to our camp by dropping off the Stern on the northern side and travelling under the cliffs all the way to the Prow then dropping down a ridge until joining the 4WD track beside Steamer creek.
The whole trip took us about 10 hours but we were going relatively slowly.
We had a great day and I will look out for other caches in the Scenic Rim.

Had a nice amble in the hills with Brummy and If a pleasant little camp was had at lizard point. Time Terrain and crok's beat us when we where close. Great scenery made up for it tho and will have to work out a new attack on this one.

I’ve decided not to do this one [B)]

Had an enjoyable stroll into the vicinity of the cache yesterday and camped overnight at Lizard Point. Returned to Teviot Gap today. Great area. Must come back soon to finish this one off

10:00 hrs In company with Geoff of OMY130 we tackled this cache. Left the car at 05:58 and logged the cache at 10:00hrs a couple of very small breaks on the way was all we had. Came across 8 trekkers walking in the area just for fun . If you are attempting this cache do not underestimate it. We got back to the car at 14:18hrs once again we had minimal breaks. This cache is a big day even when travelling with the bare necessities. Rogainer says WOW I say OUCH Thankyou to Brummy for the loan of the Topo and nice to finally meet you. Thankyou to Geoff for pushing it out. Well done buddy. TFTC TNLN glad to have finally done it.

Man o Man That's a long day & a long way. Left home @ 2.45am & got back @ 6.30pm.

For 1 day, there's lots of ground to cover from the Teviot Falls end. After finding the cache I was basically done & dusted on the climb back up to Lizard Point. At the end it was just one foot after the other

Many thanks to Rogainer for supplying the co-ords (it took 2 hrs last night to convert in something usable in GSAK). Thanks to Witch pig for the day & finding the trails on the way home. Thanks to BMAC you crazy bugger for placing it in a beautiful place. [:p]

.... Geoff ....

We did it !

After a fairly slow start - that is, Breakfast and picking up a few supplies in Killarney, we made our way out to Emu Creek Road. We weren't sure how far the road would take us or how obvious would the entry point be when we got there.

We set off at 08:40 from as far as we could drive along Emu Creek. We were about 3.5 crow Kms to the cache. Right from the start, GPS coverage was very scratchy and after about 500 metres we turned it off all together.

We had a good laminated copy of a good contour map, a good compass and more importantly, Denise's ability to use both very well !!! [^]

We continued to follow Emu Creek along an old, but completely overgrown forestry track for about 2 kilometres, with The Funnel and The Mast to the north. At that point Denise calculated our ascent to avoid the cliffs of The Stern.

Our confidence was bouyed shortly after starting our climb we encountered a pink ribbon and after a very substantial and arduous climb, there was yet another ribbon as we reached the top between The Stern and Mt Steamer.

We flicked the GPS and finally got some coverage - we were about 910 metres away. There is a track of sorts from The Stern up to Mt Steamer though it is pretty patchy. This kilometre is also quite a climb though with the cache in sight, we almost ran.

We arrived at GZ at right on noon and the cache was in hand within 15 minutes as our GPSr had us 10 metres away.

We stayed for some time and enjoyed the views and had lunch.

Our descent back along a very similar path took us only 2:15 minutes.

A few words of caution to those attempting the cache via Emu Creek.

The road may be closed after heavy rain.
The path along the creek is a shocker ! There are Gympie Gympie trees and the path is thick with stinging nettles - at times as high as your neck ! It is now more than 24hours since we returned to the car and our legs are still numb!!! [B)] For this reason, complete leg covering is essential.
The GPS coverage for 90% of the trip is non-existent. You must have a good map and compass.
Although this route is quicker than via Teviot Gap, it sounds like it is not as scenic.

Thanks for the cache - we enjoyed the challenge.

Left a lightstick.

Ok it’s Sunday and Brummy is in for confession. In the early hours of Saturday morning, thinking we were very clever, we set off to spend the night at Lizard South, East of our goal Full Steam Ahead. Unfortunately we went a little astray, taking a direction somewhere between Rogainer’s path and that to Mt Superbus. This took us up some very steep slopes to a point just North of Mt Superbus, but no where near Lizard Point.
We did find a cache of sorts, it was a cairn set by the Ipswich Catholic Bushwalking Club, quite a find but not what we were after.
With light fading remarkably fast we eased our way back down the mountain still carrying the full weight of water and camping equipment that we hadn’t used, all the way peering across at what should have been our goal.
We carried a map and a good compass but were too busy watching our step and obviously overlooked the path we were supposed to take.
With the Boogie Man hot on our tails we scurried back to the car wondering how we were going to explain this to you lot.
Chalk up another DNF for Brummy.
Rogainer I’m ready for that beer now.
Brumm
Well at least I’m honest


[This entry was edited by brummy on Sunday, April 09, 2006 at 5:02:35 PM.]

[This entry was edited by brummy on Sunday, April 09, 2006 at 5:04:57 PM.]

Congratulations Rogainer on the first to find, and thanks for the replacement cache. It's a pity the cache wasn't intact for you to find, but in a place like this, the experience of getting there is far better than anything you can put in a box! I'll have to buy you a beer some time instead.

bmac.

"WOW"

This was the word of the day as we walked through delightful bush and along cliff tops where we were treated to some outstanding views.

I had always wanted to walk on the main range and today after a very long time, the opportunity presented itself.
The heat of summer has passed and the days still offer a good length of daylight.

After a week of overcast and windy conditions, Saturday dawned fine, so a phone call to my walking partner Jan confirmed we would go early the next day.

The following paragraph details our walk - I have elected not to encrypt it as I don't believe that my comments are really hints given the nature of this cache.

At 7:20am we left Teviot gap and started the climb up the Superbus shoulder. After about 1 hour we reached the top
and headed north along the ridge towards Mt Roberts. We got our first views from the ridge on the south side of Mt Roberts. From here, you get a great view of the steamers to the west. Continuing north up and over Mt roberts we detoured slightlty to take in the stunning views from Lizard point. We had been going for nearly 3 hours at this stage, so stopped for a well earned break. After this, we headed west along a very spectacular ridge line to Mt steamer. At times you are walking along the top of 100m high cliffs - just 1/2 metre from the edge!

After about 4 hours, we finally reached Ground zero - this is where the fun started. I searched & searched in vain for at least 1/2 hour for the cache, but after walking for 4 hours to get here, I wasn't going to give up easily - especially after my failure on Dam fine views a few weeks earlier. Eventually, I looked again at a place I had previously looked and spotted something out of place - there amongst the rocks and leaf litter was a small dark bottle (the size of those tiny spirit sample bottles). On closer inspection, I spotted a charred and melted mass of plastic and a small wire coil - could this be the cache after a bushfire? (see photos) I re-read the cache notes "The first finder will find something to keep them warm at night" - the spirit bottle! and the wire coil I figured was the wire spiral from what was the notebook - I was convinced that I had found the remains of the cache - my relief was immense.

Being prepared, I had a "just in cache" with me, so I bagged the remains of the old cache to take home and placed my spare one in the same location. The cache is now a plastic screw-top powerade container with notebook, pens, cache note and 1 glowstick. I Signed the new logbook and we started to head back. On a mission to get back home for another engagement, we walked back to the car in exactly 3 hours.

Well, this was certainly the most physically demanding cache I have done - possibly it is the most demanding cache in
Queensland? It was certainly the oldest virgin in Queensland at 23 months.
Approaching from the west would be a shorter way in than the way we went, but it involves another hours drive in each
direction - I also wanted to visit Lizard point.

To reiterate Brendanos comments, this is no walk in the park, it is physically demanding, scratchy and potentially
dangerous, but overall, a very satisfying day - the day turned out perfect - cool and clear - ideal for this extremely physical walk.

The statistics :-
Total walking distance > 15km
Total amount of climb > 1300m
Total time (including rest breaks) = 8 hours
Splinters & scratches = countless
snakes nearly stepped on = 2
phots taken = 36
FTF = priceless

Thanks Brendano for placing this cache and making me get out here (eventually!!).

Paul & Jan