Secret Rainforest Bilgola Beach, New South Wales, Australia
By Charl - adopted by pm81 on 24-Oct-04. Waypoint GCKX65

I am regretfully archiving this cache since there's been no response from nor action by the cache owner within the time frame requested in the last reviewer note.

tiddalik
Community Volunteer Reviewer

Hi pm81,

This cache appears to be in need of owner intervention. I'm temporarily disabling it, only to discourage people from visiting this location until this cache may be addressed.

**Please note that caches disabled during the current COVID19 crisis you will be given some extra time to react as we recognise that CO's can't just pop out and fix the issue,** geocache maintenance can wait. Once the acute threat of pandemic is over, I will remind you about your cache needing attention.

Should you feel it safe for you to maintain and address this cache now, AND your regional Health and Governmental authorities allow it, please feel free to do so. However, I would like to assure you I will not be archiving any caches which the cache owner does not currently feel safe to maintain.

I'll pass by in about another 45 days and hopefully this will all be over.

Ministro - Matt

No joy

We looked hard I think it is no longer there

DNF despite 20 mins looking with 4 of us. Last found in June, then 2 DNF. Might need to check if cache still there

Had a good scout around - saw the rope so was in the area - no luck

Great spot. Found lots of places it could be but wasn’t there??

Number four for today. Really nice location. Seems like the Amazon Rainforest in the Northern Beaches. Did the short walk and left the path at the sign with the foot on it. A bit of searching around brought up the cache. Amazing location. Thanks for sharing! TFTC #299

#3279
What a great little pocket of urban bush land. Came in via Kanimbla Cres and easily spotted the side track. Caught a glimpse of GZ and knew this would be a fun area to explore. Was totally surprised to see a ziplock bag containing log book lying in the open near the bottom of a blue nylon rope. The names didn’t match the online listing and I soon understood that people had been finding different log books. Not knowing where to re-hide the ziplock bag, I decided to look for a container. Initially went to higher ground but eventually found the plastic box within a few meters of where I found the ziplock. And sure enough, the missing names were found in that log. I have now put both log books inside the plastic box and then spent some time looking for the ammo can - which I couldn’t locate. Really enjoyed my time here and have never seen so many bush turkeys perched so high in the trees
TFTC pm81

Stunningly beautiful place. Tftc

Wow what a beautiful area!
Shame there was no water flowing down the creek to really set it off.

I left the geomobile in the shade in Hillslope Road and found the entry to Crown of Newport Reserve. It was a well used, easy to follow track. Once the GPS started pointing to the left I followed a sort of path, scrambled across the creek bed and began my ascent towards the cache. It was quite difficult and I eventually found a large tree fallen across the track. Its copious dead foliage made it impossible to climb any further towards the cache. So I decided to head back to the original track and try to find a way to the cache from above.

Of course, only a short distance along and there was another off path. This went straight to the cache which was a quick find. The logbook went back to at least 2009 and said it was a cache by Charl so I'm sure it was the correct thing.

There was 15 cents in the cache which I took. I can buy a band-aid for my leg which I cut in the initial uphill trek!

TFTC - Wonderful location, excellent fun!
Cache # 3082, Streak day # 439

OCW PelDroedGwin

A beautiful patch of rain forest which provided great relief from the heat today.

Once across the stream we circled for too long making this one harder than it needed to be. We only managed to turn up one cache, we signed the plastic one.

Tftc

OCW the Bebes. What a lovely little rain forrest. We arrived at parking spot and headed up the steps. Found the side track no problem and proceeded to GZ. Looked around obvious spots for 10mins with no luck. Kept going and extended search slightly. There it is safe a sound. Plastic box not an ammo can this time! Tftc

This is my 6th cache today and another month checked off my JASMER grid.
A beautiful, quiet spot for a cache. Im envious of the people who live in the houses overlooking the rainforest.
After an early start this morning and a trip up the coast to grab a couple of caches id been eyeing off for a while i decided to take a detour on my way home and come grab this one.
As i was walking up the path from my parking spot on Hillslope Rd the canopy and the slight breeze seemed to drive down the temperature and humidity and made it a pleasant little trek.
I was able to find the cache quite quickly once i reached the GZ.
The container is in good condition and the log is dry.
Thanks.
#352

Tftg

Found the hard way in and slowly but surely made our way up the steps to GZ. Very easy find as someone had left it out there in the open, completely uncovered! We were surprised it hadn't got muggled as the area is clearly used, judging by some rubbish left behind, and a rope hanging from a nearby big rock that we guess must be used for mini abseiling sessions.

We made it safer by covering it up with natural camo found nearby, same spot where we found it and still matching the hint! Hopefully safe from muggles' eyes, but won't fool geocachers for long. TFTC!

PS. Took TB with us

Took a long time to find but eventually found it. Nice spot

Found it!! TFTC
Hint: it is 10m from where the app says it is.
Have fun this is an amazing spot. I live down the road less than 500m and never new it was here

With beautiful weather, I took the ferry across Broken Bay from Ettalong to Palm Beach then a bus down to Newport. Walking in along Hillslope Road, I soon entered the beautiful rainforest. Turning off at the footprint sign and crossing the stream, I soon spied the hiding place and had the cache in hand.

As recent logs suggest there could be multiple containers in the area, the one I found was a large Sistema with "Secret Rainforest by Charl" written on the top, and the logbook it contained dated from 2009, so I think this is the correct one. I looked around a bit to see if I could spot either the ammo can or the containerless bag but couldn't find either.

After signing the log, dropping a TB and returning the cache to its hiding place, I strolled back down to Newport for some ice cream and a walk along the beach before heading home. Many thanks for bringing me to this beautiful spot.

Well i found the plastic container. Not the ammo box or the ziplock bag. Awesome spot
Thanks for the cache

Previously logged under team account BoogieRogue. Re-logging with my individual account. Find#: 1103

Found on: 27 February 2018

Buddies: none

Muggles: none

Weather: sunny

Cache condition: container is missing, only a ziploc bag with the logbook is present



Awesome area with a real pocket of rainforest. TFTC TNLNSL. 5 of 7 finds and 2 DNFs for today.

Find#: 1103
Found on: 27 February 2018
Buddies: none
Muggles: none
Weather: sunny
Cache condition: container is missing, only a ziploc bag with the logbook is present

Awesome area with a real pocket of rainforest. TFTC TNLNSL. 5 of 7 finds and 2 DNFs for today.

This geocacher reported that the container is damaged.

TFTC!

Already found this one. Came back today just for a walk and saw two geocaches in the exact same vicinity. The original cache was still hidden as expected, but mere steps away was an ammo box sitting openly under a ledge. Weird.

Great spot. Never knew it was here.

Took 3 attempts but finally found entrance. What a gem of a spot. Never knew it was there. Have looked at the canopy for years from above.... so pretty underneath

Fantastic walk to the cache, it's a beautiful little bit of nature. Geoboy Jr made quick work of finding the ammo and then Geoboy had to use muscles to get it open. Basically where the compass was pointing us to:) tftc

This has to be one of my favourite GeoCaches so far. Beautiful spot. The cache was sitting out in the open when we found it. Not sure if it was meant to be like that, so we tucked it under a tiny bit. TFTC. Great cache!

Good find. Was left out in the open so have covered it more effectively. Note that this cache is no longer an ammo box.

A Sunny Sunday in North Sydney
Very funny with the dark coming.
TFTC

This geocacher reported that there is a problem with this cache.

What a beautiful hidden area. Found the cache but the ammo box is rusted and I couldnt open to sign the log. TFTC

Good find but couldn't open to register, the lid stuck on too tight. TFTC

That was a good walk in an amazing place. Coudn't get the lid off the ammo box, so couldn't sign. Thanks for bringing us here.

Found the cache but didn't sign as couldn,t get the lid off. Good walk to an amazing place. TFTC

A great place to hide a cache. I didn't even know this place existed.
TFTC

Love this place! Found the cache. Struggling to open the box though. Finally our strongman muggle had some success.

Pen is missing and we didn't bring one. Will drop one off next time we visit unless the next visitor brings one.

Headed to the Newport-Bilgola area for a few geocaches and a nice walk. Little did we know what we were getting into! This was a real surprise and a fantastic pocket of rain forest. We found the green canopy sign and began our first of many steps today. We parked near here and walked to all other caches in the area. The cache notes were clear about how to get to GZ. When we arrived the container was sitting out completely exposed but shut and dry. We replaced it underneath with some recognisable camo. Then headed out upwards. TN L the Bear Crossing TB SL TFTC Cheers... Gaztek

Tftc

Our last day of caching in Sydney with m4yb and we decided to do some closish by to Bilgola and before the humidity got the better of us. Loved the sound and description of this cache so it was added to the list.

You do tend to forget how twisty and windy the roads are and how high up the plateau is, however m4yb did an excellent job of navigating, even though the Geomaps seemed to have some critical differences in roads, but she got us to the best entry point without issue. Then the walk to GZ and thanks so much to the Bush re-generators who have done a fantastic job of getting this section back to pristine condition and for the great path.

Poor m4yb was a bit more worried about the funnel web spider homes we encountered close to GZ, just glad they were sensible and stayed in for the day. We didn't have the best footwear for this sort of track. But with some idea of the location and both phone and my Garmin doing a merry dance she eventually made the find of the replacement container. sad no ammo can anymore but great that this is still in play.

Thanks pm81 for taking it over and hopefully it will remain so, certainly a very special place to find thanks too Geocaching.

So today being our last full day in Sydney, megawat60 and I prepared a list of caches up in the Plateau.
We were intrigued by the description of this cache, so we headed this way, parked the borrowed GeoSubaru and entered the Secret Rainforest. We enjoyed the walk and I walked ahead recording the expedition on my new GoPro. Then it was time for serious caching business.
We followed the hint's suggestion and ended up in a spot with many possibilities. I was a bit nervous as being out of my usual bush territory, with rocks made slippery by leaves and a few funnel web spider holes. So my joy and relief were great when I spotted the cache, no longer an ammo can but a sizeable Sistema. We did the signing duties and I left a tag. TFTC pm81!

Glad the cache page suggested a way in for a track as the Car GPSr suggested another which would have been harder. A nice pocket of green and then the side track into the heart of it. A bit surprised to see some concrete and then the Sydney Water pipes were spotted. Shortly after the cache was spotted bu the lid took a fair bit of effort to open and at one stage we though it would not open. We completed the signing duties and re hide. TFTC

We loved this geocache ( me, my best friend and his dog. It was a great walk that showed us a place we didn't even know existed! Thankyou for the experience, we got our own little treasure and we left one for the next person, hope they enjoy!

Signing off,Blumoses

Interesting reading all the 'didn't know this valley was here' logs. This valley was the scene of the re-enactment of battles on the Kokoda Trail, the jungles of Viet Nam and any other jungle battlefield you can think of. That is, in the imaginations of two kids playing soldiers here in the early 1970's, when my best friend lived in Sybil Street, and we would hack our way through the lantana that infested the valley, shooting tin cans with his air rifle. A much more relaxed attitude in that distant time!

Glad to see the area cleared of invasive species (and kids with air rifles). Found the cache fairly quickly; the plastic one, not the ammo can.

TFTC and the memories. These are worth a favourite point, and a Big Dad 57 pathtag.

Streak day 35 of the challenge to complete my calendar - after a lazy morning sleep in and catching up on a few caching logs that I hadn't got around to completing it was time to head out for the days caches. Today I was heading about half an hour up the beaches in order to target some old caches to fill in a couple of holes in my month hidden list. These caches have been on my radar since last year, but I hadn't been doing much caching after ruining a 9 month long streak. Since I had time this afternoon it was the perfect chance to tick them off. I started with the nearby On A Clear Day... before back tracking to target this one. I parked in the street suggested. Before heading into the secret rainforest. It's often surprising to come across little patches of rainforest like this in suburbia, even if Newport is a particularly green suburb. It was a beautiful park to watch through, though I think it would have been nicer on a sunny day when it is better lit. I followed the path up the hill, keeping an eye out for the side path that I would need to take. There were a few possibilities along the way, but it wasn't too long before I found the proper one. There wasn't much water in the creek, but it was burbling along peacefully. Crossing over I headed up the hill to start hunting for the cache. I went up and over and around before spotting something cachelike. Hmm I wonder which one this is? I had read a few of the previous logs and had learnt about this cache actually being two for the price of one this one was the 2009 replacement. I signed the log then rehid it with some available cover. Since I had time I decided to look for the other cache, the ammo tin. I tried a few more places then headed up the hill to try more. My GPS seemed to think I was in the right spot, but then I thought maybe not at the right level. Back down again I kept hunting. Getting down low I was looking one way when out of the corner of my eye I spotted it. It was definitely a 'how did I miss that before' moment. I retrieved the cache easily enough, but the tin definitely didn't want to give up its log easily. But I put my back into it and managed to reef it open. I signed the second log for this location rehiding it as I had found it. I took a few more minutes to admire the area before heading back to my car. What a nice little adventure. I definitely agree with the current cache owners decision to leave both caches in play. They don't detract from each other and they both have a history at the site going back several years, it just adds an extra, unique element of fun. TFTCs.

Edited to correct date to Sydney time.

Our decent size cache. TFTC

It took two tries to find the trail head. And then it was just a short climb. But it was very impressive! Locating the box was then easy. Only afterwards we learned that we could have made two finds.

TFTC - Fogg & Consortin

Early evening find with the lads

Yep, there are two. It seems that the second container, placed by Charl in 2009 somehow got shifted, and was believed to be lost (Muggled) in 2011. Since then, everyone has found one or the other without realizing the other was there. I suppose I'd be breaking the rules by leaving them both in play. But I think it's a potential cool little double cache. Makes things a little more interesting. Both containers have their own history, seems wrong to remove one. The official cache, is an ammo can that was placed by Tyreless, when he was the CO. But the sistema container, placed by Charl (the original CO) is currently floating around nearby. Explains why some of the log entries suggest the coods are off

Remove one cache.

Disabling, while I investigate this two cache mystery .

Seems like there are 2 caches in this park - one I found had a log book signed by Equipe des Fous on 25/10/14 and then "Jeff, Jen, Mu, Harry and Murphy" on 12/1/15, with no one since then, which doesn't match all the found it logs in 2014 & 2015 since EdF found it. The one I found does not match the photo of what wamstar is holding up.

New CO needs to find the two caches (for the one that I found, I will be adding spoiler photos) and the one that most people found in 2015. Decide on one container, put both sets of contents inside and double check the coordinates (post a change & update hint if necessary); take the spare container away.

Cheers, KRS.

16/10/15. 8:50 AM. Cache #3109. Streak day #481.
1st of 4 today - Newport, Clareville & Avalon Beach.

I started on the track at the Crown of Newport and then went up and up and up. The rainforest here certainly gives this caching adventure a bit of wow factor, although all the funnel-web holes I saw as I went up the stairs were a little offputting.

I was about 50m too high up before I re-read the description and saw that I needed to look for a side track, so back down I went, and then across once I found the side track. Barely a trickle of water in the creek made for an easy crossing.

And then, the signal played havoc and I went around in circles, although this also meant a few significant ups and downs as well - luckily I found a handy rope to help with some of the climbing. I then tried to reconcile the rocks and trees with the "Spoiler" photo, but couldn't. Just as I was considering other hiding places, I turned around and there it was! I opened it up and saw that it had the 2nd replacement log from 2009. It had several log entries from 2009 to 2013 and a handful of logs from 2014, but not much since then. Which has me thinking that there are 2 caches in this park, with most of the past finders having found the other one. I'll add some photos; I think the new CO might need to rectify this. After putting it back and returning to my car, I headed over to "Recycled" to hopefully put right an earlier DNF. TFTC.
} : )

This entry was edited by Kid Ron Satan on Sunday, 18 October 2015 at 10:46:11 UTC.

Secret Rainforest was transferred from Tyreless to user pm81

Found and adopted.

Love the location - we live so close to here however didn't know this place existed!

Today we decided to head North and target a few caches around the Newport area.

Parked the geomobile at the end of Hillslope Road and headed into the rainforest. Walked along the very nice rainforest pathway then left the path to cross the creek and then hiked up to GZ. The GPSr was all over the place but we eventually spotted the hide and had CIH. Contents were a bit damp. 2nd find for the day. TNLNSL.

Thanks Tyreless for the very nice "secret" location, and for the cache.

Find #570

Found it. Probably not the best attire for bushwalking as we found straight from a wedding but good fun! Beautiful spot!

Great walk in the bush, fantastic area, not a muggle to be seen.
Headed to this one after a wedding locally.

Cache still in good condition a little damp as GH mentioned.

Thank you for the cache

Thanks for alerting me to the condition of the cache, GH. I'll check it out next time I am in the area (not sure when that will be). In the meantime it's still there to be found.

#1528 (6 of 9 today)

Decided to bite the bullet and head to another new caching area for me - the Northern Beaches.
I had four target caches - my primary target was a new hidden month, two secondary targets sharing a new hidden date, and a tertiary target of a still existing archived cache (The Hungry Hole GCF316).
[center]* * * END OF CUT AND PASTE SECTION * * *[/center]
This was my Hidden Month target, and so I originally headed here after almost drowning up on the headland looking for Sea Air.

When I was much younger, family holidays were in Bilgola / Avalon. Memories abounded as I passed the house we rented on my way to GZ today. Still never knew this was here, although I do remember the koala colony at Avalon.

The rain was steady as I alit from The Hademobile, so I grabbed the umbrella and headed up from the bottom of the track.
As I climbed I noted the creeks and waterfalls next to the path. Very nice. Worked out the path to the cache... aah. Creek crossing. Spotted three possible crossings but only one looked viable. Stepped onto the first rock and soon noticed that the water was climbing up that rock, closer to my shoe. Looked hairy trying to cross, and even if I make it, it'll be higher still on the way back.

So I aborted, went to lunch and grabbed two more caches. Then I returned, the rain having stopped.

The second attempt started from the other end of the trail. No rain meant no umbrella, but as I approached the crossing I could still hear the rushing water.
But on getting to the crossing the water was much lower, and the crossing easy.
So I crossed.

Heading towards GZ I didn't even start the search. The cache was open and lying out in the rain - muggled.
Fortunately, while the contents were damp, there was no water pooled in the container because of how it lay. And all the contents appeared to be there, logbook included.

So I took the cache away to a dry overhang to assess the damage and complete signing duties.
Had nothing with which to dry it out - the CO may want to have a look, but the log was easily signable - just damp.

Not sure where the cache should be, so I rehid it in a logical spot right near where I found it. I have a photo of the placement if the CO needs it.

Beautiful area, and leech free.
Thanks for keeping this old one going Tyreless.

SLTNLN
TFTC

Found it on a very hot Sunday while escaping the heat and heading for the Coast. Another quick find due to the container being very exposed, I have hidden it a bit better. Great location and a favourite point from me. TFTC

Our favourite of the day!

We parked at the end of a street and had a short bash and creek crossing to the path. From here we walked uphill for a while till we spotted the side track.

After a hop, skip and a jump we were at GZ for an easy find.

Then back downhill we went.

TFTC.

Another amazing spot that despite living in Newport my entire life have never seen.

Another morning on the northern beaches and what a morning it was - too warm for a cycle so I came up to Newport to enjoy a few T3 caches.

After a lookout and a beach view, it was time to get under the rainforest canopy. It took me 3 shots to get to the right entry point as I hadn't read the description. It does say secret I suppose. I am glad I persisted as it was my favourite walk of the morning. I grew up near a very similar rainforest remnant in Seaforth.

I was also pleased to see how accurate the GPRs (a loaner and new to me) was in getting me to the cache, no guesswork despite the trees and rocks, I might have to make the owner an offer.

Took a TB and cleaned out a bit of cache rubbish.

Thanks for maintaining this Tyreless - it gets a favourite from me.

Found the cache. Great spot, had not been down here in years.

Nice little bush walk.

Found with other_mel

Lived in Newport for 24 years and didn't know about this place. Amazing

This was well worth the effort of walking here today, amazing beautiful hideaway, a wonderful peaceful place, thanks for bringing me here and TFTC.

First find! Awesome spot guys. P.s. The pen is dead so for future adventurers bring a pen!

Amazing location can not believe I have never heard of such a place,

We found it
Lovely spot
If there is two we only found one

Did it

We have found this one before but we decide to bring a friend here to get them into geocaching. We were surprised to find 2 caches both with the same name within metres of each other.

this little gem introduced me to geocaching, thanks!
i left a drawing and my mate left a poem

Awesome location and beautiful walk

Second attempt but got it this time - yay!

We have been living with this underneath our nose for two years. Great find and great location.

That was an amazing rainforest in the middle of suburbia! Cant believe we didn't know about it. Beautiful spot, TFTC. Watch out for big spideys in webs... We found this one tonight just as it got very dark at 8pm with a big black raincloud overhead! Just made it out before the rain started.

Found it....been wanting to get up here for a while. TYFTC. It really is a beautiful hidden surprise . Left a little treasure, took a little memento.

Nice cache have failed to find before but that was when I was a cache noob now I know what to look for.

what a lovely experience, I ended up walking away past the cache turnoff to see where the track lead and then doubled back to take the track across the creeek. If you pass the blue hand you have gone too far. I was surprised that my GPS registered at all under the canopy. The clue was essential. I attacked the cache from below as proped by the cache setter. Took a TB. TYFTC

I did a quick cache check. I have replaced the container with an ammo can which will prevent condensation and restocked it with fresh swaps.

Awesome spot!
We found a geocoin, and will move it to a new cache.

This entry was edited by Platypiipower on Saturday, 21 September 2013 at 04:09:46 UTC.

Wonderful secret place - within a few steps you are transported back in time. If the maintenance was done due to moisture then there is still a bit of a problem - condensation in the lid and mouldy items - but the log is OK in its plastic bag. I would also suggest some protections from tick bites.
I dropped off a Geo Coin and grabbed a shark, to move it closer to the water!
A great place to be in the early hours with the bird life calling and the sun filtering through.
Thanks for taking on this hide Tyreless!
Geo-Haiku:
It is nearly Spring!
The birds whistle their secrets,
In the Rainforest.

Clearing the "Needs Maintenance" attribute. Cache is ready to be found.

GPS jumped around a bit but with a little searching we found it! Good one, thanks!

Secret Rainforest was transferred from akkatracker to user Tyreless

With a bit of time between jobs I dropped by for this cache. Came in off the end of Kanimbla Crescent.

It's a nice short walk through lush rainforest to a sensitive area where the cache is hidden. It's a very nice place and I was glad to be brought here.

I replaced the log which was a bit of pulpy. SL TFTC

Found at 10:28 AM

This entry was edited by Tyreless on Thursday, 27 June 2013 at 21:06:51 UTC.

Found aftrr a nice walk through the reserve.

Found after a little foraging. Cache damp but location gorgeous.

Found it after a little bit of circling. Beautiful location. Cache is still all in the container but has unfortunately been soaked at some point. Written visitor list is unusable. Suggest next person brings a new pocket notepad to replace it.

Cache should be dry now.

Secret Rainforest was transferred from Charl to user akkatracker

Easy find, put more camo - we saw it on approach. Waterlogged. Nice location. TFTC

Very damp. Log book is waterlogged and items are soaked.

Will replace.