Dashing Clouds, Dashing Brooks & Dashing Beauty Fumina, Victoria, Australia
By
Geof on 01-Apr-05. Waypoint GCN59B
Cache Details
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Archived Cache Notice:
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Logs
Well this is disappointment times 10…..
We started this one back in early 2016, and visited all the waypoints, which were very memorable as they hadn’t been disturbed for a hell of a long time….
The first waypoint was buried about 8 inches down in the dirt under a big limb that had fallen out of the host tree,, and the second waypoint was again really covered in a ton of dirt in the rocks, but at the time both were dry inside.
So we have had the final sitting there until our next trip down there, which hasn’t happened for a few years unfortunately….
Oh well, we have the final co-ords, so we still might give it a crack one day to finish it off.
We started this one back in early 2016, and visited all the waypoints, which were very memorable as they hadn’t been disturbed for a hell of a long time….
The first waypoint was buried about 8 inches down in the dirt under a big limb that had fallen out of the host tree,, and the second waypoint was again really covered in a ton of dirt in the rocks, but at the time both were dry inside.
So we have had the final sitting there until our next trip down there, which hasn’t happened for a few years unfortunately….
Oh well, we have the final co-ords, so we still might give it a crack one day to finish it off.
Despite this cache being recently archived, we had to try our hand just in case it was still findable. We slogged it up the hill to waypoint 1. The co-ords were spot on and the tree described in the hint is quite obvious but despite scratching around the base and looking inside, we came up empty handed.
We weren't sure from the CO's archive log if the containers at the two waypoints and GZ had been collected so as to not become geolitter, but it appears that that is the case.
On this sad note, our quest to find this cache is at an end.
We weren't sure from the CO's archive log if the containers at the two waypoints and GZ had been collected so as to not become geolitter, but it appears that that is the case.
On this sad note, our quest to find this cache is at an end.
Having visited a number of waypoints in this cache and having found caches gone I think its time to put this one to bed for good. This will free up GZ should someone wish to place one there.
I started this cache back in January 2015 but haven't had an opportunity to continue it. I understand your decision, Geof, but still feel gutted by missing out on what was I'm sure, an awesome cache.
likewise sorry to see this great treasure go
we visited Micro A on 24 November this year
and Micro B on the day after
and everything was in order then
sorry that we couldn't see this one to completion
but thanks nevertheless for the adventure it brought
we visited Micro A on 24 November this year
and Micro B on the day after
and everything was in order then
sorry that we couldn't see this one to completion
but thanks nevertheless for the adventure it brought
Replaced cache and log book with a new ones and moved GZ location as noted in the listing.
# The end of a long mental adventure #
This cache achieved holy grail status in the initial chase for unloved caches after Philipp published his notorious challenge. Then, once he found the cache he deposited a clue sheet within, now gone, for a never solved mystery. Although these events alerted me to the cache's existence I think they are a distraction from its true majesty.
I began visiting waypoints long ago, and made it to the penultimate waypoint about two years ago. I just couldn't make time to get back, and now the cache has been without a visit for a very long time again.
I decided that I would go alone as waiting for my dear wife to have a free day to accompany me would lead to rumours about a yoga mat that she carries with her. I braved the track that wanted to scratch my car to pieces and got very close to GZ. After admiring the ultimate goal of this adventure, and not heeding the warning sign, I crossed over into GZ territory, a dank land of rotting timbers, leeches, ferns and blackberries.
Using my phone to zero in was a fool's errand but entering the coordinates into a GPS had me examining a hide more closely. I realised that in my earlier search I had already uncovered the cache, but I had not seen it as my eyes had not adjusted to the gloom. The poor old container is totally waterlogged but I was able to make my mark in the sodden logbook. Day1976 had also left an IOU for me in the container but I think he repaid me long ago, or at least I'll have to believe him. I'm proud to join the good company in the logbook, and it is worth drying it out and preserving it in a Pelican, should anyone be thinking of an attempt.
This cache is a magnificent example of pure old school caching wizardry. Get out into the great outdoors, explore like crazy, and at the end of it all find an incongruous object in a stunning location. Although I have generally ceased to award favourite points I will grant one here for the extreme pleasure of the grandiose natural journey and to mark the end of my long personal journey.
This cache achieved holy grail status in the initial chase for unloved caches after Philipp published his notorious challenge. Then, once he found the cache he deposited a clue sheet within, now gone, for a never solved mystery. Although these events alerted me to the cache's existence I think they are a distraction from its true majesty.
I began visiting waypoints long ago, and made it to the penultimate waypoint about two years ago. I just couldn't make time to get back, and now the cache has been without a visit for a very long time again.
I decided that I would go alone as waiting for my dear wife to have a free day to accompany me would lead to rumours about a yoga mat that she carries with her. I braved the track that wanted to scratch my car to pieces and got very close to GZ. After admiring the ultimate goal of this adventure, and not heeding the warning sign, I crossed over into GZ territory, a dank land of rotting timbers, leeches, ferns and blackberries.
Using my phone to zero in was a fool's errand but entering the coordinates into a GPS had me examining a hide more closely. I realised that in my earlier search I had already uncovered the cache, but I had not seen it as my eyes had not adjusted to the gloom. The poor old container is totally waterlogged but I was able to make my mark in the sodden logbook. Day1976 had also left an IOU for me in the container but I think he repaid me long ago, or at least I'll have to believe him. I'm proud to join the good company in the logbook, and it is worth drying it out and preserving it in a Pelican, should anyone be thinking of an attempt.
This cache is a magnificent example of pure old school caching wizardry. Get out into the great outdoors, explore like crazy, and at the end of it all find an incongruous object in a stunning location. Although I have generally ceased to award favourite points I will grant one here for the extreme pleasure of the grandiose natural journey and to mark the end of my long personal journey.
As we were at the start of this one we did what was needed and worked out the next waypoint but that will have to wait for another day , hopefully we will get to the end one day.
[green] Dodgy Finds [/green]
So ... after years I finally came to stage 1 of this lovely cache. It's really a great spot as are the other waypoints.
That said I seriously doubt that Slowsun & dsdmmitchell found it.
Thanks and cheers
Philipp
[url=http://fb.com/groups/geocachingmelbourne][navy]Geocaching Melbourne[/navy][/url]
So ... after years I finally came to stage 1 of this lovely cache. It's really a great spot as are the other waypoints.
That said I seriously doubt that Slowsun & dsdmmitchell found it.
Thanks and cheers
Philipp
[url=http://fb.com/groups/geocachingmelbourne][navy]Geocaching Melbourne[/navy][/url]
Got it! No muggles in sight, amazing location. DSDMMitchell strike again...finally!
Date: 23 March 2014
Time: 11:10am
Find # 3685
Streak: 235 days
Wow, what a cache, truly an epic adventure. I started on this one over a year ago, but had forgotten about it until now when my D/T matrix obsession shone through, so over the last three weeks I have been gradually working my way through the waypoints, one at a time, until finally today it was time for the conclusion to this adventure. The weather was not the best with a bit of drizzle falling. I was not 100% sure how to approach GZ, initially starting from the north, but once I had driven as far as I could, I realised this was wrong and tried what ultimately was the right approach. I drove as far as I dared and parked to the side of the track and made my way to GZ on foot. Quite a nice walk on this dreary day. Wow, what a fantastic spot near to GZ Very impressive. I soon after had GZ in sight and found the container in the second place I looked. Log book is a little damp but ultimately still useable. I missed out on the unlove days on this one by 1 day, again beaten by day1976.
Thanks to Geof for a truly remarkable cache and definitely worthy of a favourite point. TNLN
Time: 11:10am
Find # 3685
Streak: 235 days
Wow, what a cache, truly an epic adventure. I started on this one over a year ago, but had forgotten about it until now when my D/T matrix obsession shone through, so over the last three weeks I have been gradually working my way through the waypoints, one at a time, until finally today it was time for the conclusion to this adventure. The weather was not the best with a bit of drizzle falling. I was not 100% sure how to approach GZ, initially starting from the north, but once I had driven as far as I could, I realised this was wrong and tried what ultimately was the right approach. I drove as far as I dared and parked to the side of the track and made my way to GZ on foot. Quite a nice walk on this dreary day. Wow, what a fantastic spot near to GZ Very impressive. I soon after had GZ in sight and found the container in the second place I looked. Log book is a little damp but ultimately still useable. I missed out on the unlove days on this one by 1 day, again beaten by day1976.
Thanks to Geof for a truly remarkable cache and definitely worthy of a favourite point. TNLN
I admit I haven't been to all of the waypoints for this multi-cache, but I have been to the published co-ordinates, and now also the final GZ. It was whilst sitting at a cafe a couple of weeks ago that I overheard two geocachers discussing this cache. I took out my notepad and listened into the discussion, and then they read out the co-ordinates!
The reason that this cache has been on my watch-list recently is for the DT combo. The year worth of unlove was an added bonus, but it did mean that I had to act quickly. There were obviously at least two other cachers who had the final co-ordinates, it was just a matter of who could get there first!
So two weeks later, after tending to one of my cache series, I drove over to attempt this one. The road that I decided was the obvious approach turned out to be closed due to logging operations, so I drove back to town to re-calculate. According to the maps I had, there was no other easy way into this cache, so I got out of the car and inspected a map at an information bay and noticed another so called "road" that seemed to lead in a similar direction.
There is a point in a cars life when it changes from being your pride and joy to being "the old girl" and today was that day for my ute. Although the paintwork was already not perfect, today she copped it as I navigated the "road" to this cache. Scratches on all panels, including the roof, dents on the fenders, my 2WD ute with low profile tires was NOT designed to be driven on this road!
But she made it, and with 100 meters to go I got out and walked the remainder of the way in. An awesome place for a cache, but with a bouncing GPS, the final part of this journey was proving difficult. Thoughts of "caching karma" began to enter my brain as obviously I had cheated this old cache, and it was paying me back by not giving up the final hide! Then my mind went back to the scene at the cafe, maybe I had misheard, there were a few screaming kids around at the time. Then another more evil scenario entered my brain. Maybe the two geocachers I had overheard knew I was listening in! Maybe they deliberately threw me the wrong co-ordinates!
All of these negative thought did not help my searching as I began to doubt if I was even in the right spot. That's when I heard the rumble of thunder and looked to the west and saw one huge storm heading for the mountain. I did not want to be caught in that, or try and navigate that track back out again in the wet! A quick dash back to the ute, I turned her around and high tailed it back to town.
From town I had mobile reception again so I messaged a previous finder who confirmed that my co-ordinates were good. With that doubt set aside I knew that today was done with, I found a place to pitch a tent and settled in for the night.
The next morning I drove back to the town, but with the now muddy track, I decided that this one was now going to be a hike in. Last night, whilst huddled in the tent listening to other campers getting drunk, I had gone over the scene in my mind, and I was pretty sure I knew where the cache was. Turned out I was right, and after a much more detailed search of the specific object (I dug deep in to the leaf matter) I pulled out the treasure!
Cache contained about 50mls of water. The zip lock bag had done an admirable job of holding back the moisture, but the log was still quite damp, but signable. I drained the cache and the contents, signed the log and replaced the cache.
Thanks so much to Geof for this cache, sorry to not have completed it in the traditional manner, but of the two locations I did get to, this is worth a favorite point just for those two alone! A great cache, and to those who are not far behind me in finding this one, the only advice I can give you is to keep your voice down when chatting at a cafe, you never know who might be listening!
The reason that this cache has been on my watch-list recently is for the DT combo. The year worth of unlove was an added bonus, but it did mean that I had to act quickly. There were obviously at least two other cachers who had the final co-ordinates, it was just a matter of who could get there first!
So two weeks later, after tending to one of my cache series, I drove over to attempt this one. The road that I decided was the obvious approach turned out to be closed due to logging operations, so I drove back to town to re-calculate. According to the maps I had, there was no other easy way into this cache, so I got out of the car and inspected a map at an information bay and noticed another so called "road" that seemed to lead in a similar direction.
There is a point in a cars life when it changes from being your pride and joy to being "the old girl" and today was that day for my ute. Although the paintwork was already not perfect, today she copped it as I navigated the "road" to this cache. Scratches on all panels, including the roof, dents on the fenders, my 2WD ute with low profile tires was NOT designed to be driven on this road!
But she made it, and with 100 meters to go I got out and walked the remainder of the way in. An awesome place for a cache, but with a bouncing GPS, the final part of this journey was proving difficult. Thoughts of "caching karma" began to enter my brain as obviously I had cheated this old cache, and it was paying me back by not giving up the final hide! Then my mind went back to the scene at the cafe, maybe I had misheard, there were a few screaming kids around at the time. Then another more evil scenario entered my brain. Maybe the two geocachers I had overheard knew I was listening in! Maybe they deliberately threw me the wrong co-ordinates!
All of these negative thought did not help my searching as I began to doubt if I was even in the right spot. That's when I heard the rumble of thunder and looked to the west and saw one huge storm heading for the mountain. I did not want to be caught in that, or try and navigate that track back out again in the wet! A quick dash back to the ute, I turned her around and high tailed it back to town.
From town I had mobile reception again so I messaged a previous finder who confirmed that my co-ordinates were good. With that doubt set aside I knew that today was done with, I found a place to pitch a tent and settled in for the night.
The next morning I drove back to the town, but with the now muddy track, I decided that this one was now going to be a hike in. Last night, whilst huddled in the tent listening to other campers getting drunk, I had gone over the scene in my mind, and I was pretty sure I knew where the cache was. Turned out I was right, and after a much more detailed search of the specific object (I dug deep in to the leaf matter) I pulled out the treasure!
Cache contained about 50mls of water. The zip lock bag had done an admirable job of holding back the moisture, but the log was still quite damp, but signable. I drained the cache and the contents, signed the log and replaced the cache.
Thanks so much to Geof for this cache, sorry to not have completed it in the traditional manner, but of the two locations I did get to, this is worth a favorite point just for those two alone! A great cache, and to those who are not far behind me in finding this one, the only advice I can give you is to keep your voice down when chatting at a cafe, you never know who might be listening!
Visited the location of micro A and found the original micro safe and well less than 30 cm from the replacement someone had kindly left. The replacement has been removed.
Micro B was found to be safe and well on a visit earlier in the year.
Micro B was found to be safe and well on a visit earlier in the year.
Well this one has been a work in progress for over 2 years, when we started the first part of this multi. Continued it a week ago and found some very nice hiking places. The log trucks and dusty roads were a menace though. Today I had a chance to complete the multi. Not the location i was expecting at all, nor the feature at the end. What a surprise. Had quite a battle finding the last GZ and avoiding leeches, but eventually ignored the wayward GPS and looked around for a while. Eventually found a water filled container. The log however was quite dry luckily. Poured the water off, signed the log, then bolted as i still had children to sort out after school. Thanks Geof for the brilliant adventure and showing me some new places to explore. Will be back to the final GZ soon when i have more time.
The TDC (Quasar3671, Blacklegend & TrailRunning) spent the early evening gathering caches in the bayside area, before heading west to collect some caches out far west. While the night was not the high numbers the crew are generally used to, the quality of the night was excellent. The night was highlighted by an unexpected FTF out near Baw Baw.
This cache has been on my the radar for a very long time. I have been collecting the WP's over a number of months now, and it wasn't until the unloved challenge came out that it was now in everyones sights. As as I had already collected enough unloved caches to log the chalenge I decided to leave this cache alone to allow for others who needed the numbers to go and get it. To my surprise it was the unloved challenge cache owner who came up here to collect it! I asked myself why did I wait? I know I did the right thing. After it had been found, it was only a matter of time before we were up here to grab it for ourselves. So tonight as we chased a FTF up near Baw Baw we stopped here to walk into the cache and claim a find. The track mentioned in the hint is now well overgrown but the cache was in good condition. Thanks for a great and long distance experience.
This cache has been on my the radar for a very long time. I have been collecting the WP's over a number of months now, and it wasn't until the unloved challenge came out that it was now in everyones sights. As as I had already collected enough unloved caches to log the chalenge I decided to leave this cache alone to allow for others who needed the numbers to go and get it. To my surprise it was the unloved challenge cache owner who came up here to collect it! I asked myself why did I wait? I know I did the right thing. After it had been found, it was only a matter of time before we were up here to grab it for ourselves. So tonight as we chased a FTF up near Baw Baw we stopped here to walk into the cache and claim a find. The track mentioned in the hint is now well overgrown but the cache was in good condition. Thanks for a great and long distance experience.
Myself and fellow TDC crew (Blacklegend and Trailrunning) hit the road tonight for a caching road trip that had us starting in Cheltenham and at the end of the run, we were walking the tracks at Mt Baw Baw. With a goal set for the night and many kilometers to travel, we had a plenty of time to chat about caching and life in general. Once again the weather was good, even though cool, a great night to be out and about.
Numbers were small tonight but the kilometers travelled were many, and we did managed to find our main target and even a nice FTF during our adventures as well. We had a great time in an area none of us had been too before and we are sure to return to during a future run to find some more caches there.
We've had the final coords on hand for a little while now and tonight had decided to attempt to find the final cache. A fabulous cache with many scenic views and kilometers travelled along the way. Finding the final for this cache was the highlight of our night. The area at GZ has surely changed in the 7 years since the cache had been placed and we did have some problems locating the final hide. The area is definitely off the beaten track and it is a magnificent location, with the stream flowing at full strength, the night time noises all combining to add to the ambience . We stopped and talked here a while before making our attempt to locate the hide.
A valley, thick tree coverage, GPS's pointing here and there and the hints not helping; we wandered the forest here and there, ever widening the search area. After a good 30 minute search, and Marshy and Trailrunning and I probing different areas, the all important three words rung in the night air 'I found it'. TR had trusted his GPS, allowed it to settle and it lead him to the hide. The indicated track in the hint was almost impossible to see at night and was pretty hard to see or spot with the overgrowth and the stump at lot smaller than what I was looking for but the coords were good and the hint is accurate.
A great cache and a favourite for me.
Thanks Geof.
Numbers were small tonight but the kilometers travelled were many, and we did managed to find our main target and even a nice FTF during our adventures as well. We had a great time in an area none of us had been too before and we are sure to return to during a future run to find some more caches there.
We've had the final coords on hand for a little while now and tonight had decided to attempt to find the final cache. A fabulous cache with many scenic views and kilometers travelled along the way. Finding the final for this cache was the highlight of our night. The area at GZ has surely changed in the 7 years since the cache had been placed and we did have some problems locating the final hide. The area is definitely off the beaten track and it is a magnificent location, with the stream flowing at full strength, the night time noises all combining to add to the ambience . We stopped and talked here a while before making our attempt to locate the hide.
A valley, thick tree coverage, GPS's pointing here and there and the hints not helping; we wandered the forest here and there, ever widening the search area. After a good 30 minute search, and Marshy and Trailrunning and I probing different areas, the all important three words rung in the night air 'I found it'. TR had trusted his GPS, allowed it to settle and it lead him to the hide. The indicated track in the hint was almost impossible to see at night and was pretty hard to see or spot with the overgrowth and the stump at lot smaller than what I was looking for but the coords were good and the hint is accurate.
A great cache and a favourite for me.
Thanks Geof.
Another night caching run by the TDC - The Demolition Crew (Quasar3671, Trailrunning and myself). Not a huge total of caches tonight, but a mission with a purpose, anyhow, with the low number of caches, came a large amount of chat, jokes and great conversation in the car. The trip was more of a road trip, taking us from Melbourne to Baw Baw and back. Nice.
What a huge adventure to do at night... Crazy, yes, but for a purpose. I was going to put a huge write up on this, but what more can I say than what Trailrunning and Quasar3671 have already said. Fantastic time. TFTC.
This entry was edited by Blacklegend on Friday, 05 October 2012 at 01:36:03 UTC.
What a huge adventure to do at night... Crazy, yes, but for a purpose. I was going to put a huge write up on this, but what more can I say than what Trailrunning and Quasar3671 have already said. Fantastic time. TFTC.
This entry was edited by Blacklegend on Friday, 05 October 2012 at 01:36:03 UTC.
[font=Comic Sans MS]
Part 2 of the log
Another 30 min later the new micro (which is more like a small) was in place and I could scoop back to the car which turned out to be fun in the snow :cute: Unfortunately daylight was fading and I estimated that I'll have about 20 minutes to look for micro B >> I was right about that. The path to the spot was way more muddy, wet and just ugly. I was sooo happy to have gaiters and proper boots otherwise my feet would have been just frozen thingys. However I wasn't the only lunatic out that day: Two guys decided that it is a good idea to camp up there. Well ... I was looking forward to a really nice and warm bed :tongue:
In the fading light of the day, the coords were punched into the GPS just to reveal that ... what?!? ... how many hours? seriously? That kind of gave me the rest: I decided to call it a day and gather the troops for the next.
Sunday.
I know facebook is meant to make friends but today I was a bit "auf Krawall gebürstet" and posted some stuff indicating covert and I were going after this cache on our own. Well we weren't that stupid because there is way too good company in the Melbourne geocaching community to miss out. Covert's new geo-car was put to the test: Can it handle a bunch of loonies? Except for the ground clearance (shocking!) the yet to be named vehicle did quite well. Needless to say we absolutely had a ball! Except this cache we only found one more but it's not about the numbers and this weekend was just the living proof.
The cache ... well ... I guess you just have to see it for yourself. It is well-placed and absolutely worth this trip. I took heaps of pics which my family in Germany enjoys. I know why I spend all the hours on the mountain and I suggest you go after this cache if you already haven't.
"This cache is about the place and the Journey."
I couldn't agree more.
[green]Thanks a lot Geof - especially for the text at micro A - your cache made a very memorable weekend.
Philipp[/green]
[url=http://nightcaching.org][green]Nightcaching Australia[/green][/url]
cache no. 2072
P.S.: By accident I placed my scribble sheet for [url=http://coord.info/GC37XN4]GC37XN4[/url] in the final cach. If you find it and it makes sense to you, the FTF will be well deserved.
Part 2 of the log
Another 30 min later the new micro (which is more like a small) was in place and I could scoop back to the car which turned out to be fun in the snow :cute: Unfortunately daylight was fading and I estimated that I'll have about 20 minutes to look for micro B >> I was right about that. The path to the spot was way more muddy, wet and just ugly. I was sooo happy to have gaiters and proper boots otherwise my feet would have been just frozen thingys. However I wasn't the only lunatic out that day: Two guys decided that it is a good idea to camp up there. Well ... I was looking forward to a really nice and warm bed :tongue:
In the fading light of the day, the coords were punched into the GPS just to reveal that ... what?!? ... how many hours? seriously? That kind of gave me the rest: I decided to call it a day and gather the troops for the next.
Sunday.
I know facebook is meant to make friends but today I was a bit "auf Krawall gebürstet" and posted some stuff indicating covert and I were going after this cache on our own. Well we weren't that stupid because there is way too good company in the Melbourne geocaching community to miss out. Covert's new geo-car was put to the test: Can it handle a bunch of loonies? Except for the ground clearance (shocking!) the yet to be named vehicle did quite well. Needless to say we absolutely had a ball! Except this cache we only found one more but it's not about the numbers and this weekend was just the living proof.
The cache ... well ... I guess you just have to see it for yourself. It is well-placed and absolutely worth this trip. I took heaps of pics which my family in Germany enjoys. I know why I spend all the hours on the mountain and I suggest you go after this cache if you already haven't.
"This cache is about the place and the Journey."
I couldn't agree more.
[green]Thanks a lot Geof - especially for the text at micro A - your cache made a very memorable weekend.
Philipp[/green]
[url=http://nightcaching.org][green]Nightcaching Australia[/green][/url]
cache no. 2072
P.S.: By accident I placed my scribble sheet for [url=http://coord.info/GC37XN4]GC37XN4[/url] in the final cach. If you find it and it makes sense to you, the FTF will be well deserved.
[purple]EPIC![/purple][font=Comic Sans MS]
Wow! I am still stunned :shocked: What an awesome cache and what an amazing weekend! This cache hasn't been found for 2222 days so I suspected that some things might not be in place. Covert and I did some preparation in order to have all in place when the snow is gone. Well ... we changed our mind and went for it!
Saturday
Mt Baw Baw snow report said something about 40 cm of natural snow so I packed the winter-gear including a full-scale avalanche shovel. Thanks to some prior leg-word I could start at micro A ... but first I had to get there :surprise: I was so occupied to keep the car on the road, that I missed the trail-head by one kilometer. Mental note to myself: Offroad tyres are crap in snow. After I rechecked different maps I backtracked and found the "car-park" covered in a nice white blanket >> no wonder I didn't see it.
I was on my own, in the middle of nowhere, the temperature was around 4 degrees, 20cm - 30cm of wet snow and there is no mobile reception. That sounds like a perfect recipe for a hypothermia disaster, doesn't it? Well here's my warning: Don't try this just because Rallywrxwagon and I knew what we were doing. I had a fair back-up plan in form of a SPOT tracker (sorry guys - just in case you know the tracking page, I made sure to turn off the tracker well before approaching any cache and by now all the other waypoints have been deleted).
Anyway - off I went to micro A which was a really nice walk and GZ was found without any problems but the cache stayed out of sight. After 40 minutes of careful searching and removal of every cm of snow in the vicinity I was pretty sure there is nothing to be found anymore
bummer. Well at least I didn't take the shovel up there for nothing. Judging from the pics of the previous finder there must have been some fire. Geof knew that I wanted to go after this cache so I thought to give him a buzz but ... oh wait! yes reception! No! No reception! Oh dear ... I thought I try my luck to move further up, step on one of the big boulders, stand on one foot and point my left hand towards South-East while wiggling the right ear-lobe ... maybe that works and it did! Not that I had enough bars to make a call but a text did the trick.
[url=http://coord.info/GL900XYG]Go to part 2 of the log[/url]
Wow! I am still stunned :shocked: What an awesome cache and what an amazing weekend! This cache hasn't been found for 2222 days so I suspected that some things might not be in place. Covert and I did some preparation in order to have all in place when the snow is gone. Well ... we changed our mind and went for it!
Saturday
Mt Baw Baw snow report said something about 40 cm of natural snow so I packed the winter-gear including a full-scale avalanche shovel. Thanks to some prior leg-word I could start at micro A ... but first I had to get there :surprise: I was so occupied to keep the car on the road, that I missed the trail-head by one kilometer. Mental note to myself: Offroad tyres are crap in snow. After I rechecked different maps I backtracked and found the "car-park" covered in a nice white blanket >> no wonder I didn't see it.
I was on my own, in the middle of nowhere, the temperature was around 4 degrees, 20cm - 30cm of wet snow and there is no mobile reception. That sounds like a perfect recipe for a hypothermia disaster, doesn't it? Well here's my warning: Don't try this just because Rallywrxwagon and I knew what we were doing. I had a fair back-up plan in form of a SPOT tracker (sorry guys - just in case you know the tracking page, I made sure to turn off the tracker well before approaching any cache and by now all the other waypoints have been deleted).
Anyway - off I went to micro A which was a really nice walk and GZ was found without any problems but the cache stayed out of sight. After 40 minutes of careful searching and removal of every cm of snow in the vicinity I was pretty sure there is nothing to be found anymore
bummer. Well at least I didn't take the shovel up there for nothing. Judging from the pics of the previous finder there must have been some fire. Geof knew that I wanted to go after this cache so I thought to give him a buzz but ... oh wait! yes reception! No! No reception! Oh dear ... I thought I try my luck to move further up, step on one of the big boulders, stand on one foot and point my left hand towards South-East while wiggling the right ear-lobe ... maybe that works and it did! Not that I had enough bars to make a call but a text did the trick. [url=http://coord.info/GL900XYG]Go to part 2 of the log[/url]
Well, need I say more, Philipp has pretty much summed up in many more words than I can manage about how our Sunday went. So great to be able to be part of finding a cache that had not be found for so many years. Our Sunday journey took us on a great adventure and this was definitely about the journey, not the numbers. A great day out, seeing great places and with great company! Am looking forward to the next adventure. Thanks Geof for creating the opportunity.
Seems the rain has slowed things up for the moment. Keep your eyes open because the situation could change.
The fires in the surrounding areas still seem to be active. Any person thinking of heading this way should take advice form the dse website and relevant authoritys takeing note of risks no only at the posted location but surrounding regions also.
17/1/07
Fire risk still seems present and maybe a little closer. Roads are closed in the area so best to avoid for the moment.
[This entry was edited by Geof on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 at 6:37:45 PM.]
17/1/07
Fire risk still seems present and maybe a little closer. Roads are closed in the area so best to avoid for the moment.
[This entry was edited by Geof on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 at 6:37:45 PM.]
Probebly best to avoid this area until the fire situation subsides. It's not there yet but not that far away.
And so at 9.30 this morning I stepped out the front door not knowing it would be 13 hours before I would be home again. What an epic adventure. Firstly I was not sure of the best route to WPt1, so I engaged the Tom Tom to work it out. Amazingly it took me along all the back roads, from Acheron to Marysville down Wood Point road and onto 9 Mile rd, onto link road which dropped me out very close to Tanjil. Off to WPT1. I thought I had everything right but by the time I got back to Tanjil to grab a pie the numbers more importantly the place on the map didn’t add up, I phoned a friend to check and sure enough I had a problem. I must thank Eric (aka Act2youthgroup) for saving me a massive back track. Some of the numbers are pretty obvious mathematically but exact numbers are important in the snow as I would find later.
On to the first cache and back up the way I had already come from. Thankfully I was in a 4wd as the road had been chopped up by recent logging to the point a 2wd would not be able to get up Link rd. Back above the snow line and time to park the car. Having watched the weather I knew today was likely to have its share of snow walking but nothing like I was about to do here. With barely a track to follow I crunched along in fresh powder to the first point. Next challenge, find a cache in the snow. This gives a whole new problem to cache hides. Everything normally associated with hides was under snow (under a rock/log/ledge). Thankfully the GZ was pretty much spot on and my starting search point proved fruitful. CO’s in hand I trekked back down the track, not as pleasant as coming up as it started to snow heavily.
Next point plotted into the TOM TOM and checked on the GPS and an easy route sorted. A bit more snow driving and a fair while latter I arrived at point 2. At first I thought this would be a much easier trek to GZ. But quickly I climbed into the snow line and up amongst some of natures wonders buried in the snow. I new another cache was hidden in the area so kept an eye out for a likely rock or plaque while climbing but to no avail. At GZ 2 I needed the hint the snow was pretty deep around here and I poked the obvious places to no avail. Hint read, it was found easily. I trekked back down slowly checking a few more rocks for the other cache but to no avail. I might have to leave that one for a no snow day.
On to Cache 3 and the final location. By the time I got close it was pitch black and I struggled to find the right road. Almost bogged twice, I parked the car and started checking on foot. I crossed the dashing brook at two places but with no luck. One ended quickly the other after about 200 metres. I stayed on the second one as it had trekked towards GZ before heading off up the hill. Back to the car and about to give up I decided to check on more spot I had noticed driving out. Bingo, hiding behind a thick front of scrub was an old road with what looked like a walking track. Figuring this had to be it I headed off to find the final cache. As I got closer the babbling brook was roaring and I wondered about the fact I was on the wrong side to the cache, “had my other road been the right one”. Nope. The easy solution was at hand and cache was found easily within 3 metres of GZ. Code word collected I signed the log and took a while to think about the day I had had. The trek back to the car was uneventful and I decided to against letting Tom Tom navigate home opting for the longer but bitumen option all the way home via Yarra Junction and Healsville, up the Black spur and home.
Geof thank you for an amazing day out in some spectacular scenery. I haven’t done a whole swag of caches but this one is my favorite. I may not have seen the final cache in the daylight but the previous to caches in the snow were sensational.
On to the first cache and back up the way I had already come from. Thankfully I was in a 4wd as the road had been chopped up by recent logging to the point a 2wd would not be able to get up Link rd. Back above the snow line and time to park the car. Having watched the weather I knew today was likely to have its share of snow walking but nothing like I was about to do here. With barely a track to follow I crunched along in fresh powder to the first point. Next challenge, find a cache in the snow. This gives a whole new problem to cache hides. Everything normally associated with hides was under snow (under a rock/log/ledge). Thankfully the GZ was pretty much spot on and my starting search point proved fruitful. CO’s in hand I trekked back down the track, not as pleasant as coming up as it started to snow heavily.
Next point plotted into the TOM TOM and checked on the GPS and an easy route sorted. A bit more snow driving and a fair while latter I arrived at point 2. At first I thought this would be a much easier trek to GZ. But quickly I climbed into the snow line and up amongst some of natures wonders buried in the snow. I new another cache was hidden in the area so kept an eye out for a likely rock or plaque while climbing but to no avail. At GZ 2 I needed the hint the snow was pretty deep around here and I poked the obvious places to no avail. Hint read, it was found easily. I trekked back down slowly checking a few more rocks for the other cache but to no avail. I might have to leave that one for a no snow day.
On to Cache 3 and the final location. By the time I got close it was pitch black and I struggled to find the right road. Almost bogged twice, I parked the car and started checking on foot. I crossed the dashing brook at two places but with no luck. One ended quickly the other after about 200 metres. I stayed on the second one as it had trekked towards GZ before heading off up the hill. Back to the car and about to give up I decided to check on more spot I had noticed driving out. Bingo, hiding behind a thick front of scrub was an old road with what looked like a walking track. Figuring this had to be it I headed off to find the final cache. As I got closer the babbling brook was roaring and I wondered about the fact I was on the wrong side to the cache, “had my other road been the right one”. Nope. The easy solution was at hand and cache was found easily within 3 metres of GZ. Code word collected I signed the log and took a while to think about the day I had had. The trek back to the car was uneventful and I decided to against letting Tom Tom navigate home opting for the longer but bitumen option all the way home via Yarra Junction and Healsville, up the Black spur and home.
Geof thank you for an amazing day out in some spectacular scenery. I haven’t done a whole swag of caches but this one is my favorite. I may not have seen the final cache in the daylight but the previous to caches in the snow were sensational.
As a note for others. I was well prepared for this trip. I was in a 4WD with ample fuel I wore snow hiking boots and alpine hiking clothing. Even though the hike to any one cache was not over 4 kilometers, I carried equipment for spending the night in the snow. If you are doing this with a friend you could probably do away with the overnight gear but as I was alone I carried it. If you decided to have a go during snow season and I highly recommend it, but go prepared. This cache is no nature trek it’s a serious 5/5 in the winter under snow. Chains are a requirment, as sign posted "all vehicles must carry chains past this point appears in a few spots". Enjoy, I definitly did.
Thought it was time for an inspection. Visited both micros and GZ. All OK. Acts2 came along too and finaly finished the cache. I stood back until he found the caches. It was off home in the dark after that with a number of leach dispatch stops along the way.
The Big T tb visited but didn't get out of the bag.
The Big T tb visited but didn't get out of the bag.
So ends the epic journey that began sometime ago when the dash was on, I found the first waypoint and11:50, the second at 15:30 and the final cache at 17:45. Wow my legs are sore. I saw some great spots and I loved the area of the final cache. Be warned you can not do this cache in shorts or the blackberries will get you. On our way home we spotted the following animals along the road, 1 feral cat, 1 black tailed wallaby, I lost count on the lyrebirds, 1 deer and 1 cow out of the paddock. We also spotted a feral dog earlier in the day. We had to make a stop on the way home to throw some leeches out of the window. All in all I had a great day and thank Geof for driving me around and for allowing me to find all the caches unaided.
As this fire is no longer listed on the DSE website and did not get to the cache it's back up.
Droped in for an inspection visit. Also moved the cache slightly to were most people tell me their GPSrs were pointing them (and mine did today). The clue has been altered accordingly.
Rabbitto, after "drawing a line" I'm glad you finealy found it
Lilo Elvis TB visited.
Rabbitto, after "drawing a line" I'm glad you finealy found it
Lilo Elvis TB visited.
After a third trip out to this area, we are finally able to log this cache at 2:15pm. After hints from Geof after our last visit, search takes about 3 seconds and our name is in the book. Thanks Geof from D,H,S & H B-A.
Well this was an ordeal. Early on in the Dash for cache 2005 competition, we had managed to get 3 FTF's on competition caches. We were silly/naieve enough to think we might be able to make it 4 
, by nabbing this one. Boy were we wrong 
.
We didn't at that stage have any decent mapping, so we simply plugged the details into the GPS, & off we went. We thought to ourselves that Geof's warning about fuel was rather conservative, as we had reached the general vicinity of waypoint #1 (I mean location 1) on about $28 fuel (one way), although the journey had been a little rough on the flock -We were soon to learn why the warning!
It wasn't until we reached the general region, that we realized where Geof had placed the first required location. I can tell you now, that with 2 very young chicks, that distance, with that terrain, was going to prove challenging, & I thought "I hope Geof enjoys our cache". Then we worked out the coords for the next waypoint , & realized how this cache had been planned. 
Well suffice to say that with no extra mapping, & none available anywhere within our reach on the day, we had to call it quits. So back home we went, the tank nearly empty, having seen some great views, & yet feeling frustrated.
About 4 weeks later, we went out again. This time with a new resolve to beat this thing once & for all, we went equipped with extra mapping & gear, and started the assault again. Well at least 35 leeches later (4 of which actually drew blood -a little upsetting for young chicks), and after a long day with much ordeal, we can finally say "DONE!", and can put this baby to rest. Although this cache has required the most arduous journeying of any we know, coupled with many leeches, many $$$, & very large amounts of frustration, and then on the way out destroying a new tyre, we can say, it did take us to some beautiful area's, and scenery that many do not get the priviledge to see or know exists. -Although back on day one, I was happy to wish it hadn't existed.
So our thanks to Geof, for a caching expedition, in a beautiful part of the world, which really was full of Dashing beauty, and a cache which is quite aptly named. Thanks again Geof.
P.S. & I still hope you enjoy our cache.
, by nabbing this one. Boy were we wrong . We didn't at that stage have any decent mapping, so we simply plugged the details into the GPS, & off we went. We thought to ourselves that Geof's warning about fuel was rather conservative, as we had reached the general vicinity of waypoint #1 (I mean location 1) on about $28 fuel (one way), although the journey had been a little rough on the flock -We were soon to learn why the warning!
It wasn't until we reached the general region, that we realized where Geof had placed the first required location.
I can tell you now, that with 2 very young chicks, that distance, with that terrain, was going to prove challenging, & I thought "I hope Geof enjoys our cache". Then we worked out the coords for the next waypoint , & realized how this cache had been planned. Well suffice to say that with no extra mapping, & none available anywhere within our reach on the day, we had to call it quits. So back home we went, the tank nearly empty, having seen some great views, & yet feeling frustrated.
About 4 weeks later, we went out again. This time with a new resolve to beat this thing once & for all, we went equipped with extra mapping & gear, and started the assault again. Well at least 35 leeches later (4 of which actually drew blood -a little upsetting for young chicks), and after a long day with much ordeal, we can finally say "DONE!", and can put this baby to rest. Although this cache has required the most arduous journeying of any we know, coupled with many leeches, many $$$, & very large amounts of frustration, and then on the way out destroying a new tyre, we can say, it did take us to some beautiful area's, and scenery that many do not get the priviledge to see or know exists. -Although back on day one, I was happy to wish it hadn't existed
.So our thanks to Geof, for a caching expedition, in a beautiful part of the world, which really was full of Dashing beauty, and a cache which is quite aptly named. Thanks again Geof.
P.S. & I still hope you enjoy our cache
.I found the two micro caches along the way without too much difficulty a few weeks ago. I didn't have time to get to GZ that day, so left it until later. It was an enjoyable walk in, and I followed the GPS to an area with some likely hiding spots. It looked as though it had been 'worked over' quite recently, so I thought I was in the right area. After a good thorough search without success, I resorted to the clue.
After pacing it out, it again led me to exactly the same area, with an indication of where to look. This time I searched more diligently, but again without success. After a total of around an hour looking, I decided to seek help in case the cache details had been changed. There was no mobile phone coverage, so I resorted to the public phone in the nearest town. Geof had indicated that he was happy for others to be contacted for help on this cache. Both the Maccamob and Biggles Bear hotlines were not accepting calls, so I rang the Crackers hotline where the help was forthcoming.
The clue was correct, (but needed more precise interpretation), and the GPS was out by about 20 metres. Armed with this info, I returned to GZ and quickly found the cache. No exchange was made. Throughout this cache, I've enjoyed the walks and the scenery, although the extended driving distances were not warmly received. Thanks for the cache.
After pacing it out, it again led me to exactly the same area, with an indication of where to look. This time I searched more diligently, but again without success. After a total of around an hour looking, I decided to seek help in case the cache details had been changed. There was no mobile phone coverage, so I resorted to the public phone in the nearest town. Geof had indicated that he was happy for others to be contacted for help on this cache. Both the Maccamob and Biggles Bear hotlines were not accepting calls, so I rang the Crackers hotline where the help was forthcoming.
The clue was correct, (but needed more precise interpretation), and the GPS was out by about 20 metres. Armed with this info, I returned to GZ and quickly found the cache. No exchange was made. Throughout this cache, I've enjoyed the walks and the scenery, although the extended driving distances were not warmly received. Thanks for the cache.
This cache certainly lived up to its name. It had has dashing everywhere with the late start not helping our cause. From a relatively easy calculation to an enjoyable detour followed by a challenging walk in fading light to waypoint 1. Collected the next set of coordinates but unfortunately days are too short and we were unable to make it to the next waypoint. Not to be beaten by this cache we rolled out our swags and camped the night ready to make an early strike. However, our noble steed, the trusty Land cruiser, would not have a bar of this plan. When his engine was killed for the night, his eyes would not go out. Disconnecting the battery would mean reprogramming all sorts of gizmos so exacerbated #1 had to disconnect them individually. Woke early and found waypoint 2 quickly with the dumb uni student navigating, what should have been a straight forward assault turned into a somewhat convoluted approach (apparently map reading is not required in the curriculum or she was enjoying some added 4WDing). After deciding on what was the best way to approach the cache we headed out. On the way to GZ we had to contend with over-friendly blackberries, hungry leeches, poor GPSr reception and more than a dash of beauty. After about 40minutes of searching where the GPSr was telling us to look Joleen got bored with that decrypted the clue and with a bit of guess work was able to locate the cache about 20m from where the GPSr had the oldies searching.
Took Codeword and Skateboard Keyring
Left Lion
Thanks geof for the challenge.
Took Codeword and Skateboard Keyring
Left Lion
Thanks geof for the challenge.
Found 9:40, having left home to start this cache the same time the previous day [B)] This cache took us to some interesting and spectacular places.
Thanks Geof, TNLN.
Thanks Geof, TNLN.
What a marvelous cache this Geof creation is. We saw clouds - while going through thick fog, beauty all around us and the piece de resistance - the magnificent brook. Getting to see all of these unique sights was an ordeal times 1.5 though. You have to work hard to appreciate and experience nature at its best. Took: Batties, Left: Hose connector.
Found by Mary & David at 1600. Well, we really earned this one. Great views, lots of dashing, driving and walking, a big detour, poor satellite lock, leeches, long walks and even longer searches. This dashed cache had the lot! The pink heath in bloom and close encounters with a few lyrebirds and black cockatoos provided added pleasure. We found the road to Micro #1 closed for bridgeworks about 5km west of the car park, so it can only be accessed from the east at present. We took a 4WD short-cut on the detour, which included six river crossings - more interesting and more scenic as well. 2WD-ers will need good maps to plan their approach. A real adventure, but we're sure glad it's behind us now. Probably deserves 4 stars for difficulty. Took sticky tape, left yo yo. Our thanks to Geof.
