Murrumbidgee Meander III Weston, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
By Tankengine on 01-May-05. Waypoint GCNQ10

This cache is a bit off the track, and there are plenty on the track now. So this one can retire...

3662. Found with FurfacesLL, SpecimenX and Tanso. A great day out with the girls with great weather and great company to ensure the kilometres just ticked by.
Yep.... what they said.
A couple of us spotted a platypus as we were departing GZ. An added bonus.
Thanks TE for the cache and the views.

Saturday had arrived! So that meant our group of interpid explorers consisting of Boot "Grylls" 65, Tanso, the ladies of the FurfacesLL and myself assembled nice and early at 0700 hours at Kambah Pool after a car shuffle to set off on our Murrumbidgee caching trek-more than 14kms all the way to the end at Casurina Sands

It was a nice sunny day and a great season to do this trek-not too hot, lush green fields and LOTS of different species of native plants in flower-lovely!

Omg...this one should be called the "Murrumbidgee Mauler" [:O)] Because that's precisely the condition I was in when I reached the cache - MAULED!! On my way down I got prickled and then slipped when soft soil gave way beneath my feet which then made me slide on my bum a little way, grazing my arm against a rock in the process! "And why do we do this?" [?][:O)]

Anyway, suffice to say the cache was D.O.A (like I just about was! )-container cracked and a soaked logbook that is now the source of a developing ecosystem [xx(]

Thanks for the "adventure", Tankengine!

We had planned for this expedition over quite some time with Boot65 but we had never been able to get the dates to align, today however the timing was right. We sent out the invitations and the crew was set. So in the wee hours of the morning, we collected SpecimenX and drove to the first meeting point to collect Boot65 and Tanso from Casuarina Sands. We left the Boot65 geomobile there and ferried the crew in one car to Kambah Pool for the adventure to begin.

After having a bush bash at the last one, we headed off on the trail and went the high road. Not sure if we were on the right track, we soon realised when we reached the edge that we should be down there. So we backtracked and received some grazes for our troubles, SpecimenX mistook the trek as a slippery slide and took a bit of bark off on the way down, and some of the track was quite tight making the exit a little hairy as we continued forward back up to the trail. When we arrived at GZ, the container was cactus, log book just a book of mould and not able to sign. So we took some photos for proof of our find.

TFTC Tankengine

Ok this one was gross, i think its starting to grow its own legs to start looking for its own hide spot , i was not going to touch this one [xx(].

thanks for the good company SpecimenX, Boot65 & FurfacesLL.
Thanks Tankengine.

The container was badly broken in several places. There was an inch of black muddy water on the bottom which I poured out. The log book was saturated and covered in an orange slime.

After a week of non-caching due to inclement weather it was good to get back out in the sunshine. The task was to walk about 8 kilometres north along the Murrumbidgee from Kambah pool and return collecting caches on the way. Foolishly I did not read the difficulty of any of the caches and had I known how much scrambling over rocks and cliffs was involved I may have had second thoughts on starting. Once I started looking for the caches at the 8k mark it was really no choice look or waste the walk in.

Approached this one from the top, got within about 7 metres horizontal and discovered I was at the top of a cliff. No safe access this way. Walked south and did Lost girls and then descended down to the river which I followed back to the cache. This detour took 45 minutes to get those extra 7 metres.

Alas I did not sign the book when found. The container was badly broken in several places. There was an inch of black muddy water on the bottom which I poured out. The log book was saturated and covered in an orange slime.

TFTC.

This isn't a DNF as I'm sure one has to get within cooee of the cache to record a DNF. Instead Kittykatch, Joeylovestreasure and myself bushbashed through the prickly scrub for over an hour before realising there was a cliff above the cache and we definitely on top, when the cache was down below.

Next time I try for this one, it will be on a li-lo, kind of Huckleberry Finn style, floating down the river to get to this one. Thanks anyway.

I made tracks towards this cache today with SiteHounder and joeylovestreasure but we couldn't get to gz. I was going to make this one my 1000th cache a couple of weeks ago, but after reading the logs I decided to stick to Pine Island to make sure I made the find - this one looked like it was a bit tricky and after today I know I was right. I think we missed the track coming off the path 300m before the cache and ended up bush-bashing around for quite a while. After being scratched and doing a couple of slides down the track, we headed back to the path and will come back for this one another day. Lots of lessons learned Thanks for the cache TE though I was cursing you on the day haha.

We tried to do this by bush bashing but it got too tricky and we decided to give it a miss. Thanks for the adventure Tankengine.

Must have missed logging this one. Found with green-martian.

Massive boulder, extremely tough dangerous terrian, however unable to log
as the plastic containers lid has a big gaping hole in it:-( So everything inside
was drenched.....Thanks I'II log this as a find.

Hiking with the scouts from Kambah pool to Camp Cottermouth. The scouts took a break on the path so though I would head down and grab this one, managed to convince a couple of scouts to come for the ride. Well perhaps not so easy but an adventure none the less.

The container has a large hole int eh lid and is full of water so no luck signing the log.

This was a dead set shocker. The word 'meander' implies carefree wandering somwhere. This cache required anything but. The track is totally overgrown with blackberries and thorn trees that ripped my skin mercilessly. Furthermore, the descent is heavily eroded, and not at all an easy climb down to the gz. Sorry TE, this one earned a 'least favourite point.'

Got you this time! After my dnf on this acouple of months ago. I was back today to see if I could find it. A slow walk down to the cache from the track . Slipping and sliding sometimes I finally got to gz. Once at gz tho I spotted the cache uncovered straight away. Hoooooray the cache gods were on my side. Covered it up better then found then up the ramp and was out of there. I got it! TFTC Tankengine

This cache was part of a day treck we set out to do. What a treck it was! With the river being flooded out there were various points where the track was washed out and we lost the track at times. This lead for some very interesting hiking. Combining mud, steep slopes, lots of prickles, we were kept on out toes for the entire walk. MV was full thrust, and I had to work hard to keep up. There were lots of great view points along the way and although a challenge at times we really did enjoy ourselves. My highlight was seeing a womobat in its burrow and the views of the river from the top. A challenging, but worthwhile walk, might be easier once the tracks are restored. Thanks for the cache that lead us on a great trail.

Reperio at 0955. Well this one proved a lot harder getting to than planned. Having made the walk up to Forster Hill, we tried walking in a straight line back down to the level of the track. Unfortunately we somehow missed it, and ended up going down further than we wanted to. We ended up picking our way through a lot of debris which slowed us down a bit, and with the water level still well up, I was a little concerned that this one may have been gone. Searched around for a good 0 minutes or so until the cache spotted, and surprisingly the cache was in good condition.

Gratias TE.

As our walk progressed, Mtrax & I headed down here, whilst Tealby stayed up top. The scramble down the slop was quite a challenge. Fortunately at GZ there more obvious area soon revealed a cache and it was time to head up. We decided to take the direct approach and go the short direct route straight up. It worked wall, and put us in the right spot for the next one. Thanks.

4202.4 TNLN
Visited: World Traveling Gold GC A#6 & 2008 Compass Rose Silver A#101

It has been a long time coming for this cache. We have come down this way several times, but have not walked in this direction. With another ten or so caches to tempt me today, and the company of good mates, a sunny winter's day presented a great chance to tick this one off. Thank you very much to Zsazsa7 and Sol de Lune who chose the 'low road' and harder route to keep me company at this cache, while he with the dodgy knee waited up top on the main walking track. A nice spot for a cache but any lower walking trail was today under water - how Marvellous!! Thanks Tankengine.

Yep AB - whatever the easy way down to that cache was I'm pretty sure we missed it.....whatever the easy way OUT of that cache was I know I sure didn't take it! However once we were at the correct altitude the cache was found reasonably quickly. Then to circumnavigate the blackberries with a minimum of fuss and then......farewell AB .....I'm heading up.

Hmmmm, leave path 300m before cache ! BatGirl, we didn't read that bit did we? We descended once past the cache on BG&C 500th expedition. It added a bit of time to our pleasurable stroll along the "bidge ! Got down to the river, then it was time to redon the gloves for the blackberries. A bit of a struggle but we made the find but then our team split for the ascent to Big Red Seat............

Bugger This one was hard. MTade my way down using the valley. Got down and I mean right down any further and I would of been in the river. Cliffs to one side and the river the other. Was a great gz tho even with me getting 1 meter away on my gps I couldnt find the cache. Spent over a hour searching were huge boulders everywhere so the clue didnt help. Oh well was a nice location, thanks for the hunt

What an awesome morning for caching it was. Hit the trail at the suggested co-ordinates and for once I remembered my walking poles. Made excellent time on the way there in the shade and 37 minutes later found myself at GZ. I was vacillating between up and down and decided that since I was half way up that I'd try up first. Had a bit of a search around and was then deciding it must be down there. Walked a couple of steps when I something out of the corner of my eye. There it was along with a fresh wombat deposit (see photo SPOILER ALERT). So sat down in the cool shade and watched the river and enjoyed nature. What an excellent cache. I am quite surprised however that it wasn't in the jumble at the top of that hill, which is now out of bounds for caches due to proximity (I walked up and checked, well there is more than one way to skin a cat, stay tuned on that score).

Took TB, left TB.

Thanks for the cache, the walk was a nice meander and the detour to the cache was great fun.

Escapetheratrace forgot to mention that the puddle gang were with him on this one!! How shocking that he would have forgotten! I shall forgive him though.

Nevertheless it was a great day out and the walk was fantastic. Even the last 300m was fun although it did feel like at times, the scrub was determined to ruin our day. Escapetheratrace was in fine form and also managed to rescue my geo-wife on a few occasions as she skidded uncontrollably down the hill. (giggling as she did it btw...GIGGLING!!!)

We got to the gz and had a nice chat and examination of the cache. This is the part of caching I like the best...getting to a hard earned find and then sitting down and reading the logs and looking at the stuff. (When you do some of those micros in muggle-land you tend to feel a bit shady...well I do anyway...sure I'll get over it).

We decided to climb out vertically and while it was ok to climb I definitely would not recommend going in that way. Follow tankengines instructions and you'll be right we reckon.

Dropped off our second travel bug...Orange Punch Buggy...and picked up a steel whistle.

Another great placement there and thanks for the cache.

Boy oh boy am I pooped now... I had thought about doing the ACT CCC Half Marathon today, but decided on a day caching instead - I think the half would have been MUCH easier.

After aborting my planned attempt on Going Commando earlier today, I decided to "just" do one more before calling it a day...
Up & down & up & down.... my legs were like jelly after all of the steps. Then the fun started with the last 300m descent... I am not a fan of hill scrambles, especially when there are prickles around. At least the final cache was very easy to find - but I did first experience sinking feeling when I momentarily thought the cache might be up the top of that big boulder - thank heavens that was not the case.

T: TB TFTC - and for bringing me on a previously untrodden trail (by me).

An afternoon walk/climb/stumble with Fitzy_1965..........

Set out just on 5.00pm and had a pleasant stroll along the high road of the river. Took a bit of wrong turn and found ourselves a little too far along, but with a little back tracking (and this was where the stumbles came in ) we along side the cache location a few minutes later.

Cache was found under the small boulder (not) and the log was signed was recovering from the adventures to get here.

Then the walk back to car. As usual, it always seems a shorter trip on the way back.

Took coin, left 2 x TB's (one of which Fitzy_1965 took) and thanks Tankengine for another scenic cache.

Cheers,

802 - Another River Meander which was so worth the effort taken. Lucky we took the advice and stayed high for most of the way (in fact too far)..

Backtracking a bit we were soon in the right spot with the cache quickly found. And hey the watch is still working with the right time!

Took a TB which Sol left for a few seconds.

TFTC !!

Cheers....

[Well what a meander. Uncle Toad really did put on the pork over Christmas, and who could blame him? Afterall he was on holiday. So we thought we'd do a walk and do a cache or two (we planned others but in the end way too tired). Our approach to this one was from the south and high, but I think ideally it should be from the north.] However, I do take very small issue with the cache hider; the cache is not a boulder but under a cliff. Some time was lost looking under real boulders lower down the hill - doh! [Uncle Toad spotted the cache and all was good. We took a CD thingy (Uncle Toad has it) and left some Polo Mints brought back from the UK - its okay they passed quaratine. We also dropped of the Symbology Geocoin, which I lovingly brought back with me from the UK.

This is a fantastic cache and well worth the full walk from Kambah Pool to the Cotter, as we did today. Thanks for the hide!

Cheers Utta and Uncle Toad]

woah... that was harder than I anticipated , mainly due to the track I took, for anyone reading this there is a more adventurous track and a almost easy track... guess which one I took.
FYI if you can throw a stone in the river you aren't on the correct track.
Garmin maps didn't help either the track they had was way off.

I must admit it was kinda fun climbing and scrambling along the river side on my inbound trip, I did attempt to climb back up but not high enough to meet up with the track so back down again which added to the nearly 2 hrs to get there. (incidentally it took about 30mins on the return leg.
Having finally got there and found the GZ, I figured I was going to return via a different route even if it was longer and I stumbled upon the real track.
The real track is way quicker even if its not as interesting as the the riverside. So much for a quick before work cache.
So the lesson is start at the WP listed as trail-head and you should be fine (which incidentally doesn't go thru the you know where section) so don't park down low , unless you want to add a few stars to the terrain. ie 4.

Thank you for another great cache, nice morning walk to GZ. A word of warning to future cachers there is a bees nest the nearby tree, they are no problem as long as you stay clear of the tree. All in all an excellent cache in an area I would have normally avoided. Thank you.
T - YoYo / L - Watch and also dropped of a pathtag.

First find for the day. A very enjoyable find as well. Left the Car park at Kambah pool at about 9am.(returned by 11.30) So there was lots of frosty spots along the path way as I headed to the cache. I was not paying attention to the GPS and ended going past the cache and climbing a largish hill behind it. But the views were worth it. A bit of a scrub bash for the last couple of 100 meters.
I was pleased to see its looking green and lush down beside the river. There was even water flowing over the near by water fall. Photo included.
Took the big plastic fly and left a book of stickers, pens and a couple of fridge magnets.
Thanx for a really pleasant winter walk and a good find.

I don't believe its been so long since someone found this - this is a great hike.

I set off from Kambah Pool, passing the nude swimming area (another place in Canberra I never knew existed) - no one brave enough to swim at this time of year. I think this might be the only cache in Canberra you can legally do naked - but with all the thorns along the way you wouldn't want to.

The track was hard to follow on the way there, but so there was a lot of climbing over rocks, but it was more obvious on the way back.

Took - CD
Left - Fly
Spotted - a hungry echidna

Found @2:20pm with Secretsquirrel-BJC. Well that's 2 meanders in one day and both very enjoyable. (Nearly had 3 but that's another story.) Loved the walk - which turned out to be easier once we scrambled up from the river to the higher ground (hey! there's a track up here - read the notes dummy!).

Great views and some good pics to come just as soon as I regain the energy to upload them.

Thanks again Tankengine.

412 @2:20pm with Captain Tomato

Tried to get shocked but nothing hanging out here today. So we climbed high and joined up with the very pleasant trail all the way to gz.

Spectacular location, cliffs and river views - loved the adventure.

Thanks TankEngine - you have done it again - another outstanding cache.

*Overall Experience: 5*
http://wiki.geocaching.com.au/wiki/Rating

Rated: for Overall Experience

Thought being winter the area would be deserted but started to get worried when some guy started checking me out in the car park. Took off down the track pretty quick then realised from all the guys in the bush I was passing through a gay area. With all the flotsam lining the river bank the track would disappear in sections and this made for slow going. After the caching duties where carried out took in the views and started the return journey. Tried to find a different way back but all I found was the biggest porno collection this side of Fyshwick.

Just popped in to make sure this cache wasn’t washed away with recent high waters! Also, to update the cache note, and finally, to grab the ball – its been here long enough.
Cache is in good shape!

that was some walk! beautiful view of the river the whole way. fortunately I knew from the last meander to take the high road not the low one. However near the end I still had to climb down the huge cliff! i recommend going the low way when you are 200m away. Took tetris like game, left the ball tb (northside is way behind!)

I always assumed meander meant slow and easy. Apparently not. It's to do with the course of the river and not the path - this was tough!
Had to keep diverting away from the local fauna, most of it reposing although some not. The most frequent statement by McPhanKid and myself was "Surely he couldn't have had fun doing this one." However when all is said and done the feeling of accomplishment at the end is worth it (or is that the feeling you get when you've lost too much blood?)

Could not resist (much to the disgust of the kid) making like the locals at the cache site to claim a GCA locationless.

A weary high five to each other at the end of this trek was the seal of approval. Thanks TE, another challenge met.

Rated: for Overall Experience

I Found it with McPhan.
i don't think we were on the right track, there were a lot of blackberry bushes and dad was being a wuss about all the cuts.
once we found it dad had to unrobe for a GCA locationless.
TNLN TFTC

Found it, My 70th cache. I inadvertantly took the low way in and let me just say ewwww. you'd think it was too cold to 'hang around' like that. I would definitely recomend the high way in and out. Some of the rubbish scattered around after the start reveals a lot more about the goings on here than you would ever want to know. Anyhow I blazed a trail through the rocks, brambles, bushes and even found a way over an actual running creek to get to the cache. Scatched around under a lot of rocks and then stepped back looking for a really humungous rock when the penny dropped. Found it really quick after that. Swapped the snapping balls (multiple puns considered and rejected) and a compass for an aussie 2000 pin and pod cacher CD. Took the high road back out and got back to the car just after dark. Thanks for the cache itself, all in all this was really a 'different!' caching experience. Still recovering the next day from all the cuts and scapes not to mention the pain and suffering from the legs.

Went the long way in. Thought it would be a nice long stroll as am still recovering from a back injury this was my first "longer with light pack" trip. Pity I missed the path on the way there!! *g* Took over an hour and a half along wombat trails fighting blackberries, thistles and other evil things with thorns.

Had a nice lunch overlooking the river then found the cache... yes that rock.
Took nothing left nothing( I forgot to take my cache stuff). The cache was fine no water damage all good.

Decided that the references to views means that there MUST be a path somewhere, went straight up the scree slope, bravely faught off more brambles and evil spiky things. My head found the biggest spider web I've ever seen, it covered my face head and pack! seriously never did see the spider. Then lo and behold there was a path!! amazing. Will bring the rest of the gang back soon!

Found with Concrete Gnome; nice stroll

Found the location - easy, cache not so easy. Sat on it for an hour having lunch. For anyone who is having trouble finding this cache, we left a map in the cache. (took nothing). Nice leaseurely stroll, will take a week to recover. Contouring adds excitement.
Thanks.
Signed the Weston Womps. (a womp is a fat wimp).

Rode (& walked a little) the MTB in all tyhe way, parked it at the top of thr cliff and walked down. Then spent 1hr ++++ looking everywhere & everywhere else also.
Then sat on top of the cliff in warm sun & looked at the gps and thought & looked at the gps & thought & looked at gps & thought some more.

Then descended the cliff and had the cache within 30 secs. And I had looked there countless times before!!!!

Took TB and left mickey mouse toy.

Then it was back up to the bike, a little push push and coooeee off I rode most of the way out of there.

There was frost & ice everywhere, even at midday in the shade - things were really slippery too.

OH That boulder! I did not find this Cache. I simply witnessed the find. Even with two sets of eyes it took ages and we had both gone over GZ a number of times, me for about 2 hours! Left batteries took nothing. Sneeky, Thanks Thomas zz

I approached this one from possibly the most difficult direction. :/ Typical. Arriving at ground zero, I was somewhat surprised to find another cacher, who turned out to be Zsazsa7, searching around patiently. After some time, and after we must have both looked at the hiding spot several times already, the stash was found.
Left: a CD that I found at Hut Hunt, Took: a 'stubby holder'.

Thank you TomasS, I enjoyed that one, despite the scratches, being blackened by soot and almost sliding over a cliff!

Well... we're with you Spindoc Bob. We left about 1530 hoping it was a short one. Wish we found your comments before we left. We followed the path for a bit and then said "ah stuff it, lets take a short cut"...

... we will also attempt this one in the morning another time. We did a bit of climbing to get back to the path and caught a beautiful sunset on the way. Needless to say we walked in the dark for the last 200m. DOH! Photos made it worth while.

Started this one about 2 pm in the afternoon and took the 'high' road. Although the under construction sign is still up, enough work has been done to get you to the cache.

About 300 metres from the cache (according to the GPSr) you are faced with a choice. I headed high and soon realised that wasn't the correct move. I was 50 metres from the cache, but another 50 above it. The daylight was not going to last long enough, so I turned around and headed back to the car. Needless to say the view was great and I will return.

Got back to the car at 4.40 pm and headed to Jigsaw (Goodberry's) in Erindale to reward my no find.

My recommendation (as hinted in the description) is to steer clear of that part of the ‘beach’ – If you start at 35º23.756 S, 149º00.731 E, and follow the path, you should be OK.
ThomasS.

But it's not nearly as interesting!

There seemed to be a bit more than skinny dipping going on. And they certainly didn't slither away like snakes although we wished they had. 2 displayed quite aggressive body language, standing with arms folded and staring at us. No way were they going into hiding. Another we had to pass within cm of on the track as he leaned against a rock. I would suggest being wary and perhaps not doing this cache alone.

Ah...yes. A friend of mine has mentioned to me that in the vicinity of the cache, and local swimming hole, is a favourite haunt for some people. Usually it is for skinny dipping and sunbathing. The final stage of Bug Off is close to another favourite spot, as is one of the waypoint in Peninsula Puzzle.

Don't worry, if you make enough noise, just like snakes they'll probably scramble for cover. And like snakes, they're probably more frightened of you.

We've meandered to the north, meandered to the south and now meandered in the middle. We reached GZ a little blackened and must have encountered every concievable type of thorn or prickle en route, but it was worth it. The location was so tranquil. Found the cache and took the jeep TB and the DVD. Left Destinationless Dice TB, sonic yoyo and crackling balls.
On the way back to the car we met several men! They did not seem to be aware of the SunSmart theme of 'Slip, Slop, Slap' or perhaps they just did not care. One poor soul seemed to have lost his pants although his shirt and shoes were still on. Although we did not stop to talk, they seemed to be in the company of their 'special' friends. We do not think they were geocachers as we could not see a GPS or any swaps with them. They may have had them but we couldn't see where they'd hide them. For some reason my caching partner felt he may be at risk although I felt perfectly safe. We were grateful the geo-kiddies had not accompanied us or we could be fielding some very interesting questions now. [:0]
Thanks again for another fun cache ThomasS.

[This entry was edited by The Hill 4 on Sunday, May 08, 2005 at 12:00:59 AM.]

Just a note to say that I dropped in a Jeep TB as well!