"Auburn" Riverleigh, Queensland, Australia
By albyalbatross&Wendy on 14-Aug-05. Waypoint GCQ5NV

We thoroughly enjoyed the walk and the view, but a dodgy hip prevented us from reaching GZ.Regards Ian & Penny (Found and logged using Cachly).

What an adventure it was to find this old cache in the midst of the national park gorge on a scorching hot day! The hike in was challenging, and the sun was relentless, but the beauty of the gorge made it all worth it. I arrived at the coordinates and started my search. It took some time, and I was sweating buckets, but the thrill of the hunt kept me going. Finally, after a clever hide and some searching, i spotted the cache cleverly tucked away beneath a rock. Huge thanks to the cache owner for placing this hidden treasure in such a beautiful location. It's been quite a journey to get here, but the reward was worth every drop of sweat. Special Note: The views in this gorge are simply breathtaking. The canyon walls, the clear water, and the wildlife we spotted along the way made this journey unforgettable. Thanks again for the adventure, cache owner! Until next time, happy geocaching!

Thanks for the great adventure in finding this cache. Was tricky finding the best route avoid the river, but figured it out eventually. Lovely spot will visually again one day to camo and have a sun when the water is a bit fresher.

WOW! What an adventure in... have to say if I thought we were going to be boulder hopping, I'm not sure we would have started. Got too far in to turn back so on we trekked! Found, signed and back across the boulders we went. TFTC.

Tftc albyalbatross&Wendy, well what a great cache, loved the scenery here , mother nature has put on a show here
GPS showing the cache is 150m away, but how do you get there??
Plenty of rock hopping and backtracking later BL disappeared, but heard those words " found it" echoing in the valley!!
After 15mths of unlove it was great to find this older dated hide.
Favourite point for bringing us here

Didn't find the cache
I think there may have been too much water today couldn't find a way to get to it

There was definitely no crossing the river to retrieve the cache today

We arrived in Eidsvold yesterday hoping to camp at Auburn NP for the night but the campground was booked out. So we made camp in Eidsvold and made this a day trip to the NP today to find your cache.

Boy oh boy it took quite a bit to work out a way across the river. How big are these boulders?! We followed some dinosaur footprints for a bit but they only took us to some ‘eggs’ and a big pool. So we back-tracked and it took quite a lot of effort to work our way across the stream. But cross it we did.

Finally we were at GZ and the cache was found nicely tucked away. Coords were pretty good for us. How good it is to find the original logbook still here. We enjoy reading the old logs.

From this higher vantage point we then scanned for a better way out. We ended up taking a route we thought looked easier, and it was. Back across the stream and we came across two fellows rock climbing so we stopped and had a chat. They were very interested to learn why we were here and had some questions about our game. Perhaps they’ll join up?

We do wonder how we’d get here in the wet? The river would be quite a sight to see.

Thanks for the adventure Albyalbatross&Nicole. Awesome stuff.

We set of yesterday with the intention of finding this cache. After a stop over for the night in Mundubbera as the National Park was booked out we headed out in search of the cache this morning. Glad we got there relatively early as after finding the cache, the rocks were getting quite toasty for us Victorians. Rock hoping to see the cache was quiet the adventure, often with us questioning if we took the right path. We tried a different route for the return but not sure it was any easier. Saw a Peregrine Falcon and a multitude of butterflies. Off to continue our caching weekend while the kids stay with their grandparents in Hervey Bay.

Left a dirtbags pin inside the cache for the next lucky finder.

We set of yesterday with the intention of finding this cache. After a stop over for the night in Mundubbera as the National Park was booked out we headed out in search of the cache this morning. Glad we got there relatively early as after finding the cache, the rocks were getting quite toasty for us Victorians. Rock hoping to see the cache was quiet the adventure, often with us questioning if we took the right path. We tried a different route for the return but not sure it was any easier. Saw a Peregrine Falcon and a multitude of butterflies. Off to continue our caching weekend while the kids stay with their grandparents in Hervey Bay.

Left a dirtbags pin inside the cache for the next lucky finder.

Not for me today, geo hubby was not keen on the boulder hopping which I love. And the gps kept bouncing in every direction - I wouldn't be able to go 150 metres in each of those directions. I wonder why it wouldn,t settle on one direction?

Placing my favourite point down first up.
What an amazing location!
I loved exploring and bouncing around the boulders, it was a lot of fun. The cache was located after a small hunt.

Thanks for the cache Albyalbatross&Nicole

Nyssaflutterby, 1Minniemoo and I were on a road trip from north Brisbane to Munduberra and back via Kingaroy. We had a few planned caches and some extras along the way.
Definitely some big rocks here! TFTC

Went with an old friend, first geo cache I've found

Got down to 150metres from gz then run out of track tyfc anyway.

Great cache. This one was quite an adventure and getting to gz from the water hole took some doing. We took a while to find it though the coords are pretty good. Went a bit higher and saw something that needed further investigating. Cache seems to be where the co first hid it.
Lovely spot and a great place to be with a caravan. Thanks for arranging the hide and interesting placement. Our thanks to Albyalbatross&Nicole for placing this cache and enhancing our enjoyment of the area. Fav point

Too many muggles. Thanks for the hunt.

Fantastic views. Almost gave up but persistence paid off. TFTC

On our way back to Brisbane slowly trying to avoid the dreaded virus or at least the associated hotspot tag so that we could get on the plane to Alice springs on Saturday. Anyway after 10 days in Rockhampton we headed south but decided to take the scenic route. On a friends recommendation we opted for a bnb/farmstay near Mundubbera. What to do? I know lets go to the Auburn River NP. Why she asked. It's recommended and there is a really old cache there. So off we set. Dirt for the last 7km and good dirt at that. Arrived to find one other car and 2 sets of campers. We walked to the look-out and then down to the creek. Mid 20 at about 11am. We had good shoes and adequate water. We started rock hopping but bee2 decided that she would wait. Just call out when you find it.
This place is incredible - great big rocks piled up high, plenty of geology - read the sign in the car park. We also spotted some king parrots by the path.
I hopped on. Closer to GZ I paused to survey what lay in front of me, then stumbled and fell on my face. Fortunately not much damage. Picked up glasses and straightened little finger. Bounced on a bit higher, peered over and spotted a rock in a place that looked not particularly geological. That was quick. Signed log and everything else is ok except for the pen. Removed one "rubber".
Bounded away. Ended up slightly south of original path and had to re-trace and start again. Found bee2 taking more photos.
thanks for the cache. I have since done a search and can see half a dozen like this out the back of kumbia - maybe one day.

thanks for the cache.

Advice for future cachers - take PLENTY of water.
I would NOT recommend trying in Summer.
Would NOT recommend trying with young children.
Take PLENTY of water.
Long pants and good boots recommended.
D/T rating is understated.
Take PLENTY of water.
I only took 600 ml of water, and had to ration it to get back to the car. Glad I wore jeans, although sweating hiking back up the hill. Glad it was still officially "Winter" and not 40°+ of Summer.
I finally got to a cave of sorts, which I thought was an obvious place for a cache to be hiding, but came up empty handed, even after crawling inside. Didn't want to go home without a smiley after getting this far, so searched around a bit more before deciding to go higher. After looking for several possible routes, decided I had to remove a tangle of dead branches to get to where I wanted to go. Got up there and was presently rewarded with the prize I was looking for. Signed the log and then looked for a route back to the end of the track. Wished I had brought more water. Glad it wasn't Summer.
T4T$ glad to finally turn this green spot on my map to a smiley face.

Too funny - husband was standing above cache when he gave up and asked how long since it had been found. Dauntless, I continued the search, following his footsteps, and there it was! Great spot- our first time camping here- not much water, would hate to be here in the heat of summer. TFTC

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. I didn't have much going in my favour as I was really struggling with GPS bounce and my device was running out of power. I went to where I thought the cache would be and looked around for a long while but without a reliable GPS signal & direction there was just too many places the cache could be.
I would love to come back here again when the river is flowing and have another crack at the cache.
This is a beautiful location nevertheless.

*..continued from above*
Boonoo Boonoo Falls in NSW and Diamond Valley near Crows Nest are two places I could compare this gorge to. Only, both of those are one-tenth the size of this place. After over five hours of driving, we have arrived at this marvel of a geological and natural wonder. There is a unique emotion that arises when you're in a place that makes you feel so small, and I love it. While the water was low and not at all flowing in these dry times, I was happy to hear we'd have to rock hop some distance to get from the end of the track to GZ.

And so rock-hop we did. I wound up going all over the place and anywhere but a direct path but after much jumping, grasping and sliding, we did get to the rocky outcrop that held the geocache. Fangsoki held back, having found it before leaving Minnie and me to look. Eventually, I spotted the beast and wiggled it from its rocky crevasse home.

Having been waiting here for almost 15 years, it's a bit of a moment to crack open such an old geocache - only the 25th time it has happened. As we signed the logbook, the sun was gone and we needed to get back to at least the track. This also took some time but along the way, I did take some photos that do no justice to the magnitude of this place.

Done with the geocache, I had read about those granite dinosaur eggs and decided to check them out while the other two waited. Following the footprints in the near dark was difficult, but I jogged along where possible and did get to see them - a true geological oddity and marvel. How many thousands of years of slow, deliberate movement to create these unbelievable objects! By the time I was coming back, it was dark. Finding the route back to the others was near impossible and by the time we were ascending the track again, phone torches were needed.

Eventually at the top, it was night time, dinner time and time to camp the night before our return drive in the morning. I am so pleased to have finally visited Auburn and made the find, but I really feel it would need more time to explore properly and I do hope I can come back some time. This geocache is a highlight of what I've found so far, as I believe all albyalbatross geocaches have been; old and in fantastic locations. Thank you for all you've done for this game/hobby and for bringing me to yet another outstanding part of this world, alby

Today is a sad day on one hand. For this is the last available albyalbatross geocache left for me to find. And I'm still a bit hurt that some brilliant looking examples were archived before my time. However, I am bloody excited to finally be heading to this geocache and exploring Auburn River Gorge. Back in May 2014, I came close to finding it, just a few dozen kilometres away to the south, but it was not to be. I have since desperately wanted in, but I am not one to rush.

Knowing there is camping available, I have pondered a solo trip in my Lancer up here. And I have too many times looked at photos of the place online that tempt me even harder. As it turned out, that plan never happened. But after some back and forth, Fangsoki, 1MinnieMoo and I would head out in Fang's Pajero from Brisbane for a very distant overnight trip in Auburn River National Park. We'd stopped for all sorts of other geocache en route that others needed, but this was a priority geocache in my mind.

We had made it to another 'nearby' geocache, ["Coach Crossing"](https://coord.info/GCG04D) and now just had to get to here. It is 52.45 kilometres between them for your average crow. But the bitumen-loving sat-nav said it was more like 150 kilometres. Between our devices and some pretty woeful mobile data coverage, we hypothesised we could drive far more directly between the two.

So we ended up tracking down Redbank Road, onto Yerilla Road then onto Cheltenham Road which became Hawkwood Road and from there was an easy right-hander into Auburn River Road. No gates, just nice roads for the 68 kilometres and saving us much time. Not to mention a glorious drive through red dirt country on the road less travelled. Only once did Fang hit a hump in the road a bit fast and get us some air time.

The campgrounds were basically as I'd seen advertised online. We picked out a site that we'd pitch tents on before heading down the track towards the gorge. After passing the information sign, it is safe to say I was pretty dang excited about seeing this place. My only complaint was the sun was setting and time would be limited. That and the walk was farther than I was expecting, building my anticipation.
*continued below..*

30/12/19 6:46 pm Find #3096
An overnight journey with Fangsoki and Captain Terror to West Eidsvold picking up a few caches along the way to our final destination, to camp the night in Auburn.
This one didn’t go off completely without issue, as poor Fangsoki mallard to back the Canyonero into a stump at our campsite, but damage was only to a bumper, so not the end of the world.
We arrived a little later than we would probably have liked, meaning we wouldn’t have quite so much daylight left to explore in unfortunately, but we quickly set up camp and then headed down to the creek. Well I am so glad Fangsoki brought us here, as this spot is absolutely amazing! So many colour variations in the rocks, and just such impressive form!
After locating the cache, we hung around until the light faded, before heading back to camp.
Thanks for the cache albyalbatross&Wendy. A favourite point from me for sure.


This cache is my seventh counting towards the Rambler’s Challenge Cache (GC2XBA7)

No traveling here. But what a great place and hiding spot. Thanks for the cache.

Headed north with the boys to the bush - Fangsoki, Crew153 and I, we be hunting the old ones. After a big drive and then an even biiiiiiiiigger hike earlier today, we trundled along down here where we were promised a short walk up from the carpark, and an easy find. HA!

600m winding down to the gorge and then boulders. Big, beautiful, bountiful, burly boulders. And a lot of them. COOL! My legs were a little tired from earlier, but nothing will stop me from bouncing on boulders when given the chance. Followed the footstep path somewhat further than we should have, and so I made the approach to GZ waaaaay more .... interesting ... than warranted. But I was having fun at least. My fellow hunters already think I'm mad so that changed nothing.

But in due course my path swung back around towards the shoreline, we joined back up and circumvented the little pond to get to GZ. In the silence of the gorge (we were all alone down here) the scrape of tin on granite was rather loud - but smilies were inscribed.

Coming back we took the simpler way, but our passage was challenged by the speedy guardian of the way doing his best Gandalf impersonation. It took some negotiation, and despite the heat of our sweating bodies making us appear like Balrogs - we did get past and safely back to the air conditioned Suzee.

Thanks albyalbatross&Wendy for entertaining me at this location.
*{Overall find #6442}*

Pprime, Fangsoki and I were on a road trip to find some of the old caches in the area and, of course, this one was on the list.

There were no other vehicles in the camp area as we pulled up and headed down the path. My old knees struggled on the stairs as they were still feeling the effects of the 12km hike we had done earlier in the day but the sight of the large boulders in the creek were worth the effort.

It took a while to work out the correct route to get to the cache around the boulders but we got there in the end.

TFTC Albyalbatross&Nicole. It was great to see this old cache has survived in this area.

Dipping TBs

Wow yeah what an amazing location the rock hoping was fun and exhausting overall worth the trip out for another smiley Tftc

This was the target cache for our afternoon adventure, so beelined past most of hawkward trail to explore and rock hop to our hearts content. Our merry group of four was at first hesitant due to it raining. But thankfully overcame the trepidation to find upon our approach the skies fortuitously clearing, so with dry smooth rocks and blue skies overhead, much fun and enjoyment was had by all.
Found around four pm with offroadcaveman. Find number 977.
Left a seemingly appropriate trackable.
Thanks albyalbatross&wendy/nicole!!

Wow what an amazing spot! So beautiful!! In gayndah picking mandarins and put for an explore with my mate Q and his lil sweet heart euchy bear. Q's first cache. He is stoked and "semi hooked already"!!! Tftc

Wow that was awesome found with just iPhone and no map. It's hot here today so pleased hubby was with me as he did the final climb to the ammo box! TFTC

Bring water.

Can't believe that people have found this cache by accident.

Found again after 5 years, still in cracking condition and the site is amazing to train for a Kokoda trek. TFTC

One favourite point? How on God's green earth can a cache in such a fantastic area get only 1 favourite point in 10 years (keeping in mind favourite points have only been about 4 years I suppose)

"Auburn" - my last active Albyalbatross&Nicole cache. Over the years I have wanted to get this cache - but it is quite far from home. And when I am in the vicinity, I am usually pressed for time.

Today - I decided to make a special trip for this cache in particular. I pulled up at the car park to see some camping muggles making their way to the walk. Hmmm.. I hope they don't prove to be an issue.

I soon caught up to the muggles, greeted them and strutted past. I soon arrived at a.. river bed.

When I read the description of this cache, I had a vision of a bunch of rocks in the forest. Oh how wrong was I? It's acres of rocks.. boulders.. that is a river bed. The area reminded me of a cross between Girraween and Crows Nest National Park.

I followed some painted feet on the rocks - hoping they might lead me to the cache. I hopped my way over. It was not exactly easy going. I probably should have -:

a) done this with someone else
b) taken water - as stated in the description!

It soon turned out that following the feet was not the way to go. However, I did eventually find a good way to access GZ. At GZ, I managed to go for a bit of a stack - but thankfully nothing too bad. I looked in a few areas. Nothing. I then re-checked my areas again and soon found the well-hidden prize.

What a great hiding spot. Even though it seems to have been found by muggles a few times. But they seem to be the type of muggles that leave caches be. I signed the log and took some photos and then re-hid the cache. Of course, the cache dropped into an unpleasant area and I had to retrieve it. I put it back as found.

The trip back was relatively uneventful. I was a little worried about finding my way back - but common sense and memory prevailed. I made it back to the "feet". However, the feet weren't as easy to follow back.

I finally caught up with the muggle couple who enquired how far I went. I pointed over at GZ and they were like "Oh". We had a bit of a chat and I moved off. I soon got back to the path.

I thought the muggles would easily catch me up - but apparently not. I struggled up the hill - feeling sad I didn't even have water in the car. That's why the good Lord invented service stations I suppose. I was happy to get back to that car.

What a fantastic area. Thank you AlbyAlbatross&Nicole for sharing this place with me. TFTC

Went back again this morning, just because we could! Tried a different way to get over the boulders. Water level quite low which helped.
Thanks for an awesome cache!

This place is amazing! Be prepare for a bolder hop skip and jump. Cache is easy to find and great location. Thanks for an awesome adventure.

Found with my mum mnance101 and sister pinkypie05. Great area. Loved the Boulder scramble! TFTC!

Out for the day at Auburn Falls, my Mum mnance101, my brother mazza151, my grandpa (but I call him Pa,) my grandma (but I call her Nana) and myself decided to do this cache. TFTC!

My son mazza151, my daughter pinkypie05, my muggle mum, my muggle dad and myself came to Auburn River just after Christmas 2014, while my children and myself were staying at my parent's farm at Binjour. My children and I tried to get the cache that day but due to the heavy rain during the previous week (and also later that day), we were unable to get across the river. My dad said come back in winter when there isn't as much rain. So we did! We love visiting my parent's farm but usually avoid going there in winter. The things you do to get a cache!
We came back today. It was very busy with muggles here today but none of whom seemed to care what we were doing. It was great weather and the water levels were low. We started off following the footprints but lost track of them and then couldn't figure out how to get to the cache from there. So we went back and took the long way around. The phone was jumping around near GZ but we eventually found the cache. It was great to finally get the cache but we really loved coming to this amazing place both times. I can't believe that I grew up and lived here for 21 years and only visited here once. I still have photos of seeing the giant thundereggs but unfortunately couldn't find them today. My cousins have said that they are still here. I will also be claiming this cache as part of a challenge cache in Brisbane called the "15 years of no love" as it has been over 6 months since it was last found. Thanks again for this cache!

Well we arrived at Auburn river N.P. and did the top walk first thinking we will camp the night and get up early and do the walk down to the cache B4 it gets too hot!
As usual it got to much for me just sitting while there's a cache to be found! so I thought I would go on a preview walk to see what the track was like, as usual Mrs. K. Joined to Birdwatch. Well we got to the bottom and I looked where garmins arrow was pointing "forget it" I said,
By the logs it hasn't been found for 2 1/2 years May2012. Reading the last downloaded logs it was 4 years b4 the last find.
So the decision was made to try -
After many wrong ways to the cache we arrived at a spot where we thought it would be, that only contained a wasp nests. I then read the hint and worked out another likely spot, Mrs. K. and I moved to where I thought it may be and she cried I see it . A short time later the logbook was signed and the container was replaced where found. Then trying to remember the route to retrace the correct steps of the maze to the starting point was fun.
Back at the geomobile-camp we celebrated and rested well.
TFTC.

Out and about and was in for a treat with the discovery of another cacher in the area. Great Site, forgot to bring along travel bug that I've had in possession for way to long. Took the long way round getting there and the short on the way back. Liked the retrieval method and the cache. Thanks for bringing us here.

Woodrow, Minus and the clan

Had planned on having a go at this one after 2 days at the Mundubbera Show this weekend.
Drove out this morning full of expectation for my 200th find.
Followed the path down to the river bed, thankfully, only a trickle of water, did the hard yards getting to the GZ, only to be frustrated not being able to find it, searched for almost an hour, even the GPS was behaving it's self, kept pointing to a dam tree with no hiding place at all.
Finally in sheer frustation I think I'll look up one row of boulders higher, Low an behold "Found It"
Extracted the cache from it's hiding place, thinking the CO will be pleased that someone has found it after several years of sleeping, only to find 3 signatures on the log that haven't been logged on the GC site.
From the cache site, before leaving, had a look around, that looks an easier way out than the wat I came in. much easier, only took about 5 minutes back to the path, instead of 30 minutes.
Up the path, kettle on waiting for geopartener to extract herself from the bush, I've been caching for 9 months and never met another cacher at a cache site, today was the day, just sat down to enjoy our cuppa, and Woodrow 007 turns up, had a great chat, we head off, Woodrow007 and his family head off to find "Alburn"
All in all a great day. and the cache is in great condition.
Left one of my Path Tags.
I'm giving this a favourate point, because of the placement, keeping in mind the amount of water that flowes through here and the cache is in exclement condition after nearly 4 years without an official find.
TFTC albyalbatross & wendy

This entry was edited by sweet - sour on Sunday, 13 May 2012 at 22:55:10 UTC.

This is an amazing place in the middle of nowhere. I looked for the cache for about 15 min and was about to give up (the heat was taking its toll, I would hate to be here on a hot day) so i decided to read the clue one more time and bingo, cache in hand.
Took Jimmie TB
TFTC
Cheers
CamHelen

Great spot for a cache and a good hide. We enjoyed the rock scramble to GZ even with the threat of rain. The threat turned into quite a large storm not long after we made it back to our vehicle. T4TC.

A great spot for a cache! I was planning on putting one in this area only to find I'd been beaten to it! I've been here many times, having grown up on a farm very near by, so it wasn't too hard finding my way to the cache. First timers might need to do some exploring to find the route. This day I was accompanied by my parents on their first geo-outing. Getting to GZ was easy, but I was looking in completely the wrong place until geo-mum spotted the cache to her excitement. I may have made a couple of converts to caching! TFTC!

We arrived at this cache from the south, a feat of navigation second to none. Unfortunately it was about 40degress in the shade when we ventured to the cache site and climbing the rocks proved to be quite a strenuous exercise. Sweating profusely we eventually uncovered the cache in a fascinating area although we had some difficulty with the coords on the day. Great spot and we recommend it to everyone.
Thanks to LB and Wendy for bringing us to this place!
TNLN

We couldn't find the 3 terrain. The boulders we were jumping were more like 41/2! and if the river was flowing it would be a 5.
Rolled up late afternoon with the intention of camping. We wandered down to the cache before setting up camp and found just before dark. Little bit of searching to find but co-ordinates were good.

We believe all good caches deserve a swap so we left an Australian Mint/Australia Post First Day Cover Australian Legen Sir Donald Bradman $5 coin.

Thanks

Rated: for Overall Experience

We live in two towns pending work demands. One is only 2 hrs drive from AUBURN falls. Being active in the outdoors with cross country walking, fossicing ect In most cases we are all over the place usually covering a lot of kilometers.

The cache itself is a 30 cal ammo box with a hot laminate lable, glued on with Epoxy resin I use for boat building, the cover note is hot laminated and inside with log book wrapped in a heavy plastic bag hidden out of the direct elements but easily found by a Cacher.

Having inlaws who own "Manar 4wd Tourist Park" it is common for us to be in the local area.

Published