Bluestone Ford Werribee, Victoria, Australia
By chewinprickles on 13-Nov-05. Waypoint GCRAF3

As there has been no response to the last request/s to attend to this cache, I have no option but to archive this listing on the basis it has been abandoned.

If there are components or remnants of the cache and you haven't already done so, please return to the GZ and collect the cache (or remnants). We don't want to litter our environment with Geotrash.

If you wish to repair/replace/make available the cache sometime in the next 28 days, just contact a reviewer (by email and include **GC Number and Cache Name**) and, assuming it still meets the current guidelines, the reviewer will unarchive it. Should you wish to replace the cache after 28 days has passed please create a new cache listing so it can be reviewed as a new cache.

### **MAINTENANCE REQUIRED?** ###
This cache would appear to be in need of owner intervention, therefore I am temporarily disabling it so as to stop it showing up on search lists and to give the owner an opportunity to check on the cache, and take whatever action is necessary.

Geocache maintenance is a cache owner responsibility and includes regular visits to the cache to ensure it is in proper working order, especially when a seeker reports a problem with the cache.

Your prompt attention to any log that indicates things could be amiss will be greatly appreciated by all geocachers, have a read here: [Cache Maintenance Guidelines.](http://www.geocaching.com/about/guidelines.aspx#cachemaintenance) The guidelines advise; **if you can't fix it straight away then Disable it till you can.** This Help Centre article tells you how it can be done; [Temporarily Disable and Enable.]( http://support.groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=235 )

**Please respond to this situation within 28 days to prevent the cache from being archived for non-responsiveness.**

If you require more time, please be sure to post a "Write Note" log (not an email) explaining the situation and indicating how much more time you require. For ongoing issues please ensure you visit the page and post a note every 28 days so as to keep everyone up to date, or the cache will be treated as an abandoned and archived without further notice.

**And don't forget,** once you have addressed the issue, post both an "Owner Maintenance" log, see here; [Removing the Needs Maintenance Icon](http://support.groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=404) and an "Enable Listing" log, see here; [Temporarily Disable and Enable ](https://support.groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=235 ) to get your cache up and running again.

{#56d7b61891400361a651ee09c0f750dc}

First stage is ..... defaced.

Out for the day of a bike ride. Grew up in Williamstown moved overseas but traveled here often in my youth. Brought back childhood memories of the area. The puzzle is non existent but hint was helpful as Mastermind said. I did not find it with him, Needs maintenance.

puzzles all gone but nice easy find thanks to hint

What a stunning piece of history. Lovely part of the river. After approaching from the Werribee River Park side, it was a pleasant walk along the golf course with lots of nice birds and trees. The sign is pointless other than some caption-less photos. The info really isn't necessary, just use the hint to find the very nearby cache.
We did find a small torch near to GZ so have placed it in the cache. Also the cache container could use a little TLC as starting to be weather affected.
We also found a massive spider, and almost stepped on a dead rabbit's head. Lots happening around here hahaha.
Took nothing, left the torch.
Thanks for taking us to this little hidden gem that we would've never known existed otherwise.

Have been wanting to do this few years ago.
Today is good time to find it here.
Nice hide and great river close by.
Thanks for bring me here and cache.

Have been wanting to do this few years ago.
Today is good time to find it here.
Nice hide and great river close by.
Thanks for bring me here and cache.

Have been wanting to do this few years ago.
Today is good time to find it here.
Nice hide and great river close by.
Thanks for bring me here and cache.

Well this was a bit harder than expected. At GZ the pictures needed for WP2 coords is all but gone. There is no way to get the information here. However a quick Google will give you some info. Not 100% sure if info is even correct but using that we very quickly located point 2 and from there came up with basic location of the cache. The coords were about 7m off. A keen eye in the location will spot it quickly. We made sure when we placed it back that is was covered enough to not be obvious to muggles but visible enough for a cachers eye to spot. TFTC TNLN

Unfortunately I hadn't logged this cache that I had found with my dad, Bazinga01. I saw it still on the map and thought I should log it to put a smilie on it.
TFTC

Our sixth cache found on a beautiful winter's day cache run with Geokids, Posho6 & Arkbell80. This one is getting very hard to read the clues any more.
TFTC!!!

Found with grandson and son checking out the area cool tree too info board only has pictures

Found today. The board was a bit hard to read but got it done. Thanks

[font=Comic Sans MS]Hi there howjen567. We found your cache "Bluestone Ford" at 12:31:00 PM today. This cache makes our find count 10309.
[Blue]
We thoroughly enjoyed our stroll through the grounds today. There are numerous paths/trails to follow, and we may have covered more of them than strictly necessary, but we did wander a bit to look at the art-works and the orchard on our trek.

The date is very hard to read from sign as all paint seems to have faded from the writing. If you get the light just right you can read it really easily
[/Blue]
Coordinate Accuracy: We found the cache around 2m from where the GPS said we should be looking.
Cache Condition: The container and log book are in good shape.
Took: Nothing.
Left: Smiley Badge.
Thanks for the hunt today,
Regards
Ian & Penny.[font=Verdana]

Found with Lochb and Quiet1_au. At Gz I found the information board but could not find the information necessary. However, with the aid of the clue Q was able to find the cache in a nearby obvious location while I was looking for information. Thanks howjen567
GJMMelb

Found in the company of GJMMelb and quiet1_au. No need for the information as we found the cache nearby without. We had to navigate the construction to continue along our path. TFTC

Walking around this area of Werribee River with lochb and G' of GJMMelb on this Australia Day we hoped for a cheeky find before we got to GZ checking out a typical hiding place or two without luck (worth a try - hunches have paid off for us in the past!) At GZ, having read the hint on the way, we did actually find the cache before we found the information - in fact it seems that the info may no longer be available as there appeared to be only pictures left on the information board?

Note that the there is work being carried out beside the ford to build a fishway - which will actually be a benefit for cachers as the boulders form (err, that is to say, they will form) handy stepping stones to avoid a wade across the river at the ford itself.

After both failing at this cache separately, I came here with yellowdaisy135 and quickly found it.

After coming previously by myself I came with TheRustyDuck we quickly found this one. TFTC

Great puzzle Fascinating old ford. Tftc.

Our fourth find of the afternoon on a mission to remove the geokids from their electronic devices for a few hours at least! We approached this guy from a different angle to the one recommended having grabbed a few other hides along the way.
We found the sign at WPT1 easily enough, but interpreting the information was initially beyond us. We located the second set of co-ordinates regardless and used what we hoped were the right numbers. They weren't and previous logs indicated that we did not need to be where these numbers put us , so back to WPT1 we went and looking from this angle and that, the sharp-eyed Geomonkey spotted the numbers we needed.
From there it was a simple matter of plugging in the numbers and grabbing the cache. It is a pity this sign has been allowed to fall into disrepair as I love the history of places such as this and would love to know more about it. We snapped some shots of the river and the ford and then wandered off for a final find before heading for home.
Thanks chewinprickles for bringing us to this great spot !

This entry was edited by Buckleysbabe on Tuesday, 01 July 2014 at 11:24:02 UTC.

Caching with abl973 today, we enjoyed visiting this location. We stopped at the ford to admire the stonework, which looked quite idyllic in the early morning sunshine. I enjoyed learning more about the history here.
Thanks to chewinprickles for the cache.

I enjoyed the adventure in working through this multi and then making the find. A good history lesson too and idyllic location this morning. Thanks Chewinprickles.

Enjoyed the short run from the hotel car park, made the find after managing to decipher the details on the board. Spent some more time among the buildings on the way back to the vehicle. Thanks.

I really love multis that work for me.
The numbers were hard to get at WP1 as the sign was faded but boy the rest was a breeze. No muggles around and very quickly worked through to GZ as you would have expected.
TFTC Chewinprickles

TFTC

TFTC

Long walk with little kids but great little cache TFTC

Date very hard to read from sign as all paint has been removed from writing, and you have to get the light just right to read it. Found cache quickly, all in good order.

Thanks forshowing this great place
SL

Another Demolition Crew caching day / night with the usual crew being Quasar3671, TrailRunning and Rebel Acts. A fantastic run, with some great caches found and logged. We had bikes and kayaks this time, which was very entertaining, as were my pathetic kayaking skills..... Thankfully my bike riding is great. A few milestones for the night, TrailRunning's 4000th find and another 5/5 DT cache. A fantastic, fun night as always. Thanks to all the CO's their hides, without their efforts, we would have had nothing to find.

Nice easy multi here, but quite enjoyable none the less. Rode and grabbed clues, found the cache. TFTC chewinprickles.

Tonight's run with Trailrunning, Blacklegend and Rebel Acts (TDC) could have been made into a movie called "Kayaks, Bicycles and Automobiles" as the cache run involved a fair bit of driving, a lot of kayaking and some cycling as well. The afternoon and night proved to be a bit of an adventure with a great range of cache types, sizes and levels of difficulty and terrain found. A lot of time and effort had gone into the making and placing of these caches and I thanks each of the CO's for this.

The plan for the night was to hit the Werribee region, and especially to attempt to complete the 'Bring Ya Rod' series, which we had a an absolute blast doing. We met in the southern suburbs and continued on up through Melbourne and then into Werribee from the north. Once the area was cleaned out it was off to Williamstown where we cached into the wee hours of the morning before making our way home via Melbourne for one last cache.

A nice straight forward multi that we enjoyed and picked up the numbers as we rode around. A really nice location at GZ and the ford was really cool. Thanks chewinprickles.

Like a walk in the enchanted forest. An overcast/drissly afternoon and water was flowing oner the ford.
A charming destination and enjoyable cache.
TFTC chewinprickles

This entry was edited by BernieH on Saturday, 13 October 2012 at 10:22:11 UTC.

16:00
The family headed down to Werribee Zoo for the excellent "back of house" program that was being run over the school holidays, then checked out the rose garden before they drove home and I walked from Werribee Park to the station.

The rain had passed and the sun came out as I strolled past the mansion and down to the old ford, where faded information got me to the cache in short order.

#881

Found with suss vulture whilst in the area. Luckily we didn't have to get wet feet to find this one, as the ford was rather overflowing!
TFTC

An enjoyable little multi in a lovely park on a beautiful sping afternoon. Found in the company of Team Indiana08 and a jet-lagged sleepy head.
NINO
TFTC

# 721. Robmc and I were trying to get a few caches round Werribee way so we visited this spot. What a lovely walk we had along the edge of the golf course, admiring the redgums and the lush undergrowth on the way in. Unfortunately, since the previous log and photo of the ford only a week ago, the river was rushing past and we could only see a couple of rows of the bluestone. The information board is indeed very difficult to read - such a shame. Worked out where GZ should be and there it was. TNLN, Thanks chewinprickles.

I came down this way to do the Redgum picnic across river when I saw the bridge across the river. So I decided to visit this one also.
I'm glad I did, because I love the history.
Unfortunately the information board is no longer legible, yet the required information is still (just) retrievable.
I never would have thought to come here, do thank you very much chewing prickles for the cache.
I'm giving this one a favourite for living history.
Cheers
Dog-gone

This entry was edited by Dog-gone on Saturday, 13 October 2012 at 19:29:54 UTC.

12:56
The ford itself was actually closed today, although we did see the Parks Vic vehicle cross over! This park provides great opportunities for walking or riding. Information at location 1 is somewhat faded and presents a challenge but with a little thought the information can be obtained.

TNLN . . . SL . . Thanks for the hunt chewinprickles.
3500

NOTE: a great cache for a minor milestone for us - our 3,500th GC cache find.

Out with my family from Perth for the day and came to the Werribee gardens, what a lovely place! had a good explore of all around the mansion and the 'art' and the homestead and farm. Found this one with my pet muggle of the day (step-dad) who has come with us before and quite enjoyed caching. coords plotted, and plotted again and we had cache in hand! TFTC

I found the necessary information easily enough (though the WP1 info is hard to read now) and worked out the final coords, but my phone's GPS wouldn't kick in and the map couldn't be zoomed in enough. I'll return when I get a proper GPSr to replace my dead one!

After spending the two previous days walking around Melbourne doing caches it was nice to get out of town and not to have to do so much walking. So visiting WA cachers richlink travelled in our direction and we headed off from the Werribee south caravan park to do some caching. Happily we found all the data we needed to find the cache and enjoyed the nice outlook. Thanks chewinprickles

Travelled by train to Werribee to spend the day caching with Liz and Bruce around the area. We admired the lovely old buildings before wandering down the track to complete this quick multi.

A nice easy multi. We approached from the other side of the river and found this magnificent ford that I never knew existed, even though I have been around here many times. We quickly worked things out and were rewarded for our efforts. Thanks for bringing us here

A nice quick multi. Might not be for much longer due to the condition of the sign. Wow some work went into that Ford.

There is no access of the park from mentioned starting point!

There is no access from the Werribee Mansion Hotel Carpark but from the Mansion. At the information board we could barely read anything but with a bit of guessing ( does it mean drawing or drowning ?? )we thought we got it right.
At location 2 we learnt that the Ford was closed so we could not walk across to the other side. Then we gave up.
A very enjoyable walk but a dissapointing cache hunt.

Gave this one a bit of a birthday today so it's still up and running. The info board is getting a bit hard to read but is still legible so all is well for now.

A good walk to the riverine while in the area. Cleared the damp stuff out of the cache and left a fresh paper so hopefully it will be dry enough for the near future. TFTH

A huge day of caching that started in the wee hours of the morning and ended at about 9:30pm with one exhausted trail runner. I had agreed to pick up my caching buddy jsmyong55 at a reasonable hour and when we had finished he and he had added another 120 caches or so to his tally. It was a nice way to end our partnership as J is heading back to Malaysia soon. It will be hard to find someone to cache with that can fill his shoes.

I apologise to all the CO’s for using a generic log but after the 130+ caches for the day for me I’m too exhausted to even think of writing an individual log for each. Thanks to each and every one of you.

A great location made all the more enjoyable when we observed a a water rat crossing the ford and then swimming up to embankment further upstream. TFTC. PS: this cache is drenched and needs a desperate dry out.

# 2305 @ 14:10 with tackle_head TNLNSL

This was the second cache in the farm we did today on our deadly treadlies and it was good to see the ford I have heard so much about. The calcs came up trumps first go and the hide was in the hands of tackle_head shortly thereafter. I am still amazed at the massive size of this farm, the golf course, the Werribee Mansion and Zoo combined. As stated by previous finders, the log book is saturated and almost pulp and impossible to sign - (looks like the hide may be below the flood line me thinks).

We signed our names on a convenient sheet of paper left by a previous finder.


Thanks chewinprickles

Thanks for bringing me on a walk to this wonderful spot.

Contents all wet, logbook too soggy to write on.

Suscoe made th journey to this cache from the Red Gum Picnic Ground.
First try was the ford.
Too much water and slime.
Then back past the african animals, what a bonus.
Found the walk bridge and off we went.
Did the calculations,the writing is starting to fade a little but still enough to get the info.
A quick find, SLTNLN.
Thanks to chewinprickles for bringing us here.
Log book is almost past saving, sodden beyond belief.

Warning don't slip over in the ford - its slippery & it stinks. Dad slipped over on a recent bike ride - it was the grandkid's highlight of the ride. Had a lovely day out enjoying the river. Thanks chewinpickles.
The grounds of Werribee Park are now free, you only pay to get into the mansion.

Found this cache around 5pm. This is such a lovely area to have a good look around which we did.
The log book was slightly wet and the container itself had water in it. Cleaned out water and tried to dry contents as best as possible.
TNLNSL....TFTC chewinprickles

Really enjoyed the farm and ford. Were staying at the manor hotel so could follow your parking instructns but you can only access the park from the hotel car park by going into and through the hotel so the actual park car park is probably best for cachers. We did try for your other cache last night but the thought of snakes and spiders put us off. Have since been told "too cold for snakes" and the worst critters at gz were snails and mozzies. Far better were the numerous wagtails and bunnies. The river is actually pretty deep just now but it looked like a vehicle had recently used the ford. I thank you for showing me this beautiful spot. NINO TFTC

Had a short look at the ford before backtracking and finding the hiding spot quickly.

This entry was edited by danozz on Saturday, 10 July 2010 at 21:46:25.

Lovely loaction. Must bring the family back here and have a better look around. Not much water and some some interesting sounds coming from the Open Range Zoo. Glad there is a BIG fence.

TFTC

I wasn't quite sure about entry to the mansion so I snuck in while a wedding was on and kept out of sight of people. I made my way down to the river and this little spot and could almost picture what it must have been like all those years ago. The tree near GZ sure is spectacular too!

Many thanks,

R - B

a great way to start the day absolutely no one around completed with ease, tftc

Started of nice and easy. Got the needed clues and removed my shoes to cross the ford... Yes I know.. Anyway it did not look like a good idea to jump the 10 foot fence with big warning signs on it so I had to recheck my clues and I got it completely wrong, I even bailed of the side of the road when the ranger vehicle drove in my direction in the hope to not get spotted and have to explain why I am, where I am. The ranger missed me and I re-did the clues to find a easy GZ. Just as I removed the cache container a group of 4 people walked into my direction with clipboard, also gathering clues in the local area, one person seemed to know what to do and the other three just had no idea. No GPS in site to not cachers, After they carried on I replaced the cache. The whole time my phone was ringing with my other friends asking where I was so we could carry on with our afternoon elsewhere. After I had finished caching I called them back to say I am on the way back. They asked where and I preceded to give them my long / lat, at that point they said they will just wait in the car for me .. there not cachers.. TFTC

Tristan has come for a flying visit back in time.

Found with Larny&Rups at 2.50pm, 4th find of the day.

Fascinating location! Wasn't able to cross today, too much water there! Even saw a wild wallaby on our trek to GZ.

T: flower eraser. L: dog clip SL

TFTC and bringing us to an interesting location!

Found with PrincessDiala at 2:50pm.

Great walk and an interesting location. Water level very low.
Saw a cute wallaby.

Took: Car
Left: Ball Puzzle
TFTC

Went for a days caching with Bushfire, VKC1SR and Geewok, to find some western suburbs caches. This was the third for the day. There were some impressive birds watching our every move from strategic branches in the river. TNLN.

09.50 Speedy Stamps,Geewok,VKC1SR and Bushfire decided that today we would like to put smiley faces on all caches between Werribee South and the West Gate Bridge. We didn’t quite make it but got very close.

This cache was the second chewinprickles cache for today in a lovely location that I had never been to before.This is what I love about caching and that is seeing things that I would not ever find myself.

The hardest part of this cache is finding the parking area. We watched three eagles flying along the river and then to find the ford with a gentle trickle of water running over it,magic,thanks.

Found with Speedy Stamps,VKC1SR and Bushfire
TFTC
TNLN

Very nice spot

Found after a wander through the gardens. Interesting out of the way spot here. Pity they are going to close it off the the public though. TNLN, Thanks chewinprickles for the cache.

Found with The Lone Random. Had given this one a try a couple of weeks ago but was rained out when we got to the car park. TFTC

Found w Kiwi Friend.
Saw a lot of Chef's in the carpark ... Don't they have work to do.
Should have Gordon Ramsey their ass, Hehe.
Funny cause chef myself.
Good hide ...

TFTC, The Lone Random

A pleasant blunder through the bush, as we found a rather unusual way of approaching this one. The original inhabitants certainly did a fair job of building stuff in this spot - must've been terrible stuff on TV in those days to get that motivated.

TNLN TFTC

Found in the company of Monch's Mob. It was a very pleasant spot there at GZ, lovely babbling brook. We flagged crossing the ford, as the stones looked a bit slimey for that. A nice walk to get to the cache too, despite meeting a few mossies. TFTC.

Found this one waiting for the boat to go to Tazzie! Nice place. Were looking for some snakes, but none found.
Thanks for the cache / No Trade

Greetings from Holland.

Found this one on an afterwork expedition, got eaten alive by mozzies.
Left: Flower Eraser
Took, Smiley peg
TFTC, what a great area.

RedPaw64 found this cache at 1010. Nice little stroll ...
NINO TFTC Chewinprickles

Found @ 4:00pm with PocketRocket&Friends!
TFTC!

Found by PR&F on 9/11/08 @4pm in company with M+MEmpire.
A great multi and an awesome location.
My local friends had never been here!
TNLNSL
TFTC chewinprickles

A great way to spend father's day.

Found today at 5.55pm with Fred (new to geocaching). Very interesting. Lovely area. Took koala, left car. Oh, by the way, yes it is a remarkable thing. TFTC

Found at 5:30PM by Maya and Ray on the 13th of Jan. We have decided to clean up a few caches in our own back yard for a change. Easy find and a nice walk around a lovely land mark. Lots of flies to keep us company on the walk. We recalled doing the other cache in the area. TNLN. Thanks from The Nomads.

We found this one accidently, whilst on our way to another cache! Who knows what we did there with the coordinates!

Loved the walk, found with jandj01 and redorca

Our 1st find. With the flyman and redorca

Found with Sam Carter - refer below... great spot - great day out. TFTC.

A lovely spot; I drove across a similar ford further up the Werribee three weeks ago and there was a cache there too (Soggy Foot Ford). This was found in the company of Chickstas and co. We took the Unite for Diabetes travel bug to continue its journey, but other than this TNLN. TFTC.

After enjoying a snack break picnic on the bluestones of the ford, young Master Geomunchkin D pulled this one from its hidey spot and assisted in finally releasing the second of our Unite for Diabetes TBs.

A beautiful walk on a glorious day. TFTC

Took - Green racing car

Left - Zebra and U4Diabetes TB (Bordeaux France)

3rd of 9 at 12.35 after lunch. A nice pleasant multi. Nice easy find
Took Geocoin will drop at Gellong caching event tomorrow
left nil
TFTC

We had just finished 9/10ths of a nearby cache and decided to do this one before we completed it. It was a very pleasant walk to an area we had not visited before. We had been close but has missed this excellent site. The workmanship here is fantastic and has certainly has passed the test of time.
We collected the required info and headed off to gz where the cache was found quickly
Made swaps and dropped Geocoin
Thanks chewinprickles for the cache and for bringing us here

Clever set of clues, had to be careful of the muggle gardeners nearby
+ Manpeg
- Red crab

Took my son out with me after doing Sunset Blvd. We proceeded to a Land of Contrast which was nearby. We were confused initially having had to pay the entrance at The Mansion. Otherwise, it was a good find.

GAFF1, with accurate clues / coordinates. After a very interesting walk amongst the sculptures and the old orchard I came to the Bluestone Ford. This is another addition to my "must return with whole family" list. A fascinating area, although I was pleased not to encounter any escapees from the nearby zoo. Thanks for another great cache chewinprickles!

Took: Nil; Left: Nil. *I tend to do swaps when the kids are with me.

After the nice walk to the first plaque ,gathered the info and moved to the next location.After a further walk found the cache well hidden in itd good hide position.Wondered what happened to the cars crossing back then when the winters downpours were on!!Maybe it flooded for weeks.Nice multi and walk along the way.Thanks to chewinprickles.TNLN.

Dear Chewinprickles,

We found your cache today at 4:15pm as the final of fourteen on our "We haven't had a car for 10 days thanks to the bozo who ran into it and didn't leave a note so we're going out caching today to make up" Friday. Boy, did it take a long time to drive the 5.5km from Pooh Corner to here. Especially when I went left at Farm road back to the freeway only to find that there was no exit ramp to Duncans Road from that side . A familiar walk for me but Mrs "H" had not been here before. A nice cobbled ford. Unfortunately no zebras on show today. Thanks for our 24th Chewinprickles cache.

Kind Regards,

D & H B-A

Getting close to closing time but this multi was short and interesting too. Lovely walk in and back past the artwork. T tiger, L ladybug. thanks again chewing.

Nice easy multi that showed me more of the area as well as a history lesson. Thanks chewinprickles for this and your other nearby cache.

12.45pm
Found by Roma and Max.
Having searched here previously we were familiar with the best approach to be used.
This is a particularly well preserved historical venue and popular today with persons all carrying binoculars. A different type of bird watching we presume!
Thanks Chewinprickles, for a well executed little multi, and our somewhat belated congratulations for your recent birthday. Now we are off to search for that present from your Geo friend, (and ours too).
We swapped a Small Car for a Tiger.
Romax.