Ice House Ruins: Upper Wellington Park, Tasmania, Australia
By Dippedidooda on 17-Nov-06. Waypoint GCZD13

Land owner (HCC) was understandably concerned about the sensitivity of the site- and took away the container before entering into discussions about an altered placement further away. And I gave up.

Logging per discussion with the CO
TFTC Dippedidooda

OK, so it turns out that the kerfuffle has originated from HCC and i have now been contacted by a Wellington Parks officer who is liaising with the Heritage Officer who has some concerns about caches that are placed close to some of the more sensitive locations of historical significance around Wellington Park. So I am currently in discussions with them about the placement of these caches and disabling them while this is occurring. I was talking with Ranger Ben who can be contacted at [email protected]

Enabling! Silly Geocaching HQ Admin!

disabling

We parked at the Springs and headed up the track with the plan to walk as far as Smiths Monument. We grabbed A Cosmic Cache and Milles Jewel then detoured down the Milles Track to grab Lookout Wildlife. Then headed uphill toward the Ice House caches. We found all three Ice House caches and stopped at the Upper Ice House for a short rest and a bite of lunch. We decided against trekking to Devil of a Good Time as we would have run out of time to get the others, maybe another time. Onward and upward and upward and upward. We detoured again to collect a smilie at South Wellington then headed to our last cache of the day Smith’s Monument. Then it was just all downhill back to the car. The whole walk took five hours and we thoroughly enjoyed it.
Thanks to all the COs who have placed caches in the great area.

Doing a loop around mt Wellington from Strickland ave. Had a coffee at the springs then headed on up the ice house track. Great little bit of history thanks for showing it to me. TNLNSL.

A beautiful walk here from the summit with a short diversion to Smith's Monument along the way. From there we continued down to the Springs and timed it perfectly to jump on the tourist bus back up to the summit! This was an interesting spot and the best example of the 3 ruins. The cache was a nice and easy find with the clue and it was then time for a bit of boulder-hopping to Devil's Gulch. TFTC!
Cheers,
The Hancock Clan

Hey there, all is well at GZ.
Found today with Blackmans Bay scouts.
A couple of them cache occasionally with their parents, so they signed the log book and maybe their find will be logged online in due course!
Cheers.

So coool! I love the mountain! Thanks!

This is a nice ruin. Life is pretty easy these days. Many thanks.

An interesting piece of history.

I was up here three days ago getting some other caches, and got hit by two short snow flurries, and was wearing three layers top and bottom. Today I could have gotten away with swimmers But I still had a backpack full of emergency gear

P.s I picked up both TBs, but don't have them with me right now, will log later.

Wow, what history there is on this mountain! Thanks for showing us this interesting piece of the past.
Think we will head down for a whiskey....without ice.....in appreciation of the hard work those that collected the ice did.

Thanks for showing us the ice house ruins. Without it we wouldn't be aware of it

Tftc!

After having a devil of a good time we headed North then East onto the ice house track and after a bit of a little yomp we were near ground zero, we somehow ended up with a couple of young walkers behind us and no matter how long we waited they just wouldnt walk past so we headed off the track to GZ and what do you know off they went, when the coast was clear we had a quick search and what do you know we had the cache in hand in no time at all, think the young EeePees found this one if I remember right.

A great bit of history here that I had never visited before so thanks for bringing me here.

Found at 15:11 on 31/12/2017

The best caches I have found so far by type are:-

Traditional [Moorgreen P3:1, Penny Pincher](http://coord.info/GC32Z5B) By [Sven&Cup](http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?A=6596795)
Multi [CoaledHearted](http://coord.info/GCKGZ5) By [CraigRat](http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?A=256663) 
Unknown [Men In Black Holes](http://coord.info/GC1DVB0)  By [SG-3](http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?A=918045) 
Letterbox [Rolf's Letterbox](http://coord.info/GC5NCYM)  By [membsec](http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?A=5318842) 

All the way down from where we rejoined the Ice House Track after doing 'Devil of a good time!' to Ice House Ruins: Upper my legs were shaking uncontrollably (it was the same same as when I 'landed' in the Dragon Lair with Swampy). I took it slowly and made it down safely and that's all that matters [^]
We checked the listing again as we reached the stone wall and worked out where the cache should be. A couple of us went over and checked and found it quite easily.
I'd never been here before and was fascinated with the ruins so thanks Dippy for placing a cache here to make us stop and appreciate it

G'day dippedidooda, thanks for the cache, and for bringing me here to a location I've never been before, nor heard about. Great to learn some history.
Found today on a cracking downhill walk with members from fellow geocachers stainless-steel-rat, gooseandegg, membsec and Lil Rafa.
After our most recent assault on "Devil of a good time" we were pleased with a fairly straightforward find here at the ice house ruins.
All is fine at GZ, a nice peaceful spot to visit and reflect on our ancestors, and to appreciate how so much easier we have it today.
A great day out; with excellent company.
#837 @ 1510hours New Years Eve, Sunday 31st December 2017.

Found on a great walk on New Years Eve with fellow geocachers stainless-steel-rat, gooseandegg, membsec and EeePees. Dragged one of my adult sons along for the day as well. A bit windy and chilly on top, but once we started walking we soon warmed up, and the day got better as we headed towards the Springs. This cache was the first found after the rest of the party had their 'little' side trip to 'devil of a good time' further up the hill. So glad we approached this and the other Ice House caches from above - the views as we dropped down from the alpine zone were fantastic. Enjoyed the very quick side trip to this historical site on the mountain. Thanks for putting a cache here Dippedidooda. Dropped off a trackable.

Lovely quiet spot - glad I don't have to cart ice from here though!

I walked up here a couple days ago in the snow - and because of it, it took a bit of finding the cache(s). But boy it was lovely. I ummed and ahhed about which cache container to take away and thought seeing the original container still seemed fine and the logbook went back to 2006, it seemed more historical to leave the original (I guess I should have taken the logs from the "replacement" one out and put them in/glued them in). I can do that next maintenance visit!

The walk up the Ice House track today was beautiful, peaceful and prefect.
Snow fell as I approached GZ. A nice quick find. Signed both log books ( is that two smilies)
Thanks Dippedidooda for hiding a cache here.

This was quite the walk in the snow. Well worth it though for the views at the top! Had no trouble finding both cache containers and signed both logs just to be safe. Also dropped off Goldy and Chocolate, the Travel Bug Roos.
TFTC!

Last night we decided that we needed to find some caches and thought the mountain might be a good place to start before the cold weather begins. When we began this walk the weather looked great, very little wind and the sun was shining but not too hot. This turned out to be our 3rd find for the day and oh so worth it. Great views and good remnants of the Ice House ruins. Got a bonus on this one, which we were not expecting. This time Lady membsec was able to put her hand on the cache first. After signing the log we took in the wonderful views and looked over at "Devil of a time" and decided that he can wait a little longer to find as the weather was starting to deteriorate.

TFTC Dippedidooda and the history lesson, just love caches like this.

What a great place - but how hard it must have been getting the ice down into the city!
Had lunch just about at GZ and enjoyed the silence and the views for a while before heading on to Mt. Wellington.
Thanks a lot for luring me here, Dippedidooda!
out: the seemingly lost TB from the "old" container, in: Fav

Nice hide on a beautiful walk TFTC

The old cache is NOT missing! Found both old one and new one. Have placed them both together, the old one had been relocated by somebody to a spot about ten metres from GZ. TFTC X 2

Dippedidoodah I have a habit of finding your missing caches! I've reunited old and new!!! D

Found this today whilst out for a walk on this beautiful sunny day around the South Wellington area.
The cache container clearly has some good insulative properties as the log and contents were notably cold to touch when the cache was first opened - I feel this suits the cache's name and location well!

thanks for the cache!

Cache was indeed missing and I have replaced it in the same (original) position. Steep walk up but lovely morning for it. Pretty purple bush flowering (Veronica?) near the rock scree section.

We searched for 5 minutes but couldn't locate the cache, had a look at the hint I think we were looking in the right spot.

This entry was edited by deercheetah on Tuesday, 06 January 2015 at 03:25:07 UTC.

Good hide, TFTC
Dropped off Ski Bunny Kiwi, she likes snow and ice so this was the perfect place at the Ice House.
Shark-Bait33 =)

Lovely day on the mountain.

Quick find, TFTC

Forgot to log this cache last time I was on the mountain. Oops.

Great location. Although a hard walk up the mountain to here

Thanks again Dippy. Much more visible this one.

This was the last cache and so the turnaround point. We have been up here and continued on past this spot many times over the years. TFTC Dippedidooda

The caches on the Ice House Track put in by Dippedidooda were the objective behind this walk. As well we decided to place a cache ourselves on the nearby Milles track and also collect a few other caches on the Shoobridge and Jacksons track areas.

Great spot, thanks for all the ice house caches, excellent walk. Would have walked straight past the lower two ruin without even knowing they were there.

Found while guiding a small school group in the area. They enjoyed it. ?

A lovely day for a walk on the mountain.
I'll go back down and collect the others on the way.
Lovely views from here.
TFTC.

This was a quick, good found after coming on the south wellington track from the pinnacle. Pretty cold up there today, but fun for hiking.

Vagre from Germany

Oh my am I now a bit peeved that I didn't check there was another cache nearby as I continued my uphill trudge in the snow!! I must have walked just shy of this plateau when I checked the maps to see how much further the Pinnacle might be. I made a decision to turn back in time to refresh before collecting kids from school and thankfully avoiding the fresh squall that decided to come through when I was back on the eastern shore.

So I have to face this drasted climb again / I shall have to prepare myself!!

Great hide after long walk from pinnacle. Last time on the Ice House track missed this one completely! Found with geodad TiltonSpire.

TNLNSL TFTC

Back in the good old days it must have been one hell of a trek with the ice! Found with geoboy Rexamite. What a great hide in a wonderful place.

TNLNSL TFTC

Sixth for day and what a place. Unreal views on such a nice day.So it is of to Smiths monument.TFTC

Our weekly bushwalk this time took us past the ruins. In fact we stopped there for morning tea.
I had a recollection that there was a cache somewhere here and there was time to have a good look about.
Found the cache after a 10 minute search (who needs tea). TNLN, Many thanks.

After South Wellington and Smith's Monument, I ducked down here to see the Upper Ice House (having done the lower ones previously).
A nice sheltered sport both below and above the cloud.
Thanks, Dippy.

Quick find as the weather started to turn unfriendly. Just as I was opening the container a huge bang of thunder made me jump. It gave me second thoughts about continuing on up over the exposed top to the summit of the mountain.
TNLN,
thanks.

Hi Dippi
Hope you and yours are well!
Arrived at and logged this cache at 1541hrs after finding "Lookout Wildlife." That completes the series of three. Thanks; a great series.
Upon arrival; OH! NO!!
Muggles, two of them - All decked out in their Columbian finery, packs packed for two or three weeks (they were on a day trip). Me thinks they were relatively new to bushwalking and had been ripped off by one of the camping shops. However, it was good to see they were prepared for any condition on the mountain, as indeed we all should be.
They lingered, lingered more and even more!!
Hence, an introduction to geocaching was in order.
They enjoyed reading your senario on how the ice was made as they had been wondering how it had been done.
So; all done; they left and I lingered to take my photos etc and I passed them about 15mins later on the way back to the geomobile.
Happy New Year, TFTC and cheers
OldSaint.

Enjoyable walk up from the Springs. Couldnt find the other icehouses but must admit wasnt overly motivated so will try again another time. No swaps in cache so added a couple. TFTC.

Got this one first out of the Ice House series on our way back from Smith's Monument.
Nice spot, though we didn't stop long as it was a pretty chilly snowy day.
TFTC

Good views between the trees.
Stopped here on our way back from Smith's Monument and South Wellington.
Little bit of snow around meant the cache was more obscure than it probably would normally have been.
tftc

Been this way a few times

Legs were starting to ache a bit by the time we reached this, the most impressive of the Ice Houses. I now know why there were no swaps. (See DNA's log.) Interesting pyramidal hill to the south (I think,) Thanks again.

It was a hard slog up a wet, slippery slope from Lower to this cache, but it was well worth the effort. Arrived at 1520. Felt very sorry for the poor horses that did this day in and day out. The cache was saturated and starting to smell. We took the swaps home with us to dry out. We will return them to Dippy. The Log book was surprisingly dry sitting in its zip lock bag. Took everything and left nothing. TFTC.

'twas quite a steep climb,
For legs such as mine.
The cooling off took some doing,
Up here in the Ice House Ruin.

[and why can t I get Great Southern Land and Electric Blue out of my head]

Quack.

What a trek! Was starting to get tired by this point, and the remains of winters snow still lay fairly heavily on the ground at this height. Started wondering if my original plan to do the full circuit was wise, especially as 3pm was fast approaching.

Nice place at GZ to sit and fill in the log, and contemplate my next move. Pity these houses weren't maintained, this is a great secluded little place and I can picture a nice evening watching the sun go down from up here.

TFTC.

First in the Ice House series for us and probably the most interesting from a visual point of view - interesting story and again a great historical interest cache.

Onwards and upwards. . . . .no sorry, onwards and downwards we must go . . . . . .

Our 1st of the Ice House Series for the day.

We decided to go from the top down, and I think it was the wise thing to do...that's quite a steep track!

Found after a bit of a search...good hide!

Interesting to thing that someone used to drag their horse up and down the hill continuously to get the ice...not my idea of a fun job!

Thanks for the cache!

Thanks Dippy for this excellent series and extra thanks for restocking the recipes just in time... on my return home, however, my Reluctantly Geocaching Spouse had another question about your biscuits... Where did you get the biscuits cutters from that you used for the recent event? (Feel free to put the answer in a cache somewhere...)

BTW, we found all three Ice House caches... but where was Iva Davies?

DOH! He stole my Iva Davies joke! The whole atmosphere and environment of this placement reminded me of "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre"; I even murmured while there, loud enough for Gorbak to hear, "Now, where to hide Gorbak's body?... How 'bout under that pile of rocks over there?... a typical Gorbak hide...!" I've said it before, and I'll say it again... Loved It! I was only 14 last time I did this walk, and I don't think I appreciated the sheer majesty of this spot then. Thanks Dippy for getting us up here!

Checked on it today. All good.

Found after a nice cool walk on a hot day. Great location for a cache.

This one shows how thick the walls were but with all the rock around they would not have taken long to build. The Mountain was certainly colder then, global warming is changing the character of these places. Oh well it is still a great place, steeped in history. Took enamel seahorse and left bubbles. Thanks for the cache Dippy

The trouble they went to for a slab of ice was pretty remarkable!. So glad we did all three Ice House Ruins in a row and thanks Dippy for helpful directions in the description! (wouldn't want to make a wrong turn up here!). Loved this walk so much that later in the day we ended up at the Map Shop in town buying books and maps of Mt Wellington just so we can do more walks up here. TNLNSL. TFTC Dippy

Nice easy find on a great walk up the hill. It was getting a bit late so rushed off to try and find "South Wellington" Thanks again Dippedooda for some great caches TNLN

This ones my favourite ruin. Nice easy find, and great views at the adjacent rock scree to write the log. I have to admit I didn't notice the climb much from 'Lower', having to concentrate on where you put the whole time! TNLNSL, thanks Dippy.

Started this marvelous trail a bit late in the day so it was nice to see the level of care that the trails in the South receive ( gee why can't we have tracks like these? Zoomed up, resorted to hint although the GPS was happy enough and zoomed on to South Wellington. PS Cache in good order

The 1st of 5 for the day. Got to the Springs at about 1:30pm and headed up the mountain, planning to bag all 3 caches along the Ice House track, as well as “Smith’s Monument†and “South Wellingtonâ€. Got back to the car at 4:00pm (but I’d allow another hour because I hurried). I’d already passed the first two before I got decent GPS coverage so decided to get them on the way down.
Found this one easily with the clue – I’d been here before but it’s always nice to come back to this area. Great day for a brisk walk and bagging caches was a real bonus! Took frog puzzle, left compass keyring…

This completed the series for us, and as it turns out the caching for the day too. We could say we ran out of time to continue on up to South Wellington and Smiths Monument, but the truth is that we had had enough UP for one day. Turned out to be a smart choice too, 'cause as the arrived back at the Springs the thunderclouds moved in pretty quick. Took nothing, left a seahorse fridge magnet. TFTC, and for a spectacular walk. Mt. Wellington - we shall return!

I thought I'd tackle the mountain today, from the lower end.
Parked at the springs and worked my way up.
#5 of five for the day, I don't think this old body could cope with many more.
Here I was halfway up a mountain, and I thoght I could here voices, Nah, so I sat on the wall of the Ice house and waited a couple of minutes, sure as' there was a group of Muggles, "OUT HERE???????", consequently I had to visit Smiths Monument, and South Wellington before coming back, because it didn't fell like they were ever going to leave.
Why were the muggles there? probably "because it was there"???.
Secretly the only reason Sir Edmund Hillary climbed Everest, is because there was a cache at the top.
T Bubble Bath Pig (for Mrs cache) L Assyrian figurine,
I loved this series
TFTC

Keep forgetting what a great walk this is. Did an Ad Ed with Historian David Leaman last year up here so was good to retrace steps. Found with Genii. TFTC.

Made it to the Upper Ice House Ruins after an invigorating uphill walk. While stopping for a bite of afternoon tea and to read the cache log, it started to hail in spectacular fashion so beat a hasty retreat down the hill. A short time later an amazingly diffuse rainbow spread itself across Hobart. Collected "Wish You Here" coin (only second geocoin ever found so very exciting!) and swapped measuring tape (could be useful in case of GPS failure to see how far you've come) and bouncy ball for very novel plant tie. Great series - and beaglegirl agrees!! (PS Missing sunglasses retrieved by beaglegirl on downhill stretch)

After meeting a muggle at Ice House Lower who said this cache was only 25 minutes further up the hill we set out. What we should have done was checked the terrain rating, looked at our watch and decided to leave it for another day. Half way up Quilter and Netballer bailed out. The terrain was just too much for us. Sirius and TTE continued on determined to finish these three in the one day. Quilter and Netballer headed back down the hill. YES, all you other cachers who walked from the top down and only one way, we walked up the hill and back down!

Cache found by Sirius who grabbed the coin and icing recipe for Quilter. Yay! Thankyou Dippi, this has been a fantastic series, and Quilter and Netballer promise to return to this one in the future.

T coin, L Great Voyages coin. As this cache is certainly a voyage and deserves all the accolades we can bestow upon it.

Cheers Quilter

Found this one December 31st 2006. Logging it under my new name. LOVED this cache!

Loved this one! Yet another Ice House that you could walk straight past and not know was there. I had a lovely time at this one. Not only did I get to explore the ruins on a beautiful warm day with no wind (shock, horror!), but I also had an adorable little echidna walk straight up to me and stand on my foot!!!

It sat on my foot for about 2 minutes before giving me one last lingering look and wandering off into the scrub. I was very impressed! Did you plan him as a cute little native welcome for any cachers that got to this Ice House Dippy?

Because of the all-around happy happy joy joy moments this cache gave me, I have nominated it as the first recipient of a "Loved This Cache" Kiss Geocoin (unactivated of course).

Took Civil War Geocoin (that Snuva had left in the cache), left Loved This Cache Geocoin.


[This entry was edited by Cheesy pigs on Saturday, December 30, 2006 at 11:14:00 PM.]

6:55 pm The first of our Ice House Ruins finds, and what an amazing one it is! Having now seen the other ruins lower down the hill, I imagine this one 'survived' or at least is much easier to see as there is so much less vegetation. And I must think a bit like Dippidy at times as I went right to the cache just as I'd done at Smith's Monument.

Took: recipe (YEAH!)
Left: Civil War geocoin

Stopped for lunch at this one and had a wander over to the Devil's Gulch ( I think). Found cache easily TNLN. Thanks Dippy!

Climbed up from the Springs top car park. This one just about stuffed me. I was trying to get to the top so I had enough time to go check my cache and do Smith's Monument.
Found after walking around the ruins, easy find. No nude goats here (contractual obligation)!
TNLN. Thanks Dippy
Swampy

Continued the uphill trek from the lower icehouses, meeting Dippy en route. We were pleased to hear her report of sun at higher climes, and to see the sun rather than mist when we reached the upper icehouse. AND, we were pleased to get a second FTF for the day!!! T timer, L frog puzzle. Thanks Dippy.

We are so happy we took the downhill route. We parked one car at the springs, and left another one at the top. Our legs are thanking us. And we are so happy 5yo Cacherboy didn't want to come. This might have been a little too much for him. Took recipe and lamb stamper, left monkey plant tie and shiny dinosaur sprinkle things. Thanks Dippy.

Recipes on their way...and they're in!!!



[This entry was edited by Dippedidooda on Friday, November 17, 2006 at 5:27:15 PM.]

He needs another year to get there. Published.