Alexandra Mega Weekend

As Victoria geared up for its second mega event we decided a weekend roadtrip would be the best way to make the most of this event. A planned was hatched which would see us grabbing some big numbers to make the most of the weekend.

On Thursday 16^th Nov, we headed south after work, driving most of the night had us arriving in rural Victoria about 3am where we grabbed a few hours’ sleep beside the road. Just after first light and with our energy levels returning to some sort of normality we set off on what would be our biggest day of the trip. The 300 plus caches around Mt Disappointment proving a magnet to the many geocachers who were flocking to the area. The forestry roads and hills were a labyrinth of trails and the caches that dotted them. At times throughout the day the weather wasn’t too kind and on more than one occasion we had to sit out severe thunderstorms, however as the day progressed so did our find count and by days end we’d put a huge dint in the Mt Disappoint plethora of caches.

Saturday dawned under clear skies and we set about completing the remainder of the Mt Disappointment caches before heading across the Alexandra Mega Event. Here we met up with hundreds of likeminded geocachers, many of who were friends from far and wide. After the obligatory announcements, we spent the rest of the day finding unique cache types in the area. It was at one of these unique finds where a crazy plan of finding 10 cache types in a day was floated. Well don’t ever tell a cacher “it can’t be done” because we’ll do our best to prove it can be done and thus we started doing some big kilometres to find a webcam cache and then to the other end of the state to find a virtual cache, oh and quick stop back at the mega event where I was inducted in the Geocaching hall of Fame.

Our webcam cache had us driving to windy heights of Mt Buller where we posed with the skier statue before driving back to the heart of Melbourne City where we found a virtual cache just near Flinders Rail Station. These 2 rare finds coupled with our traditional, multi, mystery, earthcache, mega, wherigo, letterbox and a lab cache ensuring we finished the day with 10 find types….. Impressive!

Our last in rural Victoria started a little slower than the previous days. Waking up on the banks of the Murray River was quite peaceful. Once packed up we were quickly back in our stride of finding more caches in the Wangaratta area. By lunchtime it was time to hit the black top and head for home. Our 3 day caching haul had amounted to 500+ finds.

Every mainland state & territory in 8 weeks

This blog is one of opportunity as opposed to intent. In July we set off for an 8-week holiday taking us to far west WA via any and every dirt road possible. Over that 8 weeks we seen some amazing places and traversed some of Australia’s more remote roads. It was because of this passion for the great outdoors coupled with our love of geocaching that we found a cache in every state and territory along the way.

Below I have listed several the highlights which if it wasn’t for geocaching we might have driven straight past it:

• ·         GCKJFX - Haddons Corner
• ·         GC20AQZ - Big Red (Eastern Gateway to the Simpson Desert)
• ·         GC720YF - Boulia - The Outback Way
• ·         GC1X7T9 - The Tanami
• ·         GC15A9Y - Wolfe Creek Crater
• ·         GC44CZM - Devonian Reef
• ·         GC6PJJC - Mitchell Falls EarthCache
• ·         GC3QZVR - Jam and Cream
• ·         GC6Z57T - Mataranka Thermal Spring
• ·         GC3NP5R - Paint me a Picture
• ·         GC2GA51 – Oodnabloodydatta
• ·         GCPFZ2 - Dog Gone
• ·         GC6TGET - Lake Eyre South
• ·         GCQ1P3 - Strzelecki Crossing
• ·         GC5TP9W – Tibooburra
• ·         GC469D1 - Mr M Remembers Soap
• ·         GC644GN - A Step Back In Time
• ·         GC1F16X - "As KEEN as"
• ·         GC3W165 – snowbreak
• ·         GC1DRN2 - Jindabyne International Airport
• ·         GC67R6J - Forgotten Fireplace

The power of geocaching to make a holiday into adventure can’t be underestimated. These finds will go towards finding GC6VF7W Australia All Over Challenge.

300 in a weekend – geocaching

Our busy lives had reflected in our lack of geocaching over the past few months so it was with much pleasure that a few of boys had come together for a weekend away with an ultimate destination of Bathurst. The central plains had seen a plethora of caching in recent times so big numbers were on the cards.

Heading off Friday after work we headed south with a plan to grab a few caches around Goulburn before heading up the back way to Bathurst. Our first nights caching went well with us camping on the Abercrombie River. We woke to cool crisp clear skies and were soon back into the caching routine. “The Road Less Travelled” power-trail winds its way through this area which provided us with a seemingly never ending supply of caches. By late morning we found ourselves in Oberon where we grabbed a few supplies before heading back out into the picturesque countryside. The cache count was quickly piling up and as moved from town to town the joy of being in the countryside absorbs you.

By late afternoon and with hungry hearts we found our last cache in the TRLT series. Heading into Bathurst we took delight in a decent meal and well-earned break, but with no rest for the wicked we were soon back out attempting to find more Tupperware. However it appeared our luck had run out with more DNF’s than there was finds so we returned to Bathurst where showers and bed were a high priority.

Sunday dawned with the same priorities but the roar of race engines coming from Mt Panorama dampened my enthusiasm. An unknown race meet meant that our planned caching spree around the mountain wasn’t going to happen. Instead we headed back towards Oberon where a number of small clusters quickly added to our find count. We even managed to get a few of last night’s DNF’s using fresh eyes. By days end we’d put a good dint in our planned trip and with our find count pushing towards 300 we chose to cache for a few more hours before opting to drive home where the comfort of our own beds seemed to be a winning choice.

After a very long day and equally long few days we were home again with a massive 300 plus finds and another area clear of caches.

4 in 1

Hatching a plan to do 4 caching events in one day was a bit of a “tongue in cheek” comedy when I first mentioned it to others but with it being ‘International Geocaching Day’ the thought of attending 4 events in the one day took some shape.

 So it was on the 20^th Aug that Mizmaz and myself headed to the southern highlands for a chilly early morning event. As many others laughed at us we signed the log and headed south to Nowra where we made it in time to celebrate lunch with the local geocachers as part of their event.

The next event for the day had us travelling north to Dolls Point where after we managed to make in it just in time for the group photo and quick chat with some familiar faces. By this point of the day the body was starting to get a bit weary but it was back to the Illawarra for our final event. Dinner with our local caching community was the culmination of a big day mostly spent driving from place to place, but who else can say they’ve done 4 events in 1 day.

Pre 2002 Geocaches

For a little while now I’ve been slowly finding all the geocaches that had been published in the year 2000-2001. Due to their rarity and sparse localities it’s turned into a long-term goal.

With this in mind there were 2 geocaches that needed to be found in the Kosciusko National Park above the snow-line which means for a few months of the year they are inaccessible and for the other part of the year I seem to always find myself busy with other activities. So it was pleasing that I’d finally got the planets to align and I was heading south for a walk in the Alpine region.

In early May I found myself leaving home at 3am with a plan to drive straight down to Charlotte’s Pass where I’d leave the car and head off for my walk along the Main Range. To my pleasure I made good time and by 8am I was sitting in the carpark of Charlotte’s Pass doing a final gear check before setting off. I started for the Blue Lake under clear skies but very crisp and cool conditions. Puddles were covered in ice and plants were crisp with frost. The conditions made walking a little slippery, especially the river crossings where stepping stones were icy slippery….. the last thing I wanted was an early morning dip in the Snowy River. Making good time I was soon approaching the Blue Lake and my first geocache. The 2-Dogs cache of “Great Southern Land GC26E4” was on my to-do list. After a short search perched looking down on Blue Lake the cache was in hand.

With more ground to cover I was soon gaining altitude as I headed towards the track junction of the Main Range. Shortly after reaching this point I headed northeast and climbed Mt Twynam where the 360deg views were amazing. The mountains went forever and the valley’s disappeared into the abyss below, but I needed to keep going as my ultimate goal lied atop of Mt Anton. The “Australia’s Used to Highest GCF7” cache and my last year 2000 published cache were still ahead of me. With Mt Anton in sight the weather started to change with a strong wind blowing in high cloud and chilling temperatures, but alas it didn’t hamper my efforts as I soon had the geocache in hand.

After the obligatory photos it was time to start heading back, the wind had strengthened and on a number of occasions the cloud blocked out all views and with so many thoughts of bad luck stories rushing through my head I didn’t to add my own chapter. Descend off Mt Twynam I was slightly disappointed to see the serenity of my walk shattered by a massive school group that was tackling the Main Range walk in the same direction I had hoped to do. I wasn’t in the mood to share this walk with 60+ school kids so opted to bow out and head back to the car where I could continue my adventure in a different direction.

5½ hours after starting my walk I was back at the car having completed a 20km walk in some of Australia’s most spectacular countryside…. I certainly wasn’t complaining.