5000 Finds

After 9 years of caching and accumulating thousands of finds, we finally racked up our 5000th find on the 27th Feb 2011.

As with all our milestone finds we have gone outside the box to undertake a unique cache that we would remember and this milestone was no exception. The “In Extremis” GC2HYPF series of caches placed by Hoojar was to be our goal. This series of caches has 11 caches placed in a 160km radius from Wollongong on various main roads that head out from Sydney. Each cache has a number contained within which once all numbers are collected can be used to find the coordinates to the final cache.

Over a period of approximately 3 months I slowly found all the caches in the series. Sometimes going to extreme lengths to obtain the find. On one occasion Steeba and I did a 500km round trip effectively for 2 finds. Some might say I’m crazy, but well worth it for the ultimate prize.

With all the preliminary caches found and GZ worked out, Steeba and myself set off to complete my 5000th find. The cache page had warned us of the dangers but had also highlighted the views that would be seen at GZ. As we approached GZ neither aspect was under estimated. The Illawarra’s 80m escarpment cliffs and spectacular views of the coastline awaited us.

After rigging the necessary ropes etc I abseiled down to the awaiting cache where I claimed my 5000th find. Jubilation and triumph run through my body as with all my milestone finds. Steeba had joined me at GZ where we both shared in this memorable cache. I left my usual milestone coin in the cache for all that venture after me to find.

It was then time to return to the top where once again we re-lived the joy of my 5000th find.

Thanks to Steeba for joining me on this adventure and thanks to Hoojar for providing a memorable 5000th find cache.

Mirror Ball cache - GCX5TV

I had been eyeing off this cache ever since it’d been published way back in 2006. When a recent invite passed my way I couldn’t refuse the opportunity to tackle this cache as its certainly not one that I’d tackle by myself.

With a group of experienced abseilers gathered a date was locked in. The 22nd Jan would hopefully provide clear skies and a perfect opportunity. Sure enough, as the day dawned we couldn’t have asked for more perfect conditions. Having spent the night over at Mt Wilson we made our way to Pierces Pass carpark for an early start.

By 8am we were heading off towards “Walls Lookout”. Just before the lookout a small track branches off while leads down into the gully and out onto the halfway ledge. Prior to turning off we took time out to check out the view from Walls Lookout. The views of the Grose Valley and its towering sandstone cliffs were spectacular but reminded us of the adventure that lye ahead. From our vantage point the halfway ledge looked rather narrow and at no point did we feel keen to continue.

Swallowing all emotions and fear we started don the side trail and out onto the halfway ledge. The vegetation obscured our view of the 110m cliff just metres to our right. In what only seemed like minutes we had reached the point where it was time to don our equipment. After some gear checks we proceeded out to the first abseil point. It was here that we were pleasantly surprised to be joined by some climbers who were out on the face for a day of climbing.

Having rigged our ropes, doubled checked our gear and knots it was time to descend our first abseil. Its at this point, regardless of how well you’re trained and how confident you are that you have to have a lot of faith in your gear cause there’s only a piece of rope which holds you from certain death. Overcoming these fears it was soon my turn and I was soon dangling off a rope 100+m above the valley floor.

No sooner had I started down the rock-face and I was touching down atop the Mirrorball pinnacle and half of my abseiling adventure was complete. From this vantage point you feel so dwarfed by your surroundings, but that is quickly forgotten as you take in the views and orra of this place.

Once we were all on the pinnacle our top rope was retrieved and a short search revealed the next set of coordinates, which were for GZ. We then set about rigging ropes to do it all again and thus reach the bottom. The next abseil is a little bit more difficult pitch and you quickly end up in a chimney/slot where you’re bounced from one wall to the other before touching down on terra firma.

By the time I’d reached the bottom, the goal of our expedition had been retrieved and it was a simple matter of me adding my name to the log. After basking in our achievements we re-hid the cache and set off to complete the next stage of our adventure – the walk out.

Various logs on this cache talk about heading down to the creek V’s staying up against the base of the cliff. We chose to head downwards and while we were confronted with some of the worst lawyer vine and abrasive vegetation I believe it was the right way. After a 30min hard slog we were in a nice cool creek enjoying some lunch. Setting off again it was a short trek to the spur where we picked up the Hungerfords track and a seemingly easier way out to the car.

5½ hours after setting off we made it back to the cars. Our adventure was complete. Its certainly a memorable, but not one for everybody. Thanks to my fellow cachers for allowing me to tag-along and thanks to Foundem, the cache owner.

Caching the Blue Mts

This is a blog I should have started many years ago but after doing a few caches in the mid mountains area last week I thought it’d be good share my experiences with all of you.

Having lived in the Blue Mts for most of my life I’d done pretty much all of the walks, seen all the lookouts and the like when I was dragged along as a young kid with my parents. Since Geocaching I have been back to quite a few spots that have rekindled those memories and other new spots have been simply awesome.

Whether you agree with the geocaching guidelines or not, some of the geocaching hides in the Blue Mts have you trekking to some very spectacular locations, I have listed a few caches that I feel are a must.

My caches
In the loop – Is a full days off track walk which takes you into the heart of the mountains. The cache is perched high above Wentworth Ck

Hay, Hay Its – Is an easy trail walk out to Mt Hay. The last 500m is off trail. At GZ there are magnificent views into the Grose Valley

Kedumba – At the site of a monument for those who helped build the road into the valley below. Its an easy fire-trail walk with magical views at GZ.

Hanging Rock – The Baltzer Lookout is breathtaking while being extremely dangerous. Views into the Grose Valley are amazing but no fences protect you from the huge drop. It’s a trail walk to reach GZ

Wild Dogs – Is a full days walk or an easy overnight hike into Wild Dog Mtn Range. Splendour Rock is an old ANZAC monument for fallen bushwalkers.

Found Caches
The Gorge – Is a lower mountains cache with a bit of adventure. It highlights the Nepean River and Glenbrook Gorge.

Florabella Series – These 2 caches I did at night but I thoroughly enjoyed the walk down into the valley floor. Both caches are not far off a walking trail.

Real Cache – Is an easy walk from the car along trails. GZ offers great views to the NE out of Castlereagh

Den Fenella Track – Is an earthcache that offers great views over the Jamieson valley while being an educational experience.

Valley of the Waters – Is one of the more picturesque waterfalls in the mountains. It’s a downhill walk to GZ but spectacular views await those who venture.

Sublime – Is one of those spots where you can just sit and watch the world go by. I look the vista from this location.

Daylight – An adventure cache in an old mine. Getting to the start of the mine can be a little difficult, but the adventure underground is worth the experience.

Point to Sister – Is not a cache for everyone, it requires a bit of fitness, but those that do it will be in awe of the views and the feats of pioneering walkers. The Furber Stairs are incredible.

Laughing Waters – A waterfall that is rarely visited but is worth the walk along a formed trail. GZ offers nice views into this small enclosed valley.

Solo Man Reloaded – is situated on Mt Solitary. This messa is viewed from every lookout around Katoomba. It’s a good steep half day walk which wont suit all, but is worth the effort.

Drop Dead Gorgeous – Is another adrenalin cache, which you need to abseil into. Its not that high but is a lot of fun. Nearby there are some great views into Megalong Valley.

Pilcher – Is a spot that offers magical views into the upper Grose valley. Its well worth the bumpy road to drive out to GZ.

Mount York – Is at the western end of the Blue Mts and offers views further west. Sitting here to watch the sun set is a must for all who come out this way.

View3-52 Darling – Is along the Darling causeway and offers fantastic views down towards the Grose Valley. This is an easy drive-by cache.

Du Faur ROCKS – Tucked away on the way out to Mount Wilson is this hidden gem. Canyoners and climbers know this area very well. The cache offers great views into the Wollangambe area.

Shrouded in Mist – Is located in the shadows of Mt Banks, which is the highest mountain within the Blue Mts. While the view at GZ isn't that spectacular. This area offers a few vantage points to the amazing cliff walls nearby.

Mirror Ball - This multi-cache requires the finder to abseil 110m into the Grose Valley. The area offers spectacular views and is a true adrenalin rush, but its only for the experienced. See my seperate report on this cache.

Caches on my “to do list”
Above the Dappled valley
Lost World
Point of No regard
Scooter on the Oaks
Scooter on the Andersons
Lockley Story – Earthcache
Cliffhanger

This list will be an ongoing project and while you may find others that are better, these are my picks of the Blue Mts caches. I hope you enjoy.

Gangsters invade Port Stephens

The gangsters have been at it again, this time invading the Port Stephens region. However it wasn’t without some variation, cause this time one of the gangsters lives in the Port Stephens region. So regrettably for Big Matt his find count for the weekend was minimal.

Unlike other raids, we didn’t really spend too much time on the planning phase of this trip. The usual, leave Friday back Sunday was a given. That was until we decided to have a crack at the NSW one-day record for finds in a single day. A route around the region was quickly put together and schedule of the days active was drawn up.

Big Matt & Shell played host to us for the weekend and after arriving at their place on the Friday night we shared a few stories before retiring for an early night.
Saturday dawned very early for us, we were out the door at 3.15am leaving Matt & Shell to enjoy a sleep-in. By 3.30am we were finding our first cache on the outskirts of Raymond Terrace, from then on the finds fell reasonably quickly for the 3 of us. We were averaging 7 finds an hour and by breakfast we had already accumulated 40 finds.

As the day progressed we swept through various towns leaving very few unfound before eventually making our way out to Nelsons Bay. Those that have been here before would know the cache density out here is ripe. Plenty of finds in easily accessible locations quickly improved our cache count. However the beauty of the area is often a cacher’s downfall as many muggles also frequent the area making some finds near impossible.

As the daylight hours faded for the day we came upon a cache called “Million Dollar Views”. This particular spot was the highlight for me, with its sweeping views of the area. It was just magnificent.

Pressing on, the finds continued to mount as we meandered around the various bays, which including Salamander, Nelsons, Fingal and finally Anna Bay. Many of the time muggles shared the area with us as they too soaked up the beautiful day. Just on sunset we drove around to the Stockton Sand Dunes where we completed the nearby earthcache.

As the clock ticked over 8.30pm we finally reached the end of our intended route. We had just completed a 17-hour caching run finding 124 finds which was a very impressive days work. Back and Matt & Shell’s we shared in the spoils of our good day as we enjoyed a great night eating, drinking, singing and being merry. However the nights activities came at a cost on Sunday morning. Most of us were suffering bad hangovers none worse than mine, which seemed to get worse as the day got longer.

After a slow start we finally were capable of driving and thus headed off in search of more caches. The days pace was relevant to the way we felt – very slow. We headed south towards Swansea/Belmont where grabbed a few finds before wrapping up the weekend with us taking the old Pacific Hwy home to grab a few of those nuisance caches that just sit off the main thorough-fare.

Thanks to my fellow gangsters for another top weekend.

GC7D45 – Breathe

The sign of a good cache is one that can withstand the test of time, GC7D45 – Breathe is one of those caches. Back in Aug 2002 Team Chaos had this fantastic idea to hide a cache unaware that some 8 years later it’d be still going strong.

The concept is simple, find the Cuckoo, find the cache. But it’s the Cuckoo that makes this cache unique. Team Chaos hid a cache somewhere in the Sydney Metro area but posted a set of bogus coordinates on the cache page. To find the actual coordinates, the finder has to find the “Cuckoo” which resides in various other caches across Sydney.

Back in Oct 2007 I stumbled upon the Cuckoo as it rested in southern Sydney cache. You can imagine my surprise upon finding the Cuckoo as it can be in any cache as long as it remains in the Sydney metro area. Not wanting to disclose to surprise to others I carefully worded my logs and rehid the Cuckoo somewhere far away.

Last month, some 3 years after getting the coords I finally went out and found the actual cache. Not to give anything a way, I can tell you that a pleasant walk with fantastic views awaits the finders of Breathe. At GZ I sat and took pleasure in reading the logs of past finders and their experiences of finding the Cuckoo.

For a simple concept, this is of NSW more memorable caches.