Ancient Artifacts

Caching isn’t all fun and games. It can be dangerous, muddy, dirty, and … bloody.

It started when we thought we’d seek out the Ancient Artifacts cache in Rumbalara Reserve.  It was all going pretty smoothly – sure it was a long walk down a steep pathway and lots of stairs into a somewhat wet and boggy lush valley.

We found what we considered to be the “artifacts”, but no cache. It was frustrating. We’d just had two successful finds – surely this one would not beat us. Well, after about 45 mins of searching, and turning over stones and rocks – we came up with nothing.

It was a long walk back to the car. Along the way Guy noticed two leaches literally squirming their way through the fabric of his runners – making a quick path to his feet for a feed of blood. We were able to get them out of his shoes in time, but were amazed at their tenacity and strength.

I was wearing sturdy boots, so I figured I was safe – and surely I would notice if I had any leaches drinking my succulent blood.  So… we left, went and got some lunch, came back home – and I kicked off my boots. After about 10 minutes of sitting around in the lounge room I noticed something running down my leg – it was blood!

They got me!  I went to the bathroom to discover both my legs were bleeeding. It was a real mess. We located a leach in the dirty washing – it had crawled out of my sock.  My socks were also blood stained.

So let this be a warning for others seeking to find Gosford’s Ancient Artefacts cache!

Cutrock

It never ceases to amaze me some of the fantastic geography and scenery that is right here in our own backyard.

Cutrock is one such example, just up the road at Lisarow. 

It’s reminiscent of the scene in Indiana Jones where the huge boulder is rolling down a narrow canyon. On approach to this place we had no idea how this could be – but when you get to GZ, the “cut rock” stands out and guides you into it, where you are bound to quickly find this cache.

The Cutrock Cache

There were some pretty metal stars – looks like they were made out of paperclips – we traded one for a yellow indian we took from Brady’s Pioneers. The trading had begun. TeamWolfie was affecting the cachosphere and contributing to the exchange of items between caches.

Another one found.

Brady’s Pioneers

Well, time for something different. How about a multi, in a cemetary?  A really old cemetary – where pioneers rest, and their headstones contain the clues to finding the cache!

Bring on Brady’s Pioneers – located in a small park close to home which we didn’t even know existed.

That’s the amazing thing about geocaching. You are guided to all these wonderful new places and experiences that would otherwise go by unnoticed.

It was fun locating the headstones and using their clues to get the final coordinates for the cache. TeamWolfie encountered one Muggle, but he and his dog kept his distance whilst maintaining a watchful eye on our activities. And a great little cache it was. This was Guy’s first find, and TeamWolfie’s second find all up. The interesting location, the thrill of Guy getting his first find, go together into making this cache another of our favorites.

Guy's first find - well done, mate!

Brady’s Pioneers was also to be our very first discovery of a geocoin, which we did not remove on this occasion.

Well done, Guy.