Mosquito Island

Don’t let the name of this geocache put you off visiting. We did not encounter a single mosquito, but we did encounter other challenges – but TeamWolfie was brave enough to make the splash and our bravery was to be rewarded with this, our 65th cache find.

Mosquito Island (GC19D59) by basscadetz is a mysterious and peaceful place. Located at the end of a peninsula at Tacoma South where the mouth of the Wyong River runs into Tuggerah Lake. The cache hider guaranteed a “water feature” at the end of the track, and a “water feature” we got. Although we were woefully unprepared for any water activity, we kicked off our shoes and decided to GO FOR IT !

Mosquito Island - no mosquitos, but there is a geocache.

If you’ve ever waded through a muddy estuary before, you probably already know the sensation of having your feet sink up to 30cm deep into the thick, slimy, sludgy mud – if barefoot, hoping there’s nothing too unfriendly in amongst it all! If you can’t handle this sensation, we strongly suggest gum boots – the type that come up to your knees (or higher)…

We braved it barefoot and had no dramas. The water was warm and inviting – with the appeal of a small child’s wading pool, and who knows what natural or man-made evils lurk beneath the surface?

The island is pretty cool. If I was a bird, like a pelican or a swan, I’d love to have a nest here. For bird watchers there is an abundance of pelicans and black swans swimming in Tuggerah Lake nearby, feeding from the outflow of the Wyong river.

We found the small cache after a brief sniff around, signed the log, and mentally prepared ourselves for the trip back across the murky and muddy waterway.

Contemplating the return to the mainland

Trying to re-trace our steps, I’m sure we sank even deeper into the sludge on the return trip than we did on the way over – perhaps because we’d already stirred it up.

Mosquito Island was certainly a different and memorable place, although I’m surprised this cache only had a terrain difficulty of 2. I would have expected a bonus terrain point for trudging through bog to get to the cache!