Towered Over

Those who visit this geocache will soon learn why it’s Towered Over (GC1GQJB) by Shifter Brains. 

We approached GZ after a short drive down Scaddens Ridge Road, with a minor detour just at the cache location that also acts as a safe parking area. The cache had us stumped for a little bit while our GPSr danced around, but before long we were onto it and the cache was in our paws. Not too easy, not too hard – just right!

Wolfie Towering Over the Cache

We love these sensible geocache containers that Shifter Brains use. They obviously love their SPC fruit, and these containers make for an excellent geocache in the right location, especially when camouflaged.

While signing the log book a muggle drove by – but thankfully too quickly to notice the team squatting in the undergrowth doing our suspicious activities. We quickly returned the cache after signing and left the area before the muggle returned.

Thanks again for another cache Shifter Brains – you’re keeping us busy, and we like it.

Secret Vision

It’s normal in geocaching to brag about being the FIRST to find a newly-placed geocache. But it’s not everyday someone might get to brag about being the LAST to find.

Sadly, this could be the case for Secret Vision (GC1871T) by d.d.dudes.

After reading the cache description and checking out the pictures and logs, it seemed this was going to be a really cool and fascinating place to visit. I parked at the Waypoint described, and headed off up the discrete track, and came across the little plaque, as described by the cacher.

This is looking interesting

We headed a little further up the track to where it opened up to a rocky outcrop, and noticed some beautiful and fascinating carvings on ground – the most prominent being a very large kangaroo.

A VERY large Kangaroo carving.

Some of the carvings were well worn and camouflaged, so they’re hard to photograph. It was a very peaceful, almost mystical place. Something rustled in the bush nearby, I turned to spot a large Goanna race up a tree. I must’ve startled him.

With the aid of the hint, I retrieved the cache very quickly and opened it to start signing the log book. Upon doing so I was very surprised to turn around and find two State Forest rangers had appeared from behind – and they wanted to know what I was doing!

I had the cache right there, log book opened which I was in the process signing — so I just told them I was geocaching, and asked if they’d heard of it before.  They explained they knew what geocaching is – but were concerned about it going on at a sacred aboriginal women’s site.

He said he saw my car parked out by the road and wanted to know what I was up to.  They told me there had been some vandalism and disrespectful activities going on, a person called “JACOB” had used an angle grinder to put his name in the rock, and he was very upset that somebody had once “outlined” the carvings with a chalk-type rock to make them stand out so that they could be photographed.

I showed him the log and explained it brought in a few people – but not large numbers, and geocachers are overall a very responsible bunch of people, which he understood – but he explained that to place a geocache at this location is “tacky and disrespectful” to the aboriginal tribe and their ancestors – and is “about as tacky as Nicole Kidman trying to play a didgeridoo.” 

Being a women’s site, they also do not like men being here. Period.

He wanted to know the website and the cache name, which I gave him. I offered to contact the cache owner – which I will, and the ranger said he will also follow it up.  He wants the cache owner to move it – say, a couple of hundred metres away somewhere down the other track. He said “there’s no problem with putting the cache in the state forest, but the problem is with it being at a sacred site.”

Wolfie, on sacred ground.

I returned the cache to its location. I’m not sure if it will still be there now.

This was my 60th find, my last for 2008, and sadly it might also be the last time this cache is found because this is a great spot which should be shared and accessible by responsible people.

F3 Futility – Pie in the Sky

TeamWolfie was hungry – and there’s no better place to feed two hungry geocaching wolves than a famous eatery on the old Pacific Highway that serves a delicious range of pies, and they are atop a mountain with a great view, and to top off a perfect lunch – a micro cache awaits us in their car park.

F3 Futility – Pie in the Sky (GC19236) is the first of stubby holder‘s caches we have encountered – and if this is the indication of the quality and thought stubby holder puts into all his/her caches, then we are really looking forward to finding a few more of them.

Being Sunday lunchtime this place was packed. Always very popular with bikers and tourists alike, but we managed to find a parking spot on the grass fairly close to ground zero.

But first things first – let’s eat. Surprisingly, getting a seat was a relatively easy process, and we woofed down 2 pies each and washed them down with a couple of bottles of the popular Bundaberg Ginger Beer before heading back to the car to plan our hunt. Thankfully even though this is a very popular place, the cache location is away from most of the activities, although we still had to be discrete and mindful not to be spotted by muggles in our search.

GZ lead us to the fence in a fairly sparse area with limited options for a cache hide, and if it weren’t for the fact I had seen this type of cache design on an American geocaching video podcast recently, there is every possibility I would never have discovered this cache.

This was a very clever and well designed custom-made cache.  We made sure muggles could not see us take the cache, and took it over to the car where we signed the log and examined its design in amazement.

The tricky part was taking it back – with groups of people coming and going, we had to choose our timing just right. Thankfully it was small enough to conceal while carrying, so it was just a case of waiting for the right time to return it to its home, which we did soon enough.

Smile for the muggles, Wolfie!

Not so lucky were we when we were taking a our trademark Wolfie picture of our dog (above). While I was taking this shot I didn’t realise a car load of muggles turned up and one of the older men in the car was pointing and laughing at me, obviously bemused by the fact that a grown man was taking a photograph of a stuffed dog.

Well, I guess the dog distracts attention away from the cache itself – and that’s the important thing in these cases. He’s our dog – and we love him.

Thanks again stubby holder for a fantastic cache.