Off to the Thumbs

Wednesday 27 June 2012

Well the weather was just ideal for a bushwalk to the Three Thumbs and to collect a few geocaches during the trip. However, the geocaching part looked a bit shaky as Peter’s GPS did not display any in the area. A later check at home showed the records were on the GPS and when overwritten with a new copy they displayed OK; puzzling! All was not lost because Barad Bunch had notes on the caches and the grid on his GPS. This enabled us to locate the one near the cars.

After morning tea at the lookout over Maria Island we commenced the walk to the Three Thumbs. Shady spots had plenty of frost but a fair bit of the way was along the tops of the main ridge and in the sun. Eventually we were on the highest peak, presumably the third Thumb and also what we presumed would be the hiding placed of the “Three Thumbs Up” geocache. But when Barad checked his GPS it indicated it was over 400 metres away on the peak previous climbed and descended from. Oh well that would have to wait for the return part of the walk.

Next came the off track part and a scramble down the scree followed by a rocky but relatively scrub free walk to the high point at the western end of the ridge. Pleasant and sunny would describe then lunch spot out there and then it was back up the scree, including few gentle injury free tumbles on the wobbly rocks. Once at the saddle between the peaks, Barad and Peter whipped up to the geocache site, soon found it and returned to join the other for the forest loop return. Peter then remembered he had left an item extracted from the cache sitting on a rock, so back up he went whilst the rest left on the forest loop. All then met up again at the other end of the loop junction.

At Orford the tables and chairs were set up outside the café but a notice said closed Wednesday, and that what the day was; coffee was therefore at the Buckland roadhouse on the highway home. With coffee or for some hot chocolate finished, two of the party drove home, whist Sue & Peter, Barad Bunch and another friend crossed the highway to search in the nearby church grounds for a geocache. Three more were on the agenda during the drive home.

 

Two Thumbs Up

A quick find thanks to Barad Bunch’s GPS. Left a bird card.

 

Three Thumbs Up!

Took a spaceman who has been identified as Buzz by the more astute of our group and we decided he was ideal to be converted to a Travel Bug. Left a bird card.

 

#100 !

We walked along the outside south side wall of the church yard but realised we needed to be on the other side. Once there it was soon to hand. Back near the entrance gate there is a headstone for Howell Edward 9 Months died 9/11/1852 reading “Here lies the grief of a fond Mother And blasted expectations of a indulgent Father “

 

 

Pot of Gold

It was getting quite dull by the time we arrived at Pot of Gold but the hint soon had at the GZ and the cache open. We took Silgvani, which we thought could be resurrected into a Travel Bug, and left a bird card.

 

Bust-Me-Gall

In this case the cache was one recorded only under the Australian web site and Barad Bunch didn’t have it on his GPS, but we stopped at the sign and spotted a couple of potential containers in the rapidly fading light but they were red herrings. Eventually a final try several metres on proved to be successful. Not bad we though for having no coordinates, description or hints and in the dim light.

 

In Cache you fall over

By the time we got here it was quite dark and it was touch and go if we would bother trying, but in the end the torches were brought out and we walked to a point where the GPS told us it was up the bank and again the dark uphill unknown was discouraging. However the torches were bright enough and Sue spotted a suspicious couple of rocks and lo and behold there it was.

Took rattle and left a bird card.