Geocaching

Monday , 7 November 2016 This walk around Dowsings Point from the Derwent Entertainment Centre ended up being our worst day of geocaching we have had. One find out of three. Divining Angle Sue said "is it under there" but Peter was a bit fed up and said "probably not" but looked anyway and there it was. The Cache With No Name We walked along the path and went down some steps, where we were confronted with a wire fence marked with no entry.  The GPS pointed to the other side of the fenced area and about 150 m within.    So we weren't too impressed  with this cache. On checking The  List after getting home it is apparent that the land vested in the defence force goes to the water line. What's the Point Somewhat frustrating when everyone else finds it easily and quickly and we can't.

Friday , 4 September 2015 The idea we had was to walk up the Cascade track to make a further search for the Barad Tricky tree cache and then cut over the ridge to Marlin Road and find if there was a way down to the Birthday cache near Strickland Avenue. We discovered there wasn’t and did a circuit up to the road junctions and then down Strickland to the car outside the brewery. Tricky Tree 06 After a bit of an oblique hint from Barad and somewhat more detail from another geocacher, we had a pretty good idea what to cast our eyes upon.  It was a more elaborate construction, than expected though, that we encountered.  A favourite point deserved for this. Birthday Cache On entering the park and seeing the way out signs erected by council, we were confident that once over the nicely built bridge the track would continue down the rivulet and exit back onto Strickland Avenue.  But after a very short distance a fence and go no further sign brought us to halt.

Friday , 23 January 2015 It was only a couple on months ago that we walked the lower part of this circuit and since then this series of caches has gone in.  We started at Lanena Street entrance got a couple out that way then followed the numbers in order from there on. 10 Out In The Open, Waverley Walk the cache lived up to its name 11 Within The Trees, Waverley Walk We don’t know if it was because we had sunglasses on, but both looked at the site, where it was eventually found by Sue, twice each.  As a consequence it took us a while to find. 0 Entrance, Waverley Walk It was quick to locate which was just as well with the resident over the fence close. 1 Dead Tree, Waverley Walk Nifty hide and liked the ladybird 2 Old Log, Waverley Walk Another nice ladybird. 3 You CAN Find this, Waverley Walk Sue guessed what to look for here. 4 Fallen Stump, Waverley Walk Another nice ladybird and we liked the outside container. 5 Water Tank, Waverley Walk Spent too much tim...

Monday , 21 April 2014 With a fine morning predicted, followed by rain arriving in the late afternoon, it was off soon after breakfast to New Norfolk. A 12.5 k circuit walk from the town centre took us past 10 caches. Return was by Boyer Road which is marked at 80KPH all the way to Bridgewater which we kept to, but some drongo who seemed to be unable to read and had little regard for road safety passed us on double lines beside an 80 sign whilst beeping and gesticulating violently as he roared past. The morning of caching did however turn out to be a day of caching, but we did beat the rain home; only just though. Third Bridge Stopped as traffic was light and the swans came to check what we were doing. SB Multi #1 We called at WP1 on the way to New Norfolk and confirmed the suspicion about where WP2 would be. Then later as part of the walk we did the second calculation, but Peter made a mathematical error and the GPS pointed to a most unlikely spot. A recheck of calculations gave a...

Wednesday , 16 April 2014 It was a delightful autumn day and we decided on an afternoon walk from North Hobart to the Domain and down to the Bahai Centre and back to North Hobart, taking in three caches on the way. Bahai Architecture Walked here from Domain and noticed it wasn't the most pedestrian friendly way. No muggles on foot at the time of finding. My bad Bonsai A quarantine container was noticed and thought it might be a trick one, but of course it was the real thing. Cache eventually found in a nice hide. The Mural Laneway We once owned a container a bit like this, but it went missing. It was a quiet time when we looked and took the cache to a seat to write the log. Unfortunately a muggle decided to sit at the opposite bench, so replacing had to be a bit stealthy. There were a few things that were not as they seem, but it was not until we returned the cache that discovered the others.

Wednesday , 9 April 2014 We were off to meet some friends to walk on the track from Oatlands to Parattah. There was time for a couple of caches on the way up and then a return on Mudwalls road, via Jericho, enabled a few more. It was fine until driving up Spring Hill where drizzle was met, but by Oatlands this had stopped and the 14k return walk was at least dry although still cloudy. LITTLE QUOIN This was some heck of a stretch. Eclipse Tin Power Trail Somewhat amusing we must say. It was actually higher than lower, but is back to lower than higher. Not So Dull Was going to way but the fence soon put a stop to that. A revised approach soon has us at GZ. Mudwalls Had last been close to this spot a good many years ago, probably when the main road went past and it was easy to see without the exotic tree hedge now there. Had a look before going off to collect the cache. JERICHO Peter looked down and saw the mark but could not get to the cache. He ended up getting over an obstacle a...

Friday , 4 April 2014 We planned a trip staying overnight at Brockley homestead and to include the Part of the Old Coach Road that we hadn't previously walked. Brockley has been restored and offers accommodation in the historic homestead. On the way we settled on a few geocaches to do between Penna and Orford, plus a visit to the Bushland Garden near Buckland. Sharkdog walk Found without problem after the short walk beside the calm bay. A Digital Digitation Looked complicated but after consulting Google the conflict between I & P was resolved, but then during the calculation stage it was further complicated by the number 10 which would have been out of bounds. An assumption was made and when the final result was viewed in Google Earth it all looked plausible and when at GZ the road name gave more confidence. Some drivers of passing vehicles gave us curious looks. It was found at the suspected spot. Convict Cove It was a very pleasant latish afternoon walk to the quarry and...

Thursday , 3 April 2014 After receiving a helpful suggestion from GoldJ we decided to return to the Old Beach area to try our luck. There had also been a new cache placed in the area which meant we might score more than one new find. Otago, The Barque From an earlier log we had a notion where this would be and Sue hopped out of the car and had it quicksmart. We were treated to an eagle flying just over our heads. Tasmaniosaurus We went to where the GPs pointed, but if we had read back in the logs far enough we would have searched much further afield. As is was the noise of the whizzing traffic made us glad to leave. Secret Skatepark It was well hidden, but on reading the Graham51 log we followed his example and found the blighter. Old Beach #3 Would it? Previously we had concentrated around the old stump, but following the GoldJ prompt we looked in the right direction and quickly had it. Peter managed to flip the cache lid in the air during the opening process but kept it good sig...

Saturday , 29 March 2014 It was a predicted fine day and although quite cloudy and misty in Hobart it became sunnier as we drove west. The plan was to get a few caches on the way, do the Lady Barron Falls circuit and then the remainder of the caches on the eastern side of the Derwent on the way back. No limes were harmed. Spotted by Sue quite quickly and handed to Peter to open as there were lots of ants about. The old kilns were quite an interesting historical feature. It all happens here It was where suspected and not at the spot that the GPS was pointing to. Firemans Retreat This was just so easy to find; it was lying on the ground at GZ. The only effort was getting it back to the rightful place. This could be a difficult spot to get to when the blackberry and other weeds grow a bit. How Tall? Handy having two GPS units as one was 20 metres out but the other much closer; still the hint made it easy. Took a TB Derwent Valley Trail #8 St.Augustines Church GPS pointed about 10 ...

Sunday , 23 March 2014 New caches on the Wellington Falls track plus the replacement of Tiger Snake was a good reason the take the bikes out for a ride. We started out at Neika and rode to the start of the walking track. At least a year had elapsed since they were last used and on the return journey it was starting to be felt. Previously to the current reincarnation of the Tiger Snake cache we had looked for it on several occasions and again today were still not able to locate the very frustrating cache. PTPT Tiger Snake Strikes Back We looked for the original cache on a number of occasions, both going and coming back on the track and again with this reincarnation we had the same result. We checked about the spot that matched the hint until we got fed up and left. PTPT - Take a Seat Took a while to locate and then we had difficulty extracting the container; the use of tweezers eventually did the trick. PTPT - Table and Chairs Well OldSaint we found your cache before anyone else and...

Thursday , 20 March 2014 From the top of the head it sounded plausible; go on a bushwalk to Mount Styx and because it is not a long walk collect some geocaches on the way, plus stop for a coffee at Mount Field. On the return stop for coffee and get some caches by taking the alternative road back to New Norfolk. But I had forgotten how much longer it takes to get from Mount Field through to the Styx Valley and didn’t factor in the stopping times for each cache. The result was the completion of in first half of the plan only at 5:00 PM and obviously the second half was completely out of the question. That will have to wait until another day. View of Nevada Peak from Mount Styx Derwent Valley Trail #1 Bryn Estyn. When driving up the road we did not get the GPS settled until past GZ so it was attempted on the trip back. The road was quiet and the car was parked on the right hand verge beside numerous warning signs about an electric fence and surveillance cameras. We saw the bracketed...

Friday , 28 February 2014 During a pleasant sunny afternoon we started off at the jetty and walked to Cassidys Bay and back and find as many of caches as we could. It was warm in sheltered spots but at some the sea breeze was quite pronounced. The score was six out of seven. Old Beach - #1 Hop-a-long Like several others we thought this was a great hide. We have seen a couple of similar style ones during the week. Old Beach #2 Wattle Sue spotted it. Mind you it was not a wattle, although some were not far away. Old Beach #3 Would it? Looked as we went one way and then again on return. Should have looked at some of the earlier logs about the location (which we have now done). Old Beach #4 Duck Pond Was quite quick, but there was a bit of a worry about dropping the container before it was secure; but is was safely ensconced when we left. Old Beach #5 Lone Pine One of the logs helped with this one. Old Beach #6 Sun Valley Was fairly quick to locate, but at first we thought it was go...

Wednesday , 26 February 2014 We decided to take a trip out to the Poimena Reserve to attempt a few caches. A couple of years ago we both recollect walking to the top of the reserve for geocache, but there is nothing on the web and it has us somewhat puzzled; are we mistaken or has it been archived. The caches today were varied and inventive. Flying Saucers We walked up from the bottom car park only to find a council truck with workers inside parked at GZ. We think they may have been waiting for knock off time to lock the gate on the road. Fortunately the cache further up the hill beckoned and after finding that we returned and the truck had gone. Sue suspected where the hide might be and she was correct. It had been popular up here as we were the 5th in the log for the day. The Birth Place of Australian Disc Golf A fairly quick find and we hope the plastic bag lasts a bit longer as there was no hard container and it had a hole in it. Peter pulled out a few Boneseed plants while Sue ...

Friday , 21 February 2014 The caches along the near the bike track between Cornelian Bay and the Botanical gardens had been in for over a month, but despite not living all that far away we hadn't got around to looking until today. Lots of bikes whizzing past during the time we were on the track and the return we switched the walking track which now has an entry point at the eastern end. In all a bit over 3k round trip. HBT Branching Out We had a fairly good idea what to look for but it still took a time to locate. The GPS was pointing to a different object but when Sue moved north she soon spotted it. HBT Bridge to Nowhere Sue looked at the web and said this was disabled, but when Peter looked a few minutes later it had just been enabled; a bit of luck there. However we spent a bit of time looking whilst cyclists sped past. Peter looked at one spot and missed it but Sue had a closer look and found the container she suspected it to be. One interesting aspect was the foreign objec...

Sunday , 16 February 2014 One of the main drivers for looking for caches today was to try again for the Bee cache at Rosny that had eluded us. A trip up through Winifred Curtis Flora Park rounded off the outing. A new park After walking down the path from the flora park it was a quick and easy. Maybe that is why Peter made the find. Dance of the Bee. This had been a struggle to locate and in fact had stopped for a search twice without success. After seeking a clue from OldSaint we returned and this time found the little blighter. Thanks heaps OldSaint, your help was enough to tip the balance. Darwin's Rock It It was a bit surprising that as soon as wee arrived at the spot several cars came in and out of the small road. Eventually things settled down and the search began, but Sue found the right spot and the type of container that she suspected it would be.

4- 7 December 2013 We went on a mini holiday, staying at a shack at Binalong Bay then drove through the northeast to Launceston, collecting a few caches on the way. Our final day was at the Tamar Wetlands where the extensive mudflats were a new experience for us. Geocachers Garden The grass was quite high so we opted to circuit to GZ on the rocks. Royal Garden The grass was wet after the rain and our shoes absorbed some, but the cache was not hard to locate. Left Princess TB and took two geocoins Fisherman's Memorial We had a look here although the bushes were very wet, but could not find the cache. Sloopy's Spa Bath Even from Jeanerette Beach we could see a distinct feature that we reckoned would be what had to be described to claim the cache. On reaching the actual cache site our assumption proved correct. It was high tide and anyone in the pool today would easily get swept out; we kept a big distance away. Dragon of Information The eyesight read the word "rear...

Friday , 15 November 2013 The day was split between finishing off the Tranmere group and some newer ones at Lindisfarne It was an ominously bad start with the first 3 as DNFs, but a rescan brought it back to 2 from 3. Eventually we pared that back 1 DNF until adding another later in the day. Quite a few foot kilometres were involved as we drove to a car park for each area and walked to the caches. Dennis Woz Here Walked up from having lunch at Lindisfarne village. The park was a bit on the neglected side, although fortunately the grass had been cut. Froggy Is Not Amused Made a search but it would have been useful to have gloves as protection from the sharp parts of the hiding place. Streets of Lindisfarne As we got close the likely hiding place became clear. Foreshore Track - Bee Diamonds Took the hard and low approach, but clearly if the tide had not been low this way would have been under water. Took the best way out that we could see, but there was a lots of long grass and stick...

Sunday , 10 November 2013 A morning walk turned into a finish after 2:30 and we hadn't had lunch. A bad start ended with a bad finish but in between we managed to get a decent score along the Tranmere tracks. We are residents of the western shore and whilst standing in sunshine we could look back to our home front near the mountain to see showers falling. Wise Men 2 We had two tries at this, the first search for the day but without success and lots of dog owning muggles about. On the return walk we looked from near the path, then read a few logs to discover it was a bit further away than an arms length. Bus Stop Nano Found as described, but could not extract log, even with tweezers. Concreate Took a bit of searching made harder by all the activity about, including a swimming race. A great container. Left a TB. Post Cap Saw a spot that matched the hint and also read the August 2013 log entry mentioning that a tool was needed to get at the cache. We couldn't budge anything so...

Wednesday, 16 October 2013 Walked the Whitewater track on a gradually warming but with the wind also increasing in strength. In fact at one stage Peter's hat blew off and his glasses also got knocked off; unfortunately that meant he couldn't see where they landed and only found them when he realised he had trodden on them. Having new and expensive glasses damaged was not very nice, but at least the lens were not scratched. The Whitewater track was fine enough but as with so many creek systems, that have human development near, the weeds have made big inroads. Rascally's Ouch!! Went too far for this but soon rectified the mistake. Whitewater Wander - Take A Seat Sue quickly found it and most of the time taken was in putting back the log, which is now full. Whitewater Wander - Log Your Find A bit of a stretch of the hand and the container slipped from Peter's fingers a couple of times. Tried to pull out a small Blackberry before it took over and managed to get a prick...

Sunday, 13 October 2013 With predictions of afternoon showers we decided to tackle the walking track between Lauderdale and Seven Mile Beach during the morning while things looked OK. But by the time we had gone about two thirds of the way it started to rain and after sheltering from two shower spells we thought it best to head back to the car and do the rest on another day. LYC on the beach. The clue helped Sue grab this fairly quickly. Before we got to the spot we were looking for something large and well above head height to match the clue before realising we were thinking of a different version. Last Line of Defence A quick find by Sue. The Steps The spot we expected it to be drew a blank, but taking another angle soon came up with goods. The End We were on the walking track but is was clear that we should have stayed on the beach. A look down persuaded us to try for an easier approach and that turned out to be by returning after going down to get the next cache in line. Peter...