With the holiday season fast approaching, and all those muggles making non-caching demands on my time, I thought it best for force the slaves to finish their preparations on Thursday evening so when they finished at work on Friday we could go off on my merry way for a quick CacheMas Eve Crusade to the north! There are plenty of caches I had in sight, but I was especially interested in having my slaves score Beloved Books, so our destination became a northern town!
Friday 23 December 2005 I accompanied the female slave to work on Friday morning, as has become the tradition. This means everyone can have a good dose of dog-ear petting and selecting the best bits of food to feed me. (Highlights, for me, at this year’s feast were the roasted chicken and the blue brie – which I delicately licked off the revolting biscuit it was presented on.) Really, I don’t know why the female slave says anything negative about her job; all it seems to be from what I’ve seen is brief periods phaffing around on her computer between extended trips to the banquet room, and she has either a coffee mug or champagne glass in her hand at all times. Really! If this is business analysis, no wonder community health is in the state it is in Tasmania!
After putting in a few hours of drinking at the female slave’s office, we made our way to the HandsomeMan’s. I had remembered him working in an office building; however he seems to have moved to the footpath of a pub. Nice spot! I was admired for a while, but then became anxious to go and we were soon on our way!
First stop was Snuva’s Haunt, where we went for a quick walk to retrieve a GeoCoin and travel bug so that these could visit some cachers in the north. Then the real trip began, with me in the back, the female slave driving, and the HandsomeMan sleeping off his work in the passenger seat. The Pig colleagues were out collecting bad breath; great idea! Wish I’d thought of it!!! We made our way north until an unfound cache at Ross stopped us. Aaahhh – I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again – there’s something special about the first find of a crusade! This time it was The Four Corners, a fairly new offering from polfil. We figured out which corner was which, then made our way to another trail we hadn’t been to before; it really is amazing what secrets these towns have!
We had decided to make a camping spot in Latrobe our destination for the night (outside Duck Filled Fatty Pus), so zoomed past a few others we hadn’t found to ensure some caching time before dark. So we arrived at PINK! (#4) long before darkness had become an issue. This was a fairly easy find – especially as the last cacher had left some ‘chopsticks’ – and we were soon off to find New Britain Letterbox. What a great little track! And speaking of great tracks, no dog could ever complain about the track and facilities at Hooley Dooley. It was beginning to sprinkle with rain at this point, but the warm weather made this a non-issue. The female slave picked up something helpful from the dispenser next to the Dog Poo Loo and then we were off on the tracks to pick up buzzies in my fur and find a cache! The rain and clouds were playing havoc with the GPSr’s accuracy, but that just gave me a chance to enjoy the female slave’s famous mozzie dance – hilarious!! I finally sniffed out the cache for the slaves, we scored the find, and then we were off on the hunt again.
Now, I have become great friends with Peppa the Pig and despite having grand plans for a pig palace for her have just not gotten this off the ground (this is all the female slave’s fault!). So I thought it would be appropriate to leave her on Pig Island in Digger’s More Pigs than Frogs. But the bridge is out, there was no weir to be found, and the water was rushing a bit much for the slaves to be game enough to attempt it. If only I was allowed in this area I would have forded the river, found the cache, saved the pig, gotten Billy out of the well, etc. But it was not to be.
Now, the description for Echoes Bridge said it shouldn’t be attempted in the rain, but really there wasn’t that much rain, and besides I was disappointed at having scored my first DNF. So I sent the slaves out to score this one for me. At first the female slave wasn’t game and the brave HandsomeMan went out, but her anxiety to please me soon had her out hunting around as well. Hunt, hunt, hunt. Nothing. Try this one, try that. Read the description, the hint, the bloody obvious hint the owner left in notes – nothing. Last attempt for the day, and another DNF. Sigh.
Saturday 24 December 2005 – CACHEMAS EVE I had a solid night’s sleep but woke at 6am needing to visit the great outdoors, so the slaves decided to break up camp and make our way to some of the more muggle-rich caches in Devonport – yeah!! We drove into town, and it wasn’t long before we had DUKE OF ANZAC in our hot little paws! Then it was off to Neptune Spirit of the Sea. We thought we might end up disappointed here – there was a muggle fisherman, even though it was only 7.15 – and the area immediately near GZ was a bit ouchy for paws, but the female slave came through in the end! Next we had a shot walk and found Fence Post, where we also dropped off the German geocoin. In high spirits we headed for SAWDUST, only to be brought back to earth with a resounding ‘grumph’. We slipped and skidded around, got well and truly sliced up by cutting grass, and left.
This was the point where not having had any brekkie yet really started to tell, so we headed into the ‘city’ and had a most excellent breakfast and coffees in the pedestrian mall, where I had to suffer being petted and admired from all sides. Sigh – the duties of a pincess. It was almost the appointed time to make an attempt at the next cache, which despite being in an area I cannot visit I was extremely anxious for the slaves to find! Off they went, and the female slave reports that it just took moments for her to find and log Beloved Books! The male slave also had some business in this area, so he completed this and then successfully hunted out the cache and was much impressed! THIS is why caches should be listed on GCA!!! This was fantastic but would never have been allowed on the other site!! The female slave found access to the internet close to GZ, so quickly logged this one and a few other finds, then returned to report back to me.
With the main cache of our trip found, it was time to do a few more before beginning our trip home. Next cache to be visited by the Snuva was, Plushie Haven. This was great – quiet little area with lots of buzzies to adorn my fur and a clever hide to baffle the muggles!! We left a Tassie Devil TB and Daffy Duck decided to charm us with his ‘I am the only duck in the village’ – so out he came! Then it was time for a two caches I had the slaves score with out me: JUST LYING AROUND just took seconds to find, which was good as there was such a gale blowing there, and Ancient Relics didn’t take much longer.
LUCKY DELL was another story; unlucky for Waterwells, unlucky for Snuva.
Next we attempted Echoes from the Past from several angles, finally finding it in the area that should have been obvious had the slaves just had their eyes open! GZ was all over the place, but the hint actually works really well if you just open your eyes.
Next was Why in a Park?, which has Snuva’s vote for Best Pocket Park in the Dog Stick category. There were jealous dogs locked away in their gardens on all sides, so I made certain to dance merrily and freely for them to show them how much more exciting my day was than theirs! The cache was too easily found (it was quite exposed!), then I decided on my favourite stick, which I brought back to the cacheMobile with me.
Next we were off to the East Devonport coast, whose fabulous tracks we’ve walked before. Our first attempt was at HERITAGE WALKING, but this wound up being another scramble up and down a hillside with bad GPSr coverage (which was odd considering the bright blue sky!), so we made our way to Coastal Trail Walk. Coordinates for this one were out a bit but not impossibly so, and we scored this one and enjoyed the walk all the more!
At this point we decided to make our way home, so headed off to DEATH BY CHOCOLATE. The female slave found this quickly – but not in a good state at all. There was only a folded slip of log paper in a torn plastic bag. Sorry robtas, I fear some maintenance is in order, but surely that won’t be too traumatic a proposition!
Next destination wasn’t for a cache, but to one of the holiest site in Tasmania: Ashgrove. I made my way to the tasting rooms, and rather than dirtying up their pathetic toothpicks I just speared the cheeses with my claws. I did this rather delicately, however there must be some anti-pincess sentiment here as I have been banned! They called me a ‘dog’ and chased me off the property! Really!
Next stop was at Santas Sack II – The Second Noel. The slaves convinced me I had had too traumatic a time at the last stop and should rest in the cacheMobile while they visited the 1st waypoint, and despite reporting back later that the coordinates had been SPOT ON the slave took quite a long time to find it! At least a half hour! I thought I could smell some luscious smells on them, however surely I must have been hallucinating because of my traumatic experience!? And I was a bit traumatised again when they told me where the second waypoint was, but being a brave cache hound I took a deep sigh, quickly put on a funny nose and glasses, and told them we should do it!! As the coordinates were spot-on again the cache was soon ours!
Off we were again, but soon stopped for TOO MUCH INFORMATION #1. Quick, easy find – and the note from the gardeners who had found but left the cache made me smile. Next one was another cache I’ve been eager to find (mainly as it does strange things to my databases?!?) SAY ONE FOR ME. This was a lovely little area, really charming – and the information was easily found. So we finished this trip on a high note. The male slave was eager to get home and I was eager to be fed, so this was it for this trip!
I should also mention that this trip celebrated not just Beloved Books and cachemas eve, but is also our GPR-iversary! The eTrex Legend C came into our life one year ago today! And still going strong!
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