We had originally thought we’d head to the North-East corner of the state, however with all the rain we’d heard on the cacheMobile roof the evening before, I didn’t think we should take our 2wd on all the unsealed roads. So despite the sparkling blue skies, we decided to head for some urban caching in Launceston.
However we had a few concerns before we could get there. We’d been concentrating so much on caching, that we hadn’t thought about how far we would be from a petrol station, which unfortunately meant we needed to skip Honey Brew Rocks and the 9 km diversion from the road that that would entail. So we continued on our way north, hoping to make it to Fingal and hoping that if we did there would be a petrol station open. As we finally emerged from the forest, saw the valley, and heard the banjos playing in the distance, I knew we’d be fine. We made it to Fingal, purchased some insanely priced petrol from someone with so many scars from extra head being removed it looked like she had gills, and headed on our way to Launceston.
Aaah, civilisation (or at least Loonie). Lunch and coffee. And pavement for our tyres.
Now, back to business. First we headed off to catch a bit of Footy Fever. I’ve only ever been to this area to visit the other cultural destination. We collected the required information and wondered why michaels mob thought this lovely brickwork was a boardwalk. . .oh, right. Found it, then followed the boardwalk back around to the cacheMobile. Another great michaels mob hide!
And off to another one, Forest Gum “p”. I hadn’t read the description for this one in a while, so was pleasantly surprised with the way it had been re-engineered. It was strangely exciting to carry the logbook around on the adventure with us. I must admit that the 2nd waypoint had us looking for a few minutes, but the cache went pretty smoothly otherwise. And it took us to a lovely area, that was especially beautiful with the autumn colours of the ‘forest’. This area had it all, with horse track, dog off lead areas, and play places and huts for the muggles. Nifty.
Since I’d had a few walks, I decided it was about time to send my slaves for some of the caches in the gorge that aren’t worthy of canine visits. So we parked near GORGEOUS, and off went the slaves. First they decided to make an attempt at Where Eagles Dare. As they passed the chairlift, the HandsomeMan realised there were wallabies on all sides of the track – bold wallabies that didn’t run off! They snapped a few photos and continued on. . .only to see even more?! These wallabies in Launceston’s Gorge are certainly bold! And photogenic – but they kept posing, suggesting which was their best sides, etc. I think they are a bit experienced when it comes to publicity!
The slaves continued on, and up and up, and were even well able to hear my instructions from the track they were on. They were a bit nervous as they headed up the track and saw how popular it was with the muggles, however the Bird_boys had that covered and placed the cache somewhere where muggles do not dare ? The cache was quickly found, signed, and the views were admired. This gave my entourage a taste of what this part of the Gorge could offer, and headed off for Not Another Lookout.
The first track they took lead to a beautiful lookout. . .but not the correct one. They didn’t take the same route as Swampy, so they actually survived the journey in two pieces. They didn’t find the cache immediately, but after a little searching the female slave had it and had it logged. The views were again spectacular! These Bird_boys know how to plant a cache with a view!
The gorge is truly gorgeous at this time of year with the autumn colours, and perhaps the slaves were a bit distracted by these as they made their way back to the cacheMobile, as they were almost viciously attacked by Mr P Foul himself, The Peacock. He ran down the maple track at them, screaming and wielding his claws. . .at least that’s what the slaves claimed when they got back. . .
As our trip to Launceston wasn’t planned, we did not have the puzzle sheet for the Peacock Parade Letterbox so the slaves returned to me and the cacheMobile, and we were off to Denisons View. We had attempted this cache on the 5th Birthday Bash weekend but weren’t successful as it had been muggled. So we arrived at the parking space, and I sent my female slave to check on the coordinates and the males slave to check where we had GZ on the last attempt. Before the female slave had even started up the track, the male slave had the cache in his hands. Ba-da-BING! And the views are still stunning as well!! Â
Now would it be a day of caching in Tasmania without a visit to a robtas cache?! Off we went to his 89 Steps! Somehow we wound up chasing some animal tracks in the wrong direction, but in the end the GPSr had us right on top of the cache. As the last cacher’s attempt at camouflaging the cache looked a bit ‘unnatural’, we gave it a bit less camo and got on our way.
Off to our third michaels mob cache of the day, Kaz-Cache. Yes, that’s it – off to the country club. With smelly slaves that hadn’t showered since Hobart. And did I mention that HandsomeMan had not brought a change of clothes with him? So I was a bit embarrassed to be seen with them and sent them off to grab the cache. They ran and raced each other for it. At GZ they hunted and hunted, and the female slave found the cache first. . .but wasn’t able to reach it without the HandsomeMan. Score! They avoided the attack swan (what is it with birds today?) and we made our way to DAFFY DUCKS (oh dear, more ducks?!).
The sky was beginning to light up with the colour of sunset, but there should have been more than enough light for me to find the cache. I put on my lead and led the slaves out to GZ, along a path lined with high grasses and BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS. I just couldn’t contain my desire to play with the DAFFY DUCKS, so I had my slaves take turns restraining me and hunting the cache. They looked and looked, I drooled and drooled, but we all came up empty handed (and mouthed).Â
Grrrhrhrhrh.
We headed off to our camping spot near Trevallyn dam, and I spent the night dreaming of roasted fowl. . .
Note:Â we also had the distinct pleasure of finding T’race The Sudo Kache on this day, however we didn’t want to tell you where it fit into our day and ruin the puzzle. . .