Can't seem to get enough

Sunday June 23, 2013

Kevin and I hadn't really planned anything else for the day, so he suggested we do some more geocaching after lunch.  We prepared a list and went to the nearest sites on the main land.

Big Bugs at Turners Camp is the second one on the list. (The first one we'd passed before we knew it...)  It's close to the water and GZ (ground zero) is surrounded by mangroves.  Just as well it's low tide, because even now, after all the rain we've had, it is still mushy underfoot.  We seem to have found a trail and follow that.  Kevin discovers a bird's nest and takes a photo of the bird that's hiding inside:

Only the tail of the bird is visible

In the meantime I keep searching for the cache.  The log should tell me what to look for and when I do find it I understand what people were talking about, but had not quite foreseen that it would look like what I got to see... A very pretty cache and good hide. The log was quickly signed and we tried to make our way back to the car while keeping our feet dry.

On the track back to the car

Don't P.A.F. PAF stands for Phone A Friend and that's something we weren't allowed to do, but would have liked to if we had known a friend to ring..... :-)  Obvious deduction: we didn't find this cache!

The Ningi Thingy!  A puzzle cache for which we had to find details to complete the co-ordinates for GZ.

The Ningi Thingy!

GZ was easily found and the cache after some searching close to the ground!  This cache contained a TB (The Ghost Who Walks), which I picked up and I left TB Ledu behind.  Finally a cache big enough to hold this dear little thing.  We shouldn't have worried about the size of the container though, because Kevin retrieved the TB and could have done that anywhere, but it never occurred to us to do so...

The Ghost Who Walks at The Ningi Thingy

The Ningi Ghost House  We had to jump in the car again for a ride further down the road and passed the side road (a bit more like a track) before we knew it, so on the roundabout we made a u-turn and then on to the dirt track.  We followed this for a mere 400m (I think.  It could have been closer to 700....) and stopped close to the given co-ords.  The light was fading, and the compass didn't work very well under the tree cover, but it was not too hard to find the cache.  I did so again this time, while Kevin had found the one at The Ningi Thingy!.

Another bike ride and more caches

Sunday June 23, 2013

After a few very busy days Kevin and I needed a break and what better to do than going on a bike ride in search of geocaches.  This trip was again with our bike group and we found ourselves with three more members interested in learning more about geocaching.  I still don't have a camera, so I am waiting for pictures to come in later so that I can place them on the blog.

Sunday morning, perfect weather with clear skies, albeit some of us thought it a bit cool, hence the beanies underneath the helmets!  Our group (seven this time) take off to the first cache on the list, Here (4), one that we also did last week.  Our newbies had a go at this one, while we tried to keep a straight face while watching them. ;-)

Here (4)

The next cache was placed in a children's playground and was aptly called Pirate Park.  While searching for the cache a few young pirates came up to us before we realised it and started copying us.  When I asked what they were looking for they said that they didn't know.  So what were we looking for? I told them we were looking for a walking fish (since we were very close to the water's edge).  "A Mexican walking fish?" they asked.  Kevin told them it came from somewhere else and they soon lost interest, so we kept on searching with a positive result.

Pirate Park

Sail away at Bob's Pond was the next one on the list.  I had done this one with the grand children and thus knew exactly where it should be.  However, as nobody could find it they had to log a DNF.  Kevin went in search along the water's edge and discovered a lid of a systema container that I thought I recognised as the cache lid.  We had had an enormous amount of rain the last few days, so we suspected that it had been washed away in the water from the ledge on which it sat.

Sail Away at Bob's Pond

Creative Hub was the next one.  It's on the main road again, close to the arts centre.  At first my coordinates sent me to the middle of the road, but that changed and soon I had the little cache in my hands.  The owner had used a similar trick as to one of the caches that we'd found in France.  So, once you get to know these little tricks it's becoming a little bit easier...

Creative Hub

Walk the Water Hole was the last one we did together with the group.  It's the one I did with the grandchildren behind the arts centre and near the pond with the waterlilies.  Kevin found this one, while one of the others was almost standing on top of it without realising it.

A beautiful Banksia flower in the native garden

Walk the Water Hole

We all had a cup of coffee at the arts centre and after that, it being nearly lunchtime, we went on our way home.

Coffee at the Arts Centre

Kevin and I tried the Bribie Islands Life Style again, but to no avail.  We really suspect that this one has gone walkabout.

Closer to home Kevin wants to try the Full Head of Steam again.  The one we tried back in January and I discovered recently. Tired of all the bike riding I sat down on a bench and watched Kevin searching.  Didn't take him very long, although he could have done better... LOL  Ah well, granted, it was a very tricky one!

Marion waiting in company of two birds behind her

Read on to see what we did during the rest of the day...

A day in the city

Tuesday June 11, 2013

As Kevin had to go into the city for his passport we decided to make it a "geocaching day in the city".

Business done we headed down for a cup of coffee first, because it was a cool, rainy day for starters.  After coffee we did a search for the nearest cache, which appeared to be further down the road from the coffee shop in Adelaide Street.  It took a while before the penny dropped, and had we given the name of the cache some more thought we would have found it much faster. :-)  The cache name was: Walkover Adelaide.  The hint was: bus lane!  I had a good laugh, because it was a very clever hide. Of course Kevin found this one.  He's the clever one. LOL

Walkover Adelaide

The skies cleared a bit and after that it became a very nice day after all.  The next cache took a bit of a walk up hill and we were warned that it was a micro.  Thus, very small!  And small it was.  Following the directions and the hint it was a quick find for me this time (February 29 was its name):

Small?  Look at the rolled up logbook...

The next one on the list was The Windmill, Queensland's most found geocache.  There was also some history attached to this cache, because it was hidden close to Queensland's oldest surviving building: The Windmill, built in 1828 by convicts to grind flour and maize meal, food for the Moreton Bay penal settlement. Kevin noticed the cache from a distance near my feet, while I was actually standing next to it (however, it was impossible for me to see it).

The Windmill

We skipped a puzzle cache, because I still need to solve the puzzle before we go back to look for the cache.  So, we walked on to the Board Gardens where we had a bit of fun.  This one was not easy, so after an hour of searching high and low we sat down on a bench and within a few minutes we discovered a young man who seemed to be searching for a cache.  You get to know them: GPS in hand and looking everywhere around them... ;-)  After a while he disappeared but a mature aged couple arrived on the scene.  The woman with a GPS in her hand, the man also searching everywhere.  We got up and walked past them, and I casually asked: "You're not geocachers by any chance?"  Of course they were!  So we got to talk about our experiences (they were a bit more experienced than we, by roughly 400 caches!) and were on holidays from down south, filling in time looking for caches close to their hotel.  After a while Kevin and I went on with our search and finally discovered the cache at a place where I thought it would be, but I had not been able to see it.  It was only after Kevin replaced it that I recognised it for what it was.  Good fun and time for lunch...

Quite near the cache was a beautiful 'wall garden'

After lunch we still had a bit more time on our hands, so on to the next one: City Plaza.  Here we must have forgotten to take a picture, because I can't find one.  I can always pinch one from the geocaching site... ;-)

                               

This was an easy one which I had in my hand before I even knew it...

Then on to the last one.  As easy as....  We walked through a small lane and Kevin (having seen the hint, which litterally described what we were looking for and where) had already noticed it as soon as we'd turned the corner.  So, this was an easy grab and the last one for the day: Raid on the Government Printer.

As we still had plenty of time left for the afternoon we walked on towards the riverside where we discovered a small museum, the second oldest surviving building of Brisbane, where we spent the rest of the afternoon with a guide who told and showed us a lot about the history of Brisbane and its buildings.

A day well spent!

PS  There was one more cache on the way to the train station, but it was an earth cache and I still have to submit the answers to be able to log it, so a picture only at this time:

                             

A bike ride with a difference

Sunday June 9, 2013

I have been a member of the BUGS (Bribie Island Bicycle Users Group) for a few years now and normally we go on a bike ride just for the fun of riding and enjoying mother nature, but today we took a bike ride with a difference.  The theme was Geocaching for Beginners!

Unfortunately the rainy weather and overcast skies must have put off a lot of riders, but we started off with four people, amongst which one real beginner, so it was to be a fun morning after all.

As I was going through the geocaches around us yesterday, on line, I noticed one that was placed by a Canadian whose relatives were looking after the cache, and guess what?  The relatives were the ones leading our little group and the first cache of the day was of course theirs: Here (4).  Needless to say that we found it, and... without their help!

Just the general location of the cache (picture Google Earth)

As we were going to make our way from Bellara down to Bongaree we stopped off at the big sign close to the bridge which greets all the Bribie visitors from far.  The picture is again from Google Earth and alas taken before the sign was placed.  I definitely need to get my camera in order.

Again the general area of the cache, minus the big sign (picture Google Earth)

As there hadn't been a find since May this year we were doubting that the cache (Bribie Island Lifestyle) would be in place.  Unfortunately we ended up with a DNF as well.  All our GPSs came up with the same spot for GZ, so we stopped looking after a while and decided to move on to the next one: Bribie Seaside Museum.  As that was the first one I'd found on Bribie Island I left the search to my fellow geocachers and enjoyed the view over Pumicestone Passage.  (The picture of the Museum appears in my posting from January this year)

The others were relatively quick with their find, so on we went to: Full Head of Steam.  It's the one close to my place that we have been searching for a few times, but still in vain.  But.... this time I came prepared and was lucky!  Oh, this sure was a tricky one, and micro as well.  My preparation was a further hint, because I had become quite desperate to find this one.  For the picture, see again the blog update of January this year.  It was one of the last ones we did with Frank.

We were still getting closer to home on our bike ride, and just around the corner, near the bird sanctuary, was another cache that I did not have any knowledge of.  The reason being that it was for Premium Members only and at that time I had not yet become a premium member.  (I have rectified that immediately afterwards ;-))  The name of the cache is: Buckley's Outlook.

A beautiful place for a cache near the bird sanctuary: Buckley's Hole

As the weather was deteriorating from an overcast sky to actual showers, we decided to call it a day after our successful finds and we all stopped of at my place for a cuppa till the rain had passed.  All in all I would say that we could repeat a bike ride like this to include the many other caches on Bribie we haven't searched for yet.

I will have another posting soon, because I have been able to add a few more caches to my name. :-)  Till then.

Life as I knew it has come to an end...

...but also, life goes on...

Sunday June 9, 2013

Today it's exactly 20 weeks since I have last updated this blog.  It's also exactly 20 weeks since I have last seen Frank alive...  Little did I know that, when I posted my last blog update with the pictures of the day before that it would also be the last of the geocaching that we had done together and the last picture of Frank   taken on a day out with Kevin, Adele and the children after we had arrived back from France a few days earlier.

Without going into details, I can tell you that it has been a very tragic event which has left all of us quite traumatised for a while.  Needless to say that travelling and geocaching have come to a screeching halt for a while.  However, life goes on and children (in this case our grandchildren) are quite resilient and it is probably because of them that I have slowly started to get back into geocaching again.

I am still coming to terms with the fact that I have lost Frank and also still feel very lost without him, but having the grandchildren around and with lots of support of my dear family and some very good friends I try to look forward and will try to stay on the road to recovery.

I still have my stories on the blog that I can revisit and I also still have the vivid memories of our geocaching, in particular in France, which are now great adventures with Frank that I have had and will remember for a long time to come.

After this introduction I am now going back to the second week of April, the week that Madeleine and James were staying with me during the school holidays.  Beside fb and the wii it was a little difficult to get them interested in outdoor activities, but we got there eventually. :-)

Tuesday April 9, 2013

Of course I have to do this from memory, but I believe that, because of the weather, we drove to cache site. It was quite muddy in some areas, but we got quite well through to the parking lot and walked from there.  The site is one where in earlier days, when there was talk of a bridge being built to open up the island to tourists, a man called Bill Stewart, opened a site with aquariums as a tourist attraction.  The attraction failed, but the ruins of the old aquariums still exist. The cache has the appropriate name: Bill's Aquarium.  Madeleine, James and I went in search of the cache and I think it was James who discovered it.  We left behind one of our Travelling Bugs: Eyechiwawa, which had earlier been retrieved by James' and Madeleine's mum and deposited in a place where I later found it. (Remember the blog update of 20 January?)  Surprise, surprise. ;-)

I have temporarily pinched a picture off the web
till I can go back to take pictures myself

Friday April 12, 2013

It's still school holidays, so Kevin comes over with Angus and Mikayla and they stay for the night.  It's quite fun to have all four children together for an overnight stay and we decide to do some geocaching together.  First we re-visit Bill's Aquarium so Kevin and the kids can do their own search and chalk up another cache.  Next we drive to Woorim beach and go in search of Bunker Down and Turtles on Bribie.  For this we drive to the old bunker on the beach and the cache is an easy find.  For the next one we walk the 500m along the beach and go in search of Turtles on Bribie.  By then it's getting a bit dark and it takes some effort to find the right spot, but we get it eventually.  Another one down!

I don't have any pictures, as I forgot to take my camera.  I did take some pictures later on at home though, when all of us played a game of Squatter, the Australian answer to monopoly:

Sunday April 14, 2013

Sunday, the last day of Mady's and James' stay.  Time for some outside adventure as the weather is great and there are a few more caches waiting to be found.

First we head to Sail Away at Bob's Pond.  It's a small lake, the name pond is actually more accurate, where lovers of remote controlled model boats like to show their skills.  Not on Sunday though, so we have the place for ourselves.  Just as well, because we would otherwise have too many muggles.  Mady discovers the well-hidden cache this time, although James is the one who doesn't mind posing in front of the camera:

Another short drive (too long to walk to these caches and we don't have the children's bikes this time) brings us to the Bribie Island Community Arts Centre.  Next to this building is a beautiful native garden with a nice walk amongst the native trees and bushes.

We walk through the garden and on through the bush, which is part of the National Park and arrive again at a small lake.  This one is more of a natural lake and there is a show of beautiful waterlilies.

Just past the lake we find GZ (Walk the Waterhole) and this time it is James who finds the cache.  As we notice that it is big enough to hold a TB we walk back to the car to retrieve the Pointing Finger (or whichever its name was) and deposit it in the container.  After logging this find I now have 60 caches to my name.  I'm happy. :-)

The picture of this lake is the last one that I have been able to take as my camera seized up and I have not been able to get it in working order again, even after re-setting the factory settings.

For a while this was also our last bit of geocaching.  We had a go again at the Full Head of Steam, but it is still eluding us.  One day...