Bundyrumandcoke

GCYZ1H CARORICA, Gladstones TB Motel. (Traditional Cache) in Queensland, Australia created by Bundyrumandcoke (geocaching.com) Just on 16 years in play. Large cache, heaps of finds. Only 2 DNFs, one which should be a find, one seems a bit bogus. Never been disabled, original log book still in play. Takes all but the largest of TBs. Fairly easy to find.

My thongs are correct footwear.

Its an Imperial system because it would have originated in the UK, your former imperial masters. To make matters worse, an Imperial gallon is different to a US Gallon. Oh, and lets not start on the incorrect spelling of the metric system that you guys use.

A 35mm film canister probably isn't a good example any more, much the same as a Cubit isn't a good example of a unit of distance. Both are in the same league as the Dodo.

This is the cache of mine that I am referring to. The photos show a couple of the incarnations. You can see the cut off Sistema that was used to seal the base. Plenty of favorite points. TBs were left in this cache, inside the gnome but outside the actual log book container. This was something that finders instigated, and not my original intention. Part of the challenge was to locate the correct log book container amongst about 40 others. Hence the sizing. The cache container was a micro. It was hidden inside a larger camoed container. GCYWG9 Geez, I must be Dopey!! (Traditional Cache) in Queensland, Australia created by Bundyrumandcoke (geocaching.com) And in spite of the fact its now been archived, I actually have his replacement 3/4 built at home. Unfortunately, life got in the way of caching and I have never got around to replacing him.

Mate, sometimes thats all part of the fun of the game. I had a "small" that was a garden gnome that stood around 600mm high. The cache container was a film container, one of many, inside the much larger gnome. But the container itself was a small.

Thats a purely subjective opinion. I have attempted to use the Other size category for an extremely small container, far below the normal size of small, or micro, to have it thrown back in my face by the reviewer as incorrect usage. It seems everyones opinions are different, and even the guidelines placed by the game organisers, written in black and white, are open to interpretation. Are you suggesting that a 5 metre length of plastic hose, (to use my example above) isnt, as you say, long, skinny containers

Geez, your world map is a bit sus. No caches in Qld, NSW, Vic, and Tassie is missing completely. Where have most of my finds gone?

I am going to raise the same objection about Christmas Island, and Cocos Island. They are Australian protectorates, no passport required for visiting Australians, and the same customs and immigration requirements need to be met for non Australian visitors to these islands, as would need to be met for foreign visitors to the Australian mainland.

Theyre a small. Lets go to an extreme example using volume as a yardstick. I take a length of plastic tube, 5mm inside diameter, 5 metres long, and make a cache container out of it. Its internal volume is 98.17ml. Are you really going to try to convince me that a container 5 metres long is a micro? I would consider such a container a large. Size isnt everything, but in the same breath, size is everything.

This sounds to me like a placement location issue. A local resident is taking exception to the placement, disturbing their peace, and is simply removing caches as they are replaced, not realising that doesnt solve their issue.

Not everyone has, or needs a job. The fortunate ones dont have to work to maintain their lifestyle. I know one of the top cachers in Australia. She is deaf. As far as I know, she doesnt work. She travels around, almost continually, seeking caches. Another top couple are retired. They travel around Australia on a continual basis.

Trying to find a pic, The missus and I did 8500km on a motorbike, towing a trailer, about 9 years ago. CQ, down through the centre of Qld and NSW, over through Broken Hill to Port Augusta, then up to Coober Pedy, then back down through Adelaide to Mt Gambier, then around the bottom, and up the coast back home. Trip took 29 days. I couldnt tell you how many caches we found on that trip, but it would have been up in the hundreds. In The Donga, off the Stuart Highway, was the most memorable, for all the wrong reasons, getting bogged in the desert sand, on a 300 + kg motorbike, with another couple of hundred kg trailer in tow. That took a few hours to get out. Not fun at all. The best memory of that trip, pulled up at a set of lights in Adelaide, on a weekday, having a conversation with the car driver beside us, with the colour green all over his face. He was very, very, very, very VERY jealous. I have got a cache in Broken Hill, whilst stopped on the Indian Pacific, returning from Perth to Sydney. Instead of a tour, I walked to get the cache. The one at Kalgoorlie was easy, it was at the railway station. I love touring Australia. I have never owned a passport. About the only part of Australia I havent explored is the Kimberly and Pilbara. North of Perth, and west of Kunanarra. Every holiday is a road or camping trip.

Now, speaking of throwdowns, it reminds me of a cache rescue I did a few years ago in Alice Springs, Northern Territory. Its possible to undo someone elses error. The cache GC70YV4 Chainman 2 (Traditional Cache) in Northern Territory, Australia created by Alicecaching - first placed by JWstorming (geocaching.com) My log from that cache. The Chainman 2, full rescue story. We pulled into AS for the event a few days early. Caching around town, as you do, this one came up on the radar, so off we go. We pulled into the general area, for both of us to say, "We have found a cache here before, back in about 2011." Follow the GPS and find GZ, and the chain, but no container. Checking previous logs, we find that this is what others have found, with some logging finds, and some logging DNFs, and just about everyone presuming that the container has fallen to the bottom of the fence post. As there is the event on, and not wanting to see people log DNFs due to a missing container. we placed a temporary container and posted our previous log to this effect. Last night, I made the decision that we should mount a rescue mission to retrieve the missing cache container. This morning, armed with a spare tent pole, gaffa tape, and various other tools, and most importantly, a strong torch, we ventured forth, determined to succeed. The torch revealed a container at the bottom of the post. A test probe with the tent pole revealed a depth of about 5 ft. The C shaped end of the tent pole actually did grab the container, so I started to pull it upwards, but then, the rattle of it falling back to the bottom was a bit disheartening. I tried a few more times, but each time, it fell back. There were 5 wires through the fence post, each used to support the barbed wire strands that make up the fence. The container was hitting the first one, and falling back. Never mind, with pliers in hand, I proceeded to deconstruct the fence, removing thee short wire lengths, to give me an unobstructed fence post from top to bottom. Looking down the pipe, I could see a wire loop sicking up. I fished this out with the tent pole, and a camoed Eclipse tin was at the other end. Opening the container revealed logs from the 2013 to 2015 era. Hmmmm. Looking down with the torch again revealed another container at the bottom. The tent pole and some gaffa tape retrieved this one in quick time, this one being a black FILA mint container on a piece of wire. Checking the log book revealed logs from way back in 2011, and lo and behold, our log from 8 May 2011. This is the original Chainman cache container, Chainman 2s predecessor. Even more interesting. A further look down the tube revealed something else down there, so a feel around with the tent pole got a tinny sound in response. No amount of probing with the tent pole and gaffa tape could get this object up. Eventually, a piece of wire taped to the end, spear like, managed to stab the item, which turned out to be a crushed aluminium can. A further check with the torch revealed nothing more down there. I rebuilt the fence correctly, but took the chance to "Drop proof" the post at the second top wire. No more containers falling to the bottom. I thought about which container to use, and figured that since it had lasted so well, the original FILA mint tin, from the original Chainman cache would be fitting. I bundled up all the logs, and fitted them into a new baggie, into the original tin, and with shortened and more secure connection to the chain, dropped it back into its home. The second container has been brought back to the event, and is at the registration table. BUT, the question remains, since about 2015, the time of the last log we found, there have been no log entries into any log book that we found. We checked other fence posts to see if there were any signs of lost containers, but no luck. This part of the story remains a mystery. And as a final twist, I have been informed that the last container placed was a preformed tube. There was no sign of this. Perhaps, in all this, its been muggled. In all, we spent probably an hour at GZ performing the rescue. It feels really great to have found not one, but 2 old containers, and revive one back into the game. Cheers Bundy

Geocaching > Geocaching Maps Compare that to a similar image of the USA. A big difference.

Geocaching > Geocaching Maps If you use the Browse Map feature on the main dashboard, and look at the map of Australia, you will see how densely packed around the coastline most caches are, and how vast areas of our inland are cache free. So much so that individual caches show up on a map showing our entire country.

Last year we did Cape York from CQ, 6491.4 km without leaving the state. But all this talk of remote travelling, and looking at photos and caches found, has my brain ticking over, so I have just posted this to our 4wd clubs Facebook page. I reckon it would be well over 10000km over the 4-5 week trip. Must be time to put forward a proposal for another big trip. Hopefully all this Covid rubbish is gone by then. Autumn/Winter 2023. Central Australia. Approx 4-5 weeks. Simpson Desert crossing west to east. It can easily include Plenty Highway, or better still Sandover Highway, Birdsville Track, Oodnadatta Track, Strezlekie Track. So, a potential itinerary, up to Mt Isa, Sandover Highway, Alice Springs, Mt Dare, Simpson Desert, Birdsville, Birdsville Track, Oodnadatta Track to William Ck, Lake Eyre, Coober Pedy, Port Augusta, Strezlekie Track, home via Cameron Corner and/or Haddon Corner, Windorah, Blackall, Tambo, Springsure, Biloela. No idea of what distance that involves. Just looking back at some of the photos from our last Simpson Desert crossing about 7 years ago, and thinking, we should do that again. Thoughts?

And for the crossing of The Simpson Desert, again there are a number of caches along this remote track. Heres one, GCKJP6 Purnie is not boring (Traditional Cache) in South Australia, Australia created by Ian Mac (geocaching.com) Our log from our find in 2014 Bundyrumandcoke Premium Member 5366 Found it 29/04/14 We ventured further north from Port Augusta, for supplies before heading home via Marree, Oodnadatta, Coober Pedy, Mt Dare, and the Simpson Desert, after attending Oz Mega 2014. After departing Dalhouse Springs, with the threat of rain in the south west, we headed east for our trek over The Simpson. We became stuck on the track between Dalhousie and here. Hung up on both diffs, and with rain settling in, and a brisk wind blowing, things were not too good. I used my hi lift jack to try to get the Nissan out, but this failed. After the rain settled a little, I was in the process of getting my Maxtracks out to commence another go at getting out, when a couple of vehicles that were camped at Dalhousie last night happened along. A simple winch out was all that was needed. All is good with the cache. Cheers Bundy We are going to have to do this trip again some day. And why you have to be careful out there. Hung up on both diffs. But the kinds of rewards you get.

And in case you are wondering, yes there are a number of caches along the Canning Stock Route. Here is one of them. GCQ9K8 Capricorn Canning (Traditional Cache) in Western Australia, Australia created by TeamAstro and twogreynomads (geocaching.com)

Not necessarily just for a Geocache. Remote touring is a reasonably popular thing here. Australia is approx the same size as the continental United States. BUT, roughly 80% of the population lives within a couple of hundred km of the coastline. Which leaves vast areas of very interesting nothingness in the middle. The major highway, Highway 1, roughly follows the coastline around the country. Other major highways criss cross, but only one, the Stuart Highway, bisects the country north to south through the middle. Its more than a thousand km either side before you come to another major highway that goes north/south. The major east/west highways are way down south, and way up north. Again, no major highway crosses through the centre. Yes, minor highways and roads penetrate the centre. But often, these are no more than 2 wheel tracks in the sand. Exploring these tracks is something a lot of Aussies like to do. Iconic names like The Birdsville Track, The Oodnadatta Track, The Tanami Track, The Strezleckie Track, The Canning Stock route, The Len Beadel and Anne Beadel highways. But in spite of all the remoteness, people live, and work out there. Cattle properties exist out there. Mineral exploration and mining ventures exist out there. A trip we did a few years ago, crossing the Simpson Desert, just my wife and I, in one vehicle. We didnt see another person for 3 days, camped out in magnificent wilderness, only the stars in their untold billions laid out above us, the soft flicker of the campfire. Its a fantastic feeling. It takes the phrase, getting away from it all, to a whole new level. These photos, off the web, shows the kinds of distances. 1799km is over a thousand miles, with potentially no fuel stops, or towns, or villages, or anything. And thats not 1000 miles on bitumen road, its tough dry, or muddy, 4wding conditions, where your fuel consumption can easily double, often travelling in first, second, or third gear for hundreds of km. Canning Stock Route is one of the toughest tracks in the world (dangerousroads.org)

I have often had this very discussion on these forums, and been knocked down repeatedly for taking a similar stance to Golden Wattle, with regards remote caches. I have cached in some very remote places in Australia. Places that takes days of driving to reach. Areas that are closed in summer due to the harsh conditions and extremely high temperatures. I have helped maintain caches in remote areas, whether it be a change of container, a new log book or scroll. If I find a smashed, chewed, or sun deteriorated container, and I have a suitable replacement with me, I will replace it, ESPECIALLY if its a long standing cache. This is regardless of whether the owner is an active member or not. Without keeping some of these caches going via community maintenance, there would be no caches in the area. And no, Im not talking about throwdowns. I am talking about finding a chache that could do with a bit of tender loving care. Yes, it flies in the face of the "rules", but, as TriciaG states above, Australia is often one of the exceptions to the general rule. Americans would not know what remote really is, in their own country. When you drive for days, and thousands on km, have to organise fuel drops to specific locations, satellite communications are a must, and dont see another person for days on end, thats remote travel. And remember, cache owners can also be regular travellers as well, most often for their jobs. Which permits them to place these remote caches. I have had a cache placement declined, "because it was too far from my home location" When I gave the reviewer my work location coordinates, it was published straight away, given my work location at the time was hundreds of KM from home. Read up on FIFO workers in Australia. Its not uncommon for them to fly to the other side of the country for work.

There is a lady in Australia, her caching name is Everlasting. She is a deaf cacher. She almost constanty travels around, caching as she goes. 20, 30, or 40 caches a day, every day, for weeks on end, is not uncommon for her.

For me, its the opportunity. We dont get many new caches around home, (I cant remember the last time a new cache was published locally, and it was probably mine anyhow), so our holidays are often planned around new places to go, and the caches along the way. If there happens to be a half decent power trail near where we are going, then that adds a reason to go there.

Best I have found in one day was around 300, 275 on a power trail, all during daylight hours. Thats solo caching, me driving, navigating, stopping, getting out, finding, signing, replacing, getting back in, resetting the GPS for the next cache, and off again. The only thing I didnt do was log the find at the time. This was a bulk, generic log, the next day. It does get long, tiring, and can get frustrating when all of a sudden, you cant find one. So, in theory, if the PT had been long enough, and I had cached for the entire 24 hrs, a total of around 5-600 would have been possible. I dont do it very often, for the reasons mentined above, hot, tiring, etc. Its a far cry from October 2006, when I briefly held the record for the most finds in a 24 hr period in our state, a grand total of 62.

GCYZ1H CARORICA, Gladstones TB Motel. (Traditional Cache) in Queensland, Australia created by Bundyrumandcoke (geocaching.com)