The Swamp

I have nothing to lose except time.

2008 has been very different for me.
I thought I was going along with life OK, but all of a sudden, things happen.
Family happens. Work happens. Caching friends happen.

So, from now on, if someone asks something of me, they may not like what I do for them.
If someone asks me a question, they may be surprised by the answer they receive.
If someone tells me my fortune, look out.
If someone asks me nicely, then I will be nice back.

My new log will be “Found by Swampy” and the date of the find. If I make any swaps I will indicate this also. If I like the cache, I may comment on that fact.
If you don’t like my new generic log, tough. If I do anything other than the generic log and you ask me to change something, I’ll change my online log to read “The owner didn’t like what was said before finding out any facts”.

I have been depressed, so much so that I was starting to pick out trees. This depression was brought on by a number of factors, which I won’t go into here. Some people would make me happy, others would sooner stick a knife in my back. As I said before, I have nothing to lose except time. There is no partner to lose, no house to lose, nothing that I couldn’t live without. What have you got to lose? Think about that for a while.

There are people that I’m not going to class as a friends anymore. Sheer bloody mindedness will only lose you friends and alienate yourself to other people. It has happened in the past and I dare say, will happen again.

Lets see what Christmas brings this year. I’m guessing a change from the past.

A little while ago, I went away on a trip to the mainland.
The Big North Island.
Caching Nirvana.

It was a trip that had been in the planning for some months as I had a friend along for the trip.
Macca lives in South Australia and if it wasn’t for his pressure, the trip would probably never happen.

Due to his CFTS and the amount of work he had to do, I suspect he had a fair amount of time on his hands, so things like booking the boat trip over and back was done, planning a route, securing paper maps of the route, and other sundry things were done.

Even getting the “Find caches along a route” was done. And apparently, lots of caching was done.

And all this was in the planning stage.

As D-Day approached, Macca had to ask for the leave pass to be approved.
I’m really surprised that Tina let him go, so close to the impending arrival of their first baby geocacher.
He was able to secure his leave, jumped on the plane and flew to Hobart. A mutual buddy picked him up at the airport and the whole (other) gang came to the New Sydney Hotel for a counter meal to catch up.

After the meal, I took Macca to his accommodation for the night, and left him until morning.

Day 2.

I went to pick up Macca and had to have breakfast before we were allowed to do anything. After brekkie, I set him to work trimming up a folding table so it would fit into the van with all the other essential stuff.
So we were on our way, making towards the NW tip of Tasmania so Macca could get a few finds under his belt before we left on the boat.

There was some discussion before he arrived that we would attempt the Tasmanian record for the most number of finds in one day, currently 78 set by red tag, gspblu and rebulus.

Unfortunately, the attempt went by the wayside as we slept in and so we concentrated on the Earth Caches at The Nut and Mersey Bluff instead.

We also did some good caches and some not so good caches between Peggs Beach and Devonport .

After booking into one of the caravan parks near the ferry terminal, we went out and did some night caching around Devonport. Some of those caches were hard to find in the dark, specially when the cache had suffered from some creep and made the hint next to useless.
Back to the caravan park where we logged our finds and bedded down for the night, for early the next morning we were going to board the ferry and sail to Melbourne.

When you watch this, don’t so much watch as listen…..

Monday.

10:58am.

At work.

Not feeling 100% as I’m trying to get over the head cold I picked up on Friday….. And BORED!

Get a phone call from a caching team. “We are at waypoint Y of Xxxxxxxxxxxx cache. Can you give us a hint?”
“Sure! Look about this far from that thing, and it should be there, give or take a bit.”
“OK, cool. Thanks.”

11:04am.
Eventually they found it. Off they trot to the next waypoint.

11:47am.
Get a text message on the phone. We might need more help with this cache.

Apparently they are still there looking around.

12:08pm.
Phone call from Tas Police (TP).
TP - Hi, how you doing?
Me - Good.
TP - Is there a geocache located near {[ the area where our previously mentioned caching team were looking ]}??
Me - Yes, why?
TP - Just had a muggle ring up and report 2 people acting suspiciously in the area. One was wearing a flannel shirt and jeans and the other was wearing trakkie daks.
Me - Hahahahahahahahaha ROTFLMAO!!! Yep! I know who it is!! It is …………….. (I’m not telling. Post comments and I’ll let you know later.)

For all those that attended the Geocaching 101 event, Mr Cheesy Pig gave us some pointers on what to do when confronted by the Police in regard to such matters. I don’t recall him saying to turn tail and run before the Police arrive.

Anyway, to the cachers in question, I say this.

RUN! Run as fast as you can.

Well, didn’t that turn out to be great??

I was preparing for 2 weeks on and off, getting a selection of software together to try to cater for everyones needs. The only thing I couldn’t find was anything Linux based, but CraigRat is working on that….

I had been watching the event listing and seeing who was going to turn up. Orac7000 was planning on attending but didn’t post in case his work rang and needed him. Guess what? They rang. He did send his apologies via phone. Another that missed out was madbeitz, but I’ll catch up with him soon enough.

I was really surprised that we had that many people turn up. I made up name tags so we could all identify each other, got most of them right.

I’m posting the order of things I presented, just to jog people’s memories if they start from scratch.
If you have any questions, email me - swampy@tasgeocaching.com or look up my phone number through my profile on the Geocaching Australia forums.

GSAK 7

install gsak
registration
input name
make new database
global replace found -> not found
set centre point, home
add locations
add/rearrange buttons on toolbar

filters - not found by me
filters - inbuilt (click on coloured squares)
searching
export buttons
export to Ozi / show waypoint in Ozi

OziExplorer
install / register
install upgrade
copy maps to map folder
make waypoints in GSAK to data folder
choosing maps from menu / index map
arrows and ‘x’

Thanks to embi for the link initially!

Are you using the CacheStats generator to add all your numbers to the bottom of your GC.com profile?

Do you think they will get upset if you add stuff, like a GCA logo and a disclaimer at the top about not having ALL your finds listed here?

Take a look - Swampy’s profile on Geocaching.com

What do you think? Maybe I should take some more stats courtesy of GCA, Caught@work and Mr CraigRat and put them on the profile as well?

After working on a hit-list the previous evening, I was up early and on the road by about 7am.

1. First on the list was Stairway to heaven by cachingdynamo & energizer61 . Arrived at the tractor, and took off down the road in the direction of GZ. On the way, I was wondering if this was a sign of things to come - would I get a day full of walking down to caches, and puffing my way back up the hills?
Fortunately, the cache surrendered itself quickly and I was on my way back to the car. I was wondering - how does Energizer and clan find these places?

2. The next trio are all by Dippedidooda, the first being Last Community Facility. Well, the GPSr had me looking in the wrong place and I ended up resorting to the hint. Oh, BTW, I hate onion weed! Found the cache and took the TB for a trip down the west. The cloud this morning was about 200 feet above ground level but wasn’t even threaten to rain. Strange.

The next one was Muttonbird - refeathered!. I found all the waypoints and gathered all the information.
I had to backtrack at one point - I think I stuffed up but got the info, took off to GZ and started looking.
Lots of damage and no matter how long or where I searched, I couldn’t find the cache.

3. The last of this trio was Bourke St But No Mall. This was a fairly straight forward cache but it was located in a cemetary - I really don’t like cemetary caches and this one was no exception. Some of the graves here are really gut-wrenching. A local drove past as I was heading down the road, waved like he knew me…

4. A quick drive to the bottom of the Hellyer Gorge and I was looking for the toilet. After realising the GPS batteries were on charge, I decided to try and find The Apprentice by forthferalz just by reading the description and hints.
Take a guess at how many tracks there are leading off into the bush around this area? I found nearly all of them before I found the cache. A nice area that I wish I had more time to explore before heading off to Waratah.

5. Now I’m on a road that I know. I used to travel out here every 3 weeks for work, over a period of about 4 years. I got to know where every pothole, bump and speed camera were from Burnie to Granton. Ah, those were the days.
Anyways, onto the The Philosopher’s Cascade by Team Tiges. I have been to Waratah more times than I can remember, but I have never been to these falls. The cache was found fairly easily and I went to the end of the track to take some photos.

6. I had a fair idea where Fatigue Kills by Hingrock would be so didn’t use the GPSr when I arrived at GZ. I went off for a search and after 15 mintues, I decided that maybe the GPSr had a better idea of where the cache was that I did. My excuse is that I don’t have one and it has been years since I have been here. After another muggle turned up, and another 15 minutes, the cache was located. I think the angle of the sun may have had a negative effect in illuminating the area, so the cache hid a little better in the dark.

7. Now the drive down to Tullah. Oh, how I have missed this road. A few times, I looked down at the speedo and found I was speeding (oops!).
I stopped just inside the town boundary and decided on a plan of action. Once that was thought out, I went to the start of Sophia the Mole by energizer61, found the information and comtinued on the journey.
It looks like a bushfire has been through this area last summer. I have never seen so much damage caused by a fire as this area has seen. It must have been very hot and I suggest that it started somewhere near the road. All the trees had their crowns burnt out and the ground almost devoid of vegetation. This means the fire preheated the vegetation as it raced up the mountain. But I digress. Onward with the multi.

8. Stopped at Rock Trolly by Prunes, and I have no idea where it could be. Gee, I wonder….

7. cont. I completed the rest of Sophia’s multi and took some great photos. This is a great cache to do on a beautiful day like the day I did it. It does take you around the area but it is worth it if the water is running.

9. Hasn’t Rosebery changed in 10 odd years! What happened to the Rosebery Hotel? Who stole it?
Dog Stitt by aloysius7 & Digger provided some frustration for me. I looked at the map and decided that the best place to go was the little park just over the river. Then after searching in the wrong area, decided the best place was back on the town side of the river. Walked down to the river and found the best place was back on the other side of the river again.
After nearly 30 minutes of trying to fall into the river, looking in all the wrong places, slipping over and nearly climbing over where I shouldn’t go, I finally spat it and gave up.
Walking back to the cachemobile, I found it.

Now the sad bit. After driving to Renison, I remember taking a side road a few years ago and I found an addit. Around the mouth I found lots of fool’s gold. I thought this would be a good place for a cache. I tried to find the turnoff but I think the local council have blocked it off. I found another road and ended up at a dam and a waterfall.
After looking around, I grabbed the camera and started to take photos. Suffice to say, I nearly ended up in the water and the camera went for a little swim. I managed to find the camera and pull it out of the water, drained as much water out as I could, removed the memory card and the batteries. See here.

The camera is now going again abeit the mode switch doesn’t click anymore and falls out.

10 - 16. The rest of the trip was a drive down memory lane. I have visited all the areas before with the exception of Why The Hell Is It There? by Greybeard .
That was a blow out. I didn’t realise that the Hydro made road that steep! I thought they would have actually gone around the other side of the b……. great mountain.

The good thing was an FTF at Trials and Tribulations by sirius Tas. This was an interesting trip in and well worth taking a working camera because the views from the top of the road is sensational.

The last find on the way home was Tassie’s Belly Button by polfil. This was a little prick of a cache in the total blackness of night but was found and logged. In all a very rewarding day despite stuffing the camera.

The last photo….

From my camera before it went for a swim. I nearly went as well.

Update: over the last couple of days, I have installed the batteries and tried turning it on. Nothing. Nada. Nix.
Today, I tried again and it sprang into life! The image is still blurry but I may still be able to resurrect it from the bin….

Update 2. Have managed to pull it all apart and dry out all the water, including the bit buried right inside the lens assembly. I knew it was too good to be true - it is all back together, I fired it up and now I have a focus error. Needs to be stripped down again and put back together properly….

Update 3. Well, I have pulled the camera apart again. This time I have reassembled it correctly and soldered all of the connections on the flexible PCB at the back of the lens assembly. When I was pulling it apart, I noticed that one of those flex PCB connections was a little sus. I’m now convinced that this was causing the focus error.
And now for the moment of truth….

1.
This absolutely fantastic weekend started Friday morning with Polfil’s “Man’s Best Friend #2″ on the way to work in Launceston.
Once finished at work, it was a quick trip to Somerset where accommodation was organised for 2 nights.
A quick look at OziCacheExploiter and I had formulated a plan of attack for Saturday.
I had planned to hit up the new one by sirius Tas called “A Nutta View” but when I arrived, someone had stolen the Nut. I couldn’t find it anywhere. I could see it on the map, but it wasn’t physically visible.
Anyways, after searching the area around GZ and even expanding the search, I came to the conclusion that possibly the local council had found it when they were flinging their weed wackers around. The place looks mostly tidy now. Onto the next stop.

Drove into Stanley where slowly the cloud was lifting from the Nut. I still couldn’t see the top so I decided to have a quick look for Deadly Nut #2 even though the last cachers posted a DNF 11 months ago. I didn’t look too hard as I don’t like cemetary caches - I didn’t find it either. Only after checking with GC did I find out that this cache has been archived, DUH! Onto stop #3.

2.
This one got the heart rate up and the blood flowing for a while. Arrived at the car park and the shop was closed. This means one thing. You have to walk away and get back in your cachemobile to drive away as fast as possible.
No. Actually it means you have to walk, crawl, hoist yourself up the side of the Nut on the very steep path.

All those that have walked up - have you every stopped and thought about how the concrete and the steel pipework got there in the first place? They didn’t have concrete pumps, didn’t sling the materials below a helicopter and certainly didn’t drive up there.

Once I staggered up to the top, a quick decision had to be made as to which path to take to get to the cache as quickly as possible - picked the right one for a change. Got to within 190m and was found questioning myself - do I follow the track (how did this vehicle track get here anyway?) or do I follow the arrow? Track? Arrow? Track. Located GZ fairly quickly but just as quickly GZ moved 18m east and then 22m southwest. I thought I was going to get another DNF which would make 3 for 3.
Found the cache after searching most of the likely spots where I would expect to find it. Now the blood was starting to slow down because the wind was cold and the sun was just about to creep through the rising cloud. Back to the cachemobile! More caches to find!

3.
Now to get to Smithton. I haven’t been up this way for a great many years, probably numbering at least 8 or 9.
I thought I’d stop at the little shop cum service station at the junction of the A2. Went inside, the ATM worked right up to the point when it was to spit out the notes I required. “Oh, yea” said the man in the checked flanny shirt, “Somethin’ t’ do wid de phone line”. I was starting to worry that there was a banjo behind the door. Well, I can’t complain about the service. Didn’t get any from the ATM, didn’t get any from the staff either.
Out into the cachemobile and off to find Kerrison Clans “The Lookout”. Arrived at GZ and had the cache in hand very quickly. It had water in it, duly drained and removed the rusting item. The view from here is great - make sure you actually climb up the lookout.

4.
Next port of call was Energizers’ “Stoney Hammond”. Arrived at GZ and then realised that this was a multi. Found all the info in short time and put new co-ords into the GPS. Took off towards the cache and realised it was low tide, so I walked straight across the tidal flat area directly to the cache. Found without a problem - I think the previous looker didn’t quite look far enough in….

Now I was in a quandary. Do I try for “The Cache At The Edge Of The World” and be late for the event back in Devonport? Do I not and go straight to Devonport now? I really couldn’t decide properly so I headed for the cache. After some serious mental arithmetic, I turned around and headed for another Energizer cache “Lets Take A Dip” instead.

5.
Well, the map indicates a fairly straight road but in reality was fairly winding. Arrived at GZ and found the falls were falling nicely. Made short work of finding the cache, took pictures of the three “found by mistake” muggle finds and hid the cache a little better. I think that if you do go look for this one, you will have to look around the corner and make sure the cache is not visible. Now off to Devonport.

I had the GPS connected to the laptop running the moving map option in OziCacheExploiter and decided to take the short cut. This road cut about 28km off the trip to Montumana and also missed some lengthy roadworks on the highway. This road was only one car wide and at times, I’d have a quick glance at the map and noticed that the arrow hadn’t moved much. Actually, at all. The USB to serial adapter kept unplugging itself and making it difficult to work out which way the road ahead was going to go. I felt like Neil Bates driving around some of those corners.

6.
Arrived at the Bluff just 4 minutes late and found Snuva’s Female Slave. After a quick consulation, I left to find the local supermarket to purchase some victuals and cans of cordie. Arrived back at The Bluff and partook of some food and good company. After the FOSS demo, I went for a walk to find the Mutiny On The Bluff cache. After some time, the cache was located by Caxixi, el golco and Mr Energizer, I think. And they weren’t going to tell me that they had found it.

After all the festivities had finished, I decided to retrieve the cache as there was no log book or swaps. Just as I was retrieving it, I noticed 2 people just around the bushes and I think they may have been quite intimate. Joe turned up and I provided the cache for him to get the coords for the Muntiy event later that evening. Even Sog N Paulus and CacherBoy turned up for a look.

The event went off very well, as testiment from Snuva and the Cheesy Pigs own web sites. After the event, I headed back to Somerset to plan my Sunday assault on the West Coast.