Geocaching NSW is an incorporated association representing geocachers in the state of New South Wales.
Our aim is to promote the pastime of geocaching and work with interested groups in ensuring it is seen in a positive light.
Please explore our website to discover more about geocaching and the association.
Photo credit: wdg060
The Geocache of the Month for January 2020 is Pinegrove TSR- #4 The Nativity (GC84M95) by RYNO2412. It was nominated by MattyRx.
This Multi Cache was placed in December 2018, near Mount Mitchell, in the Armidale Regional CouncilArea.
This cache is the last in a series of four caches the owner has hidden along the Pinegrove Travelling Stock Route. The nominator MattyRx wrote “a fantastic multi – three Christmas/Nativity themes hides. This cache will have you winding winches, looking up to the trees, manipulating sculptures and transcoding coordinates before finding the final large sized, well-built cache – stocked with swaps.“ Geono. wrote “What a cleverly themed multi, each part well thought out and lots of swaps at the final.” DiMorgan wrote “Really enjoyed the different scenes interpretations along here. FP given”.
It is a large size cache, difficulty 1.5 and terrain rating of 3. The cache has received 8 favourite points, at a rating of 50%. Great to have some well themed caches out there
Congratulations go to RYNO2412!
Found a great cache that you want the world to know about? We are currently seeking nominations for Geocache of the Month for February 2020. To nominate your favourite cache simply head to the forum and leave your suggestion.
The Geocache of the Month for December 2019 is The Hunt for Red October (GC7XHAB) by MrMalkovich. It was nominated by Sensible Shoes.
This Multi Cache was placed in November 2018, in the Blacktown City Council Area. It features an amazing piece of construction and camouflage.
The owner explains “At WP1, you'll find a tool in a camouflaged container at head height. The co-ordinates for GZ are printed on the tool, as well as instructions for it's use.” From there it is a short walk to GZ. “At GZ, use the tool at the base of the small tree to access the cache.”
Purplepeopleater wrote “Unbelievable!! What a fabulous contraption, probably, no, definitely the most innovative cache I have encountered.” Little Shoes wrote “800! Whoo Hoo!!! This is such an absolutely amazing must find geocache! It was a surprise of how you retrieved the cache. I loved this one as it was very creative and super unique.”
It is a large size cache, but this is mostly camo, Difficulty 2 and Terrain rating of 2. The cache 27 Favourite Points, at a rating of 79%. Do yourself a favour and get to GZ, join The Hunt for Red October and put your name in the logbook
Congratulations go to MrMalkovich.
The Geocache of the Month for November 2019 is Lake Views (GC3606) by The Rats. It was nominated by Team Canary.
This cache was placed in January 2002, in the Wollongong City Council Area. It is The Rats first hide, back when they were known as SES Rats, and true to the description, it wasn’t their last!
Photo by Podringet
The owner explains: “On route to this cache there are some spectacular views to the south... Enjoy.” The cache features a well-marked track all the way to some 50 meters from GZ, but the owner advises “Warning!!! There are cliffs about and the odd loose rock or two, so scramble with care.” The track has been improved over the years and now has a section of stairs and chain fences.
Bonfire7, wrote “A really enjoyable walk up to find this cache today, I passed and spooked some Lyre Birds on the way up through the lower rain forest level, from the carpark I didn’t realize this mountain was so high but once at GZ I soon found the cache and was rewarded yet again with some really great views.” The Hancock Clan wrote “What a super walk to a great lookout, where we had lunch & took several photos. Couldn't believe the amount of lyre birds in this bit of bushland; we spent a good 10 minutes just recording one that was constantly imitating kookaburras, whip birds, parrots, owls, possums, and even hammering, which we guess was from the recent ladder/steps installation nearby? It was like something from a David Attenborough show, just fantastic! TFTC Rats!”
It is an ammo can, difficulty 2.5 and well worth the terrain rating of 3. The cache has only had 115 finds over almost 18 years but those finders have all been rewarded with more than just a find and a smiley. Do yourself a favour and get to GZ, admire the Lake Views and put your name in the logbook.
Congratulations go to The Rats!
Found a great cache that you want the world to know about? We are currently seeking nominations for Geocache of the Month for December 2019. To nominate your favourite cache simply head to the forum and leave your suggestion.
The Geocache of the Month for October 2019 is The Four Sided Bridge by dkmacca (GC5HM3B). It was nominated by coastblue.
Photo Credit: teammerlin
Placed in December 2015 in the Blacktown Council area within the Western Sydney Parklands, these Parklands contain world class sporting facilities, popular picnic areas, a cycle/walking track and native bushland. From the cache's name you know that there is a bridge involved, but the description tells us that the cache is named after all the great engineering and design used to create this foot bridge. There are triangles, rectangles, hexagons, squares and circles.
The nominator, coastblue, wrote that the spider webs and creepy crawlies added a significant challenge for her. She recommends that the attempt shouldn't be made in your Sunday best and that you take care of the cycling muggles who come by as the bridge makes up part of the extensive bike path.
It is a small sized cache, has 49 Favourite Points from 102 finds, and is well worth the tricky D4.5 rating. Why not set yourself this challenge and put the Four Sided Bridge on your geocaching to do list.
Congratulations dkmacca!
Found a great cache that you want the world to know about? We are currently seeking nominations for Geocache of the Month for November 2019. To nominate your favourite cache simply head to the forum and leave your suggestion.
You're invited to the association’s eleventh Annual General Meeting and Meet ’n Greet.
When: Sunday 18 August 2019
Times: 10:30AM - 11:00AM (approximatley) AGM, 12:00PM Meet 'n' Greet.
Where: The Connection, Rhodes
30 Shoreline Drive (corner of Gauthorpe Street)
Rhodes NSW 2138
Event Space 1
We are holding the AGM at a new venue this year, as many people have well and truely cached out the area around the Carlingford venue. The formal AGM will run from 10:30AM until about 11:30AM or so and is for members only. That's where we do all the necessary annual reporting and elect a committee. However as soon as it's out of the way, we'll move onto the fun part - a Meet ’n’ Greet open to all. Come along and meet other cachers, share stories, log trackables, get hints for those tricky hides and enjoy the camaraderie.
During the AGM part of the day, there are a few formalities we need to tick off in order to keep our house in order. Everything is listed in the Meeting Agenda which can be found in the Member's Forum along with the formal Notice of Meeting and a link to last year's minutes. If you can't remember your login details or have trouble accessing this members only area, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
All committee positions become vacant each year. The Committee Nomination Form (including nomination procedures) and Election Timetable are available in the Member's Forum. A summary of the Committee roles is below. Similarly if you have any questions about what is involved in being on the committee don't hesitate to ask! Please Note, you must be a financial member of Geocaching NSW to nominate for the committee.
The Geocaching NSW committee Roles:
To be considered for a committee position you must be a financial member of Geocaching NSW.
All financial members are able to vote at the AGM. Rolls will close one week prior for all new membership applications. If you're not a member yet and would like to be, considering joining online now.
The AGM Event is now listed, so please log a "Will Attend" and lock it into your diary.
In a recent question to the Committee, we were asked to come up with a way to help look after old and significant geocaches where the CO no longer plays the game or cannot maintain the cache themselves. The proposal was to have active players watch over these caches and maintain the cache when necessary, even though they aren’t officially the owner.
This situation has come about as players from the early years have moved away from their areas, have stopped playing the game, or sadly passed away. The game of geocaching is now 18 years old meaning that there’s a lot of history that could potentially be lost. Archiving happens, often for perfectly valid reasons, but from our discussions, the community is willing to bridge the gap.
We have been in talks with the NSW reviewer (Tiddalik) who has kindly given us some practical advice on the matter.
As part of your local geocaching community you’ve established that the CO is no longer on the scene, the following points need to occur:
Remember, a cache can have more than one carer from the community, and if this is the case, all persons caring for the cache must be listed as such, with all carers having the cache on their watch list.
We hope this gives you the tools you need to take action locally and keep these old school caches active in our state. Please let us know about caches that you’ve successfully kept going (and the backstory on why they needed intervention) or if you’ve spotted a significant cache that needs some TLC - we’re not able to maintain them ourselves, but we might be able to bring it to the attention of people who can help.
Local volunteer reviewer, i,riblit, has converted recent Estate Data from the NSW Department of Environment and Heritage, which cover land controlled by NSW Parks and Wildlife Service, into a handy Google Earth .kmz file. The file is a valuable resource for geocachers wanting to check whether a location is on NSW National Park managed land.You can download the August 2017 version as a zipped KML file (approx 16 MB).