“Are you a nemophilist?”
nemophilist
Noun
1. (rare) One who is fond of forests or forest scenery; a haunter of the woods.
“Are you looking for a challenge?” asked the big hairy haunter-of-the-woods who'd suddenly appeared on the track. “If so, I'll guide you through the forest to my home, which is at the listed coordinates, but as the journey is something of a nemophilist's delight, you must demonstrate you have the necessary qualities in order to log an online find. Those are:
- Agility - there's plenty of rock-scrambling and a challenging approach to GZ so you must have found at least 40 caches with a terrain rating of 4 stars.
- Endurance - this is more than just a walk in the park so you must have found at least 20 caches with the Significant Hike attribute.
- Sure-footedness - one false step could end in disaster so you must have found at least 50 caches with the Cliffs/Falling Rocks attribute.
- Watchfulness - the Australian bush harbours some deadly critters so you must have found at least 50 caches with the Dangerous Animals attribute.
- Awe - as a nemophilist, you delight in nature's beauty so you must have found at least 100 caches with the Scenic View attribute.
The yowie grinned. “Are you up to the challenge?”
If you are, that's great, but first some technicalities. The same cache can be used to satisfy multiple requirements if it has several of the required ratings/attributes. Attendance at events with those ratings/attributes also count as finds. Use the checker below to see if you meet the qualification. You may only log a find on this challenge cache if you've both signed the logbook in the physical cache and met all the qualification requirements. There's no need to list your finds for each qualification; if the checker says you're good, you're good!
Now to the cache itself. This is a tough hike, make no mistake, so take plenty of water and don’t attempt it in extreme heat or humidity or if storms or bushfires are about. Winter is the best time but if doing it in summer, pick a cool day.
Begin at the track-head between the houses in The Citadel and follow the trail into Brisbane Water National Park. Recent OSM maps and the official Geocaching® app show this trail but Google Maps does not. While it’s clearly visible where it passes through scrub, it can be easily lost on the many rock shelves so make sure the device you’re using shows it before setting off.
There are some nice views along the way. The Beach View reference point (R0) offers a good outlook over Umina Beach, the Water View reference point (R1) takes in Brisbane Water north to Gosford, but the piece de resistance is the Broken Bay reference point (R2). Here you can rest, drink some water and nibble some nibblies while soaking up one of the best vistas on the coast. When you’re ready, return to the trail and continue along to where it passes out of the park into a council reserve. Here again you must leave the path, for this is where your agility is tested for those four terrain stars.
At GZ is another view but one which doesn’t please the yowie, which is why he’s here keeping watch over this incursion into his domain. His home is in a cave just below the rocks along the top; your challenge is to find a way down. There are at least two that I found but neither will leave you unscratched and unscathed; you’ll want to be wearing more than the yowie unless your skin is as tough as his. But look on the bright side; this cache is unlikely to be muggled.
The logbook’s container is a 200ml Sistema with a pencil and sharpener, but bring a pen just to be sure. Bring a torch too as it will make the yowie easier to spot in his hidey hole.
Congratulations to the abominable B@W, the first to complete the challenge!