Thursday 4 Oct 2018
Today I am having a RDO and set off early in the morning to Dampier
I was scanning the GC page and noticed to my great excitement that there was a Virtual cache in Dampier
Then I saw that there were two others nearby, it's hard enough to find virtuals at all anymore but to see three in close proximity was an opportunity that could not be ignored
My first cache for the day
Red Dog GCE254
This monument has been on my wish list to visit if I was ever in the area and I was very thrilled to get the chance to visit here
To find that there was a virtual cache here was an even greater thrill
Nearby was another virtual, this time a GCA cache so crossed over the road to the viewing platform
Pilbara Heavy Haul Railways - Dampier -Engineering Heritage Marker Dampier, WA GA12350
I was lucky enough to see two trains passing in opposite directions at the same time
One was fully loaded and the other was empty
I continued on a drive around the town
My next stop was a lookout over the town and bay
There is a cache here which was a quick find
Crow's Nest GC5EHWY
There's a spectacular 360 degree views over the bay and town from this lookout
While I was here I noticed that there was a trig point across the road and went to investigate
I found a metal plate set into a concrete pad next to the marker
After looking on Geocube I saw that this trig point was not listed so decided that I would add it in when I am back to my computer
Dampier Lookout Area Dampier, WA TP7857
It was only mid morning but I was feeling a bit peckish so drove to the town shopping centre
There were a few takeaway choices but I ended up getting myself a bacon and egg roll as a quick cheap snack
There used to be a post office here but has closed down and now residents have to travel to Karratha for their postal needs
Once I had fuelled up my tummy I set off to the beach area to look for a cache where I could drop off a TB
Can you spot the castle? GC53PVT
The GPS was sending me around in circles and would not settle down
I resorted to looking at satellite view to try to pin point the spot but that was not a great help
Performing a grid search I eventually found the hiding spot
The container had a crack in the lid so will need to be changed out before the wet season hits or it will get full of water
I grabbed a TB out of the cache and dropped in another I had brought up from Perth
The TB in the cache was not listed in the inventory
My next destination was a nearby trig
Kangaroo Hill Burrup, WA TP2356
This trig is situated on a hill near the Dampier TV transmission site, there are a couple of large water tanks up here also
I parked across the road next to another water tank and made my way along the top of the semi buried water pipe until I got close enough to make my way up a steep mound of red boulders to get to GZ
The structure was destroyed and lying on the ground
Nearby were various small round concrete pads with the end of steel rods sticking out of the middle of them
There was no sign of a bronze disc to identify its number code
I took some photos and made my way down the mound of boulders and back to the car
I backtracked to the main road and then north to Burrup Rd
There is another GC Virtual cache along this road, it required a detour off the main road along an unpaved road to a little mangrove swamp coming off the main bay
The road came to a monument overlooking the mangroves
The monument is dedicated to Yapurarra people killed by settlers
On the hill behind the monument are interesting 'standing stones' which are a common geological feature of the area
With my photos taken I set off once again to the next cache on my list
This was also a Virtual and would be my third of this type today
Just a short drive from the previous cache
This is a place that I have been wanting to visit if ever I got the chance and now the time has come
I arrived at the carpark and got chatting to an older gentleman, his wife had wandered off to look for the petroglyphs and had been gone a long time
I told him that if I saw her I would let her know that he was worried about her
I set off up the track and wondered at the large piles of red boulders either side of the gully
The track follows a dry watercourse which meanders up the valley
It was very hot in the midday sun and the boulders radiated the sun heat making it even hotter
I soon met up with Molly and told her that her husband Don was a bit worried about her
She was absorbed in looking for the artworks and we were soon both spotting many of them scattered around the narrow valley
We spent a bit of time finding and photographing many various images
Some were difficult to see due to the brightness of the sun but if you could catch the light at the right angle the artwork would cast a faint shadow contrasting on the surface and the image would show clearer
It was getting too hot to stay here so we headed back to the cool of the vehicle aircon
The next cache on the list is an Earthcache nearby
I pulled up in the parking area out the front of the visitors centre and walked over to the information boards to collect the required information
Wandering over to the nearby sculpture I was able to collect more information and take a photo
The plaque telling of the killing of the people inside the bank prompted me to wonder why someone would do that, tragic!
Once I had all the information I needed I went inside the visitors centre, grateful for the coolth of the aircon
It was way past my lunchtime and I was kind of hoping that there might be a café inside, no such luck
I had a quick wander around, I would have like to spend more time here but I needed to go get myself some lunch
The view of the massive plant was a sight to behold and is mind boggling to see how humans have harnessed technology to create this monster
Time to head back into Karratha to get myself a very late lunch, it was nothing to brag about but it filled the gap
Nearby to my poor choice of nasty takeaway was a GCA virtual so I went for a wander to get a photo outside
The ABC: ABC North West WA Karratha, WA GA12747
I still had a couple of TBs that I wanted to drop off while I was here
I drove down to the local beach to look for a cache
I drove almost all the way up to the cache along the fenceline
While I was wandering around looking a helicopter was doing passes overhead
Ha Ha, maybe they thought I was up to no good
This was an easy find and I really liked the construction of the container
I dropped off a TB but I did not see the TB listed in the inventory
It was dropped in the cache in October 2017 so I think this one is lost
Hope it turns up
Time to head home now, I had a thought that it might be cool to catch the sunset from the top of the hill in Roebourne
As I drove back the lowering sun lit up the hills with a fabulous red glow
At the top of the hill is a collection of images of aboriginal men from various regions all looking toward their home country
As the sun set they were lit from behind to provide an orange glow around their outlines
There is a cache nearby which was an quick easy find
Today was a huge day and I managed to get Three GC virtuals, 2 GCA virtuals as well as various trads and some trigs
This blog took me all day Friday to compose
Today I am having a RDO and set off early in the morning to Dampier
I was scanning the GC page and noticed to my great excitement that there was a Virtual cache in Dampier
Then I saw that there were two others nearby, it's hard enough to find virtuals at all anymore but to see three in close proximity was an opportunity that could not be ignored
My first cache for the day
Red Dog GCE254
This monument has been on my wish list to visit if I was ever in the area and I was very thrilled to get the chance to visit here
To find that there was a virtual cache here was an even greater thrill
Pilbara Heavy Haul Railways - Dampier -Engineering Heritage Marker Dampier, WA GA12350
I was lucky enough to see two trains passing in opposite directions at the same time
One was fully loaded and the other was empty
I continued on a drive around the town
My next stop was a lookout over the town and bay
There is a cache here which was a quick find
Crow's Nest GC5EHWY
There's a spectacular 360 degree views over the bay and town from this lookout
While I was here I noticed that there was a trig point across the road and went to investigate
I found a metal plate set into a concrete pad next to the marker
After looking on Geocube I saw that this trig point was not listed so decided that I would add it in when I am back to my computer
Dampier Lookout Area Dampier, WA TP7857
It was only mid morning but I was feeling a bit peckish so drove to the town shopping centre
There were a few takeaway choices but I ended up getting myself a bacon and egg roll as a quick cheap snack
There used to be a post office here but has closed down and now residents have to travel to Karratha for their postal needs
Once I had fuelled up my tummy I set off to the beach area to look for a cache where I could drop off a TB
Can you spot the castle? GC53PVT
The GPS was sending me around in circles and would not settle down
I resorted to looking at satellite view to try to pin point the spot but that was not a great help
Performing a grid search I eventually found the hiding spot
The container had a crack in the lid so will need to be changed out before the wet season hits or it will get full of water
I grabbed a TB out of the cache and dropped in another I had brought up from Perth
The TB in the cache was not listed in the inventory
I went into its page and saw that it had not been seen for 5 yrs and just turned up in this cache out of the blue
Maybe the person who dropped it in has not had a chance to log it yet but I have grabbed it to take back to Margaret River
My next destination was a nearby trig
Kangaroo Hill Burrup, WA TP2356
This trig is situated on a hill near the Dampier TV transmission site, there are a couple of large water tanks up here also
I parked across the road next to another water tank and made my way along the top of the semi buried water pipe until I got close enough to make my way up a steep mound of red boulders to get to GZ
The structure was destroyed and lying on the ground
Nearby were various small round concrete pads with the end of steel rods sticking out of the middle of them
There was no sign of a bronze disc to identify its number code
I took some photos and made my way down the mound of boulders and back to the car
I backtracked to the main road and then north to Burrup Rd
There is another GC Virtual cache along this road, it required a detour off the main road along an unpaved road to a little mangrove swamp coming off the main bay
The road came to a monument overlooking the mangroves
Flying Foam Massacre GCE761
The monument is dedicated to Yapurarra people killed by settlers
On the hill behind the monument are interesting 'standing stones' which are a common geological feature of the area
With my photos taken I set off once again to the next cache on my list
This was also a Virtual and would be my third of this type today
Scratching about on the Burrup GCE252
Just a short drive from the previous cache
This is a place that I have been wanting to visit if ever I got the chance and now the time has come
I arrived at the carpark and got chatting to an older gentleman, his wife had wandered off to look for the petroglyphs and had been gone a long time
I told him that if I saw her I would let her know that he was worried about her
I set off up the track and wondered at the large piles of red boulders either side of the gully
The track follows a dry watercourse which meanders up the valley
It was very hot in the midday sun and the boulders radiated the sun heat making it even hotter
I soon met up with Molly and told her that her husband Don was a bit worried about her
She was absorbed in looking for the artworks and we were soon both spotting many of them scattered around the narrow valley
We spent a bit of time finding and photographing many various images
Some were difficult to see due to the brightness of the sun but if you could catch the light at the right angle the artwork would cast a faint shadow contrasting on the surface and the image would show clearer
It was getting too hot to stay here so we headed back to the cool of the vehicle aircon
The next cache on the list is an Earthcache nearby
North West Shelf Ad-Venture GC45VMM
I pulled up in the parking area out the front of the visitors centre and walked over to the information boards to collect the required information
Wandering over to the nearby sculpture I was able to collect more information and take a photo
The plaque telling of the killing of the people inside the bank prompted me to wonder why someone would do that, tragic!
Once I had all the information I needed I went inside the visitors centre, grateful for the coolth of the aircon
It was way past my lunchtime and I was kind of hoping that there might be a café inside, no such luck
I had a quick wander around, I would have like to spend more time here but I needed to go get myself some lunch
The view of the massive plant was a sight to behold and is mind boggling to see how humans have harnessed technology to create this monster
Time to head back into Karratha to get myself a very late lunch, it was nothing to brag about but it filled the gap
Nearby to my poor choice of nasty takeaway was a GCA virtual so I went for a wander to get a photo outside
The ABC: ABC North West WA Karratha, WA GA12747
I still had a couple of TBs that I wanted to drop off while I was here
I drove down to the local beach to look for a cache
Searipple Mystery Born Again GC6XYPB
No luck finding this so decided to drop one out near the airport
Wayiba GC71MFB
I drove almost all the way up to the cache along the fenceline
While I was wandering around looking a helicopter was doing passes overhead
Ha Ha, maybe they thought I was up to no good
This was an easy find and I really liked the construction of the container
I dropped off a TB but I did not see the TB listed in the inventory
It was dropped in the cache in October 2017 so I think this one is lost
Hope it turns up
Time to head home now, I had a thought that it might be cool to catch the sunset from the top of the hill in Roebourne
As I drove back the lowering sun lit up the hills with a fabulous red glow
At the top of the hill is a collection of images of aboriginal men from various regions all looking toward their home country
As the sun set they were lit from behind to provide an orange glow around their outlines
There is a cache nearby which was an quick easy find
Mt Welcome (Marndu Maya) Lookout GC5HTPG
Today was a huge day and I managed to get Three GC virtuals, 2 GCA virtuals as well as various trads and some trigs
This blog took me all day Friday to compose
Comments
Post a Comment