No Despair Paddys River, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
By Flintstone's on 26-Apr-12. Waypoint GC3J1B1

Updated description, D and attribute given the now longer hike to this cache.

Fantastic day in Tidbinbilla, thanks for the many exciting caches.

A lovely ride in the forest behind Tidbinbilla today. I'd not previously been to Nil Desperandum, so after finding some new nearby caches we popped over here to have a look. Multi soon completed and off to GZ where the hint came in handy to locate the hide. Cache and log in good condition.

Thanks, Flintstones!

Easy find, lots of ants

A couple of interesting locations. It seems that my counting isn't very good (or maybe the answers are a bit rubbery) as I headed off to a nearby GZ where nothing was found. Checked a few nearby, more logical places and found the cache!

Thanks,

My plans today were dashed when I realised the gates on Mt Franklin road were closed. So then I thought "what about going to find some solved puzzles" so I headed off to the nearest one. In the end I only found that one puzzle, but managed to clear out this corner of Pierces Creek forest and Tidbinbilla to boot.

On the home stretch now with a quick circuit around Nildesperanudum on the way back to the car at the boundary of the park. I'd done almost 20,000 steps by now and it was finally warming up with the cloud clearing.

I think I got some answer wrong since my GPS said 14m when I was at the cache, but it was pretty clear where it was going to be.

Thanks Flintstone's

A beautiful spot and a nice multi to take visitors around some salient locations. TFTC

Another one done. Woo Hoo! I enjoyed finding this one at 12:44:00 PM with my favourite OzGeoBerry.

I love the challenge of the geocache hunt - read the notes, decipher the cache requirements, and go searching for the hide. This is an amazing world-wide game of hide and seek. I love it! I also enjoy caching with my 2 boys, and meeting fellow cachers. It really is a small world when I read over cache logs and see names of my friends who have found caches around the country. Thanks go to **Flintstone's** for making the effort to place this cache and maintain it. It's a great contribution to the Geocaching community and it is very much appreciated.

TFTC! Cheers. *Jump Pilot*

We had an incredible weekend staying at Nil Desperandum. No one else to be seen for 2 days, we walked and explored this amazing area and came back to the house with its woodstove, outdoor fire and stretcher beds for the evenings. Peace, quiet, nature, caches... What else could you ask for?? TFTC

Sunday 10 December 2017 - a very warm sunny Summer's afternoon and a magnificent clear blue sky with temperatures in the mid to high 20s with very little breeze to cool us down. With the recent rains the rolling hills and plains were a beautiful lush green, the forested mountains a deep green with the cattle and sheep in the paddocks letting us know they were about as we rode passed. Loved the ice cold waters of a small river crossing required as we rode/walked along the fence line on our way to 'Nil Desperandum'.

Cycled 9.5km in just under 3 hours to find 7 from 7 caches (6 trad, 1 multi) while also collecting the data for a 2nd multi to be collected via the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve paid entry on another ocassion. We started our cache collection from 'Stormy Edge III' riding a loop to finish up with 'The ghost of Koalas..'. Sadly we run out of time so was unable to pick up the last trad cache very nearby. The need to stop and throw our bike over a number of gates, coupled with the heat of the sun, zapped us of energy to go just a little further.

Would have saved some time had we attempted the multicache before the trad in this location - oh well. Then needed to retrace our path to pick up the cache as we were going back home in the opposite direction ). Really interesting to see both the camellia enclosure and the swimming pool location. Quick and easy find. Thx p2p. TFTC Flinstone's.

Out with Aquilus1 and dty73 and shadowstorm1. As we were coming back me and 1 of the texans rushed there first. Noticed that cords were off and then Aquilus1 said she found headed over and signed TFTC!!!

Found with addictedgamer, aquilus1, DTY73.
We had a few of us and some extra kids from the cottage so we all went and counted things. The pool was cool and we played in the water and later Aquilus1 found the cache. I took lots of photos as well. TFTC.

With dty73, Shadowstorm1, AddictedGamer and my oldest kiddie out and about for the day for a bit of fresh air and to explore, some more enthusiastic than others! With no real plan we found ourselves heading out towards Nildesperandum, coming in the back way to spare the kiddies legs. Was keen to fix our dnf in the area and to have a better look around, couldn't have wished for a better day, warm with a cooling breeze. Having met up with a young family staying at the cottage while we walked around doing another multi, soon had the whole family out with us to help out while we collected the information! Many hands make light work so they say so with 10 of us this was soon sorted. Perhaps a little to much enthusiasm with some of the counting and a GZ looking to far away but a few checks and had the GZ looking at a much more likely location and soon had cache found and log signed. Thanks for the cache Flintstone's, sure did end up having a great day and glad of the caches to draw us into the area.

Found with Aquilus1, Shadowstorm1, AddictedGamer and some new friends. We met a family from Texas, who were very sweet. Found even though we were a little off with cords. Aquilus1 had a hunch and it panned out. Tftc!!!

This is a lovely little garden and pool. Did the required homework and went to GZ, I must have walked right past the cache 4 or 5 times in the last 3-4 years but never once noticed

10523 and 5th of 13 found today.

Boy was this a few leaps of faith and interpretations including the CO's name. (What exactly do the Flinstones own anyway?). Ended up in the wrong spot and re-checked our answers which obviously were not the same as those intended by the CO.

So almost an old fashioned emu parade that eventually led to the cache as we neared our lunch spot - and possible future camp spot too.

Thanks for the cache Flintstone's and the opposite of the cache title.

Out for a day of training with McPhan, hopefully getting ourselves in shape for some longer and more adventurous walks. Between the walk into Nil and the new caches around the slopes of Gibraltar, we covered over 20kms today with a lot of elevation change and some wonderful views. This gave us a bit of trouble, as we came up with multiple answers for two of the clues. After a bit of wandering around to possible locations, we decided to head back to the homestead for coffee and a check of our answers - and found the cache as we returned. Thanks McPhan for a great day of walking and thank you Flintstones for the hide.

TikvaNZ found this while I was looking elsewhere. I wondered over and signed the log for both of us. Looking closely at the log, I saw a name that didn't belong. I think someone has got mixed up with the other nearby multi, because their name was in the physical log for this cache, but not in the virtual logbook. Meanwhile their name is missing from the physical log book for the other multi, while their name IS in the virtual log for that othe rmulti. It's pretty confusing to type this out, so I guess it is confusing!
Anyway, we calculated all the numbers for GZ after we found the cache. A bit backward, but it worked a treat. Pity the old swimming pool was all silted up, because I was sure tempted to have a swim, it was such a hot day!
Thanks Flintstone's!

#7344 @0945
Saturday morning caching with ZQX, targeting higher D/T and unloved caches. We did this one back to front. We stumbled upon this cache while looking at possible hides for the nearby 'Nearly NilDesperandum' multi cache! We then headed off and collected the information to confirm the co-ordinates and for my records. TFTC.

I was running out of time before my calculated cut off time to get back out to the car due to spending much longer with the other two Tankengine caches than expected. But I just couldn't leave this one unloved, after all I did have a good safety margin...with the knowledge already gained of the area it wasn't to difficult to collect the information needed. Wasn't really sure about the grown trees, but it wasn't that significant so it was off to the pool for "a dip" . Had the second part sorted and it was off for a nice easy find at GZ. Phew, so glad this one went smoothly and it was great way to end the day.
Thanks Flintstones, great cache to highlight some areas I wouldn't have explored today otherwise. It must have been fantastic staying here overnight too!
Thanks again, and now for the walk back to the car.

We had a few ambiguities with some of the questions but came up with a reasonable looking set of coords eventually. Did enjoy the excuse to pay close attention to the various aspects however. Once at our calculated GZ, things did not look so promising. Using the hint, we decided to try to wing it without the correct coords, since we weren't sure where we had gone wrong and there was no checksum. This approach paid off and soon we had the cache in hand. Very glad to have made the find as we would have been very sad to walk away from here without a smiley given it's not the shortest walk in. Sad that it doesn't get more visitors though. Thanks Flintstone's

This was another great multi in such a perfect place. I really enjoyed getting all the information needed for this cache, as well as TE's nearby multi. The 2 caches compliment each other nicely. Swimming pool? Out here? Very cool! Wouldn't have seen it if you didn't take me there. Got all the numbers and headed off to find the cache. I was about 10 metres out but found the cache by stopping to pick up an empty beer bottle that was lying next to something that looked a lot like hiding place. As no one was around, it was a quick and easy retrieval, sign and replace. I took the empty beer bottle to a bin.
Thanks Flintstone's!

3589. Found with mr roo. We soon gathered the numbers we needed and then it was a quick find at GZ. Such a great spot to visit with so much stuff to check out.
Thanks Flintstones for the cache and the fun.

Worked out the gz quickly as in the area for a ftf with boot65. Was surprised on gz. TFTC Great to finally get to this place. Tho I left my waterbottle there

A Canberra Bushwalking Club trip with JohnnyBoy ACT, KittyKatch and 7 muggles. The trip being around the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve. A few camellias were beginning to blossom. TFTC.

Found on a Canberra Bushclub walk led by JohnnyBoyACT. What a fabulous day to head out to Tidbinbilla for some bushwalking and caching. We made it to Ni Desparadin quite early and had a go at that multi. Then headed to the camelia garden to gather info for this cache. We soon had some numbers and, after admiring a couple of pretty camelias in flower, headed to the next waypoint. We had a bunch of muggles with us who were very supportive all day but couldn't work out why we would do all this wandering around - especially when we found ourselves at gz. Nice puzzle and great to see that some of the camelias have survived. Thanks for the cache - nice one

Is this geo-cheating or geo-smart? Assemble a couple of more advanced cachers, viz Kittykatch and Marmaduke Rothschild. Throw in several muggles, ranging from keen to interested. Set them running around the Tidbinbilla Valley floor and we come up with a bag of caches! I did actually find one myself. A Canberra Bushwalking Club 'Gentle Geocaching at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve' on a mild day which promised Spring in a week. Trip report at http://www.johnevans.id.au/wp/?p=5121 . TFTC.

Shhhhh, don't tell Thomas but there is a new flood proof bridge over the creek near the Greens picnic area. Tis a lovely spot and there WILL be a cache there shortly. So I followed the recommended trail to Nil, which avoids the steepest of climbs but is a tad longer. I took the shortcut back (puff puff puff). The weather came over very suddenly so I felt the need for a quick find. Found the two new points of interest, my calcs put me some 15 metres away but the hint meant no dramas. Very serene little spot !

Decided to head on in here again and to grab this one. Parked in Tidbinbilla as usual and headed off. Over the creek, up past the Whale and then my views...that hill has got any easier over the years....and then down the other side and onto the hut.

Grabbed all the info and then off to GZ. Made the find ok, but one of my numbers must have been wrong as my GZ was about 10 metres away....however all was good and the cache was soon in and.

Log signed, cache returned and then back up the hill and back to car. A tad over 2 hours from car to car...

Thanks Flintstone's...cache is in good condition.

TFTC found while having an overnight stay at Nil Desperandum.

We did this walk and cache today primarily because one of my cubs wanted to do this walk for her Grey Wolf hike, We looked at it on the OS maps and did the calculations but I was still not convinced it was suitable for 7- 10 year olds. So today with a few hours to spare we did a test run.

We enjoyed the very steep walk and was amazed at the homestead and it's special facilities.

While we completed the walk in shorter time than the guide books recommend my little cub will have to think again as I know that while some in the party will cope many will not.

Thanks for the cache and a great walk.

Coooeeee, a Joint *FTF* with Tankengine at 8:30am.
We arrived as planned at the gate to TNR, had to wait a bit for it to open, then off we went to the parking spot. Out with the bike and off we went - obstacle #1 - no bridge. Oh well, shoes and socks off and across the cold river. Then we followed a series of trails, including a wrong turn / missed track, that climbed in altitude and eventually started the descent to the hut. The whole time is was foggy so we could see too far ahead or where we were in relation to anything else.

Approached the hut to the smell of burning wood, and a car and people at the hut having breakfast - bacon and eggs. Off to collect the info from the garden and the pool - interesting. Then off to collect the cache for a cool n foggy FTF. Then we wandered over to TankEngines cache here, that was all good too.

Then the return trip, again we missed a turn somewhere in the fog, and took a back track, and again - no bridge when we got close to the car.
Overall, a pleasant ride through the hills and fog and thanks for the company TankEngine - I hope I didn't slow you down too much . Thanks also Flintstone's for another bit of ACT history.

Chooo ooo *FTF* at 8.30am with mtbikeroz.

Arrived at the gates nice and early, and though for a moment we were getting in. But it was the dog trapper – and he wasn’t letting us in. Oh well, 10 more minutes, and we were off…

Parked the cars, and arrived at the missing 2 bridges! (I wonder when they will try and replace again). Took off shoes and socks, crossed, and then proceeded along the fire trails. Going was mostly uphill until 2/3 of the way there, and then down we went again!

Got a little too excited on the downhill bits, and missed a turnoff or two. But that’s OK – this place is riddled with fire tracks! Just take the next one!

Arrived at Nils, to discover muggles had stayed the night. We went past, and gathered the info required at the waypoints. Very interesting – there you go – two items of interest that I didn’t discover last time! Excellent. Got the numbers, and quickly found the cache.

Then went and did some maintenance on my nearby cache, and discovered that the muggles were just starting to cook bacon and eggs for breakfast on the BBQ out the front/back(?). Alas, they didn’t offer us any. Anyways, maintained my cache, took Flintstone’s pathtag (very nice), and left another in its place.
Then a quick ride back to the cars. All up an 11km ride (with a little uphill pushing). Thanks for the excuse to visit again Flintstone’s, and thanks for the company mtbikeroz!

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