GAGB Geocaching Awards 2023 - Best Night Cache, runner up. GAGB Awards 2023
UK MEGA 2022 - Best D5 cache, 2nd place.
Many thanks to Amberel for the Top Cache award!:)
Amberel Top Cache page
If you have not heard of the Bottersnikes and Gumbles click here to read about them.
The Bottersnike and Gumbles lived in perfect dis-harmony in the Australian Bush for many decades. One day, the Bottersnikes decided to go on holiday, so they stole a boat, and forced the Gumbles to become their slave crew. They set sail over the Seven Seas, and got hopelessly lost, as they had not bothered to plan the voyage. Eventually they ended up in the Thames, then the canal network, and up the Wendover Arm. What they didn't realise, is the canal ends at Little Tring, so they smashed their boat into the lock gate and sunk.
Having now lost their only transport, the Bottersnikes took to the hills, with Gumbles in tow, and have been causing havoc and destruction up there ever since. The Bottersnikes absolutely hate British weather, as it rains all the time, and they have to constantly shelter or they will shrink. This caused the Bottersnikes to get angrier and angrier, their ears now glowing bright orange instead of their usual red, and in their rage, they shoved all the Gumbles in their tin can house and locked them in.
Your mission is to follow an encrypted night trail, avoid the very angry Bottersnikes, rescue the Gumbles and take them back to Australia.
Click on this link-RELATED WEB PAGE and solve the puzzle to reveal the coordinates for ample parking and the trailhead.
You will be following fire tacks marking an encrypted trail, gathering information and solving field puzzles on route. There are some false trails on the route which are designed to fool the Bottersnikes. The trail is mostly on marked rights of way, but sometimes goes a little off-piste. All the information and the final are off-piste.
You will need-
1. Bright narrow beam torch.
2. UV light source.
3. 9 Volt PP3 battery.
4. Pen and paper.
5. Print out of cache page. I strongly recommend this, as a phone screen is not suitable to quickly reference all the instructions.
6. Ability to work with Morse Code.
7. Ability to work with binary.
8. Understand how to properly close and lock ammo cans - This has become a serious issue, which is jeopodising the future of this cache!
Phone signal is poor in this location, so come pre-prepared with Morse Code and Binary knowledge.
If you hold the torch as close to your eyes as possible, the tacks are far more visible, and tacks angled on a tree indicates the trail turns, so scan around for the next tack.
One white tack means trail ahead.
Two white tacks mean information hidden within 10 – 30 metres. (scan torch around for a white and orange tack- (some are easy to find, some a bit trickier)
White and orange tacks together mean information is on the host at A B C & E.
D Is right inside holly bush, underneath a pile of rotting timber, 4 metres to the left of the beech host as facing tacks, go round the back to get inside, see hints. This one is quite a bit off-piste, so look out for the angled tack on the right of the little path, you will see more tacks in quick succession.
One orange tack means danger! angry bottersnike ahead! turn back and try another trail.
Three white tacks mean the marked trail ends, and the information to find the final is very close.
The waypoints are sequentially numbered, so it will be immediately obvious if any are missed out. Please read ALL of the information on the cache page and at the waypoints to avoid confusion later on! BOT in the hints means base of tree.
This is definitely not a cache-and-dash! It's a very involved adventure, please make sure everyone knows what they are up against, take your time, and allow a minimum of 3 hours, if you rush it, it will go wrong. AND MAKE SURE THE AMMO CANS ARE PROPERLY CLAMPED DOWN CLOSED BEFORE LOCKING!!!!!! (Three times this has happened before, and the electronics don't like an ammo can full of water!!!)
Anyway, go out there, and have some fun! :)