The Wellington Peaks Series of caches will take you to a number of peaks in and near the Wellington Park. Remember that the mountain area is subject to rapid fluctuations in weather conditions and you should always go prepared for all extremes - those of you who haven't seen it won't believe us, but the mountain (and its associated peaks) can change from sunshine to full fog (or vice versa) in 10 minutes or so. Some advice about bushwalking in the Wellington Park is available at: http://www.wellingtonpark.tas.gov.au/visitors/activities/bush
There are a number of approaches to many of the caches in this series. Make sure that you consult and carry a map. In addition to the major tracks marked on maps, you will frequently find pads leading off in all directions - so take careful note of where your car is and where you want to go (maybe your gps will come in useful here!). Useful Tasmaps for this series are the Mt Wellington Walk Map, Collinsvale 1:25 000, Longley 1:25 000 and to a lesser extent, Derwent 1:100 000. These are available from Service Tasmania in Macquarie St. or agents such as outdoor shops. They can also be ordered using the form available at: http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/WebPages/JGAY-5496DW?open
Each cache has a number inside its lid/ on the back of the stash note/ in the logbook. Record these, as - once the series is complete - they will give you the information needed to find other caches. Completing this series is almost inevitably going to lead to you revisitng some areas - but, hey, these are nice areas worthy of at least a second trip!!! If you want to minimise backtracking, you may want to delay your hunting until the series is complete - but that may be some time away as unfortunately we have to work to earn money to buy and get to caches!!
All this series of caches could be said to initially contain too many swaps or swaps that are too bulky!! Some swaps are better than average (others aren't!!). As there should be some reward for effort (ie climbing to a peak), you are allowed to take a better swap (if there are any) and leave a regular swap (that's regular, not garbage!!!).
Now, on to Beware of the Tharks . . . You can approach this ridge (and its associated cache) from a number of directions. The track to Thark Ridge from the car park area above Big Bend has apparently been rerouted, so some track notes will be out of date. We have not been on the new track, so can't provide any details, but there is information in some logs.