Your reward will be a very different approach to the lookout at Kooloobano Point at the top of Ship's Stern. On a clear day you'll enjoy fantastic views along the Numinbah Valley south towards Mt. Warning and north towards the coast.
From the parking waypoint head along the Great Walks! track alongside Nixon Creek and the prison reserve. At WP1 leave the Great Walks! track and follow the faint footpad that loosely hugs the NP boundary fence towards Turtle Rock. You will gradually ascend towards the ridge line, emerging at the Clearing waypoint at the base of the rock. There are numerous tracks in this area, we have added some waypoints to help you, but so long as you head up to the Clearing waypoint, you can't really go wrong.
From here, follow the track skirting under the west side of Turtle Rock until you make the top of the saddle between Turtle Rock and Ship's Stern. Turn right (south), following the ridge through an attractive, open grassy area until you reach the rocky outcrop at the start of the climb. Follow the faint track to the right and clamber up ontop of the rocky slab, then basically follow the ridge as you make your way up to the published coordinates at the Base of Ship's Stern. It's here the fun starts! The bluff towers above you and you'll probably be asking yourself why you came! Skirt around to the left (east) side of the bluff for approx. 50m until you see some ribbon in a tree marking the start of the ascent. Clamber up through the boulders, there are good hand and foot holds plus plenty of trees to grab on to. After a short climb you will arrive at the Arrow waypoint at the base of the first vertical section. There is an NP arrow sign pointing the way. You will need to find this to get some clues.
After grabbing the clues, climb up this vertical section, a 50m rope would be useful here although there are good hand holds. The remainder of the climb to the top is a big scramble up through several more very steep sections of massive boulders and trees. Take your time and enjoy the views as you climb. You will finally emerge at Kooloobano Point, look down and marvel at how you managed to get up that!
Once at the lookout, take a well-earned rest, then look for a fence tag in the tree at the lookout overhanging ascent/descent route. There is a 10 digit number stamped onto this fence tag.
You now have 2 choices for your return. Either take the Ship's Stern circuit track back towards Binna Burra (anti-clockwise), then follow the Lower Bellbird Circuit to the Great Walks! track and follow this down to Nixon Creek and back to the starting point. A big walk of about 24km all up (allow at least 8-9 hours). The shorter option is to retrace your steps, bearing in mind that climbing down is always more difficult than going up and a rope is a must for extra security as you descend the steeper sections. Approx 10km return (allow at least 5-6 hours).
Route Update: Well done to Stairman1 & Goldielover for the FTF. They devised another option to tackle this cache. Starting at Binna Burra and climbing down to the arrow clue, then backup up again. This also works well, and you could combine it with our "Ships Stern" cache too. You'll have to drive down into the Valley to sign the log afterwards though, and you also miss the awesome Turtle Rock.
Do not attempt this cache in the wet. Enjoy!
GZ is located at: S28 10.ABC E153 13.XYZ Where:
A=Number of screws in the Arrow +5.
B=Number of screw holes in the Arrow -2. (nb. not the same as A).
C=If the Arrow were a clock hand, the number it points to?
X=4th digit in the number at lookout.
Y=6th digit in the number at lookout.
Z=9th digit in the number at lookout.
Checksum: A+B+C+X+Y+Z=31