The other kind of 'find'.

[Happy Chappies]

Had a very different 'found it' caching experience this morning.

Was out scoping a nearby area for a cache I'm launching soon and was already having a great morning. Peaceful, adventurous, all that good stuff... Then, just as I've figured out my GZ and am working my way back to the car I spy something in the bushes... Looks like a discarded bike. No biggie - I'm sure we all see old bikes turfed into the bushes around the odd places that caches often end up in. But something about this looked different - Being a cyclist myself I can spy carbon forks a mile off [:)]

So worked me way over to the bike expecting to find some broken road bike but instead pulled out a pristine, brand-new looking $2500 full-carbon fibre road bike!!! Holy crap!!!

Not quite sure what to do - Is it stolen? Or did some owner try and hide it in the bushes for some reason? But nothing's wrong with it - no flat tyre, no broken chain, nothing... Hmm.. Didn't feel right leaving it there for someone else to pinch, so walked it back to the car (rode it a bit even! It's very nice!), and I'll go hand it in to the police... 'Fortunately' for me, it's not my size - otherwise I'd be sorely tempted not to!

Anyone else find something expensive, bizarre or fascinating while out caching? (apart from the cache obviously)

[Tuena]

What honest chappies you are. If no one collects it do you become the owners?

Friends & I made an interesting find well before caching but given where caches are hidden this may happen again.

I lived in northern NSW in the 60s & did a lot of shooting & adventuring. We were investigating a cave in wild country when we saw something at the back on a ledge. It was a muzzle loader in reasonable condition (surface rust but stock was OK), shot lying in the dust (was probably held in a cloth bag) & a gunpowder horn complete with gunpowder. Took them home, tested the gunpowder but not in the muzzle loader! Still had punch. Friends put them on display in the lounge. I'd say the owner was long dead. If I came across something like this again I'd donate it to a museum.

[Just a cacher]

We have found all sorts of stuff on our travels, but most of it was rubbish, to be taken to the nearest bin.

We have found several good sleeping bags, which we washed and took to my Mum, who gives them to homeless men in James Place, in Adelaide.

One day we found a wonderful down and feather quilt on a roundabout. Steve said, would you like a quilt? I said, I suppose so, so he went round the roundabout again, and collected it as we went past. Washed thoroughly (taking a week to dry) it then became useful as feathers to top up my pillows, and the outer covering made the backing for a bedspread.

We picked up a brand new swimming towel one day. It had been hanging around on the road for a while, so some of the threads were pulled by the gravel, but it's a great dog towel! It's also huge!

Actually, I think I'm just a scavenger. I used to LOVE The hard rubbish collection, when I lived in Adelaide.

Wendy

[mundoo]

What honest chappies you are. If no one collects it do you become the owners?

In SA you do if it isn't claimed from the police after 3? months. My son found a remote-control racing dragster once and we handed to the police and when it remained unclaimed he got a phone call from the police to come and collect it. He bought a remote control to operate it and still plays with it (he is now 30).

[Happy Chappies]

I believe the 3 month rule applies here too... So I'll see. Like I said, I'm damn relieved its not my size in a way. Would be soooo tempted to just keep it, and even if it got handed back to me the last thing I probably need is ANOTHER bike!!! Otherwise it'll help pay for this cache I'm establishing!

The only insult in this was that it was a fair way to walk a bike back to the car so of course I swung a leg over and rode it along the bike path for the few hundred metres, then only to get accosted by a passing cyclist for not wearing a helmet.

[the farmers 5]

Anyone else find something expensive, bizarre or fascinating while out caching? (apart from the cache obviously)

Mr Coffee was caching in a remote region between Melbourne and Geelong a few years ago when his trail to GZ was a bit off line.

The side trail saw him walk right into the middle of a drug crop/ plantation area.

He never did say if the 30 day rule applies. If nobody claims it , its all yours.

Probaly spent a bit of time explaining why he was there from the " no , we were only looking for geocaches " clan.

[Teirae]

wasn't when I was caching...unfortuantly, but a while back when we were young teenagers we were driving around and we were driving through stromlo forest and came across a clearing, in the clearing were no joke about 50 old cars...like classics, and they were fancy, all makes and models, most had american plates. We got scared away when dogs started attacking our car, and we saw some dudes with guns come out. we got out of there quick smart.

I now for the life of me remember exactly where it is...but since then the forest has burnt down but yea...would like to know where it was.

[Rainbow Spirit]

Happy Chappies, maybe someone left it there to go on a hike?, came back and....could you have left a note to say you had taken it to the police?

I remember running a bike ride from Brisbane to Sydney, I used to use one of the riders fancy bike carry bags set on a road side post, etc to denote a place to pull over for a food stop. I was a short distance away in our van when someone in a car stopped and drove off with it! Luckily we tracked it down at the not so nearby police station! Good intended they were, but I was angry at the time.

[Happy Chappies]

Happy Chappies, maybe someone left it there to go on a hike?, came back and....could you have left a note to say you had taken it to the police?

I did contemplate some theories like that, but this really wasn't in a 'hiking' area (it's in the middle of the suburbs). The only theory that worked was that somebody had ridden to the nearby bus stop to catch the bus, forgotten their lock, so hid it in the bushes. But with a $2500 bike, with fancy clipless pedals, that's less than 12months old? And on a weekend? Possible - but unlikely. And I contemplated leaving it, but then if I could find it, so could somebody with poorer intentions....

I hope to find out exactly what happened though! It's got us flummoxed.

[calumphing_four]

On holidays in Melbourne last November and with bad satellite reception when crossing the bridge over the Yarra to C@W's cache (ultimately on the way to go up the tower) we took the stairs down to the little island and at the bottom found a dumped wallet. Still contained cards and more importantly for the owner their Taxi driver licence and other papers I'd assume they would need to be able to work.
Finally found a Police station to leave it at.

[Happy Chappies]

Geez. Well, after taking the bike in to the cop shop next door, i wander over to the shopping centre to grab some lunch. Go get money out of the ATM and find someone's keys to their BMW, house, and life in general (it was a big set!) lying on top of the ATM!

After looking around for someone acting frantically I handed them in to centre management... but geez... I must have caught the 'find' bug at the moment (If only it applied to my caching as well!)

[Alansee]

This one is more what I COULD have found.

Several years ago I was doing a cache in St Kilda in Melbourne. It involved some research in a Library, and when finished GZ was in a nearby park. My GPS had me over a fence not far from a road bridge, but I thought, hmmmm..... that doesn't quite fit the hint. The hide was soon found in a tree in the park not too far off my GZ.

A month or two later a body was found under the bridge, having been there two years or so. I continue to think that if my calculations had been just that bit wrong........., or I hadn't read the hint ........

That is why I always read the hints first!!

[Richary]

I once found a wallet (devoid of cash from memory) by the banks of the Torrens upstream from Adelaide CBD sitting on a bench. I suspect someone lost it (or had it pinched) while out partying on a Saturday night. Took it to the cop shop and they managed to get in touch with the owner.

[Bronnie_1990]

Wow..all i've done is find a credit card, in the middle of the shops.

(Just before christmas too. I handed it in. )