B&W (T) Murray Downs Murray Downs, New South Wales, Australia
By The Morris (adopted by WazzaAndWenches) on 20-Aug-10. Waypoint GA2448

Cache Details

Difficulty:
Terrain:
Type: Burke and Wills
Container: Small
Coordinates: S35° 20.172' E143° 34.753' (WGS 84)
  54H 734417E 6086619N (UTM)
Elevation: 70 m
Local Government Area: Murray River

Map

Cache Tracker
Mayor
QR Code
Log Count
Public Tags
Private Tags
Rating

Description

A small cache at the entrance of Murray Downs Homestead

Camp XVI. (North of the Murray.) Tuesday, 11/9/1860.

After crossing the river by punt, the party camped within sight of the township. Burke remained in Swan Hill for the night as the guest of Dr. and Mrs. Gummow. The gaiety of the farewell to the explorers by their Swan Hill friends was tempered by thoughts of the dangers they were soon to encounter, even the regimental Burke being affected by the occasion. They couldn't manage without the additional three hired wagons, so Burke contracted them to go onto the Darling, however the additional expense was of major concern to him. By the time they reached Balranald a week later, Burke had decided to reduce the wages bill by dismissing some of the men. Initially he told the men that he had been ordered by the Committee to leave them behind, saying he hoped to be able to send for them later. However, Ferguson, the foreman challenged Burke regarding this decision, (to a fight or a duel by some accounts). Initially, Burke promised to send for the men when he was at the Darling, however, later Burke admitted he wanted to dismiss the men. He offered to take Ferguson and Langan on at reduced salaries - an offer that Ferguson refused. In the end, Burke dismissed Ferguson, McIllwaine and Langan.

 

 

 

Murray Downs Homestead

2 km east of town, on the Moulamein Rd, is the historic property and homestead of Murray Downs, established in the 1840s.  Suetonius Officer, a well-read philanthropist, pioneer irrigator and prominent figure in the development of the area, bought the station and built the current homestead in 1866. He introduced pumps, initially operated by horses and windmills and later by steam, and established fields of lucerne, maize and oranges. Ostriches were a subsequent addition. The property was semi-autonomous with its own bakery, blacksmith and 50 employees who gathered in the homestead for church services.

In 1884 the property was bought by businessman and philanthropist Alfred Felton whose will established an enormous trust fund for charities and for the purchase of artworks by the National Gallery of Victoria.

The homestead is built largely of Murray Pine, the sap of which repels termites. It is surrounded by large formal gardens and the fort-like design was to afford maximum protection against Aborigines. There is an animal park with ostriches, deer, pheasants, peacocks, wallabies and kangaroos, a craft shop and Devonshire teas are available.

 

The expedition left a sick camel at the Murray Downs Homestead and one of the rescue parties obtained horses from here.

 

 

Hints

Zvqqyr crccrepbea gerr
ROT 13: ABCDEFGHIJKLM
NOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Decode

Logs

01-Dec-22
Stopped by this trig while going to the Mega in Victoria
 
18-Nov-22
we were stoked this was still here after all this time! Once we searched the correct tree, SSR found it quickly.
Thanks WazzaAndWenches
 
another nice little Burke and Wills
Thanks
 
10-Jun-19
This one had me going for quite a while and involved finding its GC neighbour only a few metres away before I finally found what I was looking for!

I was starting to think that I was looking for a "combined stash" before I finally ignored the hint for this one and moved along one structure east where I eventually had the B&W stash in hand at 13:20. Upoj was showing that I was about 11 metres east of the given coordinates and not at the location of the hint Shocked and NOT at the location of the GC cache ShockedShocked!

TNLNSL. Thanks The Morris.
 
15-Feb-19
Found this afternoon on a drive towards Adelaide. Great info about B&W and the locale.

The cache is in excellent condition.

Many TFTC The Morris.
 
28-May-18
Found by baby&Mrs gopher at 0930. Our old stomping ground. baby lived at Wakool and the Mrs lived at Tyntynder. We used to come over to this location to play in our vehicles on the clay pans. LaughingClan Minotaur Tnx The Morris
 
27-Feb-18
This was the final Burke & Wills cache on our list for today and we were pleased to be able to make a relatively quick find after initially getting it slightly confused with a nearby GC cache. It had been a long, hot, flyy day so perhaps the confusion could be explained.

The cache container was found safely tucked away in its hide and the contents were in good condition. We added our name to the log before replacing the cache. How different this area must have been when Burke & Wills stayed at Murray Downs.

Our thanks to The Morris for this cache and the information about Murray Downs and the role its owners played in the explorers journey.
 
17-Feb-18
Found while going north to Balranald and Mungo park
 
05-Dec-17
Found while in Swan Hill for the day
No chance you wouldn't know the name of this property with the entrance nearby Mr. Green
Cheers and thanks for the hunt The Morris
 
08-Nov-17
Clan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan Minotaur

We are currently passing through New South Wales with our geovan in tow, using geocaching as a guide. We have visited many amazing locations through geocaching and today our journey bought us to your cache B&W (T) Murray Downs.

Many thanks The Morris for publishing this cache for our enjoyment and adding to our geocaching experience today.

Tassie Trekkers are now a locationless geocache we have published a 'Geocacher cache' - Travelling Trekkers GA10932 - so if you spot us in your area sign our log book and receive a code word to earn yourself a Very Happy We were one of the lucky teams to receive a pathtag from Geocaching Australia for publishing a "Geocacher Cache" - thanks Geocaching Australia.

We are on our way to the Alexandra Event which is happening on the eighteenth to the nineteenth of November 2017 hope to see you there.

Have you joined a clan? Enhance your geocaching experience by joining a clan and being a part of the Dragon Zone. Choose a team Clan Griffin Gold - Griffin, Clan Phoenix Green - Phoenix, Clan Cerberus Blue - Cerberus or Clan Minotaur Orange - Minotaur. Earn trophies and rise through the ranks from Dragon Fodder to Ruler of the Universe.

**********This lengthy log is because we are currently working towards a Dragon Zone trophy for "I write treatises for a living" - Average 150 or more words per valid dragonZone geocache find log or did not find log excluding geocaches that you own. Slowly getting there**********
Clan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan Minotaur

 
06-Sep-17
Found this one while out looking for a different cache. Good hide.
Thanks for placing this cache.
 
03-May-17
We are returning from the Red Centre Experience Event in Alice Springs and are currently caching around Swan Hill and this was one we found. TFTC
 
10-Nov-16
#GA1076 - 17:00; Day 1 of the Melbourne Mega Mission with Sol de lune and taking the scenic route from Canberra to Anglesea via Balranald so we can collect a few GCA caches on the way. Now headed south and had almost reached Swan Hill when we stopped to collect this cache. Initially we headed down the driveway, but soon realised the error of our ways and a short search once we reached the right side of the fence soon turned up the cache. TFTC The Morris Very HappyClan Cerberus
 
10-Nov-16
On the way to the Surf Coast Mega with LuckyL10n and we came the long way to grab a few GCA caches....

Now heading towards Swan Hill...first time down this way for me...and after mistakenly driving down the nearby driveway, we soon retreated and parked almost at GZ. A quick check of the trees and the cache was soon in hand. Log signed and we were off across the border to the next one.

Thanks The Morris.....another B&W cache of the list. (Did you make the Mega??)

Clan CerberusClan Cerberus
 
09-Jan-16
This is my first cache on the Australian site. I have been doing the GC ones for a good 12 months now!! Here I pulled up to it, and searched high and high, but come up empty handed, had a quick look down a bit and bam there it was. TFTC!
 
28-Dec-15
Popped into this one on our way to Wongulla S.A. A nice hide out in the open and fortunately not many muggles around today, although we did have to wait for one waker to pass.
 
10-Mar-15
Found on our overnight stopover in Swan Hill. A quick find when we got to GZ. A lot of traffic uses this road at this time of the day, hard to be discrete. TFTC
 
26-Feb-15
26/02/2015 12:53 Find #2675 Smile . Work activities completed, I couldn't leave Murray Downs without finding this somewhat unloved GCA cache at the original homestead Cool

Cheers Morrises Wink
 
16-Nov-14
Ducked over the border to grab this cache, before I head off to the other border and cross near Pinnaroo.
A quick find but even though the sun was shining after the clouds and rain last night, I still needed a torch!
TNLN, thanks for the cache!
 
06-Sep-13
Quick find, the road too busy to not be obvious.
 
12-May-12
We'd heard some good reports about a Thai restaurant in Swan Hill and, being a big fan of good asian food, decided a weekend in the area was needed. Along the way we found a few caches to break up the 2 hour drive from home.

After chasing a couple of caches in the centre of town we ducked out to this cache for a quick find in between many passing muggle vehicles. Last time I was out this way was to take an ailing mate to Kyalite and confirm that every glass of rum tasted much the same as the previous one (it was a very,very late night Dancing )

Thanks The Morris.
 
28-Apr-12
Our GPS had us over the fence and into the paddock on private land for this one. Needless to say we ignored this directive, logic prevailed and cache was in hand after a short search. Thanks.
 
31-Jan-12
Search every holes.. nothing there.
Read hint and previous finders comments.
Must have gone missing.
Replace new cache, log book and few items.
Thanks for bring me here and B&W series
 
10-Jun-11
Nicked across the river into NSW to grab this cache.
Huge gates, but couldn't see much of the property from GZ.
Thanks, Robmc.
 
18-May-11
FlyingPigSquadron has landed! TFTC&H in a lovely spot TNLNSL
 
24-Apr-11
Was moaning about the shortage of caches in Swan Hill when our friend asked if we had tried GCA caches - What's that Question So here we are at our first GCA cache. Thanks Romax for the intro. Thanks to The Morris for the cache. Cool
 
30-Mar-11
Another quick B&W find, following their trail back into Victoria.
In B&W time, I guess they were about to leave "civilisation" at this point. Cant't imagine what it would have been like.
TFTC SL
 
27-Feb-11
Found on our Hay, Hell & beyond the Black Stump trip.
My 2nd GCA cache of the day and it was a must do as I had not found any B&W caches before today. We are camped in much more comfortable surrounds these days than in the good old days.
Nice safe hide and a quick find.
TNLNSL TFTC,
Roostaman.
 
18-Dec-10
On a maintenance trip and to pick up the kids chrissy present, we had to find somewhere to have lunch, so why not at a B&W cache that we have not found yet.
With burger in one hand and GPS in the other off I went.
Soon had cache in hand and log signed before too many mozzies carried me away.
Did the swap thing SL
TFTC
 
22-Nov-10
Found 1.50pm
Our first B&W cache in NSW, we parked up at the top of the very impressive driveway and walked over to GZ. A quick walk round the tree and the cache was soon in hand.

TNLNSL
Thanks The Morris
 
21-Nov-10
Found by Team Ladava while in Swan Hill to visit the relatives.
Another excellent and informative cache in the Burke & Wills series tracking the exploits of this brave party and their amazing test of endurance.
We lived for the first 40 something years of our life in Swan Hill so know the area well.
The nearby Homestead function room was the venue for my 40th birthday bash.
TNLN
My those mozzies are in plague proportions. The cache location was almost like a beehive of them.
Our thanks to The Morris for the cache and your part in series.
Cheers
Ian & Sandra
Team Ladava

 
30-Sep-10
Found at 10:30am, after initially searching at the wrong tree. The sun was shining, such a perfect day for caching! Thanks to The Morris - our first B&W cache north of the border! Cheers!
 
22-Sep-10
Nice easy grab on our way through to Cobar
 
12-Sep-10
On our annual pilgrimage to the Snow - an opportunity to grab some new caches.

Good to read about the history of this trip - hope to do them all some time. TFTC. Very Happy
 
10-Sep-10
12.15pm
Found by Roma and Max.
This was our final The Morris B & W cache today as time constraints meant we had to now high tail it north to meet our committments in Mildura.
We hope to pick up the B & W trail next time we are up this way.
Cheers,
and thanks again from Romax.
 
05-Sep-10
A quick find with Blak Bunny on a visit to SA for Black Bunny's work. Pulled up near GZ and Black Bunny made a dash for the cache and we found the log sheet was still blank for our first find on a B&W cache and a *FTF*.

SL TNLN TFTC
 
05-Sep-10
A quick find with Just a Cacher on a flying visit to SA for work. Pulled up near GZ and made a dash for the cache in between passing showers. The find was made even better when we found that the log sheet was still blank for our first find on a B&W cache and a *FTF* to boot.

SL TNLN TFTC
 
06-Aug-10
Happy Anniversary Bill and Bob
 
Wakool (A) - dragonZone
139.50 36.75
71.50 111.50
dragonZone Points
Downloads
GPX file
ZIP file
Gallery
Gallery
Other
Graph
Plot