B&W (C) Queens Park - Moonee Ponds Moonee Ponds, Victoria, Australia
By pwags on 20-Aug-10. Waypoint GA2500

Cache Details

Difficulty:
Terrain:
Type: Burke and Wills
Container: Other
Coordinates: S37° 45.780' E144° 55.356' (WGS 84)
  55H 317014E 5818448N (UTM)
Elevation: 32 m
Local Government Area: Moonee Valley

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Description

A codeword multi-"cache" (no physical container) hidden in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Burke & Wills expedition of 1860.

Queens Park is the location where the Burke and Wills party spent their first night. To claim a find, you need to collect clues from a number of places around the park, all leading to a secret hidden small metal label in the park, containing a "codeword" that you must use to log your find online.

First camp at Moonee Ponds

Background:

Moonee Ponds was the site of the first overnight camp for the Burke and Wills Expedition. After finally setting off from Royal Park at 4pm, they had already experienced the loss of one wagon in coming even this far. This was only the beginning of the immense run of bad luck that would dog the expedition.

The distance covered in the first days travel amounted to less than ten kilometres. Although this rate improved as the expedition progressed, it did point to a major difficulty faced by the party: they were over-supplied. Beyond basic stores and scientific equipment, they carried with them an immense amount of other material far beyond that carried by any other Australian explorer. Among other things, the Expedition carried a Chinese gong, a bathtub, two dozen pairs of goggles, and a writing desk. Burke soon became frustrated with the delays caused by hauling all of this equipment across the country. He would often ride ahead with a small advance group, leaving the wagons to follow as best they could, sometimes up to three days behind. He also sold off equipment at several major stops along the way. Burke finally divided the group in two at Menindee, leaving the majority of the supplies to be moved up to Cooper’s Creek at a later date while he pressed on ahead. He divided the group again at the Cooper, taking only four men, six camels and a horse on his fateful dash to the north coast.

 

 

WP1: S37 45.780 E144 55.356. Here you will find a stone and plaque which marks the first camping site of the Burke and Wills expedition.

  • It was presented by the Mayor of Essendon, Cr. L.T.Thompson in what year? Answer = ABCD.

 

WP2: S37 45.713 E144 55.343. Cross the road for a very short walk to another site commemorating the expedition. Read the information board and the plaque on the large rock, and look at the camels in the garden to answer these questions.

  • How many large camel sculptures are here in this garden bed? Answer = E.
  • How many of the camels are standing? Answer = F.
  • How many of the camels are kneeling? Answer = G.
  • How many of the camels are sitting? Answer = H.
  • How tall was John King? Answer = IJK centimetres.

 

WP3: S37 45.714 E144 55.394. Stroll over to the Queen's Park curator's cottage, built circa 1890, thirty years after the Burke and Wills visit. Find the plaque marking the restoration of the cottage.

  • What is the Historic Building Number of this cottage? Answer = LMNP.
  • Now one quick calculation before you find the final location: F + K  = ? Answer = Q.

 

GZ - The Codeword! Make your way to the final location at S37 45.NBG  E144 55.EHQ where you will find a small metal tag (approx. 2 metres above ground-level) containing the codeword that must be entered to claim this find. (There is no physical container, just the codeword to find.)

Please do not include the codeword in your log, it should only be entered into the relevant input box you'll see when you are logging your find. Any attempts to claim a find without the correct codeword will be automatically rejected by the system.

 

Hints

Lbh fubhyq unir ab gebhoyr jvgu gur svany fgntr bs guvf pnpur
ROT 13: ABCDEFGHIJKLM
NOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Decode

Logs

19-Nov-18
Clan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan MinotaurClan Minotaur

Out and about caching in the area and enjoyed our stroll around Queens Park collecting the required info to log this cache.The code word took a while to find as it is lower than the hint suggests.

Many thanks pwags for publishing this cache and adding to our geocaching experience.

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

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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 MinotaurClan Minotaur
 
26-Jan-17
Got the right co-ords but the endless searching proved fruitless
 
05-Jan-17
I'm a Gnome, duh!I'm a Laaaaaaaady, duh! nothing to be found.
 
15-Aug-16
#GA1011 - 07:25; As they say in the classics, "Third time lucky!" and that's what it was for me today with this cache. On the first visit, I gathered all the required information. Had a nice coffee and a muffin at the little cafe in the park and headed off to the old GZ only to learn later that the information I had gathered was useless Brick Wall . I learned later still that the information I was seeking was in fact unavailable at that time due to work in that area. Subsequent advice from the CO that order had been restored led to my second visit, again to no avail at the new GZ Question . After seeing a couple of successful finds, I returned today determined to make the find, and after making the find, the hint made more sense. The advice in an earlier log about the height at which the information could be found probably was the clincher Idea . A great start to a day which ultimately saw 13 B&W caches crossed off the 'to do' list. TFTC pwags Very HappyClan Cerberus
 
GA Find #3

Found it today. With a little help from PWAGS. Thank You. The tag was lower than the approx. 2m above the ground. But it is there. RazzClan Phoenix

Thanks PWAGS

TFTC
 
I am new to geocaching. A very interesting journey to the end. Will return soon to find it.
 
17-Mar-16
Visited the park three times before I completed this Burke & Wills. Great park to visit but a bit warm today.
 
Admin review to remove the SBA note. Thanks pwags for doing the right thing and maintaining the cache.
 
05-Jan-16
Very Happy Found It!!! Huge thanks to pwags for fixing this cache! Was very happy to return and find the code word! Brilliant! Thanks again
 
04-Jan-16
The final location had been removed, so I have replaced it with a new tag at a new location. The clues have been adjusted accordingly. Good to go!
 
28-Dec-15
Went out with two mates to find this cache (which I now note has not had a find since 2011), the final coordinates lead to an open space, searched a large radius around this space and still couldn't find anything. I imagine there used to be a tree at the final location and perhaps the tag there? Would be great if someone could adjust this cache so it can still be used, a really good path aside from the final not being found. (We double checked out coordinates and the answers to the questions)
 
27-Nov-11
In Melbourne for an extra long weekend and headed out this way for a couple of the B&W caches. Enjoyed the walk around the park gathering the required info before make the 'find'.

Thanks for a fun cache...
 
16-Oct-11
Excelent walk around a very nice park. Stopped for brunch at the nearby cafe in the park Can recommend the moroccan eggs.

Quite an easy one, and you learn a bit about the Burke and Wills expedition.
 
18-Sep-11
Great Spring day to be out and about caching.
I have driven past this park on numerous occasions but have never stopped and visited it.
Great place to unwind for a few hours. Very busy day at the park with loads of families, kids, dogs, sports balls etc.. in every direction.
 
05-Sep-11
Out on a legendary cache run with caching buddy Trailrunning. For the first time, we actually completed the whole list and added a few more on the way home to meet the 50-find cache mark. Started early at 5.45pm all the way till 2am before we went home tired, but happy. 2 DNF's along the way but an awesome run all the same.

Grabbed this one on the way to the other nearby caches. Nice 3 cache cluster here. Took us around the oval. Interesting walk and view. TFTC Smile
 
05-Sep-11
As usual I had planned a night of caching with my good buddy jsmyong55. We had quite a number on the list, and I never thought we would get through them all. We did and then some! The final tally for the night has not yet been realised as there are both Geocaching Australia.com and Geocaching.com caches in the mix, but we both know we both grabbed over 50 caches each. To get jsmoyong55 over the line we detoured from a direct route to his home to get a few more. It was the first time for both of us to get over 50 so we were both pretty pleased with our efforts. This cache was one of those we grabbed. A nice little multi to take us on a walk. Thanks
 
28-Aug-11
Enjoyed the walk around the park on a sunny winter's afternoon. Very busy and good to see so many using the facilities. Thanks pwags for the cache.
 
12-Jul-11
Thanks pwags for more history and a lovely change from bugs and dirt. The gardens are looking delightful with the lake full again, though I do wish more people would read the signs and stop feeding the flying rodents.
A delightful multi, perfect as a school holiday activity.
TFTC
 
07-Apr-11
Nice walk around the area. Great place. TFTC
 
06-Nov-10
I think we all know a little about this expedition, but always great to read more about it. The amount of equipment they took, I think I might call our camping holidays a bit like theirs. Way to much stuff.

Thanks for this great cache. I like the 'Codeword' idea.
 
06-Nov-10
Having done the nearby virtual, it was time to move on to this one. I already knew that this was their first stop from an earlier Alsume GC cache but in the context of the whole B&W series, it was fascinating to return here with a more complete knowledge of their hardships.

The glorious afternoon certainly enhanced today's experience and I soon found the final resting spot at 15:50.

T memories, LN. Thanks pwags.
 
02-Nov-10
The bf and I wondered around this park on a GCA mission.

I missed logging a found on these B&W caches a couple of months ago as we'd run out of time. But today was the day when everyone was watching the race that stops a nation! (I hope I backed a winner!)

I nearly logged a DNF on this one, but luckily the bf resorted to the hint haha.

Thanks pwags for your contributions in the B&W series.
 
19-Oct-10
On my first visit here, I was so busy trying to stop the 3yo chasing the ducks into the water that I couldn't spot the codeword. Today - by myself - it took only a minute.

I have done several of the B&W caches (want to get to more) and really love both the history and the effort that has gone into the individual caches and the series as a whole.
 
10-Oct-10
A nice wander around the park to get the info for this one TFTC
 
01-Oct-10
A great afternoon to complete this small multi. After a short stroll I gathered all the clues and are now logging. Very Happy

 
21-Sep-10
We rushed to complete this cache as night was rapidly falling. Thankfully, we found all waypoints and information rather quickly. A very enjoyable cache.
 
15-Sep-10
Visited this afternoon and had an enjoyable time going to the waypoints to get the clues.
 
12-Sep-10
I found this cache with caughtatwork today while we were hunting down the B&W caches around the city. This was a fun cache to find and I really enjoyed the camels. So much that caughtatwork took a picture of me pretending to be one of the camels humps. Thank you so much pwags it was nice to walk through the park looking at all the different things.
 
12-Sep-10
Found by caughtatwork at 17:37 on 12/09/2010
An intersting idea for a cache. It lets the finders follow the trail, leads to them to a location and then the proof is in the codeword. An excellent idea of cache areas that are deserving of a visit, but a little more than just a virtual as you need to find G perfectly to get the code.
GabGab and I had a bunch of fun at this location collecting the clues and getting around. We were here for one of her school concerts at the Clocktower a few weeks back but we didn't have time to get around things then, so we finished it off today.
Took nothing, left nothing.
Thanks pwags for taking the time to lay out this cache for us to find today.
*Overall Experience: 4*
GAFF 1
 
30-Aug-10
RDO..had business to attend to and I happened to be parked nearby.
Had lunch at the lake and had a bit of a walk around.
TFTC
 
27-Aug-10
13:45
Continuing in our quest to follow B&W. This is the first time we have done a cache and accidently stumbled on the end location before we have even started! We parked nearby and as we wandered through the park to the first way point we found the codeword. How's that for fluky! Non-the-less, we completed the information. P-P had lived in the area a loooong time ago and had forgotten how attractive this park is.

TFTH.
 
26-Aug-10
Our quick trip to the park to pick up two B&W caches was successful today. Smile
After the mandatory stop at the playground for the young daughter we continued on our hunt to find the remaining clues. Plenty of birdlife around today but perhaps the cold weather was keeping all the humans indoors. The only nearby people about were a couple of gardeners as we found the required information at 12 pm.

Thanks pwags for another of these interesting B&W caches. The first of this type that we have attempted.
 
26-Aug-10
Found by The Empire @ 2pm
Nice walk around the park to collect the clues and find the codeword. Thanks to all of those involved in setting up the B&W series!
- M
 
25-Aug-10
A short tour through a park that is looking good with the rain this year. Tried to imagine what it looked like 150 years ago... A great cache concept! Thanks.
 
22-Aug-10
Good news for the next few finders... both "Keeper of Time" and "Robmc" have already got a commemorative B&W pathtag, so they are still available for the next three lucky finders.
 
22-Aug-10
A great idea for a cache in a high muggle area. Walked around the WPs gathering the necessary info, loved the camels at WP2. With the sun slowly warming up it was a very nice walk to GZ to gain the codeword.

Thanks pwags (can I please donate the B&W pathtag to finder nubmer 4, thanks)
 
20-Aug-10
I hadn't seen the first waypoint of this multi, but it took but a moment to grab the information and make my way to a more familiar spot.
I like this sculpture, but I must admit that I have never studied it to work out the animal's positions. Information collected, and off again to a high muggle area. Fortunately, only information to collect.
A promenade around and the clue was in hand - now what do I do with it?
Thanks, Robmc.
 
20-Aug-10
Good luck, explorers! The lucky first three geocachers to log their find will be mailed a commemorative Burke and Wills pathtag. You will be contacted soon after logging your find for your mailing address. Dancing
 
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