B&W (M) King's Grave - Melbourne General Cemetery Carlton North, Victoria, Australia
By pwags on 20-Aug-10. Waypoint GA2503

Cache Details

Difficulty:
Terrain:
Type: Burke and Wills
Container: Small
Coordinates: S37° 47.242' E144° 57.877' (WGS 84)
  55H 320774E 5815825N (UTM)
Elevation: 48 m
Local Government Area: Melbourne

Map

Watched (2)
Cache Tracker
Mayor
QR Code
Log Count
Public Tags
Private Tags
Rating

Description

The grave of John King, the sole survivor of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition.

Background:

The grave of John King

Of the four explorers who crossed the continent, John King was the only one to survive the return trip. In stark contrast with the grandiose memorial for his older colleagues, John King's grave appears somewhat insignificant. The inscription on King's tombstone is quite amateur in style, and even contains a spelling mistake - can you spot it?

King joined Burke for the dash to the Gulf and was the only survivor of this journey. He survived with the assistance of the Yandruwandha people until he was rescued by Alfred Howitt. King never fully recovered from his ordeal and died at the age of 31.

 

The geocache:

This geocache is a short offset-multi cache. You are required to gather some information at WP1, followed by a very short stroll to the final location, where you will find a hidden 200ml Sistema container, camouflaged to match its surroundings. There are also three commemorative Burke and Wills pathtags in the cache - you are welcome to take one if you find this cache quickly enough!

 

WP1: S37 47.242 E144 57.877. Here you will find the grave of John King. According to the memorial stone, King died on AB January, 1872.

GZ, the cache: Simply substitute the missing two digits you gathered at WP1 to find the coordinates for the geocache, hidden a very short distance away at S37 47.2AB E144 57.886. 

 

Hints

Haqre ebpx, onfr bs gerr, abegu-jrfg pbeare bs fznyy erpgnathyne pbapergr obeqre
ROT 13: ABCDEFGHIJKLM
NOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Decode

Logs

It's May-ntenance Month and the Geocaching Ausralia admins are reviewing caches with a string of DNF's. Unfortunately this is one of them.

We're archiving this cache as it appears to be missing. If it reappears or is replaced by the cache owner it can be resurrected by logging an "unarchived" against it.
 
24-Sep-17
it is us the wizzards and it apearth that thy hidden container hath been removeth from thy hide away
if thy could mayhath you might want to checkith it so seeith if it is still thereth
 
20-Sep-17
Found the spot, but couldn't find it even with the hint. Seems like it might have been removed?
 
20-Aug-17
Did the calculations and arrived at GZ - searched according to the hint which was vey specific but no joy for us today.
 
26-Jul-17
Think this one needs checking
 
26-Apr-17
Found the necessary info then went off to the calculated GZ. Interesting site. Searched the tree/bush and all around for about 15min but couldn't locate the cache. Hope it's still around somewhere.
Had hoped to find this one on my brief work trip to Melbourne.
 
interesting grave. tftc.
 
13-Jul-16
#GA972 - 13:30; On a previous visit, I didn't realise that this was a multi, so I left empty handed. In Melbourne for a few days with the geohoney, it was time to try again on our way out of town. Drove through the monuments to a convenient spot and left the geomobile for GZ, where a quick find was had. Log signed, cache replaced and I was on my way again. TFTC pwags Very HappyClan Cerberus
 
29-Jun-16
After being muggled out at a nearby GC cache Sad I stopped here to find this cache.
The required information was recorded while I thought about the life of the man lying below. Rolling Eyes
A short walk and I was able to find this cache, still well hidden. I love the decoration on the cache and I love cemeteries. Very Happy
 
26-Dec-15
Found the grave – did the co-ordinates & off to GZ – after a short search I found this nicely hidden in good order cache – thanks for the history
 
27-Aug-13
Decided it was time I found a few of the B&W caches. A nice day for a walk - so it was off to Royal Park. Started with this one...it was closest to where I parked the car. Compared to the Burke and Wills grave, this one is relatively nondescript - I wonder if people forgot King's role in the VEE or did he prefer to slip into obscurity? Think
Found at 11:05am. TFTC. TNLN.
 
02-Jul-13
A nice walk around the cemetery to find this historic grave site. Took me a quite a while at first as I kept finding myself in the wrong row.
A fair bit of a search at gz as well but eventually came up with the goods.
Thanks pwags for the cache. All in good shape. There was actually a signature in the logbook from a month or two ago.
 
31-Aug-12
10:58
The early morning rain had cleared as I parked just to the north of the cemetery, so I had beautiful sunshine during the couple of hours wandering about. This was my third GCA cache for the morning, after completing the longer multi.

When I checked the app, I kicked myself for not looking earlier... though it turns out that the data I collected during the big multi contained the information I needed to locate this cache. So, it was a nice quick find on the way back up to the car.

Five caches for the morning, a good walk and plenty learnt. I call that a win. Cheers.
 
15-Aug-12
Our very first cache! So much fun, the clue was awesome. We're just like Indiana Jones!
 
01-Aug-12
Found this morning while waiting for an unattended job to finish nearby....

Happy to report cache is in good order, logbook is well, and don't think I have made any spelling mistakes....

Things were a tad wet and muddy underfoot depending on the path you take, think I took all the muddy ones!!

Thanks for a great hide.

Cheers gordo
 
08-Jul-12
Typical Australian response to a hero. A few years down the track and you are just news wrapped around fish and chips!
So I've decided not to become a hero.
Thanks for the warning and real life lesson pwags.
 
27-Feb-12
A nice raining afternoon and evening for a cache run west of home to grab some of those newer caches that seem to pop up in areas I've already cleared as well as grab some oldies that I have only just solved. The day started wet, and ended the very same way, not that I was going to complain. It's nice to cache in all weather, and you know there are less muggles about when it's raining. With only a couple of DNF’s the cache run was relatively successful. This was one cache I picked up on my travels. I loved the history lesson. Thanks
 
27-Jan-12
An interesting bit of history and, once I'd avoided the gardiners spraying for weeds, a quick find. This headstone sure doesn't stand out does it?

Cheers pwags, thanks for another B@W's cache.
 
22-Jan-12
GCA 341 - 4676. Another B&W Cache to add to my finds.

This was a very interesting Cemetery to visit with a couple a really nice Caches to do. This was a quick calculation and find - thanks pwags !!

TFTC !!
 
03-Sep-11
Continuing on from Royal Park, I spent some time walking around the cemetry grabbing the other caches on offer. A very interesting place.

Cache was a quick find after the easy calc's.

Thanks for the hide.
 
14-Jun-11
Found by Team Ladava with TEAMELBA on a joint trek through the Melbourne General Cemetery.
Certainly not as grandiose as the team leaders grand memorial for a very brave man, the only one who endured all the hardships of the epic journey and survived albeit for a short time.
A quick and easy find as a deviation from the nearby GC multi.
TNLN
Our thanks to pwags for the cache and bringing us to this location.
Cheers
Ian & Sandra
Team Ladava
Cache condition - fine


 
15-May-11
15/05/2011 13:50 Found: #457 After the total disaster yesterday this quick find was a welcome relief and I believe this means I have finally cleared the cemetery. Found an umbrella left under here as well. Perhaps this is Alchemy2's? Interesting, the grave here is itself almost hidden from casual view. Sadly their is no headstone to explain who lies here. TFTC Took pathtag LN SL
 
10-Apr-11
Nice easy multi
TFTC Very Happy
 
08-Apr-11
I knew this one straight up I often run my tours at the Cemetery.....John King is one of many we visit.

TFTC Smile

kellyhaunts
 
23-Oct-10
Found this one at 16:20 while on our way to pick up the cat from his week long holiday Smile. I had been here for a GC cache some time ago so the revisit was quite welcome, particularly in light of this excellent Burke and Wills series Very Happy. A nice easy find.

TNLNSL. Thanks pwags.
 
20-Oct-10
Well its always good to be able to complete a cache and visit some relatives to pay respect at the same time!!

Very HappyVery HappyVery Happy
 
03-Oct-10
Found 9.30am
Enjoyed the stroll on this warm morning. Once at GZ the cache was not to bad to find. We love the B&W series of caches and look forward to completing all in Victoria soon.

TNLNSL
Thanks pwags for a great cache
 
03-Oct-10
Yay! I wasn't too late to get a pathtag (I there is 1 maybe 2 left) - nice reward for a day's city caching for B&W locations Smile TFTC & pathtag Very Happy
 
01-Oct-10
Found by The Empire + H @ 1:10pm
1st of 10 finds on this warm and sunny day for caching. Just a normal grave site for someone who might have just been modest. Thanks for the cache.
- M
 
18-Sep-10
Another enjoyable multi in this very interesting and historic area. TFTC
 
12-Sep-10
I found this cache with caughtatwork today while we were hunting down the B&W caches around the city. It was nice to walk through the old graves to this place. Daddy collected the clues and then we went to find the cache. It was in the first place I looked. Thank you very much pwags.
 
12-Sep-10
Found by caughtatwork at 16:52 on 12/09/2010
Poor Mr. King. The only one to return alive and no-one knows anything about him. What a tragic story from start to end is the story of the B&W Expedition.
We found the stroll across to this location quite enchanting exploring the old grave sites as well walked past them. Some of them so old the stone has worn down to almost nothing, leaving those interred there almost completely unknown.
We collected the simple clues at GZ and headed to the cache where GabGab made the find.
Took nothing, left nothing.
Thanks pwags for this, another fascinating piece of B&W history. I really appreciated the effort you went to and your assistance in the B&W Project.
*Overall Experience: 4*
GAFF 1
 
09-Sep-10
This marker is actually a WP in the VERY long (but well worth while!) GC multicache nearby. It is sad to see the only bloke who ACTUALLY MADE IT is hidden up in the cheap seat... especialially once you see the stone B&W got at the front of the cemetery!

Cheers from Sydney
 
28-Aug-10
Found on a sunny day in Melbourne. TFTC
 
24-Aug-10
I too wondered why he is up here and not down there, though the size of the marker would indicate that someone with some influence thought he was worth remembering... A cold and windy day but the caching has kept me warm! Thanks.
 
Found by PR&F with harry_stamper on 22/8/10 @ 3.10pm
After finding 'Grave Site' we made our way to King's Grave. Australian History is something I am really interested in, and these series of caches are just perfect to commemorate the expedition.
After doing the maths, we made our way to GZ and the cache was soon in hand. I didn't take a pathtag as I took one from Grave Site but harry took one.
Thanks for bringing us here and showing us all some amazing history!
 
21-Aug-10
15:45
On the day of the Federal Election, along with Robyn of The Morris and Princess Diala, we voted to follow the B & W Party.
We walked from a nearby cache discussing the many and varied memorials along the way. Information to hand and off to the cache and sign the log.

TNLN . . SL . . TFTH.
 
21-Aug-10
Another short walk and we soon arrived at Kings grave.

Why did he get placed all the way in here? He should have had a nice gravestone near the Burke and Wills tribute.

...Thats what you get for returning home alive after a epic adventure....

Thanks again for this Multi pwags!
 
21-Aug-10
...........
We had all helped to hide them
Lots of research and preparation
The ftf would be all gone
But we were part of the commemoration

So to Bill and Bob and John
Who fought through great adversity
Your journey is still remembered
Happy anniversary

 
20-Aug-10
I'm crap a spotting spelling mistakes, but I can see incorrect numbers (in this case - ages in cache descriptions?) Smile
It was great walking through the grounds, from your last cache, looking at all the headstones. Been a while since I have cached in here.
Thanks, Robmc.
 
20-Aug-10
Good luck, explorers! The lucky first three geocachers to find this cache are welcome to take one of the commemorative pathtags from the container. Dancing
 
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