Thorn's Reward Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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Our second cache after the runaway success of Headen Seek. Following this theme it is a small plastic container in the bush near an oval. Nothing much exciting inside for the FTF but, as the name indicates, just being in Thornleigh is its own reward.
NOTE: Google maps shows the Great North Walk next to the cache - the GN Walk actually goes around the other side of the oval.
Thornleigh is named after Constable John Thorn, who, along with Constable Horne, captured bushrangers Dalton and John MacNamara, leader of the North Rocks gang, on June 22, 1830, and were granted land as a reward (1838). Horne's land became Hornsby, and Thorn's land Thornleigh. The railway line was built in the 1880s and development followed.
As part of the construction of the railway from Strathfield to Hornsby, a 1.2 km branch was constructed in 1884 by the contractors to a quarry in a gully west of Thornleigh. The tracks included a zig-zag section.
Unemployment was a problem during the Great Depression of the 1930s, so a local lady named Lorna Brand raised money for the construction of a walking track near the Lane Cove River as a way of providing relief work. The track begins at Thornleigh Oval, at the bottom of Handley Avenue, and goes through the bush towards the Lane Cove River. It then goes parallel to the river for a short distance before looping back to arrive at Comenarra Parkway. An extension goes down to the river, through a spot called Conscript Pass. At this spot, there are rock carvings done by the men who worked on the track. One of the carvings is a caricature of Bertram Stevens, Premier of New South Wales from 1932 to 1939. The track is known as Lorna Pass in memory of Lorna Brand, and is now part of the Great North Walk, a long-distance walking trail between Sydney and Newcastle.
From Wikipedia:
(visit link)
Other things you didn't know about the Thornleigh area:
- Neighbouring Westleigh was the location for the filming of the famous Australian film "Don's Party."
- Fast food restaurant chain McDonald's has its Australian headquarters in Thornleigh.
- Contrary to this, Thornleigh was once the subject of an article in a Sunday paper which described it as one of the best places to live in Sydney and nicknamed it 'Pleasantville.'
Please leave everything as you find it. "Take nothing but photos, leave nothing but footprints."
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Qnex cynpr.