Yarra Bend Lunatic Asylum Traditional Geocache
Yarra Bend Lunatic Asylum
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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This cache will bring you to a small remnant of Melbourne’s first permanent institution devoted to the treatment of the mentally ill. A bluestone pillar from the original gatehouse of the Yarra Bend Lunatic Asylum.
Yarra Bend Lunatic Asylum
Opened in 1848 as a ward of the Asylum at Tarban Creek in New South Wales it was not officially called Yarra Bend Asylum until July 1851 when the Port Phillip District separated from the Colony of New South Wales. Prior to the establishment of Yarra Bend, lunatic patients had been kept in the District's goals.
Later, overcrowding in the states mental institutions became an issue and even the opening of several new asylums, including Ballarat and Ararat did little to ease the situation. The large influx of people during the gold rush swamped existing services. Another factor was the increasing number of people diagnosed as having psychological problems from the 1850s to 1880s. In the 1850s 0.95% of the population were labelled as “lunatic.” By 1880 that number had swelled to 3.4%. It was little wonder that the Yarra Bend Asylum continued to operate long after it had been considered obsolete.
The Asylum closed in 1928 and patients were relocated to Mont Park. The later history of the site was if anything even more unusual but I will leave you to read that story on the plaque on the pillar.
The Cache
A 1.2 l sistema cliptop container hidden about 20 m from the pillar in an easily accessible location. GZ is most definitely on the park side of the fence. Access is available 24/7 and parking is 30 m from GZ.
***There is NO ACCESS from the Eastern Freeway***
Entry by car to Yarra Bend Road is from Heidelberg Road. I suggest that you also walk the extra 50 m to the bridge across the Eastern Freeway and marvel at the river of steel flowing by underneath you.
There is plenty of room for travellers and swaps.
There can be a lot of passing foot traffic in the area, mostly dogwalkers. If you can’t rehide the cache without being seen you will only have to wait a couple of minutes and try again.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ntnvafg gur srapr, qbja ybj