Business Traveller's Cache Mystery Cache

Don't stay cooped up in your hotel room! Get out there and find some caches! All 16 caches in this series can be found easily by a visitor to Melbourne who has to rely on public transport to get around. You won't need a car or taxis to complete the series—just time, a GPSr, a sense of purpose, and an all-day, Zone 1 Metcard.

This is the final cache in the BT (business traveller) series. The series consists of fifteen preliminary caches, and this one, so you might have to plan to complete the series over a couple of trips, if you're a visitor. Some of the preliminary caches are "log only" caches, and are either film canisters or 4mm DDS tape containers (which are about 8cm × 6cm × 1.5cm in size); the remainder of them are traditional caches with swaps. To find these caches you will take a tram or train ride to a place, at most, 10km from Flinders Street Station (except "BT XV – YMML"). Each cache is within a 500m radius of the tram stop or station.

To complete this cache, you'll need to visit most of the preliminary caches to retrieve a letter and its associated number—how many you need to visit will depend on your deductive powers, and the order in which you do them. All the preliminary caches (except "BT XV – YMML") can be reached by train or tram, with only a short walk involved. Instructions for reaching each of them by public transport are included in the cache descriptions. Each preliminary cache is placed in a park or an area of interest to a visitor to Melbourne, and all are within 10km of the CBD, except "BT XV – YMML", which is at the airport.

You can visit the preliminary caches in any order. Having collected the numbers and letters, you now need to put them in the correct order. Rearrange the letters so that they form two words: a five-letter word (a verb) and a ten-letter word (an adverb). These two words can often describe what a business traveller does. Hint: both words start with the same letter. Then substitute the associated numbers for the letters in the words to find the coordinates of the final cache—you can probably already guess at least four of the numbers. Note that there are multiple instances of three of the letters; you'll have to think carefully, and note the information in this cache description to determine which letter belongs in which position. (Well, it is a puzzle cache!)

It should be obvious which is the South coordinate and which is the East coordinate. You can email me for instructions on how to reach the general area of this final cache by public transport, however, you'll have to tell me the final coordinates in your email.

Is it possible to complete this cache in one day entirely on public transport? Time will tell. Bonus points to those who try; kudos to those who succeed!

Happy hunting!

Here are some web-based resources that you might find useful in your travels around Melbourne:

• VicTrip—Victoria's official Public Transport Web Site: Click here
• Metcard Home Page—everything you need to know about paying for public transport: Click here
• Unofficial Melbourne and Metropolitan Rail and Tram Map: Click here
• Meltrip—Unofficial Public Transport Guide to Melbourne: Click here
• Melbourne, Australia Public Transport FAQ: Click here
• Unofficial Guide to Melbourne Airport by Public Transport: Click here
• Yarra Trams: Click here
• Connex Trains: Click here
• Skybus—the official transit link between the CBD and Melbourne Airport: Click here
• Travelmate (Suburbs): Click here

The cache container was originally a piece of storm water pipe, 400mm long and 120mm diameter, however, it was muggled, so I have temporarily replaced it with a 1L Sistema container. If it lasts, I'll put another storm water pipe in situ.

The initial contents are:

Emu
Karabiner keyring with compass
Yellow highlighter
No Junk Mail sign
Giant jingle bell
Pack of cards
Texas Instruments calculator
2005 diary
12 coloured pencils
Set of water colour paints
DROOPY Dog TB
The Lil' Enzo That Could TB
Corky the Kangaroo and Baby TB
Log book, stash note, and pen

Don't remove that which is concealing the cache. Reach behind it, and the treasure will be yours. As always, please replace the cache exactly where you found it to discourage accidental discovery. One last thing: please don't screw the lid on too tightly; it has a rubber seal, and only needs to be closed snugly. If you find the lid has been screwed on too tightly, call Muscles McCrackers on 0499 999 999.

Unfortunately, I've had to archive four of the preliminary caches in this series. However, it is still possible to complete the series by gathering the codes from the remaining caches, and adding the codes from the three archived caches as follows: