NOTE:- 1-10-10 Over the years things have changed
and this puzzle would be becoming very hard for newer teams to work
out. We have updated the puzzle and re hid the cache in an ammo tin
to hopefully make it a bit easier and drier.
Because of the possibility of high muggle traffic at times
please use care and ensure the cache is well hidden before
you leave.
The Cache
Location
The location you are going to has had a rich history. It was
popular with local Aborigines because of the good hunting and the
natural clear spring in the sand dunes near where the reservoir is
today. A Military Reserve was established in 1885. In 1901, at
Federation, the land was passed to the commonwealth. Nearly 100
years after becoming a military reserve the area was declared the
fauna and Flora reserve it is today.
From it’s inception in 1885 this military base was used for
various activities by the the Victorian Colonial Defence
Forces.
In April 1889, 2195 men were engaged in manoeuvres for four days,
using 669 horses and 29 wagons.
In late 1914, a detention centre for German prisoners-of-war was
established and, in 1915, part of the camp was redesigned as a
military hospital for venereal disease patients. During the war
period improved facilities included a better water supply,
additional roads and drains, a butcher's shop and post office, and
a steam pumping station at the reservoir which included a boiler
and pump, coke filter beds and underground tanks. (The cache is
hidden near the site of the old hospital.)
After the war, all military structures were removed, the prisoners
were transferred for repatriation, and the use of the hospital for
military venereal disease treatment ceased in 1920.
The Military Reserve was used for defence purposes during the
Second World War and up until the late 1970s. From early 1974 it
was managed by the former Balcombe Military Camp and used for
part-time military training and various non-military activities. It
was a valuable area for training metropolitan Reserve units, and
was used by the Army Reserve and school cadets.
In January 1980 the Commonwealth Minister for Administrative
Services leased the Reserve to the Victorian Minister for
Conservation, for the purpose of protecting conservation values, as
a flora and fauna reserve to be managed by the National Parks
Service. The State Government purchased the Reserve from the
Commonwealth Government on 28 June 1982 for the sum of
$330,000.
Today the reserve is a very important habitat for native fauna,
particularly small mammals. You may see koalas, Brown Bandicoots
and Swamp Wallabies but smaller species such as the rare New
Holland Mouse are much harder to find. A total of 94 bird species,
including the rare Southern Emu-wren have been recorded.
This reserve is one of the few areas on the southern fringe of the
Melbourne metropolitan area still supporting indigenous plant and
animal communities in a reasonable natural condition.
Stringybarks are the main trees in the forest, which covers more
than half of the reserve, but Swamp Gum, Narrow-leaf Peppermint and
Manna Gum also occur. In the lower layers of the forest you will
find Prickly Tea-tree, Sallow Wattle, Swamp Paperbark and Pithy
Sword-sedge.
About 45 percent of the plant species indigenous to the Mornington
Peninsula are present including many rare species for which the
reserve offers the last chance of survival. Some of the more
interesting are Tufted Blue-lily, Rabbit-ears Orchid, Wedding Bush
and Short Purple-flag.
Careful management is required to protect native vegetation from
the threats posed by weeds, rabbits and unplanned fires. Many weeds
including Radiata Pine (an exotic species) and Sallow Wattle (a
non-indigenous Australian species) are present, particularly in
areas that were once cleared. Weed control has benefited from a
high level of support from Friends Groups and volunteers.
The Cache
Puzzle.
A. Simply fill in the crossword and follow the instructions
to locate the cache.
NB: 1. If the team name has more than one word leave out the
spaces.
2. Leave out any punctuation marks in a team name
B. Park at the suggested car park, which is less than 200m
from the cache. This is the best entrance as the area is fenced and
other gates are not always open.
C. Have Fun.
To print the puzzle and questions only click
HERE
To find the letter values you must answer the following
questions.
Note:-
1) Take note of columns and rows in the
questions.
2) When counting vowels each occurrence is counted as
one.
A = The number of “I’s” in the 2nd
ROW.
B = The Number of “O’s” in the 11th
ROW.
C = The number of vowels in the 5th COLUMN.
D = The number of N's in the in the 14th ROW.
E = The number of vowels in the 7th ROW.
F = The number of vowels in the 7th COLUMN.
G = The number of vowels in the 10th ROW.
H = The number of L's in the 10th COLUMN.
I = The number of vowels in the 8th COLUMN.
J = The number of vowels in the 15th ROW.
The Cache is located at
.
38 AB.CDE
145 FG.HIJ
The closest, easiest and safest parking can be found by
Subtracting
55 from CDE and 105 from HIJ.
Except for the mature non-indigenous tree specie you will find the
only basically intact item remaining from the military occupation,
well worth a look and it is only a few meters out of your way. It
can be found at:-
Subtract 19 from CDE.
Subtract 83 from HIJ.