This cache has been placed at the junction of 3 rivers - the North Para and South Para Rivers, which join together to form the Gawler River.
These rivers have had a big impact on the Town of Gawler, which has grown to surround their junction.
As a town, Gawler was the last stop on the plains, before heading into the hills toward the Barossa Valley. It also was a significant river crossing from both the North and the South.
After a very damaging flood in the 1990’s, the various councils put plans into place to reduce the impact of these rivers in the event of future flooding.
The South Para had its sides and floor reshaped to enhance water flow through the township area.
The North Para had a levy bank around the Caravan Park increased in height and plans were made for a flow control dam to be built upstream to reduce the high water potential.
Further south, the Gawler River has had levy banks put in place to help reduce the flooding - with varied success.
In November, 2005, these measures were put to the test. At these times, the three fords crossing the rivers were closed, forcing all traffic to travel over the two bridges to access the town centre. As you can imagine, this caused long delays, especially with extra tourists wanting to looking at the high water levels.
Due to the flooding this time, it was finally decided to put the flow control dam in place on the North Para River. The sheer volume of water was still of great concern and no doubt more will need to be done in the years to come.
The cache can be approached from several directions, depending on the time of the year and the water level. If you know the schedule of the local netball club and time it right, you could even drive right up to it.
WARNING: Which ever way you approach it, DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES attempt to cross over the railway bridge - the trains come every few minutes at times and travel extremely fast. There is NO ACCESS from the railway line. You will infact, be fenced off from the cache if you approach via the railway line. Also, be sure to keep any children in check as there are some cliff like river banks here (which the cache is only a few metres from), which also make this a treacherous place to approach at night.