GC1FFJG German Charlie (Multi-cache) in South Australia, Australia created by Crane2

GC1FFJG ▼

A cache by Crane2 Message this owner

Hidden : 8/23/2008

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

I first read about German Charlie in one of the local papers and felt that he deserved to be remembered with a cache!

The following information comes from the book “Mallee Tracks” by Jill Nickolls and Anne Angel.

Ernst Friedrich Wilhelm…came to live in Pinnaroo in 1907 at the age of 20. He kept much of his past a mystery, but it is believed that he was well educated and had lived in Holstein, Hamburg and Hanover during his youth. He kept very much to himself, where possible, refused to enter shops, disliked being indoors and avoided women. Locals knew him as German Charlie, and he was a colourful part of the fabric of Pinnaroo life.

German Charlie jumped ship in Port Adelaide, and along with a companion went fencing in the Adelaide Hills. From there he travelled northwards to work with camel teams in Central Australia, and then wound up in the South Australian Mallee shortly after the opening of the railway line. There was much work to be done, with wood-cutting and clearing land, picking sticks and stumps, and general farm work. A number of settlers in the area were of German descent so Charlie had the opportunity to speak his own language.

Charlie was a small strong man, and he worked at labouring jobs all over the district, from farms at Ngallo and Parilla Well, to the ‘Eucy Pots’ at Peebinga, where eucalyptus oil was distilled. Between 1908 and 1911 he owned a team of bullocks, and used to haul wheat and roll scrub. It was suspected that Charlie had a phobia about entering buildings, and perhaps suffered an unrequited love, and that this led him to live a meagre, self contained life, camping rough in the scrub around Pinnaroo. Two of his campsites were the bush west of the police station and Lovers Lane near the racecourse. He lived in a humpy in Parrs Scrub from the 1930’s until shortly before he died.

All his life German Charlie refused to sign any papers, and in the early stages of WW2 would not even sign for a ration card. He was imprisoned in Adelaide, because of his German origin, but after three months Pinnaroo citizens successfully appealed for his release. When Charlie reached retirement age, he again refused to sign papers, so the Pinnaroo Council appointed him caretaker of Parrs Scrub and paid him the equivalent to the pension.

German Charlie grew to trust a select few people, who kept an eye out for his welfare. When he eventually became ill and had to go into hospital, it was a distressing experience, which was greatly relieved by one of the nurses making a tent for him in the hospital grounds, where he could retreat during the day. In 1986 Marilyn Foster-Holmes wrote an interesting book entitled "German Charlie – Man of the Mallee" which outlined many tales about Charlie, a treasured and truly unique local identity.

At Waypoint 1 you are looking for the grave of German Charlie.

He passed away at the age of AB.

The number of letters in German Charlie’s surname = C

The cache can be found in one of the places connected with Charlie at the following coordinates:

S 35 15.7AB
E 140 54.6C0

I can recommend a visit to the Mallee Tourist and Heritage Centre, which houses several museums and exhibits.

The original cache container disappeared and has been replaced with a slightly smaller container, still in the same location for now. If it goes again, I will try to relocate it to another spot.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

purfg urvtug

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)