Windmill – Aussie Icon
This is one of a planned series of great Aussie Icon hunts. Travelling around Australia you undoubtedly see windmills: Dead ones, Rusted ones, High ones, Spinning ones, Coloured ones, Huge ones, all seen along the roadside, adjacent farm houses, along river banks, in gullies, in country town parks, in museums, in fact wherever…
This series of geocaches is designed to help you when travelling around Australia, by breaking up the trip, and to discover a bit of a history lesson as you seek windmills in locations with a written history of the windmill and/or local region adjacent.
With each of these trips, I’ll be giving the actual coordinates of the relevant windmills along the route – you then have to visit them enroute and determine the vital statistics and any other required info at the location. This will then be put into a formula to determine the final location of the cache. All windmills are accessible by car (no bush bashing required), they are all just a few metres off the highway, or in the centre of towns you will pass through, eg town parks. If there is limited access (to the base of the windmill) due to the time of day a park closes, I’ll mention that for the relevant windmill. All can be easily seen from road though.
Street view could be useful .........
Use that (& your time machine) and all is revealed, 100%.
In many of the windmills, you will be required to count the number of blades on the fan. This will be difficult to impossible depending on the strength of the wind.
Therefore, a digital camera IS ESSENTIAL.
Now onto this particular geocache:
ADELAIDE to MELBOURNE
Windmill A
S34º 57.054 E 138º 36.533
Number of blades = AA, Number of stand alone stone pillars between the earth mounds = AB, Number on windmill tail = AC.
Windmill B
S 35º 03.109 E 138º 37.237
Number of legs on windmill = BA, William arrived in SA in BB. In BC he opened the first shop in the valley.
Windmill C
S 35º 53.109 E 140º 03.456
Number of blades = CA. Number of Adult sheep = CB. Number of sheep dogs = CC
Windmill D
S 36º 22.680 E 141º 14.248
Number of blades = DA. Number of panels in tail = DB.
Windmill E
S 36º 23.746 E 141º 23.534
Number of blades = EA. Number of really chunky, short wooden columns on the wooden structure nearby = EB.
Windmill F
S 37º 03.760 E 142º 45.685
(yes, that one up high.) Number of blades the windmill SHOULD have = x. Multiply x by 3 = FA. If A=1, B=2 etc, then the numeric value of the SECOND letter of the BIG WHITE word DIRECTLY under the windmill = y. FB=y-3.
Windmill G
S 37º 09.128 E 142º 51.304
Looking beyond the main “Gallery” sign, Number of blades = GA. On the “Gallery” sign, “Prints & ???” . In the 2nd word – 5th letter - If A=1, B=2, numeric value of this 5th letter = GB.
Windmill H
S 37º 24.512 E 143º 05.005
Number of blades on the closest = HA. Count the number of VISIBLE poles supporting the blades – wander a little bit along the fence line, just to see behind the near-by bushes, count the VISIBLE poles, NOT the visible fans. (half/third etc of a pole is OK to count as a pole) Number = HB. NOTE – HB is divisible by 4.
Windmill I
S 37º 28.183 E 143º 38.013
Number of blades = IA. If Comet, IB = 1, if Bryan Colac, IB = 2, if Southern Cross, IB = 3.
Windmill J
S 37º 33.446 E 143º 51.348
Number of blades = JA. Number of colours used on the blades = JB.
Windmill K
S 37º 41.045 E 144º 39.672
Number of blades on the LARGEST one visible = KA.
Windmill L
S 37º 42.172 e 144º 54.913
Number of blades = LA (number that should be there). Colour of tail = ??. Number of letters in the colour word = LB.
Cache is located at:
S 37º QR.STU
E 144º VW.XYZ
Where
Q = (AA+FA-IA-HB+HA+FB)
R = (CA+DA-IB) / (DB+FB)
S = (EA-JA) + (FB-CB)
T = (GA+GB-DA+AC-CC)
U = (DA-IA-KA)
V = (KA+LA+LB) / (CC+JB)
W = (BC-BB-BA)
X = EB
Y = (AB-HA)
Z = (DA-IA-KA).
Finally, as with all windmills, from time to time a blade may fall off and you may see the windmill before it is replaced. So, count how many blades should be there.
FTF honours to SW2092 (from Canberra) - Yet Again - AMAZING!