John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley (1783?-1828) was a
distinguised Naval Officer, surveyor, explorer and sheep breeder.
He also served as a director of the Banks of New South Wales (now
Westpac) from 1821 to 1824 and was a member of the original
Legaslative Council in NSW from 1824 to 1825.
He also held the office as the Surveyor General from 1812 and
led three expeditions, the first along the Lachlan River (1817),
and the second along the Hastings River and Port Macquarie region
in 1818.
His most siginficant expedition was his third was in 1823, when
under the instruction of NSW Governor Sir Thomas Brisbane, set sail
north on the Mermaid to look for a new site for a penal
colony for serial offenders. The sites under review were Port
Curtis (near Gladstone), Port Bowen and Moreton Bay.
When Oxley reached Moreton Island he came across shipwrecked
convicts Thomas Pamphlett, John Finnegan, Richard Parsons and John
Thompson who were on a timberfelling trip on the Illawarra.
They spoke of a large river, which Oxley then explored as far as
Goodna and named after the NSW Governor. Along the way he named
places such as Breakfast Creek, Oxley Creek and Seventeen Mile
Rocks. The trip was quite strenous as they were constantly rowing
against the tide and this restricted further exploration.
A penal colony was quickly established at Humpybong on the
Redcliffe penisula, but it was found to be unsuitable. Meanwhile
Oxley, along with Lt Stirling and botantist Allan Cunningham,
undertook another exploration of the river (1824), this time going
even further and discovering the Bremer River. Stirling was given
the task of mapping the river.
It was their tenth landing on the river, during this journey,
that was to become the most siginifcant, as they were able to find
fresh water, leading to the relocation of the penal settlement to
this stretch of the river, which later would be the foundation for
the city of Brisbane.
The above co-ordinates bring you to a cairn commerating John
Oxley's landing on North Quay in 1824. You need to answer a couple
of simple questions to find the cache co-ordinates, which is very
close to where the penal colony was first established.
What is the first digit of the day on the plaque? Answer = A
Number of times the letter 'X' appears on the plaque? Answer = B
Number of letter O's in the line with the biggest letters?
Answer = C
Number of words in the 5th line in the plaque? Answer = D
Cache located at S27 28.AB1 E153 01.CD7
Be careful, especailly if you have children, as you are on a
very busy section of road. The cache is about 400m away, and you
will need to walk on the north side of North Quay to get
there.
Need to bring own pencil or pen. It would be appreciated if
you could avoid using stickers or stamps as the log is not real
big.