They often say life is about the journey, not the destination; but with geocaching, we say it’s both! With over 3 million geocaches around the world. The adventure begins with navigating to the geocache location, then there’s the big “ah-ha!” moment when you find the geocache! The journey doesn’t end there though, so we’re listing out five steps we recommend once you’ve made a find. Are you completing all five?
- Sign the logbook in the geocache. You should always carry a pen/pencil. Every Physical geocache has got a log and it’s just as important to sign the physical log as it is to post your log in the Geocaching® app. Signing the geocache log validates your visit! If you don't sign, then post a note till you return.
- Scenic view? Fun trail? Group shot? Take a photo to include with your log! Photos can be uploaded to your log right from the app. However NEVER add a spoiler. The next person should have the same experience.
- Log your find in the Geocaching® app! If you’re not logging your find in the field, save it as a draft and include a few notes about your journey to the geocache that you can use to jog your memory later. Remember to NOT include spoiler comments in your log!
- Give it a Favorite point! Premium members can award Favorite points to w-o-w geocaches to let other cachers know it’s something special.
- Place the geocache back where you found it so the next cacher can experience the same finders-joy! Remember to respect your surroundings, whether that’s flora, fauna, or others around enjoying the outdoors.
The Sutherland Shire
This is a local government area in the southern region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.
Geographically, it is the area to the south of Botany Bay and the Georges River. The administrative centre of the local government is located in the suburb of Sutherland, with council chambers located in Eton Street. The Sutherland Shire is 26 kilometres (16 mi) south of Sydney central business district, and is bordered by Bankstown, Wollongong, Liverpool, Hurstville and Campbelltown local government areas.
With a population of 219,828 in 2009, it was the second most populous local government area in New South Wales (behind The City of Blacktown), and the eighth largest overall in Australia.
The Sutherland Shire is colloquially known as "The Shire" and it has been characterised through several reality television series.
Aboriginal heritage
The original inhabitants of the Sutherland area were some clans of the Dharawal people. Archaeological work in the Sutherland Shire has revealed evidence for Aboriginal settlement dating back at least 8,500 years. The original coastline around Sydney has retreated about 20 km and that those flooded coastal plains may hold evidence showing occupation of this area going back well beyond the 8,500 years revealed in the 1966 Archaeological exploration.
Within the Royal National Park to the south, field surveys have revealed many hundreds of Aboriginal rock shelters. In other locations (The Military Area near Holsworthy and Darkes Forrest) there are thousands of sites, camping areas and sacred places. These areas mentioned have not been affected greatly by European occupation and building and may give a clearer example for the quality of life and abundance of resources in Sutherland/Liverpool areas.
Since 1966 when there was an Archaeological dig in Cabbage Tree Basin archaeologists have uncovered parts of an extensive open-air midden or cooking and camp sites. Successive layers of habitation show the diet of the native Aborigines – oyster, mussels, snapper, bream, and Sydney cockle. There is also evidence of seal, dolphin, a range of marsupials, dingo and even whale. Several edge-ground axes have also been found.
There are many existing sites where paintings and engravings of great age show changes in art style over thousands of years. Some of these changes can be linked to the extinction of some animals in the area and also with the coming of Europeans to Sutherland. Some have interpreted these changes in style to changes in culture and people which would indicate that there have been a number of changes of communities over time.
European Settlement
European discovery of what is now Sutherland Shire was made by Lieutenant James Cook, who entered Botany Bay on 29 April 1770. Cook and his party explored around Kurnell Peninsula, and left the bay on May 6. During their brief stay, a Scottish seaman named Forbes Sutherland died of tuberculosis. In his honour, Cook named the northwest point of the peninsula Point Sutherland.
The British government needed a new site for transported convicts as they had lost their American colonies following defeat in the American Revolutionary War. Botany Bay was chosen as the new penal settlement and the First Fleet under Governor Arthur Phillip anchored off Kurnell on 18 January 1788. After sending a party to clear land for settlement, Phillip soon realised the area was unsuitable. There was lack of shelter for ships, inadequate water and poor soil. On 24 January, two French ships were sighted off the coast, causing Phillip to raise English colours near Sutherland Point. Governor Phillip sailed north to explore Port Jackson, and eventually settled at Sydney Cove.
The first landowner in Sutherland Shire was James Birnie, a mercantile trader who was granted by promise 700 acres (2.8 km⊃2;) at Kurnell in 1815. After the completion of official surveying, a large part of what is now Sutherland Shire was proclaimed as the Hundred of Woronora by Governor Richard Bourke in 1835. Title to land was not granted by the Crown until 1856, before which there was practically no settlement. Timber cutting was the primary industry, supplemented by shell gathering in the Port Hacking area.
With the opening of Crown Lands sales in the Shire, Thomas Holt purchased 12,000 acres (49 km⊃2;). His developmental projects included oyster farms, cattle grazing, and coal mining. The investment which proved profitable however, were his timber leases. He constructed a magnificent manor on the foreshores of Sylvania, called Sutherland House, based on English feudal lines.