The Border Fence Multi-Cache

The Border Fence is part of a series based on sometimes forgotten sites uncovered in our research on the old Gold Coast.

This is a multi-cache which means that the cache is not on or in close proximity to the border monument. Instead you will need to read some of the plaques on and around the monument to gather the information needed in order to find the cache. See "To find this cache' further down in the description for how to calculate where the cache is actually hidden.

The Queensland/New South Wales border was surveyed in part by Francis Edward Roberts (for Qld) and Isaiah Rowlands (for NSW). They started the survey at Point Danger in 1863 where both men carved the first reference point into a rock on the extreme point of the promontory and continued west following the tops of hills and mountains.

In the 1870s, as Tweed Heads began to develop, a single border fence was built from Point Danger along the survey line. A border gate and customs post were built roughly where Twins Towns Services Club is now sited. In 1902, to prevent the Queensland cattle tick from infesting New South Wales herds, a second three strand barbed wire parallel fence and tick gate was built on NSW land creating a wide buffer zone between the states.  There were extraordinary measures taken to prevent cattle tick – all livestock crossing the border had to be dipped or sprayed, this included horses ridden locally. As the only cemetery was in Tweed Heads, hearses bringing Coolangatta deceased were stopped and unhitched on the Qld side of the border. The hearse was then manhandled across the boundary, before being re-hitched with a NSW team.

The border was temporarily closed for several months at the beginning of 1919 because of the Spanish Flu pandemic. This was to prevent the disease spreading north into as yet unaffected Queensland. Because Coolangatta was so reliant on Tweed Heads for services, it caused great inconvenience. Coolangatta children could no longer go to school in Tweed Heads; banking was done via a cigar box hauled across the top of one of the pedestrian crossings;  bread, milk and meat were left on the top of the pedestrian bridge to be collected by someone from the other side.  

The fences were removed in 1957 and the tick gates moved to South Tweed Heads. Efforts were made to cleanup what had become a neglected “no mans land”.  

Boundary Road with border fence, Coolangatta, Queensland and Tweed Heads, New South Wales, circa 1940s [picture] / Photographer unknown. Image courtesy of the Gold Coast City Council Local Studies Library

To Find The Cache

The starting point for this cache will take you to a monument which straddles the border line. Inside are a number of interpretive images and signs on the history of the town and monument. Adjacent to the structure is an older commemorative plaque.

To calculate Ground Zero you will need to find the answers for the following questions: -

A = Height of the current monument in metres +1

B = The number of peaks mentioned which were given Aboriginal names during the 1863 survey.

C = The date the monument was opened (add all individual digits together).

D= According to the 1948 plaque, how many years did it take Roberts to complete his part of the survey *(times) 3

E= Is Rowlands’ name mentioned on the 1948 plaque? 1 = Yes  0=No

F= On what day in December 1948 was the plaque erected?

Checksum: A+B+C = 22 D+E+F = 10

Ground Zero is at             S28 09.ABC   E153 32.DEF

Its an easy walk which will take you to a section of the buffer zone featured in the photo on this page. Stealth will be required at GZ. You are looking for a 300ml systema container.