Olveston Garden: Grown from Music (Dunedin, Otago) Multi-Cache

This cache has been archived.

daywalk: The waypoint container was in place but completely exposed - beside the window of the garage, which is the last remaining part of Mayor Robert's Littlebourne house. When we checked the final cache, in the base of a fuchsia tree down in the bush of Roberts Park just above the Moana Pool, it has gone 🤕.

There are now a lot of home-made bike tracks in the bush, newly-made since we last checked in March, and what was a quiet hidden hide area is now well-trampled. Sadly, it's time to say goodbye to one of our favourite caches.

The waypoint at the Littlebourne garage contained information on the Roberts family and their house Littlebourne - see attached photos.

The final was a 3 litre snaplock hidden in the bush at Roberts Park, and the logbook was inside a music box - as a tribute to the Theomin fortune made from selling pianos - "grown from music".

Under the circumstances, will give permission to white clover to log a virtual find.

More
Hidden : 6/20/2015
Difficulty:
3 out of 5
Terrain:
3 out of 5

Size: Size: regular (regular)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works
Looking for a different adventure?

Related Web Page

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:

Come and explore Olveston Garden! The garden is open between 9 am and 5 pm every day.

Visit five virtual waypoints and answer the questions below. Then relax on a garden seat and do some arithmetic to calculate the waypoint location. Due to proximity issues the waypoint and final have to be some distance away in a random spot in the Town Belt, but nevertheless we hope they will strike a chord with you.

Our thanks to Olveston Historic Home management, who have kindly allowed us to use Olveston Garden for the cache virtual waypoints.

Olveston was bequeathed to the Dunedin City Council by Dorothy Theomin after her death in 1966. Everyone is welcome to enjoy the grounds for free between 9am and 5pm.

Children are especially welcome - Dorothy Theomin was a dedicated supporter of Plunket and in her will specifically stated that children should be encouraged to enjoy the Theomin family home.

        Questions to Answer in the garden:

(1) Seat on hidden path behind hedge:
There are [ S ] slats on the seat (both back and seat.

(2) Roller by copper beech tree:
There are [ T ] clover-shaped holes in one end of the lawn roller. (Count one end only.)

(3) Kitchen delivery window (LEFT-HAND one, top of the steps, above the call bell with a wire grille behind it):
There are [ UV ] panes of glass in the window.

(4) Vegetable garden:
There are [ WX ] stepping stones in the vegetable garden lawn.

(5) 1921 Fiat 510 Tourer interpretive sign: Recent Times:
This Fiat was recovered from its very wet resting place of [ YZ ] years … in July 1994.

Checksum: S + T + U + V + W + X + Y + Z = 25


The waypoint is at South 45 5A.BCD East 170 2E.FGH

         Arithmetic:
         A = Z
         B = U minus W
         C = U + X + Y
         D = W
         E = T + V
         F = T + Y
         G = S + U
         H = S + Z


There is an acre of garden to enjoy. It is surrounded by beautiful mature trees, many of them protected specimens under the city's district plan. The formal garden is structured around original terraces, paths and flowing lawns. The heated conservatory has been recently restored based upon the original 1904 plans and has a display of plants all year round. This 13 Sept 2013 ODT article outlines the garden’s features: Olveston Garden Worth a Visit


People say that music helps plants grow – no wonder this is a Garden of National Significance! David Theomin made his fortune importing pianos and sheet music. In 1883 he founded the Dresden Pianoforte Manufacturing & Agency Company, which offered an innovative hire-purchase scheme making piano ownership affordable for many New Zealand families. By 1907 his company had branches in 60 towns throughout the country. So, music paid for growing this garden!

On Dorothy’s 18th birthday in 1906, David and Marie Theomin gave their daughter a Steinway Grand piano. She played it all her life, and it’s still played to help the garden grow - if you’re lucky, you might hear the music! The garden also overheard serious conversations: Dr Truby King, medical superintendent of Seacliff Lunatic Asylum, walked through this garden on the way to Marie Theomin's 1907 dinner party for the members of the first Plunket Society Committee.

But why is Olveston Garden so large, four times the size of surrounding sections? Well, to go back to the beginning, David Theomin was born in Bristol and met his wife Marie when he moved to Melbourne. They moved to New Zealand in 1879 and bought a house here in 1881, on the standard quarter-acre section. It was a good neighbourhood for the up-and-coming Theomins – one of their neighbours was the influential and wealthy businessman John Roberts. In 1890 John Roberts (then mayor of Dunedin) sold his house to the Theomins. He moved down the road to his late father-in-law’s 4 acre property where he built a 30-room mansion, the largest in the city at that time.

Size matters! The Theomins accepted the challenge… Along with John Roberts’ section, they also bought two more neighbouring properties. Then they knocked down the houses, and in 1907 moved into their new 35-room residence set in this luxurious acre of garden.

And also in the garden is the 1914 garage with the Theomin’s 1921 Fiat 510 Tourer on display. 3.4 litres of driving pleasure, the car was used by the Theomins for many journeys into Central Otago and up the east coast of the South Island. In 1994 the Fiat was discovered in a derelict farm shed a short distance from Dunedin. It was restored and is now maintained in running order. The garage incorporated a heating system, a pit for servicing and a carport at the rear for the chauffeur to clean and load the car. Olveston’s chauffeur lived in a separate house beside the property; the gardener had his own cottage on the grounds (it’s now the toilet block).


And that delivery window? That was to ensure the kitchen staff weren’t chatted up by the young men who delivered the groceries and meat. It’s hard to get good staff, so you don’t want to have them getting married too soon. Love always finds a way, though- at least one marriage between staff took place with David Theomin’s butler Louis Wahrlich marrying housemaid Hannah Parsons in 1909.

Photos: from Olveston Historic Home website with permission & Hocken snapshop.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

[Waypoint hide:] Fgbar, jvaqbj, eg-pbeare, vil, jnvfgurvtug,oynpx300zy. Lbh jvyy arrq gb tb nebhaq bar raq bs n grzcbenel srapr gb ernpu gur uvqr ng cerfrag - guvf pna or qbar rnfvyl naq gur nern vf ragveryl fnsr.

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)


Advertising with Us

Inventory

There are no Trackables in this cache.

View past Trackables

What are Trackable Items?

Bookmark Lists

View all bookmark lists...