Mitcham, now a bustling but characteristically leafy suburb of eastern Melbourne, was not always as such. Until the 1950s, it was a semi-rural area, containing many orchards and market gardens.
The clay soils of eastern Melbourne also made for excellent bricks, with the red-blue clinker bricks a feature. Consequently, there were also a number of brickworks in Mitcham and nearby suburbs. Many houses built with these bricks still stand today, some in their original form, others built new from the recycled but highly sought-after bricks.
The site of the posted coordinates was, in times past, Britannia Street and used to be a through road between Maroondah Highway and Victoria Avenue. On the west side was a scout hall that also served as a meeting place for three girl guide companies, plus as a venue for the occasional dance. Next door to the hall, on the southern side, was where the local bakery kept their delivery horse.
This area is now a mall, with several cafes along it, a quintessential Melbourne scene. You can read some information boards in the mall, which reveal some of the history of Mitcham. Gathering information from these boards used to be part of finding this cache, but they were removed during an upgrade of the mall, then returned some time later.
While the information boards were absent, the cache puzzle was redesigned. To find the cache, you will need to make note of certain decorations in the mall:
- Count the total number of lights embedded in the paving (you will need to cross the small road within the mall - take care). This one digit number is A
- Count the number of bolts that achor the base of each light pole (just one pole, not the total). This one digit number is B
- On each light pole, on one side above head height, you will find a decoration with butterflies. Count the number of butterflies on each pole (again, just one pole, not the total). This one digit number is C.
- At the end of each bench, hexagons have been cut into the green panels. Count the number of hexagons (at one end of one bench, not all of them). This two digit number is D
Use this information in the following maths exercise:
- X = 1000 - (4 x A x B) - C (a three digit number)
- Y = (11 x D) + (7 x C) + B (another three digit number)
The hide!
The final coordinates are a short walk away at S37° 48.X, E145 11.Y.
You are looking for a camouflaged sistema container, in a snug spot, containing a log and pen. It may be large enough for small swaps and trackables. Perhaps after finding this cache, you might return to the mall for a cafe latte?
During the trading hours, beware of muggles!
Congratulations to n0w0rries for the FTF.
Congratulations to Team-Ruphace for the STF.
Super special thanks to NinjaTortoise for the extra historical information!
More Super special thanks to AGoesHunting for helping reveal a maths error!
- Updated on 11 September 2019 following installation of a new information board that replaced the original board.
- Updated on 7 January 2022 to use QR codes, given the information boards appear to have been permanently removed.
- Updated on 25 May 2022 to use physical features in the local environment to solve the cache coordinates. No change to physical cache location.
- Updated on 12 March 2025 to repair a maths error and edit description to include recent improvements to the mall.