07 - Randolph the Rat visits Mayday Hills Multi-Cache

Randolph and I were sitting around having a drink after one of his long-distance rides, and he said, "You know, cachers probably think I'm just an Adventure Rat, but there is a lot more to me than that!"

I said "Yeah? Not just a rat who gets someone else to write up his caches?"

"I'll prove it to you," he said, ignoring my comment, "my next cache will be a historic tour."
"Up on the top of the hill in Beechworth is a heap of old buildings, we'll go there!"

Beechworth Lunatic Asylum, originally known as the haunted Mayday Hills Lunatic Asylum is a decommissioned hospital located in Beechworth. Mayday Hills Lunatic Asylum was the fourth such Hospital to be built in Victoria, being one of the three largest. At it’s peak of operation, Mayday Hills consisted of 67 buildings and was home to over 1200 patients and 500 staff. Mayday Hills Hospital closed in 1995 after 128 years of operation.

The asylum was surrounded by almost 106 hectares of farmland, making the hospital self-sufficient with its own piggery, orchards, kitchen gardens, fields, stables and barn. For recreation, the asylum included tennis courts, an oval and cricket pavilion, kiosk and theatre.

This cache has many waypoints and will take a while, no matter if you drive, ride or walk.
(It took us about 45 minutes to ride around the cache.)
It is worth having a good look around the grounds, as they may not stay this way when they are sold.
(La Trobe University bought the buildings in 1996, but closed here in 2011, and are currently reselling them (2013). So if you want your own, reputedly haunted, Asylum...)

WP1 - The Gatehouse  36 21.979  146 41.672
There might have been some fancy gates and a fence - not all rotten, but there is little trace of it now.
The Gatehouse is still in good condition though, and the item we are interested in - the original light post.
Have a close look at the light post and answer the following questions:
D = the number of layers of leaves on the base.
B = the number of lights on the pole.
H = the number of long green gum leaves around the pole.

WP2 - The Chapel  36 22.136 146 41.592
The Chapel is tucked away on the western side of the site, but it wasn't always here.
It was built in 1868 as the mortuary for the complex, and was moved and converted into the chapel seen today in the 1960s. It is still used today for ceremonies.
Take a walk around the building and find out:
M = The number of stained glass windows with pictures in them, and
V =  total number of stained glass windows.
(Note: No stopping at the pub on the way to the next waypoint, you still have a distance to go!)

WP3 - The Front of the Main Building  36 22.176  146 41.710
There used to be a fountain here, now there are just a couple of huge trees and a light pole.
If they are legible, have a read of the information boards (but you don't need information from them)
In front of you are two urns. Count how many feet they have between them = U
Over the main doorway there is a balcony with 5 circular holes. The side wings also feature these decorations, but how many holes are there on one balcony? = S
On the wall on your left is information about the Establishment of the Gardens.
The quote from the Ovens & Murray Advertiser was from May 2N, 18FT.
The number of fountains that remain outside the building = K

WP4 - The Stable Gateway  36 22.278  146 41.914
Standing in this gateway you will be facing the old stables, they are worth a look inside.
Just for your interest, the flat land on the opposite corner is where the morgue was.
Back to the stables, how many windows (on this side) have louvres (P), and how many have glass (M).
The floor of the stables is lined with blocks. Are they made of brick, wood, or bluestone? D = number of letters in your answer

WP5 - The Farm and The Ha-Ha Wall  36 22.181  146 41.863
It was intended to make the establishment, as nearly as possible, self-supporting. To this end an extensive orchard and vegetable gardens were established. All the work was done principally by pauper inmates.
A number of other enterprises were also established - a dairy herd, hay, silage and chaff, wood, pigs and chickens.
Unfortunately most of this sign now can not be read.

The term Ha-Ha is not one of amusement, but based upon the French exclamation for "surprise".
Ha-Ha walls have traditionally featured in landscape designs where a fence was required that would not obstruct the view in either direction. To accommodate this requirement a sunken wall is constructed. The wall usually has a large ditch or moat on one side, and although appearing low, provided an effective deterrent to anyone wishing to scale it.
The wall originally enclosed the buildings and airing courts of the Asylum, MR acres in all. Although it was LC feet high, a pared trench gave it the appearance of only being E feet high.
A better view of this effect can be see at waypoint 8.

WP6 - Fire!  36 22.196  146 41.760
On the 17th of August 1951 fire swept through the male wing next to the Administration building.
Fortunately, most of the cells were keyed alike allowing nearly 300 patients to be rescued.
R = How many keys did you need?
1KW = number of doors to the rooms and dormitories.
AB = the number of patients that escaped during the pandemonium.

WP7 - Patient Accommodation  36 22.160  146 41.760
The cells weren't large, being only Gft by LLft, and they certainly weren't taken up with a lot of furniture.
Nearby is a Theatre, N = the digital root of the first word in the name of the theatre.
The surrounding accommodation has B storeys.

WP8 - Top of the Ha-Ha Wall  36 22.094  146 41.872
Standing here you can see that the wall doesn't look that high, but as you approach it the ditch becomes obvious, and the true height is revealed.
More bricks went in to constructing the wall than were used in the construction of the buildings!
An interesting couple of stands of trees are labelled here (the numbers refer to the Beechworth Tree Walks - well worth doing! See references for Walk brochure.)
Standing at the broken end of the wall, how thick (in brick widths) is the wall = N
How many layers of bricks is the height (not counting capstones or foundations) = CW

WP9 - Cricket Pavilion  36 21.979  146 41. 736
Nearly finished - the last waypoint!
Across the oval there is a particularly good stand of about 40 Brittle Gums (Eucalyptus mannifera ssp mannifera), you don't have to count these.
But while you are in the counting mood, how many Canary Island Pines (Pinus canariensis - No.4) are in front of the Municipal offices = LM
Also how many green stripes on the roof of the pavilion = AD

The Final.
Take a seat in the pavilion and review all your numbers. You did write them all down, didn't you?

GZ is at 36 MA.VSW  146 PL.TBA  

Don't forget the clue for Randolph's final.

Randolph has produced 10 tokens that go with his caches for any cachers who find the matching caches.
When you find the caches, PM me your address, and Randolph will post the ones you have earned out to you.
This is the only way you can get one of Randolph's tokens.
The caches that presently have tokens are: 01 Treeclimber, 02 Vampire Hunter, 04 Pirate's Treasure, 05 Shred the Trails, 09 Thirsty work, 10 Rat Hoppet, 11 Ready Aim Fire, 13 Hang Glider, 14 Winton Racer, and 15 The Final.