Special Places series is a geocaching series dedicated to my late Mother Beth Welsh.
Mum had a love for the outdoors like myself, and spent her life trail riding across Victoria. This cache series will take you to the locations her horses 'Bandit' and 'Aladdin' took her on rides and camps, many of which I came along to and hence now are special places for me for the memories they hold there and being some of the most beautiful parts of Victoria. As she took me to some special places, the purpose of this series will aim to do the same. In finding these locations, I have had to rely on the memories of her friends who have been able to give me specifics, to which I am thankful. This series will travel through Murray Sunset National Park, Erica, Mount Buller, Glenlyon, Strath creek and Wombat Forrest, plus a final cache in which you can get the fifth letter E in this logbook.
Each container is painted Yellow, the colour of Daffodil Day.
Included in this series:
Special Places #1:: A place to call home (Archived)
Special Places #2: Craigs Hut
Special Places #3: Caringal
Special Places #4: Wombat Forrest
Special Places #5: The Mallee
The Mallee
'The Mallee' was the ride of all rides for Mum. She used to undertake a weeks ride on horseback with her riding group, which cars in tow. I joined a couple of these camps, in which I was in the vehicle convoy. They would enter via Hatter Last Hope Track, camp at Mopoke Hut, take Underbool Track to Crozier where they would camp, then onto Grubb Track, camp at Pink lakes, head out to Ouyen, where they would camp at Ray Wandell's property, a local farmer. The last day would be a pub meal in Ouyen and camping on the local footy oval, before heading home the next day. That week long camp was one of the most memorable experiences of my life, and it was a very wistful and special journey to retrace that route again in October 2016. The Melbourne Trail Riders club still does 'The Mallee' ride every year in September, so keep an eye out for them. The cache is not placed at any particular landmark or site, but out on the trail, on the track where Mum would have many times ridden. The location at the time had fields of yellow daises, a gentle wind and solitude which mad me feel this was the perfect spot for this tribute cache. You are looking for a yellow Ammo can at the base of a tree.