To log this cache, go to the listed coordinates and email me the answers to these questions. You can immediately log the find and if there are any problems I will contact you.
Weddin Mountains National Park consists of a 19km long crescent shaped range rising sharply above the surrounding plains. It is disrupted mid-way by a geological feature called the "Weddin-Gap".
Ben Hall, one of the most revered bushrangers in Australia’s history, also resided at nearby Grenfell, near what is now the Weddin Mountains National Park. In 1862, eight bushrangers including Ben Hall and Frank Gardiner carried out what was then the greatest robbery in Australian history when they held up the gold coach outside Eugowra. They managed to escape with £3,700 in cash and 2,719 ounces of gold, the equivalent to over $1 million dollars. The proceeds were never recovered and local legend has it that the booty is still stowed somewhere in the Weddin Mountain Ranges.
Ben Hall's Cave, reputed to be Ben’s hideout cave has been preserved by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Situated on the western side of the mountain the cave is a sprightly 30 minute walk with a great view of the surrounding farmland. The cave site has historical value as once the Bushranger Ben Hall camped and hid from authorities in the many caves that dot these ranges. From a geological point these mountains formed when the Great Dividing Ranges were forced up millions of years back and the Weddin Ranges was the result. That is why if you observe the Ranges from a distance it appears as lifted scales at 45 degree to the land around. There is a huge array of flora and fauna, in some cases going back in time before Ben Hall and White settlement to the megafauna era 100,000 years ago.
The Weddin Mountains National Park is one of a number of small to moderately sized conservation areas on the central and south-western slopes of NSW which sample early to mid Palaeozoic rocks of the Lachlan Fold Belt of Eastern Australia.
The Weddin Mountains are composed of mid to late Devonian siltstone, sandstone, shale and conglomerate laid down in a large geological structure known as the Hervey Terrestrial Basin between 350 and 370 million years ago. At this time, major-land building events were taking place in what is now the central part of NSW where sediments previously laid down beneath the sea were uplifted and distorted into a range and basin type of landscape. The Hervey Terrestrial Basin was
one of two major basins developed in these older marine deposits within NSW and received large amounts of eroded material from surrounding highlands. The older marine basement rocks outcrop to the east and north of the Weddin Mountains, for example around Grenfell.
The strata of the range dip to the west and south with an abrupt scarp formed by erosion facing north and east. The 90 degree angled curve in the range is formed around a prominent anticline. This semi-circular structure may represent part of the eroded south-western rim of the Hervey Terrestrial Basin. All the prominent peaks of the Weddin Mountains lie on this eastern and northern facing scarp.
QUESTIONS
At the coordinates you will be standing facing the cave.
Q1 What orientation are the rocks immediately surrounding the cave, ie are they at an angle, vertical or horizontal?
Q2 Can you suggest how the cave was formed?
References
NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service Plan of Management Weddin Mountains NP September 1995
https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowUserReviews-g528957-d10689642-r479007303-Weddin_Mountains_National_Park-Grenfell_New_South_Wales.html#