North Head's Quarantine Station is a fascinating place to discover. This virtual cache has no physical waypoints, but encourages you to explore the interesting history of the Quarantine station.
Brief History
Manly Quarantine Station was used from the 1830s to 1984 to quarantine passengers coming into Sydney by boat. Boats were required to pass through the station on the way into the harbour, and if there was any sign of disease, the passengers had to stay at the Quarantine station for 40 days.
Since 1984, the site was converted into a heritage site and is part of Sydney Harbour National Park. Visitors can stay at the cottage accomodation, take ghost tours and history tours, or simply explore the site themselves.
Please visit the Quarantine Station website for more details, or even better, book a history tour of the site.
Your task
The posted coordinates will take you to the entrance of the Quarantine Station. You can wander around for free, or if you wish, you can take a tour. It is up to you to locate the various waypoints associated with this cache.
The following photographs were taken around the Quarantine Station. You must locate the sites, take GPS coordinates at each site, take a photograph at each site and answer the questions associated with each site. Please note, at no point is it necessary to enter private property, or site accomodation, or to force open any doors. If doors are shut, please take photos from outside. Manly Quarantine Station is an important heritage site so please treat it with respect.
1. The Glasshouse
Question 1. There are 3 switches inside the glasshouse. The middle one has writing on it. What does it say?
2. The Funicular Staircase
Question 2. How many kilograms could the Benzine locomotive haul?
3. The Bathhouse
Question 3. What were the meal times according to the Quarantine Act 1908-1924? If the bathhouse is locked and you cannot get inside to retrieve this information, post a photo showing that it is locked.
4. The Shower Block
Question 4. How many separate showers are there and what were the passengers showered with?
5. The Autoclaves
Question 5. How long and at what temperature did it take to sterilise the goods?
If the autoclaves are not open, this is a hint to what the outside of the building looks like:
6. Tracks to nowhere
There is no question associated with this site, just take a photo and record the coordinates at the end of the tracks.
7. Engravings
Question 6. Find the engraving that says HMATS RIO PARDO. What date is associated with this engraving?
Please ensure your picture here does not include the HMATS RIO PARDO engraving. Find another interesting engraving to take a photo with!
8. Nurse Ford Room
Question 7. What is unusual about the history of this building?
9. Laboratory and Mortuary
This site is especially interesting if you can go inside. If you are on a tour and go inside, please report back about your experiences! Otherwise, there is no special question associated with this site.
10. Unmarked Graveyard
This site is a location where they buried excess bodies, perhaps of those less fortunate, who could not afford a marked grave in one of the other graveyards. It is said that terrible diseases still lie dormant in the soil below!
There is no special question associated with this site. Please take your coordinates while standing on the rock indicated by the arrow.
Logging your find
In order to log your find, please post a photo of yourself at each respective location and send GPS coordinates and answers to the questions to us via the Message Center. You can write your found it log without getting an email response, however, we may ask you to provide further evidence or delete your log if you have not correctly fulfilled the tasks of this cache. Let us know how long it takes for you to complete the journey, and if you think the difficulty rating should be changed.
We hope you enjoy your Quarantine Station adventure! Please post any photos and comments of additional interesting finds that you uncover during your exploration
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between August 24, 2017 and August 24, 2018. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards on the Geocaching Blog.