Cache #6
This will be atypical of the series, but I thought I would put one here as it is the entry to the Greater Hume Shire when travelling from the south. This is part of the original Hume Highway/Olympic Way which I suspect was bypassed in works completed in 2009. There appear to be some of the nestboxes that were placed to mitigate some of the impacts of this works (loss of hollow trees) but when the cache was set up they were on the ground and in pieces.
The site is not the most salubrious – there was a bit of rubbish dumping going on. However, hopefully the cache is away from the worst of this, but be careful if accessing the site in the dark.
The cache is accessible from the south, the access is from the Hume Highway (M31 - the main inland route between Sydney and Melbourne) just south of the junction with the Olympic Highway (A41 – between Table Top and Cowra). The latter road was named the Olympic Way on 5 July 1963, in honour of part of the path that the Olympic Torch took on its journey from Cowra to Albury for the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. It was renamed as the Olympic Highway in 1996.
After issues with the original location I have moved and changed the container (it is now the dreaded mint tin) you will definitely need to bring your own writing implement. This area is surprisingly busy and obviously is a stop for some less than savoury characters. I have moved from the worst of the rubbish but still be careful with kids around here.
Please be careful re-entering the highway as this is a busy road.
Greater Hume Back Roads Series
Surrounding the NSW city of Albury is the Greater Hume Shire. The Shire was formed in 2004 incorporating Culcairn Shire, the majority of Holbrook Shire and part of Hume Shire. The population in 2016 was 10351, but it is scattered over lots of small towns – Jindera (2222), Holbrook (1715), Culcairn (1473), Henty (1237) and Walla Walla (836) and a number of smaller villages including Morven, Gerogery, Walbundrie, Burrumbuttock, Bungowannah and Woomargama. I suspect many of the residents commute to Albury/Wodonga for work, but there are also a lot of small farms that would be a key income source for many of the residents.
While there are a number caches within the shire, compared to the adjacent north east Victoria and Albury, they are still few and far between. This series hopefully fills some of this gap - there are so many back roads where a cache could be placed. We have also tried to add a little bit of local history or information to make the caches interesting.
There are a variety of hides in the series, but each should be near a safe spot to park – they are all on sealed roads though some of the connections may be gravel (check in wet weather). You should be able to get your car well off the road (or if keen you could ride a bike!), and there should be no need to cross the road either. Despite most of these roads being relatively quiet, as always please be careful with kids and dogs. Snakes in warmer weather may also be a hazard.
We hope you enjoy this series. Look out for clues in some of the caches for a few Mystery caches that are part of the series.
FTF - Congratulations moroldies