Cache #16
Odewahn is an unusual, but frequent, name in this part of the world – my understanding is that two brothers Bernhard Carl Johann and Wilhelm Martein (and their families) were part of the Lutheran Settlement in the Jindera/Walla Walla area in the late 1800s. Not certain they were one of the eight original families celebrated in “Trek Wagon” (GC29YGW) who travelled overland from South Australia or whether they came via Melbourne. It appears they originated in the village of Kroepelin, Mechlenburg, Germany. Bernhard is buried in the Walla Walla cemetery – he died on the 2nd of April 1910 aged 73.
It is a distinctive name and there are many in the Albury and Culcairn district. Their original property was located on the Walla Walla-Burrumbuttock Road, so this road may have been linked to a family member’s property (a Bernard who died in 1952 appears to have lived nearby?). There is another family member (Richard) who was a Councillor on Culcairn Shire who died in 1925 and this may also have an association?
Whatever the history, this road is used as part of a different route to travel to Wagga Wagga from Albury – rather than use the Olympic Way you can turn off here and head through Morven, Cookardinia and Mangoplah.
This one is on the eastern part of the road (closer to Coach Road) and you are looking for a camouflaged 200ml sistema - originally contained a pencil but always safe to bring a writing implement.
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 the_stephenson5