The settlement of Port Macquarie
For many thousands of years prior to European occupation of Australia, the Birpai people were the traditional owners of the land and waterways of this region.
Surveyor-General John Oxley explored much of New South Wales and provided the first detailed descriptions of the Hastings region in 1818.
Following Oxley’s report, Governor Lachlan Macquarie ordered a further expedition to survey and explore the area. Macquarie was subsequently instructed to establish a penal settlement in Port Macquarie.
Surveyor James Meehan laid out the settlement in 1821 and convicts were brought to the area. Free settlers arrived in 1831. Port Macquarie closed as a place of secondary punishment in 1832 but a government penal establishment remained until 1847.
This cache will take you on a short historical walk of Port Macquarie. Your goal is to end up at a Virtual Point after finding out some information on the way. You don’t need a car to do this cache.
Please carefully note the logging requirements. Any finds recorded which are incomplete or unauthenticated will be deleted.
WP1 Historical Museum
The building was erected between 1835 and 1840 from convict-made bricks and was a shop and residence. It is the oldest commercial building remaining in Port Macquarie. There are many interesting things to look at inside.
Just to show you've started your Virtual Tour in the right place, take a photo outside the Museum. Write your caching name on a sheet of paper, or use some other means to show your caching name in the photo. You are welcome to include yourself in the photo, but some folk are not always keen to do that. Ensure though that your caching name, some of your body (e.g. your hand if you don't like the full-frontal) and a recognisable part of the building are included in the shot. No photoshopping allowed!
Post the photo in your "Found It " Log.
Q1: In the second window from the door, you will see a facsimile of a soldier's letter addressed to "My dear Mother". It is dated. Take note of the date in this format: A/B/CDEF. (For any American or other-nationality cachers who write their dates in a funny way, in Australian we do D/M/YYYY).
Now move on to WP2.
WP2 Historic Court House
This building was erected on the site of an earlier court house in 1869, more than two decades after the convict establishment had been abandoned. The building was designed by James Barnet the Colonial Architect. It is the oldest government building remaining in Port Macquarie and was in use until 1986. The building had been unsympathetically "repaired" and developed many structural problems, including rising damp. In 1988, a Permanent Conservation Order was made under the Heritage Act. Restoration work commenced in 1993.
The Historic Court House is open for inspection (hours displayed near the gate) and is well worth a look. A volunteer will help you.
Q2: Find the the date of the official opening of the restored building by NSW Premier John Fahey. Take note of the date in this format: GH/I/JKLM.
Now move to WP3.
WP3 Allmans Hill "The Burying Ground"
You may be familiar with the Historic Cemetery at the southern end of Horton Street but there is a much older, and not so well known, Historic Burying Ground just up the hill from the Court House. James McMahon was the first death recorded at the settlement, in July 1821; his death prompted the commandant Captain Allman to set aside this area for burials. At least 28 people were buried here before the ground was closed in 1824. Only four headstones or slabs remain. They include that of James Vaughan a soldier who, while out searching for escaped convicts, was shot by a fellow soldier who was afterwards convicted of manslaughter.
Q3: On the memorial on the side of James Vaughan's tomb there are two spelling or typographical errors. What letter is the second of these errors? What number in the alphabetical sequence is this letter? What other number, when multiplied by itself, would equal this number? (For the more mathematically inclined, take the square root of the number corresponding to this letter.) Note the other number in this format: N
Even in 1823, Monumental Masons could make errors and it's hard to un-chisel marble.
WP4 is your goal
To move to your goal at WP4, make the following calculations.
Find WP4 at S 31° 2(I-G).(B-E-J)(M)(C+G)' E 152º 5(F-N).(L-K)(A-N)(H)'
Once you've reached your goal, you must answer the following three (3) questions and send me the three answers via the Geocaching Message Centre (my Australian spelling).
To get the answer to Q3 you will have to walk south several metres from WP4 and read the information board in an obvious location.
DO NOT PUT THESE THREE ANSWERS IN YOUR PUBLIC LOG. ANY PUBLIC "FOUND" LOG WHICH INCLUDES THE ANSWERS, OR PHOTOS OF THE ANSWERS, OR PHOTOS OF, OR AT, THE FINAL LOCATION WILL BE DELETED.
Here are the three questions to which you must supply me the answers via the Geocaching Message Centre. It's a short but obvious walk to get from WP4 to find the information to answer Q3.
Q1: What is the name of the place where you are standing?
Q2: What is the official elevation where you're standing?
Q3: What is the Birpai people's name for that part of their land which is now known as Port Macquarie?
Virtual Rewards 2.0 - 2019/2020
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.