In 2019 I got a message from the W.E.K.A's asking me if I had heard of LíB's OTD series in S. Australia and what OTD stood for?... I had no idea and after some research we had found out that it was a series called On This Day (OTD) with a story for each day of the year. Well that sounded like a crazy fun challenge and so the call went out to the Otago and Southland Geocachers to partake in this series. You'll see in the description that the owners will write in either some muggle, geocaching or personal facts/stories related to this day.
On this day.... 11 February
A local cacher created their online account and had become a very good proactive cache owner making Balcutha a fun geocaching stop. To celebrate a traditional Letterbox has been placed. At time of placement this is a 2L container with logbook, pen, swag, stamp and ink pad.
In 2020 the lower Clutha was in flood alert. At Balclutha, it is currently flowing at 3157 cumecs and is expected to peak at up to 3,500 cumecs towards the end of the day.
"This flow is above the peaks seen in November 2018 and December 2019 rainfall events, but well short of the 1999 peak of around 4,200 cumecs..The flood bank scheme in Balclutha was expected to contain flows up to 5,600 cumecs. ORC engineering staff have been monitoring the flood protection scheme overnight to ensure it is coping with significantly increased flows." Luckily the flood banks held.
When it is not in flood, this time of year is very popular for local fishing competitions.
On a nice spring day the parking area can get busy as people head out fishing in boats. The toilets here are normally clean and without queues. If you look across to the other side of the river from the boad ramp (late August - end of September) you should see Balclutha spelt out in daffodils.
Please feel free to include in your logs any stories you have regarding today's date and if you are an Otago and Southland Geocacher interested in the series send me a message.
