M - Muster
In the Military, the term Muster means the process or event of accounting for members in a military unit. This practice of inspections led to the coining of the English idiom pass muster, meaning being sufficient. When a unit is created, it is "mustered in" and when it is disbanded, it is "mustered out". A muster roll is the list of members of a military unit, often including their rank and the dates they joined or left. A roll call is the reading aloud of the names on the muster roll and the responses, to determine who is present.
For Livestock, a muster (called a roundup in the US) is the process of gathering livestock. Musters usually involve cattle, sheep or horses, but may also include goats, camels, buffalo or other animals. Mustering may be conducted for a variety of reasons including routine livestock health checks and treatments, branding, shearing, lamb marking, sale, feeding and transport or droving to another location. Mustering is a long, difficult and sometimes dangerous job, especially on the vast Australian cattle stations of the Top End, 'The Falls' (gorge) country of the Great Dividing Range and the ranches of the western United States. The group of animals gathered in a muster is referred to as a "mob" in Australia and a "herd" in North America.
So let's paraphrase that for Geocaching.
Our ‘muster’ is the process of finding Geocaches. Geocache Mustering in Paroo Shore is the process of finding and logging geocaches together, often from long road trips. For those who are not from the geocaching arena, this can be hard to imagine. The group of caches gathered together is called a ‘mob’.
What is the organisation of this QOGM 2021 Paroo Muster?
Mustering is of course, to find geocaches and visit earth caches. We car pool for a Muster. This is essential because of the peripheral activities taking place.
Driver. The driver needs to place full attention to the road. Especially the gravel roads. And the Emus, which are plentiful at the moment, and livestock.
Navigator. Each vehicle needs a navigator to tell the driver how far it is to the next cache, and to count down so you don't overshoot it.
Spotter. There is a photo competition associated with these QOGM Musters. Someone needs to actively record the details required.
Recorder. The active person who jumps out of the car, locates the cache, signs in the team name, then replaces the cache as per each photo supplied on the cache page. This ensures the "mob" is kept in good order with the least amount of potential interference with the fragile environment.
Enjoy your full Muster Experience!
This Cache
You will find this cache in a rock cairn - a pile of stones marking the location of the cache
This cache is part of the Opal Muster Tail established for the Queensland Outback Geocaching Muster (QOGM) 2021 Paroo - one of fifteen caches each of which contain part of the coordinates for the Mystery Cache "Opal Muster Tail Final"
Each cache contains a logbook for you to sign. In addition, there are some "opals" in each cache which must be opened to discover which "opal" has the clue to the final. Record your clues to discover the location of the cache "Opal Muster Tail Final".
The image below is how the original cairn for this cache was constructed. PLEASE RETURN IT TO THIS STATE AFTER YOU HAVE REPLACED THE CACHE.
Keep the cache covered but away from the rocks Their summertime heat could deform the plastic. Especially the lid - keep the rock cover ABOVE the cache so it is NOT touching the lid. Thank you for helping prolong the life of this cache.
Happy Fossicking!