Totally Findable Tourist Caches
Welcome to Sydney
This series of geocaches is designed primarily with visitors to Sydney in mind who may have limited time and transport options and want a quick and easy find while out enjoying some sightseeing around this beautiful city.
All cache containers will be one of three types; a flat magnetic key case (MKC), a round film canister (FC or MFC for magnetic) or a fake rock (FR).
The hint will indicate the type of container used and will be very specific to help you find the cache easily. If you want a challenge to find this cache and don't wish to know exactly where it's hidden, do not look at the hint.
At each location you’ll be given some information about the site you are visiting.
Enjoy!
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Unfortunately, there is major construction work happening in The Cutaway. As a result, the screen showing the Wellama - Welcome To Country video has been removed. To view this excellent video, click on the link below.
To Find This Cache:
- The published coordinates take you to the entrance of The Cutaway (lower level) in Barangaroo Reserve. However, as this area is now inaccesible due to the construction work, I've come up with a temporary alternative to complete this cache.
- Make your way back towards the water to where there are terraced blocks of rock.
- Look for the orange life ring located on a short pole.
- In the vicinity, carved into some stone blocks, are two words and a year.
- You will need to walk down onto the stone blocks to see what you need.
- Click on the Certitude Icon below and enter the two words only, without spaces and minus the punctuation mark, to receive the cache GZ coordinates and hint.
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
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Wellama
Welcome to Country
Image: barangaroo.com
A Welcome to Country is a ceremony performed by Traditional Custodians to welcome visitors to their ancestral land. It can only be done by Traditional Custodians of the land you're on. The ceremony usually takes place at the beginning of an event and can take many forms including singing, dancing, smoking ceremonies or a speech, depending on the particular culture of the Traditional Custodians.
Fundamental to the identity of over 300 nations in Indigenous Australia, is the connection to homelands and the protocols that exist to maintain it. Indigenous people regard Country as a living, breathing entity; a member of the family to be cared for and nurtured. There is no separation between the people and the land. The stories and memories of the ancestors are as present as they ever were. Defying the very notions of time, 65,000 years of history and knowledge exists right here, right now..... and always will.
The Welcome to Country is an important cultural protocol that embodies these beliefs. It recognises, celebrates and respects the responsibility that the Traditional Owners have in caring for that land, and acknowledges the people that come to it meaningfully through the welcome. Its purpose is to put the visitors’ spirits at ease and invites them to join in the love and care for that country in which they have entered.
Source: Alison Page
While you're here, please watch the "must see" 10min loop video, Wellama - Welcome to Country, on the big screen. Wellama is a Gadigal word that means ‘to come back'. This audio visual artwork, by Alison Page and Nik Lachajczak, is a celebration of ritual, ceremony and story practised on Country since time immemorial. It welcomes visitors to Gadigal Country and pays respect to the Traditional Custodians of this land.
If you are unable to watch the loop video on the big screen, click on the following link to enjoy it.....
Wellama - Welcome To Country
Alison Page and Nik Lachajczak
Image: Facebook
Alison Page is a Walbanga and Wadi Wadi woman and is an award-winning Designer and Film Producer whose career spanning 22 years links Indigenous stories and traditional knowledge with contemporary design.
Nik Lachajczak is a writer, director and cinematographer who has worked with communities in Australia and globally for the past 20 years.
Sources: barangaroo.com, australianstogether.org.au, blakandbright.com.au, UAP website