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).
As always with city caching, the surrounding structures can affect GPS accuracy. If in doubt, use the hint however be mindful that 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. I hope you find this information enlightening.
Enjoy!
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To Find This Cache:
1. Go to the published coordinates. This is the footprint of where the Barangaroo Boat was uncovered. Read the information below to learn about this amazing discovery.
2. Find the grey engraved floor tile that is located near the footprint.
3. Identify the second line of text (three words).
4. Click on the Certitude Icon below and enter the three words as one long string of letters, no spaces, to receive the cache GZ coordinates and hint.
You can validate your puzzle solution with
certitude.
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Shiver Me Timbers!
Where you are standing at the posted coordinates is the footprint of the incredible "Barangaroo Boat" that was uncovered during excavations for the new Barangaroo Metro Station.
In November 2018, the well-preserved remains of a 180 year old boat at the historic site of a colonial shipyard, were unearthed. It is believed to be the oldest boat of its kind found in NSW.
The boat is believed to have been built in the 1830s and is the oldest known example in NSW of an Australian-built small European-style timber boat that once moved around the Sydney colony.
Work stopped on the station excavation while heritage experts worked to determine the origins of the boat and record details as part of archaeological works at Barangaroo Station.
The wreck of the wooden boat is nine metres long, three metres wide and at least one metre deep.
Wood samples have revealed it is made from Sydney Blue Gum, Stringybark and Spotted Gum, which would have been sourced in the Sydney basin.
It was built using the clinker technique, where the planks that make up the hull overlap and are held together with small iron fastenings and possibly tree nails.
The boat was found on a small area of beach which formed between the Cuthbert’s shipyard (1850s) and remnants of Langford’s privately built wharf. The beach was used to store old boats to recycle or reuse them.
An 1850s seawall made of stone blocks was also found nearby, and it’s likely the boat was buried in the sand some time before the seawall was built.
Small boats like this would have been like the work-horse of the day, ferrying goods to different locations around Sydney Harbour and even up and down the coast to other settlements.
From what we can tell it was over-engineered, but its finish was rough. This small vessel was designed to take on the big seas but not expected to have a long working life.
Conservation specialists, engineers, maritime archaeologists and the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage worked together to determine if the boat could be retrieve in one piece. In the end, the decision was made to lift it in pieces in preparation for conservation. It was a delicate operation as the boat was fragile due to the length of time it had been buried.
The Barangaroo Boat is currently undergoing conservation and it is hoped it can eventually go on display to the public at the Australian National Maritime Museum here in Darling Harbour.
Check out the following link to a wonderful video that explains more about this amazing find and how it's being conserved....
The Barangaroo Boat
Sources: Silentworld Foundation; Sydney Metro