On 17th October 2000 Brian Beamish decided to take a walk in Karawatha Forest as he was recuperating from an illness.
He was an avid hiker who had walked the Kokoda Trail and many local landmarks in SEQ. He also had interests in HAM Radio (VK4BB5) and electronics and this led him to the fledgling pastime of hiding Geo Stashes. He carried with him a Blue plastic bucket which contained, among other things, a can of Pepsi Max and a can of V. He hid the Stash in the end of a log and recorded the coordinates of the spot.
When he returned home he connected to the internet and posted a message about it on a powerup newsgroup and the newly released website www.geocaching.com under the caching name of "Maureen and Brian". It was to be the 116st cache to be listed worldwide, the 4th in Australia and the 1st in Queensland.
It was not until 23rd December 2000 that Geoff Phillips came and found the stash. Since then there have been over 900 visits to the cache site. Because of the low location of the cache it has been washed away a number of times and the geocaching community has maintained it.
Sadly Brian passed away on 7th August 2014 but the cache Queens Land (GC8E) remains as his legacy.
Come along and celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the placing of this cache with other cachers. We will be making a pilgramage to the cache location for anyone to attend.
The area has numerous BBQ spots and shelter sheds. There is a nature area playground and an informative Discovery Centre.
Of course there are a lot more caches in Karawatha Forest Park these days so spend some time exploring them or just chill out and chat to other cachers.