River Memories # 5 - Jane Traditional Cache
Rabbitto: After almost 19 years and 435 finds it is sad to let this one go
River Memories # 5 - Jane
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(small)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
This is the fifth of a series of caches located in the Riverland designed to highlight some of the places that are worth a visit and our recollections of time spent there.
Ian Showell was a man ahead of his time. He and his family owned and ran the largest fleet of houseboats on the Murray, the Liba Liba Fleet.
The old clay river flats behind the moorings held no potential for anything or anyone, but Ian saw the possibility for a new living development based on lagoons and waterfront living. He spent many hundreds of thousands of dollars developing plans, meeting state and local guidelines and establishing the Jane Eliza Estate.
The building level needed to be lifted above the 1956 flood level and the ground compacted to hold houses. The plan was to develop the area in 5 stages. The initial blocks were priced between $40k and $50k but as blocks in the town could be bought at the time for around $12k sales were slow. A lot of people in the town could see the potential and got behind the project but even more could not picture any more than dirt piles upon clay flats.
The project was heavily promoted but sales were still minimal and the Showell family eventually lost the battle and the project fell into liquidation. The local council picked up the reins and were able to get the project completed up to the end of stage 1B. Unfortunately, Ian passed away before he could see the development as it is now. Renmark townsfolk are now able to visualise the concept that he could see all along.
It is interesting to take a walk or a drive around the estate. There are views from the Tower Tavern. There is a new road , not part of the original plan, named in his honour. Across the second bridge lies a square, water filled hole that was originally slated as a marina and the centrepoint of the project.
The cache is hidden along a flood bank just before entering the estate.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Haqre gur sbhegrragu gerr. Rnfvre gb nccebnpu sebz gur ybj fvqr.
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures