Arriving at the posted coordinates you will find yourself at a historical display of farming equipment collected from around the region and now locked up of a fashion.
A fantastic display in a quaint little town, whose only claim to fame of late was that the residents formed a cooperative and bought the pub to stop it from being either closed or sold to bikies. This venture has been a success and the pub is still a stopping point for locals, and attracts people out of Shepparton for a quiet meal and something a little more rustic than can be found in Shep.
Locked up in the gaol is a famous Furphy Farm Water Cart. The Furphy Farm Water Cart was widely used in Australia (not overseas as legend/urban myth would have it) to water the troops during World War I, even as far afield as Darwin in the Northern Territory.
All water carts were subsequently nicknamed Furphys by the Australian troops. The water cart handlers moved up and down the lines and were as a result a good source of gossip and news. Often as a result of the "chinese whispers" nature of the news it turned out to be incorrect and the famous Aussie expression was born - "Ah it's just a Furphy" (tall story).
The Furphy Farm Water Carts were made in Shepparton (until 1999) by the Furphy family's foundry (still operating)and fine examples can still be found around the district. The Furphy Foundary has an interesting website relating to the water carts at http://www.furphyfoundry.com.au/4_watercart/default.htm
The cast iron ends are now highly sought after for decoration and display. They fetch princely sums at clearing sales. There are many different castings from different era, so care needs to be taken that one doesn't pay too much for a more common example.
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Watercart ends & wheels in Furphy's Shepparton Foundry.
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(Cocky) on Furphy's Farm Water Cart - the best-known photograph of the best-known Furphy product - ca. 1900. |
Once you find the Furphy Farm Water Cart you will be able to complete the cache (which is not far away). As they have moved the cart to an inner area of the display and made it harder to read the required information I have added a pic of our own tank end water feature in our back yard in Lakes Entrance on which you can clearly read the required information to complete the cache. Visit the gallery images for the cache page.
Under the name you will find an expression - Born about **** Still Going Strong ****
The first year mentioned is ABCD The second year mentioned is EFGH (though it looks like it it's not lower than the first obviously)
UVW = BCD + 3
X = G + H
YZ = GH - 3
The final cache location can be found at S36° 19.UVW' E145° 53.XYZ' The cache is a micro and contains no swaps. Enjoy poking around at this not often visited location.
There are many ways to get from here to there around this area that bypass this lovely little town, so this will get you somewhere where not many others bother going.
DJ
PS. For safetys sake, you don't need to go near the tracks.