Guildford is at the edge of the volcanic country which stretches to the south west towards Mt Franklin and beyond. Much of the gold north of Guildford was found on the alluvial plains to the north east but to the South West the alluvial valleys were covered by the basalt flows from the many volcanoes in the area.
It is 1861 and Guildford is home to 3,000 Chinese males who had followed the goldrush. The Chinese camp is located some 800 metres north on the western side of the Loddon River and just south of the train line in an area called Taylors Paddock.
Lin Po is one such immigrant who hails from Sechuan – the province of Four Rivers. He will need your help for he has to find a fortune to help his family business in China.
Lin Po landed at Robe in South Australia and has made his way across the border thus avoiding the port tax placed on immigrants at Port Melbourne.
On his way from Robe he rested at the south end of the Grampians (Geriwerd) and helped other Chinese build some of the stone walls that can still be found on Mt Abrupt. It was just on dusk when he arrived at Guildford and with 3,000 of his countrymen nearby, two circuses, an opium den, a gambling den or two and a number of joss houses Lin Po isn’t lonely. There are plenty of shops so food and drink is plentiful.
Lin Po is no fool however and to avoid losing any of his valuables he has hidden them in Guildford. But he needs your help.
Lin Po has bought with him valuable items from China which he is hoping to burn at the Joss House to encourage the deities to assist him with his quest for gold. Unfortunately due to the amount of earth being turned over and moved he has misplaced his container of offerings. He last remembers sitting under the Big Tree where he had a cup of green tea and some prawn crackers and there he read the sign about the Big Tree.
While reading the sign he devised a simple code to give him directions to the cache of valuables hidden nearby.
What is the circumference of the tree A.35
Pruning was avoided in B99B
The canopy spread is 3C
How many species of bird call it home = D
How many roads crossed beneath the tree = E
S37° 08.AE(C+2)
E 144° 09.DBC
Important Update:
In March 2024, one of the larger boughs on the tree fell, causing significant damage to this beautiful tree. As a result, the tree was barricaded off for quite some time. The area has been significantly improved since then. While the original information board has been removed, the photo of it below should give you the information you need. The writing on the sign is small, but you can click on the image to enlarge it! The cache can be found only a short distance away.
