BT VI – The Big Men Fly Traditional Geocache

No major stadium in the world is better situated than the MCG to promote sport and to serve the community through easy access and superior spectator facilities. The MCG is within 15 minutes' walking distance of the city centre and has two nearby railway stations, and tramway and bus links with all suburbs. The surrounding parkland accommodates about 6000 vehicles (so you will have many, many companions if you attempt this cache when there is an event on at the ground).

The MCG is the home of cricket in Victoria, and is host to the AFL Grand Final in the last week of September each year. The capacity of the ground has varied over the years, depending on the configuration of grandstands at the time. It claims the record for attendance at an Australian Rules Football crowd: 121,696 for the 1970 Grand Final between Collingwood and Carlton, possibly the most famous Grand Final in the history of the game—it was certainly Collingwood's most infamous Grand Final loss (and dak was there to see it! ). Since that time, the Great Southern Grandstand was built (1992), resulting in a reduction of the seating capacity to 96,308. When this cache was placed, further grandstand works were being carried out in preparation for the 2006 Commonwealth Games, and the capacity of the ground was 72,814. When building works are completed, it is expected the MCG will have a seating capacity in excess of 100,000 people.

The ground regularly hosts football and cricket at night, as well as other one off events like soccer, international rules, concerts, rugby and so on. The six light towers stand approximately 75 metres high (equivalent to a 24 storey building) with the head frame a further 10 metres higher (85 metres overall).

Here are a few of the notable events that the MCG has seen during its life:

• The present site of the MCG in the 'Police Paddock' was granted by Lt-Governor LaTrobe on 23 September 1853. The ground celebrated its sesquicentenary in 2003.
• Victoria scored 1107 in a cricket match against NSW in 1926; a world first class record.
• W H Ponsford scored 437 for Victoria in a cricket match against Queensland in 1927; this is the highest score on the MCG.
• The longest Test ever played on Australian soil was fought out between Australia and England at the MCG on 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 March 1929. This marked the end of timeless Tests in Australia.
• The MCG was the main arena for the XVI Olympic Games in 1956. 107,700 attended the opening ceremony on 22 November.
• 90,800 people packed the MCG on 11 February 1961 to see the second day of the fifth Test of the Australia-West Indies 1960/61 series. This was a record for any cricket match.
• The Games returned to Melbourne when the MCG took centre stage on 13 September to kick off the 2000 Olympic Games with a memorable Australia-Italy soccer match before a near-capacity crowd of 93,252.

This description assumes that you are a business traveller, that you are staying at a hotel in or near Melbourne's CBD, and you are starting from Flinders Street Station at the corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets.

Option 1: Tram stop 5 is opposite Flinders Street Station, on the northern side of Flinders Street. Go there and take a No. 75 tram to East Burwood, or a No. 48 tram to North Balwyn. Get off at stop 13 in Wellington Parade (10 mins).

Option 2: Enter Flinders Street Station and take a Hurstbridge or Epping Line train. Get off at Jolimont Station—also known as MCG Station (5 mins). When you exit the station, cross the footbridge into Yarra Park.

The cache is a 270m walk from the tram stop (230m as the crow flies); a 360m walk from the railway station.

Melway street directory reference for the cache is: 2G F6
UBD street directory reference for the cache is: 18 P11

Allow your GPSr to guide you through Yarra Park to GZ, and start looking.

The cache container is a 1.2L Sistema clip-top box.

The initial contents are:

Emu
Karabiner
Giant jingle bell
Purple highlighter
12 coloured pencils
2005 diary
No Junk Mail sign
Pool ball key ring
Pack of cards
Cheese Head TB
One Dead Duck TB
Clue for the Business Traveller's Cache
Log book, stash note, and pen

Be aware that Yarra Park is a large, open area, and you could be observed from afar. It would be extremely difficult to access this cache unobserved if there is an event on at the MCG. As always, please replace the cache exactly where you found it to discourage accidental discovery.

After you've found the cache, here are some other things you can do in the area:

• Attend an event at the famous stadium nearby.
• Take a tour of the MCG. On non-event days MCG tours depart regularly between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. from the foyer of The Great Southern Stand. You can find more information about MCG tours here.
• Cross one of the footbridges to the south and attend an event at Melbourne Park, the venue of the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis event.
• Take a tour of Melbourne Park. Tours run seven days a week, and take an hour and fifteen minutes. You can find more information about tours of Melbourne Park here.
• Cross Wellington Parade to the north and visit Fitzroy Gardens. These gardens, with their leafy corridors of trees, ferns, and flower beds are one of Melbourne's favourite places. An attraction of these gardens is Captain Cook's Cottage (S 37° 48.880, E 144° 58.775) which was transported brick-by-brick from Great Ayton in Yorkshire, England. (By the way, Captain Cook's Cottage has already been logged for the relevant locationless cache.)

You might also consider the following cache that is also reachable by public transport from this cache:

This is a particularly clever cache that requires you to catch a very specific tram (number 2024) that services the East Burwood route (route number 75). If you are lucky enough to spot this tram, board it! Once you have the serial number of the ticket machine thereon, you'll have what you need to complete that cache. Then you can return to the MCG to complete this cache.