Cactus Jack

We were off to the Jumping Creek part of Warrandyte State Park for some Pi Day puzzles today. Warrandyte was founded as a Victorian town, located in the once gold-rich rolling hills east of Melbourne, and is now on the north-eastern boundary of suburban Melbourne. The State Park is a haven for wildlife, including kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, platypus, echidnas, and koalas. Over 100 bird species have been recorded as well as many reptiles, frogs, fish and insects. There was a lot of fresh wombat activity to be seen today and we were lucky enough to spot three echidnas. 🦔

You took the train to Werribee, home of the notorious cache, “Eagle Rock”, that has never been found. Eleven years old now. Sorry to say that you didn’t find it either. Werribee was established as an agricultural settlement in the 1850s, originally named Wyndham and later renamed Werribee in 1904.its on the far western fringe of Melbourne about halfway toward Geelong. The name is derived from Wirribi-yaluk, the Wathawurrung and Boonwurrung Aboriginal name for the Werribee River and meaning "backbone" or "spine". 🩻

After six long months, I’ve been reunited with my belongings in my new house. Nothing was broken during the shipping from London and storage which makes a nice change. You’re now staying with me in Princes Hill, an inner city suburb of Melbourne which is just near the University of Melbourne. The suburb is named for Queen Victoria's consort, Prince Albert, and is known for its leafy streets, heritage homes, and strong sense of community, “residential serenity and urban convenience”.

Princes Hill has many single-fronted single-storey Victorian terrace houses of a type common in Melbourne’s inner suburbs. These houses reflect the ‘Marvelous Melbourne’ decades of the 1870s and 1880s with their exuberant ‘boom era’ features - ornate parapets, polychrome brickwork, cast iron ‘lace’ friezes, tiled and tessellated verandahs and paths, and cast-iron fences and gate ornaments. It’s fantastic to be home! 🏡

You joined a group of other cachers to see the taping of the TV show, “The Weekly with Charlie Pickering” at the ABC studios in Southbank. Funny. That is conveniently just around the corner from the apartment where you’ve been staying but we only have two day there before we can move into our new house. 📺

Chasing a large letterbox and so I took you to Springvale in Melbourne’s south east. The area contained natural springs which were a permanent water source for stock and travellers moving between Melbourne and Dandenong, giving rise to the suburb's name. During the 1970s and 1980s, many Vietnamese people moved to Springvale as a result of displacement during the events in the Vietnam War. Today, they make up the largest ethnic group in the area and Springvale is renowned for its Vietnamese shops, markets, and community. Nonetheless, Springvale is one of the most diverse suburbs in Australia and was even the home of members of the Australian alternative band TISM. 🍜