What is that thing?? Locationless, Locationless, Locationless
By Cachefinders2 on 25-Sep-09. Waypoint GA1604

We found this remains of what ever on North Stradbroke Island and still have no idea what it is

Garden Island, Clarence Point, Tasmania

Found this disc - looks like a survey marker but different to any other disc we have found.

Obviously a marker for something, but we have no idea.

Rated: for Overall Experience

There’s a part of current-day Springbrook National Park that was once private property. The land was purchased by Queensland Gov in the 1980s. There used to be a lookout where you could see Brisbane to Byron and a mansion also stood nearby. I found all of this out when researching an old Trig built in the 1920s. I chose a day to explore this interesting area and in I went. While finding a way to the old lookout I stumbled upon a “thing”. I didn’t know what it was. When I saw a CSIRO logo on it I assumed it was scientific equipment but had no idea what its use was. I nosily inspected it, took a photo then moved on. After reaching the summit of Springbrook Mountain which is the location of the old Trig and lookout I found a partial Trig cairn. The lookout is no longer a lookout but still a beautiful place to be even though it was raining the day I was there. I decided to spend the next hour exploring a wider area. I found old concrete water tanks that belonged to the mansion and saw another half dozen of those “things”. There is nothing left of the old mansion except the tanks and a concrete pad.

I discovered the “things” were dielectric leaf wetness sensing equipment. Thanks for triggering great memories and thanks for the cache

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S32° 51.467' E151° 42.123'

Found this in Newcastle while logging the nearby trig. We only notices it because it was enclosed in a metal fence enclosure. The fence was probably 3m tall of the style often seen around water reservoirs or phone/ radii towers. It only enclosed an area of maybe 4m2. Pretty serious design, but the gate was wide open.

We thought it may have been an old well that had been capped maybe...

Very odd seeing such a tiny fenced off enclosure.

This photo is the remains of a large cache after a bushfire. I had to twist the metal so I could pry the top off. Only to find nothing inside it had combusted

On a trip to Sydney a couple of years ago, we were geocaching in the Sydney Olympic Park area and came across some strange type of sculpture on a wire across a swampy pond (see picture). To this day we have no idea what the item is, or its significance. Thanks Cachefinders2 for organising the locationless cache.

Out driving the quiet country roads out the back of Beaconsfield in northern Tasmania. Stumbled upon this rusty old thing in a farmers paddock. No idea, may be a small silo, may be a crashed USSR space probe??.. thanks..!!

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Amazing Modern Contraption at Echo Point
Katoomba, NSW

Maybe I'm behind the times, but I've never seen a free mobile phone charger in public before!

Had to examine it to make sure.

My own iPhone 5c was well charged, so I didn't really need it.

Great idea for all the tourists!

Rated: for Overall Experience

I'm sure someone knows the answer!

Found at the oval near the Katoomba Falls Kiosk, near the playground.

My guess is . . . that it's some kind of netball practice.

Must be a sport of some kind.

But what are the various numbers?

Katoomba Falls area of Katoomba, NSW . . . in the Blue Mountains.

Rated: for Overall Experience

Strange concrete post on Warragamba Dam . . .

Warragamba, NSW

Found this while visiting and looking for trigs . . .

But I never figured out the purpose of this post . . .

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'Huge Rusty Metal Box in the Middle of the Bush'
Wentworth Falls Lake
Wentworth Falls, NSW



Nope. I don't know why this nearly head-high box is still sitting here, near this Blue Mountains recreational area.

My only guess is that the 'lake' was created more than 100 years ago to provide water for steam locomotives, that ran the route from here into Sydney. Maybe it's an old railway artefact.

Rated: for Overall Experience

Mt. York Mystery Chair
Mt. York, NSW

Another mysterious object found while geocaching!

This time I've identified it as the old 'Explorer's Wishing Chair' right next to the car park, at the northwest corner, beside the sandstone archway leading to the famous lookout and obelisk.

The metal 'donation chute' is still in place, but the metal box that held the 'wish money' is now gone.

Wonder how much money the NPWS raised with this project, back in the day?

They're fixed up a lot of areas around the Mt. York site recently, but the old archway and adjacent 'wishing chair' remain . . .

Rated: for Overall Experience

Horse and Rider Statue
Great Western Highway
Blackheath, NSW

It must commemorate something, right?

But I looked all around the statue, and couldn't find any names!

You'd expect it on the 'name plaque,' but when you look closely, all you see is a warning that the statue is copyright!

So . . . what is that thing?



Can't be 'The Man from Snowy River' here in the Blue Mountains.

(Maybe the explanatory sign has been muggled!)

Rated: for Overall Experience

Darling Causeway
Mt. Victoria, NSW



Indeed you may well ask!

This is what a small sistema looks like, after a major bushfire has passed by.

The container was safely hidden in the roadside armco, but the heat made some serious changes to it!

Thanks to rogerw3 for the opportunity to see this GCA BMPT just before it was archived!

Rated: for Overall Experience

Blue Mountains Rainforest Mystery Box

Deep down in the temperate rainforests along Leura Cascades, in the Blue Mountains of NSW, you'd hardly expect to find some kind of high-tech apparatus!

But here it is . . . right beside the creek . . .



My guess is that it's measuring something in the water, because the run-off from the Leura area would have to pass by this way, on its journey to the Jamison Valley . . .

But who knows?

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Not sure what these were but the tree was loaded.

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State Mine Gully Road
Lithgow, NSW



Yes, what in the heck is this confused mess? It's a bucket of some sort, but it's full of what looks like rusted macaroni, or fat orange worms!

We wondered as we walked up to it. I reached in and took a handful and discovered out that it was indeed an ancient metal container full of very rusted bolts or rivets, no doubt intended for use on the nearby railway tracks -- but long forgotten!

Worth a stop while geocaching . . .

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GCA 963 - 8653. Found this un usual structure while caching on Red Hill today...

What is it ?? No idea - but quick someone put a cache here before Tankengine does !!!

Lol - TFTC !!

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Found this unusual-looking structure while doing some cache maintenance.



Leura Golf Course, Leura, NSW . . .

Some might be perplexed.

But I used to play golf some years ago . . .

It's a golf ball washer!

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What is that thing, indeed?



While returning from rogerw3's interesting 'Top Station' geocache, one of his famous VIEW series of caches (3-37), I saw this 'object' parked at the sandstone wall 'dead end' of the old ZigZag railway, in permanent storage, I guess.

Yes, it's an old railway car, probably designed to carry shale oil. It's not something you'd see riding the rails today.

Very interesting, if a bit sad . . .

Rated: for Overall Experience

I was in Bendalong when I noticed this thing sitting beside the road. There were no plaques etc explaining what it was & what it was for but an old local bloke came over to explain things.

It turns out that he was an old firey and one day, about 30 years ago, following a fire out bush, they discovered this machine "sitting up like a praying mantis with all this burnt country around it". He hooked it up to the back of a fire truck and brought it home. The objects current location used to be hammered by big trucks turning around and cutting the corner. He told me, with a smile, "They don't do that any more!"

He explained it was a ripper & was used to rip the ground above silica deposits which can be found behind the dunes. The silica was used to make bricks at Port Kembla but the enterprise ceased about 40 years ago & the ripper is all that remains of that era. He said there are still records of the company that built the ripper.

A.B.Campbell & Sons of Gloucester NSW made these rippers in the hundreds.

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Found on the overgrown fire trail (or maintenance track) near my newest geocache . . .



rogerw3 and I had a good look at it, but still couldn't decide on its original purpose.

The electricity line used to run through here. But we couldn't see any connection with this odd, and rather old, 'object' . . .

A mystery . . .

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Not sure what this is but there is a cache at the top - Superman, dont jump GC42ED1

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Pile of Unusual Industrial 'Objects'
Walking Trail
Radiata Plateau
Katoomba, NSW



Mrs. pjmpjm and I found this 'whatever' while walking between the 'Valley Vistas' and 'Lone Pine' geocaches. In the past there was a lot of logging here -- of plantation pines -- hence the name.

Our guess is that it's actually a rolled up bulldozer tread . . . or part thereof . . . but I'm not really sure.

You can speculate on the photo . . .

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Looks like a dinosaur egg to me.

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I found this survey marker on top of the rock that's WP1 for the 'Trains and Arches' multi . . . a few kilometres east of Lithgow, NSW.



In the end, the group and I had to DNF the geocache, but I took a photo of this unusual marker and later asked rogerw3, Australia's survey marker expert.

It's not a NSW State Survey Marker of any kind, but was probably put in place to assist in the creation of the train lines (and arches) visible from this spot . . .

But it's still uncertain . . .

Rated: for Overall Experience

Have often wondered what these are for.

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Lid Cover with Triangle
Railway Parade
Leura, NSW

'Drillers World Australia'



Found this in front of the Garage Cafe while discussing survey markers and other unusual footpath finds . . .

Anyone know what it is?

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This is a natural "What is that?" kind of moment. We were walking up to Mt King William I (TP3472) and this tree appears to be growing in, well, the air. It even seems to have the grass and moss at the bottom. Even with a closer look, I couldn't work it out. Thanks for the cache.

I discovered this construction on Natone Hill near Hobart whilst looking for a cache nearby. It is of pretty sturdy construction with a tarp across the top and would make good shelter. I wonder who build it and what it is used for?

Found in 'the Blue Labyrinth' of the upper Blue Mountains of NSW, while chasing down Euroka Trig . . .

What is it?



Turns out to be an ancient (and very dilapidated) International Harvester truck of some kind . . .

And in the absolute middle of nowhere, largely rusted out and upside down . . .

Rated: for Overall Experience

One of the entrants in Sculpture by the Sea on Cottesloe Beach

Cleary Memorial
Kedumba
Wentworth Falls, NSW



This Blue Mountains object would surely be puzzling to many people!

I've seen it several times now, while geocaching and on a NPWS working bee, so thought I'd share a photo here.

Obviously they're some kind of bulldozer treads, but what are they doing? And why in this position?

In fact, they're part of a father's memorial to his son, who was killed in an accident while building the road down from Kings Tableland into the Jamison Valley.

Rated: for Overall Experience

Space-age Metal Building in the Bush
Clarence, NSW



Well, if you didn't have inside information, you'd really, really wonder about the purpose of this unusual building.

It looks sort of like an observatory, but there's no telescope.

It might also be a kind of satellite dish, but there's no satellite dish.

rogerw3 tipped us off -- it's an air vent for the mine deep below! Listening close to it, you can hear the fans!

We found it on our way to log 'Stone Throne' which is some distance away.

Rated: for Overall Experience

Odd Ball Ornament
Oak Street
Ellsworth, ME
U. S. A.



What is it? I thought it was a Kugel ball, but there's no water. I saw a number of these ornaments while visiting the US recently, and remember them as being fairly common in my children.

Oddly enough, this 'odd ball' is located a couple of hundred metres from the old hospital where I was born . . .

Rated: for Overall Experience

State of Maine
Survey Control Marker
Verona Island
Bucksport, ME
U. S. A.



Well, I sort of know what it is . . . some kind of survey marker, I guess. But I don't really understand all the different kinds of trigs and markers in the US, and so the question applies in this case.

I certainly can't log this find under any of the Australian survey marker categories!

Great view of the new bridge from here . . .

Rated: for Overall Experience

Weird Sculpture
Ellsworth, ME
U. S. A.

Found while travelling in the US -- in my old home town.



This odd structure has sprung up in the past six years or so.

What in the heck is it?

It's very near the Union River and the Ellsworth Public Library, on State Street, close to the intersection with Main Street.

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Spotted this near these co ords - no idea what it is ?

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Old Survey Mark Base?
Oaks Fire Trail
Warrimoo, NSW



Walking down this trail towards 'Scooter on the Oaks,' rogerw3 and I thought that this might be the remains of an old survey marker.

It certainly looks like a possible rocky location.

But why here? Or perhaps it's something else altogether.

Doesn't look exciting -- except to trig and survey marker enthusiasts!

Rated: for Overall Experience

Found this interesting thing while out caching in Litchfield Park today ... no idea what it is...

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Found this amazing old -- and large -- machine in the middle of the bush while geocaching.



Surely someone will know what it is . . .

The photo shows fellow geocacher wackydo, so you can get an idea of the size.

Rated: for Overall Experience

The item "It's pretty but what is it?" By 2y'stassies has the label "planwageglas heidbrink", so I'm guessing it is a piece of art titled "flat crystal venture" by the glass artist Heidbrink. Just MHO.

The "Unknown Object with Wheels Behind Fence" By pjmpjm looks like a large double acting pump with a complex gearing system. That's MHO.

The Ponds Park
Glen Heath Avenue
The Ponds
Rouse Hill, NSW



Found this 'thing' near the windmill while geocaching in the area. Very interesting indeed! But what is it?

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We were going through a box of odds and ends looking for construction material for our next cache container when we came across this little thing. We acquired it some time ago when we were clearing out a science equipment store. We do not know it’s purpose. We have some theories but nothing has been confirmed. We have taken it to many of our colleagues and they have added to the theories but none have had a definitive answer. We would appreciate any help in identifying the equipment. The photo added to the Gallery shows two perspectives (including a scale on one) and the end of the box in which it is stored. “Googling” the text on the box doesn’t shed any light. We don't think it would survive as a cache container although its box would be useful.

The Daunis Mob

Wiggins Park
Springwood, NSW

At first I thought it might be some kind of new-fangled trigometric station.



And then I worried that maybe it had just landed and I was having some kind of 'close encounter of the third kind.'

Look at the photo and you'll see what I mean!

However, rogerw3 investigated and pronounced it was only a humble 'groundwater monitoring bore' checking up on water levels in the Springwood area of the Blue Mountains.

Whew!

It even has its own serial number. Very impressive.

And remember -- I didn't interfere with it in any way; I only took a picture of it!

Rated: for Overall Experience

Spotted this while driving by and have no idea what it is ......

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I found this object while investigating a red telephone box nearby.

Just a bit further on is a GC traditional geocache, near a great Leura, NSW lookout. Street is Olympiad Parade.

My guess is that it's an old 'radial' style air-cooled airplane engine, but I'm not sure. It's an engine of some kind.

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No idea what this trolley looking thing is for, it certainly does not look like it has been used for a while. Having said that the tires look in good condition so maybe it is used for something.
This is taken next to a derelict building near the Royal National Park in Loftus.

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Have no idea what this is-my guess is something to do with water-good use made of it now.

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Found this on the way to a Mystery cache I don't know what it is? A machine? It's something, but what? Oh well...it's rusting away.

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This was in the bamboo near the old Bedlam asylum in Gladesville not far from the GC cache Animal, Vegetable or Mineral. Couldn't work out what it was, some sort of motor but what for?

'The Treasured Teapot'
Grose Street
Leura, NSW



Returning from the new Cliff Drive geocaches in Katoomba, with Mrs. pjmpjm, we decided to stop for coffee at a cafe.

And we found this machine on the veranda.

It's some kind of wringer, and the top embossed lettering says it was made in London for a Sydney company.

There's also a similar lettering that says something like, 'Wring near the end of the rollers.'

Clothes wringer?

Very unusual.

Rated: for Overall Experience

Found this near a GC cache at the old viewing platform at Wyangala Dam, while heading to Bathurst with Winglen and ZsaZsa7

It's a square metal disk, on a square concrete pillar, which is about 12 inches high. It has the numbers 15000 and 15200 stamped on it. We had no real idea what it would be. It doesn't seem like a survey and engineering marker.....so maybe someone else might know.

Decided to claim as a 'What is that thing'. Hope all is ok with that.

Rated: for Overall Experience

Whilst caching in Killarney came across this abstract and wondered what it was

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I have no idea what this is. It is in a lovely park called Princes Park, Battery Point, Hobart, Tasmania. The park has lots of history, a great playground and lovely trees and gardens.

This is just in the middle of the grass surrounded by a square of cement...mmmm....

Found these while in Corryong in North East Victoria. After spending a few days here and never seeing one in use, we had to ask a local. Apparently they are a circular bike rack. We had never seen anything like it before and they mustn't be that good as the locals wouldn't use them either.

Found this a bike of some sort, while caching near Booral

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Wondered what this thing was whilst in Old Bar

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Saw this in Tinonee and wondered what it was

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Another find on private land where I was working near Humpty Doo. Strange bit of gear but what is it? Nearby was a Furphy water tank and an old bowser plus an old wheel. Locationless heaven!

I couldn't resist logging this particular locationless cache near Eastwood.



Walking back from logging the new Mobb Mentallity multi near Fred Spurway Reserve, I spotted what looked like a Native American exhibition right on the edge of the park.

Being of Passamaquoddy descent, I was quite interested and ventured over and found the pictured site outside the boundaries of the park, situated in the back yard of a nearby home.

It wasn't as if I was peeking over the fence into something private. The area was clearly visible and, in fact, seems intended to be visible from the park and its public pathways.

So what is this thing? Why is someone building their own private American Indian display in their back yard, only a few metres from the public reserve? And why?

Great idea . . . but puzzling.

Anyhow, the photo shows that the project seems to be ongoing.

Rated: for Overall Experience

Not sure what this thing is, in any case it has a sizable tree growing in the middle of it! Still it makes for a nice picture. it along the James O'Donnell Drive on the way to the new Hillcrest estate in Bowenfels (Lithgow).

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Wondered what this thing was doing here.

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Saw this and wondered what it was.

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Wondered what this was at Wallangarra

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Wondered what is that thing as we drove through Tenderfield

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Was on my way to do cache "GC2FZ6J - It's The End of the Road" when we saw this in the paddock from the above co-ords. Was it a mirage??? Was I seeing right??? Was it an American Indian Tribe moved to Australia, a building gone totally wrong, a new style five star hotel in the middle of no-where or what??? A Tepee in the far south reaches of Tasmania or what???? TFTC and cheers; OldSaint.

Really unsure what is really is

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Found it on the New England Highway

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Found it on the New England Highway

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Found it on the New England Highway

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We found quite a few of these things in Fehlberg Park, Brisbane. Don't know what they are??

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3rd
Found it
GeoMonkeys
S33° 30.438' E151° 20.087'
My what's this thing, isnt that interesting, except that its in an unusual place...

years ago i came up here, probably before geocaching, and found this object. today i came back to hide a cache nearby, and it's was still there, although a little more rusty.

it looks like a oil heater storage tank or a kerosene tank, but its on the top pf blackwall mountain , a long way from any house, and there are no ruins to indicate there ever was a house up here.
therer is a track that well could have been aroad at stome stage that explains how it got here. but not why.
thanks for the cache.

While walking to a cache called 'Red Ochre Hill GCR8N8' I came across this strange object and wondered "What is that thing?" ... then I remembered this locationless cache and thought it was rather appropriate.
Apparently on further investigation it is an installation which forms the Great Western Tiers Sculpture Trail - Soulevement-Triangulaire, point de vue - by David Jones. This enormous structure acknowledges the triangulation of three major physical references - Quamby Bluff, Alum Cliffs Gorge and Western Bluff, as seen from the site of the sculpture.
Rather impressive I thought

We found this weird structure when searching in the general area of "What's Phillips' Game?" It looks like an overbridge but there's no access to it. It could be a pipeline but it's not round.

At first my son thought this was a fallen tree or a wood pile, we even joked that it was a giants umbrella folded up. Luckily nearby was the plaque telling us that it is indeed a roller and how it was used, it is amazing the effort that used to be put into things.

Kings Langley Mystery Machine

I found this interesting but rusty object while searching for a GC cache near Kings Langley, in the western suburbs of Sydney. I wrote a long story describing it, but still have no idea what it really is!

At one time it must have had a tree growing through it.

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I remember Mum and Dad driving me past this when I was younger and even now it doesnt seem to have changed at all as we drive our kids past.
I have no idea what it was for in its day, but now I have the photo I can ask my mum when I see her, she knows lots of usless information

I don't know what it is - but it was on the way to a cache and it had a lovely view!

Caching around Toowoomba for the day.
Found this one. Its beautiful.

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I have no idea what this structure on the beach near the cache with the coordinates I have listed. It is certainly derelict.

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Hunting around Mt Crosby with ALL7 for the day.
Found it.. what is that thing????

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Had me scratching my head as this was the last thing I was expecting to see on te road into the Brisbane entertainment centre. It was originally featured at the Expo site in Brisbane in 1988. I thought it was a large praying mantis or something.

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I saw this while doing the School of Rock: Cheat Sheet. I have no real idea what it is but it looks like a frame for hauling logs up a steep slope, which makes sense considering where I found it.

WanderingAus wandered by accompanied by The WanderingMrs (aka SWMBO) and three of our grandchildren, exploring the new Perth to Bunbury Highway, when I spotted these objects and said to The WanderingMrs "What are those things?". She didn't have an answer, but she swung into a conveniently placed (and unmarked) parking bay so that I could take a couple of photos.



We surmise that this is somebody's idea of artwork, and judging by the nearby solar panels it's probable that the cones have lights inside them which would give a great visual display at night. There is no information panel to explain what they are, and unlike all the other "Parking" bays there is no warning sign and no signage for this one.

I did think of also claiming GA1605 What is that Doing Here?? by Cachefinders2, but I decided that would be too cheeky.

*Recommended* *Overall Experience: 3*

T4TH Cachefinders2
Keith

Rated: for Overall Experience

WanderingAus wandered by accompanied by my son Shane, my granddaughter Sophie (4 yrs old) and my grandson Ryan (2 yrs old). We had found a few caches North of Serpentine Dam, and had then headed to the Dirk Brook catchment area, South of Serpentine Dam, so that Shane could do a recce for a rogaine. We had travelled SouthEast on Myara Road and reached the North Dandellup Dam Watershed at Berkeley Road, which is the Southern extremity of Dirk Brook catchment area, and were on our way North on the other side of Dirk Brook when I spotted this object and said to Shane "What's that thing?". He didn't have an answer, so I got him to stop, grabbed the camera and gpsr, and wandered over to investigate.



Shane had heard of the plans for Alcoa to mine the Dirk Brook area, and Huntley is one of their exisiting mines.



We surmise that this is a monitoring station either for noise, air quality, or pollutants, but it would be interesting to know exactly what.

I did think of also claiming GA1605 What is that Doing Here?? by Cachefinders2, but I decided that would be too cheeky.

*Recommended* *Overall Experience: 3* *FTF*

T4TH Cachefinders2
Keith

Rated: for Overall Experience

Lets get this one going!!

I suppose It is meant to be art, but oh tell.

Taroom, QLD