Ring, Ring Richmond, New South Wales, Australia
By phlphotos on 23-Jun-18. Waypoint GA12470

The physical cache is not at the published coordinates

Here is why there are 24,573 working payphones across Australia in 2017

IN the modern world, where even primary school-aged children have smartphones, payphones seem like something of an anachronism.

They’re still a functional anachronism, however — according to the Australian Communications Media Authority (ACMA) there were about 24,573 payphones across Australia as at June 30, 2016, from the CBDs of capital cities through to small towns with not much more than a petrol station, a war memorial and a community hall.

Given the near-universal ubiquity of mobile phones, why are there so many payphones still operating, though?

The short answer is “because the Commonwealth Government says there have to be”.

It’s known as the Universal Service Obligation (USO), and legally requires Telstra to ensure standard phone services and payphones are “reasonably accessible to all people in Australia on an equitable basis, wherever they work or live.”

It is also a place to hide a cache

Despite the dramatic downturn in demand for payphones, Telstra have found a way to bring 21st century technology to what is essentially a Victorian-era concept.

They’re turning their payphones into wireless hot spots known as Telstra Air, which lets the telco’s customers use their home broadband data allowance for Wi-Fi access at more than 900,000 hot spots around the country — and a number of the 4700 public hot spots are payphone sites.

At the final location you will find a small bison container and a logsheet for you to sign. On the log roll you will also find the codeword which you will need in order to log this cache online.

Are you ready for a challenge? There are a number of waypoints, at each waypoint there is a QR code all are velcroed under the side table on the left hand side as you look at the info. One is at the front the rest are back left

Note: The AR experience is not location specific and can be run from any location.

Step 1. Download the Metaverse app

You'll need to download the Metaverse app on your phone, tablet, or chromebook in order to use the experiences

Step 2. Download the Metaverse Experiece

Step 3. After successfully completing your tasks for Ring, Ring, go find the cache

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