B&W (T) Reedy Station Lake Charm, Victoria, Australia
By The Morris (adopted by WazzaAndWenches) on 20-Aug-10. Waypoint GA2295

A small cache at the entrance of the Ibis Rookery and Cultural trail

 Camp XIII. (Reedy Lake.) Tuesday, 4/9/1860.

Inspired by the journals of Dr. Ludwig Becker the official diarist and naturalist of the expedition.

Leaving Tragowel, the expedition crossed the Loddon using the bridge at old Kerang (three miles downstream, where it would have been aligned with the ‘old Echuca road’), then went on another eight miles to camp beside the Reedy Lake homestead on the eastern shore of the lake.  The beautifully situated old home at Reedy Lake, now a ruin, once shared with the Lake Bael Bael homestead the administration of one of the largest grazing runs (370,000 acres) in the State. The oldest section, of drop-log construction, is now housed at the Kerang Museum, Museum Drive Kerang.  it is open on Sunday afternoons or by appointment. 

Murrabit Run, excised from the Reedy Lake run in 1851, was held by Thomas Alexander Browne from 1862 to 1863. Browne's homestead was on the southern shore of Lake Boga, where its original stable and smithy still survive.

The Victorian Exploring Expedition of 1860, usually known as the Burke and Wills expedition, stands as a landmark in Australian history. They succeeded in crossing the continent from South to North, at the cost of several lives. These geocaches mark important points associated with the Expedition.Robert O’Hara Burke was a former soldier and police superintendant in country Victoria when he was selected to lead the Expedition.

Their goal was to explore the unknown areas north of Cooper’s Creek with a view to finding a route to the Gulf of Carpentaria. Along the way, they were to conduct a full scientific survey, and identify good grazing land. If Melbourne were to establish an outpost on the North coast, it could also serve one day as the landing point for a transcontinental telegraph link.

The Expedition left Royal Park on the 20th of August 1860, with 19 men, 26 camels, 24 horses, six wagons and 21 tons of supplies. Many of these supplies were left along the way as Burke progressively streamlined the party, obsessed with the idea of beating rival explorer John Macdouall Stuart to the north coast. Burke came within kilometres of the open sea along the Gulf of Carpentaria with a small group of four men after a punishing journey across unforgiving country. He returned after four months to the depot site at Cooper’s Creek to find the relief party had left that very morning, burying a small cache of supplies near a tree marked with the word DIG. Burke and Wills died by the banks of the Cooper. Of the four men to reach the Gulf country, only John King survived.

The scientific goals of the expedition were greatly curtailed by Burke’s haste, and much of the land they traversed is marginal grazing country at best. The eventual telegraph line followed Stuart’s route from Adelaide to Darwin. Nevertheless, the bravery and persistence shown by the members of the expedition has ensured their names live on even today.

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