Billy Goats Gruff # 2 Koroit, Victoria, Australia
By
Smergol on 01-Oct-12. Waypoint GA4635
Cache Details
| Difficulty: | |
| Terrain: | |
| Type: | Traditional |
| Container: | Micro |
| Coordinates: | S38° 17.610' E142° 20.583' (WGS 84) |
| 54H 617447E 5760766N (UTM) | |
| Elevation: | 39 m |
| Local Government Area: | Moyne |
/142.34305,-38.2935,14/400x200?access_token=pk.eyJ1IjoiY2F1Z2h0YXR3b3JrIiwiYSI6ImNqa2l4ZzNzMDE5bjgzdm1sZGpuODF1Mm0ifQ.q8YMzVyzDJJlJHHV8EMjwQ)
Description
This cache is situated on the Warrnambool to Pt. Fairy Rail Trail
Billy Goats Gruff #2
*** BYO PEN for this one ***
This cache is situated on the Warrnambool to Pt. Fairy Rail Trail (Bool PFRT) – and as the Billy Goats Gruff story implies there is a bridge over creek just to the West of Koroit. Only a small Troll is known to live under this bridge so it is only a quick finde cache. The Billy Goats Gruff collection is part of the GCA “Bull Fart” series.
History
The railway line from Warrnambool to Melbourne was opened in 1887. The construction of the line to Port Fairy, via Koroit, started in late 1888 and it was completed in 1890.
Between Warrnambool and Belfast (Port Fairy) there were 12 gate keepers’ cottages. Stations were situated at, Warrnambool, Illowa, Koroit, Crossley Kirkstall, Moyne, Rosebrook and Port Fairy where farmers shipped their produce directly to Geelong and Melbourne.
Koroit became an important hub with the line to the north (Hamilton Spur – “Spur of the Moment” GCA cache there) joining the Port Fairy to Warrnambool line some 300 yards to the west of the station. Remnants of the cattle loading yards can be seen near North Street. The goods shed, one of the largest in the area is opposite the station. Also, remnants of the sidings and goods sheds at Port Fairy, Koroit and Illowa can be seen along the trail.
Some thought the line so beneficial that they felt the farmers should not require compensation for it passing through their property. For a time, the soon to decline ports, handled large quantities of railway materials. J Wilson and Company supplied 5,100 tons of equipment to the project.
The line came to provide an important recreational aspect to the area. Special pleasure trains ran to the seaside towns for Sunday school picnics, school excursions and social gatherings.
The line closed in September 1977 by the Hamer government to save some money!! The Rail Trail was completed earlier this year.
First to Find honours go to Lionjrb.
Hints
N oveq pbzzba gb gur nern vf gur Abegurea Envy! |
|
Decode |
Logs
Perseverance paid off and we eventually uncovered this one.
The wind was so strong that the poor birds were flapping flat out but going nowhere.
Thanks Smergol but we would love to see this series checked and maintained.
Seems that GCA caches in this area are not very well supported.
A tricky find as the hint no longer matches the location, but after reading the 2y'styassies logs, all ended well and the log was signed.
Took nothing, left nothing.
Thanks for this geocache hide for us to find on our long weekend away in Warnambool, checking out the sites, the geocaches and the local TrigPoints.
*Overall Experience: 3*
GAFF 1
Using the hint we and the published coordinates we identified a where the container may have been attached. We hunted around below this area and found a grey very rusty and squashed item that may have once been a camo'ed mint tin. No evidence of a log book was found.
We only had a mint tin and small logbook with us but no magnet to attach the container to the back of the rail so we left it at the base of the large end post with a small pile of covering rocks. Hope this is OK.
As the rain has become quite heavy we decided to abandon the trail and move to drier regions.
Thaks for this cache in your rail trail series Smergol. We hope to return to look for the rest of the series in the future.
TNLNSL. Thanks Smergol.
After completing the Koroit o Warrnambool section of the BFS around this time last month we returned on this warm day complete the Port Fairy to Koroit section. Hop skip and jumping every second cache so we had some to find on the return journey this was our fifth find on the trail.
I dont mind if it is GC or GCA. Nice quick find I must bring my bike over and all of the trail. TFTC.
