GC49R70 Harpers Wharf (Traditional Cache) in Queensland, Australia created by petan

This cache has been archived.

petan: Site visit today. That homeless camp, while concealed behind lots of bushes is just too close to the current GZ. We've had trouble with our previous hides needing to replace the muggled container every few months. For us, the site is no longer viable as a hiding site, therefore we are archiving it.

Thank you to everyone who found the cache and learned a little more about early Surfers Paradise history.

GC49R70 ▼

A cache by petan Message this owner

Hidden : 4/13/2013

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

Harpers Wharf is part of a series based on interesting rail and other transportation sites uncovered in our research on the old Gold Coast.

In the early days of the Gold Coast (1850s) the Broadwater and Nerang River weren’t so silted up and were navigable by ocean going sailing ships. At the beginning logging was the main industry. Ned Harper built a wharf on this spot so logs felled in the Hinterland by the timber getters could be ‘rafted’ to this location and transhipped to larger vessels for export to other areas, such as Brisbane or other areas. By all accounts it was a successful business although apparently declined in years just before Harpers death.

Harper's wharf near the junction of Little Tallebudgera Creek and Nerang River. 1920s
photo courtesy of the Gold Coast City Council Local Studies Library

The next reference we’ve found with the wharf is in relation to the construction of roads through the Main Beach to Burleigh Heads area in the 1920s. In those times the coastal areas were very swampy, with the beach being used in many cases as the transport route south. Southport had opened up as a destination of choice but pressure was building to develop a road which would link many of the coastal areas. Gravel was brought in on boats and transhipped to a specially constructed tramway to build the road north towards the Jubilee Bridge, then under construction. Both petrol and steam locomotives were used. The steam locomotive used to haul the road gravel trains was formally operated on the Nerang Central Sugar Mill’s tramway, located at Benowa, near the present day Rosser Park.

Rail wagons carting sand for the construction of early roads in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, 1920s.

Rail wagons carting sand for the construction of early roads in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, 1923.
photo courtesy of the Gold Coast City Council Local Studies Library

The irony is that part of the park where this cache is located was used as a depot for the Gold Coast Light Rail when they were ripping up parts of the road in order to build a tramway. Of course the G-link is now complete and the park rehabilitated. Florida Gardens station is close by for anyone who might want to ride 'the G' to Harpers Wharf.

The cache is magnetized bison tube.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

zntargvp, haqre, vafvqr - srry sbe gur fcyvg evat.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)

This cache has been archived.

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Harpers Wharf Traditional Geocache

This cache has been archived.

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Geocache Description:

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