I was out on a maintenace run around the river and I noticed that GC90X0A had been archived meaning the area is open for a new geocache. When looking for a new spot I found the old container - this has been removed and returned to the CO, so this one has gone but good news it means there is a new cache to find. The cache is a 5l painted bucket - please make sure you put the lid back on tightly.
Upstream of this location is the Balcutha Road Bridge and just downstream is the Railway Bridge.
This Railway Bridge spanning the Clutha/Mata-au River at Balclutha in South Otago, Blair Bridge, named for its engineer, William Blair, recalls the importance of railways in nineteenth century New Zealand, and has historical and technological significance for providing vital links for people and goods on the main trunk line. Building railways was key to New Zealand’s development. The Governor, Sir George Bowen, turned the first sod of the Dunedin-Balclutha railway on 18 March 1871, and four years later this section of the railway was opened for traffic, with the train steaming into the siding alongside the Clutha River.
At the time the bridge was built, it was, according to architect and engineering historian Geoffrey Thornton, the largest bridge of its kind in the South Island. The Minister of Public Works, the Right Hon. William Larnach opened the bridge on 22 January 1878, naming it the Blair Bridge. The main line through to Invercargill was finished in January 1879. Since construction, ‘Bridge 297’, as it was known by the Railways Department, has required repair and strengthening work. Finally, between 1966 and 1978, the timber spans were replaced by steel trusses. In 2015, the Blair Bridge is still in service on the Main South Line.
(source; Heritage New Zealand website)
2024 should be a great year for Geocaching in Dunedin because we plan on hosting a large event labour weekend 2024 - check out details in the link below;
