Geocaching Old Junee – Kapooka – Wagga Wagga

A day out geocaching Old Junee, Kapooka and Wagga Wagga NSW. We located 22 of them. We headed out from home in Cootamundra at about 9am and didn’t get back until around 6.00pm. It was a very full day.

Out and about today doing some more geocaching this time around Old Junee, Kapooka and Wagga Wagga. Most of the ones we found were pretty easy except for the ones in the Old Pioneer Cemetery at Old Junee and the one near the welcome to Wagga Wagga sign. We spent quite a bit of time finding those two. The one we found outside of the John Deere dealership in Wagga Wagga was also an absolute beauty. We walked past it a load of times, I even looked at it closely then dismissed it before going back to it again.

Amanda Found Another Geocache

What Did We Find Geocaching Old Junee, Kapooka And Wagga Wagga NSW

• Found Pioneer Cemetery | GC4XVE8
  Took us a while but found in the dead end
• Found Old Junee Cemetery | GC4XVFV
  Found it. Lovely old cemetery
• Found Community Hall | GC6P6CG
  Found it giddy up
• Found Bus Stop | GCAJY56
  On our way home from Wagga great quick find TY
• Found Dame Mary Gilmore | GC61H9N
  Thankyou for the hide
• Found Flowerdale #3 | GC2425Y
  Great hide the tip for needing a tool was a godsend. Plenty of kisses in the ear from a friendly neighbour
• Found WT – Flowerdale | GCAKFAD
  Nice easy find
• Found No iDeere | GC2ZXAC
  Wow wow wow found it also replaced clip seal bag
• Found P.M.G. Shack | GCAPHE4
  Love these hides
• Found Roostaman – Old Way Home | GC7VB57
  Thanks for the hide
• Found Private “Dalkenny” | GC7D1A8
  What a tragedy. Thankyou for the hide and bringing us to this place
• Found Farewell Wagga – West | GC8GTFW
  What a way to find out 100th cache “Farewell Wagga”
• Found WT – The Tunnel | GCAGN96
  Awesome hide.
• Found WT – Fore | GCAPHBB
  Great hide
• Found WT – Dead Tree | GCANAR8
  Found. Watch out for the spider
• Found WT – Branching Out | GCANAR7
  Found it quick and easy find
• Found WT – Edwards Street West | GCANAR3
  Clip seal bag damaged so we replaced it.
• Found WT – Flowerdale Lagoon | GCANAR0
  Once we got down low we found it. No trolls just a couple of young lads fishing
• Found Wagga Travel Bug Highway | GCQ7QT
  Great hide thankyou
• Found Welcome To Wagga – North | GC8GYMZ
  Great hide took a while but got there in the end. Watch where your walking unpleasant deposits everywhere.
• Found Mt Pleasant Legend | GC8GRB7
  Quick find on the way to Wagga
• Found Houlaghans Creek | GC8WWFH
  Great hide nice crisp winters walk

Notable Caches And A Bit About Them

Dame Mary Gilmore

Dame Mary Gilmore can be found on our ten dollar note. This cache takes you directly to the school where Mary attended on the outskirts of Wagga Wagga. Even though the school is unused today, it is a reminder of the much history that took place here.

On 16 August 1865, Mary Jean Cameron was born near Goulburn, New South Wales, at Cotta Walla. In 1866, her maternal grandparents, the Beatties, had moved from Penrith, New South Wales to Wagga Wagga with her parents, Donald and Mary Ann. In 1989, her father was hired as station manager at Cowabbie, 100 km north of Wagga. After a year, he left that job and became a carpenter, constructing homes on properties in Wagga, Coolamon, Junee, Temora and West Wyalong. Despite their frequent itinerant lives, Mary received some formal education on their frequent trips to Wagga, either staying with the Beatties or renting a house. Brucedale on the Junee Road became her family’s permanent home after her father bought land there and built his own house. When Colin Pentland’s private academy at North Wagga Wagga closed, she attended Wagga Wagga Public School for two and a half years before returning to North Wagga Wagga Public School.

To prepare for becoming a teacher, she worked as an assistant at her uncle’s school in Yerong Creek at the age of 14. one of her uncles Charles White (1845–1922) was a journalist and author of books on bushrangers. After Mary completed her teaching exams in 1882 she took up a position as a teacher at Wagga Wagga Public School working there until December 1885. After a short spell teaching at Illabo she took up a teaching position at Silverton near Broken Hill. At Silverton Gilmore developed her socialist views and began writing poetry.

Private “Dalkenny”

Kapooka Army Camp was established in 1942 during the Second World War. In response to the Japanese threat to Australia, the Army was being significantly expanded and reorganized under the new Commander-in-Chief, Thomas Blamey. To streamline the training of engineers, or sappers, six of the seven engineer training depots (excluding the one in Western Australia) were consolidated into a single establishment.

A site near Wagga Wagga was selected for the Royal Australian Engineers Training Centre (RAETC) because it was strategically located halfway between Sydney and Melbourne. This location was easily accessible by both road and rail, and it was near the RAAF bases at Forest Hill, Uranquinty, and Temora. At approximately 2:45 PM on Monday, May 21, 1945, a devastating explosion occurred in a dugout in the Demolition Area at Kapooka Camp. The blast resulted in the immediate deaths of 24 soldiers, and four others were seriously injured, with two of them succumbing to their injuries within hours of being admitted to the hospital.

This explosion remains the worst training tragedy in Australia’s military history. Here you will find a memorial dedicated to these soldiers.

Notice Board At Site Of 1945 Explosion That Killed 26 People Near Kapooka

Pioneer Cemetery (Old Junee)

This was the first cemetery in the area and is locally known as the Original Junee Cemetery. The sign out the front of it notes it as the Original Junee Cemetery. You can access the cemetery by a style over the front fence near the roadway.

As it stands at the moment it is a small cemetery, about the size of a residential block of land, and contains only 5 original headstones dating back to 1863.

The cemetery is located just past the Old Junee Cemetery and about 0.3 kilometres to the left from the main road from Wagga Wagga to Temora. It is on Murrulebale Road which is the extension of the road from Junee to Old Junee.

Old Junee Pioneer Cemetery

Geocaching Old Junee, Kapooka And Wagga Wagga Gallery

Getting To Old Junee From Sydney By Car

Begin your journey in Sydney. Ensure your vehicle is ready for the trip, check your fuel levels, and set your GPS for Old Junee.

• Distance: Approximately 460 kilometres
• Driving Time: Around 5 hours, depending on traffic and road conditions

Step-by-Step Directions

1. Exit Sydney
   Start your drive on the M4 Motorway heading west. This road will take you out of the city and towards the Blue Mountains.
2. Merge onto the M31 Hume Motorway
   Continue on the M4 until you reach the interchange with the M31 Hume Motorway. Merge onto the M31 and follow signs for Goulburn/Canberra.
   The M31 is a major highway that will take you southwest through the picturesque countryside.
3. Pass through Goulburn
   As you drive through Goulburn, consider taking a short break to explore this historic town. Goulburn is home to several attractions, including the Big Merino and Belmore Park.
   Continue on the M31 after your break.
4. Turn onto the A41 Sturt Highway
   After Goulburn, stay on the M31 until you reach the turnoff for the A41 Sturt Highway. Follow signs for Wagga Wagga.
   The Sturt Highway will take you westward through more rural landscapes and small towns.
5. Approaching Junee
   Once you’re on the A41, continue driving until you reach the town of Junee. Here, you might want to explore some local attractions, such as the Junee Roundhouse Museum or the Junee Licorice & Chocolate Factory.
   From Junee, you will take local roads to reach Old Junee.
6. Final Leg: Junee to Old Junee
   From Junee, head northwest on Old Junee Road for about 10 kilometres.
   Follow the signs and local directions to reach Old Junee. This part of the journey will take you through beautiful farmlands and rural scenery.