Cullinga, Harden, Murrumburrah & Binalong Geocaching

A day spent geocaching around Cullinga, Harden, Murrumburrah & Binalong and then came home through Coolac. We headed out from home at Cootamundra at about 10.00am and were home by about 05.00pm. It was an easy day of geocaching. All up we covered around 220kms.

We left home at Cootamundra and headed in to Wallendbeen to get some of the world famous Young Cherries from Amanda’s mate at the rest stop and decided to make it a day of geocaching. Amanda got herself a 2kg box of cherries – this will be the first of many boxes of cherries she buys this season!

Cow Sculpture Out The Back of Cullinga

What Did We Find While Geocaching In The Snowy Valleys?

We found 9 of them with no DNFs! It was a really awesome day of geocaching in a particularly beautiful part of the country.

1. Found Binalong Cemetery | GC9XQ6D
   What a beautifully kept Cemetary. TFTC
2. Found REALLY SideTracked – Binalong | GC8JB3H
   Awesome hide TFTC
3. Found Callin’ Five – Oh! | GCA1WCV
   Great hide took some searching but was staring us straight in the eye all the time. TFTC
4. Found LKA Johnny Gilbert | GC5W6PC
   Always like calling in and giving our respects. Great hiding place TFTC. Gave it a favourite point.
5. Found Guardrailicious | GCA7ETK
   TFTC
6. Found Welcome to Harden-Murrumburrah | GC5MNVP
   Another great hide. Have never noticed that sign before. TFTC
7. Found Udders | GC6QZD7
   Great hide and awesome sculpture. TFTC
8. Found A Tree or not a Tree | GCARCX0
   Another great hide make sure to say howdy to the sheep. TfTC
9. Found Tower View | GC8845C
   Great spot and awesome views TFTC
10. Found Wallendbeen Presbyterian Church | GCB3Z62
    Great hide TFTC

A Tree Or Not A Tree Corner Of Kilrush And Old Gundagai Road

Cullinga Mines Road Was Interesting

As part of our geocaching today we travelled along Cullinga Mines Road. Amanda and I asked ourselves why was it called Cullinga Mines Road? There was nothing obvious in the way of mines – however we know that historically there were mines in the area.

There is what is left of a church and what we thought was another church near the corner of Cullinga Road and Cullinga Mines Road. After getting home and doing a bit of research it turns out that the dilapidated of the two churches was in fact the former St John’s Anglican Church and the other “church” is possibly an abandoned hall or school. Nothing in the area gives the impression that anything substantial in the way of a village had been there however it turns out that Cullinga was a decent sized village around the beginning of the 20th century.

I found an article on Trove published in The Albury Banner and Wodonga Express on Fri 14 Dec 1900 about one of the mines and it was a fairly substantial concern.

Former St Johns Anglican Church At Cullinga NSW

Summary Of The Trove Article About The Most Profitable Mine In The Cullinga Field – The Christmas Gift

The Cullinga mines are located 12 miles east of Cootamundra, in an area that was once considered as a possible location for the federal capital. The region features gently rolling hills, rich farmland, and sits at a good elevation with a healthy climate. These mines have been drawing considerable interest from the mining industry.

The mining operations span across land owned by Mr Boxsell, Mr R. Faulks, Mr A. G. Keith, and Mr W. Reynolds. The workings extend for approximately four miles and are part of a gold-bearing zone that connects to the old Muttama reefs in the south and the Demondrille area to the north. Reverend Father Curran visited the area the previous week.

The most profitable mine in the Cullinga field is the Christmas Gift. This site contains an enormous gold bearing rock formation measuring 42 feet across. Mining has reached a depth of nearly 200 feet, with around 200 feet of horizontal tunnels. The mining team of Mr J. Boxsell, Mr W. Playford (who originally discovered the site), and Mr J. Ingold have processed 3,000 tons of ore. The ore has yielded more than one ounce of gold per ton, and the leftover material still contains 14 pennyweights of gold per ton. This waste material is being processed using concentrating equipment at the site. An attempt to use cyanide treatment was unsuccessful due to some component in the ore that interfered with the process.

Welcome To Murrumburrah Sign

John Gilberts Grave

We’ve checked in at John Gilberts Grave just outside of Binalong quite a few times in the past. We called in today and had another look. Not much has changed. John Gilbert was a notorious bushranger who used to hang around with Ben Hall back in the day.

Dave At John Gilberts Grave Outside Of Binalong NSW

Final Thoughts

While geocaching along Cullinga Mines Road we wondered why it had such an unusual name since there were no obvious signs of mining activity from the road. After finding several caches in the area and returning home we discovered through research that a thriving gold mining operation called the Christmas Gift (and a lot of other mines) once existed there in 1900. Producing over an ounce of gold per ton from a massive 42 foot wide vein.

Geocaching Near Cullinga, Harden, Murrumburrah & Binalong Photo Gallery