Treasure Quest Trophy
Written by Paul Clacher Ó 2007
After one false start in August 2007 due to a cyclone (I still can’t get over that, a cyclone in August, what the!!!), the substitute weekend of 19, 20 & 21 October 2007 had arrived and as I pulled into the Yarraman Caravan Park, I could see lots of starters already there. The sky was blue, practically without a cloud on this pleasant October Friday. The weather report was for fine weather all weekend. Yes!!! As I got closer I could see that it was the Bribie Island Gem & Fossicking Club who were already there and apparently very well set up too. There were a few from the North Brisbane Lapidary Club also there. And there were also already a few there from the AFG Moreton Bay Branch.
I then booked in to my cabin and then proceed to do the rounds of the park just to say hello to all of my old friends. After this I then made certain trips to persons and places to confirm plans and to secrete items. Once these tasks were complete I made my way back to the CP. (Caravan Park or was it Command Post.) Anyway by this stage several more starters had arrived and I could already see that the re-scheduling had cause little adverse effect on the event.
Once again and as I said last year Treasure Quest 2007 was starting to form and take on a life of its own. Once again I was looking forward to 7:00 pm when the real fun would begin.
This year I thought I would try something a little different and have a communal “Cook Up” where each team would prepare a Stew / Casserole / Curry type dish as part of our social evening. Did I say each Team! For some reason every individual made up a Stew / Casserole / Curry type dish and to say that there was plenty of food would be an understatement.
As usual this year (no different to any other year) I was a bit sneaky. I had given each team a piece of a message to be pieced together and once it was placed together they could obtain a clue to get their Quest for the weekend. Once pieced together the message read “ Listen to 99.7 FM at 8:00 PM & 8:30 PM”. I had organised for the radio station to play the message twice just in case the teams missed out on the 1 st message. (Just as well I anticipated this) Around 7:45 PM I departed the party and made my way to my Cabin.
Just slightly before 8:00 PM the 1 st message was read out, which was, “Recite to Paul Paragraph 1 of The Nukinenda Crew and the Quest will be given to you.”. Bribie was the 1 st team to front up to me and recited to me the 1 st paragraph of the poem “The Nukinenda Crew” and were subsequently given their “Quest”. By 8:45 PM all teams had come to me and read me the portion of the poem and had also received their Quests”.
It was about 5:30 AM the following day when I heard the 1 st car pull out of the CP and head off to some undisclosed location. Within the next hour or so, most of the other teams had left base camp. It was happening.
The Theme of this year’s Treasure Quest was “Cloak and Dagger” and Jim Bond (James) (how convenient I was to have James Bond managing the Yarraman Heritage Center. True story.) held the code that would lead the finder of the clue to him. The initial clue was “Trigona”. Now the Trigona is the scientific name given to the Australian Native Bee and there is a Trigona hive right in the front of the Heritage Center. Under the rock of the Trigona hive was the clue that read, “ Holey Stone Clue - Should you choose to accept this Quest, Find 007 and he will be your Guest, He knows what you are to be Shown, That will lead you to that Holey Stone, Password:- “Trigona” .
What happened next actually caused the “Dark Horse” to win the Holey Stone. A team who will remain anonymous, found the clue, but thinking it was the actual token took the clue and just kept it and did nothing further. It was then that the “Dark Horse” went to the Centre asking about the Trigona, to 007 AKA James Bond, and he naturally thought that the “Dark Horse” had found the clue. (Not so) Anyway as a result 007 gave the “Dark Horse” the Code and apparently within a few minutes the code had been cracked and I received a call. I then appeared and gave the “Dark Horse” the next clue, which led them back to the Caravan Park. The clue was “Find Lee and Pam is your quest, And say to them ‘Equus’”. It was a funny twist of fate how this caused a change in the outcome this year’s Treasure Quest.
It seemed like no time at all when 4:00 PM came around and I was doing the rounds judging the various displays. If I can just say, every display was 1 st class. And every piece of information was well done. The scores this year were very close indeed. In fact, the highest score was only 180 points in front of the lowest score. It was so close in fact that I had to review one of the answers. Once reviewed there was no change in the results.
The AFG had found a huge single piece of coal, and a lovely piece of Obsidian and Hematite, which by the time I saw them were beautifully faceted. They had also found a beautiful piece of Carnelian, al be it small. But on top of this as you already now know the AFG was the “Dark Horse” and had full possession of the Holy Stone.
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The AFG’s Display & piece of Coal |
I then made my way to the Bribie Club’s area and I saw a beautifully presented display, which also included labels on every item. I just loved the way that they had presented their Pine Cone, as one of the Lynch Sisters. It was very cute.
On viewing the NBLC’s display I could see that a lot of work had gone into this presentation. They had several beautiful specimens of the Red and Black Jasper along with a very large Bunya Pine Cone. I like to see lateral thinking. Someone from the team had also found some lovely small pieces of gold too. Not to mention a “Dog Tooth” crystal of Corundum / Sapphire. Unfortunately it was not of gem quality, but I gave them some point for it just the same, as it was a good find. Nice bottle Garry!
All teams managed to find at least one or a few more crystals of Atacarmite, which is quite a difficult mineral specimen to find and is no mean feat in itself to have found some.
I then went away and did the tallying. As I have said, the scores were very close indeed.
At 7:00 PM we all gathered once again in the Club Room and everyone was a-buzz, just like a Trigona. I could feel a lot of eager energy with much anticipation in the room. To introduce some calm into the room, I decided to recite two poems about Australia, while we waited for everyone to arrive. The first was “ The Mystery of Terra Australis” by John Pinkney, and a poem that I had written a few months earlier entitled “Australia”.
As soon as the last person was in the hall, I made a short speech and the announcement – “And the Winner Is – The AFG Moreton Bay Branch”. You could have heard a pin drop. And the faces on the members of the AFG Team seemed to show “shock”. Yes two years in a row the AFG Team had won the converted “Treasure Quest Trophy”. I am sure the other teams participating next year will not let this happen again. The question is, can the AFG retain the trophy for a 3 rd year. Hmmmm!!!
Directly after the presentation of the trophy to Graham Powell of the AFG everyone participated in the lovely supper and deserts that had been placed out in an enticing array.
The Scores were: - The Australian Facetors Guild “Moreton Bay Branch” – 2260, The North Brisbane Lapidary Club – 2155, and the Bribie Island Gem and Fossicking Club - with 2080 points, who by the way were the first winners of the trophy in 2004. Well done and congratulations to The Australian Facetors Guild “Moreton Bay Branch”. And I thank all those who attended.
The Saturday night once again was a wonderful night, with large lashings of happiness in every direction. And I say thank you to you all for providing such a wonderful array of fine and delicious food, which finished off Treasure Quest 2007 on warm and well-tuned note. I also understand that the Sunday’s Wine and food tour went off really well also.
See you all next year at Treasure Quest 2008 at Yarraman between 29, 30 & 31 August 2008. Book now don’t wait. (Theme – Enigma and Cryptology or was that the (Leonardo) “De Vinci Code”) Paul. 19, 5, 5, - 25, 15, 21, - 20, 8, 5, 18, 5. 16, 1, 21, 12.
P.S. There are still lots of Sapphires, Zircons and Peridot to be found!!!
Some more photos of NBLC Members during the Quest.
Meandu Mine 2
