WA4WD

Time Capsule

Last Updated 01/26/2025 08:04:32

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12/9/2013:

This page describes the locations of a number of time capsules that have been hidden and buried in various parts of the WA bush. These capsules were first started during a trip along the telegraph track east of Israelite Bay in 2012. The reason they were buried was to give our kids and grand-kids the incentive to explore this country and their reward (other than actually visiting these fantastic locations) was to find a small nugget of family history based on trivia at hand at the time.

For those of you reading this at some time in the future, one of the items placed in the first time capsule is a card given to me, Mark, for my 53rd birthday which occurred during this trip. The significance of this card is that it is the last one I every received from my Mum, who became gravely ill on the Easter weekend that we returned. She was admitted to hospital on her birthday, 11th April and died 4th May. To those of you who may read this, this card is quite sentimental to me. I doubt I will ever see it again, I hope one of you do. In there, Mum said she would buy me a red flowering gum tree. She never got to do that in person, but after she died, we found some money in her purse and I used a few dollars to buy that tree, and it is planted along the fence at Heritage Drive in Roleystone.


Sometimes we have simply put in things that we had with us, such as a set of coins currently in use. Other times we have put in treasures we found in the bush like an old broken toothpaste jar.
 

Location
Latitude
Longitude
Comments
Burnabbie
-32o 7.6330'
126o 20.5398'
This is the first time capsule hidden and is located near the ruins at Burnabbie. The actual time capsule is located at the base of an old telegraph pole on the right hand side of the track as you drive into Burnabbie. It is the last pole before the ruins. (Hmm That feels good, does doesn't it)
Hidden 2012
Fields Find
-29o 2.2322'
117o 14.4629'
This time capsule is hidden under a pile of rocks halfway up a hill from a campsite in a little gully between two hills. It is close to the southern end of the old township, but on the western hills. Dad was here when this was hidden, he wrote a note which is stored there.
Hidden 2012
Woodlines East of Norseman
-31o 46.6398'
122o 18.9775'
This capsule is buried at one of the old main camps on the woodlines. There is a lot of litter around this site. The capsule was buried and the hidden under a piece of metal. But the is no certainty that this will be there when you look for it.
Hidden 1/4/2013
Big Bell
 -27o 20.5056'
117o 39.9086'
For us, Big Bell has always held a fascination, since we first went there when I was about 10, around 1969. Since about 2009 we have been camping at the eastern end of town near some sheoaks. The capsule was buried at this campsite under the shade of the trees. An old bike chain was buried above the capsule, so that it might be easier to find with a metal detector (that is if you don't have something more sophisticated to locate old treasures).
Hidden 2/6/2013
Mt Palmer-31o 24.151'119o 40.674This is another one I had forgotten about. From the date it was hidden,  it is not long after Dad died, and is when we launched him accross the town in a rocket from near the old hotel.
Hidden 22/3/2014
Woodlines (Again, because we love it out there)-31o 41.890'122o 7.860'This one is hidden at a camp site we made whilst looking for old railway tracks in the bush. It is slightly east of the existing north south track and a few kilomteres west of an old woodlines camp.
Hidden 18/7/2014
Damperwah-29o 17.95'116o 41.074'I had actually forgotten about this timecapsule. It is hidden near the old ruins at the Damperwah agricultural trial station east of Perenjori. This is a beaut place to camp and is a good first stopping place when looking for wildflowers, though this year we missed them by a few weeks.
Hidden 27/9/2014
DME Hill Wittenoom-22o18.394118o 17.895This is hedden in a rock cairn nehind the old burnt out ruins of the equipment room. Spectacular views, but a 4WD is needed to get in in, of course.
Hidden 20/6/2015
Corunna Downs-21o 26.2455119o 46.7903Visit the old WWII airforce base and climb the rocky outcrop. When you find the time capsule you are probably standing in what was once an observation pots.
Hidden 24/6/2015


We hope this inspires you to start looking and enjoy the wonderful country that is our home. I don't know what you will do with the time capsule, you may value some treasure for yourself, or perhaps the few coins we left are now very rare. You might even decide to leave something of yourself and re-bury the capsule so that other family members can discover them. Perhaps this will become a family tradition that is passed down through the years and becomes an heirloom, just a little more unique and off-beat than what other people might consider the "norm"



Mark Thompson