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Quiz Cache

Near Quino's former home (Quino III)

by cezanne     Austria > Steiermark > Graz

Attention! This Geocache is "Archived"! There is no physical container at the specified (or to be determined) coordinates. In the interest of the place it should not be necessarily to search!

N 47° 03.223' E 015° 26.919' (WGS84)

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 Size: small
Status: Archived
 Hidden on: 01 May 2004
 Listed since: 24 August 2005
 Last update: 31 December 2018
 Listing: https://opencaching.de/OC0096
Also listed at: geocaching.com 

7 Found
0 Not found
4 Notes
1 Maintenance log
0 Watchers
0 Ignorers
102 Page visits
1 Log picture
Geokrety history
2 Recommendations

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Description    Deutsch  ·  English

English description

This cache is divided into 8 stages, at the last of which a cache container is to be found. Only Stage 1 (which need not be visited) lies in Graz, the remaining stages lie outside, but are conventiently reachable from Graz by bicycle. Expect a walk of about 6-7 km if you start near Stage 2 and return back there. I

Quino III is the third cache in the Quino-series. This cache is not too far from Quino's former home, and hence it was clear beforehand that this area has to be honoured by a cache belonging to the Quino-series.


Preliminaries (Please read this part before you start your hunt!)
  • This cache requires quite some preparatory work and you will need between 2-3 hours for the outdoor part (depending on how much time you spend at the various stages).
  • This cache does not offer a spectacular hike, but a relaxing longer walk which hopefully will lead you to some interesting places which you have not visited before.
  • The terrain is easy and also suitable for children. The first and the last part of the walk lead along paved roads. You can stay on paths (except for the last meters to Stages 3 and 8 and for a short passage shortly after Stage 5). If you follow the suggestions for the route, a considerable part of your walk will lead you through a forest area. Some paths might be muddy after rain. So bring along shoes that can get dirty.
  • The terrain would be well-suited for bicycles (not even a MTB required), but riding bikes or horses is forbidden on the route between Stages 5 and 8. Further comments for those coming by bike, can be found below (confer Stage 2).
  • Please take care to avoid spoilers in your log - do not tell too much about the stages.
  • In order to avoid problems with trespassing and dead-ends, at several points concise route descriptions are given.
  • Please note that upper and lower case variables, like a and A, have to be distinguished! (To help you in keeping track of the values of the variables, you can recycle the following table from another of my caches, see Table for the variables ).




Stage 1: N 47° 03.223', E 015° 26.919'
(Red bricks)

It is up to you whether you wish to pay a visit to this stage which is at some distance from the other stages. A visit of Stage 1 is neither necessary nor sufficient for obtaining the coordinates of Stage 2.
If you have never been at Stage 1, you might want to have a short look - the place is of historical interest and it is connected to one of the themes of this cache.

To determine the coordinates of Stage 2, you first need to deal with the following tasks and questions.

Question 1:
All caches of the Quino-series share a common theme. Let this subject be called subject S1 (hint: names of caches). The location of Stage 1 is associated with a topic which does not play a role in the other caches of the Quino-series. Let this subject be called S2.
  • 1abc: The year in which the building at Stage 1 and the service for which it has been built have been opened. Since then the building essentially has served the same purpose until today although the times have changed at least to some extent (not that much as one might expect).
    (BTW: The year 1abc was a rather eventful one in Austria's history. An event took place in this year in Austria where Germany had to wait for 127 additional years to receive the same honour. Moreover, it was a bad year for rich people.)

Question 2:
The name of the service mentioned in Question 1 has changed in the course of the years as the point of view has changed. One of the basic four directions occurs in the old name and another one in the new name. (There are two sides to every story.)
  • F: Translate the direction which occurs in the old name into degrees (using the scale 0-359 degrees).

Question 3:
Let us now combine the two subjects S1 and S2 to obtain a new subject S3 which was quite an innovation in Europe at the time when it was introduced.
  • d: The first year in which it was possible to profit from subject S3 in Austria.
  • e: The sum of digits (=crossfoot) of the number d.

Question 4:
Now we change our focus again. We are now interested into the river X which plays a role in one of gebu's caches (one of the old ones of course), but which is also related in some way to the service dealt with in Question 2. The cache is hidden in the gorge of the river X (one of Alice's favourite places in Styria).
  • f: The number of letters of the name of river X.

Question 5: (New version 2010)
There is a city which is located in one of the new member states of the EU which shares it German name with the river. In this city the river X joins with the river Y.
  • g: The number of letters of the first part of the name of the river Y in the country's language.

Some calculations
  • A = 3*a - e - (g-1)*f/2 + c
  • B = c*(a - c)*(2*e + 1)
  • C = 3*e - a - c
  • D = d + a - (1000 + b)



Stage 2: N 47° A.B', E 015° C.D'
(A building with an interesting evolution)

You can reach this stage by public transportation, car, motorbike and bicycle. If you come by bicycle, there are nicer routes than taking the main roads, but these routes involve a greater difference in height.

If you come with your own vehicle, you can park it close to the given coordinates. If you come by bike, you might want to consider to continue until Stage 5 with your bike, leave it there, walk to the remaining stages, and then return to Stage 5. In this way you will have to walk about 4 km (2 km in each direction).

Question 6:
Let us first deal with the building at Stage 2 (which by the way has quite an interesting history and serves a different purpose today than in former days).

  • h: A white sign with a single word on it recalls back the past. By eliminating the letter at the h-th position you arrive in the present.
  • i: The Arabic number that can be found on an old basin (lavoir) somewhere at the outside of the building.

Question 7:
We now change the focus to the route which passes behind or in front of (depending on your position) the building.
  • k: How many vehicles of the type for which the route has been designed fit onto the route next to each other (side by side)? Let k be this number.
  • j: The number of cables of the power line installed directly above the route (do not take into account cables at some distance to your location which are used for other services). Quite remarkable, isn't it?


Some calculations
  • H = B + f*(i + 1) + h-2
  • J = C + 1



Stage 3: N 47° A.H', E 015° J.jfg'
(A declaration of love)

The walk to Stage 3 was not that far, was it? I added this way-point to guide your way and to provide a sanity-check for your answers at Stage 2.
Near the given coordinates you will find a tree where someone declared his love to a girl several times.

  • m: The number that consists of the last two digits of the year which is carved into the tree at least three times.
  • o: The number that results by taking the position index in the alphabet of the 6-th letter of the name of the beloved one.

Some calculations
  • K = (m + c)*b + o + k
  • L = (m + c)*b - i + c

Suggestions for the route to Stage 4

First, follow the street which passes by very close to Stage 3 until you come close to a residential area which apparently leads into a dead-end. You can then follow more or less the direction proposed by your GPS receiver while staying on paths.



Stage 4: N 47° A.K', E 015° J.L'
(A peaceful place)

In my opinion this is a truly peaceful and idyllic place. It is rather unknown to non-locals.
Watch out for a large nostalgic-type lantern.
  • p: The number of glass-segments of the lantern, or in other words, the number of corners of the basis plate of the upper part of the lantern.
  • q: If the metallic part of the lantern is golden coloured, set q=300 else set q=200.

Some calculations
  • M = q + 1
  • N = p*p*p + m - 30

Suggestions for the route to Stage 5

Do not follow the street which leads uphill from Stage 4. It is a dead-end!

If you arrived at Stage 4 on foot, I suggest the following route to Stage 5: Follow the street which passes by Stage 4 downhill until you meet something which belongs to subject S2. Close-by you will find a wooden signpost for a route which is certainly of interest for all cachers that wish to do non-drive-in caches. There are two words on the signpost, the first of which is connected to the name of the place where Stage 4 is located.
On your route you will encounter further signposts of the same type. A short part of your way will lead along a paved road which you leave again if you follow the signposts. Alternatively, you can also follow the paved road. In any case, you will return to the paved road shortly before you arrive at Stage 5.

If you came by bike, I suggest to proceed as follows: Drive downhill until you meet the main road and continue until you meet the next reasonable possibility to go uphill in the direction you wish to go. Follow this street until you arrive at Stage 5. NB: There is some height difference to be mastered. (You might prefer to push your bike at the steepest part.)



Stage 5: N 47° (A+1).M', E 015° (J+1).N'
(A building with a surprising sign)

I inserted this way-point mainly to guide your way. I was, however, quite surprised to encounter the sign in front of the building. The sign is not related to the purpose the building is serving today. (Edorian was so kind to let me know that the sign dates back to the history of the building.)

Close to Stage 5 and at further places in its surroundings you can buy various types of fresh Styrian produce. Take a look yourself!

Question 8
Let us now deal with the address plate of the building which was attached to the surprising sign when I have hidden the cache. On October 31, 2004 I found it lying in the grass below the sign. In case the plate is missing when you hunt for the cache, use the alternative approach I am indicating below to answer the questions. Please do refrain from entering private ground for obtaining the answers!

First, find out in which community the building is located. (If the address plate is missing, walk back along the street into the direction of Stage 4 - within about 150 meters you will pass another house - its address plate is easily seen directly from the street.)
  • r: If there exists an Austrian motorway with an exit for this community, then let r be the number of that motorway. Else set r=0.
  • s: The house number of the building. (If the address plate is missing, take the number of the house to the left and subtract 2, or subtract 1 from the number of the house you have visited to find out the community in which all three houses are located.)

Some calculations
  • P = s*(e - r) - f
  • Q = i*(s + 3)

Suggestions for the route to Stage 6

I did not find a route to Stage 6 that uses only paths and roads. The map is not very precise on this, and there are many private properties around. My suggestion for accessing the path which leads to Stage 6 is as follows: Follow the street further in northward direction until you arrive at a crossing. Turn left (this road leads to a farm house). Shortly after the turn start to descend the hill along the edge of the forest. You will reach a path after a very short time. You will find yourself close to a clearing with several houses.
Follow from now on the path in the direction heading for Stage 6. I like this path. In my opinion, it is not only a nice path for walking, but also for gentle forms of running or nordic walking whatever are your preferences.



Stage 6: N 47° (A+1).P', E 015° J.Q'
(A very old stone)

Within a radius of 20 meters around these coordinates, you will find a rather old stone. (The stone has unfortunately been marked by an arrow or a letter, but the original information is still readable.)
  • t: The sum of the last three digits of the year date on the stone.
  • u: The third digit of the year.

Some calculations
  • R = d - 900 + u
  • S = t*(g-1) + b

The path from Stage 6 to Stage 7 and further on to the cache used to be nicer and more idyllic. It has apparently been tranformed into a kind of logging road in connection with the construction of a new sewage.



Stage 7: N 47° A.R', E 015° J.0S'
(A very small wooden house)

Close to the coordinates you will find a very small wooden sort of house with two inhabitants. In earlier years the house was easily reachable - now the last meters are not that pleasant in Summer time. So I I changed the questions asked at this stage in 2010.
  • v: The number of doors of the tiny house.

Final calculations (promised)
  • T = F - b*(t - v)-1
  • U = (v + 3)*e - f



Stage 8: No coordinates - see description below
(The cache - new hideout 2010)

The distance from Stage 8 to Stage 7 is approximately U meters. The bearing from the hideout of the cache to Stage 7 is about T degrees.
NB: The values for T and U have been chosen in such a way to give reasonable results for those using the GPS to determine the position of Stage 8.

The cache box is a small lock and lock container. It is hidden in a hollow tree stump on a little slope and is covered with camouflage material.






Additional hint   Decrypt

[Stage 2, h:] napvrag fcryyvat
[cache:] Arkg gb n pbavsre

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

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Log entries for Near Quino's former home (Quino III)    Found 7x Not found 0x Note 4x Maintenance 1x

Archived 31 December 2018 cezanne has archived the cache

[EN:] Thirdteen months without a visit and noone contacting me in reaction to my recent note made me decide to archive this cache. The hideout object has suffered a lot from weathering (not from cachers) and sooner or later I would have had to move it again which then would have complicated things for the very popular yearly Christmas tree cache (Oh Tahhenbaum).

I have already retrieved the container. Meanwhile some of the main sights the cache wanted to share are shown by other caches anyway which got hidden later than my cache. The final area is well known to many from several editions of the Christmas tree cache which unfortunately also got abused by some cachers who only visited the final location without having ever got an impression of what this cache intended to show.

The last day of the year is a good day to say good bye to a cache. I plan however to hide a new hiking multi cache in 2019. Then also the fans of such caches who have found almost all such caches in their area will be able to go for a new one.

[DE:] 13 Monate ohne Besuch und keine Reaktion auf meine Note haben mich zum Entschluss gebracht diesen Cache zu archivieren. Das Versteckobjekt hat durch Verwitterung (nicht durch Cacher) sehr gelitten und ich haette das Versteck ueber kurz oder lang wieder aendern muessen und dies haette den Prozess der Erstellung der sehr populaeren Oh Tannenbaum Cacheserie unnoetig verkompliziert.

Ich habe die Dose bereits entfernt. Inzwischen werden einige der sehenswerten Orte, die der Cache zeigen wollte, und Teile des Weges, ohnehin von anderen (spaeter versteckten) Caches gezeigt. Die Finalgegend ist vielen von einigen Ausgaben des Oh Tannenbaum Caches bestens bekannt, was leider auch bei Abstauberfunden ausgenutzt wurde bei denen Cacher nur zum Final gingen und keine Ahnung erlangten was ihnen der Cache zeigen wollte.

Der letzte Tag des Jahres ist ein guter Tag um sich von einem Cache zu verabschieden. Ich plane jedoch 2019 einen neuen Wandermulticache zu verstecken.Dann koennen auch die Fans solcher Caches, die schon fast alle solchen in ihrer Gegend gefunden haben, einen neuen besuchen.

Note 06 January 2012 cezanne wrote a note

[EN:] Some previous finders convinced me to extend the life time cycle of this cache. epikurios was so kind and placed a new tight container with a new log book and new trading items. Many thanks!

Please note that I slightly modified the formulation of two questions, one at Stage 3 and one at Stage 4 to avoid possible misunderstandings. Furthermore, I deleted the workaround for variable i as it is no longer necessary.

Thanks to all finders of the cache, in particular to those who sent me valuable feedback which is quite important for me for caches that are not visited often.

[DE:] Einige Vorfinder haben mich dazu ueberredet den Cache noch weiter leben zu lassen. epikurios war so nett und hat eine neue dichte Dose mit einem neuen Logbuch und neuen Tauschartikeln plaziert. Vielen Dank nochmals dafür!

Bitte beachten, dass ich zwei Fragen (eine bei Station 3 und eine bei Station 4) geringfuegig modifiziert habe, um moegliche Missverstaendnisse zu vermeiden. Ferner habe ich die Alternative fuer Variable i wieder gestrichen, weil sie nicht mehr noetig ist.

Vielen Dank an alle Finder, besonders an jene, die mir wertvolles Feedback geschickt haben, das fuer mich wichtig ist, vor allem, weil dieser Cache nicht oft gefunden wird.

Note 27 June 2010 cezanne wrote a note

[EN:] Finally I managed to visit the area around the final. The major part of the forestry works appears to have been finished. The logging road is in a better condition than in Winter, but after heavy rain falls it still will be quite muddy.

Unfortunately, the nice old tree where the cache had been hidden and all surrounding trees have been cut down. The cache was still there, but as the area will grow over an moreover, new trees have been planted, I decided to move the cache to a new hideout.

Moreover, I realized that the last stage before the cache cannot be easily reached close enough. So I adapted the questions at this stage an removed one intermediary stage that became obsolete.

When passing Stage 2, I realized that some works are in progress there. Therefore, I adapted this stage as well and included an additional hint as a potential workaround.

I did not visit the other stages, but am confident that they are ok.

At last I simplified some part of the cache by removing Cezanne's function (somehow antique by now) and its description. For those who have already solved the puzzle part, please observe that g has changed.

As several parts of the text have changed, a new printout might be appropriate.


[DE:] Endlich habe ich es geschafft die Cachegegend wieder zu besuchen. Die Forstarbeiten scheinen grossteils zu Ende zu sein. Die Forstwege sind in besserem Zustand als im Winter, aber nach heftigen Regenfällen ist mit schlammigen Abschnitten zu rechnen.

Leider wurde auch der schöne, alte Baum, der als Cacheversteck diente, niedergeschnitten (wieder mal bei einem Cache von mir!), und auch alle umgebenden Bäume.
Der Cache war noch vor Ort und in gutem Zustand. Da das Gebiet zuwachsen wird und auch neue Bäume gepflanzt wurden, habe ich den Cache verlegt.

Ferner stellte ich fest, dass die letzte Station vor dem Cache nur mehr schwer nah genug zu erreichen ist. So habe ich die dort gestellten Fragen angepasst und eine vorhergehende Station, die obsolet wurde, gestrichen.

Am Anreiseweg stellte ich fest, dass bei Station 2 Bauarbeiten stattfinden. Ich habe auch dort Anpassungen durchgeführt und einen verschlüsselten Hinweis für auftauchende Probleme eingefügt.

Die anderen Stationen habe ich nicht besucht, bin aber zuversichtlich, dass sie in Ordnung sind.

Schliesslich habe ich einige Vereinfachungen in der Beschreibung durchgeführt und die Cezanne Funktion (etwas antik mittlerweile) und deren Beschreibung entfernt. Jene, die den Raetselteil bereits geloest haben, bitte beachten, dass sich g veraendert hat.

Da sich der Text durch diese Änderungen an mehreren Stellen geändert hat, ist ein neuer Ausdruck empfehlenswert.

Found 25 November 2009 divingbrothers found the geocache

Die Hausarbeit für diesen Cache war schon länger erledigt, und war recht interessant. Dann hab ich ihn lange hinten angestellt, weil die Runde gerade lang genug ist für einen Vor- oder Nachmittagsspaziergang. Heute hats gepasst, und ich hab mit hügelwühler den Cache vorgenommen. Der Spaziergang an sich war wie erwartet sehr angenehm, und noch dazu gabs heute ein total schönes Wetter. Bei Stage2 hab ich zuerst mit Gegenwart und Vergangenheit nichts anfangen können, aber hüwü hatte dann bald die richtige Eingebung. Ist doch so einfach :-) Die Fragen waren alle klar zu beantworten, und die Stationen waren mir teils unbekannt, teils bin ich schon mal vorbeigekommen. Im Gespräch vertieft, haben wir zwar einige Stationen "übersehen" und mussten ein Stück zurückgehen, aber macht ja nichts... wir gehen ja gerne ;) Wie erwartet waren auch die Berechnungen. Schauen zwar Anfangs recht kompliziert aus, aber sind dann einfacher als so manche "normale" Multi-Rechnung. Ich glaube allerdings, dass genau diese Berechnungen sehr viele davon abhalten, diesen Cache zu machen. Mit geeigneten Schuhen war der Weg nirgends ein Problem, und auch wenn die letzten paar km durch die viel genannte Forststrasse sicher ein bisschen an Charme verloren hat, bleibts eine nette Gegend. tftc

Note 31 October 2009 cezanne wrote a note

[EN:] The cache is still there. I noted, however, that I never modified the cache size to small (when the cache has been hidden this cache size did not exist). The description talks about a small container anyway.

Due to heavy forest works the area around the final cache and the way back are, however, not attractive at the moment. Once there was a lovely small trail in the forest where now there is an ugly logging road ...... In any case, the cache can be visited. I will leave it disabled, however, for a while until I get to know that the forest works have been finished. It is not recommendable at the moment to visit the cache during the week.

[DE:] Der Cache ist noch an seinem Platz. Ich habe allerdings festgestellt, dass ich nie die Cachegroesse auf "small" adaptiert habe (als der Cache versteckt wurde, gab es diese Groesse nicht).
Es ist im Text aber ohnehin von einer kleinen Dose die Rede.

Durch massive Forstarbeiten ist die Gegen um den Final und der Weg zurueck zur Zeit nicht gerade attraktiv (sehr matschig). Wo einst ein lieblicher, schmaler Waldweg war, ist nun eine haessliche Forststrasse. Der Cache kann jedoch besucht werden. Ich lasse ihn deaktiviert fuer eine Weile bis ich erfahre, dass die Arbeiten zu Ende sind. Es ist im Moment nicht empfehlenswert den Cache wegen der Arbeiten unter der Woche zu besuchen.


Note 26 October 2009 cezanne wrote a note

[EN:] There might be a problem with the final. To be on the safe side, I deactivate the cache until I find the time to check the situation.

[DE:] Eventuell gibt es ein Problem mit dem Final.

Found Recommended 28 May 2008 Rhodo Dendron found the geocache

Nach #1 und #2 bin ich nun endlich auch zu #3 der Serie gekommen. Dieser erfordert zwar einiges an reisebegleitender Rechnerei, aber mit etwas Vorbereitung geht das schon, und als Entschädigung gibts wirklich schöne Orte und Landschaften. (Durch Verwechslung von f und F hab ich am Ende sogar noch viel mehr schöne Landschaften kennengelernt als eigentlich vorgesehen. [:o)])

TFTC NT

Found 03 April 2007 a fluke found the geocache

Ein wirklich sehr schönes Platzerl. Da werden wir sicher nochmal kommen.
Mit Spoiler war das Finden kein Problem.
lg a fluke

Found 05 June 2006 Waldschratbrigade TLU found the geocache

Nachdem der Dr. uns relativ leicht motiviert hat und Schraterl A. durch die Aussicht mit dem Coyoten Ari spielen zu können auch höchstgradig motiviert war (obwohl der Apachenhatsch für ihre kurzen Beine ja mindestens doppelt so lange war wie für den Standardwaldschrat), machten wir uns auf den Weg zu Station 2. Dort konnten alle Informationen gefunden werden. Durch empirische Annäherung wurde Station 3 lokalisiert und ab da ging dann sprichwörtliche die Post ab, vor allem für Waldschrat T. der seine Geländegängigkeit und Geschwindigkeit mit der des Autos des Dr. T. maß. Alle Stationen wurden aufgrund der exakten Fragestellung schnell gefunden. Die Stimmung beim Final war toll.
Danke für diesen schönen Cache.

In: 5 Tolar

Found Recommended 14 October 2005 JulieWood_Rabat found the geocache

Hallo miteinander
Heute Nachmittag haben sich das komplette JulieWood_Rabat Team sowie Stamperl zum zweiten mal bei schönen blauen Himmel in richtung Quino III bewegt.

Nachdem unser / mein (Anfänger) Fehler gefunden wurde ist der rest des Caches sehr flüssig dahin gegangen.

Danke Cezanne für diesen schönen Cache.

In: Post Erfrischungstuch
Out: Ü-Ei Cabrio

Somit ist der Näheste Cache zur Heimkoordinate geschafft.

Angi & Martin


PS: die Empfehlung gilt der Quino Serie

Found 13 May 2005 aj-gps found the geocache

19:50 CEST
As that DNF was really annoying, I was 100% sure to have checked that tree and I just couldn't stay at home I took my car to check the cache location again. Just in case I took my shiny new flashlight (uhm, better call it floodlight, heh) with me, but that wasn't necessary at the end.
When I was taking some pictures of the tree in question and its surroundings I suddenly spotted the cache on one picture (see pics). Just take your digital camera and stick it into the deepest and darkest holes, then you will succeed
The cache is in good condition, even though the plastic bags around the box have some holes.

IN: -
OUT: Geocoin
(other logs @ GC)

Found 13 May 2004 Edorian found the geocache

When I returned from the 'Vergessener Weg' cache today the weather was better than it had been forecasted. So I decided to do another cache today. Since I knew that DrMiG also wanted to go caching this afternoon/evening I called him and both of us went there.

I had googled the answers for the questions leading to stage 2 last weekend. On Sunday I went to stage 2 to check whether my calculations were right. They were but I could not search further to beat Jbaggs for the firstfind since I had lent my GPS to DrMiG for his first 'few' caches.

We left the car at stage 2 and went to the other stages. We found everything quite fast, only once a fence barred our way and we had to wade through stinging nettles to go around it.

During our walk one of the locals stopped his car to ask us what we were doing and he was quite fascinated that we were on some kind of treasure hunt.

The later it got the better the weather got, contrary to the forecast. The paths were quite muddy from the earlier rain, but I still managed it with my sneakers.

Thanks Cezanne for showing me another nice walk in the vicinity of my hometown.

In: TB 'What am I?'
Out: Cat (From Ü-Ei?)

Pictures for this log entry:
The cache and TB \"What am I?\"The cache and TB \´´What am I?\´´