Background basics

The Great Melbourne Treasure Hunt. Five clues. Five prizes to claim. And each one takes you a step closer to our GRAND PRIZE ‘The VIP Treasure Trove’ – a luxury package of shopping, dining, pampering and discovering valued up to $25,000 for you and a friend.

To make it easier for you to crack the clues and win the grand prize, the City of Melbourne has set up a special City Concierge service outside the Melbourne Town Hall, where you can leave your bags and collect them later. You can also use our concierges to update you on what’s new and what’s worth a visit in the city.

Where and when?
Why will I need a pen or pencil?
What happens if I join the hunt late?
How do I solve the clues?

Where and When

All clues will be announced in the following locations, so make sure you are there, online or scanning the Herald Sun for details.

• City Concierge building outside the Melbourne Town Hall

• www.gmth.com.au

• www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/whatson

• Herald Sun newspaper, page 2

• Twitter/gmthunt

• Facebook.com/pages/gmthunt

To make things even easier, all five clues will be announced on the following days and all you have to do is go to the secret location the clue leads to during12 and 2 pm that day. Identify our marshal, enter the draw and see if you win.

• Clue 1 (Table for Two) announced on Saturday 12 February

• Clue 2 (Valentine’s Day Romantic Wardrobe Runaround at Melbourne Central) announced on Monday 14 February

• Clue 3 (Beauty & Fashion Make-over at MYER Melbourne) announced on Friday 18 February

• Clue 4 (Secret City Tours) announced on Saturday 19 February

• Clue 5 (Sportsgirl Sleepover) announced on Tuesday 22 February

To win the grand prize, you will need the answers to the first five clues, then follow the hunt on Saturday 26 February to solve the final clue, then write your answers on this map and submit it to the City Concierge by 3pm for the final draw. Phew!

Our grand prize, the VIP Treasure Trove, is drawn at 4pm on Saturday 26 February at the Great Melbourne Treasure Hunt City Concierge outside the Melbourne Town Hall, 120 Swanston St.

Why you’ll need a pen or pencil

To play, you need to:

• Fill in your name, address and phone number on this map

• Check when each of the five clues will be announced

• Write the answer to each clue on the map, then head for the secret location between 12 and 2pm that day. Identify one of our marshals. And he or she will enter you in our draw for that prize. Winners will be announced and contacted on the same day.

• Winners will then be awarded a limited-edition ticket that directs you to a money-can’t-buy experience. So to win, you need to claim your ticket from the marshal or the City Concierge desk.

• Repeat this five times by answering all five clues

• Our GRAND PRIZE - the $25,000 VIP Treasure Trove will follow the same format – a clue, a journey, a draw and the big announcement! But only if you have correctly completed the entry form.

What happens if I join the hunt late?

Each clue and the experience it leads to can be enjoyed in its own right, so don’t panic if you join the hunt late. You can still play, even if you’ve missed previous prizes. How? Once each of our five clues has been solved and the prizes claimed, answers and interviews with clue crackers will appear in media associated with the event. So check the website, Twitter feeds and Facebook updates regularly.

To compete for the VIP Treasure Trove valued at up to $25,000 you’ll need to record the answers on your map from the first five clues (plot them out and see what it tells you!), then solve the final clue and submit your entry. If you need another map – for a friend, or if you’ve left coffee stains on this one – you can download one or pick one up from the City Concierge service outside the Melbourne Town Hall.

Solving the clues

All clues relate to a location on your map that could be a well-known street, a building, a public square or a landmark shop, so check the map carefully. Each clue contains the answer, so you don’t need to look elsewhere.

Pay careful attention to the street names we use on the map and take note of the buildings, graphics and text on the map. All may contain a fragment of the answer.

Read and re-read each clue carefully. Check for word plays, test for familiar puns and for the first letters of words in unusual phrases. We’ve used other tricks too: picture puns, pictograms, even a play on place names. So Southern Cross might be referenced as ‘X marks the spot down south where lines meet’. X = a cross, while down south is ‘southern’. Hence, Southern Cross, while the reference to where the lines meet is a tip to think about trams or trains.

You get the idea. Now look carefully on the reverse of the map, familiarise yourself with it – and keep your eyes and ears open for the first clue. Take care and good luck!