The aim of the game is to follow the clues until you find the treasure. In this instance, the next clue is hidden at New Acton's Time Thief and Bower statue. Nestled at the bottom of one of the two eagle statues - specifically, the one sitting on a clock - is next riddle.

The capital's Lucy McAuliffe and Alex Norris are in charge of creating riddles such as this for Canberra Treasure Hunts, and it was actually the pair's love of treasure hunts that led them to this point.

"It was [originally] started by another pair called Jordan and Inna," Norris says.

"Their plan ... was to put on one treasure hunt per week, starting at 7am, which sounds like a bit of a daunting time but Lucy and I were keen treasure hunters and we were there regularly at 6.45am, with a coffee in hand, ready to solve some riddles.

"After a while, Jordan and Inna got in contact with us saying 'You guys seem like really keen treasure hunters. We, unfortunately, need to move on but would you like to take over?' And we said 'yes, absolutely'."

Two years later, the event is still going strong and now exists as a monthly event beginning at the "more humane" time of 10am.

While the duo may not have come up with the concept, treasure hunting is in their blood.

"We moved to Canberra separately - we both moved for work - but we both realised that our parents used to set up little treasure hunts for us for our birthday," McAuliffe says.

"They'd hide all our presents around the house, and for me, my dad would do these really abstract drawings and I'd have to figure out what the drawing was to find out where the present was, and Alex had something really similar that her parents did for her birthday. So we've both come from a strong treasure hunting stock."

Although these hunts don't come with birthday presents, what Canberra Treasure Hunts gave the duo was a more intimate knowledge about the city they call home.

"I thought it was a good way to find a bit more about the city that I was living in and go into some really off-the-beaten-track places - places that are right under your nose that you drive past a million times but you never actually pull over and stop and actually look at the sign or the marker," McAuliffe says.

Every hunt is different but this Saturday's hunt, in particular, has been designed as part of National Science Week. As well as being a slightly longer hunt than usual, the team entry cost has been waived, and the event is limited to 25 teams (of five or less).

For more information go to canberratreasurehunt.com