Upon first listen, it seemed like the audio file was morse code with some severe distortions. Dean later described it as “bass-boosted peaky audio”, which is basically the same thing with fancier words.
On our first attempts, we tried to transcribe the morse code without manipulating the file, but this was seriously tedious and draining. (The exact words I used were “joyce is really not that patient”.)
Fun fact: The distorted song in the audio file is [Give Me a Home Among the Gumtrees](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLWzPQmd5sc).
A few attempts later, Dean ported the file into [Audacity](https://www.audacityteam.org/) (our old friend!) and noticed the 600Hz tone (the morse code beep) was really prominent, and equalized the audio so that that tone could be isolated. ![](https://codimd.s3.shivering-isles.com/demo/uploads/upload_a870cacf38c55b2b9ac77b6f1d239622.png)
Then it was just a matter of reading morse from this mess.![](https://codimd.s3.shivering-isles.com/demo/uploads/upload_e74164ce144f138cf10fa1c5a6d8beaa.png)
Which still took a while. Don’t get me wrong. (My friends are more patient than I.) But we ended up with this:
Result:```-.-. .- .-. .- -- . .-.. .-.. --- / -.- --- .- .-.. .- ... / .- .-. . / - .... . / -... . ... - / -.- --- .- .-.. .- ...```
Which, when translated from morse code, gave us the flag.
**Flag**: `CARAMELLO KOALAS ARE THE BEST KOALAS`**Tools**: [Audacity](https://www.audacityteam.org/), [morse code decoder which didn't end up working](morse code decoder)
Fun fact: Caramello koalas are actually [chocolates](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Caramello_Koala)! They’re koala chocolates with caramel on the inside. Now I want some. They’re [$20+ on Amazon.ca](https://www.amazon.ca/Cadbury-Caramel-Koala-240g/dp/B002X0QG58) though …