tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58164227217133967652024-03-14T18:31:38.702+11:00The Rats - GeocachingDave Berehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16951351489323936562noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816422721713396765.post-65066821986788839512017-11-21T11:42:00.000+11:002018-06-26T11:48:26.155+10:00Alexandra Mega Weekend<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As Victoria geared up for its second mega event we decided a weekend
roadtrip would be the best way to make the most of this event. A planned was
hatched which would see us grabbing some big numbers to make the most of the
weekend.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Thursday 16<sup>th</sup> Nov, we headed south after work, driving most
of the night had us arriving in rural Victoria about 3am where we grabbed a few
hours’ sleep beside the road. Just after first light and with our energy levels
returning to some sort of normality we set off on what would be our biggest day
of the trip. The 300 plus caches around Mt Disappointment proving a magnet to
the many geocachers who were flocking to the area. The forestry roads and hills
were a labyrinth of trails and the caches that dotted them. At times throughout
the day the weather wasn’t too kind and on more than one occasion we had to sit
out severe thunderstorms, however as the day progressed so did our find count and
by days end we’d put a huge dint in the Mt Disappoint plethora of caches.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saturday dawned under clear skies and we set about completing the
remainder of the Mt Disappointment caches before heading across the Alexandra
Mega Event. Here we met up with hundreds of likeminded geocachers, many of who
were friends from far and wide. After the obligatory announcements, we spent
the rest of the day finding unique cache types in the area. It was at one of
these unique finds where a crazy plan of finding 10 cache types in a day was
floated. Well don’t ever tell a cacher “it can’t be done” because we’ll do our
best to prove it can be done and thus we started doing some big kilometres to
find a webcam cache and then to the other end of the state to find a virtual
cache, oh and quick stop back at the mega event where I was inducted in the
Geocaching hall of Fame.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our webcam cache had us driving to windy heights of Mt Buller where we
posed with the skier statue before driving back to the heart of Melbourne City
where we found a virtual cache just near Flinders Rail Station. These 2 rare finds
coupled with our traditional, multi, mystery, earthcache, mega, wherigo,
letterbox and a lab cache ensuring we finished the day with 10 find types…..
Impressive!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our last in rural Victoria
started a little slower than the previous days. Waking up on the banks of the
Murray River was quite peaceful. Once packed up we were quickly back in our
stride of finding more caches in the Wangaratta area. By lunchtime it was time
to hit the black top and head for home. Our 3 day caching haul had amounted to
500+ finds.</span></span>Bere’s Blogspothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854665155153617197noreply@blogger.com0Alexandra VIC 3714, Australia-37.1943946 145.70807420000006-37.295582100000004 145.54671270000006 -37.0932071 145.86943570000005tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816422721713396765.post-15722659000948568242017-08-31T13:01:00.000+10:002018-06-26T13:01:51.656+10:00Every mainland state & territory in 8 weeks<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This blog is one of opportunity as opposed to intent. In July we set
off for an 8-week holiday taking us to far west WA via any and every dirt road
possible. Over that 8 weeks we seen some amazing places and traversed some of
Australia’s more remote roads. It was because of this passion for the great
outdoors coupled with our love of geocaching that we found a cache in every
state and territory along the way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Below I have listed several the highlights which if it wasn’t for
geocaching we might have driven straight past it:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<ul>
<li>·<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">GCKJFX - Haddons Corner</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">GC20AQZ - Big Red (Eastern Gateway to the
Simpson Desert)</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">GC720YF - Boulia - The Outback Way</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">GC1X7T9 - The Tanami</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">GC15A9Y - Wolfe Creek Crater</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">GC44CZM - Devonian Reef</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">GC6PJJC - Mitchell Falls EarthCache</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">GC3QZVR - Jam and Cream</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">GC6Z57T - Mataranka Thermal Spring</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">GC3NP5R - Paint me a Picture</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">GC2GA51 – Oodnabloodydatta</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">GCPFZ2 - Dog Gone</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">GC6TGET - Lake Eyre South</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">GCQ1P3 - Strzelecki Crossing</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">GC5TP9W – Tibooburra</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">GC469D1 - Mr M Remembers Soap</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">GC644GN - A Step Back In Time</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">GC1F16X - "As KEEN as"</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">GC3W165 – snowbreak</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">GC1DRN2 - Jindabyne International Airport</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">GC67R6J - Forgotten Fireplace</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The power of geocaching to
make a holiday into adventure can’t be underestimated. These finds will go towards findin</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">g GC6VF7W Australia All Over Challenge.</span></div>
Bere’s Blogspothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854665155153617197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816422721713396765.post-74626905695660329942016-12-29T12:19:00.000+11:002017-02-17T13:17:10.311+11:00300 in a weekend – geocaching<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our busy lives had reflected in our lack of geocaching over the past
few months so it was with much pleasure that a few of boys had come together
for a weekend away with an ultimate destination of Bathurst. The central plains
had seen a plethora of caching in recent times so big numbers were on the
cards.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Heading off Friday after work we headed south with a plan to grab a few
caches around Goulburn before heading up the back way to Bathurst. Our first
nights caching went well with us camping on the Abercrombie River. We woke to
cool crisp clear skies and were soon back into the caching routine. “The Road
Less Travelled” power-trail winds its way through this area which provided us
with a seemingly never ending supply of caches. By late morning we found
ourselves in Oberon where we grabbed a few supplies before heading back out
into the picturesque countryside. The cache count was quickly piling up and as
moved from town to town the joy of being in the countryside absorbs you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By late afternoon and with hungry hearts we found our last cache in the
TRLT series. Heading into Bathurst <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">we took delight in a decent meal and
well-earned break, but with no rest for the wicked we were soon back out
attempting to find more Tupperware. However it appeared our luck had run out
with more DNF’s than there was finds so we returned to Bathurst where showers
and bed were a high priority.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sunday dawned with the same priorities but the roar of race engines
coming from Mt Panorama dampened my enthusiasm. An unknown race meet meant that
our planned caching spree around the mountain wasn’t going to happen. Instead
we headed back towards Oberon where a number of small clusters quickly added to
our find count. We even managed to get a few of last night’s DNF’s using fresh
eyes. By days end we’d put a good dint in our planned trip and with our find
count pushing towards 300 we chose to cache for a few more hours before opting
to drive home where the comfort of our own beds seemed to be a winning choice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After a very long day and equally long few days we were home again with
a massive 300 plus finds and another area clear of caches.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Bere’s Blogspothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854665155153617197noreply@blogger.com0Bathurst NSW-33.4192822 149.57750080000005-33.4722957 149.49681980000005 -33.3662687 149.65818180000005tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816422721713396765.post-17774225045409983792016-08-24T13:14:00.000+10:002017-02-17T13:32:45.334+11:004 in 1<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hatching a plan to do 4 caching events in one day was a bit of a “tongue
in cheek” comedy when I first mentioned it to others but with it being ‘International
Geocaching Day’ the thought of attending 4 events in the one day took some
shape.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">So it was on the 20</span><sup style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> Aug that Mizmaz and myself headed to
the southern highlands for a chilly early morning event. As many others laughed
at us we signed the log and headed south to Nowra where we made it in time to
celebrate lunch with the local geocachers as part of their event.</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The next event for the day
had us travelling north to Dolls Point where after we managed to make in it
just in time for the group photo and quick chat with some familiar faces. By
this point of the day the body was starting to get a bit weary but it was back
to the Illawarra for our final event. Dinner with our local caching community
was the culmination of a big day mostly spent driving from place to place, but
who else can say they’ve done 4 events in 1 day.</span></span>Bere’s Blogspothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854665155153617197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816422721713396765.post-76465269823493388192016-05-08T15:20:00.000+10:002016-06-25T15:30:11.073+10:00Pre 2002 Geocaches<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For a little
while now I’ve been slowly finding all the geocaches that had been published in
the year 2000-2001. Due to their rarity and sparse localities it’s turned into
a long-term goal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With this in
mind there were 2 geocaches that needed to be found in the Kosciusko National
Park above the snow-line which means for a few months of the year they are inaccessible
and for the other part of the year I seem to always find myself busy with other
activities. So it was pleasing that I’d finally got the planets to align and I
was heading south for a walk in the Alpine region.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HQVbXPuUCow/V24VoUfVKyI/AAAAAAAABKc/kqtdfeizJ2wNXSAVdusDd9nIYc5ooUx1gCLcB/s1600/DSCN0132a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HQVbXPuUCow/V24VoUfVKyI/AAAAAAAABKc/kqtdfeizJ2wNXSAVdusDd9nIYc5ooUx1gCLcB/s320/DSCN0132a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In early May I found
myself leaving home at 3am with a plan to drive straight down to Charlotte’s
Pass where I’d leave the car and head off for my walk along the Main Range. To
my pleasure I made good time and by 8am I was sitting in the carpark of
Charlotte’s Pass doing a final gear check before setting off. I started for the
Blue Lake under clear skies but very crisp and cool conditions. Puddles were covered
in ice and plants were crisp with frost. The conditions made walking a little
slippery, especially the river crossings where stepping stones were icy
slippery….. the last thing I wanted was an early morning dip in the Snowy River.
Making good time I was soon approaching the Blue Lake and my first geocache.
The 2-Dogs cache of “Great Southern Land GC26E4” was on my to-do list. After a short search perched looking
down on Blue Lake the cache was in hand.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-08WM75aM4VU/V24WfoWGliI/AAAAAAAABKw/0VX9nXmlIqoMmoA7S4WJTAiO3GdkGXFQACLcB/s1600/DSCN0144a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-08WM75aM4VU/V24WfoWGliI/AAAAAAAABKw/0VX9nXmlIqoMmoA7S4WJTAiO3GdkGXFQACLcB/s320/DSCN0144a.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">With more
ground to cover I was soon gaining altitude as I headed towards the track
junction of the Main Range. Shortly after reaching this point I headed northeast
and climbed Mt Twynam where the 360deg views were amazing. The mountains went forever
and the valley’s disappeared into the abyss below, but I needed to keep going
as my ultimate goal lied atop of Mt Anton. The “Australia’s Used to Highest
GCF7” cache and my last year 2000 published cache were still ahead of me. With
Mt Anton in sight the weather started to change with a strong wind blowing in
high cloud and chilling temperatures, but alas it didn’t hamper my efforts as I
soon had the geocache in hand.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M3fkXOsNyYQ/V24WfeHsD9I/AAAAAAAABKo/cAFRVd032O0sE9XZgsoJvRx0-Xvt0wC3QCLcB/s1600/DSCN0152a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M3fkXOsNyYQ/V24WfeHsD9I/AAAAAAAABKo/cAFRVd032O0sE9XZgsoJvRx0-Xvt0wC3QCLcB/s320/DSCN0152a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After the
obligatory photos it was time to start heading back, the wind had strengthened
and on a number of occasions the cloud blocked out all views and with so many
thoughts of bad luck stories rushing through my head I didn’t to add my own
chapter. Descend off Mt Twynam I was slightly disappointed to see the serenity
of my walk shattered by a massive school group that was tackling the Main Range
walk in the same direction I had hoped to do. I wasn’t in the mood to share
this walk with 60+ school kids so opted to bow out and head back to the car
where I could continue my adventure in a different direction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5½ hours after
starting my walk I was back at the car having completed a 20km walk in some of
Australia’s most spectacular countryside…. I certainly wasn’t complaining.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Bere’s Blogspothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854665155153617197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816422721713396765.post-25087302978123175912016-04-12T13:19:00.000+10:002016-04-29T13:20:15.858+10:00Canberra Caching<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For a place that is so hilly and so cold in winter, Canberra offers so much for the outdoor enthusiast and geocaching is no exception. Over my years of caching I have done a few trips to Canberra for big numbers. The place is rife with puzzles, powertrails and geo-art and that’s just the specialised caches, chuck in the standard plethora of caches that litter any suburban area and you have the makings for a good weekend.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After work on Friday 8th steeba, Hoojar and I hit the Hume Hwy in search of the large amount of unfound caches that awaited us around Canberra. We headed straight out to the Captain Flat trail where a few hours of night caching seen us quickly rack-up 80 finds before midnight. From there we opted for an early night camping on the grounds of the Queanbeyan Scout Hall.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saturday saw us hitting the caching trails early. Today we opted for 2-wheel transport taking advantage of the many hides that hug the bicycle tracks in Canberra. The Majura and Centenary Trail were on our hit-list. Perfect weather accompanied us as we had the day in the saddle. By days end we chose to have a night at the club with a good meal, a few drinks and a couple of games of footy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunday was another early start with plans of finding the Kowen Forest Kangaroo but arriving at the forest we were turned away by the organisers of a motorbike rally which were occupying the forest for the weekend. Dejected we drove away with our plans shattered. Re-grouping we headed across town picking up small pockets of caches which kept us busy for much of the morning. By late lunch time we’d had enough caching around Canberra deciding to return home early.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our weekend was very profitable in the find count and another great time away with the boys.</span>Bere’s Blogspothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854665155153617197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816422721713396765.post-84938370166437911222016-03-04T13:24:00.000+11:002016-03-16T11:22:08.412+11:00SES Geo-Art Puzzles<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">I’ve been
toying with the idea of hiding a geocaching powertrail for some time now.
Initially I’d brushed the idea off as just another one of my hair brain caching
projects, but the more I thought about the idea of hiding a large number of
caches the greater my enthusiasm became. Each time I thought about the
powertrail I’d come up with a new twist to what my powertrail would be like.
One idea I had was to make some Geo-Art with my geocaches, however each
positive thought was met with the roadblock of “where in the Illawarra” could I
hide a powertrail of caches. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">After way too
much deliberation I decided to make a geo-art powertrail using mystery
geocaches, that way the artwork could be offsite from the actual hides….
Brilliant I thought, but how could I come up with 30 mystery caches and what
would my geo-art look like? I soon had the idea to combine my two passions of
geocaching with SES and thus my artwork was born. The internet opened up my
thinking to a wealth of different puzzle caches and I soon had the concept to hide
30 unique SES puzzle geocaches.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">When<span style="background: white;"> creating and </span>deciphering puzzle caches I’ve
found there are so many different options but most of them can be grouped into
the following categories<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Hidden information – Often the information we seek
is right there in front of us. Text can be in plain sight or in the form a
hyperlink, some caches use varying font sizes, colours or typefaces to
provide information about <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5816422721713396765" style="background-color: white; color: black;" title="S34 30.371 E150 53.445">the cache.</a> Another good place to hide coordinate
information is in the source code of the cache listing. Other less common
places to find information are the cache title, cache attributes, cache
logs, travel bugs, geocoins or the hider’s profile.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Lists – This is common type of puzzle, most cache
coordinates will be made up of 15 numbers so if a list contains 15 items</span><span style="background: white; color: #594a42; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">it
is very likely that each item can be associated with a single digit. Sometimes
a list can be pictures instead of words. Nearly every list requires you to
find a particular pattern.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Codes and Ciphers – This is where it gets a little harder.
A code can be like Morse code, Binary, Braille or even foreign languages
while ciphers can range in <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5816422721713396765" style="background-color: white; color: black; text-decoration: none;" title="S34 31.568 E150 48.050">difficulty from cryptograms</a> to much more
sophisticated ciphers that use keys. Many ciphers utilise symbols or
letters as a way of substituting or transposition of the real coordinates.
Often a frequency analysis can be used to recognise letter patterns.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Images – To coin a phrase “a picture tells a
thousand words” and this is so true, whether its counting the number of
pictures on the cache page or counting items within a picture. Reversing
an image or taking away coloured layers can reveal coordinates. Changing
the pixels within a picture or animated gifs have been used in the past.
Painting with numbers can expose coordinates in an image or the use of stenography.
<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Word, Maths and Logic puzzles – This is a common
form of puzzle with word puzzles being very popular. The puzzle can often
take the form of anagrams, acronyms, crosswords, rhymes or word sudoku’s. The
use of maths in a puzzle can take many forms, whether its finding the area
of a shape, sequencing of numbers, finding constants or the use of base
numbers. Finally, the use of logic statements, nonograms or hidatos can be
used to reveal the coordinates, often the hider asks a number of multiple
choice questions which can be placed into crosshatch grids and/or tables to
find the coordinates.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">In getting my
series of SES puzzle caches published I’ve learned a lot about puzzles and the
use of Google earth for my artwork. I hope the finders of my caches enjoy them
as much as I have in placing them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Thanks for undertaking the challenge</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The Rats</span>Bere’s Blogspothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854665155153617197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816422721713396765.post-84824051947111645222015-11-20T11:28:00.000+11:002016-03-18T11:30:34.932+11:00Melbourne's 1st Mega Event<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A geocaching mega event is one of those smileys that don’t come around
too often so when Melbourne put their hand up to host their first one we jumped
at the chance to attend, but as luck would have it the dates clashed with a
close friend’s wedding…. In the end we opted for the mega.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Driving down to Melbourne on the Friday the Rats and mini rats were
excited to be achieving respective milestones. For us it was to be our 12000<sup>th</sup>
find while for the kids they were about to chalk up their 1000<sup>th</sup>
find. However before getting to the mega there were a few other memorable
caches to do along the way. Melbourne’s 1<sup>st</sup> geocache GC7A and Devil
Bend GCAD are two of Australia’s oldest caches and for us were a “must do”.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vg8Map2P9l0/VutLhkTI0ZI/AAAAAAAABDo/SNQkbgzMSWAGLzGv19FYpPxuTSKSg6Shg/s1600/melb_mega.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vg8Map2P9l0/VutLhkTI0ZI/AAAAAAAABDo/SNQkbgzMSWAGLzGv19FYpPxuTSKSg6Shg/s320/melb_mega.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The trip to Melbourne wasn’t solely for caching as it gave us time to catch
up with long-time friends we’d made as we travelled around Oz. We also took the
time to do a bit of shopping and a drive-by of the latest “The BLOCK”
renovation which had Leonie and Sam in awe.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">For us the mega was a lot of fun. There was a huge variety of other
events attached to the mega, the night time fireworks, the meet n greet, CITO
and labs caches were all worthy of our time, but regrettably our time in Melbourne
was too short and we were soon heading home after a short 4 day trip.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Bere’s Blogspothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854665155153617197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816422721713396765.post-30863759869335274672015-09-26T11:07:00.000+10:002016-03-18T11:07:46.668+11:00The Road Less Travelled<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A power trail to the Rats is like bees to a hive. With this in mind the
Rats teamed up with the mini rats and Mizmaz to tackle this new power trail which
had been placed by a few geocachers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the Rats and mini rats neared respective milestones we were keen to
make the Melbourne Mega our milestone cache so we needed numbers quickly. The
school holidays offered the perfect opportunity for a 2 day drive around
Mudgee.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Heading off mid-morning on Wednesday 23<sup>rd</sup> we started at the
Sunny Corner end of the power trail, after a few hours of weaving our way
through the pine forests we found ourselves at Sofala where we setup camp beside
the river. For Mizmaz this would be her first experience of bush camping and
with a bit of trepidation she managed to get through a very cool night.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Day 2 saw us headed north-west towards Mudgee and Gulgong. The trail
winds its way up and over Mt Parwa and then through some beautiful countryside as it
drops down onto the open plains. The uniqueness of this trail is highlighted by
the different hiders and their unique styles but for much of the way the hides
are very good and worth the 2 days of country driving.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By days end, the Rats and mini rats had racked up the required number of
finds to make our trip to the Melbourne Mega in a few weeks all the more pleasant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks to the cache owners
and Mizmaz for an enjoyable powertrail.</span></span>Bere’s Blogspothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854665155153617197noreply@blogger.com0Mudgee NSW 2850, Australia-32.5905208 149.5887613-32.6975218 149.4273998 -32.4835198 149.75012279999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816422721713396765.post-11249305817552004052015-04-10T13:33:00.000+10:002015-07-28T13:36:03.309+10:00Stanthorpe QLD 2015<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As Queensland prepared to host their first mega event it was a good chance for the Gangsters to get together for another road trip. As with previous mega events the Gangsters head away a few weeks beforehand to find all the local caches so we could enjoy a relaxing mega event with our families. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Heading to Stanthorpe a few weeks before the event we were blessed with clear skies and a warming country lifestyle. The Gangsters had 4 days in the Granite Belt finding over 400 caches which littered the area. A number of powertrails dotted the countryside in anticipation of the hordes of geocachers that would ascend on the area over Easter. For us, we flew into Brisbane where we collecting a hire and started heading west. Our first night was at the noisy Cunningham Gap. Our next day had us in the thick of the powertrails finding over 240 caches along various road tracks and over some beautiful rural areas. We had another under stars while enjoying a campfire and a few drinks. Sunday saw us doing much of the same however we’d ventured closer to civilisation with us stopping the night in the local caravan park of Stanthorpe where we enjoyed a nice warm shower and the relaxed atmosphere of a nice pub meal. Our 4 days was quickly coming to an end but not before we found a few more caches as we headed for Brisbane…. Our again the Gangsters had shared a memorable road trip. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As Easter approached we were disappointed to learn that steeba wouldn’t be joining us at the mega due to the pending birth of the 4th child. For the rest of us the weather prediction didn’t sound great but that wouldn’t deter us, we were keen for some time away with our families. Arriving in Stanthorpe on Easter Friday we were barely setup when the heavens opened up setting the tone for the rest of the weekend. I’d packed a huge tarp which allowed us to have a good amount of dry covered area for the kids to run around. Over the course of the weekend we intentionally didn’t do much caching, choosing to focus more on the fun activities organised as well as visiting some of the local attractions, one of which being the guard dog training facility where dogs are trained in the finer points of security and attack work. Throughout the weekend we attended the 3 other events organised around town and found some of the more unique types of hides available at a mega. The mini-rats did exceptionally well in this department finding a credible 10 cache types in the one day. Another highlight for us was the night-time entertainment and the very social atmosphere (despite the weather) of a great mega-event and to see many of our caching friends from around Australia was an added bonus. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately by Monday it was time to pack up and start the long trek home. Except for Leonie, who had to be back at work by Tuesday the rest of us took a leisurely 3-day road trip down the coast to get home.
</span>Bere’s Blogspothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854665155153617197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816422721713396765.post-11779072903074357432015-01-11T11:58:00.000+11:002015-05-27T13:19:51.142+10:00Caching around Oz<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was under
strict instructions that our holiday around Oz wasn’t to be all to do with caching
and I was happy with that. Setting off on our 6 month trip I thought if we
found 20-25 caches a week I’d be happy with that, I was more interested in using
the trip to highlight some of the great hidden spots that mostly go
undiscovered if it wasn’t for geocaching or finding the unique cache types that
I don’t regularly get to find around home. So wherever possible we would go out
of our way to find an earthcache, a virtual cache or the odd webcam.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On many occasion
we took advantage of the plethora of highway caches that litter Australia as a
way of breaking up a long day in the car or the need for a wee stop. If we
spent a few days in a town we’d often look at the number of favourite points
added to caches to determine the better ones to seek out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a few
locations around Oz I submitted new earthcaches based on unique features that
we’d seen, we hosted a “meet n greet” event in Perth as a way of getting to
know other geocachers, I tagged along on a Roymerc day in Denmark and stopped
by our own virtual cache in SA.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">By the time we’d gotten home I’d amassed an impressive 900+ finds, 53
earthcaches, 19 letterbox caches, 13 virtual caches, 6 wherigo caches and attended
2 events. I’m pretty with these stats considering we drove 31,000km in 6 months.</span>Bere’s Blogspothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854665155153617197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816422721713396765.post-2099733468278162942014-06-02T20:30:00.000+10:002015-05-24T22:51:01.093+10:0010000 finds<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.3pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #594a42; font-family: Arial, "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Back in January
2002 when geocaching was nothing more than an underworld, never talked about,
geek’s game, The Rats (that’s us) found our very first cache some 30km north of
Wollongong. From those early days when we were called SES Rats and our first
find was at Trainspotting GCDFF with 2 of my SES friends we’ve since dropped
the SES part and have made geocaching a real family sport to the point where
many of our family activities are organised around geocaching.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.3pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.3pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #594a42; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In finding our
10000<sup>th</sup> find I look back and reflect on what the sport of geocaching
has done for me and my family. The places we have been and sights that we would
most likely not have ever known about has been truly amazing. Similarly, the
like-minded people we have met and the friendships that have been forged as a
result of geocaching is priceless. I recall turning up to an event thinking
“I’m way outside my comfort zone as I don’t know anyone here” but within
minutes we were made feel welcome and started chatting about the same common
goals.</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vfERf_lniSs/VWHI3C5P2sI/AAAAAAAAA4s/Mn4FYfQDHY8/s1600/IMG_2223.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vfERf_lniSs/VWHI3C5P2sI/AAAAAAAAA4s/Mn4FYfQDHY8/s320/IMG_2223.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 13.3pt;">There have been 10000
memorable moments, but not that I can remember the detail of every one of them.
There are some moments that stick with you forever like our</span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our milestone finds are a special time for us.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The long bushwalks in search of a cache in
some remote wilderness location.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The unique and challenging caching containers
we’ve found</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The many road trips with mates around
Australia and overseas in search of caches</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The record breaking 24hr caching run around
Adelaide</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The not so enjoyable time when we tried to
out-run the Police</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The challenge of caching in the city.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finding 1000 finds in 4 days</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Testing my personal skills and capability in
an attempt to find a cache, and</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some of the great caching events we’ve
attended along the way.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #594a42; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">In the context of
geocaching 10000 finds is just another number, sure its a lot of finds and many
geocachers will never achieve that in a lifetime but for us it all about the
fun we have along the way and I look forward to the next 10000 finds.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 13.3pt;">In celebrating this milestone I’d like to thank
those who attended our 10k picnic http://coord.info/GC528K7. I couldn’t think
of a better way to bring our 10000</span><sup style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 13.3pt;">th</sup><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 13.3pt;"> find.</span><span style="color: #594a42; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 13.3pt;"> </span>Bere’s Blogspothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854665155153617197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816422721713396765.post-4314573881276426522014-01-06T11:16:00.000+11:002014-01-10T11:27:23.704+11:00What a year - 2013<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
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It’s a logical progression that as the popularity of geocaching
increases then so will people’s caching statistics. 2013 has been a huge statistical
year for “The Rats”. I’ve highlighted a few of the more amazing ones.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 39pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->2233 finds for the calendar year.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->An average of 6.1 finds per day.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 39pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Increased my best find day to 325 finds.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 39pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Increased my best month to 1049 finds.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 39pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Increased my caching streak to 130 days.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 39pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Found my fastest 1000 caches – 5 days.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 39pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->2 consecutive days of over 300 finds each day.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->3 trips away with the Gangsters.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 39pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Found Australia’s highest cache<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 39pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Placed our 100<sup>th</sup> hide.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 39pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Hosted 2 events and attended 12 events.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Found 281 Mystery caches<o:p></o:p></div>
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Many of these stats can be attributed to a 5 day caching spree around
South Australia with the Gangsters. I’m not sure these stats will ever be
achieved again by us but in saying that, that’s like waving a red flag to a
bull.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Bere’s Blogspothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854665155153617197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816422721713396765.post-86932484979388113892013-12-04T13:11:00.001+11:002013-12-10T20:21:40.223+11:00The Pigeon's are Calling<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">No one likes doing maintenance on their caches, but it’s a necessary
evil. The thought that someone has intentionally trashed (muggled) your cache
can be heartbreaking and that feeling swept through me when I’d heard of a few
DNF’s on one of my remote caches, but the thought of a bushwalk to the top of
Pigeon House Mt certainly put a smile back on my face. Pigeon House Mountain is
located in the Morton National Park, it’s a 35km drive west of Ulladulla, the
last 14km being dirt road which generally in good condition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It’d been a few years since I’d walked out here and I hoped recent
bushfires in the area hadn’t spoilt the vista. Arriving in the carpark I was pleased
to see new facilities and amenities had been provided. There was only one other
car in the carpark so I was pretty sure I’d have a nice peaceful walk. A sign
at the start of the walk confirmed my cache notes that this is a hard walk of
approximately 3-4hrs and a change in elevation of 450m.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LS7UN77lWQU/Uqbap3jjCPI/AAAAAAAAAHU/SKgaHfEmhCY/s1600/DSCF5228a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LS7UN77lWQU/Uqbap3jjCPI/AAAAAAAAAHU/SKgaHfEmhCY/s320/DSCF5228a.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There is no easing into this walk, straight out of the blocks you head
up a very steep section. For me this took approx’ 30min but I’m pretty fit and
I know others will take it a little easier than I did. Once at the top of this
section you get your first glimpse of your goal. After a refreshing break I
continued on along the easiest part of the walk. For about 10-15min you
traverse the level plateau through heavily wooded areas where the serenity of
the area was broken by the various birds calling. Slowly the track starts to
rise up as you being your assault of the cone shaped land mass. Well-constructed
timber steps and a good path make the job easier but once again you can really
feel your heart beating as climb to the base of the rock pinnacle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9Owg9cIzSxQ/UqbaqLkYaOI/AAAAAAAAAHc/F_Dan13PLaI/s1600/DSCF5233a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9Owg9cIzSxQ/UqbaqLkYaOI/AAAAAAAAAHc/F_Dan13PLaI/s320/DSCF5233a.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It was on this steep slope that I came across the occupants of the
other car, these people had obviously made an early start to the day as they
were already making their way back to the car. After a quick chat I kept going
knowing that I now had the place to myself. I soon arrived at the first set of
ladders and a realisation that I was nearly at the top. There are probably 8
sets of steep steps and 2 ladders to negotiate, all of which are very secure and
safe. Once on top there is a short walk around to the trig and a fenced lookout
and the beauty of this place can be realised.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ig52IbWe0TY/UqbapP1mLPI/AAAAAAAAAHY/yFtAqOMtkFQ/s1600/DSCF5235a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ig52IbWe0TY/UqbapP1mLPI/AAAAAAAAAHY/yFtAqOMtkFQ/s320/DSCF5235a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">From the trig the view in a westerly direction is fantastic. The wilderness
area of Morton National Park, The Castle and Yadboro Flat are all before you.
In the distance evidence of the recent fires could easily be seen. To the east,
the coastal towns of Ulladulla, Milton and Burril can easily be seen. After
plenty of photos I set about replacing my muggled cache. I wondered how a cache
so remote could be muggled twice in 6 months but this area is too nice not to
share with my fellow geocachers so a new container was placed in a slightly
different spot.</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T5IpdJKvU5Q/Uqbb9iKyd_I/AAAAAAAAAHs/pBpB26dvnN0/s1600/DSCF5247a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T5IpdJKvU5Q/Uqbb9iKyd_I/AAAAAAAAAHs/pBpB26dvnN0/s320/DSCF5247a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">With my caching duties complete and some more photos taken it was time
to head back. The ladders seemed a little daunting as you look down on them but
they are no problem if you take your time. The up slopes were now the down
slopes and its often said its harder on the knees going down and I have to say
that was the case for me this time and as always the return journey always
feels quicker. I was soon down the cone slope and moving freely along the
plateau when I had an encounter with the wildlife. A one metre goanna and I
wanted to share the same pathway. Luckily he saw who was the boss and soon
moved to the side allowing me to pass. Taking in one final glimpse of my
achievement I headed down the steep slope and back to the car.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j6qpUKbYHjE/Uqbb-0TQ6xI/AAAAAAAAAH0/VuGiKtv01Ec/s1600/DSCF5254a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j6qpUKbYHjE/Uqbb-0TQ6xI/AAAAAAAAAH0/VuGiKtv01Ec/s320/DSCF5254a.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goanna clinging to tree</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">My hike had taken me 2hr 20min which included a 30min rest on top.
Those who are considering this walk should easily allow 3hrs, take plenty of
water, a first aid kit and your camera with you.</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Dave Berehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16951351489323936562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816422721713396765.post-76883167984644581772013-11-13T14:30:00.000+11:002013-12-06T14:32:12.069+11:00Mid North Coast Wander<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Some 6 months after our washed out attempt of caching through these
parts we’d finally locked in a date and were heading north. Only half the
Gangsters could make the trip, but Hoojar had joined us for the ride.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Leaving Sydney late Friday afternoon we made good time as we headed up
the F3 Freeway and by 10pm we were leaving the tarmac for our first cache of
the weekend. The darkness of night had us naive to the beauty we were entering.
The caches flowed and after a few hours we decided to make camp for the night
just near No: 42<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Morning revealed we’d jagged the perfect grassed camping spot, waking
refreshed we were soon back on the trail of the Mid North Coast. In the light
of day the magnitude of the countryside could be appreciated, the mountainous terrain
of the “Brother Ranges” and beyond was beautiful. As a daunting spin-off there
was a strong smell of smoke and over the next few hours it got stronger and
thicker. At one point we considered exiting the area for our own safety.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">By late morning we’d nearly finished on the western side of the highway
included the enjoyable caches of GCX204 and GC4FG9B. After a couple more caches
around Coopernook we headed out to Harrington. Its’ here that 2 series of
caches come together to provide a plethora of caches for a coastal town. For us
it was earned lunch break and an opportunity to replenish our supplies. However
our break was short lived as there was lots more to do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Heading north along the coast road, the finds continued to mount as we
visited the small towns of Crowdy Head and Diamond Head. We all agreed given
more time we’d love to return some day for a better look. By late afternoon we
were exploring the option that we’d finish the trail by nightfall. After a
couple of phone calls it was decided to catch up with the Browngang caching
team who lived a short drive further north.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Meeting Chris and X (Browngang) at the pub we enjoyed a hearty meal, a bourbon
or two and some good company before accepting the hospitality of our fellow geocachers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sunday dawned with inclement skies and no real urgency to do anything,
but after a hearty breakfast we were on the road again. Chris took us to a few
of his local caches before we were on the road heading south. By the time we’d
reached the highway at Kew the heaven had opened and for the next few hours we
drove through constant rain. We all agreed how lucky we’d been to have done all
our caching the day before.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Arriving home, we were very
pleased with our efforts. 250 finds and another Gangsters trip complete. Thanks
FarmerFrentzen and Hoojar for a great weekend. </span></span>Bere’s Blogspothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01854665155153617197noreply@blogger.com0Laurieton NSW 2443, Australia-31.6440518 152.79429319999997-31.6981243 152.71361219999997 -31.5899793 152.87497419999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816422721713396765.post-11971880407106752122013-08-27T17:15:00.000+10:002013-12-06T14:36:24.563+11:00Powertrail Pandemic<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After nearly 10 months, the Gangsters were back. This time we were off to South Australia for another invasion. Unlike our last visit to Adelaide where we set a new one-day record, this time we were in search of powertrails and the lucrative numbers that are associated with them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After solving countless puzzles, booking flights & cars and last minute route changes we flew out of Sydney late on the 21st Aug for a 4-day spree. We all had various expectations about what we’d achieve on this trip, but we all agreed on 2 goals</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>To improve our one-day find count and</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">b)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>To improve our monthly find total</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were greeted with inclement weather but that didn’t deter us and we were soon in the Adelaide hills collecting our first series of caches. After midnight on the Thursday we started the Fruit Loop series. Clearing skies and cool temperatures made for easy caching and by the time we stopped for the night we’d found an easy 30 caches.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zwAu0y9kCGY/Uh2iP7wCoXI/AAAAAAAAASc/2JQdCqMjYOc/s1600/DSCF5052a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zwAu0y9kCGY/Uh2iP7wCoXI/AAAAAAAAASc/2JQdCqMjYOc/s320/DSCF5052a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thursday dawned with clear skies and a beautiful country vista. We quickly packed up and continued where we’d left off the night before. The rest of the Fruit Loop series didn’t take long to complete and we were soon in Mannum getting a late breakfast. We boarded the ferry-punt for one of the many crossings we did over the Murray River and continued further south.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It didn’t take long before we were starting our next powertrail, the Oz Mega 2014 trail had approx. 180 caches and took us most of the day to complete but we weren’t done yet. By late afternoon we were starting the Oz Mega Signal trail which had an additional 90 caches for us and just after 7pm we finished our days caching with a massive 325 finds. We finished the night off with a good pub meal and a comfortable bed in Murray Bridge.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Passing our 210th find milestone</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Friday morning started slowly, we were all pretty weary after big previous day but we were soon into the swing of things again as we made our way to Tailem bend and the start of the Wandering Heroes powertrail. This powertrail pays homage to much of the caching community with a cache in their honour. Throughout the day we found a cache for Matt, me and our 210 record attempt, along with many other themed caches in honour of the owner. The weather wasn’t as kind today and on a number of occasions we had to put raincoats on or shelter from the chilly wind, but alas by days end we’d found another 317 caches.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By Saturday we’d already eclipsed my expectations of the trip and we still had 2 days ahead of us. Pushing north we zigzagged across the Murray River once again before arriving at the TDF powertrail. This p/t by far was the most enjoyable of the trip. It meanders down an old stock route, has good sized containers and the rural vista was breathtaking. We’d found the 104 caches by early afternoon and were soon on our way to the Auzzie Convicts – wild adventure powertrail. Reading the feedback on this trail had us a little cautious but after finding a few of the caches we soon had the theme of the series and the finds flowed and whilst we didn’t set a cracking pace we had a relaxing afternoon picking up tricky hides.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That night we headed to Kapunda for a bed and a feed, checking in to cabin the local pub came recommended and we weren’t disappointed. Huge meals and plenty of beverages filled us up ensuring we had a good night’s sleep.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A room with a view</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As our last day for the invasion commenced we all hovered around personal milestones, none bigger than the possibility that we might find more than 1000 caches for the trip. This excited us but we still had a long way to go, so it wasn’t long before we were finding our first cache in the Five-oh series, this was quickly followed by the “It’s a small World” powertrail. By early afternoon we started our final p/t of the trip. It was here on the PSA trail that Matt, Jason and I all achieved our personal kilo milestones. I had amazing only celebrated my 8000 find 2-weeks earlier and here I was now celebrating 9000 finds. Celebrations were short lived as the clock was starting to beat us. Our flight home was nearing and we still wanted more caches. As we headed towards the airport we were fortunate enough to collect the necessary finds for us to achieve an amazing 4 days in South Oz.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My 9000th find</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With only minutes to spare, we arrived at the airport, handed over the keys for our rental car and boarded our flight for home. We had spent 4 days on the road, done countless km’s, had 2 consecutive days of over 300 finds each day, completed 9 powertrails and amassed over 1000 finds. Thanks to my fellow Gangsters for another great trip.</span><br />
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Dave Berehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16951351489323936562noreply@blogger.com0Murray Bridge SA 5253, Australia-35.1197018 139.27472609999995-35.1716478 139.19404509999995 -35.0677558 139.35540709999995tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816422721713396765.post-89466688552853650752013-06-17T13:53:00.000+10:002013-07-10T13:55:11.790+10:00GC49DZP Yerranderie 4x4 Event<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Back in October 2011 we scheduled this event but due to a medical
emergency we had to cancel. Some two years later the event was back on the calendar
and we were looking forward to returning to the historic mining town of
Yerranderie. That was until our 4WD was stolen and burnt out, this potentially
ruined any plans of us attending our own event and we were once again faced
with the possibility of having to cancel our own event. At the eleventh hour
having good friends is a blessing and it was one of these friends who kindly
let us borrow his 4WD for the weekend.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a cool Saturday morning of the June long-weekend when we met other
geocaching families at Oberon for the trip to Yerranderie. In convoy we headed
to Mt Werong for our first stop, being the long weekend the place was already
busy. Pressing on we made it to Yerranderie for a late lunch. It was here that
we met up with other geocachers. The place was far crowded than I had
anticipated but that we soon found a nice spot and setup camp. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the day progressed, further geocachers arrived making a sizable
gathering. We pretty much did our own thing for the rest of the day, some chose
to explore the surrounding ruins while others headed to the private town. By
nights fall we all had the same idea, to congregate around the fire and shared in
much laughter and storytelling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunday saw some of the caching teams head off as they continued their long
weekend 4WD adventures, for the rest of us we headed to the private town for a
tour of the buildings and old mining relics. As we took in the vista of the
place we also found a few of the local caches, one of these included a
memorable afternoon hike to the Yerranderie Peak. From these dizzy heights we
could see the Warragamba catchment and the wilderness areas of the Blue Breaks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Sunday evening around the campfire was a perfect example of what
bush camping should be, clear skies filled with thousands of stars, perfect
bush silence and the warmth and glow of a fire.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Monday dawned under clear
skies but they </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">didn't</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> last for long. The predicted rain showers were moving in
fast and by mid-morning as the last of us packed up camp, the rain started. We
said our goodbyes to the other geocachers as most of us were taking separate routes
home. From us the trip home was dogged by constant rain and heavy weekend
traffic, but by late afternoon we’d made it home from a memorable 4x4
geocaching event. Thanks to those who shared the weekend with us.</span></span>Dave Berehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16951351489323936562noreply@blogger.com0Yerranderie NSW 2787, Australia-34.119036 150.2220658-34.125609000000004 150.2119808 -34.112463 150.2321508tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816422721713396765.post-24014493257048554642013-04-12T12:42:00.000+10:002013-07-08T12:44:19.146+10:00Australia’s Highest geocache<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An item on my bucket list has been to climb Australia’s highest
mountain, knowing there were two caches on top was the only incentive I needed
to tackle this quest. The story of our trek can be found <a href="http://daflee.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/weekend-in-thredbo.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having geocached for many years now, my interest has somewhat turned to
improving various statistics and since our visit to New Zealand did improve my elevation
statistic I was keen to grab the Mt Kosciusko caches.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the 6<sup>th</sup> April we made it to the top of Australia and to Australia’s
two highest geocaches were on offer. As we sheltered under raincoats from the
hail, wind and rain we gathered the information for the earthcache and then a
gap in the weather gave us enough time to scour the rocks for the traditional
cache.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Emotions were mixed as we
completed our achievement. We’d completed our goal but it was with only half of
the family. Thank you to my lovely wife for making this a reality.</span></span>Dave Berehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16951351489323936562noreply@blogger.com0Mount Kosciuszko, Kosciuszko National Park, NSW 2642, Australia-36.4559169 148.26358800000003-61.977951399999995 106.95499400000003 -10.933882399999998 -170.427818tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816422721713396765.post-42240490849134416462013-03-09T14:35:00.000+11:002013-07-08T12:37:29.528+10:00Mid North Coast wash-out<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Mid North Coast power-trail had been on our radar for some months.
Planning and logistics were all sorted but as is the case we couldn't control
the weather. Mother Nature put a spanner in the works with predicted heavy rain
making us reconsider our plans. As it turned out, Canberra has always been a
good spot to grab a plethora of caches some with plan A washed out it was onto
plan B (Canberra).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Early Saturday morning on the 2<sup>nd</sup> March we headed to
Canberra with a makeshift plan of grabbing a few smaller power-trails and then
a plethora of caches that dot the suburbs. Our timing was perfect as we seemed
to dodge the Canberra Rally in various spots we visited. We quickly accumulated
a handy sum of finds as we completed the Constellation and Must See
power-trails.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By days end we’d amassed an
impressive 136 finds and we still had another day ahead of us. After a decent meal
and a good night’s sleep we were back into the caching. Today we concentrated
our efforts in the north-western area of Canberra were we grabbed a few caches
in the specimen series and a scattering of other caches. By the time we left
Canberra we tallied an impressive 201 finds, which had us on par for what we’d
original planned to find on the Mid North Coast. Not a bad weekend’s geocaching
under clear skies.</span></span>Dave Berehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16951351489323936562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816422721713396765.post-79894814746030916652013-01-24T17:23:00.000+11:002013-01-30T17:29:09.034+11:00Dargans Ck Canyoning Capers – GC43CRAIt’d been a while since I’d done a Blue Mountains canyon and having missed the last canyon event I was keen to tag-along for this one.<br />
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A large crowd of geocachers gathered at the meeting point and we were soon suited up and ready for this short but picturesque canyon. Our first hurdle was the now locked gate which accesses the creek, this turned out to be a bit of a blessing as it broke up the large group into more manageable sizes.<br />
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Once in the creek it was evident the region needed rain, water levels and flows were low for this time of year. Our group of 3-5 geocachers were soon slipping n sliding our way over fallen logs and down rocky chutes. Moving through the canyon you soon notice the light fading to a point where sunlight barely flickers through gouged and overhanging cliff lines. At many spots we stopped to take photos of these dark and eerie vistas.<br />
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In what seemed to be no time at all, we soon reached the exit point of the canyon. A rope dangling over a small waterfall provides a simple climb up the first section to where a very interesting spiked tree allows you to climb up the remaining 3m cliff line and then the walk out.<br />
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Thanks to Tronador for organising a fun event.Dave Berehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16951351489323936562noreply@blogger.com0Dargan NSW 2786, Australia-33.483491500429857 150.25061130523682-33.484319000429856 150.24935080523682 -33.482664000429857 150.25187180523682tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816422721713396765.post-31941237911259931692012-11-03T09:00:00.000+11:002012-11-07T10:17:13.227+11:00The Gangsters invade NZWhen the caching community of NZ announced they were hosting their first Mega Event, the gangsters couldn’t resist the opportunity to be part of it, so after begging and pleading with our respective wives we were all granted a leave pass to head across the ditch. Plans soon took shape and while there was plenty of enthusiasm to conquer all and see everything, we settled for a 10 day loop around the South Island. As with all our trips, there was plenty of things to prepare. Flights were booked, accommodation and transportation was locked in, caches solved and routes organised. It all came together on the 17th Oct 2012.<br />
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Day 1: As QF45 landed in Christchurch we were filled with excitement. The snow-capped mountains and majestic plains were the first thing that caught my eye. Collecting our Juicy van was our ticket to finding our first cache for the trip. The tally quickly added up as we made our way around the suburbs. It was in these suburbs where we got our first glimpse of the devastation from the 2011 earthquake. It started with buckled and pot-holed streets, roads that didn’t line up with bridges, some houses abandoned through to whole neighbourhoods evacuated, flooded streets and the demolition of the QEII stadium. The sense of shock and sadness was overwhelming. Our first night in Christchurch was spent in jail, the renovated Addington Prison was a novel place to stay. This backpacker style accommodation was a fun reminder to my backpacking adventure years ago.<br />
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Day 2: We’d all experienced some form of communication difficulty since arriving so this morning we headed straight for a Telecom shop. This detour ate into our caching time and coupled with a slow find-rate due to being in a big city we opted to leave the hustle and bustle and head towards Dunedin. Before leaving town we nabbed a few selective cache types like webcam’s and earthcaches. As we drove south we were constantly amazed at the vista. Snow on the mountains, braided rivers and green plains had us camera happy. However our focus was the upcoming 80 cache Thompson’s power-trail. This trail which starts at Rakaia heads inland through rural farmland, caches are dotted along both sides of the road and we quickly accumulated some good numbers here. After completing the trail we headed for Ashburton and our nights accommodation.<br />
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Day 3: Our gangster trips always uncover an array of cool cache locations and often a quote or two that sticks in my memory. Today we visited an old pile box (war bunker) and some interesting WWII tank blockades, however a moment that had us laughing for days was actually a DNF for us. We’d been searching for a cache when we decided to move on, however a nearby property owner approached us where she asked “what are you doing in my bush”. While Matt kindly explained the finer details of caching to her, the rest of us laughed uncontrollably about us being in her bush. </div>
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Moving down the coast we stopped at Timaru and Waimate where we found a plethora of caches. By days ends we’d arrived in Oamaru, this picturesque town offered so much. Not only did we find our share of the local caches, but we stumbled across some penguins in the wild and a place called “Steampunk”. This funky attraction consisted of old steel items welded together to form some unusual displays which came to life when operated by a coin.<br />
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Day 4: Reluctantly we had to leave Oamaru, it had captivated our interest with its beauty and attractions. Driving further south we continued to find highway caches, some of which provided us with some historical war interest, others made us laugh with oversize chooks laying eggs or climbing signal towers while some earthcaches enlightened us to the local geology, the Moeraki Boulders was one such cache. These massive cylindrical boulders were incredible. By mid-afternoon we’d arrived in the picturesque Dunedin where we soon stumbled upon the worlds steepest street and an impressive lookout. By late afternoon we were on our way to the 1st NZ Mega event. Arriving at the event we were all taken by the remoteness and the boggy conditions. With registration complete we attended a symposium on reviewers and caught up with a few Aussies but deciding the whole mega event thing was a little disappointing and it was time to move on! Back in Dunedin we checked into our accommodation where we made ourselves at home for the next 3 days.<br />
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Day 5: It was a day filled with various achievements, milestones and cache types to name a few. We spent the morning seeing the sights and caching through Dunedin CBD before attending a flashmob CITO event at the Octagon where we caught up with more Aussies over celebrating the NZ mega. After a hearty café lunch we headed out into the suburbs where we continued our NZ caching average of 50 finds per day. It was on this particular outing that the guru of earthcaches came to the fore-front. Professor Thompson, as we nicknamed him with his bag of tricks pulls out a refractometer and set about measuring the salinity of the nearby water. Likewise at another earthcache he starts studying sand composition with his own magnifying glass. Another interesting spot that caught my interest was a cool letterbox cache that highlighted a disused obscure rail tunnel.<br />
To complete the day, Matt headed out for dinner with some other reviewers while we had Chinese takeaway and a few bourbons.<br />
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Day 6: From first light we noticed how bitterly cold it was, a harsh southerly wind that had persisted for the past few days had intensified, but that didn’t stop us. We headed off towards the Otago peninsula. The road out along the peninsula wound its way along the foreshore offering great views across the bay. Once again, there were a few standout caches, these included Yellowhead & Grandad’s army. The latter being an amazing insight into NZ war history and the measures that the Kiwi’s took to protect themselves. It was here that we explored old gun placements, bunkers, ammunition shelters and a seal that rested on the rocks. Continuing our drive out to the end, we joined a tour at the Royal Albatross centre which explored the headland and its habitants. Our tour-guide Mary, who had ancestry lines back to the original landowners, was very informative as she showed us the birds and war history.<br />
Heading back towards Dunedin we detoured via Lanarch Castle, this iconic tourist landmark overlooks Dunedin harbour and normally offers spectacular views, but today it was far from inviting as it snowed and hailed for us. Needless to say we didn’t stay long and thus continued back into Dunedin for a well-earned bourbon.<br />
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Day 7: A change from our original plans saw us travelling further south today, instead of a large inland loop. Once again we had to dodge the unpredictable weather and on a number of occasions we drove past caches due to the rain. There were a few memorable finds, some included a wellington boot, an impressive whale fossil and a rail tunnel. However the highlight caches for me was our visit to Nugget Point and Slope Point. The Nugget Point cache took us to a very exposed lighthouse perched high on the cliff and offered breathtaking views, while the Slope Point cache took us to the most southern point of mainland NZ. At both spots the weather tried its best to deter us, but for me it probably highlighted the ruggedness of the area. The remaining drive into Invercargill offered very little caching but we did see plenty of white bait fishing huts that dotted various river banks. Once in Invercargill we found some backpacker accommodation where we shared a good meal and a few bourbons.<br />
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Day 8: We spent the morning caching and sightseeing around Invercargill. While the caching was pretty standard we did see the “Worlds fastest Indian”. Back in the 70’s Burt Munro (a local man) held the land speed record on his Indian motorcycle. Today his bikes, his grave and a memorial can be found in Invercargill. <br />
Pressing north towards Queenstown we slowly got closer and closer to those snow-capped mountains that had followed us for much of our trip. Stopping in Kingston we were lucky enough to see the Kingston Flyer (steam-train) travelling the tracks. We were also surprised to see a plaque highlighting historical flood heights and how much of the area would be underwater. Tracing the edge of Lake Wakatipu we eventually arrived in the adrenalin capital of Queenstown. This bustling town was a hive of activity and where-ever we turned there were masses of people soaking up the atmosphere. We quickly found some accommodation in the heart of town and soon sort about booking some form of adrenalin activity which this town is renowned for. We chose the Shotover Jet ride after giving some seriously consideration to the 300m bungee swing. <br />
With a day of fun and relaxation planned for tomorrow and our hostel having its own public bar we wasted little time in getting a feed and hitting the pub where a combination of cheap booze, lots of laughter and time to unwind made for a great night on the town.<br />
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Day 9: Seedy stomachs and hazy heads was our wake-up call this morning, but there was no sympathy from anyone as we were soon on the bus heading out to the Shotover River for our jet boat ride. After donning our life jackets and raincoats, final instructions were given and then we were skimming down the river, dodging cliff walls and submerged rocks at phenomenal speeds. As the driver gave the signal our jet boat was soon doing 360deg spins, all of which quickly cured our hangovers. My only regret was that was all over way too quickly. Heading back to Queenstown we experienced another one of those memorable quotes, this time the female bus-driver had accidentally left the rear bus door open. So Tomo impromptu-ally yells out to her “your back door is open”. Well, that brought us all to tears of laughter and a somewhat sticky moment for the bus driver.<br />
Back in town we headed straight for the Skyline Chalet. A picturesque gondola ride soon had us admiring the amazing views from on top, but our focus was on the toboggan rides and we wasted no time in consuming five rides down the slick track. We then watched as Matt not do one, but two bungee jumps from the nearby “Ledge” facility. Back in town and with the afternoon free we jumped in the car and headed out to grab a few caches around Arrowtown, Glenorchy and an amazing trip part way up to the “Remarkables”. <br />
Following our over-indulgence in alcohol the previous night we spent our last night in Queenstown fairly low key. A pizza and bourbon was about the extent of my partying. After catching up on a few logs it was lights out for an early.<br />
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Day 10: Saying goodbye to Matt felt a little strange but he had other activities in Queenstown while the rest of us had to get back to Christchurch. Being on the road by 7.30am paid dividends as we made our way north through the mountains. At every turn there was another beautiful turquoise lake lined with an abundance of caches. At one point we took a detour into a nearby valley where we came across an abandon goldfield filled with miners ruins dating over 150 years. Once again if it wasn’t for caching we’d never have found this incredible place. Pressing on we were soon at Lake Tekapo where our best chance of seeing Mt Cook was dashed by the high cloud, not deterred we stopped and took some spectacular photos of the mountains and lakes. Soon enough we were negotiating our final mountain pass and were back at the Canterbury Plains. Having driven all day Christchurch still seemed so far away so we opted to stop at Ashburton but with the fair in town, accommodation was scarce and we were forced to press on to Rakaia for the night.<br />
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Day 11: It was our last day in NZ and having seen our find tally approach 600 finds for the trip we decided it was only fitting that we’d push it to an even 600 finds. So as we neared Christchurch we found our final few caches. Returning our Juicy rental we waited for our flight and reflected on our tour of duty. The gangsters’ first O.S trip had been such a success, but it wouldn’t have been if it wasn’t for a supportive family.<br />
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Thanks to Tomo, Matt and Jas for an awesome experience.</div>
Dave Berehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16951351489323936562noreply@blogger.com0South Island, Canterbury, New Zealand-45.1526707 169.8926333-50.8893307 159.78521130000001 -39.4160107 -179.99994470000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816422721713396765.post-45068127248382329672012-07-23T21:47:00.000+10:002012-08-02T21:51:21.971+10:00Well Rounded CacherThis is a geocaching stat that for many others is simply a spreadsheet full of pretty boxes and for many years that was exactly what I thought of it. The term well rounded geocacher comes from a geocacher that has completed every possible difficulty/terrain star rating given to a geocache. The matrix of possible combinations totals 81 possibilities.<br />
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Most of the caches hidden around the suburban area are in the range of 3 stars and for most finders these can be achieved fairly comfortably. It’s when the star rating gets into the higher numbers towards 5 and the various combinations that the likelihood of achieving a successful find is greatly reduced. Likewise the number of caches hidden with these possible diff/terr ratings is greatly reduced.<br />
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Over the past few years I’ve been taking more of an interest in trying to complete the matrix. I’ve been searching out particular caches that filled a diff/terr combination. This has led me to do some pretty spectacular caches, both in difficulty and terrain. At this point in time it would be unfair of me to list my more favored caches in case I left out one.<br />
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For the past 4 months I’ve had one more cache to find to complete the matrix. It was a 5 terrain, 4 difficult cache and to my surprise there were only 4 or 5 of these in the whole of Australia, with my closest being some 1100km from home. As luck would have it, last week we drove within 100km of one of these rare caches. So after a bit of negotiating with Leonie a plan was executed.<br />
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On the 18th July I set off from our Gold Coast apartment in an attempt to find GC171JB Gemini I. This geocache lies atop of a Glasshouse Mount. It only has 15 finds which is a good indication of the difficulty it takes to find this cache. For me, the morning was dogged with rain scrawls, fog and slippery rocky conditions. An off-track bushwalk encompassing a 350m change in elevation was going to be a challenge.</div>
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An hour after starting my walk I was opening an ammo tin atop of Mt Tunbubudla with as much joy and delight as when I found my first cache. To complete my “well rounded” matrix by doing this type of cache (hard bushwalk) gave me so much satisfaction.<br />
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I wonder what’s next?Dave Berehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16951351489323936562noreply@blogger.com1Glasshouse Mountains-26.914091 152.92163-26.92825 152.90188899999998 -26.899932 152.941371tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816422721713396765.post-39879350802873137332012-04-21T09:44:00.000+10:002012-05-16T09:50:52.052+10:00Australia’s 2nd Mega EventIt’s hard to imagine that it’s been 2 years since Australia’s first mega event, but as Easter 2012 rolled around, geocachers from all over Oz and many other parts of the world gathered to celebrate Australia’s 2nd mega event. This time Albury, in southern NSW played host to the huge event. A 5-day mega camp-out at the local equestrian event comfortably accommodated everyone.<br />
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For the Rats, we chose to head south early on the Thursday morning. We had the van packed, kids in the car and were on the road by 4am. The trip down the Hume Hwy was nice and easy, we stopped at Jugiong for breakfast where we met up with many other geocachers who were all heading south.<br />
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Soon after 10am we were setting up camp amongst friends. The place was a hive of activity with everyone catching up with old acquaintances or heading out in search of the many geocaches that littered the area. For us, we were keen to sit back and have a relaxing 4 days. The kids enjoyed playing amongst the many equestrian jumps or riding their bikes along the numerous tracks. The organisers had ensured there was plenty to do, so over the course of the following days we did a night cache with the kids and a specific kiddie’s cache.<br />
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Being Easter, there was the usual Easter egg hunt where 5000 eggs were scattered for all the kids. Once again the adults took part in the foam ball drop, where we were lucky enough to get a winning ball. One of the activities over the weekend was the “mega flashmob” held at the nearby pub. I don’t think the poor locals knew what hit them.<br />
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Throughout the remaining days we had a few trips out visiting various attractions like Hume Weir, a trip up Red Light Hill and a day down to Beechworth where we enjoyed the festivities of the Golden Horseshoe fair. Back at the mega event each night was filled with various entertainment on the big stage, in particular we enjoyed the BABBA concert where as a family we sang and danced the night away.<br />
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A geocaching weekend away wouldn’t be complete without a handful of caches and while I’d already found most of them, it was good to find some of the ones that had eluded us on our previous trip.<br />
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Soon enough, Monday had come and it was time to pack up and head for home. Our 5 days had gone so quickly. We’d made some new friends and caught up with many of our old ones. Thanks to the committee for such a good event.Dave Berehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16951351489323936562noreply@blogger.com0Wollongong NSW, Australia-34.424984 150.8931239-34.438082 150.8729539 -34.411886 150.9132939tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816422721713396765.post-69854310502751499242012-03-03T13:59:00.003+11:002012-03-23T14:06:11.706+11:00Albury/Wodonga road-tripThe gangsters were on the road once again, this time we were heading to Albury/Wodonga and this time we had purpose to our trip. The 2nd Oz mega event was getting near and as with the past mega, we decided to find the local caches prior to the event so we can have a relaxing mega with our families.<br /><br />On the 23rd Feb we headed down the Hume Hwy for 4 days of cachemania. We’d done our homework on the puzzles and mysteries while the maps and route were sorted. As we headed south we grabbed a few highway caches but our first night mission was to make a start on the “Black Ops GC32WN6” night cache. Arriving in Albury just on midnight we headed to WP1 of this respected cache where we were soon deciphering our next task. As the wee hours of the morning rolled on we worked through the next few stages of this multi, sometimes we chased red herrings while all the time collecting various other traditionals along the way.<br /><br />After a few hours sleep, 2 day dawned and the hunt was on for the plethora of local caches, our route took us around the suburbs and nearby hills. The vista from some of these hills was magnificent. As the day progressed our numbers only climbed slowly and at times this frustrated us but we boxed on. As night fell we returned to our unfinished Black Ops cache, this cache had captivated us as well as frustrated us. Some of the waypoints are extremely clever and the owner should be commended. Our journey around the region solving this puzzle was tiresome but saw us grab many other traditional finds. By the end of our nights caching we still hadn’t completed the Black Ops marathon.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oLfIDYSgM6M/T2vocO6zRkI/AAAAAAAAAOE/Jjmmi3wnF9A/s1600/DSCF2029.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 315px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oLfIDYSgM6M/T2vocO6zRkI/AAAAAAAAAOE/Jjmmi3wnF9A/s320/DSCF2029.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722923323243054658" /></a>Day 3 and we were once again grabbing plenty of the local traditionals along with a mixture of mysteries and multis. Towards the end of the day we had our sights set on heading towards Wagga. We had pretty much cleaned out the area of local caches, except for Black ops. We’d left the GZ find for one of our last and as we recovered the cache it was pleasing to sign our names in what had been my longest cache ever.<br /><br />Heading north along the Olympic way towards Wagga we stopped at many of the rural towns grabbing the scattering of caches in these towns. It was at Yerong Creek where we opted to take a slight detour to grab a few “off the beaten track” caches. This single lane, often overgrown goat track proven very challenging at times in the dark, but it provided a great spot for us to camp the night as we neared “The Rock”. Sunday dawned with us scouring from the showers which starting to lash the region and on more than one occasion the dirt roads became rather slippery and boggy.<br /><br />As we arrived in Wagga, our focus was on the new Rubik’s tube caches, if past performance was anything to go by, these wouldn’t disappoint. The rain however was doing its best to dampen our enthusiasm and a number of times we had to change soaked clothing. The devious mind of Fred6603 had once again enthralled us and the new caches were masterful. By days end we’d worked our way round most of Wagga and upon checking in to a caravan park we settled in for a well-earned drink and nice BBQ dinner. The relaxed atmosphere was perfect and most of us were able to catch up on logs and a good yarn.<br /><br />Our final day of this road-trip had us grabbing a few final caches around town in the morning before hitting the road just as rains really set in (see note). By the time we reached home I’d amassed 150 finds. Thanks to my fellow caching gangsters for another enjoyable caching trip.<br /><br />(Note: Fate would have it that I was back in Wagga 7 days after this trip, assisting the local SES with property protection from the Murrumbidgee River flooding).Dave Berehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16951351489323936562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816422721713396765.post-65502902097124248962012-02-03T13:51:00.001+11:002012-03-04T22:23:54.944+11:0010 years & 6000 findsAsk me when I found my first geocache whether I’d be still playing the game 10 years later and I would have laughed at you, but that’s what happened on the 27th January 2012.<br /><br />When I found my first geocache “Trainspotting <a href="http://coord.info/GCDFF">GCDFF</a>” I wouldn’t have predicted that I would got so addicted to finding tupperware boxes, ammo tins or the like, but geocaching has become part of my life and to a degree part of my family’s life. This world-wide game has taken us to some amazing places, leads us on some crazy adventures and introduced us to great friends. I don’t know what I did before geocaching but I rarely leave home now without packing the gps and at every opportunity I’m on the hunt for my next find.<br /><br />As our 10 year anniversary drew close I could see it was starting to line up with another milestone, our 6000th find was nearing so what better way to celebrate than to combine both. Some close friends wanted to the occasion with me so a geocaching event was organised. <br /><br />The Rats 10 Year Anniversary / 6000th cache <a href="http://coord.info/GC3AR0A">GC3AR0A</a> was held on the 29th Jan not far from where I found my first cache. The day was well attended with many of our caching friends travelling great distances to share the event with us. The Stanwell Park picnic area provided a great backdrop as many of the attendees got to do a variety of new local caches. The day was topped off with a very unique logbook – a signed certificate commemorating the achievement.<br /><br />Reflecting on our 10 years, the game has grown in leaps and bounds while the principle has remained relatively unchanged. The cache containers have changed, the cache density has increased, the cache hides have become harder and my love for this sport has remained. I hope in another 10 years I can boast another 6000 finds and still love this game.<br /><br />Thanks to my close friends and family who made my 10 year event such a memorable day.Dave Berehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16951351489323936562noreply@blogger.com0