Fern’s Cache Competition

Posted on September 22, 2015 by Geocaching Victoria

Do you know Fern? She is a Leadbeater’s Possum and the official mascot of Geocaching Melbourne. You can buy all kinds if merchandise or collectables with her face on it for the upcoming mega event. However there’s one thing you can’t buy: The golden unobtainium geocoin which is strictly limited to 25 pieces. But you can win one! Right here!

A little Fern Geocache

Rules of Entry:
Alright – are you ready? Here is what you have to do: Place a cache and send us some photos of your Fern themed geocache. Make sure to have a read through the following rules before you enter:

Create a Fern-themed container and place the cache.
The cache has to be in Victoria (including all stages).
It has to be listed / published on a public listing service (It can be a premium cache though).
Somebody found it after you placed it and logged it online.
Take a picture of the container in place and a second picture of the general location.
Email us both pictures together with the link to the cache page to
fern@geocaching.melbourne (We will confirm your entry – please contact us if you don’t get a response).
You can enter as many caches as you like but remember it is about quality and not quantity.
You can enter all cache-types (Traditional, Multi, Wherigo, …). Choose whatever works best for you.
Entry Ends on 7.11.2015 at 24:00

Winning Features:
If you’re wondering what the jury will look for, here are the five features we will score:

Creativity – if it’s self-made you definitely get a bonus for it.
Container Size – Fern is a bit of a space-pig. A real life nest box would qualify as a large container so why not make the little fairy feel at home.
Location – a new place with some unique feature, incredible scenery, or just a plain gorgeous view will bump up your marks.
Cache Page – dust off these old HTML skills and make something nice and shiny.
Sustainability – make your cache to last.

Make sure you cover all five points and your cache will be a winner in any case because even if you don’t win this competition, you will win heaps of well written logs.

A LBP nest box in riparian thicket at Lake Mountain

Prizes:
It would be sad if we hand out only one prize because we expect some serious competitors. The winner’s will be announced by the 8^th November and can collect their prizes at The Melbourne Event 2015 or get them posted.

A golden unobtainium geocoin for The Melbourne Event 2015
Some random trackables out of Philipp’s tack room
Some random pathtags out of Philipp’s tack room

Get the circular saw, grinder and paint bucket going!

xoxoxo
Fern the Forest Fairy

Remote Adventure July 2015

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There is this old-school cacher called Derringer (His real name is Kevin but barely anyone knows that). His caches and the adventures connected with it are stories of persistence and perseverance. These are caches you just don’t walk up to; they require a fair amount of effort if you want to find them:

Like walking into Modor, this is not happening the easy way. If you need proof of this, just mention The Silent Sentinel to some of the more experienced hiking cachers, Despite being archived it remains to be the Nemesis or the Holy Grail of every ambitious hiker. In that spirit a cache tributed to him was recently placed in the Cathedral Ranges. Unsurprisingly it already got some attention before it even got found. Robin (aka robinyang) gave it a good crack – twice – and still ended up without the smiley.
After these epic DNFs on the cache, Robin is still determined to give this adventure another / 3rd try tomorrow Saturday 25.7.

This time we patched him up with a satellite tracker and a link to our social media accounts. Make sure you’re tuning in from 8 am to see this adventure unfolding live from the comfort of your home.

P.S.: On the map it doesn’t look too bad.

The Melbourne Event Update – July

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Geocaching Victoria

It has been a while 🙂

You may or may not have noticed: We officially reached the Mega Event Status. Yes – this is now the biggest event in the southern hemisphere. Ok only 12% of the world’s population lives there but it’s still awesome 🙂 If you’re following us on facebook, our website or instagram account, you probably know most of the below. However for your convenience we collated it in this simple post:

• FREE EVENT – We can’t stress this enough 😉 There is no entrance fee and almost all sessions are free to attend as well. Speaking of which:

• SESSIONS – We announced most of the upcoming sessions on our website at http://geocaching.melbourne/category/activities-2/ Now we just have to put them into the schedule and get the booking system up and running. Why do we need a booking system if it’s free? Because space is limited and we might have to shuffle some locations pending interest. You’ll be the first to know when it’s happening … well maybe after the volunteers :o)

• TREE CLIMBING – Due to some schedule clashes, we had to move the introduction into basic tree climbing. The date hasn’t been finalised but it will be on the weekend before OR on the Friday before the event. If you are superstitious, you probably don’t want to put your life on the line on Friday the 13th – for everyone else: watch this space and check out the Victorian Climbing Club who will set-up this trip* vicclimb.org.au/

• WINERY TOUR – Do you have a partner who’s not that into Geocaching and can’t be bothered about searching for tupperware in the woods (aka sistema containers in the bush)? Yes we know the feeling but we still love them so don’t park them in Småland! Be nice and send them off on a Winery Tour! It’s happening on the Sunday. Booking will be available together with the sessions.

• SHIRTS – We heard you. Everyone wants some new shiny and fancy garment. Trust us – Carl is working on it and we are very confident you won’t be disappointed.

• SOUVENIR – Fern the Forest Fairy is already on the easel and painting a shiny souvenir for you to earn by attending The Melbourne Event 2015. Find out more about souvenirs at http://support.groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=272

• FUN AND GAMES – Can it get any better? Yes it can! We always said this will be fun so we are planning a couple of games. After all this is about bringing the Geocaching Community together.

• SPONSORSHIP – Beside Geostuff and Anvil Angus we welcome Geocaching as the latest sponsor :o) Happy Days!

VOLUNTEERS WANTED

Although there is a bunch of us who are running this event, we’re not supernatural and do need a helping hand. Actually we need heaps of them. If you want to help a couple of hours at a time over the two days, please get in touch. This is just general registration of interest and details will follow later. The volunteer registration form is available at http://geocaching.melbourne/event2015/volunteers-registration/ (We haven’t released a precise volunteer schedule yet because the schedule for the session isn’t up and we want all volunteers to attend the sessions they are interested in)

Have an outstanding weekend, pray for snow and a special thanks in advance to everyone who registers as volunteer 🙂

Cheers and see you at Casey Fields in November!
The Geocachers of Victoria

* you have to be a member with the VCC to attend this trip.

Extreme Roadtripping

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Geocaching Victoria

The Geocaching road trip is upon us and the most difficult challenge lies in front : Find a D5 or T5 cache.

Some of you eat risk for breakfast (I know – it tastes like beacon) so this is merely a challenge but most cachers haven’t even done one of these caches – where do you even start?

For D5 caches there are some evil mind benders out there which can drive the best puzzle solvers to insanity. Mention Masonic Cipher or 1789 to people and you’ll get the vibe.
On the T5 side there are also some equal insane caches out there.

However this is not about showcasing caches which are made not to be found or killing you along the process – this is about getting the souvenir which starts on the 17th July! In order to make it a bit easier here are some good caches for T5 or D5 beginners:

Easy D5 and T5 caches around Melbourne – Map View
They are all hand-picked in order to make your life a bit easier. You’re welcome 🙂

P.S.: Kayak caches are left out deliberately because at that time of year the can kill you … really fast.

Geocaching Victoria

To hide is the beginning, to find is the result, to seek is the adventure

Author Archives: Geocaching Victoria

Fern’s Cache Competition

Remote Adventure July 2015

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The Melbourne Event Update – July

VOLUNTEERS WANTED

Extreme Roadtripping

****** VOLUNTEERS WANTED ******

VOLUNTEERS WANTED