Author Archives: Geocaching Victoria

The St Arnaud Event – 1 week to go!

Posted on by
Reply

Welcome to The St Arnaud Event update. Can you believe there is only 1 WEEK TO GO? The committee are working behind the scenes to bring you the best MEGA event we can – all for FREE! Remember to REGISTER HERE by logging a “Will Attend” as this year we will be crossing off names at the event to ensure everyone who registered early gets their FREE gift.

It’s also important that you log your “will attend” on any other events you plan to attend. At the Saturday Night event we are providing each attendee with a Roast Beef Roll but if you haven’t logged a “will attend” here you might miss out! Rotary will also be selling sausages so bring a chair and some loose change!

Check out the full Schedule so you can plan your weekend.

Second of the Lab Caches

The second of the Lab Caches will be released in just a few days time on Monday November 11th and this Lab will close on Sunday November 24th. That means you can do them pre or post Mega if you are coming for longer than the weekend. The second tour is a Coffee, Cake and Fast Food Tour of St Arnaud Lab Adventure where you can discover some fantastic little eateries around the town we are calling home for the weekend. There is no need to enter the shop to find the code word but we do encourage you to spend some money and support this lovely little town.

If you’ve never done a Lab Cache before or haven’t done one since last year you will need to make sure you download the “Adventure Lab” app onto a mobile device. Simply download and login with your geocaching account and you will be good to go! Remember Lab Caches are now logged live on the spot through this app so you must be within range of the location to claim the smiley. They cannot be done through the regular geocaching app.

Adventure-lab-caches

Apps

Speaking of Apps you may want to download a few others in preparation for your trip to St Arnaud this year. We recommend:

  • The Geocaching App (otherwise how will you find all those hundreds of caches that are around?)
  • The Adventure Lab App (to do all the Lab Caches mentioned above – plus a heads up another two will be released Saturday morning so that’s 4 Adventures totalling 40 Lab Caches)
  • The Wherigo App (there are some Play Anywhere Wherigos around the town which you can do now from home and also one that will have you doing laps of the Main St)
  • YouTube App (this might come in handy for some Lab Caches which are released Saturday morning)
  •  Metaverse App (there is an Augmented Reality Cache GC7Z1Z2 in town if you are keen for something different)

 

Food, Glorious Food

The Rotary Club of St Arnaud will be selling food across the weekend. This includes Breakfast on Saturday and Sunday mornings (bacon and egg rolls), lunch on Saturday and Sunday (sausages and vegie burgers) and dinner on the Saturday night (sausages in addition to the supplied roast beef roll). Please bring plenty of loose change to support a worthy organisation.

We will also have a water refill station on site so remember to BYO a drink bottle!

rotary

Wristbands

The Saturday Night dinner has been ordered and we will be printing names and ticking people off the list who have registered to come. If you are one of these people you will need to head into the MEGA shed during Saturday to get your wristband so you can get a yummy beef roll.

Online Orders & Merchandise

Online orders of coins, pathtags, FTF raffle and other merchandise will soon be closed so jump online and pre-order for collection from the Geocaching Victoria Shop. Items are selling out so get in quickly to avoid disappointment.

St A 5 set

Fun & Games

Like most other Victorian MEGA Events that have gone before us we are continuing on with the tradition of having a “few games” run throughout the weekend. Some forms will be handout out at registration so to be in with a chance of winning – you need to grab the forms and get hunting! The following games are on offer:

  1. Social Bingo – fill the WHOLE sheet.
  2. Far & Wide Game – fill in a LINE with the specific stamps allocated in the cache. The more lines you fill the more chances you get to win.
  3. Letterbox Game – find all FIVE new Letterbox caches (released this week) and stamp with the special GVI stamps.
  4. Receipts Game – collect any receipts from when you shop in St Arnaud in the week prior and post the Mega and pop your caching name and a mobile number on the back.

bingo

Sponsorship

It’s thanks to amazing supporters that make a MEGA event possible. This includes GeoStuff who will be on site during the Mega. We’ve also had donations from our mates in South Australia who are organising a MEGA event there – GeoVenture2020, Caching Supplies, Sssafe and Sistema so a big thanks to them too. It’s also important to note that this event isn’t possible without the support of the Northern Grampians Shire Council so thank you NGS – your support in invaluable! And we can’t forget the amazing support from PathTags and Geocaching HQ   who help to make this dream a reality! Thanks guys!

NGS logo

The St Arnaud Event – 2 weeks to go!

Posted on by
Reply

Welcome to The St Arnaud Event update. Can you believe there is only 2 WEEKS TO GO? The committee are working behind the scenes to bring you the best MEGA event we can – all for FREE! Remember to REGISTER HERE by logging a “Will Attend” as this year we will be crossing off names at the event to ensure everyone who registered early gets their FREE gift.

It’s also important that you log your “will attend” on any other events you plan to attend. At the Saturday Night event we are providing each attendee with a Roast Beef Roll but if you haven’t logged a “will attend” here you might miss out! Rotary will also be selling sausages so bring a chair and some loose change!

Check out the full Schedule so you can plan your weekend.

First of the Lab Caches

labccache

The first of the Lab Caches will be released in just a few days time on Monday November 4th and this Lab will close on Sunday November 24th. That means you can do them pre or post Mega if you are coming for longer than the weekend. The first tour is a Historic Buildings of St Arnaud Lab Adventure where you can discover some amazing history and learn a little about the town we are calling home for the weekend.

If you’ve never done a Lab Cache before or haven’t done since last year you will need to make sure you download the “Adventure Lab” app onto a mobile device. Simply download and login with your geocaching account and you will be good to go! Remember Lab Caches are now logged live on the spot through this app so you must be within range of the location to claim the smiley. They cannot be done through the regular geocaching app.

Merchandise

The Shirts have now all been ordered but we are still taking orders for post-mega delivery. This is the same for our fantastic event geocoin which sold out after everyone got to see how spectacular they look. We are ordering more for post-mega delivery so pop online and place your orders now.

We still have some of the limited edition geocoins in stock. The Limited Edition coins come in three different colours and aims to depict the farming communities that are located within the St Arnaud district. Get in quick as these are limited in number! This coin is 3 inches in size so nice to add to the collection. Limited edition coins are $34 each. Order here.

LE tractor coins

And whilst in the store don’t forget to purchase your St Arnaud Pathtags too!

St Arnaud Raillery Hub Gallery

During the Mega Event the St Arnaud Raillery Hub Gallery will be offering Geocacher’s passing by the St Arnaud Railway Station a Geocaching Collectables Lucky Dip for $2.
Geocachers have the chance to find many rare and collectable coins and stamps with localised historical stories attached among the many prizes in the lucky dip.
Trade it on or keep as memorabilia of your St Arnaud Mega Event experience and support a local community group.

The Gallery will be open from Friday to Monday between 11am and 4pm and is also hosting a Textiles and wood artisan exhibition during the Mega Event. Follow them on Facebook to find out more here.

 

Stand out! Add an ORANGE ribbon to your car!

Travelling to St Arnaud for the MEGA Event? Tie an ORANGE ribbon or two to your car so we can all see each other.

orange_herringbone_twill_ribbon

Accommodation still Available at Camp Seed

Camp Seed, Stuart Mill (Only 15 mins from St Arnaud with plenty of caches in-between) have some accommodation bookings still available. Booking options are offered on either a per bed or per room rate:
$70 per adult for 2 nights in a shared room (4 single beds each room)
$250 for the 2 nights for a room (4 x single beds)…
You will have access to a large commercial style kitchen to store and prepare food as well as a large dining hall and recreation hall. These facilities allow you to continue nurturing your social connections within the Geocaching community.

Camp Seed is only accepting bookings for people participating in the Geocaching event so you will be residing with a like minded community. They don’t have lockable doors to the bedrooms so you need to bear in mind that your valuables need to be cared for under your own responsibility.

Please call Donna on 0403 810 614 to make a booking.

Geocaching in St Arnaud – Original Road Series

The Original Road Series takes you to many of the old ‘original’ roads that lead to St Arnaud from various directions. These day the roads are used for local council, Vic Roads or for bluestone/gravel storage for future road repairs. Curated by local FUF009, the series began back in 2013 with additions in 2016 including one bonus cache from AnyMules – GC6QN3B ”Original Road” 02.5.

With the exception of GC48TXH ”Original Road” 01 which starts you off with a trad, the remainder are puzzles with a 1.5-2 difficulty rating. Get solving before you head to the St Arnaud Event so you can add your name to the existing 1,146* logs on the series of 12 geocaches.

*Statistics current as of 27 October 2019

First to Find (FTF) Raffle

We know people love chasing FTFs – how would you like a MEGA Event FTF? This raffle supports the amazing work done by The St Arnaud Agricultural Society (whose premises we are using and who do an amazing job of coordinating the St Arnaud Show). So if you are a FTF hound, or you just want to support a really great charity, then you can go in the draw to earn the right to call yourself the FTFer of The St Arnaud Event, 2019. Tickets are only $2 and you may win FTF and an unobtainium geocoin… You can purchase your tickets in this wonderful raffle by following this link!

St A Ag society

Fun & Games

Like most other Victorian MEGA Events that have gone before us we are continuing on with the tradition of having a “few games” run throughout the weekend. Some forms will be handout out at registration so to be in with a chance of winning – you need to grab the forms and get hunting! The following games are on offer:

  1. Social Bingo – fill the WHOLE sheet.
  2. Far & Wide Game – fill in a LINE with the specific stamps allocated in the cache. The more lines you fill the more chances you get to win.
  3. Letterbox Game – find all FIVE new Letterbox caches (yet to be released) and stamp with the special GVI stamps.
  4. Receipts Game – collect any receipts from when you shop in St Arnaud in the week prior and post the Mega and pop your caching name and a mobile number on the back.

Sponsorship

It’s thanks to amazing supporters that make a MEGA event possible. This includes GeoStuff who will be on site during the Mega. We’ve also had donations from our mates in South Australia who are organising a MEGA event there – GeoVenture2020, Caching Supplies, Sssafe and Sistema so a big thanks to them too. It’s also important to note that this event isn’t possible without the support of the Northern Grampians Shire Council so thank you NGS – your support in invaluable! And we can’t forget the amazing support from PathTags and Geocaching HQ   who help to make this dream a reality! Thanks guys!

The St Arnaud Event – 3 weeks to go

Posted on by
Reply

Welcome to The St Arnaud Event update. Can you believe there is only 3 WEEKS TO GO? The committee are working behind the scenes to bring you the best MEGA event we can – all for FREE! Remember to REGISTER HERE by logging a “Will Attend” as this year we will be crossing off names at the event to ensure everyone who registered early gets their FREE gift.

It’s also important that you log your “will attend” on any other events you plan to attend. At the Saturday Night event we are providing each attendee with a Roast Beef Roll but if you haven’t logged a “will attend” here you will miss out! Rotary will also be selling sausages so bring a chair and some loose change!

Check out the full Schedule so you can plan your weekend.

Official Shirts – LAST CHANCE TO ORDER

Official St Arnaud Event shirts now available to order. Check out the Geocaching Victoria Store to pre-order yours now. Available in Men’s, Women’s and Kids sizes. Orders close October 27th so get in quick!

shirt

Games over the weekend

There will lots of different ways to win prizes over MEGA weekend and taking part in some of the games we have on offer is a great way to be a part of all the fun. When you register you will be given some handouts of activities to complete so be sure to take part because as the old adage states – YOU GOTTA BE IN IT TO WIN IT!

We will also have a box called “Receipt’s Game”. We are asking people to collect any receipts from when they shop in St Arnaud in the week prior and post the Mega and to pop your caching name and a mobile number on the back and add them to our box. We will then draw a winner who will receive a very special prize. We can also use this data to gather an idea on how much impact a geocaching event can have economically within a community.

Stand out! Add an ORANGE ribbon to your car!

Travelling to St Arnaud for the MEGA Event? Tie an ORANGE ribbon or two to your car so we can all see each other.

orange_herringbone_twill_ribbon

Accommodation still Available at Camp Seed

Camp Seed, Stuart Mill (Only 15 mins from St Arnaud with plenty of caches in-between) have some accommodation bookings still available. Booking options are offered on either a per bed or per room rate:
$70 per adult for 2 nights in a shared room (4 single beds each room)
$250 for the 2 nights for a room (4 x single beds)…
You will have access to a large commercial style kitchen to store and prepare food as well as a large dining hall and recreation hall. These facilities allow you to continue nurturing your social connections within the Geocaching community.

Camp Seed is only accepting bookings for people participating in the Geocaching event so you will be residing with a like minded community. They don’t have lockable doors to the bedrooms so you need to bear in mind that your valuables need to be cared for under your own responsibility.

Please call Donna on 0403 810 614 to make a booking.

Geocaching in St Arnaud – Bush Wander Series

The Bush Wander series was created in 2017 by FUF009 & Tyred n Cranky, the 4th annual series from the trio and yet another trail of impressive creations. The BW series is a total of 22 caches comprising a letterbox and a multi to join the trads and the 2 puzzles that require the numbers to be collected along the way.

The BW series begins on Centre Road taking you on yet another enjoyable journey through the St Arnaud bush. A total of 1,592* unique finds have been logged on this series with over 680* favourite points awarded to the series overall.

Begin your adventure at BW01 – St Arnaud Regional Park (GC7A7ME).

*Statistics current as of 23 October 2019

First to Find (FTF) Raffle

We know people love chasing FTFs – how would you like a MEGA Event FTF? This raffle supports the amazing work done by The St Arnaud Agricultural Society (whose premises we are using and who do an amazing job of coordinating the St Arnaud Show). So if you are a FTF hound, or you just want to support a really great charity, then you can go in the draw to earn the right to call yourself the FTFer of The St Arnaud Event, 2019. Tickets are only $2 and you may win FTF and an unobtainium geocoin… You can purchase your tickets in this wonderful raffle by following this link!

St A Ag society

Geocaching Downunder Podcast

Did you tune into the Geocaching Downunder Podcast held earlier in the month? Geocaching Victoria Inc. Treasurer “BernieH” caught up with Seemyshell & AngelG27 to talk about all thing St Arnaud!

Have a listen here and you might find out some information we’ve yet to release about The St Arnaud MEGA Event… If you listen to the end too there is a chance to enter a very simple competition for all those who are attending the MEGA Event.

St Arnaud Geo Coins & Pathtags

The St Arnaud Event 2019 MEGA standard and limited edition geocoins are also selling like hotcakes in the Geocaching Victoria store. Get in quick before they sell out!

The Standard coin has been specifically designed for the event and features Fern the leadbeater possum as well as some stunning Australian flora including Victoria’s floral emblem – the Pink Heath. What sets this coin apart is that it is a 3D textured coin. They have arrived so we can now show you the final image. Coins are $16 each. Order here.

coin

The Limited Edition coins come in three different colours and aims to depict the farming communities that are located within the St Arnaud district. Get in quick as these are limited in number! This coin is 3 inches in size so nice to add to the collection. Limited edition coins are $34 each. Order here.

LE tractor coins

And whilst in the store don’t forget to purchase your St Arnaud Pathtags too!

Milestones

Who doesn’t love celebrating a milestone at a MEGA event? We know lots of people do so as in previous years we will be handing out some special certificates. If you plan to celebrate a Milestone in St Arnaud make sure you fill in this form.

Sponsorship

It’s thanks to amazing supporters that make a MEGA event possible. This includes GeoStuff who will be on site during the Mega. We’ve also had donations from our mates in South Australia who are organising a MEGA event there – GeoVenture2020, Caching Supplies, Sssafe and Sistema so a big thanks to them too. It’s also important to note that this event isn’t possible without the support of the Northern Grampians Shire Council so thank you NGS – your support in invaluable! And we can’t forget the amazing support from PathTags and Geocaching HQ   who help to make this dream a reality! Thanks guys!

RIP Shelby

Posted on by
Reply

It is with a heavy heart that I confirm that Michelle George passed away this morning. Michelle was surrounded by her loving family and friends.

Ian will update us later on anything more.

RIP beautiful lady. You were such a wonderfully positive, supportive, caring and loving part of our community and our lives. We will miss your ready smile, your caring nature and your positive sense of humour. Your body has served its purpose. Your soul had done what it came to do, learned what it came to learn, and is now free to leave. We will cherish the time spent with you.

Goodnight Shelby.

“May tender memories soften your grief, may fond recollection bring you relief, and may you find comfort and peace in the thought of the joy that knowing your loved one brought. For time and space can never divide or keep your loved one from your side. When memory paints in colors true, the happy hours that belonged to you. “   

Helen Steiner Rice

 

A very sad farewell

Posted on by
Reply

I have just had a phone call from Ian. The doctors have completed scans on Shelby again today and unfortunately they don’t bring good news.

Though there is a 1% chance over the next 24 hours, a miracle chance, doctors believe that Shelby is no longer with us. Her brain function is not positive, and the rest of her body is starting to shut down.

Ian invites anyone who wishes to say goodbye to Shelby in person to go to Clayton Monash ICU – 3rd Floor. There is a phone outside the door to use to be let in.
Ian expresses many thanks for all of the messages and calls he has received.
Ian plans to sit with Shell for the next 24 hours, soaking up the sight of her beside him, before she leaves him forever.
Doctors say that Shelby may not make it overnight, so if you want to visit, tonight is your time.

Thankfully, Ian has amazing memories of time with his beloved, including a lovely joyful week in the days prior to this tragedy.
Ian is a broken man and our thoughts and love go out to him and their two boys.