We promised to provide an update early in the year on the next Victorian Mega, and we know you are all keen to hear more.
We have been working behind the scenes on initial plans for the next Victorian Mega. However, with November 2024 fast approaching, and some important matters still to resolve, the committee has decided that an early 2025 event (March-ish) would be a more practical date. This allows appropriate time for the committee to finalise dates and location, whilst providing attendees with more time to plan. It also gives us the opportunity to potentially turn the event into a Block Party!
We will soon be looking for volunteers to join the Mega Committee, however we are thrilled to welcome Connie from ConnieandRick on board to lead the next Victorian event. Connie has shown a keen interest in giving back to the community and we are excited to have her support on this next adventure. Without the help of people from the community, we would be unable to host the next big event – Thank You Connie!
We look forward to sharing with you more details about the location and specific dates for the 2025 event in coming months.
Rest assured, we still have plenty of other events on the agenda for 2024, including Geocaching Victoria’s 10th Birthday celebrations later in the year. In the meantime we hope you are also taking the opportunity to enjoy some of the many other big interstate events happening this year.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to any of the committee members.
This weekend we celebrated the 21st Birthday of geocaching events in Victoria.
The first ever Victorian geocaching event, GC5C5D, was held on 23 June 2002 at O’Briens Crossing in the Lerderderg State Park. So what better location to celebrate the 21st birthday than back where it all began. Geocachers came from far and wide to celebrate the day whilst enjoying a bbq, Crack’n’LeeLee’s famous soup, and plenty of party snacks! A huge thank you to Leah and Craig (Crack’n’LeeLee) for initiating the celebrations and for all their hard work hosting.
Geocachers celebrating the 21st birthday of geocaching events in Victoria.
David from team maccamob, who was at the very first event, shared some insights on the inaugural activity. He noted there was a lot less infrastructure at GZ back in 2002, however the weather had not changed with it being just as cold. The difference was, they had a warm fire to cozy up to, something no longer permitted at O’Briens Crossing.
At the time of Victoria’s first event:
Maccamob had just reached their 100 cache find milestone (currently 47,000+).
Brain and some of our other active cachers hadn’t even been born!
The first iphone was still 5 years away from release.
We were up to Edition 30 of the Melways, with extra maps newly added for Queenscliff, Mickleham and Wyndham Vale.
Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” was the number 1 song for the year, which is exactly what many cachers did (and still do).
Since the first event, there have been almost 1,700 amazing events across the state, with plenty more still to come.
In fact looking ahead in July and August alone, Victoria already has 30 events and CITO’s on the calendar with 21 different CO’s contributing to the fun. Excitingly, four of those CO’s are hosting an event for the very first time. To find an event near you, check out the Upcoming Events page on our website.
Be sure to log your will attend on any of these events to join in the fun. If you’d like some help to host your first geocaching event, feel free to reach out to one of the Geocaching Victoria committee members or one of the existing event COs to help get you on your way.
We look forward to seeing you at the next event!
Geocachers attending the first ever geocaching event in Victoria.
For those that are coming to the Mega – you may be interested in knowing more about the Puzzle Room. It is similar to an Escape Room, where Professor Cachington’s Laboratory contains 5 mystery words to unravel.Bookings are required (at the puzzle room).
So what do you have to do?
You have been asked to assist Professor Cachington in developing an antidote for a new disease known as Geopoxitis – a debilitating disease that causes the human body to create its own magnetic field, interfering with any navigational instrument that comes near them. The professor was only 5 ingredients short of finishing the antidote. However while stopping to get a cache on his way to the lab, Professor Cachington contracted the terrible disease. It is now up to you to finish his work, by identifying the 5 crucial ingredients and completing the antidote. The effects of Geopoxitis become permanent after 20 minutes, so time is of the essence. Hurry, the caching world is counting on you!
In teams of six, you will have 20 minutes to discover the five mystery words. You will be teamed up with others where possible.
Bookings are required (at the puzzle room booking table in the Chandler Pavilion) as follows:
For a Friday adventure (volunteers only): Bookings can be made Friday afternoon.
For a Saturday morning adventure: Bookings can be made Friday afternoon or Saturday morning.
For a Saturday afternoon adventure: Bookings can be made any time Saturday.
For a Sunday morning adventure: Bookings can be made Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning.
For a Sunday afternoon adventure: Bookings can be made any time Sunday.
Please arrive 10 minutes before your allocated timeslot for a short briefing before you enter the Professor’s Lab.
We wanted to give you an update on some of the preparations and contingencies we have in place for the upcoming Mega. The weather in the last month or two has been challenging for all of us, however we are not letting it dampen our spirits… Instead we are riding the waves (fortunately not literally!).
Campgrounds
You may have seen Day’s ‘marvellous’ pitch report earlier today regarding the campgrounds at the Mega. Most are in good shape with a few more warm weather days ahead. Here are some of the insights from our visit today:
Sheep Pasture – Campsite is high and dry – sites have a good solid base
Pig Pen – Freshly mowed and reasonably dry in the camping area. No mud or slosh visible.
Chicken Run – Solid base with gravel roads on all sides of the campsites
Cow Paddock – As expected this campground (football oval) has some muddy areas, mainly towards the middle. We removed these sites from sale a few weeks ago, and currently there is little impact to the existing bookings. We are holding a number of sites in reserve as a contingency should any of the allocated spaces become unsuitable. For the most part, the area around the outer of the grounds is quite solid.
Sheep PastureChicken RunCow PaddockPig Pen
Parking
Some of our overflow car parking plans have had to change, however we have identified other areas with solid ground (mainly gravel) that we will utilise. Obviously it does help where teams are car pooling. Also, if you are camping, we ask that you leave your vehicle at your campsite whilst at the showgrounds so that spaces are available for day visitors.
Other Contingencies
We have moved some of our activities indoors as a precaution, and have contingencies in place for events should we have unfavourable weather on the day. We can’t control the forecast, but we’ll do our best to deal with it as things come up.
Other questions – Was The Whittlesea Show postponed?
Indeed it was. As an agricultural show, it has significant animals moving around the grounds (in low lying areas we are not utilising), has amusements and other structures all over the grounds, and has 1000’s of attendees who require parking. Many of the photos of flooding that were seen came from the carparks on the opposite side of the road to the showgrounds – an area we were never using. So whilst we sympathise with their difficult decision, our considerations are different.
Volunteers – a few spots to fill
We have a few last volunteer spots to fill. If you think you can help, especially with any of the spots below, please complete the form here. Don’t forget volunteers go into the daily prize draw (gift vouchers and other prizes), as well as exclusive pre-access to the puzzle room (and Maze) on Friday night.
Friday AM – Maze setup
Friday PM – Puzzle room/Camping Check in
Saturday AM – Registration/Camping Check in/Parking
Thank you to those that have already volunteered. We will start sending emails on Monday with further details.
There is no doubt the recent rains have been an unwelcome thorn in our side, however rest assured we are evolving our plans daily to ensure that we still deliver a great event. We look forward to seeing you all in Whittlesea in just a couple of short weeks.
It would be fair to say, that there are a few of us in the geocaching community that have a competitive streak in us. But the beauty of geocaching is that often – the competition is with ourselves!
I never forget when I first discovered what a challenge cache was – it was like a whole new world of geocaching opened up to me and I was in awe of how rich, yet diverse the game really was. I had many late nights after that moment, delving into the possibilities, the statistics, the challenges and tried to see if in my newbie status of geocaching, I actually qualified for any…. sadly I didn’t – BUT I had a whole new appreciation for what I COULD achieve.
With the Whittlesea Mega only a few weeks away and with the recent publication of a new challenge series (Whittlesea Challenge Wander Series) available, I thought it was an opportune time to connect with one of our challenge greats – Adriaan Homburg aka ahomburg on his experience on what makes challenges so exciting.
Thanks for chatting with me ahomburg, firstly can you share with us when you started Geocaching? I registered in 2006 but never tried to find a cache until 2010 when I was heading out for a BBQ with my family on Australia day. There was a Muzza cache called Dandenong Ranges Track #3 (GCC4F2) which was close by. The rest is history!
You have a great reputation for creating and achieving lots of different types of challenge caches – for those that are new to the game, can you explain what is a challenge cache? A challenge cache uses the same icon as a geocaching puzzle or mystery cache and it is usually at the listed coordinates and will have the word “challenge” in its title. But there is no puzzle to solve – rather it has a challenge for you to meet!
So finding the container is not enough to claim a smiley. Within the description of the cache, it will outline what you have to achieve or what criteria you have to meet in order to qualify and complete the challenge.
This could be as simple as finding a total of 50 caches, or it could be that you have to find 5 large caches, or attend ten events. There are a wide range of challenges available some suitable for beginners, where as others may be for more seasoned cachers and could take years to achieve.
How do you find challenge caches? Is there a list? There are a few ways to locate challenge caches. The easiest way is to go to project-gc.com where you can bring up a map or view a list of nearby challenges.
You can sign a challenge cache log book at any time. It is important to note that if you find the actual cache before you qualify, you can add a ‘write note’ to the cache confirming that you have signed the physical log and that you intend to work towards the challenge. Once you meet the requirements of the cache, you can then follow up with a ‘found it’ log and claim the smiley.
Sometimes you qualify for a challenge cache before you find the actual cache. If this is the case you can add a write note with your evidence (from project gc checker as an example) of how you meet the criteria and show your intention to sign the log at a future date. This can then be followed up with a ‘found it’ log when you sign the actual log.
You mentioned project GC checkers to see if you have qualified, what is a checker and how do I use it? All challenges since 2016 must include a project-gc.com challenge checker. Challenge checkers are used to see if a you qualify for a challenge and an easy way for the cache owner to know if you have filled the challenge criteria. These are all on project-gc.com, there is usually a link on the challenge cache page to see if you have qualified. It’s just a matter of opening the link and clicking on “Run Checker” and crossing your fingers. 🤣
What are some great challenges that beginners should start on? The best type for beginners is to find a certain number of caches, these are great as you don’t have to think too much about it. You can then move to the more complex ones like finding a certain number in a particular month.
BettyBoo3747 has some great challenge caches around the Beechworth Area like ‘Who Hid That There’ (GC4GZXH) where you have to collect 26 caches alphabetically from A-Z by Hider name. Perhaps even some of Sharkiefan’s challenge caches like (GC5AKTV) The 50 Souvenir Challenge Cache.
Geocaching Victoria also has quite a few listed on their website to help get you going. So be sure to check out that challenge web page.
What have been some of the favourite challenge caches that you have completed? Most challenges are fun. My absolute favourite are ones I don’t qualify for and have to work towards.
The original Unloved challenge, (GC3KWWQ) Spread the Love Challenge – where you had to find caches that had not been found in at least 183 days (6 months) it was great fun and always great to find these with a focus on caches that had not been found in the longest amount of time.
The other one I really like is the map based ones like (GCY98X) Victoria Country Road Atlas Challenge, where you have to find one cache on every page of the Victorian Country road map book and of course the (GC5DFFR) Victorian LGA Polygon Challenge where you need a cache in all the local government areas in Victoria.
You have such a high number of finds, and an experienced cacher, is there still challenges you are working towards that have not yet qualified for? Sadly in recent years the guidelines around publishing challenge caches have changed whereby all challenges need 10 local qualifiers to be published. Often I find that I already qualify for new challenges, but there has been a few recently like the 12 in every Victorian LGA and the 20 in 80 LGAs which have given me something to work on.
But in recent months I have enjoyed creating new challenge caches for others, like the recently published Whittlesea Challenge Wander Series.
Thanks so much ahomburg – I certainly look forward to working towards your more recent challenges, but to be honest I have many of your older ones still on the go too!
I must say I am a fan of the project GC challenge tools, because once you have added a write note to a challenge cache and run the checker, it tracks what challenges you are working on via the profile statistics… and lets just say my list is long!
