So another fortnight rolls around and we find ourselves now with only 8 months to go until The Parkville Event – 2018, MEGA event.  The schedule is now in place, the sponsors are coming on board and our volunteers in the community are already busily working towards making this as much fun as any other MEGA that you may have been to.

And speaking of volunteers, it is that time of the year again too.  These MEGA events don’t just run themselves and there is no way they could be run with just the organizing committee alone.  On the weekend of the actual event we rely heavily on the dozens and dozens of people who through the year, put their hand up and say “Yep, I can help you guys out on that weekend”.  The volunteers are the backbone of these MEGA events and so once again we are asking for volunteers to help us out.  It might be doing traffic maintenance, being available for 1^st aid, manning the registration desk, or looking after some international visitors for the weekend.  There is a myriad of jobs that need to be done and yes it’s a long way off, but we like to make sure we have everything covered early.  Many hands make light work as they say and so, as usual, we have a form that you can fill out to register your interest in volunteering.  Don’t worry too much, we won’t hold you to anything as we all understand that life gets in the way sometimes, we’d just like to get an idea of who is willing to stick their hand up and help out.  You can register your details by following this link and filling out the form.

The accommodation at Urban Camp for the weekend continues to get booked as we release the next bonus that is being offered to everyone who is staying that weekend.  So besides the fun and games that we have planned for those who are staying at GZ over the weekend, the offer for free pick up from the airport AND the fact that a geocaching MEGA event will be happening right outside your bedroom door, we are now offering all those who stay with us at Urban Camp early registration and pick up of their event bags on the Friday night.  That’s right, no lining up in the queue on Saturday morning for you, just straight out of bed with your event bag to start enjoying the MEGA (maybe get changed out of your PJs first though).  If you haven’t booked your accommodation at Urban Camp, there are still places available for that weekend.  Prices start from $130 for the two nights (that’s just $65 a night) and you get to be in the middle of all the action for the whole weekend.  Follow this link to book your accommodation now.

Our pathtag sets are always popular and this year has been no different.  And why wouldn’t they?  We have a beautiful set of pathtags designed by Gloria from OzGlory designs.  Depicting iconic buildings around the Melbourne CBD you can buy a trading set for just $15 where you get 5 of the same pathtag and you can trade with others during the MEGA to make up the complete set.  This year we have made it easier to identify other people who are trading pathtags at the MEGA as everybody, as part of their registration kit, will receive a badge that they can wear showing that they are trading our pathtags.  Or, if you can’t be bothered with the whole trading with others thing, you can buy a complete set for $25.  This set of pathtags is both a great way to start your pathtag collection and also a great addition to anyone’s pathtag collection.  Follow this link to purchase your pathtag set today.

One of the very popular things that we ran at The Melbourne Event and The Surf Coast Event was the naughty corner.  Really it was just a time out place for people to rest and relax and have a casual conversation away from the hustle and bustle that can come with these large events.  Geocaching Victoria is pleased to announce that the naughty corner will once again be back in at The Parkville Event.  Bring along your own seats if you want something comfy, otherwise there will be plenty of normal seating available if you just want a place to chill for a few minutes.

And whilst we are at it, don’t forget to pre-order your Parkville Event, 2018 official t-shirt from Geostuff.  This year’s t-shirt is a very smart white polo shirt that comes with our mascot Fern in his zoo keeper outfit.   Available in men’s women’s and kid’s sizes, these are exclusive to Geostuff, the only walk up geocaching store in the southern hemisphere.  You can follow this link to purchase your official event t-shirt now.  Note: All orders are pre-orders for either delivery or pick up at the store when stock arrives or for pick up at The Parkville Event 2018 on the weekend of the event.

And while we are talking about geostuff, we would like to thank them as one of our major sponsors, along with Cachly and geocaching.com.  As we always say, without the help of these generous sponsors, large scale events like this just would not be possible.

Also, talking sponsors and joining us as a minor sponsor is Coca Cola!  They join other minor sponsors such as Pathtags and McDoanlds Flemington and the Royal Children’s Hospital who are all contributing in some way to helping us run this MEGA event.

We don’t think anyone could have missed it, but we are going to shake the old charity tin a few more times, just to make sure.  Geocaching Victoria is still selling specially minted Oxfam Geocoins to help raise funds for the three teams representing Geocaching Victoria in the upcoming Oxfam Trailwalker.  Each team will walk 100 kilometer to raise funds for this worthwhile charity and Geocaching Victoria is selling these wonderful coins where all proceeds go to this cause.  So if you want to get yourself a very special coin, depicting our mascot Fern out on the Oxfam trailwalker and at the same time help a very worthwhile charity, make sure you follow this link to purchase one of these coins.

Since our last BLOG post two weeks ago we have had a couple more Lead Up events around Australia.  The first, in sunny Merimbula, NSW was held right by the beach in ideal weather.  The turnout wasn’t so great, with just three teams, but a great geocaching conversation ensured for the full two hours before everyone retired back to their place.  And then yesterday, in Geelong, on a warm windy day over 20 teams turned out for a pleasant day.  Again everyone appeared to enjoy themselves.  As promised, there is a prize of a specially minted unobtanium geocoin for whoever gains the most points by attending these events.  The list of events and how many points each one is worth can be found by following this link.  The current leaderboard of who has the most points can be found by following this link.  Currently the top 2, thewildroseoftexas and day1976 are ineligible as they are hosts of some of the events, so the current top point scorers are those who gained 7 points by attending the event in Milan, Italy, although that is likely to change over the coming months.  Please note, that this does not include the points gained from attending the event at Geelong yesterday.

GC7G7EW – The Geelong Lead Up Event

This week’s cache of the fortnight goes back to the oldest traditional cache placed within the 12 kilometre area from the MEGA and that is Maccamob’s cache “Danny Boy”, GC83AB.  This cache, placed in August 2002, is about 4.5 kilometres from Urban Camp where the MEGA is being held and like most caches in the area you can leave your car at the carpark near the MEGA and enjoy either a short bike ride or a lovely walk along the well made tracks of the Maribyrnong River Trail to GZ.  On the way to this cache you can pick up many other wonderfully placed geocaches and when you get here, if you can make the find, you can earn a nice little square on your Jasmer challenge.

If you would like to see all the previous geocaches that have been mentioned in the Geocache of the fortnight, you can follow this link.  The geocaches of the fortnight highlight great caches that are placed within 12 kilometers of the MEGA site.  These caches are generally accessible by the many bike trails and walking tracks that snake out from the MEGA site, or via public transport.  If you have an idea for a cache that could be highlighted in this segment, please don’t hesitate to send us an email telling us which one and why you think it is so good.

That pretty much concludes this BLOG post.  Geocaching Victoria would like to wish all the walkers in next weekend’s Oxfam Trailwalker the best of luck and to thank not only them, but all the people who are volunteering their time to run support for them.  We’d also like to wish the guys up at OZGeomuster the best of luck with their forthcoming MEGA event in NSW on the Easter weekend.

Happy Caching Everyone.

From Geocaching Victoria and The Parkville Event 2018 Organising Team.

So it’s been another three weeks since our last BLOG post regarding the upcoming MEGA event in Parkville, The Parkville Event 2018.  Yes, yes it’s supposed to be a fortnightly blog post, but ah well.  Anyway, it’s now 258 days until the big event kicks off, so that seems like as good a time as any to make some new announcements…

Has anyone been following the lead up events?  So since our last BLOG post we have had a 5 lead up events all over the world.  On a cold but clear morning in Auckland, New Zealand a disappointing 2 teams turned up to the local Mc Donalds for GC7F761, but from all reports they had fun together.  Our thanks goes to the honorary New Zealander, but getting more Aussie by the day, sharkiefan for holding that event for us.  

Lincoln, England GC7F5QR

On another cold morning, later on the same day, but this time on the other side of the world in Lincoln, England, 13 teams turned up for GC7F5QR, an Australian themed geocaching event which even had a boomerang throwing competition!  Our thanks go to the wonderful International Ambassador, The Amasons for holding that event. 

Wodonga, Victoria GC7FVPB

One week later, on the 17^th of February, back closer to home in Wodonga, Victoria, 20 teams turned up to a beautiful warm morning to enjoy the sunshine and chat all things caching and Parkville at GC7FVPB.  It was good to see a number of teams travel quite a distance to make that event as well as a nice turn out from the local cachers as well. 

Milan, Italy GC7FXR4

Later in the same day, but again on the other side of the world, 11 teams met at a Japanese restaurant in Milan, Italy to discuss all things Australian for GC7FXR4.  How very multicultural!  We can’t understand any of the logs, but going by all the exclamation marks and the photos of Italian cachers smiling, we’re going to say that it appears everyone enjoyed themselves very much.  A huge thankyou goes to our Italian International Ambassador, orkaloca for hosting that event for us.

Hobart, Tasmania GC7G6MN

And then just last week, in Hobart, Tasmania, 16 teams enjoyed a lovely day of fun and games at GC7G6MN.  There were plenty of prizes and a BBQ put on by the hosts gooseandegg and stainless-steel-rat, thank you guys for hosting such a nice event on our behalf.  In the coming weeks we have lead up events being hosted in Merimbula, NSW and in Geelong, Victoria, before once again heading back overseas for some really exciting events.  Thank you once again to everyone who is hosting these events for us.  The whole concept is starting to turn heads in lots of places, all over the geocaching world!

A few weeks ago we announced that people staying at the urban camp on the Friday and Saturday night would be offered free pick up from the airport if they so wished. It is great to see that there are a number of people who have taken us up on this offer and of course the offer still stands, simply message us and let us know your flight details and we will organize it for you.  There is only a limited amount of accommodation available at the Urban Camp so if you want to be in the midst of all the action from dawn to dusk on both days, make sure you book your accommodation now.  Plus, there is still more exciting things to announce that will be exclusive to those who are staying at Urban Camp on both the Friday and Saturday nights.  Accommodation options start at just $130 for the whole weekend, you can purchase it now by following this link.

And while we are all getting excited about the Parkville Event, make sure you grab hold of the official The Parkville Event, 2018 t-shirts.  Available in men’s, women’s and kid’s sizes, these are exclusive to Geostuff, the only walk up geocaching store in the southern hemisphere.  Customizations to include your team name and tracking codes are available, just follow this link.  Note:  All orders are pre-orders for either delivery or pick up at the store when stock arrives or for pick up at The Parkville Event 2018 on the weekend of the event.

Of course, we’d like to also take this opportunity to thank geostuff, as well as our other major sponsors, geocaching.com and Cachly for their help in getting this wonderful event off the ground.

The LAB caches at our last MEGA in Alexandra have been the talk of the country ever since that event.  Each one was uniquely crafted by selected individuals to create a LAB cache adventure the likes of which has not been seen in this country.  The LAB caches at Alexandra have even been mentioned in international forums as being some of the best ever.  This was by no accident however.  Months and months of planning went in to them to make sure they were as fun and unique as they turned out to be.  The good news; well planning for the Parkville LAB caches has already begun in earnest and some carefully selected individuals have already begun getting the creative juices flowing so that we can once again bring you a LAB cache adventure that will be as good as Alexandra was.

The three teams completing this year’s Oxfam Trailwalker have been busily training and Geocaching Victoria has been busy selling a lovely geocoin on their behalf.  All proceeds from the sales of these coins go to the fund raising efforts for these three teams, with Geocaching Victoria once again footing the bill for all production costs.  We’d like to thank all those who have already purchased one of these coins, your contribution will make a difference to the wonderful work that Oxfam does.  For those that haven’t please consider doing so.  You can purchase this beautiful coin and support these wonderful geocachers who are completing this gruelling course by following this link.

A few months ago we mentioned that we were working on a plan to make it easier for people who wanted to trade our series of pathtags.  It was one of the problems that was identified in our follow up survey from Alexandra that people were finding it hard to identify others who were wanting to trade to make up the whole set.  Well, you said it and we listened.  Geocaching Victoria would like to announce, that as part of the event bag that we hand out at Parkville to all those who register we will include a badge that can be worn that will display all 5 of the pathtags.  During the event, if you are looking to trade our pathtags, simply wear the badge displaying all 5 pathtags.  You can then cross out the ones that you collect and don’t need to trade for anymore.  It is hoped that during the event this method will enable pathtag traders to easily identify others who are wanting to trade.  You can still purchase the beautiful path tag sets for this MEGA at our store.  A trading set, which consists of 5 identical pathtags that you can trade with others to make up a full set still only costs $15.  Or, if you can’t be bothered with the whole trading business, you can purchase a complete set for $25.  Follow this link to purchase these wonderful pathtags.

And finally, now on to the geocache of the fortnight.  Today we are going back to 2006 when Robmc placed a series of 9 multi caches all along the Capital City bike trail.  This one, GCRZB6, number 7 in the series starts less than 500 meters from Urban Camp which is the GZ for the MEGA.  A simple 6 stage multi with a 2/2 DT rating, this one can be enjoyed by all, as can all in this little series.  Bike and walking tracks are an excellent way to get around this part of the city.  We encourage everyone wishing to go geocaching whilst at this MEGA to park the car at the carpark near Urban Camp (free parking too, BTW) and bring along a bike or enjoy a lovely stroll.  There are plenty of geocaches to be had that can easily be accessed along the multitude of trails that snake out from this location.

The Parkville Event 2018 organizing team would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who is contributing in their own little way towards this MEGA event.  We have people writing up puzzles for us, dreaming up LAB caches for us, scouting out locations for us, designing games, hosting events, talking to councils and sponsors as well as many other jobs.  Putting on an event like this is a mammoth undertaking and could not be done by just the committee alone.  The work of these many individuals will become more and more apparent as the year goes on, so once again, thank you.  Happy caching guys!

And another fortnight rolls around (well it’s been three weeks actually, but who’s counting?).  The Parkville Event organizing committee have been busy making some exciting new contacts and developing plans to make The Parkville Event one VERY special MEGA event.  So what’s new to announce this week?

Well did anyone notice that the schedule for the weekend’s activities is up?  Yep, you can see it on our website by following this link.  Of course with 9 months still to go, the schedule may change a bit but at this stage this is what we are aiming for.  There are also quite a few other things that are in the pipeline that haven’t been 100% confirmed yet, but we will keep you up to date on those as they come along.  So if you are one of those people who like to plan your geocaching adventure WELL in advance, or your thinking of volunteering to help out at this MEGA, check it out, there are some very exciting things planned for the weekend so far.

And in case you missed it, accommodation is still available for the Friday and Saturday night of the event, right at GZ.  Dorm style accommodation is available on location for a comparable price to a back packers (without the terrible smells though).  PLUS, you get to be right on location from the start through to the finish AND there are plenty of extra fun and games planned for those who are staying overnight that aren’t available for those who are not staying.  DOUBLE PLUS, if you’re coming in from interstate or overseas and you’re staying with us at Urban Camp, we can organise pick up for you from the airport, just send us an email with your flight details and we will meet you.  How cool is that?  Beds start at just $130 for the two nights (that’s only $65 per night) and there are options to book out an entire room too.  But hurry because there are only a limited number of beds.  You can follow this link to book your accommodation at Urban Camp now.

Tennessee Event (GC7FXME)

Since our last BLOG post we have had 3 new lead up events.  On the 26^th of January in Bristol UK, 12 teams celebrated Australia Day and got a souvenir for their troubles as well as learnt a whole heap about The Parkville Event too.  On the 28^th of January, 8 teams made it all the way to Geraldton, Western Australia in probably very different weather to soak up some sunrays by the beach and also gather a souvenir and learn about The Parkville Event.  And, on the 3^rd of February in a town called Chattanooga in Tennessee, USA, 7 teams celebrated the upcoming MEGA event a long way away in Parkville, Victoria, Australia. 

Bristol Event (GC7G35R)

Today we have two new lead up events being run, one in Lincoln, United Kingdom and one in Auckland, New Zealand.  And next week look out for an event being run in Wodonga, Victoria and also one being run in Milan, Italy.  How VERY exciting and VERY diverse!

With all this excitement, you can bet that competition for the FTF on our event will be hot this year again.  As always we run a raffle for people to buy tickets to go into the draw to win the FTF prize.  This year’s FTF prize will not only come with the obvious prestige and glory of being able to call yourself the FTF for a MEGA event, but it will come with a specially minted unobtanium geocoin AND a sash that you can proudly wear forever and ever to remind everyone of your achievement.  Seriously though, it is all for a very good cause, all moneys raised through this raffle will be donated to our chosen charity this year which is Ronald McDonald House.  So follow this link to purchase your ticket in the draw to win the FTF prize for The Parkville Event 2018 and help support a worthwhile charity.

We would also like to take this opportunity to welcome on board our latest sponsor, the McDonalds at Flemington & at the Royal Children’s Hospital, who have already been integral in helping us organize raising funds for the Ronald Mc Donald House charity have come on board as a sponsor for our event.  Both the Flemington Mc Donald’s and the Mc Donald’s at the Royal Children’s Hospital are only a very short (less than 2k) walk or bike ride away from the MEGA site. 

Of course at this stage we would also like to thank our major sponsors, Cachly, Geostuff and geocaching.com who have all provided an inordinate amount of financial help for us to be able to put this kind of large event on and for it to be as successful as it is promising to be, so thank you guys!

Whilst we are on the topic of success, only 3 months in from this event being announced and with another 9 months still to go we have already hit the 200 Will Attend mark.  This includes many people from across the state of Victoria as well as from every state and territory in Australia.  Plus we have many teams already marking there Will Attends from overseas, including New Zealand, Sweden, Slovakia and of course the USA.  We have many basic members, premium members, Charter members and now even a Lackey coming to our event.  The organizing committee is excited to see the diversity of geocaching teams who are planning on coming to this event.

Don’t forget also that the official The Parkville Event 2018 t-shirts are available at one place and one place only.  One of our major sponsors, Geostuff, has the sole rights to distribute this beautiful t-shirt.  Available in men’s, women’s and kid’s sizes, they are available with customization to include your team name and tracking codes if you wish. You can check these t-shirts out by following this link. Note: All orders are pre-orders for either delivery or pick up at the store when stock arrives or for pick up at The Parkville Event 2018 on the weekend of the event.

And of course, as it will probably become the worst kept secret in geocaching in Victoria anyway, we’d like to announce that work has already started on a huge geo-art project.  Of course we are not at liberty to talk about all the details, as these will certainly become evident soon, but what we can say for now is that every puzzle will be made by someone different.  Dozens and dozens of geocaching teams from all over the place have been asked to contribute one puzzle and one puzzle only to this geoart with the idea that each puzzle making up the geo art is going to be different and unique in its own way.  This is a very exciting and is definitely a MEGA project that has been being worked on for many months, even before the Parkville Event 2018 was announced.

And of course for a few months we have put on hold promoting the fabulous geocoins for the Parkville Event as we concentrate on selling the coins raising funds for the Geocaching Victoria Oxfam walkers.  This beautiful coin depicting Fern on the Oxfam trail and is selling for only $25 and all proceeds of the sales go to the Oxfam charity.  Geocaching Victoria is picking up the tab on all the costs involved in producing these coins, so every $25 spent on these coins goes directly to the  charity efforts of the three teams involved.  You can purchase this special geocoin by following this link and help support our walkers.

Finally we are on to this editions geocache(s) of the fortnight and this week we are looking at the nearest LARGE size container to our event.  And so this week we turn the spotlight on GC7GETR, The Razorback Crawler.  This is a multi cache that starts only 350 meters away from the MEGA event, but it ends quite a distance away.  However, judging by the three teams out of four that have completed it and given it a FAV point and the very complimentary logs that it is receiving, as well as having a “Recommended for Kids” attribute, this certainly looks like a geocache that should be on most people’s “to do” list!  To check out all the other previous geocache(s) of the fortnight, you can follow this link.

And that about sums up this fortnights BLOG post.  If you have any questions about the upcoming MEGA event in Parkville, you can check out our FAQ section by following this link, and if that doesn’t answer your questions, feel free to email us your question and we can happily answer it for you (if we know the answer yet).  Happy caching from the Parkville Event organizing committee.