Welcome to the fortnightly blog post for the Parkville Event, 2018.  It is now 328 days until the MEGA event in Parkville Victoria and so we have some updates for you.

If you have already had a look at the event listing for The Parkville Event, 2018, you will have noticed that it has been translated into 6 different languages other than English, namely German, Swedish, Italian, French, Norwegian and Czech.  This was done for Geocaching Victoria by geocachers and reviewers native to these countries.  You may also have noticed that our lead up events for The Parkville Event, 2018 are being held all over the world.  So far, besides Australia, we have lead up events planned in 14 other countries.  This is being done for Geocaching Victoria by geocachers who either live there or are visiting the country at the time.  Geocaching Victoria would like to thank the people who are volunteering their time to help us run these lead up events and to translate our event listings for us.

You may wonder why we went to all this effort though.  Traditionally for our three previous MEGAs, the number of international visitors made up less than 5% of the total number of people attending and most of these were our friends from across the ditch in New Zealand.  Obviously it is a long way for people to travel from Europe and USA to a MEGA event here in Australia, but it’s not impossible and the experience, knowledge and stories that they do bring when they make the trip helps make everyone’s time at our MEGA events richer for it.  It was one of the main goals of the organizing committee, right from the very start, to try and attract a greater number of attendees to our MEGA from overseas.  Holding these international lead up events and translating our event listing is all part of that effort.

We also have many visitors coming in from interstate and from country Victoria as well.  All of these people travelling in to the centre of Melbourne are spoiled for choice on where to stay, but why would you stay anywhere else than right at GZ?  That’s right, for $130 you can get accommodation on both the Friday and the Saturday night (that’s $65 a night!) at the Urban Camp in Parkville and be in the middle of all the fun and excitement from the moment you wake up to the moment you finally fall asleep and we have SO much fun and excitement planned.  You can even get together with your friends and book out an entire room if you like.  Just click here to visit our webstore to secure your accommodation for the weekend.

Can you guess who else is coming and staying at Parkville that weekend? 

• Signal the Frog is making the big trip out from the USA to come and visit our MEGA event (see those international lead up events must be working!) 
• Fern, the Leadbeater’s Possum and our mascot will also make a welcome return to our MEGA events in Parkville too.

So if you want to get your picture taken with Signal the Frog and Fern, then the Parkville Event, 2018 will be your opportunity.  We are VERY excited to have these two guys coming to our MEGA event in 2018.

Don’t forget that Geostuff has all the OFFICIAL t-shirts for The Parkville Event, 2018.  Geostuff is the only place that you can purchase these t-shirts and they are available for pre-order right now. Available in men’s, women’s and kids sizes, these t-shirts display our mascot, Fern in his little zoo keeper uniform and is available with customisation to include your team name and tracking codes if you so wish.  You can check these out and purchase them 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.

This fortnight’s highlighted cache is the oldest still active cache within the 12 kilometres of The Parkville Event, 2018.  Starting at less than 3 kilometres from the MEGA site, this multi cache was placed by Biggles Bear in April 2002.  The cache is called The Fugitive (GC51AA), but don’t expect to be able to knock it over in a single day, this one takes some planning.  Just goes to show that multi caches that start in the inner city and finish at far away locations is nothing new.

And of course don’t forget the geocoins and pathtags that are still available for sale.  There is a stunning set of pathtags that you can purchase to add to your collection as well as a couple of geocoins that are also available for sale.  Much hype has been made about the limited edition shaped geocoin, but what may have been forgotten a little is the great value for money, standard geocoin.  The design on this coin has our little mascot Fern driving the Parkville tram with his native animal mates on board.  It is very colourful, comes as a hardened enamel coin, complete with tracking code and is excellent value for money at only $16.

Finally, we would, as always, like to thank our major sponsors, Geostuff, Cachly and geocaching.com who help make this kind of event possible in the first place.  It is with their continued support that large scale MEGA events can be put on and still always be FREE to attend.

The Parkville Event organizing committee wish you all a very merry Christmas and a Happy new year.  Stay safe over the holiday period and make sure you get out there and find some geocaches.

It’s now only 342 days until the MEGA event in Parkville, and it’s update time!

So let’s jump straight into what’s new this week.

First thing, yep, that’s right, geocaching.com gave us MEGA status last week, so it’s official, Geocaching Victoria will be hosting the 4^th MEGA event in 4 years in the great state of Victoria.

This doesn’t come about by accident though. There are many dedicated people both on the GVI committee as well as the MEGA event committees over the years that work very hard to make all of these events the success that they have been.   From suburban Casey Fields to the beaches of the Surf Coast and the rolling hills of Alexandra, each MEGA event has provided something different and unique to the participants geocaching experience and Parkville, 2018 will of course be no exception.

What a great location the Parkville Event, 2018 will be at.  The site map on our website allows you to have a good look at the layout.  The Urban Camp in Parkville offers a large hall which will be used as the registration area and stalls. There are two modern conference rooms that will be used for the many information sessions that we have planned.  There is a large courtyard which will be used for some of the social gatherings and trading games.   We are also planning on having a large marquee outside which will host other social gathering and activities too.  The whole site allows us to really spread out and put on some great activities and information sessions.

And then there is the accommodation!  That’s right, for only $130 you can book yourself a bed for both the Friday and the Saturday night, right at GZ (that’s only $65 a night!).  Then you can be in the midst of all the previously mentioned activities, games, information sessions and general excitement. Plus, we have some special further announcements of additional fun things that will only be available to people staying overnight at Urban Camp.  Accommodation is extremely limited so get in fast and if you want to get together with your mates and book yourself a room that you can all spread out in, there are options for that too.  Just click here to visit our web store to secure your accommodation.

We would also like to welcome on board a new sponsor!  Pathtags at pathtags.com have come on board once again  as a sponsor.  Pathtags has been an integral part of the MEGA’s in Victoria starting with the first one back in 2015 and their continued support for our events here are very much appreciated.

Then there is the official, The Parkville Event, 2018 Lead-up Events.  Following on from the major success that was the lead up events for Alexandra in 2017, Geocaching Victoria is literally taking the show on the road!  So where are the lead-up events in 2018?  Well, you’d be better off asking where they aren’t!  Not only are they in Melbourne and in most of the major regional centres around Victoria, but they will also be held in every capital citiy in Australia as well as a few select regional centres too.  PLUS, we are taking it overseas!  New Zealand, USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Czech Republic, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Iceland, Thailand, Singapore and Vanuatu!  OMG, the whole world will know about The Parkville Event!  And of course there is a fun competition for those who want to try and attend as many of these events as possible.  You can check out all the details by following this link.

Don’t forget the shiny pathtags and geocoins.  As with all our previous MEGAs, there is a set of pathtags available for purchase as well as a standard geocoin and a limited edition geocoin.  The pathtags this year are simply outstanding too.  Available for purchase in a trading set for $15 where you get 5 of the same path tag and then you trade with others at the MEGA to obtain a full set, or for $25 you can purchase the entire set and all the hard work is done for you.  For those of you who enjoy the social interaction of buying a trading set and trading with others to obtain the full set, in 2018 we will be introducing a new way for everyone who is trading pathtags to easily identify everyone else who is also trading.  Stand by for announcements on this front, but rest assured, we listened to the problems identified by the pathtag community and we have created a solution.

Also available at our webstore is some of the back catalogue of geocoins and pathtags that are left over from previous MEGAs. If you went along to the previous MEGAs and didn’t get to purchase them at the time, or you’d like them for your collection, some of these are available again for purchase, but obviously stocks are limited.

Parking at the Parkville Event, 2018 is an issue that has been raised.  We are in inner city Melbourne, and it is the weekend, but this has been addressed on our webpage, explaining the availability of parking around the MEGA site…

“200 meters up the road, at the State Netball and Hockey centre, there is ample free parking!”

That’s right, park at the State Netball and Hockey centre for free and it’s only a short 200m walk to the MEGA event.  How easy is that!

However, we would like you to challenge the idea that geocaching is a driving experience.  This is the inner city and the frequency of inner city public transport and the extent of the bike and walking trails snaking off from Royal Park mean that plenty of geocaching can be done in the area without the need to drive a car at all.  Bring your bike along, it’s better for the environment and it’s healthier for you!

For more information on parking and lots of other Frequently Asked Question, please check out our FAQ page, and if that doesn’t answer your questions, feel free to send us a message!

Don’t forget that Geostuff has all the OFFICIAL t-shirts for The Parkville Event, 2018.  Geostuff is the only place that you can purchase these t-shirts and they are available for pre-order right now. Available in men’s, women’s and kids sizes, these t-shirts display our mascot, Fern in his little zoo keeper uniform and is available with customisation to include your team name and tracking codes if you so wish.  You can check these out and purchase them 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.

This fortnight’s highlighted cache is the closest Earthcache to the event, GC1357A, Royal Rocks.  Placed in May 2007 by Rhinogeo and just over 1km away it is an easy D1 earthcache that has already been found 190 times.  The cache description gives a great history of the area (both geological and more recent history) and provides a fascinating lesson on the geology of the area.

Finally, The Parkville Event committee as always would like to thank our major sponsors.  Geostuff, Cachly and geocaching.com.  Without the support of these guys this whole event just would not be possible.  We look forward to working with you and delivering the best event that The Parkville Event 2018 can be.

Regards

The Parkville Event committee.

You’d think with 356 days until The Parkville Event, 2018, the committee could afford to sit back and take a well deserved break?

NO WAY!

Work is well underway on dreaming up all the fun and games that will be the Parkville Event, 2018, and why wouldn’t it?  Only 1 week in and over 120 teams comprising of over 200 people from every state in Australia as well as a few international visitors have already logged their “Will Attend”.  This is promising to be one very big MEGA!

OMG We have T-shirts already! – That’s right, available for pre-sale from Geostuff, the OFFICIAL “The Parkville Event 2018” t-shirts can be purchased right now! Just follow this link to make sure you have your t-shirt on order.    Bright and bold this t-shirt has Fern in his zoo keeper outfit and the option to customize your embroidery to include your caching name and a personal tracking code.  Note: All orders are pre-orders for either delivery or pick up from or at the store when stock arrives or for pick up at The Parkville Event, 2018 on the weekend of the event.

Need to find your way around the venue? We have a site map! Absolutely, you can go to our website and check out the layout of this great venue.

Also, while you’re there, you can purchase your accommodation for the two nights. Starting at $130 a bed for two nights (that’s only $65 a night), you can stay right at GZ and be in the midst of all the action from the moment you wake up to the moment you finally lay your head on the pillow, and don’t worry, we have LOTS of things planned for you whilst you’re there.

Plus, if you like shiny stuff, we have some stunning Geocoins and pathtags available for pre-sale. For the second year in a row, pathtags have been designed by Gloria of Ozglory and she has once again excelled with some beautiful designs. And then there are the geocoins. Complete with tracking codes, we have a standard geocoin depicting our friend Fern with his native animal mates on an iconic Melbourne tram, and then there is the very special, Limited Edition coin which depicts Fern with all his other friends at the nearby zoo. The Limited Edition coin is a shaped coin and will be a prize piece of any serious collector of Australian geocoins as there is only going to be 100 of these ones made, and they are already selling fast.

Of course we would like to take a moment to thank our major sponsors, Geostuff and Cachly, who came on board with this project months before the official launch of the event. Without their financial support, large scale events like this just are not possible.

Finally we would like to introduce you to our highlighted cache(s) category.  This is for those who are coming from interstate or overseas.  In every blog post that we put out we are going to endeavour to highlight a cache, or  series of caches within the 12 kilometre radius of the event.  This weeks highlighted cache is one of the new virtuals that was put out by gmj3191 called Marvellous Melbourne (GC7B65W) at just over 4 kilometres from the event location it is the nearest virtual cache and is easily accessible from Melbourne’s public transport.

We have so many exciting things planned and potential fun in the pipeline that we will be posting a blog post like this one every two weeks and every blog post will have new news and information about the happenings and excitement planned for this big event, with rolling updates on information already released. You can subscribe directly to the blog posts at the bottom of this page. If you are definitely planning on coming, make sure you log your Will Attend on our exciting new event, The Parkville Event, 2018 to help us better plan for the fun and activities.

Looking forward to seeing you all in Parkville.