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.
Before the week comes to a close, we wanted to share a few updates with our amazing community. It was great to see so many of you attend our Award Nomination Event last Sunday, but we are mindful that many were not able to attend and wanted to share the details.
We received over 500 nominations from across the Victoria; from the Murray to the City and from the Little Desert to Gippsland Lakes and with so many worthy entries the shortlisting process took some time. But we were happy to announce that there are 78 caches and 17 logs that have been added to the finalised list.
Sometimes we get asked how we come up with our award categories, particularly as there can be some changes from year to year and the simple answer is that we like to find ways to celebrate all caches as best as we can and we are open to experimenting a little. Sometimes however, there are not the numbers for a standalone cache award category, such as EarthCaches, which only saw 11 published in the year 2022, which is a vast difference to the 737 new traditional caches in the same year and so in some cases it makes more sense to have an ‘other category’ and group a few together.
We do like to try new things too, last year we tried the “best photo” category but we learnt that that can be really hard to capture and nominate. With the explosion of AdLabs in our community in recent years, we decided this year to try a new category in our awards this year and it was great to see so many nominated.
Voting will likely open end of June with a view of announcing winners at a future event later this year. We will share details once they are finalised.
Final Winners from Rutherglen
There were some final annoucements pending on award winners from our Rutherglen Mega and so we wanted to share those. Congratulations to the following winners of the Rutherglen Unobtaniums:
CITO attendee – McLookers
Maze Attendee – 6Hinemoa2
Car Rally – RoamingHowie & OzHockeyChick
Volunteer – Byker152
Congratulations to the winners of this limited edition coin – a great one to have in your collection.
Another Legend in our Game – Muzza
Murray aka “Muzza” to us has been part of Geocaching in Victoria for over 21 years and recently celebrated his 20,000 find this month – a massive achievement that many of us only dream of. We thought that we would take the opportunity to send a big congrat’s to Muzza, but also share an interview that day1976 did with Muzza some time ago. We hope you enjoy the recording (subtitles / closed captions are included.)
Cachemas in July
Ho Ho Ho, Merry Cachemas!!!
Cachemas in July is a 2 week caching bonanza in late July culminating in a Cachemas celebration at the Kensington Town Hall.
Over the 12 Days of Cachemas, new caches will be released by CO’s all over the state celebrating a different type or attribute each day in the style of a well known Cachemas carol.
At the end of the 12 days of Cachemas, join us for a Cachemas family celebration. GCA7WT4 (https://coord.info/GCA7WT4), is now published for you to log your will attends. Tickets are available to purchase via the link in the event and include a roast lunch with a variety of meats, salads, vegetables and scrumptious desserts (vegetarian option available). There will be other fun activities on the day as well.
So visit GCA7WT4 to log your will attend and secure your lunch tickets!
Now we have come a far cry from the days when we would see newspaper boys standing on the corner, promoting the release of breaking news. But it is timely that we do have some updates to share with you about the up coming Mega. So jump straight in and read all about it!
Firstly did you that we have organised a pre-Mega catch up? This is planned for Saturday 25th March 2023 – GCA5NZT – Pre Rutherglen Catch Up. We hope to see you there!
Information Sessions
We have just finalised the details of the Information Session and are excited to share the topics and schedule of the information sessions planned over the Mega weekend. All Information Sessions will be held at The Old Council Chambers, above the Rutherglen Library – 153 High Street, Rutherglen
Cachly Information Session by beckNmonts
How to create an Earthcache by GeoAwareANZ2
Placing Night Caches by ILookedThere
Solving Puzzle Caches by GJMMelb
Cachetur.no – more than a road trip app by Kittykatch
Pocket Queries and Lists by GeoLibrarian54
Adventurous Caching for Beginners by Jamin Appleford
Do’s and Don’t s For Placing Geocaches’ by Bunjil
NEWBS & scary events! by skuzzybear
Meet the Reviewers Sessions
There will also be an opportunity to meet the reviewers and ask some questions and get ideas for your next hide. This session will be held at Soldiers Hall – 150 High Street Road, Rutherglen
We are proud to present the 4th version of the maze for all geocachers to enjoy. Be sure to check the schedule for dates and times. (GC9V3RY)
Whether this will be your first Maze visit or you’ve visited every GPS Maze, you should proudly proclaim your achievement by purchasing an “I survived the GPS Maze T-Shirt”. Worn by the most discerning and fashionable geocachers, make your geo-friends jealous that they too, should attempt to survive the GPS Maze and have not yet done so. Stocks are limited but are available in all sizes from Small to 3XL. Buy one for each member of your team and join an exclusive club. Only $22
We also have a limited edition Rutherglen Maze Geocoin availabe, so be sure to order one of those at the Geocaching Victoria Online Shop.
Win an Unobtanium Coin with a Nametag
For those of you attending the Mega weekend, we would love you to wear your nametag! The name tag must be on the most visible layer of clothing (ie an embroidered shirt would count, but not if you have a jumper over the top).
It’s a great way to recognise those caching names you may be familiar with, particularly if you do not recognise faces. It’s also a lovely way to connect and meet other fellow cachers that you may not have met before.
Over the course of the weekend, the MEGA committee will hand out raffle tickets to those of you spotted wearing a name tag. Each recepient will go in the draw to win an Unobtanium coin. The winner will be drawn at the closing ceremony (you must be present)
To participate, you can:
Get creative and make a nametag
Bring a nametag you already own
Purchase a geocaching nametag
Pack enough geocaching items with your name embroidered to wear each day
Volunteering at the Rutherglen Event
As you know, our MEGA events are run entirely by volunteers. We need a few more volunteers to fill all roles. Have we mentioned that volunteers do get a small thank you gift for their time?
Some examples of things that we need assistance with is as follows:
Work the gate on Thursday afternoon. When else will you get a chance to tell so many people where to go?
Have you got pavilion set up experience? We need a few people from 2pm Friday to help the council set up some tables and pavilions for us.
Help set up the maze Thursday morning.
Work the gate on Friday, another perfect opportunity to tell people where to go.
We aim to share regular stories, event details and updates with our community and have a variety of channels where we share. But to ensure you don’t miss out on our updates, why not subscribe to our regular blog and get it delivered to your inbox. Subscribe now by entering your email address.
Easter is always a great time for families to come together, enjoy some downtime, camp or of course geocache! This year we are excited to host The Rutherglen Event (GC9MHM) for our community for some Easter fun.
In case you didn’t know, each Mega has a colour theme and we celebrate this in many different ways – through the flags, merchandise and of course car ribbons! For those of you that may not be familiar with these ribbons, we encourage anyone travelling to the Mega to attached the designated colour ribbon to your car, so as you descend upon the town of Rutherglen and travel around the surrounding towns over the weekend, you can spot your fellow geocachers! This year our colour is Maroon. Be sure to attach this ribbon to your car over the weekend of the Mega!
New Merchansise Available
Just in case you haven’t heard, we now have polo t-shirts available in the Geocaching Victoria online shop, in addition to the Rutherglen shirts, jackets, pathtags and geocoins. Be sure to place an order as these are priced to sell fast!
The Mega Easter Egg Hunt
After the big night you will have on Saturday, you will probably feel like sleeping in on the Sunday. After all Sunday is the day of rest. But I would suggest you might not want to sleep too long, otherwise you will miss the Easter Egg Hunt!
Yes, Easter Sunday come one, come all and bring your sleuthing abilities along. There will be many colourful eggs to be found around the showgrounds and camping area. These will be made of coloured paper and ribbon – very fancy.
“Paper & Ribbon!” you say? What kind of Easter Bunny is there for the Mega? An origami one? Fear not, depending on the egg you find, it can be exchanged for something more suitable. More information will be announced closer to the day.
Age is no limit – this is open to all. So keep Sunday morning free, and join in the fun. Any questions please reach out to Elizabeth Baulch (BettyBoo3747)
Make Rutherglen a Milestone
With only 34 days left until the Mega, we are keen to hear how many of you will be celebrating a Geocaching Milestone in November 2022. Please let us know!
The definition of a Milestone is number of finds ending in:
0 for 2 digit numbers – i.e. 10, 20, 30 etc 00 for 3 digit numbers – i.e. 100, 200, 300 etc 000 for 4 digit numbers – i.e. 1000, 2000, 3000 etc Of course we also have 10,000, 11,000 etc
To register your interest, please completed the below form and let us know if you will celebrate your milestone at the Maze Event or the Mega Event
There are still unpowered campsites available if you are looking for accomadation. Be sure to check our webpage for further details
We are aware that Thursday GCA4DQ8 and Monday Dinners GCA4DQK have been sold out at the Mega, however we are looking at extending seating – we will come back to you soon.
Plenty of room at Saturday Dinner GCA4DQE is available, so be sure to register your interest.
Remember if you are bring your geo-dog to the Mega to read our geo-dog etiquette
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We aim to share regular stories, event details and updates with our community and have a variety of channels where we share. But to ensure you don’t miss out on our updates, why not subscribe to our regular blog and get it delivered to your inbox. Subscribe now by entering your email address.
The excitement is certainly building as we start the count down to the Rutherglen Mega Event – only 40 more days before what will be an incredible weekend, jammed packed, full of lots of exciting geocaching experiences and social opportunities.
We wanted to share some quick udates with you to ensure that you optimise your planning for this Mega Event. But first an awesome new fact – The Indigo Shire (home for the Rutherglen Mega) is the number one LGA in Victoria for cache hides! So make sure you check out all the cache series that have been hidden in the area.
Mega Events
We have just had additional events published, so be sure to log your attendence to assist with our planning.
Thursday 6th April 2023 – GCA4ZWX – Thursday Lunch Social Event
Thursday 6th April 2023 – GCA4DQ8 – Thursday Night Dinner Event – Italian ‘Mangia’
Friday 7th April 2023 – GCA4DQA – Friday Dinner Event – Indian Night Market
Friday 7th April 2023 – GCA4ZWY – Friday Lunch Social Event
Saturday 8th April 2023 – GC9MH9M – The Rutherglen Event
Saturday 8th April 2023 – GCA4DQE – Saturday Night Dinner
Monday 10th April 2023 – GCA4ZWK – Monday Lunch Social Event
Monday 10th April 2023 – GCA4DQK – Monday Night Dinner Event – Grip It and Rip It
Brolga Bill decided that, instead of making all the puzzles for the Mega difficult and different, he would construct some that were grouped into similar types, that started easy and worked through to moderately tricky. Each type has five puzzles in its series. (except for the words series, which has more.) By this technique he hopes that some cachers, who normally would not look at puzzles, will have a go at these.
So even if you don’t consider yourself a puzzler, have a go at the first in each series. If you get them, go onto the others in the series. If you get really stuck Bill reckons you can always ask for a hint, either from him (online at Wiser than Owls), or from another cacher at an Event.
Different cachers are usually good at different types of puzzles. Some are good with words, some numbers, some images. That does not mean you should not try the other types, sometimes it is just a matter of getting some techniques down. Even if you can’t successfully add two and two to get four, there are always online resources to help.
Bill reckons you nearly have enough to complete one puzzle a night, and still finish them before the Mega starts. Don’t wait, start now! Good Luck.
In the lead up to the Rutherglen Mega, day1976 and Mister Doctor ran a Geocaching 101 workshop for interested locals to explain our beautiful game to them. They covered app navigation, D/T ratings and cache types, as well as taking them out in the field to make their first finds. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and business owners even commented that they had already noticed increased traffic due to the upcoming Mega.
There was, however, some feedback from local landowners about suspicious characters gathering on back roads near their properties. When asked what they were doing, they wouldn’t say. This is really the wrong way to respond if you’re “caught in the act”.
Honesty is still the best policy Geocachers are a daring breed! We are part secret agents, part explorers, part good old-fashioned adventurers.
These days geocaching has a much higher profile than it did 10 or even 5 years ago. Yes, we try to mask our activities from muggles as part of the thrill of the game, but if we are causing concern and directly confronted it is far better to be open and up-front. Many people will have already heard of geocaching, and if they haven’t it’s an excellent opportunity to educate them.
Try to understand where the locals are coming from. Unexplained and repeated visits to a quiet back road location can look very much like some sort of drug activity. When questioned, simply say “We’re geocaching”. Show them the cache if you’ve already found it, or engage them in the hunt if you are still looking. You might be pleasantly surprised at their response, the next geocachers may even get a friendly helping hand, and you may have introduced a new player to the game. Good luck on your travels fellow adventurers, and remember you can be also educators too. – Mister Doctor
We are still looking for some volunteers over the Mega weekend – If you can spare a few hours over the weekend, please do let us know and complete the Volunteer Form. We would really appreciate it.
Subscribe to our Blogs
We aim to share regular stories, event details and updates with our community and have a variety of channels where we share. But to ensure you don’t miss out on our updates, why not subscribe to our regular blog and get it delivered to your inbox. Subscribe now by entering your email address.
