G’day everyone – Neville the Devil here, your mischievous mascot with the inside scoop on the Tassie Event!
The event subcommittee has been busy at planning meetings and things are shaping up to be one ripper of a weekend. The team has been meeting every couple of weeks, ticking off activities, polishing up logistics, and making sure everything runs smoother than a devil on the prowl.
We are thrilled to announce that we have been awarded a grant to help bring our exciting adventure to life in beautiful Tasmania! Geocaching Victoria – the Tassie Event is supported by the Tasmanian Government through Events Tasmania, and we are incredibly grateful for their commitment to regional events that foster tourism and connection. With this backing, we’re set to deliver an event that not only celebrates the joy of geocaching but also contributes to the local economy and promotes Tassie’s incredible natural treasures.
We’ve already locked in some brilliant Sponsors and Supporters. One of our major sponsors is Budget Car and Truck Rental with a special discount offer for car rental. For details, terms and conditions see our website. Keep your eyes on the website, because I’ll be spilling the beans on more as soon as I can!
We’re also reaching out to connect with the local community around Sorell, and we’d love your support. If you’re a local business or keen community member, or if you know someone who wants to join the fun, now’s the time to get in touch. Partnerships, resources, knowledge – it all helps me and my human friends pull this off.
Planning is well underway for placing new caches across the state to support this event and our wonderful state. There are puzzles, earthcaches, geoart and more planned, with a theme of Tasmanian Flora and Fauna. The more people hiding caches the better, so reach out if you would like to be involved, get in touch.
Oh – and in case you missed it… I’ve already been out and about as the official Tassie Event mascot. Keep your eyes peeled – you never know where I might pop up next!
Thanks for being part of the journey. We can’t wait to bring you more updates in the future. Watch this space – or come stir up the conversation with me on Facebook.
As the 7,000 seedlings planted in Mullum Mullum Reserve form new roots after a huge planting day, we look ahead to a number of exciting events coming up on the geocaching calendar and more. Keep ahead of the news in our latest blog.
National Tree Day – 27 July 2025
This year, Geocaching Victoria partnered with Manningham Council to celebrate National Tree Day at Mullum Mullum Reserve. A wonderful group of geocachers and local community members came together to plant 7,000 indigenous plants across the reserve. The event was exceptionally well organized by Manningham Council, and we were proud to collaborate with them alongside the many volunteers who lent a helping hand. Special thanks go to Leah (Crack’n’LeeLee) for her efforts in coordinating this meaningful event.
Mark your calendars!
Spring is upon us, and the geocaching calendar is jam packed! We have three major Community Celebration Events coming up on the calendar filled with celebration, fun, and recognition: Be sure to log your will attends!
Victorian Cache of the Year Awards 2024 (GCB0YDT): Come and celebrate from 5:30pm on October 25, as we congratulate all of the nominees and announce the winners of the 2024 Victorian Cache of the Year Awards. Voting will open on 15 September, allowing you your chance to pick your favourite nominated caches, Adventure Labs, and logs.
GIFF – Thanks For The Community (GCATN5R): Mark your calendar for 11am on November 16, 2025. Enjoy geocaching short films from around the globe and other activities in comfortable theatre seating while connecting with fellow caching enthusiasts.
10th Anniversary of The Melbourne Event (GCATKT5): It’s time for a milestone! Join us for a Free BBQ dinner at Casey Fields from 5pm on November 16, 2025. It’s a chance to celebrate 10 years since the first ever Mega event in Victoria, and the many more that have followed in its footsteps.
Don’t forget you can view a list of every geocaching event being hosted in Victoria on our website by visiting our Upcoming Events page.
Don’t Miss Out: Jackets and Zip Hoodies—Limited Release
After all the love for our new jackets and zip hoodies at recent events, we’re doing a LIMITED 2ND RUN. The gear is back online and ready to order… but only until 7 September. Don’t miss your chance to level up your geocaching gear and add these pieces to your collection.
Geocaching Victoria is a volunteer-driven community and welcomes new committee members! Are you keen to help organize events, manage communications, work with the community or share some fresh ideas? Now is the perfect time to get involved. Bring your passion and help shape the future of Victoria’s caching adventures.
If you are interested in joining the team, send an email to president@geocachingvictoria.com.au with your name (real and geocaching!) and a short spiel about why you’d like to join the committee, and what skills you think you can bring.
Nominations have been flowing in recently in the search for the best geocaches, adventure labs and logs from 2024. All of the nominees for the Victorian Cache of the Year Awards have been carefully tallied, cross checked and shortlsted, and are now ready to be revealed. They include creative multis, impressive caches from a great selection of first time hiders, and some tall tales of geocaching adventures past just to name a few. Thank you to everyone who nominated and shared their voice.
With daylight savings affording attendees an extra hours sleep overnight, geocachers gathered, bright eyed at Darebin Parklands, ready to hear word of the amazing caches nominated by the community. The aroma of the sizzling BBQ wafted through the park (with thanks to bunadoorian, posums and ) and helped fuel the strong crowd that had gathered to celebrate.
For those eager to dive in, the full list of nominees is available on the 2024 Victorian Cache of the Year Awards page on our website. It is complete with links to each cache, Adventure Lab and log. There are an incredible 42 individual caches (some nominated in multiple categories), 106 caches that form the shortlisted cache series nominees, 6 Adventure Labs and 8 entertaining Found IT/DNF logs to enjoy. Congratulations to everyone that was shortlisted.
Don’t forget the 2 geocaching.com cache lists to help you find all of the nominees:
In addition, the 2025 eligible hide lists have already been created and are periodically updated. Keep your eye out for new hiders, new cache series, or any other new caches published this year. All of them are available at the Great Geocaching Lists section of our website and will be eligible for nominating in next years awards.
To give you time to find as many of the nominees as possible, voting won’t commence until later in the year, with the final winners slated to be revealed at an event in October/November (TBA). Don’t leave it until the last minute though, grab your GPS, lace up your caching boots and go out and find as many of these amazing nominated caches and adventure labs as you can. And when you have a quiet moment, read through the great logs also.
If you are one of the worthy nominees, you can also add a nominee banner to your cache page, and add a badge to your profile using the 2024 COTYA resources here.
To everyone who has earned a spot on the coveted nominations list for 2024, congratulations on your nomination and thank you for bringing so much enjoyment to the community – Good Luck and keep up the amazing hides, labs and stories.
With less than three weeks to go until the Sunbury Block Party, things are coming together nicely and excitement is building for this amazing event. Here are some of the things that have been released since our last update:
Geoart Unveiled: The geoart for the 25 challenge caches has been published and the final mystery geoart caches are now live!
Nightcache Adventure: Explore the Emu Bottom Wetlands with a newly released nightcache.
Special Guest: We’re thrilled to welcome a Geocaching HQ Lackey to Sunbury!
Mascot Spotted: Signal and Muggle the Puggle have been spotted hanging out in Sunbury, adding to the fun.
Geostuff Onsite: Geostuff will have their full shop on display, so get ready to gear up!
Event Schedule Released!
Plan your weekend with our full event schedule listed at the bottom of this blog. Additional info is available below to help you plan your weekend::
Nature at Night (Friday): Join the Entomological Society of Victoria, Astronomical Society and Hume City Council for stargazing and to learn about the nocturnal creatures at Emu Bottom Wetlands. Astronomers are new to the lineup! Free tickets are available here, with a complimentary shuttle bus from the Global Learning Centre to the wetlands.
Trivia Night (Saturday): Secure one of the few remaining free tickets for this fun and friendly trivia challenge. Reserve your spot here.
GPS Adventures Maze: This super rare icon is available at The Sunbury Event. Avoid the usual Saturday morning queues by planning your visit for a less busy time across the weekend. Foundation Friends of the Maze can skip the queue at any time with their maze nametag or by checking in with maze volunteers. Help support the maze by purchasing the Sunbury Maze Geocoin here.
Unobtanium Geocoins
There are only 12 Limited Edition Sunbury Unobtanium geocoins to win, with plenty of opportunities over the event weekend to participate and win one of these golden beauties. Stay tuned for more information and remember – these can only be won!
Merchandise
Pathtags, geocoins, hats and flags are still available to purchase via the Geocaching Victoria online store. Sunbury and Maze merchandise orders, $100 or over (cumulative over all orders), enter you into a draw to win a Sunbury Unobtanium Geocoin. Entires close 16 March so get your pre-orders in now! The Sunbury Event – Shop
Parking
Enjoy free, unrestricted parking at the rear of the Global Learning Centre (entry via Brook St) on both Saturday and Sunday. We have agreed with Hume City Council that parking inspectors will not enforce the 2P and 3P areas that are within the designated OFF STREET Global Learning Centre Carpark accessed from Brook St (Sat & Sun Only). Additional parking is also available along Macedon Street at the front of the Global Learning Centre and on Brook St at the rear, however parking restrictions WILL apply according to the signs in these and all other parking areas in Sunbury, so be sure to check the signs before leaving your car.
Disabled parking is available in the main car park off Brook Street as well as along Macedon Street (Macedon Street parking requires use of stairs or lift access).
There is limited parking at the Sunbury Memorial Hall (Home of the GPS Adventure Maze and some gadget caches). We therefore recommend parking at the Global Learning Centre where possible and walking the short 200m between the two venues.
Raffles
As part of engaging with the local community at each of our Mega and Block Party events, we nominate a local charity to be the beneficiary of the raffle sales from our FTF and much loved Maccamob hamper raffle. We are thrilled to have maccamob’s generous hamper donation for yet another year – Thank you Mary and David.
This year we are pleased to support the Sunbury Neighbourhood Kitchen, who are a not for profit, entirely volunteer run organisation (just like us!). They help feed locals in need and are aiming to provide over 2,500 meals this year. With your support, we are delighted to help them achieve this goal. A representative from Sunbury Neighbourhood Kitchen will be at the farewell event and tickets for the raffles will be on sale at the Global Learning Centre throughout the event.
We Can’t Wait To See You!
Don’t miss this epic geocaching celebration! If you haven’t already, log your “Will Attend” and start planning your Sunbury Block Party adventure today.
The Sunbury Block Party is just two months away, and excitement is building! Recently, BFMC and leelee (crack’n’leelee) joined PCE on the Geocaching Downunder Podcast to share the latest updates. You can watch the podcast episode below.
Here’s a rundown of the exciting new details:
Event Schedule
Get ready to plan your ultimate Block Party adventure! The newly released schedule is packed with activities, allowing ample time to reconnect with friends and explore the area’s caches and attractions.
Nature at Night (Friday Night Following The Casual Catchup Event)
Thanks to our major sponsor, Hume City Council, and the Entomological Society of Victoria, we’re thrilled to offer a unique nocturnal experience on Friday, March 21st. Learn about moths and other fascinating insects that call Sunbury home while spotting other nocturnal animals and learning about the local biodiversity.
Time: 7:30pm – 9:00pm (following the Friday night event)
Location: Emu Bottom Wetlands Reserve, Sunbury
Cost: Free! (Registration required via Eventbrite – TBA)
Activities: Moth identification, nocturnal animal spotting, expert talks on local biodiversity, and a fun Biodiversity Bingo challenge
Transport: Limited on-site parking; free shuttle buses running between the Sunbury Global Learning Centre and Emu Bottom Wetlands Reserve (departing every 20 mins between 7:00pm and 9:30pm)
What to bring: Comfortable walking shoes, weather-appropriate clothing, flashlight/headlamp, and a smartphone/tablet with the iNaturalist app
Trivia: Did you know that Gil Grissom from CSI is an entomologist, just like our expert guides.
Unobtanium Geocoin
Congratulations to AnyMules for snagging the first rare Sunbury Event Unobtanium geocoin.
Would you like to win the next unobtanium? Anyone who pre-orders Block Party and Maze merchandise will go into the draw to win an unobtanium. Get a bonus entry if you have cumulatively spent $100 or more on eligible merchandise (before discounts). Entries close Sunday 16 March and the winner will be drawn at the closing event.
More opportunities to win these coveted coins will be available at The Sunbury Event.
New Caches
We’re working hard to ensure there are a number of new geocaches in the area. This is a combined effort between the committee and the community. Puzzle caches are our current focus so there is plenty of time to solve, with multiple small batches being published soon. We will announce once all of the planned puzzles have been published. Keep an eye out for more exciting cache types to come, including the new Virtual published on Tuesday night.
Lead Up Events
Our final Victorian lead up event is scheduled on 9 February at Fitzroy Gardens (GCB1TAG). We’d love to connect with you and answer all of your questions to help you plan your weekend adventure.
A big thanks to DavidWazza for spreading the word at the recent event in Brisbane. There are two more interstate opportunities to get more information:
GCB1FKQ – Saturday 18 January (Alberton, SA) – Thanks Locus Cache!
GCB215F – Saturday 1 February (Howrah, TAS) – Thanks stainless-steel-rat!
Accommodation Update
While some options are filling up, there’s still plenty of accommodation available:
Treetops Scout Camp – plenty of unpowered sites available.
Macedon Caravan Park – have multiple spaces available.
For more options, check our Accommodation page – many sites still have availability.
Volunteers
Now is the time to register you interest in helping us deliver The Sunbury Event. Events like these are only possible thanks to the generous team of volunteers who help in the lead up and over the event weekend.
To register your interest and share your volunteering preferences, please complete the Volunteer form HERE.
Don’t miss out on this epic geocaching celebration! Log your “Will Attend” and start planning your Sunbury Block Party adventure today.
