Hi folks. It is update time again!

With more than 75 days to go it may seem like the Melbourne Event is still a long way off, but trust me, those few weeks are sure to go VERY quickly. The Geocaching Melbourne committee members have been working very hard behind the scenes to make sure that this event will be the best it can possibly be, without costing participants a cent! We also have a few extra special exciting announcements to make, but stay tuned! There are also many other things that we are working on to hopefully create an unforgettable experience.

It’s Free –

Yep, we cannot stress this one nearly enough. The event is free to attend. You can turn up any time over the whole weekend, walk around the grounds, and browse the stalls of your favorite geocaching stores that will be there, including the famous Geostuff.com.au. It is free to attend most of the sessions (providing you register), participate in a multitude of games that will be running over the weekend, or just sit back and have a chat with some friends and have a good old yarn about geocaching. Oh, and maybe even head out and find a geocache… Whatever you choose, all of the above is free! Don’t forget to sign the log too, to officially register your attendance, that’s free too!

Plus, you get stuff! –

Want something for nothing? Well guess what, you guessed it – there will be show bags full of random stuff! What’s in these show bags? Well, at the moment that is a VERY closely guarded secret. Further details on the very special bags and how you can lay your hands on them will be released in the near future, so watch this page or subscribe to geocaching.melbourne

Volunteers –

The response to our call-out for volunteers has been awesome. Our good friends at Anvil Angus recently have kindly donated two uber rare and super amazing unobtanium Golden Clever Monkey geocoins to give away randomly to our volunteers. We have already given the first away to one of our first volunteers using a random number generator. We let the computer select a volunteer and it picked …. Mr Coffee, from the The coffee’s. Congratulations! The second is to be given away to a new volunteer in the near future, so if you haven’t volunteered yet and you have a bit of spare time that weekend (just a couple of hours will do), we’d love you to register as a volunteer here Volunteers Registration and you may even be the lucky recipient of the second uber rare unobtanium Golden Clever Monkey geocoin! Good Luck!

CITOs –

Speaking of volunteering, who doesn’t love a good CITO? With so many environmentally conscious geocachers coming to the area, we here at Geocaching Melbourne have asked the people at waste management in the City of Casey to identify particular areas that are in need of a good clean up. They have identified a number of areas and we have our scouts out inspecting these spots right now. More details will be forthcoming in the next few weeks, so keep an eye out!

Saturday Night 14^th Nov –

Speaking of amazingly exciting events – man do we have one planned for you! Let’s just say if you don’t like really good food, particularly beef from one of Australia’s most awesome beef producers, Anvil Angus, or if you don’t like live music, or fireworks, or a chance to sit around with your friends and catch up by the beach . . . stay well away from this one! But, if you do like all of these things, you are going to love the event we have planned for you on the Saturday night! But how much could you expect to pay for all that food, fireworks, music and good times by the beach? Well guess what, we have stuck to our word, and as with most things connected to this MEGA event, it is all FREE!!!! One tiny exception is the drinks, you can BYO (non-alcoholic) drinks or drinks will be for sale, we think this is a pretty fair trade, given your dinner is free.  You will need to stay posted to learn more details, but we are all super-excited about this one!

SESSIONS–

The response to our sessions has been phenomenal. Over 250 places have already been booked. Some of the sessions have been completely booked out (!!) and others are very close to being booked out. Spots are filling up fast, so if any of these sessions have caught your interest, register your details so you don’t miss out. Just reminding here that almost all of the sessions are free to attend, however you need to register, or you will not be able to get in. Here is a link to the session schedule

Canoes and kayak session –

Ok, so this one is not free, but for only $30 it’s a great opportunity to learn some basic safety skills on the water, with 90 minutes of tuition with a expert from Canoes Victoria. The venue is nearby on the lake at Casey Fields, and the weather will be a lot warmer than it is now! All equipment is provided for you, so what are you waiting for? Sign up now to learn how to nab some of those pesky T5s ;). Head to this page to register for the sessions.

Other Weekend Activities –

Just when you thought there couldn’t possibly be any more fun packed into an absolutely free weekend, we have come up with more. Although not finalized completely, expect some REALLY different stuff to do and have fun with. Think games and activities and of course, think LAB CACHES! – Oooo yeah!

Geo-Art –

If you haven’t noticed, we have interesting Geo-art, and it is growing piece by piece, with new parts being added almost every week. There are some truly ingenious puzzles – though some are easy, some are downright dastardly; most importantly every one is different from the other, just to keep you all on your toes. Get your noggin’ working on these before you arrive – or if you are completely stumped, turn up to one of our many informal puzzle solving sessions over the weekend, and maybe gain some valuable insider information!

Collectables –

Yep, we have them. Shiny new geocoins, at a lot less than you would expect to pay. You can pick up your official Melbourne Event Geocoin for only $15. But guess what? Do you want rare? Super, uber, totally rare? We have limited edition Lemon, Cherry and Lime versions of this coin. With only 75 of each of these coins available, these will go fast. You can currently pick up all three of these very rare coins, as a set, for only $99. Check out these, and other swapables, over here

Road Trips –

The Geocaching Melbourne team have been enjoying our road trips all over the great state of Victoria. Last month we were in Geelong where we met up with an awesome bunch of locals. This month we have been up to Wodonga where we experienced some fantastic hospitality up there. Next month we are in the great city of Bendigo for the “Two Month to MEGA” event, and then in October we go east to Traralgon in Gippsland for the “One month to MEGA” event. It has been awesome to get out to the regional centres and catch up with the locals.

Sponsors –

Finally, a shout out to all of our sponsors without who, none of this would have been remotely possible.

geostuff.com.au
Anvil Angus
City of Casey
geocaching.com
Southern Cross Fire Works
pathtags.com