YAY!!
My cache was published this evening and already I someone found it!
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=0a524921-768b-4999-b951-e6513cb46d48
Sunday, 17 April 2011
Pictures as promised.
Here are the pictures that I mentioned in the post titled "What are the odds?!"
 |
| Inside the larger boathouse. |
 |
| Original staircase |
 |
| View of boathouses from the beach |
 |
| Some rusted artifacts. There are a bunch of these scattered along the beach. |
 |
| View from the top of the cliff. |
Saturday, 16 April 2011
Third time's a charm. I hope...
Attempt #2 = FAIL!
Okay, I understand why I cannot place a cache close to another one, that is just common sense. It seems stupid that I cannot place one close to a waypoint as part of a mulit-cache. What make me so annoyed by this detail is that waypoints don't show up on the map when I enter an address on the 'Hide & Seek a Cache' section of the Geocaching website. This is very frustrating!
I will retrieve my cache tomorrow and find yet another location to try.
-Sarah-bellum
Okay, I understand why I cannot place a cache close to another one, that is just common sense. It seems stupid that I cannot place one close to a waypoint as part of a mulit-cache. What make me so annoyed by this detail is that waypoints don't show up on the map when I enter an address on the 'Hide & Seek a Cache' section of the Geocaching website. This is very frustrating!
I will retrieve my cache tomorrow and find yet another location to try.
-Sarah-bellum
Friday, 15 April 2011
What are the odds?!
It is a little over two weeks since I first tried to set out my first cache, but due to a formality with one of the guidelines I had to move it. I decided that considering the name of the cache that it was to be best hidden next April…
In the meantime, I had found some containers that would be suitable to use for caches. While doing some caches throughout the week I had been keeping my eye out for the perfect place to hide my official first cache. I finally thought I had found it. Laerok and I were out caching (obviously) earlier this week and we came across the perfect spot to put it. I will not give away too much information about the following events, because I will be putting one in this location later. But as we were walking down the lane a man came from one of the nearby houses and said that we could take pictures, but please do not go on the property. Not a problem. I will be taking pictures of this cool building when I go there next. Hint: I love caches that have to do with local history, so this will be a perfect spot for a future one! Anyway, as we were leaving, the local fire department showed up to do some training drills. Now that my perfect location on an otherwise dead country road was now a ‘muggle zone’ we decided to carry on with our finds.
I was on my way to hide attempt #2 this afternoon, when Laerok asked me to meet him at work. He was on his lunch, so I picked him up to come with me. We went to the first place I had in mind, but it didn’t feel right. So on to the next location I scouted out. We tried a set of bushes, but there were no good spots. Laerok walked over to a lone tree, placed the cache on a broken branch and asked ‘What do you think of this spot?’ I told him it was way too obvious. As he pulled the cache off the branch, the branch fell away from the tree. It wasn’t a branch at all, but micro cache camo’d as a broken branch!! We couldn’t believe it! We stood there stunned, when we realized that actually did just happened, we had a good laugh. We figure it must be part of a multi-cache as there are no other caches hidden in this park. Note: I am currently waiting approval my cache location.
This past week we found the smallest cache we had ever seen. It is part of the ‘bus stop series’. I would not be offended if I never had to find another one so small. I must have looked at it at least twice. Having said before that I like caches that tie in local history, we found ‘New Man Farm’. There are two reconstructed boathouses that belonged to the local pioneering Newman family. I forgot the camera at home, and the phones were left in the car. I am waiting on better weather to take some pictures of the boathouses. I am going to take some pictures of them this weekend.
Last week I tried out the Geocaching application on my iPhone (http://www.geocaching.com/iphone/). It worked fairly well for the location I was at. Not something I would used every day, but ok in a pinch. Definitely need your ‘geoscense’ to make the find.
Happy caching!
In the meantime, I had found some containers that would be suitable to use for caches. While doing some caches throughout the week I had been keeping my eye out for the perfect place to hide my official first cache. I finally thought I had found it. Laerok and I were out caching (obviously) earlier this week and we came across the perfect spot to put it. I will not give away too much information about the following events, because I will be putting one in this location later. But as we were walking down the lane a man came from one of the nearby houses and said that we could take pictures, but please do not go on the property. Not a problem. I will be taking pictures of this cool building when I go there next. Hint: I love caches that have to do with local history, so this will be a perfect spot for a future one! Anyway, as we were leaving, the local fire department showed up to do some training drills. Now that my perfect location on an otherwise dead country road was now a ‘muggle zone’ we decided to carry on with our finds.
I was on my way to hide attempt #2 this afternoon, when Laerok asked me to meet him at work. He was on his lunch, so I picked him up to come with me. We went to the first place I had in mind, but it didn’t feel right. So on to the next location I scouted out. We tried a set of bushes, but there were no good spots. Laerok walked over to a lone tree, placed the cache on a broken branch and asked ‘What do you think of this spot?’ I told him it was way too obvious. As he pulled the cache off the branch, the branch fell away from the tree. It wasn’t a branch at all, but micro cache camo’d as a broken branch!! We couldn’t believe it! We stood there stunned, when we realized that actually did just happened, we had a good laugh. We figure it must be part of a multi-cache as there are no other caches hidden in this park. Note: I am currently waiting approval my cache location.
 |
Last week I tried out the Geocaching application on my iPhone (http://www.geocaching.com/iphone/). It worked fairly well for the location I was at. Not something I would used every day, but ok in a pinch. Definitely need your ‘geoscense’ to make the find.
-Sarah-bellum.
Saturday, 9 April 2011
Slow and steady wins the race………… Right?
With hours spent preparing, we were on the road to Sooke. Sarah-Bellum and I were accompanied by our friend Cheryl and her two dogs Holly and Finnigan. We had uploaded about forty caches to our GPS with the hopes of finding at least twenty. We had set a ground rule for ourselves, no more than five minutes spent hunting for each cache. We have previously spent too much time looking for caches and leaving little time for others.
 |
| Well built little hut on the beach at Whiffen Spit. |
Our first cache of the day was “Yeah Yeah Take Me For A Walk No No Don’t Sit” it was also our first mystery cache. After collecting the information for to find the final coordinates, we made our find. Great fun! From there our luck seemed to be on vacation. Locating our second cache was not meant to happen. Finnigan had managed to escape from the vehicle to chase after a squirrel. After collecting all of our passengers and giving up on the cache we moved on to the next set of coordinates. Success on locating any further caches proved to be hit or miss.
We stopped for lunch at Rock Beach Grill and Grocery. Nice little place for a bite to eat. While we were looking over the menu, the waitress had asked a little girl at the table next to us if she wanted French fries or salad. She replied by saying “I don’t like salad… I’m not a leaf eater!” This unfortunately was the highlight of our trip.
 |
| View from Rocky Outlook Cache |
My favorite cache of the day was “Rocky Outlook”; its location is near a rocky cliff right on the coast. Having reception problems, I ended up circling around the cache turning its rating from a 1.5/2 into a 1.5/4. I attempted this cache alone as the terrain looked too difficult with two large dogs. Climbing down a slope of boulders, the moss on one rock let go and I slipped landing my groin on the same rock, then fell forward smashing my knee on a rock, fell backwards from there to hit my shoulder on another rock behind me. I guess that’s what they meant by “you assume all risks while geocaching”. After lying there for a few minutes I gathered myself and continued to the cache location. The view made it all worth it!
By the end of our day we had only located eight caches in total, a big letdown for Sarah-Bellum and I.
On the evening of March 31st, I set out to hide my first cache ever (http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=65d7c3f0-c0c6-463b-9bbe-548d0794fba7). The next morning at 9:50am a co-worker received a call from a local auto repair shop. The caller explained “Tell your salesman to stop geocaching and get back to work”. I quickly checked my email and confirmed that my cache had been published. My co-worker (the salesman) also known as THE GEOKNIGHTS, was the first to find the cache fourteen minutes after it was published. Congratulations go to THE GEOKNIGHTS for FTF. I frequently check the logs to see how many cachers have located my cache. After nine days there have been twenty logs. I plan to set out my next cache toward the end of the month; I think I am going to get creative with this next cache container. Want to know what I am thinking? Well I guess you will have to wait and find out…………
- Laerok
- Laerok
Sunday, 3 April 2011
A day of many firsts
 |
| View from where my GeoCoin was found. |
First of April, first day of our challenge, first GeoCoing & TravelBug, and a first time cacher. Wow! I (Sarah-Bellum) have been sick with Mono for the last 3 weeks, but despite my extreme exhaustion, (I have just returned to work part-time) and typical 'wet' coast weather, I couldn't wait to get out and find our first caches! Myself and Laerok took his mom, a first time cacher, out to some local places. We started with an easy one. It is right outside Laerok's work, placed by a co-worker. Our second find of the evening was a local beach, it was an easy find, but we spent more time beachcombing for glass, quartz and other assorted geoloical bits than we did finding the cache! At another beach a little ways north we found our first GeoCoin: AON98N. This GeoCoin originated in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany in November 2009. It's goal is to go around the world. So far it has been to Thailand, India, back to Thailand, Ontario, various locations around BC, and Mexico. I will drop it in a cache tomorrow when we are in Sooke.
The only micro-cache we were able to find was another placed by Laerok's co-worker. We searched for one earlier in the evening, but it alluded us.
Our second to last cache of the night was found by our 'newbie'! Very exciting!
Our last cache was also a first. It was our first multi-cache. A multi-cache has 2 or more locations. The first location has a hint or riddle to find the physical cache. Laerok opened it to find a few trackables. He decided on the TravelBug (A1KAZW) with the USB drive attached to it. It is from Niedersachsen, Germany. It's goal is to travel from cache to cache, and back to Germany. So far it has bounced around Neidersachsen, Mexico, and BC.
 |
| Gnarled tree that led Laerok to his TravelBug. |
Our last cache was also a first. It was our first multi-cache. A multi-cache has 2 or more locations. The first location has a hint or riddle to find the physical cache. Laerok opened it to find a few trackables. He decided on the TravelBug (A1KAZW) with the USB drive attached to it. It is from Niedersachsen, Germany. It's goal is to travel from cache to cache, and back to Germany. So far it has bounced around Neidersachsen, Mexico, and BC.
A side note, Laerok posted his first cache on Thursday and already has a few logs! Very cool. I put one out too, but there was an issue with it being to close to another one so I will try to move it to a new location this week. Tomorrow we are off to Sooke for a day of caching with my friend Cheryl!
-Sarah-Bellum
Friday, 1 April 2011
What is Geocaching?
Geocaching is an outdoor activity where a geocacher inputs coordinates into their GPS receivers to locate hidden "treasure". These hidden treasure containers are referred to as caches. Caches are hidden in all types of locations all over the globe, including one attached to the International Space Station. Traditional caches are usually water proof containers containing: log books, writing utensils, trinkets and on the odd occasion trackable items.
Trackable items include coins, dog tags, and patches, most of which are attached to a small item like, hot wheels cars, little stuffed animals, ornaments, figurines, and even pictures. The items attached to trackables are chosen by the cacher, who will then place it in a local cache for pick up by the next cacher who comes along. Once a cacher removes a trackable item from a cache, he/she is then responsible for placing the trackable into a seperate cache of their choice and logging the move online. The owner of the trackable item can request a specific destination or that photos are taken at different points along the journey. Trackable items have been known to circle the globe before returning to its original owners location.
Caches can contain trinkets, and some times even money! It is understood between cachers that if you remove something from a cache (i.e. loot or a trackable item) you should then place somthing of your own into the cahce container. When a cache is found, the cacher writes his/her username and date in the logbook. Once home, the cacher logs their find online.
For more information on geocaching or to get started, visit http://www.geocaching.com/.
Trackable items include coins, dog tags, and patches, most of which are attached to a small item like, hot wheels cars, little stuffed animals, ornaments, figurines, and even pictures. The items attached to trackables are chosen by the cacher, who will then place it in a local cache for pick up by the next cacher who comes along. Once a cacher removes a trackable item from a cache, he/she is then responsible for placing the trackable into a seperate cache of their choice and logging the move online. The owner of the trackable item can request a specific destination or that photos are taken at different points along the journey. Trackable items have been known to circle the globe before returning to its original owners location.
Caches can contain trinkets, and some times even money! It is understood between cachers that if you remove something from a cache (i.e. loot or a trackable item) you should then place somthing of your own into the cahce container. When a cache is found, the cacher writes his/her username and date in the logbook. Once home, the cacher logs their find online.
For more information on geocaching or to get started, visit http://www.geocaching.com/.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)