da_snoop

New Zealand now has a new Reviewer, Zero Gravitas, I will no longer be reviewing caches. It appears by the time most of you get to read this message my admin abilities for geocaching.com will have been removed. Please, I'm unlikely to be able to help with any requests in the future and to be honest I doubt I'll have the time to respond to any e-mails. I'd suggest for the moment all queries be directed to contact@geocaching.com

Maybe after we recover from all the flooding we might go and see if it's still there. Sorry, it's not been a good week.

Hi Bronson, As I'm in the North Island I'm not that familiar with the caches down in the South Island. There have been topics (here and here for example) in the NZ Recreational GPS forums. Perhaps it might be worth starting a new topic there?

Gee, I wonder if they would complain if I went and got it? I only reveiwed it like 36 hours ago If no-one else bites in the next 24 hours I'll be in though You could always try the NZ GPS forums where everyone hangs out too!

Unfortunately an idea like that leads to multiple logs that the database is not designed to handle. I suspect it was a case of lock it down before it caused problems (like the yellow jeep locationless did).

You might like to repeat this request in the NZ GPS forums

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from way down under in New Zealand (at the leading edge of time). I hope everyone has a fantastic break, please drive carefully and remember to have fun. Neill aka da_snoop or tgsnoopy, Groundspeak Volunteer Forum Moderator & Cache Reviewer.

With permission of the cache owners I've edited the cache page so that the waypoint is now the more accurate waypoint recorded by kaimaikid. The location is up against a steep bank underneath overhanging pohutukawa trees, thus coverage is poor to marginal in this location and unfortunately it appears the initial reading didn't average accurately. Sorry about the inconvenience.

You may like to refer to this topic in the forums: New Servers for Geocaching.com

Hi Timber Crasher, I've posted a topic in our Local forums with a link back to this page. I hope you enjoy your visit

I would suggest anyone considering this refers to the main forum thread to get the full story.

You might like to add an appropriate comment in the local forums.

Hi, Unfortunately I don't live in the right part of NZ to help you. You may like to repeat your request in our Local Forums

It is a function of the forums used to allow other moderators and the individual user to keep track of any warnings issued for not complying with the guidelines for using the forums. If a user does something serious enough to warrant a warning they will sometimes get banned from making posts directly to the forum, their posts will only be visible after a moderator approves them. Initially these moderated posts may be for a day or a few days. If there are continued problems the moderation periods may increase until ultimately the user is either put on moderated postings indefinitely or banned completely. It is quite unusual for these actions to be neccessary, with only a very small percentage of members receiving warnings, and only a handfull of users actually ending up being moderated. Effectively the warning meter is a function that should have no significance for about 99.9% of the forum users. It hasn't been used for any NZ based cachers to date.

Sorry, I'm not aware of anyone in NZ selling Travelbugs at this point in time. There is a geoshop in Australia which would be your best bet though .

Thanks for your thoughts Magooza. We don't benchmark officially here yet, but it is something I'm hoping we will get added to the site soon.

Bump. This is a good read, Sorry Steve, couldn't resist it

Bump. It's been a while now, and I think it might be good to hear a few other stories from newer members about how they heard about geocaching. It would also be good to see a little bit of traffic in this forum for newcomers who might not relaise we have our own local forums. For anyone new that hasn't put two and two together, da_snoop and tgsnoopy are the same person. tgsnoopy is my personal account at geocaching.com da_snoop is my reviewers account used for moderating the forums and reviewing cache submissions, I list the submissions on the site or try to work with you to get them listed if there are any issues with guideline compliance.

Unfortunately we don't have a cacher living in Napier just yet to the best of my knowledge. Fortunately we do have a cacher who travels there though, I will advise him of this log, hopefully it won't be long before his next trip down there, and he may be able to help you.

Apparently I was second, so I expect it will go the other way.

You can send it to me if you wish, I'll put it in a local cache here in New Zealand. I'll contact you via GC.com with my details

You might like to post a similar message in the NZ Forums.

Fantastic idea, I'm going to put a link to this topic in our local forums .

I'm sorry to hear of your poor experience in our little country. Generally, violence wise it's quite a safe country (heck, our police don't even carry firearms as a rule, airports however are an exception - international terrorism laws). Unfortunately when it comes down to petty crimes such as theft from carparks at tourist venues, we are up there amoungst other countries. I hope at some time in the future you get the oppourtunity to visit our little country again, and have a more enjoyable experience.

Now that is a difficult to answer question. There are caches out there that permission has been granted for and I think it's pretty safe to say there are caches out there where permission hasn't been granted. Groundspeak's geocaching.com website is purely a listing service. It is the responsibility of the cache placers to seek permission for the caches they place. This is indicated in the Cache Listing Requirements/Guidelines: Personally, my personal account (tgsnoopy) has had a cache removed by DOC* because it was on a closed section of track. There was also a cache placed in a culturally sensitive area, DOC advised they were going to remove it, the cache owner immediately removed the cache before DOC had the opportunity. Currently I am not aware of any other placement issues with any other land managers. DOC is well aware of geocaching, however, at this point in time there is no agreement with DOC for the use of their land. That said, the NZ Recreational GPS Users Society was formed intending to negotiate a MOU** with DOC for Geocaching use of DOC land. The society is to hold an election to select committee members etc (Currently the committee is the founding members, not elected) before it can negotiate binding agreements. The DOC person involved in the initial negotiations has since resigned, and I'm not aware of the new contact person's details at this point in time. I'm sorry if that created more questions than it answered, but it's about the best I can do at the moment. My comments do not necessarily represent the official opinion/attitude of Groundspeak, I am not an employee, or authorized to make statements on their behalf. I am a volunteer cache reviewer/forum moderator only. For an official reply please e-mail contact@Groundspeak.com * DOC, New Zealand Government's Department of Conservation ** MOU, Memorandum of Understanding allowing use of DOC managed land