perdix
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Posts posted by perdix
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Thanks for the good wishes Wolkynou! Congrats to all the others!
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Give me some dates - I am away from Cape Town in March / April / May for various work reasons..
The date that Wolkynou and I are suggesting for an event cache is the long weekend at the end of April (Thursday 27th is a public holiday and so is Monday 1 May), which gives a nice loooong weekend and plenty of time for people to travel to and from the EC. This will be first prize.
The other date is as I mentioned above (16 June).
We will post an event cache as soon as a date and venue has been agreed upon.
Thanks for expressing your interest Adamant! Which date would suit you - we will try and accomodate requests.
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That's a good idea GlobalRat, I'm just testing the waters, in the forums to see if anybody would be interested.
Wolkynou and I are also chatting to try and set up another event in the EC in April / May - so two in these parts, might be too much to ask?
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This cache is still lying in wait. I actually drove to the starting point (houses mentioned in the cache description), but saw that it would probably take at least 90 - 120 minutes to get to the cache - still had more than 700m to go from here - uphill.
We were on our way back to PE from Hogsback and there was no way that my baby daughter would be able to accompany us on this climb, so alas it still remains to be found.
This cache has now changed in my estimation from a tantalising temptation to a stone in my shoe. I simply have to find it!
Due to the fact that the area is relatively remote and that when next I attempt it, I will not bring my daughter or wife along, I was wondering if there are any other cachers who would like to attempt this one with me.
The way I see it, one needs to stay nearby and then make your way to the cache site as early as possible. Wives, husbands, kids, pets, etc who will not join in the search can then stay at the overnight digs, while the searchers go to find it. It is not the type of place where I would want to go cache hunting alone, as it is quite rural and help, should one need it, is quite far away.
The cache owners logged a hint, but it will only be usefull once you get close to the cache and so far, only Seeker 2 got anywhere close.
This cache is almost a national treasure, being there for so long.
Remember:
Ask not what geocaching can do for you, ask what you can do for geocaching.
Fortune favours the brave.
Who dares, wins,
Ra, ra, ra and all that.
Now that you are suffuciently motivated, any takers? I have thus far earmarked this cache for the long weekend of 16 June.
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Hi,
I placed Peek-a-Boo in Seekoei Rivier cache, after hanging on to him for quite a while, and taking him to far flung places. I was very sad to see that he is gone - if only I could have found GC5CC5, then he might still be with us today - mind you - I note that cache is also gone.
I have no idea who the Jollys might be, but I have to share I&J's view that this cache would not be stumbled upon by muggles.
I was encouraged when I read the recent logs of a newbie (Suurkop cache & Domkrag Dam), where he / she saw the bugs, but left them because he / she did not know what to do with them. If only all (new) cachers would have this attitude.
I suspect Peek-a-Boo is in some kids toy chest somewhere, can only hope that the Jollys will visit the website again and take note.
At least the powers that be, have now restricted non members from getting cache co-ords, so that should limit this kind of thing in the future.
I would like to think that P-a-B last few trips with me were enjoyed by him, as it seems they were his last
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nothing new, actually trying to delete a double entry here!!! told you I wish I could be clever....
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Geeze QFC, very impressive links....
Makes me wish I was born clever instead of good looking
, rich, witty, charming. It makes me wish I was clever.Wolkynou, shall we try and set up an event in April (long weekends and such)?
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Hi all racers!
I am sitting here and watching how the race is unfolding, waiting with bated breath for the TB’s to make their way south.
Most cachers are aware that there is not a heck of a lot of activity in the EC, Wolkynou has been a breath of fresh air in what is otherwise a pretty stagnant area. Yet there are a good few “high scoring” caches around.
As one of the few other active cachers in the EC, I was wondering how you TB race owners would like your TBs to be placed:
1. Leave it up to the discretion of the individual cacher,
2. Request the cacher to target high scoring caches, at the risk of stranding the TB,
3. Request the cacher to target lower scoring, more frequently visited caches.
Option 2 is particularly risky, as the high scoring caches are quite a distance from major centra (funny that), and hence will be inconvenient to retrieve by the same cacher, in a worst case scenario, after the 2 week waiting period. One would almost think GlobalRat planned it such
Do you guys have any preference, for the strategy to be followed, by the cachers who handle your TBs?
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Hi,
I just want to add my thanks to GlobalRat as well. There have been quite a few attempts to "launch" geocaching in SA since I started, but none so successful as yours. Well done!!! There even seems to be a stirring here in the EC.
Hope you will update the stats for 2006 so we can see how the sport grows year on year.
While I'm at it - thanks for organising the TB race, thanks to QFC for the ranking page and thanks to Africard for the 2005 race!
May 2006 be the best year yet!
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Hogsback is a great part of the country - very scenic. I have not been there since starting to geocache, but try the following caches in the vicinity (I have not tried to find any of these yet):
The last one is the SA cache that has remained undiscovered for the longest time. Why dont you attempt it and claim the record?
There are more caches in the area, once on any of the above cache pages, click the "nearby caches" hyperlink for a full list (you need to be logged in for this).
Hope this helps- happy holidays!
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Saturday
Game drive, 6am
Breakfast and depart for Knysna
Sunday
Knysna
· Featherbed Nature Reserve
· Beach walks at Goukamma Nature Reserve
· Sunset Sail in Knysna Lagoon
· Knysna Elephant Park (can walk with the elephants)
· Mitchell’s Brew Microbrewery
Hi there!
It would seem that you have the Saturday available for travelling and caching, so herewith I will give you my recomendations. The drive from Shamwari to Port Elizabeth (PE) is about 1 hour, if you keep to the speed limit and dont get caught up in the roadworks at Coega. From PE to Knysna is another 3 - 4 hours, if you don't stop for caches. You can therefore allow 5 hours travel time from Shamwari to Knysna, so depending on what time you want to arrive in Knysna, you can decide how many caches to search for.
I am assuming that you will be travelling on the N2 (national road) from Shamwari to Knysna.
The first cache you will get close to is: GCGHEF which should not take more than 20- 45 mins to find. There is a small cost to get into the caravan park where it is hidden. Cache is very close to the N2, so would not delay your travels too much.
In PE the following are quick to find:
GCGQ4A This one is quite scenic and will also take about 30 mins, from the parking area and back.
GCR24J This one will take 10mins from the parking spot and is easy to get to with major roads.
Travelling on from PE I would suggest the following caches:
GCPGGK This one requires quite a long detour from the N2, and will take a further 60 - 90 minutes before you are back at the car. There is a TB in this one (at present) to sweeten the deal.
GCGHQV This one will also take 60 - 90 minutes to complete, and there is an entrance fee payable. Good spot to have lunch at the restuarant.
GC8E48 Fantastic view, requires that you take an alternative route to the N2 tollroad. 60 - 90 mins and you need to be fit as you will climb quite a few steps. View is worth it all!
Once in Knysna, consider this one GCF90.
I doubt you will be able to squeeze them all in, but hope this helps you to plan which ones to go for.
Enjoy!
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I wonder what the longest time is that a cache has remained unfound. Here in the EC we have GC76AFwhich was placed on 7/11/2002 and is yet to be found.
That is more than 3 years!!! This is enough to make it the oldest virgin cache in SA. Now that makes for quite a temptation for all FTFders, myself included.
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Thanks for all your advice and inputs. I think since Sentech has not rolled out their system in the EC yet, I will investigate Aerosat a bit more. I did not know that you could get ADSL from Telkom without a contract, so this might still be an option - though I am against big monopolies as a rule and the current service I get from them is not great.
Aerosat does test the signal at your home before installing, so hopefully this will prevent the "lost signal" issue.
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Hi,
I hope some of you IT techies out there can help me. I want to get a broadband connection for home use. I have rules out Telkom ASDL because of cost, as I will have to still pay ISP charges to my ISP on top of that.
There is a local wireless broadband service provider who has the following package that I am interested in:
Access satDSL Home 192 for R495/month, which sounds like very good value, because there is no additional ISP charges. Maximum speed is 192kbits/s or 24kBytes/s. There is no maximum data cap per month - which is a bonus.
They do not guarantee a min speed (neither does Telkom). Is this speed sufficient for Google.Earth and other broadband apps. I might want to try out online gaming, downloading previously impossible apps and files as well.
More info can be found at Aerosat.
Can I please have informed opinions / recomendations from fellow cachers? Does anybody use them / or affiliates at present?
Thanks
perdix
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Scary stuff, even if you consider the 11.5 hour flight time. No doubt that we are getting the short end of the stick. I have to say though, that the flight cost quoted seems a bit low - more like R10,000 for a return to HK.
For more interesting / horror stats visit Hellkom.
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I'm sure the following cachers are from EC:
Angstrom,
Vaughan Rizzo,
Tim&Brig,
Xomoyi
and I'm fairly sure the following are as well:
marra,
ode
I also read in one of the forum topics that karoocacher has left the country.
2 new cachers have joined in the EC:
crash n burn,
Raski
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Hehe, so true! Anybody else done this:
* Get into a taxi in a strange city, telling the driver you have no idea where you want to go, but that you will direct him on how to get there once he starts driving
* Risk missing a flight in order to find a cheap plastic toy, the likes of which you can get at any McDonalds
* Walk through ankle deep, mosquito infested mud, in your work shoes for the same reward
* End business meetings early so that you can quickly do that cache before flying out
* Extend a business trip to ensure that you will have enough time to get a cache
Note to boss: I have never done the last 2, purely heresay of others.
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Welcome CnB!
Its been very lonely in the saddle since the horse died! There are not that many cachers active in the EC, good to have one more!
As to caches in and around PE, you can follow vespas advice. Here is also a short list of enjoyable ones:
Seekoeirivier,
Loerie Dam,
Suurberg,
Cape St Francis
I also placed one in Victoria Park last weekend and one in the Baakens Valley yesterday evening (latter not listed yet). Once on any of these cache pages you will see a hyperlink to "list all nearby caches", which will give you - funnily enough - a list of all nearby caches:)
Enjoy!
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My 2c worth.
I think the team should cache together as far as possible. My wife and 15 month daughter accompanies me on most local caches, but during business trips when I have time, I will go find a cache.
The bottom line is we do not split up, for her to find one and me another. I am present at all the cache finds, though I do not always find them (wife has very good eyes).
Ethically, I think that the team leader should always be present, otherwise create more than one account. Having said this, the devil's advocate in me says that this game is not about the most finds, but about enjoying the outdoor life and seeing places you never otherwise would have.
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Seeing as I stuck my head out, I will set up one close to PE airport. Thanks for calling it a "major" airport - our mayor will be proud!
I placed a cache in a public park very close to the airport, which I may upgrade to a TB hotel in the future. I have not specifically described it as such because:
- 1. With all the caches going missing of late, I first wanted to see how long this one will last - TBs are precious after all,
- 2. the cache container is not very big, though all the TB I've handled so far would fit in,
- 3. I might find a better and safer place in the vicinity,
In the mean time, this one will be easy to find if you have some time to spare before having to catch a plane. Not walking distance, but perhaps do it on your way to the airport.
- 1. With all the caches going missing of late, I first wanted to see how long this one will last - TBs are precious after all,
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So, who is up to create one in each of the major airports
CPT
PE
JHB
DBN
Seeing as I stuck my head out, I will set up one close to PE airport. Thanks for calling it a "major" airport - our mayor will be proud!
It is probably easier in PE, as virtually nobody has a connecting flight straight on again (ala CPT, JHB & DBN), which means I can locate it further away from the actual terminal.
Whatch this space.
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Sjoe! I had to ask!?
Seriously though, thanks for putting in all that effort to involve the other provinces as well. I am considering changing my nick from Perdix to The Lone Ranger to better reflect the state of caching here in the EC.
I travel to (but mostly straight through) Jhb and Cpt on a monthly basis, but seeing as the TB Hotel caches close to the airports have failed, I have no easy way of bringing TBs to or out of the EC. Now TB Hotel caches would help reduce the gap - nudge, nudge.
The only other time is when we travel on holiday, and sadly that only happens once or twice a year.
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Hi there,
Have you been able to sort out the scoring model yet. You were going to look into involving the route (read "province") less travelled (read "cached in") in the 2006 race. Any news?
I know the silence was deafening, in terms of suggestions from my side, but I still believe it to be a good cause and to this end I plan to place 2 caches before the end of this month.
Work and the fact that we may have a saboteur operating in the EC has meant that planning caches takes a bit more time. Even so, one will probably be a roadside cache and the other I hope to place in or close to Addo elephant park. This will probably make it worthwhile for cachers from outside EC to come and find them.
Looking forward to seeing the rules, scoring etc.
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Crime is a terrible thing, apart from being against the law, it also causes a considerable amount of inconvenience to the victim.
In the case of the missing cache, the theft of a cache (not sure if this could qualify as a crime), not only causes a considerable amount of inconvenience to the owner of the cache, but also to the larger victim circle - cachers trying to find the cache.
Off-course caches are not only stolen, they can perish in veld fires, degrade in the harsh SA sun, be swept away in floods or plainly grow legs and walk to join the socks on the Trekker(?) ad.
There is not much point to this post (as you might have gathered by now), but I am a victim who has lost 4 caches out of 10 placed. I would also like to believe that they were well placed caches, except perhaps "Locomotion" which was in an area frequented by homeless people.
The others, were all failry impossible to be stumbled upon by a Geomuggle, safe from fire, flood or UV gedradation.
My only deduction, as a conspiracy theorist, is that we have a saboteur operating in the EC. You see, it is not only my caches that are disappearing, but others as well. Some of the others I have found and would also not categorise them as being easily stumbled upon.
Do not be surprised therefore, if the next cache I place, is a Chubb Mark III safe, bolted to a 5m3 concrete base, with 10 x m16 bolts, and submerged in the Churchill dam at a depth of 38,6m!
Caches I have lost:
Termite Hostel, Bulk River Dam, Darlingtom Dam and Locomotion.
I am most dumbfounded by Termite Hostel and Darlington Dam as both these were well of the beaten track.
On a more serious note, has anybody else experienced the disappearance of a cache that should be 99% safe from muggles?
, 
Accommodation
in South Africa
Posted
Hi,
E-mail me, lets try and work something out.