Louise_Gerhard

Well done Ginger. This time it will last forever. Gerhard

RedGlobe is touching on a topic that is really worth mentioning under annoying. Who is the cache thief that is removing the caches from a certain cache owner at a specific location, not once but more than once? The GP cachers are aware of this little spider and I think they have your name. We need to catch him. He is removing the caches and we have a challenge. Nowadays for a 1000 rand you can get a tracking device which can tag this cache and it is tiny. They use this to track your dog or child on Internet. It is easy to booby trap the cache to make sure the signal is received if the cache is lifted. This cacher is probably reading this so I do not want to reveal too much. I planned several trips to find the caches on this mountain and every time one or more is gone and the trip must be postponed. This is frustrating. For these unavailable caches we should turn a blind eye. Will it be justifiable if I go and replace the cache and log a find on them? I can not see any other way to log them as they get stolen by a certain cacher at regular intervals. A muggle will find one or two but at one stage they were all gone. This cacher must get a life – if you have a problem face the owner and get the middle way. If this specific cacher is reading this paragraph and I have a funny idea that he is - please drop me a private e-mail with your problem and explain your problem and why you are against this owner. I will act as middleman to resolve your problem with the owner. I will not judge you and I will not select right or wrong but will only try to find some sort of common ground between you and the cache owner. Your name will not be made known to the community. You can not carry on in this way mate. Soon they will catch you and then all will know you – your name will probably hit this forum. You will be the clown of GP and it will be hard to show your face anywhere. Events will be something of the past for you. That will be the end of your caching hobby and they will isolate you. I do not think you understand the consequences of your decisions. Removing the cache is not going to resolve your issues. Be a grown up and face your problem and resolve it with the owner and move on. I know you like geocaching, that is why you are a premium member and I know that you are intelligent to make the right choice. Life is too short to spend on the removing of caches. You are not achieving anything. If you are a man you will accept my hand and I will have respect for you. If you are a child you will carry on stealing caches and you will be nothing in the community. It is your choice. You can make the difference and you and you alone can decide to come clean. Make it, do the right thing and resolve it. Drop me an e-mail. Gerhard

Wow, if I have to do it with two logs then I will visit the owner for a chat. On a serious note - rather give me the book then SL on the listing. I agree the next time we have a gathering we should check height ASL with the various GPS's. I think that will be quite interesting. G

We are planning to stay for the weekend. The idea is to get the cachers at the border; get them across and give them the chance to look at the country first. If they decide "Not for me" then they can return. There are many places to stay. There is even house boats but they could be booked. For a boat it is about R1200 for the night that sleeps four people. (I think) But the date is open for discussing, I am only arranging the event. Cachers decides how they want to do it. Same with the cache finds. Nothing is cast in stone and we will come up as a group with possible ones. If the group wants to split in two or three to find more caches then so be it. Then we go into different directions but as a group we log them. If they decide no ways, we do the easy ones all together than so be it. If they say let us do the climb to the top then we go for it. But first we need to get cachers to attend this one, or else this is going to be one lonely event. Gerhard

I think this is a different grade of annoying. You need 25000 dollars to climb this peak. The cache is at the dead zone of more than 8800 km above sea level. This mountain claimed more than 216 lifes. You get there and …. “I found it but forgot a pen to sign the log!”

Danie, I just recently received my Emerald badge for the "The Author". I am only an average of about 6 words per log away from the diamand so I have to keep the pose. The other night I was a bit bored so I started to search for finds on the highest caches In Africa for example Kilimanjaro. I noticed a couple of RSA cachers with finds on them. But I think this is impossible to search. The highest caches are all over the world and you probably need every single cache find both available and archived in order to run a proper query. I will keep on guessing. Thanks for the effort and this topic is really interesting. Gerhard forgot to add: Danie, I done a search a while back on bookmarks containing the highest caches on this planet. One was found and I downloaded all of the caches. I never kept it up to date. I have 53 high caches in this database. Just recently I ran the macro called cpxcref and a name popped up. Mr Larks from Johannesburg has done all 6 caches on Kili. This place him second on the list that I have but not up to date. He quietly spent his holiday on Kili during December 2010 and we all missed it. So how many more cachers are there that climb around the mountains not in RSA only but all over that we are not aware of. Gerhard

Cache event listing was done on Friday 21/01/2011 at 11:39 and is waiting for publishing or rejection. But here is the link which will be available some time in the future. It should arrive in the next 7 days with the Karoo train. http://coord.info/GC2MNMY Short details for your information and to plan your trip if interested. 2. Event details: Where: At Matenga Restaurant. S26 26.785 E31 09.788. We will meet inside the restaurant. If you do get lost, please consult your GPS – it is available as a feature and you will find it. When: At 09h00 for an hour @ 19 February 2011. If you run late we will extend the event until everyone is taken care off. What: Just a breakfast event. The breakfast is not compulsory and only attendance to the event is a requirement to log the event. Please complete the logbook which will be available. This is not a requirement to log. We hope to meet with some Swaziland cachers and we hope to hear some good caching stories with hints. If you want to join me at the border or you need to join from Gauteng please drop a note.

Danie, I did not page back at this discussion but these are the questions that are my mind for a while. • How many RSA cachers have found all 9 provinces and who was the first person that achieved it? • Is it at all possible to discover which RSA cacher logged the highest altitude cache in RSA? This could be impossible as the cache is definitely outside RSA. • How many cachers have found all 52 municipality districts and who was the first person that achieved it? • Who have the longest log in RSA? • Name the top 10 cachers that can write a story or two on cache find logs based on average log find length? • Who will achieve the 2000 finds mark during 2011 based on present rate of finds per day and their expected date of achieving this? Gerhard

Thanks Jors for the extra effort, so we have a cache below zero, even 1 mm will also do. Someone will need to verify the way point at low tide. Danie what are you doing this weekend? After my attempted armed robbery yesterday on my way to a cache I also feel a bit below 0 ASL and somewhere between high and low tide. But this one belongs to the annoying side of geocaching or rather life on planet earth. Gerhard

What annoys me more is that I normally drop an e-mail to the owner asking him for permission to replace. This is the right thing to do. Then it happens. No reply. So I go back to his profile just to notice that he is no longer there and the last log on was about 2 to 3 months ago. What scares me is that the more caches I found around me the closer the red blocks get to my reference point. I had a specific strategy which was followed from day 1. The closest caches to me were left alone for a rainy day when I need them. I have many caches in a radius of 50 km and I am targeting 250 days caches in a row. In 50 days from now my database will consist of all red blocks from the reference point. That is getting frustrated as these caches have no right to exist. I personally do not like to place an “Archive Cache”log – I will rather replace it. It feels like an insult to the owner and that I know it all. I am not aware of his/her personal circumstances so I would rather not do it. To highlight my viewpoint I need to explain the following. Just recently a certain cache owner received an “Archive cache” log. The cache owner was furious as I personally know that this owner is busy for the last 6 months and more to resolve this issue. As far as I am aware the Reviewers are also aware of the problem and they are giving him/her time to resolve. Which again is more than reasonable as this owner is trying his/her best to get it resolved and it does break the spirit of such a cacher for a short time and in this case it did more harm than good despite the fact that the intention was pure and solid. If a person can not find my cache and he is sure that it is gone and he replaces it with another cache then it does not bother me. I hate DNF’s. But place a “Need Archive” log on one of my caches and I jump up and down on the chair. Rather tell me “Boet, get going and go fix this one”. If I receive an archive log than I stop reading further and I ignore it. I also know of a couple of cachers that are expats – I will replace their caches with ease but I will still report back to them. I never had a problem. My viewpoint is simple. You as the cache owner planted the cache – you fix it. I am not expecting the reviewer to run around 4000 caches to find one bad apple among 4000 of them. At the next event I will do some cornering of a certain cacher here in GP. I know he is reading this so I will meet you at the next event - I noticed that you are attending. I do not want to identify this cacher but he traveled extensively all over the country and yet some of his caches 10 km away from his home are not available for more than 6 months. If it is 1 cache then so be it - but he have a number of them not available. Why are your cache appearing in my database as red blacks and with DNF’s and you are not fixing it. Why are you annoying me for a lack of ownership? So what is your problem? How can you drive 100’s of km to find caches but you can not fix your own cache on your doorstep. I will address this friendly at the event as I need to understand why this is happening and he must understand that I will replace his cache soon. First I need to make sure that he does not delete my logs as this will indicate a war if he breaks my 250 caches in a row target. I am done. Gerhard

Yep Hesamati that gave me a smile, highest versus the lowest. Thanks for the funny part on this one. Next time I stand in the sea with the tide rushing in looking up to the high point I am sure these words will be somewhere in my mind. Gerhard

Danie the waypoint is below zero. You can not get to this way point during high tide. You need to do it during low tide but that is not important to me and if a cacher is using any other point for a photo then it is fine with me. But the actual EC waypoint can only be done if the tide is low. If you look at the archived caches close to this one you will also notice that the specific cache could also be done during low tide. I only use what GSAK is giving me as the official elevation and that is given as -2 meter. If you visit this one during low tide you will find that you are in the sea according to your GPS. With my last visit it was quite funny to see that I can walk on top of the water according to my GPS. Gerhard

Danie, can you please verify this one if you have time. I noticed that a cacher that visit an EC of mine (GC1WK35) have the elevation as a minus on his stats. Just recently we said that there is no cache below zero ASL in RSA. At first I thought the cacher tricked the figures a bit so I checked my database – it is given as -2 meters. So I done a quick check on all other caches and the query returned no results. If this is true then I have the only cache below zero ASL. That will be nice. But on the other side of the coin that also means that everybody in RSA can visit this cache and have a cache below zero ASL except me. Are you interested in adopting this cache for about one day – I need to log it? Yep, the guys will fry me alive. Gerhard

Swaziland event is done. Only waiting for confirmation and feedback from the Swazi cachers then we will forward for publishing. Hope it will fly. Looking forward to visit this country again. Gerhard

On the program called GSAK I include caches from Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe in the default database. This is where I am now. I have a total of 3862 caches not found by me. My problem right now is that I am surrounded and crowded by caches not available for a long time. It is most irritating to run queries and these unavailable and sick caches pop up every time and I have to filter this to get rid of them. Sometimes I run the wrong query and I then I have the lovely task to search for a cache that is not there since 2008, only to discover it later at home. This is when I turn into a Greek and start breaking plates. It does not put any smile on my face but that is my fault and “Daar is nie pille nie”. To filter caches repeatedly, which are obviously not there, is a time wasting episode to say the least. I am busy with a cache a day and I update once a week. Then I have to run the macro Cache Cop to remove all the bad ones. Caches will be muggled, I accept that and it does happen to mine as well, but caches not available for longer than 6 months is serious. I am not even talking about the ones going for a year with more than 4 DNF's on it. I run the macro called “Cache Cop” on the default database with the following criteria just to get a feel for the problem. Maybe this is only my perception that there is a problem so let us do the numbers and get all the facts – they do not lie. 1. Search the last 3 logs and 2. Select caches with recent “need maintenance logs” and 3. Select caches with an “Archived Request” and 4. Search caches disabled longer than 90 days not available and 5. Select caches with 3 DNF’s and 6. Cancel a DNF search with a found log. Then I get the following results. 1. There are a total of 177 “available” caches that fulfil the above. 2. There are 88 of them which are marked as “Unavailable” and some of them have issues going back to 2008. 3. With children waypoints it adds to 232 waypoints to my database which is of zero value. 4. The results are not acceptable and the last GPX run date is 20/01/2011. We now need to drill deeper. This is the worst ones but some of them is not close to me so I will turn a blind eye. But some of them are good examples. GCVK5J – Last found on 30/11/2007. Disabled since 16/04/2010. GCPJYZ - Last found 10/02/2008. Cache is disabled since 01/06/2010. (Owner will replace end of June 2010, nothing happened. He is in Scotland.) GC1ME68 – Last found 19/05/2009, caches is disabled since 26/02/2010. (The log placed on 26/02/2010 states the following – “I checked the cache today. The cache was soaked due to heavy rains. It will be replaced soon!”) I can carry on with this list until the cows get home. Unfortunately this is really irritating. Run the pocket queries once a week, filter out all the not so good ones, remove them, load my cell phone, load my GPS, load the other one and hope for the best. I am doing the following from next week. 1. I will contact each and every cache owner if there is a problem on his/her cache for more than 6 months. I will only do this on the caches close to me and which effects me. If a cache is in Cape Town it will not affect me so I have no say in that. I am focussing on the ones in a 300 km radius or in the area of any planned visits. 2. If the cache owner does not respond in 3 weeks than I will be replacing his cache and I will log a find on it. Only for caches with a problem of more than 6 months. I will turn a blind eye where it is clear that the owner is busy with some sort of action to resolve it. For some cachers this is the ultimate sin but so be it. There is a policeman that will do back flips when he sees it and he will probably accuse me of cheating but this is one way to get rid of this irritation. I will do what is needed to get this done to get my database in shape. So from next week I will have a cache a day on all sick caches. This should boost my numbers considerable and should help to maintain a cache a day without too much of a search. If you see your cache being replaced with a micro in the form of a film canister please do not cry but take it on the chin. Am I the only one that feels irritated or is it only me??? I hope to get some feedback. Right thing or wrong thing? Gerhard

We are planning to hold an event in Swaziland, Lesotho, Mozambique, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia this year. As a start we are heading for Swaziland. I am busy with the arrangements of the location and the listing could be published on very short notice. Our intended date is 19 February 2011 somewhere around 08h30. Please take note of this date as this one is cast in stone. If nothing else works we will gather as a mob close to the glass factory. If true then this gathering will be very quickly. Planning for caches is extremely difficult. In this country you have many options. Good caches with a nice view but tough to get and 1 or 2 is the finds number for the day. On the other side, quick caches and if you get to 4 cache finds then that is good. In this country you do not achieve numbers; quick caches have a different meaning. Quick indicates 4 to 5 max and that is even a challenge. So please forget about "Hitting the numbers". We have no idea how long it will take to get the listing published and/or how long it will take to arrange with the cachers that side so you had your warning. I did noticed that the recent cache publishing process is taking a pretty long time and from my side their could be delays. I am planning to stay for the weekend. Do not cry and please do not drop me and e-mail saying "But why so late .....". You are warned. Please raise any questions and/or suggestions road trips, border get together at this forum and not on the listing. I will include this forum as a link on the listing. Gerhard

Wazat, my GP friend also bailed out. They probably looked at the weather and called it quits. They say if the going gets tough then the tough gets going. So it is me and me and then me that are attending. I will leave at about 04h30 tomorrow morning. I just have this feeling that it is going to be a wet one. Rain forecast is 80% so it should be nice to climb Amajuba. It is a little bit late to arrange with Madsons anything so I should find them on the road if they attend. But on the bright side – there will be a lot of mud and water and a couple of sidewinders so the more rain the more the Terrano will enjoy it. Where is Bakgat – is he staying with you or is he sleeping at the FTF? Gerhard Footnote: Madsons we need to meet at Amajuba Mountain at 08h00. Use the Amajuba Mountain cache waypoint to get there. Drop me a private e-mail and I will forward you my cell number for anything that goes wrong.

Trev, this is one of those stories that are hidden deep in the closet with all of the other skeletons. This issue is only whispered at an event and never mentioned again. Nope it does not involve me. I only like to hear the controversial issues. I am looking forward to this event, I think it is going to be interesting one. Wazat, the new cachers in Newcastle did not log anything so maybe you need to publish your plan on the listing as a separate note for them. I do not think they understand how to do this event and that Amajuba is not compulsory but a bonus for the event. By the way we will meet at Amajuba, it is too tough to go to Newcastle and then back to Amajuba. One GP cacher will join me. May be this time around we will be able to find my cache quicker than I did the first time. Please tie Bakgat down somewhere. I know he is seriously watching the FTF’s and I need to get to 160 first to finds. Bakgat hands behind the back, look do not touch… Wazat you are not on standby……. Until Saturday.

Wazat, sorry I forgot to mention the most important ones. As an award for your great milestones you will be allowed to braai all the meat and to serve the drinks and to wash and polish all the cars. I am sure we will meet mud somewhere if Wazat is leading the way. Am I stepping on sensitive toes??? I would like to know about the story behind the story. What about the event where a serious attempt was made to ban a certain cacher with force? Or should sleeping dogs be left alone? Gerhard

The following only applies to cachers that wants to … 1. Find a cache at 2063 meter, 2. Climb Amajuba and see where it happened, 3. See where the British General has fallen, 4. See where the First Burgher war was ended, 5. Do it with other cachers with huff and a puff, 6. Find another great tonteldoos cache in the presence of the owner, 7. Find one of my own caches on Amajuba (I have the bragging rights) 8. Wants to attend an event arranged by Wazat, 9. Find a new cache as a joint FTF, 10. Find his home base. 11. Meet with the expats Batsgonemad and his Squirrel, 12. Have a barbeque, 13. Meet with new cachers, 14. Find a couple of Newcastle caches, 15. Find some of the older caches, 16. Find the cache where Wazat had his first cache find; then you are definitely on the right page. My family is not going with this time; so I will go alone and I will meet with my good friends at Amajuba. So I have 3 open spaces in my vehicle. Feel free to e-mail me and the first 3 is the 3 that go with. Please do not publish your name on the forum if you want to go with – I have to reserve some dignity. If all Gauteng cachers are “yellow” then at least no one will know except me. I should have a response now, good or bad. The challenge is on the table. Take enough water with, maybe we are lucky and it will be raining like crazy, just keep your mouth open all the time. Watch for the goggas while you have it open. Gerhard

We are planning to have another milestone celebration. Cache- fan is due for his 2000 find coin award and Noddy is close. We are planning an event for both of them together - if not then we will plan two separate events for these great milestones. Questions: 1. I can not get hold of Noddy; he is logging but is not answering any e-mails. Can someone help me with this one, someone that is close to him? Please contact him and ask him to drop me an e-mail. Maybe his e-mail is not functioning. 2. If an event must be held for Noddy in KZN I need volunteers that will arrange such. Please drop me an e-mail is you are prepared to walk this extra mile. Well done. Gerhard

There is a growth in geocaching. About 3 years ago it was actually getting boring to read the logbook. The same set of names always appeared somewhere in the pages. Only the sequence of names was different. Now it is a different story, at regular intervals I notice a new name not known to me. If you go to their profiles then they already have a substantial number of cache finds with some difficult puzzle caches on their names. But many will start and many will stop. Just recently someone contacted me from Kaapsehoop and he was desperate to find his first cache so I gave him a couple of hints. His next e-mail was begging for more; he tried 5 times to find it but with no luck. So I send him photos and the exact location and how to get there. Unfortunately he selected a puzzle cache and a difficult hide for his first cache. For some reason this was the one that he wanted to find. Suddenly he was gone and his stats remained on zero finds. I am now worried about this cache and I hope it is ok. But to measure growth and to measure the number of people trying and deciding that it is not for them is going to be a daunting task but that will be interesting. I tried to run the query for the archived caches but my data for the archived caches is not in line with the stats from Danie so I will rather stop. My database crashed during 2010 due to hard disk error and some of the records could still be a problem. I excluded event caches as this will distort the figure as more events were held during 2010 than before but my archived number is too high. I get a total of 530 archived caches, Danie have 421 archived caches in his database. I trust his figure more than my one. On my profile the stats is getting scary. Out of all my finds 15% is now archived. This figure is growing and it is going the wrong way. Gerhard

Yep, my data was so bietjie terug op die brug. Ginger het beslis haar 9 leidrade op die naam so nou is dit die bult af. Moenie eers probeer om een af te trek nie. Ons is seker die enigste cachers wat een ekstra tonteldoos gaan kry het van Botes. Ons was die eerste en die laaste wat hom gekry het. DiePienaars, cachefan en Dan404 het 'n DNF gelog. Ek het hier twee coins verloor en dit vir 'n cache in die middel van nerens en erens. Ek los maar hierdie data uit anders is dit nag. Die volgende data is gekry met die makro geskywe deur OpusTerra. Caches: Groot trek - 81 het gevind en een DNF. (Ons sal nie praat oor die DNF nie) Louwtjie leeus - 69 gevind. Vredesboom - 68 laggies Howick - 53 laggies Cachers: Danie Viljoen - 12 op sy kerfstok. (Ek het gehoor dat hy op pad Kaap toe is so ek hou hom dop met houtoog en 'n plank bril, ek ken sy planne en ek weet hy het 'n broek vol van hulle) Cachers met 9 op hulle kerfstok - Carbon Hunter, DiePienaars, Leon St, Team Ginger, Wildovu. Cachers met 8 op hulle kerfstok - Antron, Glider Slider, StirfS. Besem en Wazat het 7 gekry. Carbon Hunter het amper sy 10 gemaak maar "Ek skiet dan skiet ek weer" het hom die aftog laat blaas. Maar dit is 'n goeie poging veral as die man nie eers hier in RSA bly nie. Moet hom dit toe gee. Die slag van Bloedrivier kry miskien die kroon vir die beste tonteldoos. Hier laat ek die aantal kere wat hy gevind is uit en ek neem die merke in ag. Hy is gemerk met 4 "favourites" en slegs 12 mense het hom gekry. So elke 3 de cacher merk hom as gewild. Hildebrand is die een wat die meeste DNF's kry in verhouding. Slegs 23 cachers het hom gekry met 5 DNF's. Hy kort nog merke en as ek weer het sal ek daar 'n merk gaan maak. Ek het gaan kyk na die vorige stats en daar is beweging - stadig maar seker skuif die cachers nader aan die einde. Miskien kry ons tog nog 'n finale skatkis poging. iPajero het die volle reeks gedoen, as eienaars het ons darem een leidraad nog gehad maar hy het almal gekry. Magersfontein is 'n goeie een en hy is ook so bietjie meer Noord se kant toe. Dit is een cache wat op my lys is wat ek graag wil doen. Gerhard

Danie, maybe I can help with the question on the archived caches. Unfortunately GSAK is at home and I am work. I do keep a list of the archived caches in a separate database. I have a database called Default for any caches not found by me which is updated every Friday. If a cache is not updated during this period I then run a check on the status of the specific cache. Normally it returns as an archived cache. I then move them to the archived cache database. If no one else responded then I will run a query on this archived database per province for year 2010. Gerhard

Ek stem saam. Miskien moet ons die nommer van die mense by die finale skat bysit en miskien moet toestemming gevrae word voor mense opdaag. Hierdie cache gaan miskien een keer ‘n jaar gedoen word en dan het mense al vergeet dat daar iets op die plaas is. Plaas bestuurders verskuif ook van werk aan die ander kant. Ongelukkig/Gelukkig is daar cachers wat teen 04h00 begin cache en om daar te gaan rondsluip is moeilikheid soek op sy beste. Nie net van die plaas bestuurders se oog punt nie maar ook vir die mense wat daar tuis gaan as besoekers. Ek kan jou belowe dat hulle beangs gaan word vir ‘n man wat daar rondsluip met ‘n ding in hulle hande wat hulle nie kan sien nie. As jy my nie glo nie gaan sluip rond op Olifant tande se plaas tussen sy beeste so teen 3 en 4 in die more en kyk wat gebeur. Vat net genoeg mediese hulp saam, verbande en al die lekker goeie dinge soos baie bloed en trek hardloop skoene aan – jy gaan dit bitter nodig he. Dit is 'n goeie punt hierdie en ek dink daar moet aandag gegee word aan. Ginger daar kan fout wees op my stats. Danie kan jy kyk of hier nie iets boos gebeur het nie. Iewers kon ek iets verloor het. Sal vanaand seker maak dat alles reg is. Hanover is op die stats aan die regterkant. Daar het 323 cachers die tonteldose besoek, slegs 5 cachers het bokant 5 dose gekry. Groot Trek is bo aan met 79 cachers. Ek vrae verskoning aan Team Ginger - ek het 'n voorbeeld gesoek en toe koppel ek die naam Ginger met hulle cache aan die illustrasie. Jammer ek wou nie julle cache van die tafel afvee nie. Hy is belangrik. Ons almal weet hoe hulle oor hulle caches voel en die passie loop hoog. As dit so was nie dan sou ek nie daardie spesiale TB rondgery het nie. Gerhard