Beefy4605

Most of my caching is done on the Island of Ireland . If you split it into 2 areas North and South ( Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland )I need to run probably 6-7 1000 cache PQ's to cover the island - second user name territory. At the moment I can run 5 1000 cache PQ's and return every cache on the Island of Ireland ( in about 500 caches time -I'm in trouble as it will be more than 5000 caches .) FTF hunting - I can and have slipped over the border into Southern Ireland and claimed a FTF - if it set up differently I may/ could have missed it . I'm sure many mainland UK cachers would not think twice about 40 miles for a FTF . Shape of the North /South border - without the full set of caches along the border you would be missing a lot of caches . Open up the maps and "draw an imaginary line between Warrenpoint in the east and Sligo in the west and see how many times you would cross the border . If you had only caches in the North or the South you would be driving past a lot of caches . Simply - it's easier , it works . Most of us here don't travel to the UK mainland on a regular basis so most of the caching is done on the Island of Ireland . Why restrict yourself to one part of the island? It probably is lost on those who don't live here - we are a quirky bunch - we have done very stupid things to each other in the past - we may do it again in the future - hopefully not - we have weird and wonderful ideas and to "outsiders " this is probably one such idea but for us it works . We asked for it Groundspeak listened and gave us what we wanted - there was no mass exodus of disgruntled cachers. Geocaching is the only site here with any sort of numbers - Opencaching ,Terracaching and whatever other sites are available worldwide just don't have the numbers here - I'd guess 10 -20 caches will cover them. We have 2 good ,approachable , dedicated reviewers to keep us in line (most of the time ) . You would have to agree that if a large number of people were so against this then the other sites should have more caches listed on them as people deflected to them . I'm rambling - my apologies SIMPLY - IT WORKS

I would agree with this wholeheartedly and know for a fact many other Irish cachers do as well. They will - I only showed Alan HOW to do it - not that he SHOULD . The techies over at GSAK could I'm sure write a macro that would automate the whole process but you have to wonder why nobody from the Irish caching community has asked for it before now . Check my profile - scroll down - big map - all counties listed England , Scotland , Wales, Northern Ireland , Southern Ireland and the Isle of Man - wheres the problem ? The tools exist to solve this so called problem - all people have to do is find them and use them .

You can . Create a PQ and use Ireland as the country , use Ulster as the county . Take this pq and drop it into GSAK - run the county macro and then take out all caches that are not in the 6 counties of Northern Ireland - sorted . If you need any more help with it I'd be happy to help sorting you out with the right macros - full process etc . edit - you will need at least 2 1000 cache PQ's to cover Northern Ireland .

Sometimes caches are listed in the wrong country by the cache owner and this isn't noticed by the reviewer. Sometimes the error is noticed - often years later - and corrected. Countries are political entities - not geographical. This and the Northern Ireland issue would all be solved by wrapping the whole lot up and calling it by it's correct geographical name.... The British Isles Sorry - it won't . You will then alienate all those who live in the Republic of Ireland who have no wish or desire to be classed as British.

and when/if you do - do not expect as pleasant and dignified replies as you have received here -if you actually get any .We are a separate forum from Groundspeak and are not bound by the same rules as here - just so you understand that before you join up . You have been given the links to the Knowledge base article regarding this , a link to a previous discussion in this forum and have heard the views of cachers based on both sides of the border in Ireland . If you need it made clearer than that - join up we will enlighten you .

Maybe this is the "real" the 2 reviewers left ? (I know its not - I jest ) How do the population of the Isle of Man feel about this ? Have the Manx cats been asked as well? Can we find someone from the Southern hemisphere to take this case up on their behalf - after all they would have a much better idea about it than the people who actually live there .

Correct - I am from Northern Ireland - I get it . If you don't get it please reread my first post in this thread until you do get it .

This time of the year again - time really does go past so quickly I'll try and make this quick , concise and clear . Irish geocachers made a decision that we wanted to be treated as one island . Like that or not for us it works - we don't care about the politics the ins and the outs - it works for us and we are happy - all we ask is that you respect our decision . See you all again the next time somebody drags this up - bye now .

Taken near - Come watch the seagulls feed

So thats what it was - a Team building Conference- must remember that one. Saw lots of "team building " on the Sunday afternoon - it was good to meet up with all of you. Our 2 local reviewers Croghan and Inishanier are 2 top blokes who have helped me no end when I'm setting caches and I can't see any of the rest of the UK and Ireland team being any different from the limited time I've been in their company.

Two of the caches in that list are in Southern Ireland - Europes First and Castle Rocks .Don't want to ignite any great debate - I'm just saying.

With all due respect to everyone in this thread - if you want to argue the bit out - please take it elsewhere .This thread was started in September 2008 to seek out and purchase a Masonic coin . That aim has been achieved . Could a passing moderator close this thread.

When is a hint a good hint? when it works and you can find the cache .Some like them simple, some like them cryptic. If you have been looking for 30 minutes and then look at the clue and go "Ahh I know where it will be now " and walk over and put your hand on the cache . One of mine has a cryptic clue - some get it ,some don't.

message sent

Ok - it seems like it's a bad idea . Please gather up your toys and put them back in the pram . I won't create the list and we should all be happy - except for those who would like the list - but thats not my problem anymore. Could a passing mod lock this thread before it degenerates into something resembeling World Wars 3.

Thats the thing there is no way of knowing wether or not the cache you are looking for is in a RTB or not . If they are bookmarked as such then you can make the decision to either visit / not visit them as you wish. Some people see them as part of the history of the UK and may wish to have them recorded for future reference . Whatever the reason if they are bookmarked then the individual can use that list to either visit or ignore them.

I'm creating a bookmark list of all the RTB's (Red Telephone Box) Caches in the UK and Northern Ireland. Please send me the links to these caches . RED telephone boxes only. Thanks for your help.

Get in touch with myself or Batsgonemad and his squirrel and I'm sure we can sort you out Let us know what dates you plan to be here and we will do what we can. Bats will be at the mega this weekend - if you are there I'll forward his number to you so you can meet up. You are right though theres not much in Magilligan - a pub, a prison and most importantly a CACHE

what the cheapest option is I don't know but I'd sugest a Blackberry phone that can run the CacheBerry (now CacheSence) programme . It would allow you to load many pq's on to a memory card and then load them to the cachesence programme . You can log them on the phone and have the ability to email the logs back to your desktop for logging at your convenience when you get home. I keep 4 databases - Ireland North , Ireland South , Scotland and a database of all the Coin and TB hotels and Motorway madness caches in the UK because I never know where I'll end up at the weekends as a long distance HGV driver. Somewhere around 6000 caches in total and all loaded into a 765T Nuvi as well . Keeps me out of mischief ..just

Thanks for the heads up - added. Any more out there that I've missed ? feel free to let me know.

UK to Northern Ireland by Ferry - No Passport required UK to Northern Ireland by air - Honestly don't know UK to Southern Ireland by Ferry - Drivers Licence should be adequate . Have travelled Holyhead to Dublin many times by Ferry and never even been asked for id. UK to Southern Ireland by Air - not sure but you will need some form of photo id probably a passport. Crossing the border from Northern Ireland to Southern Ireland by car /train/bus/bicycle/ donkey - nothing required - theres not even a checkpoint. For those who would be bringing a car - you must have your drivers licence AND insurance documents with you when driving in Southern Ireland. NO dates have been aranged or discussed .2014 has been sugested but thats as far as it goes and would be the very earliest date we would be thinking about. Perth Pathfinders - thanks but at least those from South of the Border can drive to Perth . I hope to get there myself, but as you can see when a ferry crossing or a flight is involved it seems to put people off. We would be depending on at least 250 or more to make the trip across the sea to make the numbers for a Mega.

The country is treated as a whole by Groundspeak so any Mega will be on their terms . As they treat the Island as a whole making no distinction between North and South I would assume it will be an Ireland Mega.

THERE ARE NO DATES SET . WE ARE NOT TRYING TO STAND ON ANY ONES TOES HERE. THIS IS NOT AN ANOUNCEMENT JUST A FACT FINDING QUESTION. Now that we have got that out of the way let me explain . I notice a few references to wanting to attend a Mega event in Ireland.We would like to / are considering holding one at some stage in the future but the general consensus is that we don't have a big enough community to reach the 500 attended to make it a Mega . What I'd like to ask is - IF Irish Cachers held a Mega what level of support could we expect from English , Scottish and Welsh cachers? How many would be prepared to make the trip? A yes or a no is all we need to guage the level of intrest.

GCPCPX GCF170 GCN009 GCTAC4 GCEEE4 GC1JXED GCRDGH GCP8AH A few recomendations for Northern Ireland to whet your appetite. Follow Graculus's link and get yourself signed up at gecocaching Ireland and we will do our best to make sure you have a great time while you are here.

I hope you are including a day or two in Northern Ireland . Many tourists / tour companies seem to forget about Northern Ireland which given it's past history is understandable but it's unforgivable now to not come and see the North Coast from Belfast to Londonderry.Some great caches too. GCPCPX GCF170 GCN009 GCTAC4 GCEEE4 GC1JXED GCRDGH GCP8AH That should give you a good selection of caches that you will miss out on if you don't come up for a couple of days. If you need any more help drop me a pm.