[2009 Great SA TB Race]

Oh WOW!! If we can say so on our behalf, the TB entrants are looking FANTASTIC!! We are still searching for a suitable bug to attach to our dog tag. Lots of tough competition, so we'll have to search long and hard!! All of this is making us very, very excited about this Race! Thanks again Cincol for initiating it!

[2009 Great SA TB Race]

Wrt the Event, we have not received many responses as yet. Wrt to the Race, I'm sure Cincol could give us an update, unless he's still waiting for info. to get through to him. We will enter a TB dog tag as well as a coin. We just need to get the two activated first, and will send the details to Cincol to add to the entrant list.

 

It's a pleasure about the prize geocoin at the end of the Race. We'll also have a "Lucky Draw" at the Event on Sunday, 31st May!!

[2009 Great SA TB Race]

We've agreed to host the Event that will "kick-off" this exciting TB Race! Excuse the simple text format of the Event listing for now, but we'll update it with some pics when we get a gap this week. We just wanted to get the event published so that people had a chance to plan around it, etc. We will also sponsor a Geocoin as a prize at the end of the Race!!

[Earthcaches]

We enjoy doing earthcaches, and have learnt a great deal from them. We find it a challenge to look up the information and provide a good answer. We always feel though that we haven't done enough research or we are on the wrong track. Sometimes we feel like we are being tested [], but in the end we are allowed to log our find, so we guess we are not doing too badly. We just need time to do earthcaches (well that is because of the research involved!). But thanks CH for putting together some great earthcaches, we'll be sure to do them one by one as time goes on!

[Family Cachers]

We are GEO936 - a family team of hubby (Rolf), wife (Silvia) and 2 year old toddler (Nadia). We have a bun in the oven, who is due to arrive around 23rd September, who will complete our family.

 

Rolf's brother and wife are Team Kokerboom, and they also enjoying geocaching. Rolf's Dad and Silvia's parents often join us on cache hunts, as they think it is the coolest thing to do!

 

Nadia loves geocaching, and has caught on what to do and what is happening. She now tells us very proudly "Daddy, I find it!" when she sees a crevice or hole somewhere nearby to where we are hunting! - Very sweet.

[What annoys you?]

Something that annoys us, is when we find valuables or money in caches! On the weekend we found a cache with 2 x R5 coins in it. The cache was also visible from the outside, in a very busy muggle area! It was just BEGGING to be muggled and of course spoil the fun for proper geocachers. We did notice that the previous few cachers were all newbies.

 

That brings us to another bug bear. We wish that newbies would research and read the rules with regards to the geocaching sport BEFORE attempting to find caches! There is a lot of information on the website, but it seems that they just don't bother. Then they remove TBs and GCs without logging them properly or they don't understand about covering the cache again after logging, etc. Very frustrating.

 

wrt Batsgonemad....WOW...can't imagine how you could be a health risk and all the other allegations. What a weirdo to think up such things. He is obviously anti-South African....I wonder how he would remove you from the event if you dared to show up? Could you attend in dress up/mask so that he doesn't recognise you? I just can't believe it! Do keep us posted.

[Geopirates]

Hi again

 

Well I don't know if it was a coincidence or whether all our combined energies did something out there, but the newbie cacher contacted us today re. the "stolen" geocoin and TBs!! We had almost given up on him, but it turned out that he had registered with a "Hotmail" email account which he clearly only checks once a month.

 

One of the TBs he took but did not log out, made a trip to Spain already and we are still waiting to hear about our geocoin and the TB that was separated from its toy/goodie.

 

At least we have his direct email addresses, so communication should be better improved.

 

Thanks so much for everyones replies and opinions - it means that we all seem to experience similar things and we are not alone! Thanks Fish Eagle for your feedback. We didn't mean to come across that South Africa was full of geopirates, as we know we are not that bad! Just looking at what goes on in the States, is an eye opener in itself. Wow, we can't believe you have so many coins out there - you truly are addicted. But we can honestly say that if our budget allowed it, we would be purchasing loads more geocoins than what we have.

 

Let's hope the geopiracy keeps to a minimum around here and that everyone's beautiful coins can make it from cache to cache, cacher to cacher and rake up the kilometers!

[Geopirates]

We have had a most unfortunate experience, where a newbie cacher has removed a special geocoin (a planisphere compass geocoin) that we put into a new cache. He also destroyed a travel bug - pulled the ring that was attached to the dog tag and left the dog tag in the cache container.

 

We have been trying to contact this cacher for the last three weeks, and he has not responded to any of our emails. We can only email him via the Groundspeak website, so we cannot see if he is actually getting our emails or not.

 

It seems at first hand that he does not know about trackable items, but we have explained this in our emails many times. We have also had three other well established geocachers, who have also tried to contact him, without any response either.

 

It is very sad to know that there are cachers out there who do not have any regard for trackable items. Even if they are ignorant, after having received various emails from various other cachers, surely the light would be switched on in the brain? We still believe that the trackables were removed on purpose as keepsake items.

 

How many cachers in South Africa have been a victim to geopiracy?

 

Interestingly, I have read a number of cachers in the USA that have been terribly affected by geopiracy. There are people out there that specifically go out and "steal" geocoins and travel bugs, but more so the coins. Why on earth people would want to hold onto a coin that is clearly marked as a travel item, we do not know.

 

It is disheartening for us as geocachers to place geocoins and TBs into caches, as we are concerned they too will get stolen. These geopirates are spoiling the fun for all the honest geocachers out there.

 

When we started out as geocachers and found our first TB, we were excited and we made sure to read about trackables and did what was required to make the TB move along its mission. It doesn't take rocket science or an einstein brain to do this - it just takes respect and compliance to the rules of geocaching - something which seems to be lacking in other geocachers.

[Export cache information to TXT format]

Is it possible to have an "export to text" button on the cache information page, right next to the "Send to GPS" button? I am presently opening up NotePad and creating a simple txt file name as GC****.txt . In the text file I copy and paste the information of the cache, such as:

Cache Name:

Co-ordinates:

Owner of Cache:

Difficulty and Terrain:

Information from the web page:

Hint decrypted:

 

Once the file is complete with the information, it is downloaded as a text file to my normal cell phone (Samsung 760). The file size is typically 1K in size (very samll). It saves paper!!

 

On the cellphone, when a get to a cache that my GPS identifies, I look up the cache name on the cellphone and open the file to see the information. Very COOL

 

The "Export to txt" needs to create a txt file in a pre defined place on the harddrive of the PC. The cellphone software will port the text files over to the correct memory location on the phone so that it all works.

 

I think this feature will work for almost every modern simple cell phone with a PC interface.

 

Thanks for a great site