BruceTP

GEO936 have been investigating this for some time and are in consultation with Groundspeak. There is a lot involved and it will take at least 18 months to coordinate it and meet the minimum requirements. (For example: you have to guarantee a minimum 500 attendees.) But yes, in principle, South Africa should and can host an event like this. Contact GEO936 if you would like to contribute and be part of the LOC. (Local organising commitee)

No CH, but you are welcome to research it as it is a fascinating story. I would add that this is one of the most famous and pivotal battles in the history of our country. The facts themselves speak volumes: 139 British Soldiers held off a force of 3000 - 4000 Zulu warriors and only suffered 14 casualties. There were up to 800 or more Zulu casualties. 11 Victoria Cross medals were awarded - The most for any individual conflict before or hence. It is also interesting to follow the history of these individuals - some went on to further prominence while others to poverty and obscurity. The last surviving VC recipient died in 1932.

The Great SA 2011 TB Race website has been updated with the latest TBs. The total now stands at 17

Nothing to be sorry about! I took this in the more general terms. i.e. If someone wanted to organise a hike in the Magalliesberg then this would be the place to solicit company. Contrary to the perception that some people may hold, there is life beyond the Hex River.

No. When you consider that the battle of Rouke's Drift happened on 22/23 January 1879, this person died on VE day 1945 at the age of 91. Quite something.

Who was the last survivor of the battle of Rouke's Drift - Anglo Zulu War 22/23 January 1879 and when did he die. (Are there any caches / series of caches commemorating the various battles of that whole campaign?)

Sorry I was just picking up stompies.... I thought you were just talking current affairs about the mishaps at the airline.... Carry on cincol.

From a geocaching perspective, it is too soon to organise a CITO. There is a minimum advertising / notice period that you have to give for a listing. What I would suggest is that you contact the organisers / RRRA and explain what geocaching is all about an negotiate with them whether we can help in the future - even with other parks. Then organise a formal CITO and list it accordingly.

Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Source : Wikipedia

Thanks - The website has already been updated with the winning photos from the last race.

Basically, the only criterion is that the TB is launched from an event in South Africa from end November and throughout December 2010. After that, it is pretty much open season. Is you have designated that your TB would like to travel internationally and someone picks it up and posts it to a friend overseas - so much the better. Otherwise you have to wait for a cacher here to go overseas and drop it in a cache wherever. Photos: I am no expert in judging photos but I shall solicit those who do. But what I am looking for is a photo of the TB at the cache capturing the spirit of the game and showing off where it has been and with whom it has been in contact. Last year's race produced some interesting shots of the TB with various animals it encountered long the way. I hope this clears it up. PS. I shall try and locate last year's monthly winners and put them in the album to give you an example of what is looked for in photographs.

For those Gautengers who may be still asleep - All is not lost. Here is an opportunity to get up early on a Saturday morning and come to an event to launch your TB, especially is you were not able to get you TB tags in time for the other events: Breakfast At Uncle Scrooge Palace 10 December 2010 : 08:00

Surprise! The early birds who have logged their race TBs into an event and/or who have already posted photographs of them are already scoring points for their TBs in anticipation of the start. Check the scores here Great SA 2011 TB Race Scores Thanks to those who have entered so far.

Thank you for the feedback I have received thus far. I have updated the Great SA 2011 TB Race website with the latest TB to be registered and corrected the omission. Keep them coming...

Good excuse for a party, Rip von Winkel! Maybe you could organise a Johannesburg event some time in December for the latecomers who were not able to launch their TBs in Pretoria.

Apologies - I added it to the contestant photo gallery but not the list. I shall sort it out this evening. Thanks for pointing it out. At the moment the site is still a "proof of concept" and I am sure there will be more bugs other than travelling ones to iron out before the race begins in earnest.

November is now upon us which means that it is a time to get your TBs ready for the start of the Great 2011 South African TB Race. I see that three provinces have taken up the challenge and organised events at which the local TBs will enter the race. Some of the entrants have already been logged into the events which is great to see. I am sure that by the end the TB list per event will be exhaustive. In order to track the various TBs throughout the year I had approached Damhuisclan who had very capably hosted the last race website but he declined the request, much to my disappointment. So, failing which, I have put together my very first attempt at designing and hosting a website. I am sure that as time goes by, I am sure to fall into many pitfalls and potholes and maybe there will be glitches from time to time with the site. So bear with me, please. Therefore, to coincide with the start of November and the great countdown to the race begins I am launching the website here: Great SA 2011 TB Race I trust that you will all enjoy tracking your's and all the other TBs in the race throughout the year. You will also be able to see the gallery of all nominated photographs for the month competition. Currently I only have sample photos of some of the TBs entered thus far. It is your race. Participate and enjoy it to the full. May the best TBs win. On your marks! Get set....... !

Now you can start getting your racers on the starting grid, ready for the chequered flag. Feel free to log them into whichever event you intend attending as it is good to see against whom you are racing!

Latest score: Two more to be released in Gauteng: Description / Reference Randy bug / TB29VB6 Go Go Go GAGB Racer! / TB3Y2YP And now, the first two from the Western Cape: Description / Reference 2011 Great SA TB Race ~ MBX 4x4 Race / TB3EF5C 2011 Great SA TB Race ~ Baja 4x4 Racer / TB3EF4Q

Thanks for the support Hesamati, I have removed the word 'unique' from point 4.

Thanks to MnCo for volunteering to host the Cape Town event on the 5th of December. I am looking forward to seeing a great starting grid from the Cape. Currently Gauteng are still leading 5-2 but I am sure the situation will change as your team take up the challenge along with the other provinces. I wish you every success with your event and will be in contact with you to get the detail of all the contestants.

Would you then be happy with the rewording of Rule 4 to be: 4) A cacher who retrieves a trackable will earn an additional 20 points for the trackable. Should that cacher have previously moved the trackable, the additional points will only be awarded in the event of the trackable having been moved by a minimum of 3 other different cachers in the interim.

In terms of the rules dipping is allowed because it is not always feasible to leave a TB at a cache – especially a micro. That is why I made provision for it, in that provided it is the first time you are visiting a cache, you may dip it. So this applies whether you are the owner of the TB or not. You just won’t get the benefit of the extra points gained from being moved by different cachers. Some TB owners like to hold onto their TBs and just let them travel with them. That is fine, but they won’t accumulate as many points as if they let it go to be picked up by someone else and moved on. Maybe I should increase the weighting of points gained when a TB is moved by a different cacher - What is the feeling on that? Also, in order to qualify as a different cacher, you should not have moved the TB within a certain number of placements. ie. to qualify for the extra points, the TB has to be moved by 2, 3, n other cachers in the interim before you retrieve it again. Suggestions for 'n'?

See Note 2 Irrespective of what the intended goal of the TB states, the trackable will be considered local until such time as it actually leaves SA. Then it will be put on the international list. I trust that this clarifies the fuzziness.

Good news : The first of the TBs have been registered. Keep them coming. Maybe we can break last year's record of 47. Description / Reference cincol's Racing Polly the Parrot / TB3FPVK Dewald's Racing Bonobo the Monkey / TB3FVQY Happy Little Family TB (SA Racer 2011) / TB2JN89 Family of 4 - SA Racer 2011 (ZA) / TB36H5A Arabia to Africa and Anywhere Else Coin - SA Racer 2011 (ZA) / TB3R45B