The Wombles

I just checked my 400t when it was connected to the computer. It has 3.70Gb.

Looks like they're only providing the National parks and long distance footpaths on 1:25 000 and the rest of the country is 1:250 000. Good step in the right direction though.

Hi Gralorn, I've had a 400t for about 10 hours now and already love the Oregon features. However, the 400t has a serious flaw for UK cachers in that the preloaded Topo maps have fatal omissions; for example the Kennet and Avon canal is missing (in case anyone thinks this is a recent addition, it was built in 1810 and is 87 miles long), as well as many other waterways and paths which are shown on UK Topo 2. I can't see this as a realistic map offering with so many fatal flaws. However, I've geocached with it this afternoon and love the features, ease of use and field notes facility. Buy a 300. Edit: Meant to say that the source of this was a back to back comparison between my 60CSx with UK Topo Ver 2 and the Oregon 400t running "Topo".

Well done.

I have TMC on my in-car Satnav. I regularly travel from Wiltshire to Watford and the TMC often reports delays on the M25 but they are seldom real. However, sometimes it tells me about jams in usual places and when confirmed by radio then I consider going round. I used to have a Trafficmaster map display and it was rarely worth diverting although it did reassure that the jam was not too serious. However, I didn't get sufficient additional useful information to warrant the cost when TMC is free. Whilst the idea of dynamic alternative routing is attractive, in practice the jams are rarely serious enough to make this worthwhile and the information is frequently flawed. I'd not pay for either system in the future.

It used to feel like a "private" activity. It was how I imagine you feel in a secret society but without the silly handshakes. I was hugely excited to meet another cacher and most caches - not all - were in prime locations. I did the numbers thing. Alex and I approached the first 100 finds in the UK at the same time so we agreed to hit 100 on the same day rather than race. But over time I became less interested in adding numbers for the sake of it. My kids are really interested in boxes big enough to contain toys. I'm interested in good locations. Some of the old timers saw this coming and started GAGB to help deal with said authorities.

Wow, such a beautiful place. Well done.

netweather.tv which is similar to metcheck in that it has free three hour forecasts but also monthly summaries. I subscribed this year to get the local rain radar (5 minute updates, zooms to a postcode). However, I've been disappointed with the accuracy of all the sites this year.

Several other councils have already given permission for caching, here is a link to our permissions database. Some are actively promoting caching as a way into their parks and to get exercise, for example Hampshire County Council. If you put a caching permission in place then cachers will happily place caches to bring people into your parks. Yorkshire Dales National Park monitor the logs on caches to get honest feedback on their land and facilities. Both Yorkshire Dales and Shropshire provide facilities for the public to borrow a GPS and try caching. I am on the committee of the GAGB which liaises with landowners and I'd be happy to provide you with more information about other councils/landowners and agreements although one of the local cachers will be better placed to demonstrate and talk you through caching.

Congratulations Geoff and Jo

Well done, we also loved Wildcat and it's a great choice for a milestone.

Found a picture of the Oregon here.

Rumours are flying round about a new GPS from Garmin, the Oregon. It may be a touch screen version of the Colorado. Some more information is here.

<Wheeze, cough> Welcome, young man......

Caroline, this is an excellent initiative and I hope you get lots of local support. I've visited the caches at Tyntesfield which were an excellent way to be led round the less visited areas of the estate. Despite being an NT member for 20 years, I hadn't visited Tyntesfield before the caches were placed I am also part of the committee for the Geocaching Association of GB and would be happy to help, albeit remotely, with any advice or support you may need. Well done.

Well done to Ashaaria who hit 1000 last weekend. Big congratulations.

$25 postage to the UK, to be precise. I got right down to checkout but that's just too much.

I've often posted notes if I can't search. A DNF says that I couldn't find it despite searching, not that I didn't try.

Congrats

Remember Tim & June signature Bear hunting? There were always people trying to follow them to grab the bear, and Teasel even added a T&J bear hunting function to geocacheuk. Ah yes, I managed to get 2 pallet loads from an army surplus place in Nottingham very cheaply and I think I sold them for a couple of quid each. Happy memories indeed: T&J hid a bear in the huge pile of Hornet's ammo boxes and didn't let on until afterwards. I remember everyone going through their Hornet Ammo boxes in hope.....

We would check for new caches every day. There were a couple, and we'd check to see if they were within traveling distance. For ages, we printed out every new cache in England and filed them by region for when we visited. Caches were either ammo boxes or ice cream containers. A small ammo box was considered a small cache. Didn't see a micro until a Scandinavian visitor placed one in Paddington Station. It was still possible to be first to place a cache in a new country (we did in Singapore). You could place caches far from home (Washington DC). You could place Virtuals (lots). Getting to the first 100 found was a huge challenge. Ah, the old days.....

Dave / Peter, I was very sorry to read this but would like to add my heartfelt thanks for your work both in front and behind the scenes over the years. Hope you enjoy your new-found spare time! Does this mean that Herefordshire might get a few more caches?

I remembered this log on one of my London virtuals: ------------------------------------- Cathy: "What's up this way?" Stuey: "I'm trying to find the Tube station" Cathy: "What are you doing now?" Stuey: "I'm just having a look at this plaque" Cathy: "Why?" Stuey: ..... silence Cathy: "WHY?" Stuey: "Errrrm, I just wonder what it says on it" Cathy: "WHY???" Stuey: "Errrrrrr, cuz it's a cache" Cathy: "WE'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE CACHING THIS WEEKEND" Stuey: "OK, I'll just take a quick photo, this is the last cache, I promise" Next stop Catastrophe, Calamity, cataclysm part 3, hehehe. ------------------------------------- Fortunately Nicky enjoys caching although she can take it or leave it. It's fine if you've both got other interests.

Well done indeed Gowenhouse Now back to placing more Bus Stop Boredom, any other series in the pipeline?

Fantastic achievement, well done.