Africard

Closing this topic to ease following the TB Race...

So nice to see there is so much interest. Many thanks to Durbs for rescuing the stuck TB's... In defense of all participants and cachers helping the TB's along to achieve the goal of winning the race, remember this: Only TB's that made it to the end cache on or before 31/12/05 will be considered, so even if Dan Dolphin is last in the rankings, he may be the only TB finishing...and there is lots and lots of caches in the Cape Town area to visit... Each and every move a TB makes is appreciated by the owner and watched very closely by the participants. For those interested, there is still 7 open positions in the race, but the onus is on the owner to get the TB in the start cache. In the start cache is a race card entry that needs to be attached to the TB. The owner is also allowed to "Drop" the TB into the start cache and retrieve it immediately and move it to the first cache, provided the TB actually visited the start cache to pick-up the race entry card...

As the biggest critic in the forum on a previous discussion, let me be the first to congratulate geocacher.co.za on an excellent job done with his site! It exceeded all (my) expectations and incorporated all viewpoints (negative and positive) and is definately something you and SA cachers can be proud of.

Voice Of Africa has moved on to Gauteng, moving down from 1st to 5th! The result of this was that each TB moved up one position, except for numbers 5 to 8, which moved down one position. The leader is still Paper Kings, and all are eagerly awaiting his next move. TUFULA is second and The Globe trotter also made a move, although not enough to chnage its ranking... 3 TB's are stuck in KZN TB Hotel - maybe some KZN cacher would like to help them out of their misery...and move them onto another cache. Dan Dolphin is still hanging around in Cape Town....Capetonian cachers are very quiet at this stage, and I'm sure all participants are watching Dan with hawkeyes!

The loooong weekend is past tense , and as expected TUFULA has been kicked out of the throne! The new joint leaders is TB's Paper Kings and Voice Of Africa, which finally got a lift out of the start cache! Let's hope they cache up soon and get the numbers and distance to go to Cape Town. Dan Dolphin is lying very comfortably in the Cape peninsula - beware of hijackers Dan! Although Dan is last on the rankings, he is currently so close in completing the race. Other TB's that moved over the weekend was The Globe Trotter and TUFULA - both went to Sanlameer... Earth Watcher and Star Light is stuck in KZN TB Hotel....maybe someone can rescue them...

Dan Dolphin has been penalised with 74mi (119.1Km) on his total distance travelled. This is an admin penalisation since he did not actually travelled this distance and this is what happened: Cacher B retrieved TB Dan Dolphin from a cache where Dan has been dropped by cacher A before the log was entered on the system. Cacher B then retrieved it from the original cache where cacher A picked it up and placed it in the cache he visited last. Cacher A grabbed the TB from cacher B in order to drop it in the cache he visited last, thereby leaving Dan according to the logs in the cache where cacher B picked it up, but actually in the cache where cacher B dropped it. Cacher B published the tracking number (as he did not have Dan Dolphin in his inventory, or did not know) in his log, making it possible for other cachers to retrieve the TB without actually picking it up. When I saw this I contacted both cachers to determine the current position of TB Dan Dolphin, and retrieved it from the current cache he was in according to the logs, until I could determine the actual position. Cacher B reacted quickly and edited his logs, as well as assured me of the actual cache Dan Dolphin found himself in. I dropped TB Dan Dolphin in this cache. The retrieve and drop action by me resulted in Dan Dolphin "travelling" the 74mi (119.1km) which I penalised him for. The penalisation did not affect his ranking and is only applicable to his total distance travelled.

We have a new leader! TUFULA kicked Earth Watcher from it s pedestal and took poll position. Globe Trotter and Dan Dolphin also moved forward an inch or two. Do not underestimate that Dolphin...he can already smell the end cache!

I try to make each item I leave different. The first 12 sig items was a plastic bug / spider. Now I use a token from an American token company - something that is not available in SA. On caches I place, I leave an electronic toy / calculator, a die cast car, and at least three other items.

Seems I missed one or more of the answers...now I'm getting fried... Anyway, this is exactly what happened on the fire-arms post. No winners and only mud flying around. If you post a question do not expect everyone to agree. This post provoked good reaction and criticism, and should be used to yield positive results. Personal attacks on replies should not be tolerated. Let me state it clearly again. I'm not against the web site - I have my own web site too! (The TB Race is tracked trough geocaching.com, updates are posted in this forum as well as on my own site - for the people interested in more). I have personally congratulated both Globalrat and geocacher.co.za on their webs, and think they are doing a great job at it too. SA cachers needed a local supplier of geogoodies in SA - which I will definately support.

Gentlemen, We are not going to agree on this. I replied to a not so recent post about carrying fire-arms when caching...needless to say the post went on and on with fors and againsts, with no winners. I can clearly see that the web page is going to happen, whether we agree or not. That is not the point. Personally, I do not want a regulatory authority, nor extra websites to monitor nor a club memebership. Explaining geocaching to muggles in power who have never even heard of geostatic satellites, but powerful enough to have a lot to say on how I play my game is definately not on. I do want the sport / game to be free of binding and limiting rules and regulatory "censorship", control and all those things we do to make life more difficult. I respect the rights of landowners and will explain to them why I want to put a cache on his land if necessary, but find following the simple guideline of easy public access easier, than trying to explain geocaching and all that goes with it. For this case it would be great to have specific guidelines to use, which we already have. Forming an association with the inputs of the active members on this site is something that also needs serious thought. It will only address the needs of some. I have, by going trough the entire post, not found one thing that was not addressed already in the geocaching.com site, and is still of the opninion that this is not needed.

Wow - Hot topic with very valid views. I sat back and listened (excuse the pun) to all comments before posting. I feel very strongly that we do not need "rules" other than those posted on geocaching.com, nor a "governing body" or even more websites to monitor to keep updated. There are however a couple of good ideas in this post. "Rules" will keep the game / sport from evolving and tie the players down, which in my opinion is not what I want from it. The basic set of guidelines has thus far been enough to keep us in line, while being "policed" by other players. A "Governing Body" poses problems such as membership, subs, rules, meetings etc., etc., etc. I'm saying this because I've seen what happened to the entire fire-arm fiasco (I'm sure the SA cachers know what I'm talking about). Soon we will be paying to belong to a club / governing body / association. Personally I feel geocaching.com is doing a great job and my first (and only) choice for keeping (me) updated, informed and playing.

Master Jack - Nortern KZN

Stealth Racer landed close to Port Elizabeth and this changed the rankings considerably! Earth Watcher moved to 1st, TUFULA into 2nd, The Globe Trotter 3rd, Star Light in 4th position. Stealth Racer moved down to 5th, followed by Dan Dolphin in 6th. Paper Kings is still stuck in the start cache, but Voice Of Africa (New Entry) joined him up on the mountain!

Ons Suid Afrikaners is definitief gevlei deur die hoeveelheid belangstelling vanuit die buiteland, veral Nederland. Dit is regtig lekker om te sien dat ons gesprek ook uit ander lande gevolg word en dan ook reaksie uitlok. Ek is nuuskierig of daar ook "geocachers" uit Belgie (Belge) die gesprek volg in Vlaams? For the entire community: We are definately flattered at the amount of international interest in this post, especially from the Netherland. It is really great to see that it is followed and commented upon. I am interested if there are any cachers from Belgium following this post?

Yeah right...I buy from the USA with my CC on a regular basis, with no interference from the reserve bank or government. Actually our monetary policy has been relaxed. I think they just do not want to walk the extra mile...

Globe Trotter moved up an inch....not enough to change rankings, but we will keep an eye on the rankings...Stealth Racer has left the greater Northern KZN area and we are quite keen on seeing where he touches down...sure thing this will change the rankings! AE_Rodney, don't worry - Dan Dolphin also started late and he is so close to the end already!

I also tried to cantact Paypal with no good answers. I also work trough an intermediary to get things done (One I can trust).

Good for you - I also tried local manufactures to produce but they are just not interested - see my personal mail for my order! If they were to be made trackable and extra cost was incurred I'm sure you would be able to sell them too!!! (At the very least I would be interested) Making the SA cachers presence felt through the world is an important part of my mission with my TB's, as well as exchnage caches etc.

AE_Rodney entered his TB Voice Of Africa - All the Best VOA, may the busiest bug win!!

I do not have any dead or MIA TB's yet, but suppose it is only a matter of time...Can't see why we can't have a graveyard for South African TB's.

The TB's are very active in Durban! Earth Watcher moved back to 2nd and the rest was knocked down one position. Still expecting a lot of action from the TB's in Durban area... Is any cacher coming to Northern KZN? Paper Kings is still stuck in the start cache...

Thanks to the new sponsors we have 3 prizes now! Whostops from Peugeot Pinetown donated a hamper (mystery prize). vandermerwe-family donated some Geocaching goodies! Thank you guys. Update: TUFULA is making a meal of Durban based caches and moved from third to second! Lots of action expected from this side of the world!

Although the race numbers changed a lot over the weekend, the rankings did not: TUFULA (after being rescued by TB Hunter from "A Thorny Issue"), Earth Watcher and Globe Trotter went to the KZN event cache in Pietermaritzburg. All enjoyed the picnic and finding "Belfry". Whostops was really excited to be re-united with TUFULA and promptly moved on to "Aviary". It will really be interestig to see which TB takes the lead in the next two weeks...All contestants are eagerly awaiting the first move of the Paper Kings. For those interested: There are still openings in the race (8) - get your TB to the start cache, attach the TB race card (in the start cache). Be sure to read the race rules - follow the link at the start of this post). I will verify that the TB was actually in the cache. The owner can then move it to a different cache and will be tracked here...interested cachers are invited to contact me.

Stealth Racer is still leading, but Earth Watcher moved into joint 2nd position with The Globe Trotter from 6th position! Tufula is stuck in "A Thorny Issue" and 3rd, Star Light is 4th, but somewhere in between caches. Dan Dolphin is 5th, but closest to achieving goal and Paper Kings has not yet left the start cache...can someone please help this TB out and into mainstream caches! The upcoming Belfry event in Pietermaritzburg this weekend is sure to change the rankings considerably.