Landsharkz

We would like to bring to your attention an event of Mega proportions, that is happening here on Vancouver Island! If you're thinking road trip next summer or are itching to dip your toes in the Pacific (very cold!), please think about timing your visit to coincide with Island Spirit 2012 (WestCan2) being held on July 7th in the beautiful Cowichan Valley. This region is 1 hour north of Victoria and 1 hour south of Nanaimo. The major attractions are hiking, biking, camping, fishing, golf, wineries, boating and geocaching, not all in that order... I need to switch golf and geocaching . I'm sure they are way fewer golfers than geocachers on the island! You should allow a few days here at the least, because once you start looking at all the cool things to do, you'll be in a panic trying to fit it all in and that's just not relaxing at all! Cycle the Cowichan Valley Regional Trail (TCTrail), cross the majestic Kinsol Trestle (oooh, ahhhh), tour wineries, cideries and farm stalls, walk amongst the ginormous trees in Goldstream Provincial Park, check out one of the largest estuaries in Canada, visit the Maritime Centre to see their Museum and wooden boats, come check out Landsharkz HQ . Ok, we're not in the Cowichan Valley, but if you decide to spend some time in Victoria, we'd be happy if you'd stop by. As far as geocaching goes - this is one of Canada's Hot Spots for geocaching. We have thousands of caches within a short distance and more are being planned to be released before Island Spirit. If you register at the highest level, a geocache of Non-Micro proportions will be hidden and stocked in your honour. You will essentially become part of the Legacy of this great event. Registration is not live yet, but I'll come back and let you know as soon as it is. Right now you can Log your Will Attend and sign up to receive our Island Spirit newsletter. Island Spirit Website Island Spirit 2012 Event Listing GC349MK Please come and check out the new website and new forums. Conversation is warming up. Bring your questions... but most of all... bring YOU!

Wow, even out here in BC we hear only GOOD things about the CCC. I'm sorry we don't live closer or we'd be banging on their door. Actually Mr. LS was out there enjoying GAG(insert#here) just last month - some of the CCC took him out caching and made sure he got his flight home too . Helen

This trackable geocoin (with a custom icon) is to recognize an awesome milestone - the completion of an 81 Grid! Upon completion you become an 81 GRID CHAMPION! The large square coin is 45mm x 45mm (1 3/4" x 1 3/4"), 3.0mm thickness and plated in polished nickel. There is a combination of solid and translucent IHE paint. Here is a direct link to the 81 GRID CHAMPION COIN coin sales page Price = $12.99 CAD.

That's an interesting question and I'd love to know what prompted you to ask. I have to wonder if you are you part of a government agency that would like to help or if you wondering if tax dollars for tourism and regional promotion in the Cowichan Valley are being used wisely . You don't have to answer, but it's certainly one of those questions that raises more questions. We have not applied for any funding from the BC Government at this point. We have some ideas for funding partners and we have some local sponsors who would like to be involved, but nothing has been firmed up so far. At the moment we're excitedly working with no funds at all. Other than that, any specific financial information is going to be kept within the upper management level of this group as we are financially accountable to the WestCan folks.

We were waiting to have the website and forums working tickety-boo before asking for the event to be listed. Check out Island Spirit 2012 (WestCan2) and get on the email list so you get first notification when you can log your 'will attend'.

LANDSHARKZ HALLOWEEN 2011 GEOCOIN We are pleased to introduce our first trackable Halloween Geocoin! In previous years we have designed and produced a non-trackable geocoin which was a Gift With Purchase sometime in October. This year we decided to respond to requests for a trackable Halloween Geocoin with this personal creation which we are excited to share with coin collectors. Stats: 38mm, 3.0mm thickness, black nickel, translucent and solid IHE, trackable on geocaching.com (stamped on coin edge) with a custom icon. Price: $10 each CAD. Where: Landsharkz.ca Shipping: Worldwide of course! We also are continuing with the tradition of a Gift With Purchase version that is non-trackable. This is our FOURTH annual Gift With Purchase Halloween coin and I know many customers who have been collecting them all along. Details are on our site. We also take them to events that we are attending as a donation. Look for them at the GeoMonster Ball and The Day Before Halloween events. I can't promise we'll have trackable coins left to sell at the events, but we'll bring some if we do!

It is frustrating waiting for the wheels of bureaucracy. We haven't come up against this yet as we tend to stick to parks and park trails, but I know it's getting in the way of a lot of hides. Is it possible to find out yourself who maintains the gravel road? Is it a logging company for example operating under a TFL in the area or a municipally maintained road (local government not Province of BC)? If it IS MOT, then I have been told that the distance requested by MOT is 100m, so you have 20m to go. If it isn't the MOT, then add a reviewer note stating who owns or maintains that stretch of road and see if that helps. There are roads that are no longer in use (gated to vehicles or 'decommissioned') so if you hide on one of those, post a pic showing that it's no longer in use. These are only personal suggestions; I've got no idea if they'll work, but it can't hurt to try. The Reviewers in BC are amazing and I don't envy them having this new challenge to add to their workload. If you give them as much info as possible where BC roads are concerned, then they are better equipped to assist in determining if your cache will get the thumbs up or not. Helen

We've been too busy maintaining our caches to visit these threads Three more caches to go this fall and we're all fixed and ready for hopefully another year. It's become an obsession, getting all of them fixed or archived. I can't count the number of times we have stopped to check a cache while we were 'in the neighbourhood' and found it to be horrid shape. The recent logs don't give an inking of any issue! Is this because people are getting lackadaisical about logging anything useful or because stinky caches are more the norm than the exception? I always think that any of our caches could be found by a newbie on their very first cache hunt and what impression do I want our cache to give? This weekend will see us finished, come he** or high water!

This display offered better viewing of the trackables than the previous display we'd seen in Seattle and with the coins in clear lexan type stands they were visible on both sides without having to lay on our backs and look up. Some coins are still laying down, but not many. I know Mr. Canoehead managed to log a lot of them. That cute rubber chicken by nine_ca&ladyracer was found in a cache in the Okanagan then sat on my desk for about 3 years before I donated it. It's nice to see so many cool Canadian signature items and trackables being enjoyed like this.

Why was this a one time maze? Got excited to see the new maze exhibit in Toronto (Canada) and found it was the same exhibit as the last 2 times it has been in the area JP, it wasn't a one time maze and I know that the GPS Adventures Canada Maze had a long booking for next summer (not Island Spirit 2012). Saying that though, I have no clue where it is now and why Toronto Science Centre has the original maze. I have sent a note to Kelly from Minotaur Mazes to see if he can share the schedule for the new Canada Maze and let us know how to determine which maze is on exhibit when we see it advertised.

It's yours CR... my contact hasn't replied.

It is a lovely lake... we were there a few months ago . This is our family (and friends) pic from when we visited the nearby EarthCache.

I know a cacher from Victoria who might still be in the area on vacation. I've sent them a note, but you may get a response from DanOCan's contact first.

What about Space Coast Geocaching Store on Merritt Island, Fl? 321-453-SCGA (7242) or Toll Free at 855-454-SCGA (7242). Their retail store is located at: N 28 21.316 W 080 41.835

Heather, try this FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/192176623576/

Thanks for your comments and feedback and of course you are all correct! I have archived the cache and I now have hundreds of emails telling me that a cache containing my trackable was archived . I have moved 1 (one) to our collection so far and it took about 12 clicks to achieve this. I guess I'm glad I didn't activate every trackable we own! I think this might be a good job for my daughter . Helen

I think these are the folks you want http://www.woodencoin.com/

Years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth and micros didn't exist we created a cache to put our coins in so they wouldn't be in our inventory. I know lots of folks did this way back when. We haven't put any coins there for a long time, but today I had the notion to archive it. Does anyone know what will happen to those hundreds of coins? Will they suddenly end up in our inventory? Will I get notification emails that the cache they were in was archived? I wish there was an easy way to move them to our collection. Ideas?

There is also the one in Gulf Islands National Park Reserve here on the west coast which has a cool west coast theme coin. Gulf Islands National Park Reserve of Canada Geocaching Program.

We'll be in the Lake Louise and Banff area on the 12th also and kayaking or canoeing is on our agenda too! We've got all those terrain/diff's so may not head to the caches, but there's no better way to experience the beautiful lakes in the Rockies than from out in the middle of them!

I'd be using that in a multi-cache somehow... 5 trees.

First a cheap Cruise: We're catching a Saturday morning ferry to cruise through the incredible Gulf Islands Then some EarthCaching in either the Fraser Canyon or Okanagan - we're leaving that part of the routing to the teens to decide since we like it all! Add a couple of Rocky Mountain days in Lake Louise/Banff area hiking and exploring, Finally a full day of the Calgary Stampede complete with Rodeo, Midway and Grandstand tickets! (I lived in AB for 9 years and never really DID the Stampede!) On Thursday we'll arrive at Three Hills ready for a rest! We'll have Tieka so we're not canoeing but we're looking forward to hearing all your stories and seeing pics! On Sunday we're heading home with detours in the Badlands and then the US. We're not sure which route we'll be taking yet, we might go the Kootenays and then south, but we're considering stopping in to visit Tsun in Helena, Lisa at Cache Advance in Spokane or might just going straight to the beach and dunes at Cannon Beach/Seaside Oregon. I guess we better figure that out this week . Our amazing assistant Robyn is sticking around the office to make sure our mail and orders are all looked after. Helen @landsharkz on Twitter to follow tweets of our adventures and journey to Best of the BAD!!

I have a contact on Twitter (from Helena, MT), who is chomping at the bit to do some promotion and marketing (social media and otherwise) to bring people to your region. She's just waiting to hear if it's a go. I guess we'll be doing a few newbie seminars...

Does the owner of the trackable know there is an issue?

Agreed. We do this with a couple of caches in town. We use the 'write note' instead of logging a find on subsequent visits to drop TB's. It's also a great opportunity to check on the cache (even if it's not yours) because 'touristy' caches often need new log sheets, etc. Do unto others...