slimey

If you missed the bit towards the end of the One Show for the group shot... MrsB is fairly obvious. Graculus took me a little longer to spot. I don't know any of the other cachers there...

Better late than never...

Why not just look at the photo that was in the forum, which leads to this one... http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...y&decrypt=# (Which, in the logs around April 2009 mentions the cutting down of the tree) Simon

Well, that tells me that I can't do recurring billing through paypal, but doesn't explain why my existing subscription with paypal just got cancelled without any notification from Groundspeak. I wonder how many premium memberships they've lost by doing this. I'm seriously considering whether to bother re setting up premium membership...

I've had a monthly paypal premium membership pretty much since I joined Geocaching about 5 years ago. A few days ago, I received an email from paypal to say that my subscription has been cancelled. No reason why was given. I've searched through recent emails from geocaching and paypal, and can see nothing about why this might happen. I've just tried reinstating the monthly membership on gc.com, and if I choose paypal, it only offers me annual non-recurring membership. What happened? Thanks, S

It's currently £5.50 to cross the Severn into Wales on either the M4 or the M48, and you'll need to make sure you have the toll available in cash - they don't accept cards, and will turn you around and send you back to England if you don't have the cash. But, yes, MrsB's Welcome to Wales cache is highly recommended, and gets some great logs. Simon

So is Chiastolite a he or a she? :-) SImon

From the news report: "Mr Smith, who has since found out more information about the treasure hunt, said clues were usually left in film canister or plastic bags." Oh dear - is that really the impression we give these days...? Simon

Are you still wanting flags? Given that it doesn't look like I'm going to get another camping trip in this year, I'm happy to send my one to you to display... S

How about a Fresian Caterham 7? here Belongs to a friend of mine from Uni. S

I'm absolutely useless at art, too, but came up with what I think was a pretty reasonable flag. I got a 3' x 2' plain white flag from Sky Blue (big ups to them, they seem fab!), and some acrylic paints from the art shop in town (£1 each for a reasonable size pot that I probably used about 1/4 of). I also bought an acrylic black paint "pen" for outlining and the fiddly bits. I printed the design out on 4 pages of A3 paper, stuck them together, and selotaped them to the back of the flag. I then traced the design through and filled it in. Some pics from the making of the flag can be seen here: Flag Painting For the finished flag, you'll have to find us at an event :-) I was also able to add lettering to the flag (to add our caching name) using the same technique - just remember to use a bold-enough font.

My wife had a good suggestion today after visiting the Mega Event hall - inspired by the nice lady selling boxes of mixed sweets for the kids, how about a stall selling mixed boxes of cache swaps for people to add to their caching bags. We've got a huge box of swaps at home which I stocked from the "wholesale" section on ebay - loads of corkscrews, keyrings, LED torches, as well has kids toys, etc. Okay, I probably invested 30-40 quid in that box, but it's going to last us for at least a year of caching (at our current rate of finds), and also provides a stock of stuff for the odd occasion when I get around to putting out a cache of my own.

Just got back from the Mega event, with 2 very tired kids, one very tired wife, and one very sunburnt neck! Very many thanks to the committee for organising a very successful event. Had great fun on the beach for the "camping" event, with fellow cachers at the overflow campsite in the evening, and also looking for some of the local caches around Weston (with grumbles at *mouse* for the splash and dash cache!). Already looking forwards to Mega Scotland - just got to persuade the inlaws to move the wedding anniversary so we can make it to the event instead :-) Simon

I was certainly surprised that no-one sells "Geocaching" flags - the closest I could find was somewhere in the US selling car flags with teh geocaching logo on them. Depending on how it goes painting my own, I was considering offering them to other people, but then I've got the hassle of getting official approval to use the geocaching logo from Groundspeak. (Working on the basis that personal use is okay, but commercial use requires a license) Simon

Oooh, that's good - that's who I ordered from over the weekend (seemed the most reasonable price on ebay). I got the order acknowledgement from them first thing this morning, so I'm hoping to have a parcel waiting for me in the office tomorrow... I've got some acrylic paints, and a couple of their plain white 3' x 2' flags, so I'll be spending some time in the evenings painting a flag for the event... Simon

I know a few other camping cachers take a flagpole with them when camping, and so I'm looking for some words of experience... Having booked for the mega camping next weekend, I've invested in a flagpole, and hope to come up with some distinctive stuff to fly from it. I did look around the net for a Geocaching flag, but couldn't find one, so I'm going to have a go at producing my own. I'm also going to let the kids have a go at decorating their own flags. From those people who've got their own camping flagpoles, how easy are they to erect, and how sturdy are they? I've gone for a 6m pole, which came with two 1m ground stakes - but I'm not sure how well they're going to hold the pole up in a typical campsite - should I be expecting to come up with additional bracing of some sort? Anyone found any geocaching related flags / windsocks? Thanks, Simon

Although I'm no longer living on the Isle of Wight, I'm *from* the Isle of Wight - does that count :-) Simon

Has anyone compiled a list of camping events planned for 2009? We're keen to do a bit more camping this year, having invested in a decent tent last year, and geocaching events are always a fun opportunity... Thanks, Simon

I'm fairly sure I noticed at the wekeend that the Silver Fox cafe is closed. Simon

Don't forget that GPS won't work *in* the bunker... Simon

I believe they work by receiving details of average speeds of vehicles which have recently driven along the road you're on - and if the average drops too much then it can report it as a delay on that road. Of course, it depends on enough tomtom users using the road you're on, but otherwise it's a great idea. (Oh, and I wish my tomtom would learn my average speeds for the roads I drive every day, to be able to give more realistic arrival time estimates...) Simon

Tried Blacks in Cheltenham today, and they've not got any left - they said they're expecting more in during the week, and we should phone them to check... S

Just noticed this in the weekly Groundspeak email which has arrived in the last few moments... http://garminuk.geocaching.com/ Oooh, shiny... Now, how to get to one in the next few days... Simon

Well, having finally got back from the Mega (and a couple of extra days over by the coast at Robin Hood's Bay), I can say that we're very happy with the Colorado. It's a bit of a pain in the a**e to put up and take down, but once it's up it's very spacious, and survived the Yorkshire rain and wind very well. Thanks all, Simon

Well, we've just been to visit Attwolls near Gloucester, and have fallen in love with the Vango Colorado 800 DLX - RRP £300, they had it for £259, and I've found it online for £199. I'd much rather have a name I've heard of (Vango), rather than what sounds like Argos' own brand (ProAction). Okay, it's a bit more than I'd planned to spend, but I'd rather spend £30 quid more and get a tent we're happy with, than tolerate a tent that we got based on price (Well, that's my justification, anyway) S