Team Ginger

Thanks!! Did a cache run in Durbs & area for a few days.. Always great fun!

Well congrats to all the BIG milestones reached this weekend! 1000 & 1500 cache finds are to be admired!

I recall a log from one of my caches which gave me a warm & fuzzy feeling too! Farmer Human (GC14BX4) in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park: I experienced a personal warm & fuzzy feeling after my visit to the cache in Nieu-Bethesda, SA one December.. I deviated 26km off the N1, on a gravel road to find a cache in a small, quiet & quaint little town, that morning. Little did I know that the paleontologist who found the fossils in this town, was my grandfather's brother (the surname matched my mom's maiden name and I started asking questions).. As I spoke to my mom that evening, memories from her childhood came out. She told us about playing on the stoep of the 'Owl House' and other tit-bits from her past. Little did I realise the significance of my visit when I 'just drove to find a cache'. Who knows where else caching may take me in the future.

It is great to see all the very big numbers being reached this year... 600's (Warthog & Brick) 400 (Nish4) 300 (Rhino & Hedgehog) Awaiting GR's BEEEG one..... Keep it up guys & gals - it is sooo great to meet the various cachers at events, at caches etc. Such a great bunch of people all over the country loving the same thing... It is great! Congrats to all!!

Hmmm - ouch to some useless caches out there... I have only placed one suburban cache up to now (maybe some cachers would find this one too without feeling anything afterwards). I'm trying to stick to posting great caches (to protect my good name, it seems) . Problem is, historical sites/monuments/great views etc. in town are somewhat difficult to find now, since the 'older' cachers have already claimed all the good/safe spots I would have wanted to use. I think it is a good thing to be open enough to comment on caches that seem to not have a place - to improve the standard of caching in this country. I also agree that what seems to be a great cache to one, may not be a good cache to another. I love caching - I don't like wasting my time finding random black containers without understanding the point of it being placed there (whatever the reason my be). I liked the criteria EragonSaphira posted as a guideline to their event caches. I enjoyed the event tremendously and finding their caches. Thx! Good luck to all cachers wanting to place some caches - I sympathize with those who's caches are deemed not great. I dread seeing one of my caches used as an example in this thread... Happy caching!

Being a high school teacher, I see how the sms- & chatroom-language is affecting our youngsters' spelling ability every day. Students get away with bad spelling in most subjects (except languages), but boy it stands out like a big bad blotch. They are not allowed short forms for words in their writing though. Whenever I read any text, be it students' research reports, CV's, colleagues' notices or geocaching logs, a spelling mistake is usually the first thing I notice. It's a pity, though a fact, that bad spelling does weaken my impression about a piece of writing and the writer. Cachers surely know, by the time they reach adulthood, whether they spell well or not, so whether one uses sms language or UK English, it should simply be read through at least once before posted. Then again, every cacher does not have (or have to have) a high IQ or perfect language skills to love caching, so I'd be a little more open-minded to those creepy-crawlies showing face here and there... All this being said, come on people, short form is really not that bad!! I'm all for change... our youngsters are using short forms on the Internet and in sms-ing all the time. Let's not judge them just because we come from another generation. Isn't TFTC, UTOPOR, FTF, TNLTSL etc. also then not to be used?

We had a great event on Saturday!! CrystalFairy got his claws on the TB from where I then just had to grab it! It is visiting me in Johannesburg - will find a good cache spot for it soon!

Seems Brick's 550 slipped by without much notice!! His find was (for a change) a cache that I suggested he finds, having found it previously myself (usually it is the other way around). Next big one is 600... keep going!

On going to Gariepdam in August (with the plan to find the caches in the area), we found 9 caches in one day and 2 DNFs.. We had a lot of fun and took photographs everywhere too! So, we weren't rushed (and had a 3-year old in our team to consider as well). On another geocaching-outing, this time with Brick (who had already found or own some of the caches we've visited that day), I logged 13 finds and 1 DNF. Once again, these finds were stretched over some distance and we stopped all over to take photo's too. Harties caching-spree in October: 6 finds, 4 DNFs - suppose not the best stats for a caching day.. but it seems to be in line with my numbers for one day. Last weekend I went to my cousin's wedding just outside Parys and did some caching from early morning all along the way - found 8 caches and 2 "could-not-get-access-to-property" DNFs. After that there was still time for a coffee stop with Brick who took photos at another wedding close-by, and plenty time to get ready in Vanderbijl Park at an old school friend's house before leaving for the wedding. So I guess 10 is a good number for me if I plan to go on a caching-spree. It is as much about the location and the company, as the actual fun in finding the cache, for me!

I Spy Cincol

My 4x4 Corsa takes me everywhere!

Congrats CrystalFairy on getting your 1000!! I see eragonSaphira reached their 100th as well today. Congratulations!!

I don't know about that '200 by next week'... Thanks for the vote of confidence - took me a year to get to the 100. Thanks also for joining me to go get that 100th cache up on the hill!! Team Ginger is not exactly a 'team' at the moment as you know, so it isn't always possible to go find just any cache I want (I call them 'non girl-friendly' caches hehe). I'm not complaining, I love the challenge - just playing it safe here in Jo'burg. It is great to have fellow geocachers always willing to accompany me on a caching spree. I love this sport!