JABs

2017 PLANNED MEGA EVENT - ALICE SPRINGS-NORTHERN TERRITORYThe Oz Mega Committee would like to announce that the proposed location for the Mega Event, Easter 2017 is Blatherskite Park, Alice Springs, Northern Territory. Alice Springs has much to offer as a caching destination - an April average daily temperature of 27 °C, surrounded by areas of natural beauty with a growing local geocaching community and increasing density of caches plus support from NT Tourism. Blatherskite Park is well suited to a large geocaching event with 55 acres of flat, fenced, grassed areas, a 400 seat grandstand, overhead lighting and powered site facilities to accommodate catering and stallholders. With low cost registration, budget camping fees and onsite meals available this will be an opportunity to experience a Red Centre geocaching holiday at family friendly prices. For those who prefer not to camp, accommodation options in Alice Springs are comparable with other similar Australian towns. The Committee in conjunction with Tourism NT will be making a final decision in the last week of May but in the meantime would like to hear about the experiences of anyone who has recently camped in Blatherskite Park or cached in the Alice Springs region. We have produced a video showcasing the many highlights of Blatherskite Park, Alice Springs, Uluru and other caching locations nearby. Thanks Greg, President.

A Director of Tourism in Australia contacted the “Oz Mega Committee” at the end of last year eager for us to hold a Mega Event in his state. Easter 2017 was identified as the best time and in conjunction with local caching teams the Committee is now in the process of gathering information to ascertain the viability of the location. The Committee will be onsite on Saturday May 31st to Sunday June 1st to inspect the grandstand, grounds, powered sites and other places of significance in the region, at which time a final decision will be made. Team Crackers have previously conducted a full fireworks show at this location and fully endorse the complex. If the event gets the 'go ahead' http://www.geostuff.com.au/ has confirmed he will be a Diamond Sponsor. An announcement with more details will be made via social media and Geocaching Australia forums on Friday at 8 pm. Greg President, Oz Mega Committee and reposted here.

hideThe Committee is pleased to announce our next Sponsor is Queanbeyan City Council. The $5,000 cash Diamond Sponsorship Package also includes a new name change of the event. Queanbeyan City Council joins our other Diamond Sponsor Spoiler: hide It will now be the OZ MEGA QUEANBEYAN event. Over the next few weeks and months we will change all our logo’s and avatars to the new name in various places. The Committee has started construction of the website, now we have locked in the official name. We would like to thank the 24 teams who nominated for the 4 Sub-Committees at the BBQ event. Each team was emailed last week along with details for the website. The next few months will see a colour theme for the website and event site plus a logo for merchandise. 
During the winter months we will have a logo’d shirts available to purchase on our Diamond Sponsor Spoiler: hide website .This will continue onto the xmas periods with the shirt as a great gift idea. Our first full meeting with all the Sub-Committees will eventuate after July with some of the new shirts available on the day . We will have another two announcements this week both at 8pm on Wednesday and Friday. Thankfully, Greg, President

Hi from the JABs in Tassie (Australia). PM sent.

Hi you will find most geocaches in Oz use a different forum can be found at http://forum.geocaching.com.au

PM sent.

Hi alot depends upon what you wish to do. As a basic unit to start with the GC model is great it lets you load as much as you wish. Shows enough detail of each cache page that there is not much left out. Only draw back is they don't contain detail maps. I use an incar nav device to get to the general area and use my Magella GC to hunt down the accual cache. I also own a 510 but really use it only for those much longer hikes where I need much more deatil. Found the GC and 110 to be very user freindly. JABs.

I show my support. And GS are more likely to see this then other forum posts.

Oz Mega Committee made an announcement about OZ MEGA ALBURY WODONGA (Mega-Event Cache) on 4/23/2012 Log Date: 4/23/2012 Some Committee updates: 1/ Well done to all the teams who have moved their trackables on after the event. There were close to 800 trackables at the event tables and 1935 logged within the event. We are only down to the final 100 still there. All teams who took trackables were asked to log one of 3 books on the tables on Easter Sunday. If you could please move these on soon,and then when the numbers decline to under 40, the Committee will send out reminder emails. Thank you. 2/ Many teams have asked for the photos on the big outdoor screen over the event. So , with the assistance of bacPAQer and Twighlight Cinema's we have attached links to all the photo's and one "you tube " clip. https://www.yousendit.com/download/M3BuTmZUVEhCTW1KUmNUQw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d1EC2bjwaE&feature=youtu.be 3/ The next edition of Geocaching in Australia magazine will have all the pictures, stories and action shots from the 5 days at Albury. 4/ Finally, the Committee received a very nice letter from the Mayor of Albury and would like to share it with attendees https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=19501c5949&view=att&th=136dd19fbc40267d&attid=0.1&disp=safe&realattid=2cc7c492bc5a6c65_0.1&zw. thankfully, Greg President

As for the post by akkatracker, I think what you will find they are saying is alot of Ozzies use the GCA forums as they are in Australian time not US time and there for any reply to a post will usally be answered in our time. You will find a section on there forum for questions about GC. JABs.

Hi matmob, From my understanding I will try and find the link for you, is that high end uses of google maps have to pay a price to use there services. There fore to redue costs and still be able to offer both a free membership and a low rate premiun membership they changed map server. Remember that you can still open up google maps for each cache to see what else in around. I have found that the missing minor roads are made up for with the showing of walking trails. So you lose one and gain another. Now look for link on details. JABs.

Oz Mega Committee made an announcement about OZ MEGA ALBURY WODONGA (Mega-Event Cache) on 4/9/2012 Log Date: 4/9/2012 The Oz Mega Committee has finally finished up today with the last pieces of infrastructure picked up and we moved out. Some final statistics include ; 328 teams registered who picked up the registration pack. New Southern Hemisphere record for a Mega with 830 individual people on the registration papers. 730 trackables logged into the event for display under the tent. New Southern Hemisphere geocaching flashmob record of 720 who signed the clipboard sheets at the Kinross Woolshed Hotel. On leaving the site this afternoon, we would like to congratulate all concerned for their tidiness and clean camping and powered site positions. The horse riders are back for their piece and quiet. Dont forget to place a heap of photo's with your logs . Back with plenty of updates over the following days. thankfully, Greg, President.

Oz Mega Committee made an announcement about OZ MEGA ALBURY WODONGA (Mega-Event Cache) on 4/9/2012 Log Date: 4/9/2012 The Oz Mega Committee has finally finished up today with the last pieces of infrastructure picked up and we moved out. Some final statistics include ; 328 teams registered who picked up the registration pack. New Southern Hemisphere record for a Mega with 830 individual people on the registration papers. 730 trackables logged into the event for display under the tent. New Southern Hemisphere geocaching flashmob record of 720 who signed the clipboard sheets at the Kinross Woolshed Hotel. On leaving the site this afternoon, we would like to congratulate all concerned for their tidiness and clean camping and powered site positions. The horse riders are back for their piece and quiet. Dont forget to place a heap of photo's with your logs . Back with plenty of updates over the following days. thankfully, Greg, President.

Log Date: 4/4/2012 Final update : A big day today with all the final components in place. The Committee requests you please wear your event nametags at all times even throughout Albury as you visit Sponsors during games. The first movie commences at 7pm sharp tomorrow night under the stars. Two appropriate movies have been selected. We have more late entries filing in with an expected 830 plus people attending. If your a power site team , be aware of the amperage , try to use one appliance at a time, otherwise you could trip the circuit breaker. Remember the 10kph speed limit at all times as members use horses at certain places. We have saved all the surprises of the event for the Friday to Sunday night 3 entertainment packages to give all arrivals a fair chance to see something special. All we can tell you is not not miss those 3 nights. If you are camping there is plenty of room for teams to spread out. Please try to get your bearings when you arrive in the first hour as this complex is daunting at 1.5 km's long. All is set with Prime TV covering many highlights , the Bordermail doing some stories and happy snaps and a motorhome magazine covering the event. Only Committee, workers , stallholders and volunteers will be allowed in between 6am and 9am. First official entry at 9am. Dont forget your camera , sense of adventure, camp chair and opportunity to make dozens of new friendships ahead. The Oz Mega Committee now welcomes all entries from Australia and many overseas countries to 4 days of some great times ahead. We have also been blessed a a great weather forecast. Thankfully, Greg President. thankfully,

Hi Guys , I will pass on the message. JABs.

Log Date: 4/3/2012 Second last update with 1 day and 12 hours till opening: If you have any last minute pathtags to donate to the pathtag raffle, please drop them off to Mrs Coffee at registration time. The full available wine list on offer with geocachers specials is now on the website at the bottom of the "General " TAB. Please log any geocoins you are bringing into the event before placing them on the tables available. The "BAY 13 " bonfire area is signposted and now has two 4 tier seating stands around it for geocachers comfort. Over 20 Australian flags and 30 world flags have been placed around the complex.Over 200 orange bollards around the complex will show you areas of road travel and non camping regions.Please be aware of the fact this is a membership club and people work their horses in some areas. Road travel is at 10kph. The updated new list of attendees as of last night has now reached 822 people and over 322 teams. Most will be placed on the website tomorrow night. Another big day onsite today with the stallholders village set, registration tables in place, all registration packs and tourism sample bags ready, competitions all set and in bags. Many teams have arrived in the Albury region and been caching for days. Those on the road , please drive carefully and the Committee certainly looks forward to meeting everyone on arrival. Final update tomorrow night, thankfully, Greg, President.

Log Date: 4/2/2012 Third last update: A briefing about the Complex. The starting co-ordinates on the MEGA cache page will place you right to the automatic boom gate.Just edge your vehicle within half a metre and the boom gate opens. On your first arrival, you will be welcomed just inside the gate by volunteers who will give you your first 2 gifts. You will then be directed to either your 1 of 79 powered sites, the camping only areas or a special "Day Parking " spot which are all signposted. There is only one gate into and out of the complex.Boomgate only.All 16m wide roads go clockwise only. Please take your time to get familiar with where everything is located . If you went to Wagga , this place is 16 times the size. 1.5 km's long by 1km wide.We will be using an area of 1km for all camping etc and the rest during some games. You will be overwhelmed by the size at first so let the volunteers assist. If you have a powered site between 1 and 32, you will need to top up your water tanks near site 20 before parking your van in. With the latest registrations in , the tally has grown from 783 last Thursday to about 814. Last tally update Wednesday night. All the infrastructure has started to arrive including 200 bollards, 50 rubbish bins, the first of two semi trailer stages, banners, and much equipment for the Registration area. The place is looking very green and very neat and tidy awaiting the opening day. Second last update Tuesday night. Thankfully, Greg President.

Log Date: 4/1/2012 Committee update: The next round of teams will be updated tomorrow night and we have now topped 800 people attending. Entries will stay open online till Wednesday. There will be 3 raffles available onsite :1/ The Pathtag Raffle :prizes will be booklets containing all the donations. 2/ Easter Raffle 3/ Mega Raffle . Plenty of prizes in all and every single one of the 3 thousand tickets is coloured in theme logos. All drawn Sunday night. There will be geocachers specials on the wines available from Splitters Creek over the 4 days. Dawn Light Liqueur Muscat $15,Noon Liqueur Semillon $15, Dusk Liqueur Durif $15, Red and White wines $17 plus many more. Dont forget to grab those travelbugs all wanting to visit a MEGA event.You should come across plenty on your journey to Albury. The Committee has arrived in Albury and set up base with a convoy of equipment.The complex is looking great and very green .A clean up day from the outgoing Australian Cross Country Championships and a big day on Monday of putting everything in place. Notification letters will go to the Hospitals and Police tomorrow. If you have any last minute adjustments to team additions or powered sites or extra days camping please email to Committee with your updates. The weather forecast is looking very promising and fingers are all crossed now for fine conditions. Back tomorrow night with the latest. thankfully, Greg. President.

Oz Mega Committee made an announcement about OZ MEGA ALBURY WODONGA (Mega-Event Cache) on 3/29/2012 Log Date: 3/29/2012 The latest updates from Committee with a week to go: All the teams who have completed registration and bankings since the weekend have been added to the website. We now have 783 attendees. Online registrations will be taken till Wednesday 4th .You must be registered to enter the premises. All individuals logo'd name tags are complete and will be available upon signing the registration sheets in the registration area. The official group photo will be during the intermission of the BABBA concert on Saturday night.Photo's will be taken by Committee and the Bordermail. This weekend is an ideal time to round up a batch of travelbugs .Dont be shy in bringing plenty. We have placed the new snappy logo by the major Sponsor in geoloans on the website. The prizes for the helicopter MEGADROP have doubled with now 200 sponge balls dropped for 200 prizes. You are welcome to bring a pushbike to the event if you have room .Its an ideal location and flat with 16m wide roadways. We have placed a special purpose "Site Map" on the general TAB of the website.It shows the location of the camping areas, numbered powered site spots, amenities building, registration area, bonfire location and entrance gate plus much more. Immediately after the FLASHMOB event at the Kinross Hotel, the Sponsor has put on a geocachers buffet for all.Normally $25, the all you can eat buffet for $18 will include chicken wellington,marinated rump steak,beef lasagne,chicken satay skewers,black angus sausages, all the salads and much much more. kids 12 and under , half price $9.No bookings needed. The Committee will be on location at the Albury Equestrian Centre from this Sunday .We will take the 4 full days to set up and give daily updates and information from the Equestrian Centre as all the infrastructure moves in. The 10 day forecast is looking pretty good and a huge relief for Committee at this stage. Monday..FINE 25 Tuesday.. PARTLY CLOUDY 26 Wednesday..FINE26 Thursday..FINE 28 Good Friday..FINE28 ..Easter Saturday..PARTLY CLOUDY 26. Dont forget to get all those last minute rego's in and paid up for the next list to be placed on the website Monday night. Our next update announcement will be Sunday night from the Equestrian Centre and every night from there. Wont be long now.... thankfully, Greg, President.

Oz Mega Committee made an announcement about OZ MEGA ALBURY WODONGA (Mega-Event Cache) on 3/27/2012 Log Date: 3/27/2012 The latest updates from Committee with 8 days to go: All the latest fully paid registrations will be updated on the website Thursday night. You will need to be registered to enter the facility with a check in station on arrival.Registrations will be taken online up till Wednesday 4th April. Dont forget to place a "Will Attend " on the flashmob event on Easter Sunday expected to have a minimum 400 people attend.(GC34BFC)Some great prizes and photographs will be taken by the Bordermail. Also the Pathtag Party ( GCA4226).This will open at the listed times over 4 days and will be a very popular spot to mingle. Teams are welcome to bring along their own CD's to event for playing. The centre has a PA system and we will play a wide variety of music over the event.Please label your CD or place your team name in permanent texta on the back cover. There will be a very large WORLD MAP in the registration area for all teams to place a pin into the countries they have geocached in. All the rules and pins will be available next to the map. We now have every state and territory in Australia represented in attendees plus teams from Czech Republic, Germany,Finland, New Zealand and the USA. Two links to have a peek at if you have not seen them yet:The first will give you an idea of a MEGA if its your first.The second clip showcases Albury and the venue. 1/ OZ MEGA WAGGA WAGGA..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN-ZTns8Rl8&feature=youtube_gdata 2/ OZ MEGA ALBURY WODONGA PREVIEW...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8kRjGkg8FE The OZ MEGA event will now be covered by the magazine Caravan and Motorhome on Tour.A representative from Sydney will be attending for the whole event conducting a feature article for the magazine and website. http://www.candm.com.au/ Next website upgrade and announcement Thursday night. Some teams have already left on their long journeys, so drive safely guys. thankfully, Greg, President.

Oz Mega Committee made an announcement about OZ MEGA ALBURY WODONGA (Mega-Event Cache) on 3/25/2012 Log Date: 3/25/2012 The latest updates from Committee: The website has had an update with plenty of information applied. The Registration list jumped from 705 last week to 763 as of Friday. All the names have been submitted to the printers for official name tags. Registrations will be taken online up to the Wednesday 4th April. Any extras in teams coming along, please forward them onto Committee. The Home tab has the latest "Recommended " cache list attached with now 46 top caches to choose from around the region. We have placed a photo on the itinerary of the lovely Justine Hogan , who has been added to the Sunday night entertainment program. Thursday 5th April will see the first movie commence at 7pm sharp. The BAY13 bonfire will be lit at 8.30pm. The second movie will commence at 9pm. The free shuttle service offering lifts from the airport and train station to the event site or hotel now has their hotline number available on the "General" tab. We are very proud to announce our 15th stallholder with a MUNZEES stall being included for the event. It will be conducted by Hinklenator and HINCO of Wagga, so if your after any information regarding the Munzee application this is the store to visit. The major game will have waypoints to download available 3 ways from 9am Thursday, either by USB, DISC or via the website where it will be displayed from 9am. The last reserve moved into a powered site spot, so we will take one more team to go in as 1st reserve, just email the Committee. Dont forget to check out all the colorful merchandise available on the general tab with shirts, t-shirts, caps and embroided patches all available. Next update Tuesday night, thankfully, Greg President

Log Date: 3/22/2012 A Committee update with 13 days to go: The next round of paid registered teams will go on the website this Sunday. Name tags will be forwarded to the printers on Monday, so if you have a change in your team please advise the Committee as soon as possible so we can update the lists. All registration teams after this date will receive a coloured name tag with names hand written at the event site.To make this date, both your registration and banking will have to be complete by Friday 23rd at midnight and all will appear in the records Saturday. If you do have a question that cant be answered on the website , we ask you to please submit your question in the next 7 days for a reply. From Sunday 31st, the Committee will be in Albury. The Committee is very proud to announce our Final night entertainment. The Sunday night will be filled with lucky draws, all the competition and game winners , Sponsors, guests and many surprises.The entertainment will be supplied by a female vocalist in Justine Hogan. She hails from Wagga Wagga, is a regular on the club scenes and can sing all the tunes from Taylor Swift, Pink, Beyonce, Bruno Mars, Dolly Parton, Christina Aguilera and even Adele. A few things to remember to pack, mozzies are out, so it would be a good idea to pack the aerogard, also remember your chairs and nibblies for the entertainment nights. The Committee is looking forward to meeting you all at the event. Thankfully, Greg President

Log Date: 3/19/2012 A Committee update: The website was updated on Sunday with all the latest Sponsors included. All the powered sites have been allocated and paid for. The latest registered and paid teams have been placed on the "Registration TAB " .It jumped from 667 last week to 705 up till last Friday.To give you an idea of what that looks like in a crowd, there were 680 attendees at Wagga. All new registrations will feature on the website next weekend. A few competitions and prizes to mention. The 5,000 Easter Egg Hunt will have one particular egg with a lucky number on it for a Sunday night prize. There will be a lucky draw on the Friday night with the winner awarded a helicopter joyflight for 3. The Saturday night lucky draw by the Mayor will also be a helicopter joyflight for 3. The Sunday night pathtag raffle should feature over 700 pathtags. Plus, numerous other raffles during the event. The Helicopter Megadrop will feature over 100 prizes from sponge balls dropped from high in the sky. The lucky number one winner will receive a $1,000 helicopter ride for 3 over Mt Bogong and the Snowy's. The Sunday flashmob will see 100 unique prizes distributed onsite at the event with one particular prize for the lucky NO1 winner. Two photo caption competitions with pictures of unique locations of two caches .The best two funny captions will win prizes on the Sunday night. Dont forget the" Best Campsite" and "Best Powered Site "awards. Use your imaginations, examples can be lighting, posters, banners/balloons, flags, geocaching name theme or whatever. Remember that the whole website and colour theme of items is orange. The registration area will be alive with orange. There are 3 major games involving at least 26 prizes. All competitions will be in your "registration packs " Prizes will be awarded at the presentation night on Sunday, given out by Sponsors and guests. All the games are set and in place. There will be a kids caches with 4 prizes divided into girls and boys age groups. Girls and Boys , 0 to 8 , and 9 to 16 years. The major Sponsor will have a cache competition for all to enjoy. Albury's Bordermail newspaper photographers will be at all the highlights day and night for the Easter Monday edition. Many more items of great interest and competitions will be discovered at the event. thankfully, Greg, President.

Log Date: 3/1/2012 A weekly update with 34 days to the OZ MEGA start: The Committee wishes to thank all the teams who registered this week with our biggest influx over the last 7 days yet. The grand tally went from 538 people last Thursday night to 652 with 114 extras. Any paid up registered teams after Tuesday 28th will be on next weeks list. All teams are listed on the "Registration TAB" on the website. A reminder that after Thursday 8th March, the entry fee will be $75, so best to submit your form and banking this week. We now have entries and will attends from New Zealand, Germany, the USA and Finland. We are down to, 2 powered sites left to be paid for by next Thursday. A reminder that one essential item you will need is a fold up camp chair of some sort, per person. Many will bring a fold up small table as well and we encourage that each night at the entertainment area.Arrange a few nibblies each night, enjoy the drinks on offer and sit back and enjoy one or all of the 4 nights. After the 21 leap year events around the country and some pathtags drop offs, we will get a pathtag update from our OZ wide coordinators by next Thursday night.From then we will give twice weekly Committee updates with a final 10 days a daily update on all information. The official hardback milestone book is ready for those in the hunt.A reminder you must be driving into the event site on a 999 denomination. The Pathtag Party GCA4226 and Flashmob Events GC34BFC are being swamped with "Will Attends" , so if you have not put an intent in yet, we encourage you to get amongst the fun. We now have two representatives attending from MAGELLAN. They will be onsite with demonstrations and any questions answered as often seen on the forums.The New release GPSr model is set for Australia in the last week of March. MAGELLAN has also now donated some more prizes. 10 MAGELLAN geocoins will be in selected caches over the weekend only ,for all competitors to have an equal chance to find.The coins ,if found ,can then be redeemed onsite for MAGELLAN prizes. Finer details will be listed in upcoming weeks. Looking forward to all this weeks 'Will Attends " and registrations to file in. thankfully Greg President.

Oz Mega Committee made an announcement about OZ MEGA ALBURY WODONGA (Mega-Event Cache) on 2/22/2012 Log Date: 2/22/2012 The latest website upgrade is complete and here are some Committee updates for your information. Registrations are streaming in and have jumped from 456 to 538 people this week up till Tuesday.All are listed in state and alphabetical order on the Rego page.Entries close Friday but as bankings will not be seen till Monday , you will have till Sunday night to submit everything . A late entry fee will be added after the 5th of March. All completed registrations and payments till next Monday will be guaranteed an "official " coin.Only 6 remaining "powered sites " need to submit rego's and payments to confirm their powered sites. Good Friday night will be mens theme night , Saturday night ladies night and Sunday night kids night.Most of the big surprises are on these nights for all teams to be involved as some are arriving Friday.You will have a chance to have a picture with three characters at the event. Signal the Frog from the USA, Puddles the Platypus (Albury's theme character) and for the kids reading this, the Easter Bunny will make an appearance .All will be involved in components and available for group pictures. Dont forget to put in a "Will Attend " for the flashmob event , CITO event, Pathtag Party and Passover Dinner.The last two are GA events. We have added two more stallholders to the stallholders page.Geogear will have a live website in two weeks and we welcome our 15th stall in 101 GEO. Both will be there for the 4 days. The Oz Mega Committee is very proud to announce our next $2,000 GOLD SPONSOR in MAGELLAN. They will have a representative on site for the 4 days from Sydney who is a geocacher. Brochures will be in registration packs. A new GPS receiver by MAGELLAN is being released mid March. The the OZ MEGA is the launchpad for the Australian release. It is a special purpose unit for geocachers. MAGELLAN has been listed on the Sponsors page with hyperlinks and their units pictured around the website. They are also donating 6 of their new units as prizes and these will all go into the games pool for all teams to have a great chance to win. thankfully, Greg President