overanout

Here's one I found the other day - L&LC - The bowler's Holding, the batsman's Willey http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=68520345-8b24-4413-a183-5ab83fe64e82

Guide to Hosting Event Cache What usually occurs at an Event Cache? Geocachers meet and greet, eat, play games and share stories about geocaching. Geocaching events should be free to participate. If you are hosting an outdoor event, make sure to ask land managers about any required permits. The above text is taken from the current official Geocaching Guidelines. It seems obvious to me that making it compulsory for geocachers to pay a commercial organisation (such as a camp-site owner) in order to 'attend', goes against this guideline. Some people may also consider that you have to pay (to buy drinks etc) when attending a cache meet in a pub is just the same. But in practice of course, you don't have to if you don't want to. In the same way you don't have to buy raffle tickets etc. at the event. Comparing events with geocaches requiring specialist equipment such as SCUBA diving, or mountaineering is not really relevant, because camping requires specialist equipment too with tents and everything associated with it. The difference is, you are being charged a fee to attend the camping event, whereas diving and mountaineering is free. Whether you are capable of doing any or all of the above caches will always be down to individual circumstances and religion or physical ability should not be the issue here. It is whether the event is free or commercial. I am sure those who enjoy camping will still attend camping events whether they get a geocaching smilie or not. I am all for camping events, but against restricting day visitors.

Downloaded the GDAK app onto my Samsung Galaxy S I9000 and after disabling the orientation to disable the landscape / portrait auto feature to allow only portrait orientation and setting to Km/m distance the app works really well. I know have my entire UK GSAK database, including France and Spain at my fingertips on my phone, to use 'off-line'. COOL!

I too have not been receiving notifications, both for cachers visiting my caches or for my Geocoins and TB's being moved. I have also noticed that when I send an email to another cacher, it comes back as 'Error' and try again. I don't know whether my emails have been sent or not, but I suspect not because I haven't had any replies yet. I even sent one to myself and I am still waiting. Is it the snow?...

Can I add my cache - http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...12-3542602d0b49 It is aimed specifically for children, but we are all kids at heart eh? Intelligent men have had loads of fun with this one and it certainly brings a smile to cachers' faces. Read the logs and see the pictures. OVERANOUT

Seeing as I have been working towards filling my 'Bingo' card for a few weeks now, I may get a First to Find on your prospective cache. I hope you manage to create one. He Hee! OVERANOUT

I was caching near Horsforth today. I could have done with your local knowledge. Welcome to Geocaching and do like Budlaw says and visit the Yorkshire Geocaching Forum for lots of local info. Al Sithee!

sssh! I was trying divert some guys to Spain like Mr. Overanout Been there. Seen that. Got the T-Shirt. But alas, the La Verga cache still evades me... OVERANOUT

Yes 5000 cache finds is no mean feat or should that be FEET?... Well done to the Bolas Heathens. Just one request. Can we have future photos with a proper smiley... now you've got to the big 5K ?... Keep it up Guys. OVERANOUT

Hi Becky, There is a public parkland called St Ives Estate which is just a 10 minute short drive from Haworth. There are enough caches in there to keep you occupied ALL day long and there are ponds with ducks and Geese and a great kiddies play area and lots of wood carvings to see and discover. Even a multi-cache for kids. Click on this cache Anyone For A Picnic? This cache is at the centre of the park and others are within walking distance around it. Parking is free at either end of the park. Also, whilst in Haworth itself, try my cache - Look OVERANOUT It is just outside Haworth village on the Penistone Hill Country Park with the finest views over the Upper Worth Valley and has easy walking with a buggy. Also whilst up there, you must visit this cache - Bronte Stool It is a real laugh. There are lots of others too. Just be careful if you park in the pay and display car park at the top end of Haworth. The owner is notorious for clamping cars that are two minutes over time. I hope you enjoy our Yorkshire welcome. Have a nice holiday. Harry (OVERANOUT)

The UK's 1st MEGA Event was a credit to all the Committee and volunteers. It was SUPERB - Thank you. Despite the early problems when the location, venue (Harrogate), and date was a hot topic of debate and received much criticism and sometimes derision from some quarters, you listened to the pleas of cachers and responded sympathetically, yet stoically continuing with your desire to host the MEGA event here in Yorkshire. You did YORKSHIRE proud by presenting an excellent venue for the event in what is arguably the finest County in the UK... but I would say that being born and bred in God's Own County of Yorkshire... Our visitors from near and far obviously enjoyed what they saw and will hopefully visit Yorkshire again in the future. They will always receive a friendly welcome. OVERANOUT

Well it rained pretty heavily during the night -Thursday into Friday, but during the day of Friday it has been quite nice with fluffy white clouds and sunshine. There has been a bit of a breeze though, but a warm one. If the worst happens and it does rain on Sunday, do what any self respecting Tyke would do and use a Rhubarb leaf to keep your flat cap and whippet dry... Be prepared though, because Yorkshire rain often comes in sideways from Manchester...

We managed to bag TWO FTF's in one day when on holiday in Languedoc SW France. GC1E6N1 Marseillan: le chateau d'eau and GC1E6M9 Marseillan: Les mas conchylicoles which were 751.3 and 751.6 miles away from home, respectively. The achievement though was not so much the distance or the fact that we bagged two in one day, but rather that the cache pages were written in FRENCH only. It's fortunate that we are EFFLUENT when it comes to speaking French... Bon Sewer!

Yes they are great. I just checked the route from my house to a cache I did in SW France a few days ago and I think it was pretty accurate. Anybody want to buy a Tom Tom Sat Nav?

Hi One of my Geocoins was deposited into a new, unpublished cache by condoverman890 and for whatever reason the cache has never been published. Condoverman890 does not have the decency to answer my emails asking what has happened to my Geocoin. There are also 2 other coins in that unpublished cache which the reviewer, Decieangie tried to retrieve from the cache owner, without success. Decieangie wrote to condoverman890 as follows - "I've been contacted by a TB owner complaining that one of their TB's, is currently logged into a unpublished cache owned by you. A investigation shows that TBZ6RZ, TBMH3G, TB2055V were logged into GC1AABW matt mission 2 an Unpublished and Archived cache on the following dates TBZ6RZ- 18/3/2008 TBMH3G- 18/3/2008 TB2055V- 7/4/2008 Would you please place these TB's into a active cache, so that they may continue their aim of travelling from cache to cache. Alternatively if your are unable to get out caching for any reason. I am quite prepared to send you a prepaid envelope addressed to my self. To enable you to dispatch the TB's via Royal Mail to myself and I will distribute the TB's into local caches to enable them to be moved on. If you decided to follow this course of action, your address will remain completely confidential. Please reference the cache name or number if you want to contact me via e-mail. Many thanks, Deceangi Volunteer UK Reviewer Geocaching.com" This did not have any effect at all. This cacher is not playing the game. If anyone knows this cacher I would appreciate it if you could have a word with them and get them to at least write to the three coin/ TB owners to explain what has happened to their property. OVERANOUT

I did the Dragontree's Walk cache near Bromham, Bedfordshire which involves climbing a tree. It is an interesting multi with the final cache hidden half way up a tree. The tree itself is like climbing a ladder with plenty of sturdy branches. Yes accidents can and do happen, but we are all sensible enough to know our own limits and capabilities. At 60 years of age, I thought twice about climbing the tree. Not for fear of falling though. As a retired Fire Officer I am used to heights and doing risk assessments. No, my biggest fear was what I would say should a muggle pass by and spot me. I could hardly say I was looking for my dog, could I? I could have said I was a tree surgeon carrying out a post operative examination on a broken branch or that I had just rescued a cat and it had just run away. Seriously though. It is entirely up to the individual whether to get to the cache or not. OVERANOUT

Well done Martyn, I knew you would do it. All bets are off for the next challenge, you're far too good at this game. BUT you still haven't done The Wars of the Roses yet...

Recent research has revealed the cause of the sting to be from three chemicals – a histamine that irritates the skin, acetylcholine which causes a burning sensation and serotonin, that encourages the other two chemicals. Bare skin brushing up against a stinging nettle plant tends to break the delicate defensive hairs and release the trio of chemicals, usually resulting in a temporary and painful skin rash similar to poison ivy, though the nettle's rash and duration are much weaker. It is possible to evade the sting by touching the middle of the leaf or by stroking in the same direction as the hairs. I preferred my method of stroking them....... with my size 9 boots... I hear that some Fire Brigades are selling off their obsolete chemical protection suits...

We would have loved to have been there because we have located many of the caches in the Costa del Sol area, including the fantastic Earth Caches at El Chorro and El Torcal. Unfortunately we will not be able to travel at that time. Good luck with the event my friends, we will be back in Andalucia in October for some more caches, including those in Malaga. Best Regards, Harry and Anne (OVERANOUT)

Here is the cache log from the DEVILS GAP cache in Gibraltar - GCJR1J Good views from the cache. An easy find. However, the walk back down towards Gibraltar town wasn't without incident. We followed the road leading downhill and after a while and several zig-zags we found ourselves up against a fence preventing further access. We decided to persevere, and managed to squeeze between the railings and continued our descent. Eventually, we came across some steps which were well used and looked as though they led down to the nearby road. We began walking down the steps when suddenly, right in front of me (about two feet away) was an enormous snake about 7 feet long and 4 inches in diameter. It was coloured yellow and black in a zig-zag pattern. It looked at me and I quickly turned and ran back up the steps, pushing astra-nomical as I went. I looked back and saw it slithering away into the undergrowth. After we regained our composure, and courage, we quickly walked down the steps and into what was a really nice garden. This was the garden of the big hotel and we must have looked odd, walking through the terrace dining room of the hotel with our rain ponchos on, while the guests were eating lunch. We left by the hotel front door and got onto the street leading us down into town. What an experience - talk about snakes and ladders, I nearly threw a SEVEN. TFTC SL OVERANOUT I should add that in my hasty retreat, I failed to get out my camera, focus it and take an award winning shot. I know what it is like to come face to face with a big serpent and I was in no mood to record the event.

Try BRASSED OFF - GCKXMW It's called Brassed Off because if you start your walk at the pub by the bridge you will (if you have seen it) recognize several areas that featured in the film "Brassed off" (Pete Postlethwaite, Ewan Mcregor and Tara Fitzgerald). The colliery band where supposed to be playing the Saddleworth band contests.

I don't have a problem with cemeteries being used as a place where cache setters direct their cache finders to see a particularly interesting monument of someone famous or which marks an historical event, in order to collect information from the inscription thereon. Indeed, the Government and Local Government are actively seeking to improve graveyards to encourage the public to visit these places as they are seen as green open spaces to be used for the purpose of recreation. That is not to say that they intend us to go along with a football or a frisbee. Improving our cemeteries is long overdue and we look forward to being able to visit them without having to battle through overgrown vegetation caused by of years of neglect. I do however think that the placing of physical cache containers in or near any grave or monument is going too far and we should not consider this type of location suitable for Geocaching. We do not allow cache placement in dry stone walls because we are well aware that the walls can become damaged and weakened by overeager cache finders, to the point of collapse. Many cemeteries contain gravestones and monuments which are not particularly sound and any disturbance is likely to cause damage. It is no argument to say you would like visitors to visit your grave, unless it was for a reason of interest. Clocking up another find for a cacher isn't what I would wish to be remembered for. Let us place final / physical caches outside graveyards.

Well done Tony! overanout and astra-nomical congratulate you on achieving this landmark number of cache finds. We will soon be back to conquer your K2 cache and hopefully make it our 600th. Best Regards, Harry and Gary.

Without giving away too much detail to spoil a cache, I recently had to wait quite a time before the coast was clear before removing the cache from its hiding place. One reason was to hide my embarassment, because the cache was inside a sheep. Don't panic, it wasn't a real one. It was made of scrap metal welded together (very well done too) and the only way of retrieving the cache was by inserting my hand up its BUM. Now you wouldn't want members of the public passing by when you were doing that, would you?