+slimey Posted July 20, 2008 Posted July 20, 2008 Where in S Wales? We can pick it up if a meeting place can be arranged Either Abercynon (North of Cardiff), or Chepstow. Simon
+The Blorenges Posted July 20, 2008 Posted July 20, 2008 I see that various trackables are already being dropped off into the Mega and I assume that there will be some sort of Trackables Table there on the day, so I have a question - Will the Organisers be listing all trackables dropped into the event and then distributing the list with all the tracking numbers for anyone who wants it? MrsB
+Munkeh Posted July 20, 2008 Posted July 20, 2008 (edited) would be a good addition to the welcome pack, but there again it could be open to abuse Edited July 20, 2008 by Munkeh
+UK Mega Event Committee Posted July 20, 2008 Author Posted July 20, 2008 would be a good addition to the welcome pack, but there again it could be open to abuse It is my understanding that to discover a coin or TB, you will have to see the item, and not just sit at home with a peice of paper...... and therefore we are not intending to prepare a list to publish to put in the welcome pack. We are however providing a specific room in the hotel for TB's and a room for Geocoins, with various tables marked with various destinations where cachers can discover these items (and swop them of course)
+The Blorenges Posted July 21, 2008 Posted July 21, 2008 Will the Organisers be listing all trackables dropped into the event and then distributing the list with all the tracking numbers for anyone who wants it? <snip>It is my understanding that to discover a coin or TB, you will have to see the item, and not just sit at home with a peice of paper...... and therefore we are not intending to prepare a list to publish to put in the welcome pack.<snip> That's what I was hoping to hear MrsB
+batsgonemad and his squirrel Posted July 21, 2008 Posted July 21, 2008 Just in case there is still anyone who's in doubt about how "Mega" this event is going to be, here's the current state of the registration database. 350 teams registered 640 adults 61 0 to 6 year olds 92 7 to 12 year olds 51 moody teenagers That's 844 heads so far! Our international guest list continues to build. We now have people coming all the way from - Australia - Czech Republic - France - Germany - Ireland - Netherlands - Norway - Saudi Arabia - Sweden - USA Technically you could add South Africa to that list as we just moved to Ireland from there 8 months ago, but when i registered i ticked off Ireland
+Jaz666 Posted July 21, 2008 Posted July 21, 2008 (edited) As I posted last night on the Event cache page, Pre-registration and Geocoin pre-sales will end in exactly 24 hours time. Anyone who misses pre-registration is naturally still welcome to attend the event, but they will miss out on a welcome pack. This is so the committee has time to process everything we need to process before some of us head off to Piratemania this weekend (and the fact that we've almost allocated all the welcome packs we have). There should still be some Geocoins available to purchase on the day - but remember that pre-sales give us much needed funds to spend on the event. Even though pre-registration is ending, you are still welcome to amend your information, especially if you now wish to order the buffet, simply re-submit the form on megaevent.org.uk I've also given our website a quick update. Edited July 21, 2008 by Jaz666
+Jaz666 Posted July 23, 2008 Posted July 23, 2008 The final flurry of registrations certainly boosted the numbers (not that it's all about the numbers). 933 confirmed attendees
+Us 4 and Jess Posted July 23, 2008 Posted July 23, 2008 What days next week do the first people start to arrive? We are coming down on Wednesday and I know of a few coming down/up before us. Are there any folks arriving on the campsite this weekend? M
+Madyokel Posted July 24, 2008 Posted July 24, 2008 What days next week do the first people start to arrive? We are coming down on Wednesday and I know of a few coming down/up before us. Are there any folks arriving on the campsite this weekend? M Well I know we have to travel a long distance We shold be there Thursday after Pirate and (Back to work) May make it Wed night just see how it goes..
+harrogate hunters Posted July 24, 2008 Posted July 24, 2008 What days next week do the first people start to arrive? We are coming down on Wednesday and I know of a few coming down/up before us. Are there any folks arriving on the campsite this weekend? M Its says this Mega Event thingy what ever it is is 1.5m east from my home co-ords... I dont know if I can be bothered going... its a bit too far !! If I dont have anything better to do like stay in bed I might turn up Enjoy Harrogate, hopefully Madyokel has booked the weather ! Robin
+MartyBartfast Posted July 24, 2008 Posted July 24, 2008 What days next week do the first people start to arrive? We are coming down on Wednesday and I know of a few coming down/up before us. Are there any folks arriving on the campsite this weekend? M We'll be at the campsite this coming Sunday afternoon/evening. We're making a week of it.
+HazelS Posted July 24, 2008 Posted July 24, 2008 What days next week do the first people start to arrive? We are coming down on Wednesday and I know of a few coming down/up before us. Are there any folks arriving on the campsite this weekend? M Tuesday afternoon!
+Stuey Posted July 24, 2008 Posted July 24, 2008 Arriving Thursday some time.....depends how bored we get of Motorway Mayhems on the 300 mile journey up!
+skinnymalinky Posted July 24, 2008 Posted July 24, 2008 We're arriving in the area this Saturday - can't wait.
dodgydaved Posted July 24, 2008 Posted July 24, 2008 Travelodge at Leeds/Bradford Saturday afternoon, Harrogate Sunday morning
Izzy and the Lizard King Posted July 24, 2008 Posted July 24, 2008 Travelodge at Leeds/Bradford Saturday afternoon, Harrogate Sunday morning Ditto! Well, Travelodge Bradford for us, to be precise (dunno if that's the same one) Izzy & Paul
Crazy Frog Posted July 24, 2008 Posted July 24, 2008 We are coming up on Fri morning and setting up camp. Can't wait got all the camping stuff out last week to get ready roll on the 1st.
SlytherinAlex Posted July 24, 2008 Posted July 24, 2008 Cedar Court, Saturday and Sunday night. Anyone else staying there?
+steviep Posted July 25, 2008 Posted July 25, 2008 Cedar Court, Saturday and Sunday night. Anyone else staying there? yes! me and Mrs P (butty box hunters (granny)) are there Sat Sun depart Monday
SlytherinAlex Posted July 25, 2008 Posted July 25, 2008 Cedar Court, Saturday and Sunday night. Anyone else staying there? yes! me and Mrs P (butty box hunters (granny)) are there Sat Sun depart Monday Great, looking forward to meeting up with you again. alex.
+The Klever Boys Posted July 25, 2008 Posted July 25, 2008 Cedar Court, Saturday and Sunday night. Anyone else staying there? Yep, us two as well! Sue & Russ
+Happy Humphrey Posted July 25, 2008 Posted July 25, 2008 Cedar Court, Saturday and Sunday night. Anyone else staying there? Friday and Saturday nights.
+skinnymalinky Posted July 25, 2008 Posted July 25, 2008 Cedar Court, Saturday and Sunday night. Anyone else staying there? Friday and Saturday nights. Yup we are staying Sat and Sun at the cedar court. Although originally I booked the wakefield one
SlytherinAlex Posted July 25, 2008 Posted July 25, 2008 Yup we are staying Sat and Sun at the cedar court. Although originally I booked the wakefield one I look forward to seeing your big banana feet.
SlytherinAlex Posted July 29, 2008 Posted July 29, 2008 Safely arrived from Chicago. Currently enjoying a nice glass of pink champagne in the First Class Lounge at Heathrow T5. Next stop, sunny Manchester. a.
+Munkeh Posted July 29, 2008 Posted July 29, 2008 anyone wants a Fon router I have one that I don't want, just hunt me down over the course of the weekend, first person to ask gets it
+The Blorenges Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 Safely arrived from Chicago. Currently enjoying a nice glass of pink champagne in the First Class Lounge at Heathrow T5. Next stop, sunny Manchester. a. And your luggage? Chris (MrB)
+Happy Humphrey Posted July 31, 2008 Posted July 31, 2008 Sorry if this has been asked before, but I checked the usual places (Waymarking.com has a "free wifi" category for instance) and there seems to be no mention of free wi-fi in the area. Anyone know better? I know that virtually all hotels have wi-fi of some sort: attendees from North America will probably assume that it's free, as that seems to be the default over there. The Cedar Court website doesn't mention anything as far as I could see, and if there is none then it could severely curtail cache/trackable logging and last-minute checks. I guess that many people will wait until after the weekend before logging on-line anyway, but I tend to get as many as possible out of the way immediately and especially like to sort out trackables before they cause confusion.
+steviep Posted July 31, 2008 Posted July 31, 2008 Sorry if this has been asked before, but I checked the usual places (Waymarking.com has a "free wifi" category for instance) and there seems to be no mention of free wi-fi in the area. Anyone know better? I know that virtually all hotels have wi-fi of some sort: attendees from North America will probably assume that it's free, as that seems to be the default over there. The Cedar Court website doesn't mention anything as far as I could see, and if there is none then it could severely curtail cache/trackable logging and last-minute checks. I guess that many people will wait until after the weekend before logging on-line anyway, but I tend to get as many as possible out of the way immediately and especially like to sort out trackables before they cause confusion. I mailed the Hotel about this here is there reply Good morning Mr P, I would like to confirm that the hotel has internet access available for all residents in the public areas and also the guest bedrooms. Charges do apply for this service. If I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me. Kind Regards Lyndsey Sales Office Manager
+steviep Posted July 31, 2008 Posted July 31, 2008 So without hesitation I asked for the charge rates Good morning, The internet access charge is £9.00 for a 24hour period or £5.00 for an hour. This can be purchased via a credit card or at Reception. Kind Regards Lyndsey
+scottiebear Posted July 31, 2008 Posted July 31, 2008 Whilst these prices sound outrageous they are honestly cheaper than a lot of hotels i have stayed in. I can also say that whenever ive been in the states, i have always been charged by hotels for the use of Wifi, so our friends abroad wont be too surprised.
+The Blorenges Posted July 31, 2008 Posted July 31, 2008 £9 for 24 hours is really quite cheap! I've stayed at hotels where it is much more expensive. Perhaps cachers can 'pool' their laptops and share out time to others. Chris (MrB)
+perth pathfinders Posted July 31, 2008 Posted July 31, 2008 Or we could all just pinch Deci's Dongle!! (shhhhh don't think he heard!).
SlytherinAlex Posted July 31, 2008 Posted July 31, 2008 Safely arrived from Chicago. Currently enjoying a nice glass of pink champagne in the First Class Lounge at Heathrow T5. Next stop, sunny Manchester. a. And your luggage? Chris (MrB) That arrived with me this time. a. (watching the rain out of the window in Dewsbury. Haven't seen rain in Texas for 3 months now. Lovely jubbly.)
SlytherinAlex Posted July 31, 2008 Posted July 31, 2008 Whilst these prices sound outrageous they are honestly cheaper than a lot of hotels i have stayed in. I can also say that whenever ive been in the states, i have always been charged by hotels for the use of Wifi, so our friends abroad wont be too surprised. Oh yes they will. I haven't been charged for wi-fi in a US hotel for the last two years at least. A couple of the "posh" chains still charge but nearly everywhere wi-fi is free now. Even then $18 a day is outrageous. I ain't paying it, that's for sure. I'll live without internet for two days or sponge on someone else (whoops.. what a giveaway) a.
+pklong Posted July 31, 2008 Posted July 31, 2008 (edited) £9 for 24 hours is really quite cheap! I've stayed at hotels where it is much more expensive. Perhaps cachers can 'pool' their laptops and share out time to others. Chris (MrB) Who pays that anyway. Pop into a Three store and a £50 USB dongle on PAYG will get you mobile broadband for £10 a month! Philip Edited July 31, 2008 by pklong
+Lydford Locators Posted July 31, 2008 Posted July 31, 2008 Sorry if this has been asked before, but I checked the usual places (Waymarking.com has a "free wifi" category for instance) and there seems to be no mention of free wi-fi in the area. Anyone know better? When away from home we quite often visit Wetherspoon pubs for their free wifi (their food and beer is OK too if your logging takes you a long time). There is one in Harrogate centre: The Winter Gardens, Unit 4, Royal Baths, Parliament Street HG1 2RR Sometimes they want you to buy one drink for every 30 minutes access, but the Harrogate one says "Simply switch on your Wi-Fi enabled laptop and start surfing. Then, just enter the username as Sponsored and password as Service when asked." We'll be there for our Sunday tea, so lets hope that the Mega attendees don't all try to log then!
+Happy Humphrey Posted July 31, 2008 Posted July 31, 2008 Top replies folks, thanks! Perhaps someone in Harrogate could waymark the Wetherspoon's. If I use it I'll do that at the weekend (although it will be too late for the event then, it could be useful in future). I suspect this is why N American hotels have changed to free wi-fi so much. We had the experience of a couple of places that charged, but in the end you go to a nearby bar and use theirs. And you buy drinks there rather than at the hotel bar, thus making the hotel takings rather less than they could have been.
+Dorsetgal & GeoDog Posted July 31, 2008 Posted July 31, 2008 So without hesitation I asked for the charge rates Good morning, The internet access charge is £9.00 for a 24hour period or £5.00 for an hour. This can be purchased via a credit card or at Reception. Kind Regards Lyndsey This sort of charge was precisely the reason I switched to the iPhone earlier this year and more recently the 3G iPhone. Averaging two nights a week in a hotel the charges soon mount up and frankly the service is often dire. With the iPhone even when it cannot connect via wifi it still has the choice of the 3G and The Edge. Works a treat for shorter emails, cache logs, ordering things online, cache pages etc. The onlyreason I say shorter emails is that one can tire of the small keys for extensive work, but a very useful stopgap. I'm sure there are many other phones that have access too. I actually used my 3G iPhone for finding a cache this week too!! McDonalds is also another place where I believe there is usually free wifi available. Havng just checked their website I think this one just north of the station might be the closest. It does have wifi and is w/c accessible. 14/16 CAMBRIDGE ROAD HARROGATE HG1 1NS Tel: 01423 523544 Opening times Mon 06:30 - 23:00 Tue 06:30 - 23:00 Wed 06:30 - 23:00 Thu 06:30 - 23:00 Fri 06:30 - 00:00 Sat 06:30 - 00:00 Sun 06:30 - 23:00
The Birches Head Hunters Posted July 31, 2008 Posted July 31, 2008 Just in case there is still anyone who's in doubt about how "Mega" this event is going to be, here's the current state of the registration database. 350 teams registered 640 adults 61 0 to 6 year olds 92 7 to 12 year olds 51 moody teenagers That's 844 heads so far! You can move our 12 year old into the moody teenager category!
+fat boy slow Posted July 31, 2008 Posted July 31, 2008 Cafe Latino right in the middle of town also has free wi-fi for customers, with a convenient bench nearby which may well be in range if you don't fancy a brew.
+keehotee Posted July 31, 2008 Posted July 31, 2008 Cafe Latino right in the middle of town also has free wi-fi for customers, with a convenient bench nearby which may well be in range if you don't fancy a brew. Not sure you should be advertising that on here....... Dishonestly obtaining electronic communication services is an offense under Section 125 of the UK 2003 Communications Act....
+sTeamTraen Posted July 31, 2008 Posted July 31, 2008 Oh yes they will. I haven't been charged for wi-fi in a US hotel for the last two years at least. A couple of the "posh" chains still charge but nearly everywhere wi-fi is free now. Even then $18 a day is outrageous. I ain't paying it, that's for sure. I'll live without internet for two days or sponge on someone else (whoops.. what a giveaway) Here in France, even some of the cheapest motel chains have worked out that free WiFi is a big competitive advantage. A noticeable exception is Accor group (Formule 1/Etap/Ibis/Novotel/etc) which has given the concession to Orange, who then charge you something like 10 Euros for 2 hours if I remember correctly. Considering that some other places only charge 40 Euros for a twin room including free WiFi, this is a nice little earner (I presume the hotel gets a kickback).
+Eclectic Penguin Posted July 31, 2008 Posted July 31, 2008 Although all McDonalds claim they have WiFi, until recently it was hit or miss whether it would be "working". In some cases I suspect it had never worked as it hadn't been set up or installed as far as I could tell but recently, this has been much better. I'll hopefully be logging finds on the fly for the first time from my new (well, second hand but new for me) PDA using bluetooth via my Orange broadband (unlimited evenings and weekends). I've only logged a couple of FTF finds previously via just the phone including one FTF that took well over a month for the first person to arrive there due to the difficult nature of the puzzle you had to solve and then when you find out where it is, the OS map turns a funny shade of orange at that point as the contours are so close together (GC1CXM8).
+Eclectic Penguin Posted August 1, 2008 Posted August 1, 2008 On a related note, does anyone know what mobile reception is like at the camp site? Also, I've just been told that the camp site is now full - I hope my confirmation letter got through in time...
+Gushoneybun Posted August 1, 2008 Posted August 1, 2008 Although all McDonalds claim they have WiFi, until recently it was hit or miss whether it would be "working". In some cases I suspect it had never worked as it hadn't been set up or installed as far as I could tell but recently, this has been much better. We have always used McDonalds' without problems, until last week when one it connected but would not allow us on line. If you visit one with a drive thro you do not even have to go inside.
+Happy Humphrey Posted August 1, 2008 Posted August 1, 2008 (edited) Well.. I may be rather late arriving, as the IOM Steam Packet boat has just been damaged in an accident when leaving Liverpool, and the Flybe flight has arrived trailing smoke, causing the south of the island to be closed. We may have to swim across! (Edit) It looks like the flight was Manchester-Belfast and there was only a "slight smell of smoke" causing the plane to be diverted to the IOM airport. Only 5 slight injuries, and the airport is open again. Edited August 1, 2008 by Happy Humphrey
+wheelybarrow Posted August 1, 2008 Posted August 1, 2008 You could try thr local library for internet access - they are normally either free or at a very cheap rate. We have used ones in Cornwall and Scotland to keep up to date with our caching whilst we have been on holiday.
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