Southern Hemisphere - Wheel of Challenges Steak Star

[+Big Matt and Shell]

How is everyone going with the current wheel of challenges streak?

 

I found myself thinking as I tried to find the nearest cache to home in the dark last night that I wonder if there would have been a  better time of the year and better separation of challenges especially for those of us in the southern hemisphere who are out in the cold and dark before or after work trying to keep a streak of 28 days going after found caches over 20 different days last month. I really do normally enjoy these challenges and like that they are driven to get us out and enjoying caching but I wonder if it might be having an opposite effect. I know if I was planning to start a steak, I wouldn't normally start this in July in Australia.

 

Just try and remember, caching is about having fun, if you find that you're no longer having that fun it might be time to give a day a miss rather than turning the fun into a chore.

 

[+barefootjeff]

2 hours ago, Big Matt and Shell said:

I found myself thinking as I tried to find the nearest cache to home in the dark last night that I wonder if there would have been a  better time of the year and better separation of challenges especially for those of us in the southern hemisphere who are out in the cold and dark before or after work trying to keep a streak of 28 days going after found caches over 20 different days last month.

 

Being retired, I don't have the cold and dark problem, just a lack of local unfound caches. There was a new one published a couple of weeks ago at North Gosford that I used to kick off my 7-day streak and I finished it with one at Tuggerah which I did on a shopping trip to Westfield, but the rest were day trips away to Sydney, Newcastle and, for one, Sandy Hollow in the upper Hunter. My total distance travelled was just over 1000km, although almost half of that was on public transport, so a 28-day streak for me would be an expensive proposition, not to mention time-consuming if each day is a full day trip away from home.

 

Having finished the 7-day streak with three weeks to go before the next round starts, I'm reluctant to do any more caching as it will only further deplete those unfound caches I might need in August and September, so instead I've been working on a new hide as well as starting my round of post-school-holidays checks on my existing hides.

[+Team Canary]

Luckily, as I have one cache within 30kms of home, this steak coincides with a road trip to Queensland for a wedding. 
 

As an aside I’m sadden by the proliferation of garbage caches put out to help with the steak. 

[+Calypso62]

 

Sadly, I didn't even bother with this month's challenge. After the 31 Days of Geocaching back in August, 2013, I was done with streaks. Back then it got to a stage where I "had" to find a cache, not I "want" to find a cache. I did complete the challenge however but it was a pain in the @#$% in the end.

 

5 hours ago, Big Matt and Shell said:

Just try and remember, caching is about having fun, if you find that you're no longer having that fun it might be time to give a day a miss rather than turning the fun into a chore.

 

Agree 100%.

 

[+Big Matt and Shell]

On 7/18/2023 at 6:52 PM, barefootjeff said:

Having finished the 7-day streak with three weeks to go before the next round starts, I'm reluctant to do any more caching as it will only further deplete those unfound caches I might need in August and September, so instead I've been working on a new hide as well as starting my round of post-school-holidays checks on my existing hides.

I've heard a few people saying this Geoff as they don't want to wipe out an Earthcache or Virtual cache that may be needed for next month so the challenge is actually having the opposite effect.

[+Goldenwattle]

On 7/18/2023 at 4:52 PM, barefootjeff said:

I'm reluctant to do any more caching

I used to be like that in the past when I cared about the HQ challenges (they bore me now) and wouldn't do some types of caches in between challenges as there were so few of some types of caches, such as Earthcaches. So the HQ challenges discouraged caching for the rest of the year.

[+lee737]

On 7/18/2023 at 3:54 PM, Big Matt and Shell said:

I wonder if there would have been a  better time of the year

+1

Maybe future streak-like challenges should be to celebrate an equinox, then the whole globe is on an equal footing....

[+DARKSIDEDAN]

I think there have been to many Streak Challenges in a row. They are becoming boring. Come on HQ think of something else.

[+Big Matt and Shell]

On 7/31/2023 at 10:13 AM, DARKSIDEDAN said:

I think there have been to many Streak Challenges in a row. They are becoming boring. Come on HQ think of something else.

Ask and you shall receive! Now the biggest gripe I have seen is the need to complete an Adventure Lab for the August challenge

[+barefootjeff]

3 hours ago, Big Matt and Shell said:

Ask and you shall receive! Now the biggest gripe I have seen is the need to complete an Adventure Lab for the August challenge

 

Luckily I've kept a relatively new AL at Bilgola Beach (just across the water from here) in reserve for just such a challenge, as the most recent one on the Central Coast was my Dangar Island one that I put out last October.

[+lee737]

We have a weekend in the Wangaratta area at the end of the month, virgin territory for us. We'd qualify likely 3x over (apart from events) by accident I'd think...