+martinp13 Posted March 20, 2002 Share Posted March 20, 2002 If anyone has been on the Sydney Harbour Bridge BridgeClimb, you can attest to the incredible views you get from the top. I was there in April 2001, and a buddy and I had a GREAT time! So I would like to propose this virtual cache: the coordinates will be approx the middle of the bridge. To claim credit you have to post one of the pics they take of you on/near the summit of the Bridge. You can't take a GPSr or camera up there, so their pic (provided with the Climb) is your proof. It costs about AU$150/US$75 to do the 4-hour event, but it's certainly a unique experience. I'm not affiliated with them... just a satisfied customer (who will do the night-time BridgeClimb on my next trip to Sydney!). I'm putting this poll out before I bother posting the cache. If you don't think it should be allowed, please indicate in a reply why you feel that way. I want honest opinions here, so don't be afraid to say something... I won't hold it against ya! Thanks for your input, either way! > Martin (Magellan 330) Don't have time to program and record your shows while geocaching? Get a TiVo! [This message was edited by martinp13 on March 20, 2002 at 01:36 PM.] Quote Link to comment
+Snowtrail Posted March 20, 2002 Share Posted March 20, 2002 Can't take the gps up there. Hummm. It'd be nice to confirm the trip by the altitude alone... Quote Link to comment
+makaio Posted March 20, 2002 Share Posted March 20, 2002 I'd posted a cache some time ago which was similar in that it was a place I'd visited (prior to getting into geocaching), but a place that I did not visit with my GPS to obtain the coordinates. The consensus was that to post my cache, I should have to revisit the spot with my GPS to get the coordinates prior to posting it as a geocache. According to these stipulations, I'd say it doesn't qualify, however, I'll abstain from voting as I prefer the fun factor over 'does it qualify of not'. btw, I never posted mine as it was the center courtyard of the Pentagon and it seemed inappropriate after 9/11. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=5505 Quote Link to comment
+Prime Suspect Posted March 20, 2002 Share Posted March 20, 2002 Okay, I understand the economic reasons behind not allowing a camera, but why would a GPS be restricted? Quote Link to comment
+martinp13 Posted March 20, 2002 Author Share Posted March 20, 2002 They don't let you take ANYthing up there. They only allow glasses if they're on a loop. They provide a coverall with no pockets, and you dump everything into lockers before ya go. It's more a "oops I dropped it" thing. > Martin (Magellan 330) Don't have time to program and record your shows while geocaching? Get a TiVo! Quote Link to comment
+worldtraveler Posted March 20, 2002 Share Posted March 20, 2002 You actually can get to the correct coordinates with your GPS if you don't take the elevation into account. Just walk along the bridge at street level. I could see this as akin to navigating to the base of a cliff or a tree using the GPSr, but then setting it aside while I climbed for the cache. But then I'm biased because i did exactly that last year. It was my first time in Sydney, and I was using a map and my GPSr to navigate. When I got to the bridge, I decided to take the climb. As Martinp13 said, no personal items were allowed, so I left my camera and GPSr in the locker. Let's see, if you post it, can I claim it retroactively? Worldtraveler Quote Link to comment
+martinp13 Posted March 20, 2002 Author Share Posted March 20, 2002 worldtraveler: As long as you had your pics, I would allow a retroactive find, given the nature of the cache. Do you have the coordinates of roughly the center of the bridge? I did a big fat WAG on a partial Sydney map to come up with some. > Martin (Magellan 330) Don't have time to program and record your shows while geocaching? Get a TiVo! Quote Link to comment
+T-storm Posted March 21, 2002 Share Posted March 21, 2002 If you decide to go forward with it, Martin, could you use an aerial photo site to help pinpoint coords? T-storm http://www.cordianet.com/geocaching Quote Link to comment
+martinp13 Posted March 21, 2002 Author Share Posted March 21, 2002 Well, the coordinates are basically meaningless. I could just as easily give the coords to 5 Cumberland St, which is the address of the front door of the BridgeClimb tour office. Once you're on the BridgeClimb, you don't have a choice as to where you go... you're tethered to a cable from the get-go, so you WILL go to the top of the bridge... it's a really cool set up. > Martin (Magellan 330) Don't have time to program and record your shows while geocaching? Get a TiVo! Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted March 21, 2002 Share Posted March 21, 2002 I'm going to abstain from voting while I ponder. I'm leaning towards voting that it should not be posted. Coords are not needed to locate, nor are you required to give the coordinates or or a pic with your GPSr to post. Plus there is the commercial aspect. Even though you are not affiliated with the company, what about the next similar cache? On the other hand, you have to pay to log the disney caches. And then there's the 'don't screw with the bliss of others.' issue. I'm on the fence. Somebody give me a little shove, please. [This message was edited by sbell111 on March 21, 2002 at 10:20 AM.] Quote Link to comment
+T-storm Posted March 21, 2002 Share Posted March 21, 2002 Well, I didn't vote either. Sounds like a neat place to visit, but I'm not sure about it being a cache. Mostly same reasons as the previous poster. Once back on the old forums there was a forum where Jeremy had a discussion about what makes a suitable virtual and what makes a cache. Some of the comments were that it shouldn't be something that you would see on a tourist brochure in a hotel. I would think the BridgeClimb would likely be just one of those things. Well, I stopped in the midst of typing this to dig up the old thread. It doesn't appear to suffer from the truncated messages some of the imports did. And if you go strictly by the first post, from Jeremy, then Martin's proposal would be considered inappropriate, if a cool place to go. T-storm http://www.cordianet.com/geocaching Quote Link to comment
+worldtraveler Posted March 21, 2002 Share Posted March 21, 2002 quote:Originally posted by martinp13: worldtraveler: ...Do you have the coordinates of roughly the center of the bridge?... No longer on my GPSr, but I'll check my computer when I get home to see if I saved them there. If not, I'm headed back there tomorrow anyway, so I can have the coords for you by the end of next week, if you still want them. Worldtraveler Quote Link to comment
+martinp13 Posted March 21, 2002 Author Share Posted March 21, 2002 sbell111: If you're going to fuss about "pay to find", then we need to yank every cache out of Texas State Parks, since you have to pay to get in. t-storm: And I've seen state park brochures in hotels... (And yes, there are BridgeClimb brochures in most every hotel and bed&breakfast in Sydney) > Martin (Magellan 330) Don't have time to program and record your shows while geocaching? Get a TiVo! Quote Link to comment
The Artful Dodger Posted March 21, 2002 Share Posted March 21, 2002 Check out my 'Who am I' pic in my profile By the way, the coordinates of the middle of the Bridge is (roughly ) S33 51.097 E151 12.835 Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted March 21, 2002 Share Posted March 21, 2002 Martinp13, I think you misunderstand. I am for the caches in theme parks such as disney. I have also had to pay to enter state and federal parks and have no problem with appropriate caches therein. The bridgeclimb, in my understanding, only has one feature (You climb up the bridge). Towards this end, it gets real close to being a pure commercial cache. The state and federal parks and the theme parks, you pay to get in and you have many activities available to you. One of these is to log the cache. Quote Link to comment
the tapir Posted March 21, 2002 Share Posted March 21, 2002 Well, since you asked ... yes, I do have a problem with this one. Just as most, I think, would have a problem with: "Is this a cache? Go to the top of the Empire State Building" It would be much better to say "Go To LAT XX XXX.XXX LONG YY YYY.YYY ALTITUDE ZZZ" Now that's a (virtual) cache! Naming a structure and telling people to go there is not .... Instead it is, as someone said in another thread - "geotravel.com" the tapir Quote Link to comment
+worldtraveler Posted March 21, 2002 Share Posted March 21, 2002 That's a valid point, sbell111, and one I wasn't thinking about when I posted my earlier comment. As much as I would like to be able to post a "Found it!" for the effort and the experience, I agree that it certainly appears to be ineligible because of the purely commercial nature of the location. I would change my vote to a "no" if possible. Worldtraveler Quote Link to comment
+T-storm Posted March 21, 2002 Share Posted March 21, 2002 Martin-- Yes, you will find some state park brochures in some hotels, and yes there are generally entry fees. However, the actual spot the cache is hidden is rarely on the brochure and there are usually multiple sites and uses in the state parks. My (currently) max of $5 buys me a whole day worth of education and entertainment. Or if I spend $50 up front I get 12-13 MONTHS of entry to every state park in Texas. That's a big difference from $75 for a single (if memorable) experience. I still see a difference between them. But I'm not the one who decides what meets the guidelines, YMMV. T-storm http://www.cordianet.com/geocaching Quote Link to comment
+martinp13 Posted March 21, 2002 Author Share Posted March 21, 2002 Artful Dodger: You're the reason I thought of this... I happened upon your profile, saw the pic, and thought it would be a cool thing. > Martin (Magellan 330) Don't have time to program and record your shows while geocaching? Get a TiVo! Quote Link to comment
+martinp13 Posted March 21, 2002 Author Share Posted March 21, 2002 quote:Originally posted by the tapir: Well, since you asked ... yes, I do have a problem with this one. Just as most, I think, would have a problem with: "Is this a cache? Go to the top of the Empire State Building" It would be much better to say "Go To LAT XX XXX.XXX LONG YY YYY.YYY ALTITUDE ZZZ" Now that's a (virtual) cache! Naming a structure and telling people to go there is not .... Instead it is, as someone said in another thread - "geotravel.com" the tapir Would we want people wandering around the traffic lanes of the bridge, trying to get to the coordinates, only to say "oh, it's up there". And how many hacked-off people would there be that got there, only to find out it was US$75 to do it! I know *I* would be mad... I was upset about a $3 fee I wasn't warned about in a cache description. I barely had that much on me... I almost got an unexpected hunt for an ATM. On a more fundamental level, isn't ANY virtual cache just a "geotravel.com" commercial? We're pointing someone to a location, pure and simple. Whether I paid money to do it or not, that was my decision. And any traditional cache is a "geotravel.com" commercial with a Happy Meal toy at the end. I honestly don't see much difference. > Martin (Magellan 330) Don't have time to program and record your shows while geocaching? Get a TiVo! Quote Link to comment
the tapir Posted March 22, 2002 Share Posted March 22, 2002 quote:Originally posted by martinp13: On a more fundamental level, isn't ANY virtual cache just a "geotravel.com" commercial? We're pointing someone to a location, pure and simple. Whether I paid money to do it or not, that was my decision. And any traditional cache is a "geotravel.com" commercial with a Happy Meal toy at the end. I honestly don't see much difference. The difference, as far as my critique is concerned, is all about navigation. Navigation based on a set of clues, or probably just a set of coordinates provided by the cache 'hider'. In geocaching, a hider is "pointing them to a location", which they must use navigational aids to locate ... not simply naming a world-famous structure and telling them to go there. My critique has nothing to do with cost or commercialism. It has everything to do with the fact that the 'finder' doesn't have to 'find' the location at all. They already know it's the Sydney Harbour Bridge, so they don't have to navigate at all ... just get in a cab and say "Sydney Harbour Bridge, mate." As far as wandering in the lanes of traffic is concerned, I actually think most people would use the footway. the tapir Quote Link to comment
+Team Piggy Posted April 14, 2002 Share Posted April 14, 2002 I think it's a great cache. This sport involves Scenery sharing doesn't it ? I have done the bridgeclimb, and it was great, i highly recommend it to anyone visiting Sydney. It is similar to most of the webcam caches, most of them say where they are, no GPS needed there. I think it should beallowed. Team Piggy, SA. Quote Link to comment
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