We have some exciting event news for you this month! The committee has been in consultation with Geocaching Headquarters and we have been given permission to publish our event a year in advance! Cue the excitement levels to go off the charts!!
Some time around April 3rd you should see the lovely little event icon pop up on the map!
Here is the heads up on the GC code – GC8M4ZQ. Once the listing is up we invite you to log a Will Attend. You may or may not be aware that the qualification for an event to reach Mega status has changed, we now only require 300 will attends. This is something the committee is striving for as we would love to bring Queensland its second Mega event.
Interstate Info Events
South Australia – GC8HVHZ We have been lucky enough to be offered an opportunity to host an information event over the weekend of the GeoVenture Mega. Our event is located in Beachport which is a beautiful coastal town located just 30 mins and away from the Millicent Mega site. We are meeting at the Pool of Siam which is a salt lake pool and is reported to be seven times more salty than the sea and is alleged to possess therapeutic qualities! The event takes place from 1pm to 2pm so plenty of time to drop in for chat. (We have our eyes on a couple of good DT caches in the area!)
Western Australia – GC8KVE1 Some members of the committee are taking a flying weekend visit to the Perth surrounds to complete some of their awesome Geo-Art – 4WD anyone! While there we figured we would take the opportunity to not only enjoy a pub dinner but host a small event under the CacheQLD banner. So if you happen to be in the Perth district on 4th April come join us at the Parkerville Tavern from 7pm – 7:30pm.
Local Events
Northside Meet-up – March – GC8MF1R Whilst not an official CacheQLD event you can be assured that every month at least one member of the committee will be in attendance if not four or five or all 8 of them! If you have a pressing question or want to float an idea, please pop along and ask around, if you’re not entirely sure who’s on the committee, someone should be able to point them out.
At February’s event Ardom did a presentation on puzzle solving, which according to the Attended logs was very well received. He has agreed to share his slides which you can view here. The next Northside meet up is booked in for March 25th at Bracken Ridge Library from 6-7:30pm.
Podcast Recording
This month we were excited to be invited by Net88 to record an episode for her podcast “Geocaching with Net88 & friends”. Our episode has Net88 interviewing JACS Team about the upcoming Dayboro event! It is due to be released in the early part of April so keep an eye on our socials for that link, in the meantime check out Net88’s other recorded episodes here:
This will be a very exciting podcast to follow to learn more about geocaching and some of Queensland’s local geocachers, so make sure you follow along on your favourite podcast broadcaster.
Contests
Can you find the code?
Just a final reminder about the pathtag design competition that closes at the end of the month, so please submit those design to our email admin@cacheqld.com.
Today we are launching a trackable contest as well, see if you can find our trackable code hidden somewhere in this newsletter. Logging a discover on this will also see an entry in the trackable contest.
What’s Next?
Our next Highlights post is due to hit the website on 1st April, no foolin’ with that date. Our focus for April is cleaning up our environment with CITO’s!
So, in March Brisbane is in the midst of a Cycling Festival with heaps of bike activities going on. What better time of the year to highlight some of the great cycling caches in the South East Queensland than now! We got a bunch of biking trails, kid friendly trails, Adventure Labs, and of course it would be remiss of us not to mention another one of Queensland’s fantastic Geo-Arts on, you guessed it, a bike friendly rail trail. So, go on keep reading for all the details.
The Biking / Walking (B/W) Trail is a geocaching trail located between Beerburrum and Glass House Mountains and is ideal for pushbikes or walking. The Cache locations are designed to be kid-friendly when accompanied by adults with a smooth trail with zero sharp rises or falls. Kids can even spot trains (safely behind a fence) whilst doing the series. Slow Puncture are well known for naming their caches after songs, for your enjoyment we have put together a Spotify Playlist of the cache titles on the trail for you.
“With a few hours free, it made sense to grab the bike and come follow this newly published trail while getting some sunshine and exercise. This trail is a gem for kids of all ages, with a well graded track, good size containers that are well stocked with goodies, and plenty of great views of Tibro.” Orange Crew 2 May 2019
Adventure Labs are a new way for geocachers to find and log Lab Caches. Lab aches are an experimental cache type and they are not required to have a container and can be located inside. Lab Caches count towards your total find count and are played on the free Adventure Lab app.
The Brisbane City area has been lucky enough to receive several Adventure labs and a number of these can be combined for one big Adventurous day out. Most could be done using a bike to get around the city or a Lime Scooter.
Some of the available City Adventure Labs are:
* Dark Brisbane by Fangsoki – 10 Locations * Snaps of Brisbane by JACS Team – 5 Locations * The River City Ferry Adventure by Captain Terror – 10 Locations * Brisbane, Is Statue? by 1MinnieMoo – 10 Locations * Brisbane City Churches by IolantheK – 5 Locations * A brief history of wartime in Brisbane by Zacgyver – 10 Locations
“In August last year, CaptainVimes and I enjoyed a fun ride around the river on our bikes completing these labs (Snaps of Brisbane) before loading the bikes in the car to head off to the final. Thanks for the labs” Beardman75
City Cycle Hire
If you are thinking about doing some biking in Brisbane City, the council has a bike hire system. The CityCycle bike hire scheme is a key part of the Brisbane City Council’s plan to encourage more people to ride bikes. The scheme helps to reduce traffic congestions and is a great way to get around the inner city and nearby suburbs. With up to 2000 bikes and 150 stations between the University of Queensland, St Lucia and Newstead it is a quick affordable and fun alternative to short car trips, public transport or walking! Check out the CityCycle website for further details and information. Website: http://www.citycycle.com.au/
Geo-Art – Coat of Arms
The Coat of Arms geo-art was established in January of 2016 by Brother Colin. The puzzles are designed to help cachers learn a little about different types of puzzles with a number of them being able to be solved working alongside the geocaching toolbox. The finds are set along the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail, which is a trail solely for walking, cycling and horse riding and offers plenty of opportunities for people to experience the history and landscape of the Brisbane Valley. Brother Colin has suggested that the trail will take approximately 4 hours if completing by mountain bike and a full day of walking. Please remember to pack some sun protection along with plenty of water as there is no water available on the trail outside of the township of Esk. So check out this list and get solving – Coat of Arms. Brother Colin has another geo-art on the same trail – Map of Australia, you may just want to check that out to before hitting the trail!
“We have had a great time riddling and puzzling with this series and are now tackling the rail trail in stages. Hopefully making the most of the series and checking out the local area at the same time. Today the weather was perfect and not a magpie in sight. Loved the variety of structures we saw along the way. Thanks, Brother Colin we have really enjoyed this series and often talk about how much work must have gone into its creation and maintenance for us to enjoy TFTC.” Miss_Direction 9 September
Welcome Neil & Izzy to Kid’s Caching Corner this month. Do you have your own geocaching names? Neil: I do, I’m Squidy, but usually just mum logs on her account for all of us Izzy: I just use mum’s account.
This month we are focusing on bike caches. I have heard you have done a few bike trails? Neil: Yes we have done heaps. Maybe all of them. There was a good one on the Gold Coast where we saw heaps of kangaroos. But I like the ones where we do a bunch and then stop for a picnic, and the gaps between them aren’t like fifty kilometres uphill. Izzy: I have done them all too. The best part is getting an ice cream at the end!
Wow! All the bike trails? You have been busy. Have you done “Monster Lane”? Neil: Yeah. We did them over a few visits. Some we could get really quick, and others took time. Izzy: I remember those. I liked the fast ones on the track. We raced to each cache. The girls team beat the boys team. As usual. Neil: Doubt it.
How long ago did you do that? Neil: A while ago. I have no idea exactly. But we have been back a fair bit to do the ride even though we have all the caches. Izzy: It’s annoying because Neil and Mum always say “cache there” when we drive past them.
Who did you do the trail with? Neil: All of us did it together
What is your favourite part of the trail? Neil: I like the pier out there. No one else could find that cache. They were going to leave but I knew where it was the whole time. Izzy: I like the fast bits. The first time we went I had my old bike and it was slow. Now when we go I’m the fastest on the bits [of the trail] were there are no walkers.
Do any caches stand out in your mind as great? Neil: Yeah, the golden budda one I liked. That’s a bit off the trail though but along the way. There was one is a sign post that was clever – am I allowed to say that?
I think that is fine to say. What was the bike path like? Neil: It changed. Some was bike tracks, some was along the water, and some was bushy.
The theme of Monster Lane is monsters from Dr Who. Did you know all the monsters you were searching for? Neil: No. I don’t know who Dr Who is. Izzy: Me either
Would you recommend that families come and do this trail? Neil: Yeah I would but not all at one time. I have to tell mum and dad 10 caches only or they wouldn’t go home. Mum says “just one more” but then it’s another, and then seven on the way back to the car. So be careful. Make a plan.
That is good advice! Thank you for talking with me about the trail. Are there any final thoughts you want to add? Neil: Take swag I guess. Cause it’s the worst if you find something cool and then can’t take it because you don’t have swaps. Izzy: No thanks
Thanks for sharing Neil and Izzy! Neil: Thanks Izzy: Bye
“This was one of many geocaches we found along the oceanfront today. Thank you for placing and maintaining this one! These were all great, easy and straight forward finds.” nature0nut 11 November 2017
Adult Bit: Monster Lane is a series of caches published by bike riding cacher barbbowman. First published in April of 2012 it was one of the first trails established in Brisbane. This excellent trail is situated along a very established bike path that will see you ride along the foreshores Sandgate and Brighton before hitting the more bush / urban sections. Due to time and roadworks, sadly some of the original series has been lost but there are still 40 of the Dr Who monsters/villains/aliens left to be discovered. Each cache page will enlighten you to one of the many Dr Who characters. A public bookmark is available here: Monster Lane.
This month’s photo by Tim Williams of Capture the Dog Photography is a truly spectacular shot from Maleny overlooking the Glasshouse Mountains. Maleny is a true destination location and well worth a visit whilst in the area to explore all that is on offer such as the local milk producers Maleny Dairies – who run tours of their facility and especially great for kids, they can feed a calf or two and sample some of the locally produced products.
If you would like to discover this location Tim has identified a nearby traditional cache GC6Y0Y7 ‘McCarthys Lookout the 2nd’. In case you are wondering – yes there are caches at the top of some of those mountain peaks – Gorilla anyone! If you would like to check out Tim’s other photos you can find him at the following places:
On the 15th March we will be publishing our 3rd Event Newsletter, and letting you know where we are with planning for the Dayboro Easter 2021 event and a couple of already published info events!! Watch out South and West Australia we are coming your way. Don’t forget we are still running a pathtag design contest so check out the Contest tab above to find out more and get your submission in!
Cache QLD - Townsville GC9BVWD 