Lane Cove was hidden on 18-May-2000, so 18-May-2010 will see the 10th anniversary of geocaching in Australia.

Geocaching Australia would like to have celebrated this momentous occasion by gathering all of the GCA members together in one place for a fun event. With the Wagga Wagga Mega-Event in April this year and a number of members in more rural and remote locations the logistics are simply too hard to arrange.

So instead, and to celebrate the 10th anniversary of geocaching in Australia we will be doing a few things virtually rather than physically with the intent of bringing GCA members together, regardless of where they may be located.

Firstly.
We would like to get as many GCA caches hidden and published on the 18-May-2010 as we can as part of the celebration. To encourage you to hide a quality GCA cache we are going to have a special anniversary pathtag minted to be given away as a reward to cachers who hide a GCA cache and have it published on 18-May-2010.

If you hide 1 cache, you will receive 1 pathtag reward. If you hide 2 caches you will receive 2 pathtags rewards. There will be a maximum of 2 pathtag rewards per cacher as long as you hide two caches that meet the requirements (see below).

Please don't try and game the system by creating "sock puppet" accounts and hiding a cache under each one. We have limited funds, out of the pockets of your developers, so please hide and list your anniversary caches in the spirit of the anniversary celebration and not just to get a pathtag reward.

The pathtag rewards will be produced AFTER the 18-May-2010 so we can accurately count how many we need. We don't want to make too many, nor do we want to make too few. This means that there will be a delay after the anniversary in receiving your reward. You will be notified by email when the pathtag rewards are available so you can provide us your contact details.

This is what the pathtag reward looks like. Thanks to crane2 and flower1 for their input into the design. Once again their knowledge and skills have create something better than I could do myself.

There are four subtleties in the pathtag design. See if you can spot them.

As the pathtag rewards will only be given to those who meet the hide requirement, they will be rare and highly valued We are offering a maximum of two pathtag rewards so you can keep one and trade one.

There are a couple of requirements to be met before you can be considered eligible for the anniversary pathtag reward.

• Your cache must be a physical cache. i.e. A type Traditional, Multi-cache, Mystery / Puzzle cache or Moveable.
• Your cache must be a size regular or larger.
• The hidden date of the cache must be 18-May-2010.
• Your cache must be published on 18-May-2010. To make the job of publishing your cache on 18-May-2010 easy, GCA makes it possible to future publish your cache listing. Simply create your listing and use the date of 18-May-2010 as the hidden date. When you are happy with your listing, log the cache a log type of Published also with a date of 18-May-2010. Your cache listing will now have the name of the cache in green bold. At this point only YOU will be able to see the listing. On the morning of 18-May-2010 the GCA website will automatically set your cache to live so the rest of the community can see it.

Secondly
Upon listing and publishing your cache you will be eligible to log a new locationless cache. This cache listing will be prepared ahead of time and the details of the cache will be publicised in this thread as we approach the anniversary date. When you log the locationless cache you will be asked to provide a link back to your cache listing along with any comments you wish to make in your log. To make a link back to your cache listing will require you to add some HTML to your log. Simply copy the HTML code in the box below, replace GAnnnn with the GA number of your cache and replace The Name Of Your Cache with the actual name of your cache. Please leave in the " marks. If you make a mess of it, post back here and one of your kindly admins will fix it for you.

The locationless cache listing is now avalilable.
http://geocaching.com.au/cache/ga1722

Thirdly
We invite you to mark the anniversary by gathering together in the forums and via a special event cache listed on Geocaching Australia. We will post a special forum thread for the virtual gathering and create a special cache listing for the event. The event will have physical co-ordinates but it will be ONLY a virtual event. The co-ordinates will be location of the Geocaching Australia server which is in a secured co-location data centre and will not be accessible. The event is a virtual event for all and sundry to join in on and make a log of what you have done and enjoyed over the last 10 years of geocaching in Australia.
http://geocaching.com.au/cache/ga2091
The 10th Anniversary Virtual Event has now been listed.

The Official 10th Anniversary Celebration Thread has now been opened.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14451

We all have quite a few months to plan your caches and get prepared for the enjoyment of the virtual celebration of 10 years of geocaching in Australia.

We really hope you will join in the fun.
caughtatwork on behalf of the Senate and site developers.

We're on our way. W00t!

I look forward to reading more. Sounds great!

Looking forward to what's in store and contributing to the celebrations.

Please let me know if we can help you in any way with the plans.

Mrs Bunny

yup folk all over are celebrating http://www.geocachingonline.com/events/
I wonder if you want to write a press release - maybe tie it in with the apple iphone GPS capabilities would even bump it into a morning TV slot - there's a very neet free app you can do waypoints etc like a regular GPS called motion x

Details updated in the OP.

Wow! I love the pathtags, I want two please! I have 2 new cache boxes all ready to go, just need to work out where to hide them!

A new and interesting activity - one out of the box. Thank you for the effort.

I have three boxes ready to go ( OK I know I only need two) and the gz's also chosen. Bring it on.

I reckon this is one where the regional cachers will have an easier time. Hiding a regular sized container round Sydney isn't that easy when anything that comes under the NPWS banner is out of bounds. Maybe I'll take a bit of a trip to the bush

I've found my first location and got a delivery of ammo cans yesterday which I reckon will be just the go for a good quality cache I can't wait for 18th May - I hope HEAPS of people hide caches round the Sydney area, I might have to take the day off work and see how many FTFs I can get

Wonderful idea, count me in, I already have some locations in mind and will hide some anniversary caches.
Love the Pathtag, can't wait to get my 2!!!!!!

Wow! I might have to take a drive to Lithgow on 18th May then

I hid one today and there are loads more days available, so expect 2 from me and 2 from GabGab.

What a great idea! Planning my cache already. The pathtags are really cool....I think I have picked up three "subtleties".

Looking forward to particpating and I will spread the word amongst the Qlders!