Newbies

For all your general chit chat, caching or not.
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outlaw60
Posts: 8
Joined: 26 April 03 11:29 am
Location: Camden N S W

Newbies

Post by outlaw60 » 26 April 03 12:29 pm

Hi all,

This is Tony and Pandora.

We've just come back from 4WDing round the Colo area, & as we were camped at a beautiful spot, we saw an old tin "treasure chest" - unfortunately ravaged by time, rusted out, but it got us thinking .....

Hence, after some searching on the net, here we are keen as mustard to join the elite Geocachers!

We have an old Magellan 300, which is okay for the navigation we used it for 4WDing, but now want to update to something a bit more suitable for geocaching. Can anyone offer any suggestions?

Also, as we go 4WDing in some fairly bushy locations which require 4 wheel drives, would people be interested to find caches in these type of areas?

leek
250 or more caches found
250 or more caches found
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Welcome

Post by leek » 26 April 03 12:38 pm

Welcome to the game... I'll warn you now - Once you start - you cannot stop...

I'm not 4WD enabled myself, but I do know that there are already a number of caches out there which require a 4WD (or a very long hike) to get to them... Feel free to add some more...

As for the GPS... The Magellan 300 will handle the basics for Geocaching - i.e. take me to this spot... but I personally find inbuilt mapping a big bonus... If you want to stick with Magellan, I would recommend the Meridian range (buy the Gold if you can and order it from the US)... There will undoubtedly be a lot of people who would advise you to go with one of the Garmin range... (we're a divided lot :-) )

pyrenees kid
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Post by pyrenees kid » 26 April 03 12:43 pm

Hi Tony and Pandora,

Welcome to the board and of course welcome to our sport........
You should get plenty of info here and have a look at the links of members homepages on http://www.geocaching.com.au. <br>
Of course some members have fourwheel drives so caches like that are most welcome. Some caches are set with a 4 day walk so those with 2wd's will still find them.<br>Just remember to note it down when you first submit your cache.<br>We are looking forward to your comments and questions........ So bring them on. :) :)

Cheers Darryn.

SNIFTER
500 or more caches logged
500 or more caches logged
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Location: Share Hounddogs Kennel in Sydney

The 2 Dogs upgrades

Post by SNIFTER » 26 April 03 1:12 pm

And just how close to some caches were you???? We owned a Pulsar but 12 months ago changed to an Xtrail. Decided on that as we wanted to get all those "other" caches that our little car couldn't get to. Now we go everywhere and have left some caches in 4X4 territory. We also started with a 300 but have updated (330) since and this suits us as we have all the mapping that we need with it.
This hobby gets you in and is very contagious. I haven't taken on the abseiling challenges and probably will not but if you are into that sort of thing there are caches just for those who can.
Wellcome and enjoy.
:D :D :D

outlaw60
Posts: 8
Joined: 26 April 03 11:29 am
Location: Camden N S W

Newbies

Post by outlaw60 » 26 April 03 1:21 pm

Thanks for your quick reply.

I'm so keen, I wanted to start one today, a very nice spot near here, already got lots of ideas for exciting caches for people to find! But the Lord and master has told me we have to find some first & sus out the general rules etc etc. (Boring!)

So we're very keen. I can see our 4WDing weekends being cache weekends instead of (or as well as).

I don't have too many problems with the Magellan 300, it's basic but have managed to pinpoint most areas with reasonable accuracy. One with mapping capabilities would be excellent though! Funnily enough , over the past week it played up abit, was off by 1-2 hundred metres here and there, and the northings kept going way off the mark, about 4 or 5 kms. Don't know if it was the unit or the sats, but still got by okay. (Though had me worried a couple of times, thought I'd misread the coords and got us well and trulied!

Look forward to our first caching adventure!

:D

pyrenees kid
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Re: Newbies

Post by pyrenees kid » 26 April 03 1:24 pm

outlaw60 wrote:Thanks for your quick reply.

I'm so keen, I wanted to start one today, a very nice spot near here, already got lots of ideas for exciting caches for people to find! But the Lord and master has told me we have to find some first & sus out the general rules etc etc. (Boring!)


:D
I think that is a great idea, you get to see what other cachers have done and it will give you ideas. :)

leek
250 or more caches found
250 or more caches found
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Old forum

Post by leek » 26 April 03 1:36 pm

Hi Outlaws...

If you're looking for information / hints / tips, there's a lot of interesting stuff in the old forum which is at http://pub66.ezboard.com/bcachingaustralia We're not using that one any more and have transferred some of the threads to this forum...

outlaw60
Posts: 8
Joined: 26 April 03 11:29 am
Location: Camden N S W

Post by outlaw60 » 26 April 03 2:01 pm

Thanks to all for making us feel so welcome.

If only I'd got onto this site before we took off last week, we may have found some caches! We went through Castlereagh & Windsor on the way to Colo, what we may have found! There were also some magnificent places to put caches, great locations steeped with history, especially round Upper Colo and Lower Portland. Guess that gives me an excuse to go back and explore some more!

I'm going to have a look at the old forum now, see what tips I can pick up! Thanks again.
:D

SNIFTER
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Location: Share Hounddogs Kennel in Sydney

Just a tip

Post by SNIFTER » 26 April 03 3:29 pm

Before you start placing caches please try to find some. This way you will know what to expect and give yourself credibility when you do finally put one down. Some may look easy but the outcome isn't always so. My tip is do not treat this hobby as a car rally. If we want a car rally then we do one. Spend time reading logs and check out the difficulties that have been encountered. It is easy for some and bloody difficult for others. Not everyone is into overnight ventures some have only a lunchtime spare.
Just my 2 cents worth but hope it helps.

swampgecko
It's all in how you get there....
It's all in how you get there....
Posts: 2185
Joined: 28 March 03 6:00 pm

Welcome Newbies

Post by swampgecko » 26 April 03 3:40 pm

Welcome to a very addictive hobby.

If you were 4x4 out at the Colo you were very close to some caches, I know I set one out there and there are a few very good ones in place on some popular tracks.

Please join in and set a cache or two down, more the merrier, but Snifter's advice is quite valid too, do attempt a few caches and you will gain an understanding of how most of us think in the pursuit of a cache. My first cache has now departed the playing field, but I learnt a lot from it. Mainly thou where not to place a cache. It was too close to a very popluar walking trail on Bowen Mountain, but since then I have learnt how to conceal a cache better from the casual observer, but not from a dedicated cacher....

Feel free to ask for advice and assistence where required, this is a friendly non violent non contact sport, until you get to a Caching get together and then it's no holds barred... Just kidding.. This is a very socail hobby that you have commenced and will make some great friends, my family has.

Swampgecko (swampy for short)

swampgecko
It's all in how you get there....
It's all in how you get there....
Posts: 2185
Joined: 28 March 03 6:00 pm

Oh and I forgot to add

Post by swampgecko » 26 April 03 3:52 pm

I forgot to add, there is nothing wrong with the bottom end GPS for this game. I use a Garmin 12, which might as well be steam driven now, but it serves me well. Mind you I wish to update to something on the top end of the scale as my 12 only counts down in tens of meters to the final position. Not a big deal as long as I remember to watch for when it clocks over to 0.00klms then I know I am roughly with in five meters of Ground Zero. But at Times I forget and end up being 10 to 20 meters away from GZ.
Having watched Leek in action with his prefered Satellite interface, meridian(excuse me while I wipe the drool up)I would love to be able to say that I am within 2, 3, or even 4 mtrs of the cache. in stead of well I know I am under ten meters time to brute force it.<p>
Good hunting <p>Swampy

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