Melbourne Event 2015 (MEGA)

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gmj3191
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Melbourne Event 2015 (MEGA)

Post by gmj3191 » 15 November 15 5:51 pm

Thought I'd check in to see how people were enjoying the Melbourne Mega.
I know people are having a great time by seeing their comments on some of my caches, but surprised by the lack of comments here. Seems to me to have been an absolute success.

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Happy Chappies
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Re: Melbourne Event 2015 (MEGA)

Post by Happy Chappies » 16 November 15 9:14 am

gmj3191 wrote:Thought I'd check in to see how people were enjoying the Melbourne Mega.
I know people are having a great time by seeing their comments on some of my caches, but surprised by the lack of comments here. Seems to me to have been an absolute success.

I'm not hugely surprised by lack of comments here, given that the event has only just occurred and there are other places to comment which are 'closer' to the organisers/event (ie. GC site).

We only popped in for half an hour or so, during the opening festivities and speeches. Certainly seemed to be a well received event. Laid back enough, but plenty of variety for people to engage at a level they felt comfortable with, which was great. I saw a few familiar faces and said hi to various, but as to be expected at such an event which has drawn people from all over the place, there were a lot of faces I'd never seen before. Also a good reminder that there are many many people out there who are WAY more into caching than I am. And I mean WAY more. Scarily more.....

Good to see george71 had been drafted back in to celebrate his celebrity status as the place of Melbourne's 1st. That cache was getting a lot of hits on the way down which was very appropriate.

We didn't engage in any of the actual caching on site (had to get home to build a fence!) but popped through the stores, swapped out some trackables (kudos to whoever took that stool home!), grabbed the on site traditional, another one in the park, and we were off.

Agree it was a very well run event. I think they gauged what people wanted out of the event nicely. If I'm more free next year I may even put my hand up for volunteering in some capacity... Well done to the team who turn up here on occasion.

(Oh, and good to see the geocaching australia banner up too!)

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Re: Melbourne Event 2015 (MEGA)

Post by LouiseAnn » 16 November 15 4:28 pm

I have to say that the survey we did very early on was what we used to pitch the activities. Given that the most popular options ticked were informal meet'n'greet and puzzle solving sessions, we made sure there were a lot of those. (followed by GSAK sessions)

The amount of people just standing/sitting around chatting surprised me every time I walked around, but it was fantastic to see. Most of the sessions, even the booked out ones, didn't have everyone turn up to them. In a way this was a little disappointing, but I heard so many people say things along the lines of: I was booked in but I got sidetracked chatting, or I was going to go, but I met up with some people and went caching instead. I don't mind this, it means the purpose of the event was fulfilled, so that's the main thing.

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Re: Melbourne Event 2015 (MEGA)

Post by biggles1024 » 16 November 15 4:50 pm

I didn't get to Casey Fields until late on Saturday because I had set myself the goal of at least 10 different types in the one day and I finished up having to drive just over 200km to do it. That didn't leave much time to do any more than discover many trackables. 8)
Saturday night BBQ was good and the fireworks were sensational. I saw Mark (one half of Team Crackers) on the Sunday and complimented him on the display.
I managed one session late on Sunday but totally stuffed up by getting the time wrong for your (Geoff) Earth Cache session. ](*,)
Discovered some more trackables and then went out and found a few more of the C.F. Series. Too much work had gone into solving some of those puzzles to risk missing out on making the find.
As this was my first Mega, I didn't know what to expect. In one respect, having it right in my backyard and I live only some 4.5kms from the site (as the Crow flies) was a disadvantage because none of the places I went were new to me. When I go away to compete in my sport, I usually camp at the venue and the onsite camping results in lots of good times sitting around campfires after a hard day of competition. I'm sure that when geocachers get together under the same circumstances, the result is the same, along with the consumption of some nice reds. \:D/
I'll probably have a chance to put my theory to the test when the next Victorian Mega occurs down on the surf coast.
Well done to all those involved in the organisation and running of this Mega and thank-you to both the organisers and all those who volunteered to assist in the running.

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Happy Chappies
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Re: Melbourne Event 2015 (MEGA)

Post by Happy Chappies » 16 November 15 5:04 pm

biggles1024 wrote:I didn't get to Casey Fields until late on Saturday because I had set myself the goal of at least 10 different types in the one day and I finished up having to drive just over 200km to do it. That didn't leave much time to do any more than discover many trackables. 8)
I was wondering who might be up for that challenge on the weekend! A rare opportunity to try for 10.... I was curious as to how easy it would be and, given your 200km experience, I guess the answer is "not very"! Congrats though... =D>

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Re: Melbourne Event 2015 (MEGA)

Post by biggles1024 » 16 November 15 8:33 pm

Happy Chappies wrote: I was wondering who might be up for that challenge on the weekend! A rare opportunity to try for 10.... I was curious as to how easy it would be and, given your 200km experience, I guess the answer is "not very"! Congrats though... =D>
Thank-you. The primary reason I had to drive so far was that I had already found the Earth Cache and Letter box cache (Team Crackers) at Berwick Springs and so a trip to the base of Mount Dandenong was required for both. I then proceeded to the mouth of the Patterson River for the archived web cam. I felt decidedly over dressed as I walked over the rock spit dressed in cargo trousers and long sleeved shirt with a laptop in my arms and a backpack on my back. The beach goers were quite amused, I'm sure. :lol: Then is was back to Narre Warren for the CITO and then the Mega itself. I picked up a Mystery, Trad and two Multi's along the way.
I was 'cheated' out of a Virtual though. I had the answers to one of BigglesBear's Virtuals since last April and was 'sitting' on them for this weekend. When I saw it had been archived, I emailed Jenny and asked if she would still accept my answers. She replied that she would. Neither of us knew that GS had apparently issued a directive that all recently archived Virtual and Web cam caches have their cache pages locked. :evil: :evil: :evil: I didn't find out until I tried to post my log. #-o
I finished with the ten types though and that was enough. 8)

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