Geocaching Australia

Just got a notice from GC.com that someone has logged Yacaaba after very a long dry spell.

It occured to me that caching at this level of difficulty is becoming very rare indeed, at least in the Sydney area. In fact, hard /adventure cache finders and placers seem to be becoming extinct.

Caches like Down The River or Paramount Peak are not getting much interest at all. "River"hasn't been done for over 2 years.

I know there are players out there that do hard caches, but most of the newer players don't seem to go for them. It's a pity, because the hard ones represent some of the most satisfying caching experiences of them all.

Maybe they are simply being buried in amongst the huge amount of easy caches out there now availabe, 0r maybe the newcomers are just not seeing them.

So I say this....Hey guys! Try caches like "Panorama "or "Australia's Highest"or "Wonderful", or "Ancient Orange". You'll be so glad you did.

We the Routers are now onto harder caches and are finding them very rewarding, we have only done a couple of walks but have many more planned! We have done road trips and up to 50 caches in 24hrs, but there is nothing like going for a walk , having a picnic then returning, walking off all the cheeses and olives and and the like (excercise outside the comfort zone) to make one feel good!
We recommend walking and only doing one cache (shock, horror!) it is very rewarding!

Hey guys;
I guess I’m one of those ‘newcomers’ that you have mentioned. I’ve only been caching since June this year and while I have completed a number of the tougher caches in Queensland. I have noticed that there does seem to be tendency for those in the game to emphasise the number of caches they have completed rather than the difficulty involved ie. The star system on these forums. I think it’s a shame that this system couldn’t be re-jigged in order to reflect these accomplishments of difficulty. I know that there is a lot more to this than the stars but it does add another dimension Geocaching and I’m sure that you are all proud of yours.

Kind of depends on who you have caching with you. I know my 5yo wouldn't want to do Terrain 4 or 5 caches, so I avoid them when I'm with her.

As far as the remainder go, I'm an urban cacher (in general) and there just aren't the number of places in Melbourne to hide terrain 4 or 5 caches that aren't just there for the hell of it.

Sure, the Dandenongs can be hard and I've done a couple that way. Where I live, it's a volcanic plateau and the closest hills are either the You Yangs, Mt. Macedon or the Brisbane Ranges.

I do dislike puzzles or multi caches that require you to drive for 45 minutes, get the next clue, drive home, work on it for a week only to do the same thing next weekend. Sheesh. If driving was my thing I'd join a driving club, not go geocaching.

I don't mind tricky puzzles (as long as there is only one right answer ) as long as I can complete them at home and then go find "the" cache or complete the while thing on the spot, but they don't seem all that prolific either. I do have something in train for a Difficulty 4 or 5 puzzle and I need to find a place to put it that will give a decent terrain rating too although the hardest I can probably get within maintenance distance is a 3.

I know what you mean though, embi has a wonderful cache down past Geelong that was hidden for the Dash for Cache game this year and pretty much hasn't been found since.

He's also got another called National Treasure which is a sensational cache, but it seems that it's all too hard. If you get the opportunity, do it. You won't regret it. It's very cool.

Lazy? Possibly - allright, Probably. My big problem with the 3/4 hr each way caches are my knees. Many (40) years of competitive sport is taking its toll.<P>
Have to agree with the Monkey. So many newbies, so many caches, so many micro urbans (Yes, I'm guilty). The walk is usually better through the bush but beggars can't be choosers. <P>
My other reasons for not caching as regularly - and that includes big walk caches - are <BR>Tech (finished soon so more time), <BR>Cost of petrol (we are not a rich family), <BR>Kids' sports - doesn't help when they are both representative players but you have to traipse all over the countryside and hopefully pick up one or two caches near a venue.<BR>Wife working shift work and wanting to spend "family time" together if we can.<P>Life's depressing when you can't cache isn't it? Anyway that's my rant.

Also think the Geocaching community has probably changed demographics. <br><br> Originally (Yes here comes some gross generalisations so don't shout at me ) Geocachers came from Bushwalking community, 4wd community, maybe even boating community and technical/geek community. <br><br>With GPSr's becoming more mainstream the new players may not be interested in hiking into the bush or up a mountain to find the harder caches.

Facitman wrote:Also think the Geocaching community has probably changed demographics. <br><br> Originally (Yes here comes some gross generalisations so don't shout at me ) Geocachers came from Bushwalking community, 4wd community, maybe even boating community and technical/geek community. <br><br>With GPSr's becoming more mainstream the new players may not be interested in hiking into the bush or up a mountain to find the harder caches.

Let me see, up a mountain. Not unless there's a cable car.
Into the bush. Not unless there's a 5 star hotel on the other side or I can borrow a 4WD.

I'm from one of the communities you mention and I'll let you guess which one.

<p>The Hounded one makes a fair point. However I'll blow my own trumpet a bit as one who's at least trying to make an effort here and there. I'm proud to be one of the few who's completed Hounddogs <a href="http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_de ... >Paramount Peak</a> and one of my favourates, <a href="http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_de ... ustralia's Highest</a>. I've also knocked off another rare one, <a href="http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_de ... ">Panorama Cache</a> just recently. [end brag mode]</p>
<p>However these caches interest me so much <i>because</i> they are so rarely visited. One almost feels like a member of an exclusive club having made the effort to knock these ones off.</p><p>Another rare one in my sights, <a href="http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_de ... 2MB">Tower 126</a>. Not sure when I'll get there, but it's on my hitlist! I dare anyone to beat me!</p>

It is hard to tell people what they should be doing and what they are missing out on - just too many variables. Caching to us is a means of exploring places that we have never been to. We enjoy the adventure and have a lot of fun in the process. However our situation allows us a great deal of freedom, but we know a lot of other teams that are ristricted in one way or another of being able to do what we can. eg C@W. Also agree with Facitman's theory of changed demographics - it is just great that the game has developed to allow different cachers a choice of what they want to tackle.

BTW - here is another cache that we just couldn't go past. We were nearly dissuaded by Grank's lengthy warnings, but found the terrain ok once we got there.

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_de ... 4eb7b2aadb

perhaps one of our statisticians can do some time-based analysis and plot the average cache hide difficulty and terrain over time, then plot the average cache find difficulty and terrain over time and see whether they are trending up or down?

Hmmmmmm. I do something similar to the i! request for cachers on an individual basis. If you go to http://www.caughtatwork.net/geocaching/graphs and then enter a cacher name you can see their bubble D and T graphs over time. ie. Are there any more bubbles higher up, later on.

I'll see what it looks like for everyone, and if it looks like crap, I'll see if I can do averages, but that'll be later tonight. I've got caches to find today.

Pesky! wrote:beat you! nyah nyaah! by at least 12 Months!

... and do you have plans to complete Panorama Cahe in the next 12 months?! Me thinks a challenge could be in order, Mr Pesky! Do you reckon you could get to Panorama Cache before I get to Tower 126?

The gauntlet has been thrown down!

There are two new line graphs on the state pages and the individual cacher pages. Not quite what i! was asking for but a truck load easier to code

http://www.caughtatwork.net/geocaching/graphs

Caches Found by Average Difficulty
Caches Found by Average Terrain

Without looking into the numbers in extreme detail, to the question, are we getting lazier, I believe the answer is YES, but only slightly.

Difficulty peaked at 2.01 in September 2001 and has finished at 1.66 for November 2005.

Terrain peaked at 1.96 in September 2001 and has finished at 1.64 for November 2005.

What does this mean?
Not really sure, but the standard deviation seems quite normal.

What does this really mean?
Buggered if I know. I do graphs, not the interpretation.

Oh, and NSW and QLD are stuffed in the early days as there are three caches that have a terrain and difficulty on either 0 or -1. Now THAT has to be easy

Edit: Slight change to the criteria. Added difficulty or terrain > 0.5
It seems that a load of international caches have null d and t, so to stop these getting in the way, they are no longer included.