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Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Posted: 11 January 10 11:30 pm
by Richary
Hi imagecatcher, yes roads through National Parks are probably a hard one, at what point does the ownership shift from RTA to National Parks (ore equivalents interestate). I would consider a roadside rest stop on a major road as fair game, as long as it isn't over a fence that is an obvious boundary. Whether the zones are detailed enough to allow that I don't know not having tried it.

One example is one I placed a few months ago. It is in a campground surrounded by National Parks, but the campground is run by the local council. Had no trouble getting that listed, though not sure what the zones show - the NP bounday is about 30m away on the other side of a dirt road. But I did explain that in the listing.

And yes, it is great for getting the kids out and away from the TV toys or the PC. Not that I have any these days but I did for a couple of years back in Adelaide (semi adopted, my partners little ones). And the two boys (5 and 10) loved it.

Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Posted: 14 January 10 10:10 pm
by Trail06
Clearly self assessmemt doesn't work very well. I continue to find caches in vulnerable and environmentally sensitive areas and anything that we can do to deter damage to our fragile environment the better. I heard one "greenish" cacher the other day say that he was thinking about becoming the cache police where he would warn cachers about badly placed caches and unless they were moved he would remove them after 7 days. Controversial I know, but I thought that geocaching is an environmentally friendly sport and placing caches in delicate bushes, revegegation zones and in other sensitive areas should be deterred. So, my vote is yes!

Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Posted: 14 January 10 10:25 pm
by caughtatwork
Hang on, we're talking about where geocaching is specifically banned. Not everyday environmentally sensitive areas.

If someone found a park where geocaching was not banned and hid an environmentally insensitive cache, then that is a different problem.

Just checking to see if we are on the same page here.

Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Posted: 14 January 10 10:46 pm
by Trail06
I hear you, but what I am trying to say is that if we cant rely on people to use common sense in placing caches in general areas such as parks, we have little chance of folk not placing caches in prohibited areas. I believe that GCA adminstators play a role in restricting the placement of new caches where they are clearly in prohibited zones.

Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Posted: 14 January 10 10:52 pm
by tronador
Trail06 wrote:I heard one "greenish" cacher the other day say that he was thinking about becoming the cache police where he would warn cachers about badly placed caches and unless they were moved he would remove them after 7 days.
:shock: :shock:
That is definitely not a way to go about making any friends.

Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Posted: 14 January 10 10:58 pm
by caughtatwork
Gotcha.

Totally agree, but there is no way that all caches can be checked for environmental sensitivity when they are placed but before they are approved.

theUMP (alone) has published 15,554 caches since 23-Feb-2006 which is an average of 11 per day. Add in i,riblit at an average of 3.5 per day and we end up with 15 caches per day, everyday for the last 4 years being published.

No one group has the ability to physically review all of those caches.

The only real way is community feedback as to when caches become an environmental issue.

Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Posted: 14 January 10 11:13 pm
by tronador
caughtatwork wrote:The only real way is community feedback as to when caches become an environmental issue.
Totally agree and I really hope, no cacher decides to appoint themselves as the cache police. :evil: Nobody has that right!

Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Posted: 14 January 10 11:17 pm
by caughtatwork
Cool, let's get back on topic which is caching in banned zones, thanks.

Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Posted: 21 January 10 7:53 pm
by darth trader
Is there a KML google maps overlay available to the public that gives us all the same information of banned areas?

Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Posted: 21 January 10 8:44 pm
by caughtatwork
Only NSW.

Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Posted: 22 January 10 6:10 pm
by CraigRat
http://geocaching.com.au/zone/au.kml
It's not listed anywhere on the site yet, but it's ready for use I reckon.

Red zones are the banned areas

Click a rectangle for a detailed description, then click on the link at the bottom for a detailed polygon of the boundary.

Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Posted: 22 January 10 7:58 pm
by PesceVerde
Very nice. But sadly way too many areas red I think! :(
Is a decision about the GCA cache listing in banned areas any closer at this stage??

Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Posted: 22 January 10 9:15 pm
by Hunter-Finder
That's nearly all of the Northern Sydney area. There are literally hundreds of caches in the red areas. A lot aren't even in National Parks yet the "Red" shows the areas as "Out of Bounds". :(

Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Posted: 22 January 10 9:32 pm
by CraigRat
seeker wrote:That's nearly all of the Northern Sydney area. There are literally hundreds of caches in the red areas. A lot aren't even in National Parks yet the "Red" shows the areas as "Out of Bounds". :(
It's not just designated national parks, it's also areas managed by NSW NPWS which is a substantial number of public places!
And yes, there are hundreds of existing caches in these areas. :cry:

Re: GCA listings of caches in areas where geocaching is banned

Posted: 23 January 10 9:39 am
by Phetlern
Thanks for that map information CraigRat.
Interesting and a bit scary, and reinforces the need for us Geocachers to get a dialogue going with authorities in other States.