Stumped no longer

We managed to remove another cache from our to-do list. Stumped... has had us, well, stumped, for a while now. We weren't able to find it when it was initially placed as a multi-cache, and Mr S had no luck trying to find it when it was converted to a traditional cache. Last weekend we went out on another mission, and made the find.

It turns out we (well, Mr S) were looking near the wrong stump. Once we saw that there was another likely hiding spot, it wasn't long before we had the cache in hand. This was our lesson in not being too focussed on the arrow on the GPSr, and stopping to look around to see if there are any other likely hiding spots nearby.

Our to-do list is shrinking, and hopefully we can cross a few more off soon.

Event caches

We are still yet to attend an event cache. The first one we could have attended was C.C.C.C.C. #3 (All Rogues Day) last year, but it was on the same weekend that we moved house. Last month was the first meeting of Geocaching NSW Inc., but that fell on our wedding day. Finally, we think there's an event that we'll be able to attend - the WWFM IV event in Sydney.

After hearing Sonny and Sandy from Podcacher talk about the WWFM III event, we thought it would be fun to take part in a WWFM if there was one organised in Sydney. Ms S will be on the support crew and take some photos and video of the event, while Mr S will take part in the run. Sounds like a fun day, and we'll finally have the chance to put some faces to geocaching names.

Another milestone in our caching career

After a bit of a lull in our caching activity which was caused by the fact we had to organise our wedding, we finally made another find yesterday, and it was another milestone in our caching career.

Pearce Family Plot was the first cache that we found as husband and wife. It was also memorable for the fact that we discovered the battery in our car was flat when we got back to it after finding the cache. After waiting for the NRMA Road Service, we were on our way again.

With daylight saving starting in Sydney this Sunday, we may be able to hunt some caches after work.

Sad news about our first cache placement

The first cache that we placed, Sshhh! had a few DNFs recently, and those cachers that had found it had commented on the amount of litter that had been building up in the area. Mr S went for a look on Saturday, and confirmed that it had been muggled. We decided to archive it, as the area seemed to be becoming unsuitable as a cache hiding spot. We've got a cache container ready to go. All we need to do is find a suitable location for it.

Our second first to find

We recently managed to snare our second FTF. It was The Sacred Order of the Stonecutters, and there was a bit of confusion whether or not we were actually there first. We think we were lucky to try this one during school holidays when some of the regular FTF-hounds were out of town.

Back in Oz

With Mr S back in the country, we've managed to make a few more finds. During his week off after arriving home from the US, Mr S tried to find a couple of caches that have been bothering us for a while.

The first of these was No Trolls Here. We'd had two previous attempts at finding this one, so armed with some fresh ideas of where to look, courtesy of the logs of some of the successful finders, he hoped that our third search would prove lucky. We'd figured out that the cache was a magnetic key container, and that it was hidden near one corner of the bridge. Mr S spent some time walking slowly backwards and forwards across the bridge to try and figure out which corner was the correct one. The GPSr managed to keep pointing pretty much to one corner (with occasional variation), so the hunt began. There weren't many places to search, so it wasn't long until the cache was in hand. It felt good to finally cross that one off our list.

Inspired by his success with No Trolls Here, Mr S set off the following day to search for another of our nemesis caches, Stumped .... We'd had no luck with this one in its original location, so hoped that the new location would be easier. After searching GZ fro half an hour, though, Mr S came up empty. He thought that muggles might have discovered this one, as there was a newly-constructed BMX track next to GZ. It was a bit disappointing to log a DNF for this cache again. Turns out that the muggles hadn't been there, as the cache has been found after his unsuccessful attempt. I guess we'll have to go back!

California cachin'

During late June and early July, Mr S travelled to the US to attend a conference in Anaheim. Of course there was no way he was going to let work get in the way of some geocaching. He had a few days in San Francisco before flying down to Anaheim, and was able to do some a couple of caches.

He managed to find our first virtual cache, WPArt: Lillie's Cache, as well as I met him in a swamp down in Dagobah.... Being a Star Wars fan, there was no way he was going to leave that one alone. He was able to set our Gingerbread Man geocoin free, and it didn't take for him to be moved on.

There were a couple of other caches on his list that he would have liked to have found, but the muggle factor was too high, and he doesn't like doing urban caches in Australia, let alone overseas. Ms S got into the caching spirit too, and dropped off a couple of travel bugs and coins that we'd held onto for quite a while.

It was nice to come home after adding a couple of overseas finds to our tally. If only he'd known about geocaching two years ago during his seven week holiday in the US!