One new traditional cache to report since our last post.
GCA6CFV Goedwig by Jacq123_1911 a jonboi Traditional D3/T3
New Event
And for once not hosted by 9 Usual Suspects!
GCA656C Nikoski and the Bee on Tour – North Wales 2023 by Nikoski D1/T1
When: Sunday 30th April
Where: Incredible Edible Garden, Conwy
Time: 11-11.30am
Suffolk cachers Nikoski and Bee of Good Cheer are back holidaying in North Wales and would love to meet up with local and not so local geocachers.
Event Reminder
GCA5YNK 9 Usual Suspects – Nosh & Natter 55 by 9 Usual Suspects D1/T1
When: Wednesday 29th March
Where: Anglesey Arms, Harbour Front, Caernarfon LL55 1SG
Time: 7pm to 9pm or when the last person leaves
Wheel of Challenges Souvenirs
We see no rest from souvenir challenges with this week Geocaching HQ launching its next souvenir challenge, Wheel of Challenges. Starting on Monday 3rd April 2023 this is the same day the current challenge and last labyrinth, The Dragon’s Lair, ends. Wheel of Challenges will run for 6 months, with a different challenge each month. This could be from finding a certain number of geocaches in a month, to testing how long you can keep up a daily streak. Each challenge will begin on the first Monday of the month.
Challenges will begin on the following dates:
- April 3, 2023
- May 1, 2023
- June 5, 2023
- July 3, 2023
- August 7, 2023
- September 4, 2023
Aprils challenge will be announced on 28th March with the details of how to earn the new souvenirs.
Challenges, are they good for Geocaching?
Do they inspire you to find more caches? Are there just too many challenges that they become boring? Or do you just ignore them? We have our views, it would be interesting to hear how others feel.
Well, now they’ve announced the challenge, I think Rich’ and I may reasonably expect to achieve the easy (5 caches) and medium (10 caches) but won’t be breaking our necks to get 100 caches during April 🤔😊😁 but … you never know!
Diehard cachers may look forward to new challenges, something new to aim for &/or continue a streak of challenges & souvenirs.
I, on the other hand, do not fall into this category. My time is finite & I generally couldn’t complete the higher levels of the challenges. More often than not, I’ve accomplished a challenge by chance rather than by design, because events, caching/lab trails, etc., I might have done attain a certain score equivalent to a challenge.
Personally, I think a level of saturation has been reached with the number of challenges, but that may be because the higher levels are unattainable for me? It is however my choice, as is everyone’s, to undertake any of the challenges if I so wish.
Dave
Ann/Pete – By the way, what are your views?
My personal view is there are far too many challenges and they run over far too long a time span. One or two a year that last a week or two that are achievable by the majority of geocachers is fine but when there is no break, with one ending on the same day the next starts it is just too much. We also live in an area where there is not the quantity or diversity of caches to achieve challenges without travelling vast distances. Geocaching should be about having fun and enjoying the adventure even if that is hiking 10km to find just one cache, it is not all about the numbers. We all need the occasional challenge to test our abilities and take us out of our comfort zones this gives us a great sense of achievement and is fun. I am now bored with HQ challenges. I’m also not keen on adventure labs, does anyone read the description? We don’t, we just get to GZ, answer the question and on to the next.
These challenge caches have become like a hamster wheel especially for rural communities where there isn’t the volume of caches available and we don’t want to add so many that they become Geo-litter. Yes we could just drop however many caches to make the numbers, but to me that seems to be not in the spirit of the game. The real elephant in the room is that Geocaching HQ is trying to keep themselves relevant and worth the premium fees they charge for their services (which isn’t bad value imho). There is a balance though and people continually chasing finds isn’t it, perhaps photos or helpful or great story on caches. I’m sure Geocaching HQ would welcome your suggestions.