We would like to wish everyone a very happy, safe, Covid free Christmas and take this opportunity to Thank everyone for supporting 9US through another difficult year.
Christmas Brain Teaser
For those that were not at the online party here is 10 anagrams all connected with food that you could eat on Christmas Day. Answers in the next post.
Just another couple of elf videos from last year…….. first the Moseleys
And finally Wendy, Sion and Dave…….
And the final bad cracker joke for this year……….
What did the sea say to Santa? Nothing! It just waved!
Only one new cache and one new event published this week. The event is a bit out of our area but for anyone wanting to visit a beautiful beach on New Years Day this event by Pink icing should be considered.
GC9KBDP Happy New Year at the seaside by Pink icing Event D1/T1.5
GC9JT53 Promenade Across The Causeway by Clueless_Goose Multi D2/T1.5
A lovely multi cache which takes you along Belgian Promenade that can be combined with this Adventure Lab Gateway to Ynys Mon – Exploring Menai Bridge created by escapefromwork.
GIFF Results
This year’s Signal Award winner is…
First hide – Geocaching Documentary from Finland
“Braija returns with “First hide – Geocaching Documentary from Finland.” This year, he’s a Community Volunteer Reviewer here to help a cacher with his first geocache hide. He shares tips and tricks which can help every new cache hider!” Geocaching HQ Blog
This year’s People’s Choice winner is…
Signal Academy – Froggy’s Dream
“Signal Academy – Froggy’s Dream shows a day in the life at Signal Academy – a school for cute miniature Signal the Frogs! From Dr. Professor Signalus’ lessons to Outdoor Recreation class, there’s lots going on at Signal Academy.” Geocaching HQ Blog
I’m not sure if we all agree with the peoples choice vote result. There were 61 film submissions from 15 different countries, 17 of which made the cut for this years film show. The next GIFF will be in 2 years time, 2023, due to Geocaching HQ 20th anniversary celebrations. Could we do better?
Other Stuff
A big Thank You to everyone who attended last nights online party and Pete for sorting out all the technical stuff etc. Let us hope that next year we will all be meeting up in person and not online events.
Another elf dance from last year, take it away Pink icing and Jude100………
And as it is not quite Christmas here’s another cracker joke…….
Who says “Oh, oh, oh!”? Santa Claus walking backwards
As we approach the shortest day in mid December in the UK, on a clear night we see the Geminids meteor shower. This is one of the most active and reliable meteor showers in the astronomical calendar. Although this peaks on the early morning around 14th, it starts on the 4th and extends to the 16th of December. The best time to see this phenomenon is around 02:00 to 03:00 in the morning. The name Geminids comes from the “apparent” source of the shower the Gemini constellation which is currently to the east. That said, meteors from this shower can appear from just about anywhere in the sky, although they will appear predominantly from the direction of the Gemini constellation. Meteors are small stony or metallic natural objects from space usually the remains of a comet or collision between asteroids. When a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere, it is traveling faster than a speeding bullet, estimated to be greater than 11 km per second (25,000 miles per hour). Friction produced by the collision with the atmosphere, causes them to vaporise, and heat the air around it giving the characteristic trail, any colour is given by the material that is burning usually white for iron-nickel but can be blue, green or red . If the meteor reaches the ground it’s known as a meteorite. The Geminids are intensifying every year and recent showers have seen 120–160 meteors per hour!
No new caches or events to report this week. We are hoping to have a couple of events over New Year but we are refraining from publishing until we can see how the current Covid situation develops.
Online Christmas PartyTuesday 21st December 2021 at 8pm
We can confirm there will be no cheese, canapés, wine or Secret Santa and everyone will be social distanced! Book your space by contacting us either through the comments or message us admin(at)9usualsuspects.uk. (replace (at) with @)
Another gem from last years party………….
Update on GC8NEAT Locationless Cache
GC8NEAT Let’s improve the outdoors – Locationless Cache Don’t panic if you have not yet logged this cache as Geocaching HQ have extended the deadline to December 31st 2022. Originally this cache was released by Geocaching HQ as part of the 20th anniversary celebrations. Full instructions on logging requirements are found on the cache page.
New Year Souvenirs
There are two new souvenirs ‘Fin’ and ‘Once Upon a Time’ available to find over the Christmas/New Year Holidays. To qualify for the Fin 2021 souvenir find any geocache from December 24-31, and the Once Upon a Time 2022 souvenir by finding another geocache from January 1-8.
The following cache types all qualify for the souvenir:
Traditional Caches
Multi-Caches
Virtual Caches
Letterbox Hybrids
Event Caches
Mystery Caches
Webcam Caches
EarthCaches
Wherigo Caches
Adventure Labs
And finally
Here is another cracker joke to get you in the mood for Christmas:
What is the best Christmas present in the world? A broken drum… you just can’t beat it!
Join us for an evening of seasonal fun on Tuesday 21st December 2021 at 8pm. There will be quizzes, games and hopefully a lot of laughs. Dig out your Christmas jumper and any other fitting attire. You will need a Christmas cracker, pen and paper and something to drink, preferably alcoholic!
To get you in the mood here’s a cracker joke from last year:
How does Jack Frost get to work? By icicles
Remember this?
Please confirm attendance so we can forward you a link to join the fun and frolics.
Only one new cache this week and completes the Aberlleiniog Castle Trail.
GC9JWGW Aberlleiniog Castle Trail, The Castle by 9 Usual Suspects Traditional D2/T2.5
Online Christmas Party
As we cancelled Christmas Dinner denying us all of a chance to meet up before Christmas would anyone be interested in an online party similar to last years? Please let us know your views and any ideas.
Also, depending on how the present Covid situation develops, we are considering rescheduling Christmas Dinner for late January……. Please let us know if you are interested.
Contact us either through comments or by emailing us admin(at)9usualsuspects.uk
The Reach the Peak souvenir Challenge December
The new challenge starts on the 6th December. This month we are heading to Alaska to summit North America’s tallest peak, Denali. Prior to 2015 the mountain was called Mount McKinley after a 35 year campaign its name was officially changed to its local name, Denali. Cachers must collect 350 points to earn the Denali Basecamp souvenir and 6,190 points to earn the Denali Summit souvenir. Here are the point values for our climb up Denali:
Found a Multi-Cache
750
Found a cache with 10+ Favorite points
700
Found an EarthCache
600
Found a Mystery Cache
550
Found a Letterbox Hybrid
500
Found an Adventure Location
425
Found it*
350
*Log a Found it on any other non-Event cache type, excluding Webcam Caches.
The maximum number of points you can earn for any cache log is 750 points.
Looking for some winter sun? We can highly recommend Malta for a winter’s Geocaching break. The country of Malta consists of five limestone islands situated in the Mediterranean sea between Sicily and North Africa. Only the 3 largest islands are inhabited Malta, Gozo and Comino. Malta has a typical Mediterranean climate with mild winters and hot summers, rain occurs mainly in autumn and winter, with summer being generally dry. The average annual temperature is around 23 °C during the day and 15.5 °C at night. In August temperatures can exceed 35 °C. We visited at the beginning of February when daytime temperatures were 18-21 °C and we were very lucky to have no rain. The islands at this time of year are very pretty with masses of wild flowers, later in the year it can be very hot, dry, and dusty.
Independence from Britain was granted in 1964 and in 1974 Malta became a republic joining the EU in 2004. The islands have had a succession of different rulers including the Romans, Moors, Knights of Saint John, French and, lastly the British, all of which have left their influence in architecture and culture.
During the 2nd World War Malta was strategically a very important base for the Allied forces. The German and Italian air forces heavily bombed the islands causing devastating damage. In 1942 the George Cross was presented to the island of Malta in recognition of the bravery of the Maltese people. The beautiful catholic church at Mosta, Sanctuary Basilica of the assumption of our Lady, is famous for avoiding destruction when a German bomb fell through the roof of the dome during mass but failed to explode. This event was interpreted by the Maltese people as a miracle. A replica of the bomb can be found in the church.
The main advantages to the British traveller is that English is widely spoken, being an official language with 88% of Maltese people speaking it and they also drive on the left. The majority of road signs are the same as found in the UK and all written road signage is in dual languages making it easy to explore the islands. There is an efficient public bus service on Malta and Gozo, it is another good way to get around as the buses go practically everywhere and are inexpensive. Red telephone and post boxes are scattered across the islands are another reminder of the British connection.
The beautiful Dingli Cliffs lay on the western coast and are the highest point of the islands around 250m above sea level. There is a tiny chapel perched on the very edge, dedicated to St Mary Madgalene, and a large radar system known as the observatory because of its distinctive “golf ball” shape. The tiny island of Filfla lays off the coast, its size was greatly reduced by the Royal Navy and Air Force using it for target practice. Not far from the cliffs is Misrah Ghar il-Kbir or informally known as Clapham Junction, an area of paired grooves carved into the limestone pavement presumed to be cart ruts. Here the oldest geocache in Malta can be found.
GCHEQ7 The Ring of Clapham Junction by lucentio (adopted by Gremxul) traditional D2.5/T2 4.1.2004
Nearby to the cart ruts is the natural depression of Għar il-Kbir, forming a cave complex of interconnecting caves, which was inhabited by people from Neolithic times till 1835.
Another historic site worth visiting is the megalithic temples of Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra they are the best preserved of Malta’s prehistoric sites. A visitor centre and permanent tentlike canopies have been erected over the complex to protect the temples from the elements. The temples are in solar alignment so at each of the equinoxes the sun shines on the furthest edge of a slab inside the temples.
GC7B8NZ Mnajdra and Ħaġar Qim by Jovaluda Virtual D1/T2
Gozo
We recommend taking the ferry to Gozo, it takes just 20 minutes, the ferries are very frequent and cheap. The car ferry shuttles between Malta’s Ċirkewwa and Gozo’s Mġarr every 45 minutes from 6am to around 6pm and roughly every 1½ hours throughout the night. If travelling by vehicle you pay on your return leg, when leaving Mġarr, so there’s no need to buy a ticket in Ċirkewwa on the way out. One of the highlights of our trip to Gozo was the salt pans and discovering this earthcache:
GC5MXE1 Salt Pans from Zebbug and Marsalforn by Hatamoto-Skyks Earthcache D1.5/T2
Useful Information
Currency is the Euro Electricity is 230 Volts, 50Hz. Plug type G 3-pin plug as in the UK Flight Time from Manchester 3 hours 25 minutes Time Zone I hour ahead of UK
We are regrettably cancelling this years Christmas Dinner, GC9HRT5 . If you have seen Lon’s note on the cache page you will be aware that Moseley_Bach has tested positive for Covid and they are all currently self isolating. As we have been in contact with them we are also restricting contacts awaiting the results of a PCR test. With Covid cases extremely high and rising in this area we do not want to put attendees health at any unnecessary risk. We are really sorry about this, but everyone’s wellbeing comes first. Deposits will be refunded ASAP, we will try and reschedule in January.
New for this year if you were unable to attend an event the films are now available to watch online on the Geocaching YouTube Channel.
Unlike other years when the GIFF souvenir was automatically awarded after logging an ‘attended’ log on an event, this year you have to discover the trackable. The trackable code is displayed after the last film on the GIFF film reel. Post a discovered log, (the trackable code found below) and you will receive the GIFF 2021 souvenir.
There are 2 other TB’s hidden in the films: GIFF Clapperboard GT30QT Froggy und Cacher-Mobil 17NTWB
Also there is a worldwide vote for GIFF People’s Choice Film, to vote go to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GIFF2021 and vote for your favourite film. One vote per player account. Voting closes Tuesday, December 7, 6:00 PM UTC time. The winner will be announced in a future Geocaching Blog post.
Log Book and 3D Printed Event Souvenirs
GC9H8N8 GIFF 2021, Geocaching International Film Festival by 9 Usual Suspects
For this years event we were at Talysarn Community Centre, a new larger venue for us with plenty of easy parking. The space worked very well with areas for the film show, refreshments and a stall selling crafts plus geocaching bits and pieces. After hot drinks and a chance for everyone to catch up, we all settled down to watch the films with bowls of popcorn, crisps and sweets. Were the films of a higher standard than in previous years? That is for you to judge. A very big thanks goes to Julie and Ray (Bess’s Friends) for supplying/manning the stalls, Pete (naturesbyte) for printing the souvenir and sorting our all the technical stuff, Richard and Elaine for running the kitchen and general mucking in, Andy(YnysMonBirders) for supplying the screen and finally THANK YOU everyone for attending.
New Adventure Lab
Betws-y-Coed Bimble created by strongsRus This lab will take you on a short walk through the scenic village of Betws-y-Coed.
