Tag: Geocaching Events

News & New Caches 146

As part of our International Geocaching Day celebrations we have added a further 5 new caches to our Lon Eifion series:

GCAVG57 Lon Eifion, Gwaith Llechi by 9 Usual Suspects Traditional D1.5/T2
GCAVG55 Lon Eifion, the Corner by 9 Usual Suspects Traditional D3/T1.5
GCAVG4P Lon Eifion, Be Seated by 9 Usual Suspects Traditional D1.5/T1.5
GCAVG4Y Lon Eifion, Theraphosidae by 9 Usual Suspects Traditional D1.5/T1.5
GCAVG49 Lon Eifion, Not a Fine Pair! by 9 Usual Suspects Traditional D2/T1.5

Event

GCAWQYQ SideTracked – Holyhead by RidgeGrovers Event D1/T1.5
When: Friday 6th September 2024
Where: Lidl Car Park
Time: 12.45-1.15pm
A quick meet before RidgeGrovers take the ferry to Dublin.

Event Reminders

Saturday is a busy day on Anglesey.

GCAVXKP Beaver Badge Celebration by MonHunter Event D1/T1
When: Saturday 24th August 2024
Where: Caffi Twr Marcwis
Time: 11-11.30am
An event to celebrate a challenge accepted by MonHunter made by his Beavers Leader to find and maintain caches during the summer holidays as to gain a Personal Challenge Beavers award. So come along and celebrate completing the challenge at one of our favourite places, Caffi Twr Marcwis (the Marquis Column cafe).

GCAVXAQ Meet and Greet Holyhead Maritime by shavonrg Event D1/T1.5
When: Saturday 24th August 2024
Where: Maritime Museum, Holyhead
Time: 4-4.30pm
A group of Geocachers from the US and Canada would like to meet local cachers to discuss our fascinating hobby.

Event Review

International Geocaching 2024 Souvenir

GCAVKYR 9US Celebrate International Geocaching Day 2024 by 9US Event D1/T1

Once again we were lucky with the weather, it may not have been a lovely warm sunny day but at least it did not rain. To start our International Geocaching Day celebrations at 9am 5 new caches along Lon Eifion went live. We hadn’t expected there to be so much competition for the FTF’s but it did keep us entertained.

After finding some fishing caches at the UK Mega we decided to introduce this style of hide to local cachers in the form of an Ad Lab, Fishing at Plas Gwernoer. As Ecobake put in his log this ‘kept the kid’s of all ages amused’. After the BBQ Mike produced this years extreme game, target catapulting…. not quite as dangerous as the knife throwing!

A big thanks to Pete for manning the BBQ, Mike & Gail for the games, everyone who brought tickets for the tombola & raffle, the washing up fairy, everyone for helping clear up and of course for attending.

The Ad Lab will be available at forth coming events at Plas Gwernoer or by prior arrangement with Pete or Ann.

New 9US Coins

Our new geocoins designed by Julie of Bess’s Friends are selling fast, at just £11.00 each a must have for your geocoin collection. They will be available to purchase at our events or contact us either through the comments or email geocoins@9usualsuspects.uk

News & New Caches 144

First we must apologise for the lack of posts over the last couple of weeks. Our excuse is that we have been at Piratemania and UK Mega followed by visiting friends and family.

So, let’s start with the new caches and events that have been published while we have been away:

GCAV9QF Abersoch Nexus by rubenxamber Traditional D1.5/T1
GCAV9NE Mirage Mystery by rubenxamber Traditional D2/T1.5
GCAW70E Shanty Shores by rubenxamber Traditional D1/T12
GCAW54F Abersoch Explorer rubenxamber Traditional D1.5/T1.5
GCAW6Q9 Llysfaen walk by Cymroboi Traditional D2/T3
GCAW23A My Guide Hide by Geojade2013 Traditional D1/T1.5
GCAVRJ0 Rolling stone by Theonator Traditional D1.5/T1

GCAV9NN Golf Club Gambit by rubenxamber Mystery D1/T1

GCAVWX3 Little Bridges # 3006 Pont Yr Aber (Caernarfon) by Clueless_Goose Multi D2/T2


Events

Yes, this is this Saturday!
GCAVKYR 9US Celebrate International Geocaching Day 2024 by 9US Event D1/T1
Where: Plas Gwernoer, Nantlle
When: Saturday 17th August, 2024
Time: 2.00pm-6pm (the bar will remain open until the last person leaves!)
Games Start Time: 2.30pm
BBQ: 5pm
Trackable Raffle Draw: 5.30pm
Let’s celebrate International Geocaching Day with an afternoon of fun, games and plenty of geo-chat. Just to confirm there will be 5 new caches going live along Lon Eifion.

GCAVXKP Beaver Badge Celebration by MonHunter Event D1/T1
When: Saturday 24th August 2024
Where: Caffi Twr Marcwis
Time: 11-11.30am

GCAVXAQ Meet and Greet Holyhead Maritime by shavonrg Event D1/T1.5
When: Saturday 24th August 2024
Where: Maritime Museum, Holyhead
Time: 6-730pm
A group of Geocachers from the US and Canada would like to meet local cachers to discuss our fascinating hobby.

GCAWCCH London Calling on Tour: Caernarfon by goldpot Event D1/T1
When: Tuesday 8th October 2024
Where: Tafarn Y Porth (Wetherspoons)
Time: 4-4.30pm
One for the diary. Meet a London Calling committee member, goldpot, at an informal caching event to chat about all things geocaching and promote the Block Party event in London in 2025.

Adventure Lab

Bangor Rambles created by escapefromwork
This adventure is designed to invite you around some of the walking routes in and around Bangor. It is not intended to be completed all in one go. Take your time to explore some of the open spaces the city has to offer. Enjoy the wildlife and the views.

Congratulations!

We would like to say a very big congratulations to Optimist on the run and Harry the furry squid, better know to us as Simon and Liz, on their engagement. To celebrate they are hosting the following event:

GCARDEP Optimistic Squid’s engagement party by Optimistic Squid D1/T1
When: Saturday 7th September 2024
Where: Shenstone Village Hall
Time: 1-5pm

This should be a fun event. They will be providing tea, coffee, cold drinks and a selection of home-made cakes, some geocaching related stalls, with representatives of Severn Mega and GAGB in attendance. They also plan to put out some new caches in the area, and there will be other activities during the afternoon which they will announce later, so log your ‘will attends’ now to stay notified by them.

News & New Caches 143

There has been lots of caches published since our last post:

GCAV1CG YOSM #0115 Porth Ysgaden by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2/T2
GCATH1R Abersoch REBORN by rubenxamber Traditional D1/T1.5
GCATH2E Dune Discoveries by rubenxamber Traditional D2/T1.5
GCATJC8 Abersoch’s Beachside Mystery by rubenxamber Traditional D1/T1
GCATJD5 Abersoch Pre-Beach Treasure by rubenxamber Traditional D1/T1

View from Sailors Secret

GCATJBM Sailor’s Secret by rubenxamber Traditional D1/T1
GCATRHJ Lobster’s Lair: Potted Treasure by rubenxamber Traditional D1/T1.5
GCATRGX Dockside Delight by rubenxamber Traditional D1/T1.5
Multi
GCAV82C It’s all Shakespeare to me by Clueless_Goose Multi D3.5/T1.5
Earthcache
GCATK97 Royal Charter Memorial by 74jen Earthcache D2.5/T3
Mystery
GCATXCK Age of AI by Clueless_Goose Mystery D3/T2.5
Wherigo
GCATD9A YOSM #1127 Douglas Hill by Clueless_Goose Wherigo D2.5/T3
Event
GCAV1Z4 9 Usual Suspects – Nosh & Natter 69 by 9 Usual Suspects Event D1/T1

Cosmic Quest Challenge

The Cosmic Quest starts on July 22nd and runs to September 1st with the possibility of three souvenirs available, two to be individually earned and one by the geocaching community reaching a target of 15 million fuel points.

See the table below for information about how many units of fuel different geocaching actions generate:

Activated a trackable1
Attended an Event3
Received a Favorite point on an owned geocache2
Found an EarthCache5
Found it*1

*Logged a Found it on any other cache type, excluding Webcam Caches.

Players can earn the Super fuel cacher souvenir by generating 20 units of fuel and players can earn the Ultra fuel cacher souvenir by generating 100 units of fuel.

News & New Caches 142

We have several new caches to report. Is this due to a slight improvement in the weather?

GCATDNK Bwlch Cwm Dulyn by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2/T3.5
GCAT0GF YOSM #1113 Twthill by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2/T2.5
GCAT0H8 YOSM #1114 Penmynydd by Clueless_Goose Traditional D1.5/T1.5
GCAT0J2 YOSM #1115 Mynydd Llwydiarth by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2/T3
GCATC9J YOSM #1126 Garnedd Goch by Clueless_Goose Traditional D1.5/T4
GCATCNW Llysfaen Walk by Cymroboi Traditional D1.5/T2.5
GCATDKK Up and over the bridge by CaraThom D2/T3

Premium Member Only
GCAT50Q YOSM #0314 Garn Pwllheli by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2/T2.5

It is nice to see five new additions to the YOSM series here in North Wales. YOSM is a new numbered series. Ye Ole Survey Monument (YOSM) is a captivating series of caches that pays homage to the remarkable legacy of OutForTheHunt’s YSM series (GC45CC). YOSM caches are strategically positioned at or near Trig Points. These triangulation stations have played a pivotal role as surveying landmarks, contributing to the mapping of expansive territories.

Event Reviews

Ray’s Birthday
GCAN2QB Meet and Greet, Mine’s A Pint. by Bess’s Friends

Happy Birthday Ray from all your geocaching friends. A lovely event to celebrate Ray’s big birthday in the perfect location, the highly acclaimed Bragdy Cybi. And, yes, they can organise a piss up in a brewery!

A Great Day Out
GCCAN2QT Meet and Greet, Tanygrisiau. by Bess’s Friends

What a great day we had. We were picked up by Julie’s taxi, a service I can highly recommend, which we had booked well in advance! Not knowing how long it was going to take us to walk back our taxi was parked in the small parking area by Llyn Mair not the station carpark which gates shut at 4pm. We all followed our guide Ray up through the very pretty woods to Tan y Bwlch station. With plenty of time to spare before our train to Tanygrisiau we enjoyed a coffee from the station cafe. I love these beautiful old steam trains. The journey takes you through some stunning scenery which is enhanced by travelling on the old train.

At Tanygrisiau we joined Ali & Bry for the official bit of the event and of course more refreshments. The walk back roughly following the rail tracks takes you through some beautiful countryside and woodlands. Being in the company of the CO’s we were guaranteed a find of the 3 geocachers en route even though they struggled to spot a couple of the hides due to the increased foliage.

We were very lucky with the weather, though overcast it stayed dry and was not too hot. Of course our day would not be complete without a P&P stop….. the Oakeley Arms Hotel obliged.

A very BIG Thank You to our hosts for the day….. Just need a few more caches along the route to give us an excuse to repeat the adventure!

Cost of the train from Tan y Bwlch to Tanygrisiau was adult £7.50 dogs £1.00. We purchased our tickets with cash on the train.
The 5.5 mile walk took us 2.5 hours.

News & New Caches 141

A couple of new caches, an Ad Lab with bonus and 3 events all published since our last post.

GCAT9KQ Phone Home by Caio, Ifan a Tomi Traditional D1.5/T1.5

Premium Member only
GCAT6AN Emily’s walk – we see swans! by CheesyPasta Traditional D1.5/T1.5

Adventure Lab and Bonus Cache

Magnificent Murals created by RichieBlod nonsequential
This Ad Lab takes you on a tour of murals painted by Ffion Roberts-Drakely around Amlwch. The starting point is the pay & display carpark but the stages can be done in any order. There is a bonus cache, see below for details.

GCAR7B1 Magnificent Murals Bonus Cache by RichieBlod Mystery D2.5/T2

Events

GCARYZH SideTracked – Rhyl by GeotrainTGV Event
When: 29.6.2024
Where: The Sussex (Wetherspoons), 20-26 Sussex St, Rhyl LL18 1SG
Time: 12.15-13.15pm

GCAT1ZG War Memorial #2024 ~ Porthmadog by 9 Usual Suspects Event D1/T2
When: 30.6.2024
Where: The War Memorial, Porthmadog
Time: 3-3.30pm

GCARZ12 SideTracked – Colwyn Bay by Wandafree Event
When: 30.6.2024
Where: The Picture House (Wetherspoons), 24-26 Princes Dr, Colwyn Bay LL29 8LA
Time: 2-3pm

Event Reminder

GCARMJM 9 Usual Suspects – Nosh & Natter 68 by 9 Usual Suspects
When: Thursday 27th June 2024
Where: Parc Snowdonia, Waunfawr, Caernarfon, Gwynedd LL55 4AQ
Time: 7pm to 9pm or when the last person leaves

For this months Nosh & Natter we are back at the Snowdonia Parc, Waunfawr

Cosmic Quest, the Next Challenge

For anyone who tried to decipher last weeks message from HQ but didn’t succeed here it is in plain English:
Hello, earthlings! We have come across a reference to “Geocaching.com” on a metal creature roving the planet Mars. It seems this ‘geocaching’ is an activity meant to further exploration and community. We would like to better understand this interesting human activity and we are traveling to Earth to learn more. We only hope we’ll have enough fuel in our spaceship to keep exploring!

The Cosmic Quest starts on July 22nd and runs to September 1st with the possibility of three souvenirs available, two to be individually earned and one by the geocaching community reaching a target of 15 million fuel points.

See the table below for information about how many units of fuel different geocaching actions generate:

Activated a trackable1
Attended an Event3
Received a Favorite point on an owned geocache2
Found an EarthCache5
Found it*1
*Logged a Found it on any other cache type, excluding Webcam Caches.

Players can earn the Super fuel cacher souvenir by generating 20 units of fuel and players can earn the Ultra fuel cacher souvenir by generating 100 units of fuel.

News & New Caches 140

Another very quiet week for geocaching, just one new event and a couple of reminders:

GCARXD8 SideTracked – Abegale and Pensarn by Bradshaw65 Event
When: 28.6.2024
Where: Abergele & Pensarn Station
Time: 12.15-12.45pm

A quick event at this popular railway station. Note plenty of free parking.

Event Reminders

This is TONIGHT!

GCAN2QB Meet and Greet, Mine’s A Pint. by Bess’s Friends
When: 14.6.2024
Where: Bragdy Cybi, Unit 4a, Penrhos Business Park, Holyhead. LL65 2FD
Time: 6.30-9pm
Join Bess’s Friends to celebrate Ray’s big birthday at the highly acclaimed Bragdy Cybi. We can recommend the beer and let’s see if they can organise a piss up in a brewery!

GCCAN2QT Meet and Greet, Tanygrisiau. by Bess’s Friends
When: 18.6.2024
Where: lakeside Cafe, Tanygrisiau
Time: 12-12.30pm

News & New Caches 139

Since our last post a new Earthcache, Event and 3 Traditionals have been published:

Earthcache
GCARH7C Church Micro 15169…Llanfairpwllgwyngyll by ECOBAKE Earthcache D2/T2

Traditional Caches
GCARHF1 Y Foryd: Hide the Bird by Clueless_Goose Traditional D1.5/T1.5

Premium Member Only
GCAR9TA Pack your trunks by Skylark65 Traditional D1.5/T1.5
GCARJBP Nant y Pandy by CheesyPasta Traditional D1.5/T1.5

Event
GCARMJM 9 Usual Suspects – Nosh & Natter 68 by 9 Usual Suspects
When: Thursday 27th June 2024
Where: Parc Snowdonia, Waunfawr, Caernarfon, Gwynedd LL55 4AQ
Time: 7pm to 9pm or when the last person leaves

For this months Nosh & Natter we are back at the Snowdonia Parc, Waunfawr.

Moe’s Tavern Event Update

photo courtesy of RichieBlod

We had proposed Sunday 14th July for this event but after checking the tide timetable we find high tide is in the middle of the afternoon, so we are postponing this event until Sunday 15th September.

Event Review

GCAQVE7 9 Usual Suspects Celebrate Their Virtual Award by 9 Usual Suspects Event D1/T1.5

It was so nice to sit outside in the warm sunshine on a lovely sunny Sunday afternoon to catch up with our regular attendees and to meet cachers holidaying locally. The brave and energetic climbed the 115 steps to the top of the tower to enjoy the spectacular far reaching views. We would like to thank Delyth and her team for the delicious refreshments and making us all so welcome. I’m sure we will be back here…

A few pictures of our day:

News & New Caches 138

Just a couple of event reminders:

Event Reminders

GCAPJD7 9 Usual Suspects – Nosh & Natter 67 by 9 Usual Suspects Event D1/T1
When: Thursday 30th May 2024
Where: Anglesey Arms, Harbour Front, Caernarfon LL55 1SG
Time: 7pm to 9pm or when the last person leaves

GCAQVE7 9 Usual Suspects Celebrate Their Virtual Award by 9 Usual Suspects Event D1/T1.5
When: Sunday 2rd June
Where: Anglesey Column
Time: 3-4pm
We are returning to the Anglesey Column to celebrate the publication of our virtual cache. Why place our virtual cache here? Because from the viewing platform at the top of the column you look out over our ‘patch’. Refreshments will be available from the cafe, but no purchases have to be made to attend this event. We can highly recommend the cakes……

June Solstice 2024 Souvenir

The solstice on June 21st marks the longest day in the Northern Hemisphere and the shortest day in the Southern Hemisphere. To celebrate the solstice HQ are issuing a souvenir, to qualify simply find a cache of any type of geocache including events and Adventure Lab stages between 19th – 21st June.

News & New Caches 133

Just 2 new traditional caches have been published since our last post:

GCAP46W Can you see the monument by Coxystar79 Traditional D1/T1.5
GCANYPN Porth Swtan byTheAngleseyClarkes Traditional D1/T1.5

Please note there will be NO Nosh & Natter this month, but they will resume in May.

Llanfaglan Church

GC8DH3W Church Micro 12800…Llanfaglan by 9 Usual Suspects Multi D2/T1.5

While enjoying a guided history tour of Caernarfon we met Ifor Williams who takes care of this lovely old church on behalf of the charity Friends of Friendless Churches. He has kindly offered to give us geocachers a guided tour of this fascinating church. The tour would last between 30-45 minutes. Our plan is to hold an event here, either a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, to include the tour and a BBQ or picnic just down the road by the ‘pirate ship’. Are you interested? Please let us know as we need to have a rough idea of numbers before making any further plans.

Blue Switch Day

On May 2nd, 2000 the U.S. government opened up accurate GPS technology for public use, prior to this day the technology had only been available to the US military. The very next day the first geocache was hidden and the beginning of the game we all love. Known as Blue Switch Day geocachers like to commemorate this day by finding a cache and earning a souvenir.

To earn this years Blue Switch Day souvenir simply find one geocache, attend an event, or Adventure Lab® Location between 2nd to 5th May, 2024.

News & New Caches 132

We have 2 new caches to report since our last post, please note both are Premium Member Only:

GCANW2F Most Northerly Harbour in Wales by Sqaddie101 Traditional D3.5/T1.5
GCANWCC Superman’s Changing Room by MonHunter Traditional D1/T1.5

Event Review, Anglesey Column

GCAN1D5 9 Usual Suspects Visit Anglesey Column by 9 Usual Suspects

With the column reopening to the public at the beginning of the year it was only a matter of time before we hosted an event here. The column closed to the public very shortly after we moved to Nantlle. Many times we have looked up at the Marquis and said ‘I bet the views are fab from up there’. We can now confirm the views are amazing. The 115 step climb to the top was not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. I’m not that confident when it comes to heights but the substantially built platform and railings made you feel very safe even when looking down over the edge.

The weather was not perfect but good enough to give us some incredible views, especially of the bridges and straits. After taking lots of photos and videos we all made our way back down the steps to join the not so brave attendees for some well earned refreshments in the new cafe. Another lovely afternoon spent with our geocaching friends.

For the geocacher there are currently 2 caches here, a multi and an earthcache. We highly recommend visiting, not just the column but also the cafe as it does a very good paned and homemade cakes.

For details on opening times, prices and history of the column follow this link Anglesey Column

Here are a few photos of our day:

Virtual Cache Award Update

We would like to thank you for all the comments and ideas of where to place our Virtual Reward Cache. After visiting Anglesey Column we have decided to place the virtual cache here, from the top of the column you look out across our ‘patch’. There will be another event for the launch of the cache…. watch this space!