Caching Three Stars – April, 2013

Wow! It is been a fairly busy month, both on the personal front and the geocaching front. We were able to find 39 caches this month which is amazing! I have been so busy with work and family that there was little time for caching. Work, however, brought me to beautiful and historic Quebec City for five days to get some needed training. While there, I found 22 caches. Because of how beautiful Quebec City is, my three stars this month come from there.

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Château en vue (Castle view)

The Chateau Frontenac as seen from the cache.

One of the many sights that I planned to visit as soon as I found out I was going to Quebec City was the famous Chateau Frontenac. Lucky for me, LesMarcheurs.com placed a cache very near the Chateau! The cache was aptly called Château en vue (Castle view) (GC46BZ4).. It was located in a very busy spot filled with shops, restaurants and MUGGLES!!! It was easy to find the cache but took awhile to retrieve and even longer to replace. I managed to leave a couple of travel bugs in the cache and then sat and enjoyed both the view and the atmosphere. This cache, by far, was my favorite of the month!

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Oeuvres d’art de la St-Charles

The Wherigo cache takes you around this beautiful trail!

In my couple years of caching, I have found many types of caches. I have found traditional, multi, puzzle, virtual, earth, letterbox and event caches. There have been a few, however, that still manage to elude me. I haven’t been able to attend any mega-events and I haven’t been able to participate in any Wherigo caches…until now! What is a Wherigo cache, you ask. Well, it is sort of a multicache with one main difference. With a multicache, you must find a stage and then input the coordinates contained in that stage in order to find the next stage. With a Wherigo cache, you download a cartridge to your Garmin Oregon or Montana GPSr, or your smartphone, and everything you need is there. You must navigate to each of the stages and, as you near each one, the cache is automatically tick off as completed. As soon as you find the last point, you are given the coordinates to the final cache. As soon as I noticed this cache on the map of Quebec City, I had to try it. I had to use my Android smartphone with the WhereYouGo app installed in order to complete it. Finding all of the stages took me on a 4km hike around a river in the Victoria Park area of Quebec City. The cache is called Oeuvres d’art de la St-Charles (GC38RZA) and was placed by Zubulus. It was a great change of pace and allowed me to find yet another cache type. It was also fun to do! For that reason, it earns the Second Star for the month. Stay tuned as I am now in the process of creating one of these Wherigo caches near downtown St. John’s!

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Sous le manteau

The hint is written in the chair!

Our third star goes to another Quebec City cache that had a neat way of giving us the clue. The cache was placed by rigue and was called Sous le manteau (GC35PPN). The phrase “Sous le manteau” translates to “Under the cloak.” Therefore, when I arrived near ground zero, I immediately noticed a metal sculpture that resembled a cloak of some kind. I spent awhile looking for the cache there but the actual ground zero to me into the center of a bunch of stainless steel chairs, approximately 30 chairs. I looked at the hint again and began to wonder. Each chair had an inscription written on them that was a famous quote by a famous person. As I started reading them, I was very intrigued! It took me reading fifteen chairs before I seen a chair that started with the words “Sous le manteau.” It was a famous quote by Gilles Villaneuve, who was a famous Canadian Formula One race car driver who died in a car crash many years ago. I quickly found the cache after using a bit of stealth. I really enjoyed finding this cache and stayed for awhile and read all of the chairs.

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Caching Three Stars – March, 2013

Wow! It has been awhile since I wrote a true caching three stars post. Truth is, I haven’t done much caching throughout the winter. Between the demands of life and my wife having surgery, caching has not been possible. We did, however, manage to find 7 caches and attend one event during the month of March. Not many to pick from but I will still pick the best three. I am heading to Quebec City this month so the Caching Three Stars for April should be more interesting!

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Boil Up With Da By’s

A warm fire combined with hot chocolate and snacks made for a great day! (Click to enlarge)

As is the case many times, our first star goes to an event. The first event of the new year was held by Da By’s. It was held near the Holyrood exit and was aptly called Boil up with Da By’s (GC3NQ18).. It was a fairly warm day and we were treated to a warm fire, hot chocolate, weiners and tim bits. It gave everyone time to mingle and chat again about how they have been and what geocaching they have been doing. During the event, some went to get some nearby caches while others were captivated by a white weasel that was in the area. Afterwards, many cachers left to get some more nearby caches before heading home. It was a great event and a real pick-me-up from the geocaching blues! For more information about the event, please visit Treasure Island Caching, who did a great write-up on it.

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The Newfoundland Hotel

Out for some night caching with Gem and Dora. Dora had no trouble finding this one. (Click to enlarge)

As dusk was upon us, we decided to head downtown. We love the downtown at night and it seemed like a great time to finally get this cache. The coordinates originally took us away from the actual cache location but Dora had an idea where this one should be. Sure enough, it was right where she looked. The cache is placed near the original Newfoundland Hotel, now called The Sheraton, and is rightfully called The Newfoundland Hotel (GC3RF9K). The cache is placed by wiily1231 and was a great hide considering that there aren’t many places left to hide caches in the downtown. If you come down, though, bring your camera! The entire downtown makes for some great pictures!

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Which Way To Go And How To Get There

Gem displays the cache while Dora writes down the second set of coordinates. (Click to enlarge)

Our third star is a multi-cache placed by hisandhers along with The Boundary Hunters. It is called Which way to go and how to get there (GC27YPK). This cache involves two stages, the first taking you to St. John’s City Hall. I always love going downtown at night. The area looks so beautiful at night and it gave me time to try some night picture taking. After writing down the coordinates to the second stage, we moved on and found it easily. It felt great to be back out caching again after an eternity (it felt like it) away!

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2012 Caching Heaven Geocaching Awards!

Hello everyone! Yes it is I! I do still exist! Any rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated! Honestly, I must apologize for the lack of posts over the last month. Work and family commitments have dominated the bulk of my time and I have not had any time to devote to writing a post. To make matters worse, January was my second month in which I found no caches. Since I have no Caching Three Stars again, I have decided to highlight some of my most favorite caches of the past year along with a few cachers that Caching Heaven has determined to stand out amongst the local Geocaching community. Without further delay, let’s get started.

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Best Traditional Cache

What a beautiful view! (click to enlarge)

Our best traditional cache of 2012 happens to be the winner of the first star for September, and was featured in our blog article entitled Milestone Marker 1500!. The cache is called View For The Gods (GC1YRJQ) and was placed by Ron 30207. Once you finally navigate the streets of Clarke’s Beach to find the entrance gate leading to the cache site, you will find that you are fairly close to the cache. Not so! Unless you plan on climbing some really dangerous terrain, your trek to ground zero will involve a 2.4km hike up a dirt road and through a windy trail. The long walk is well worth the trip. We were treated to a magnificent view of the Clarke’s Beach and surrounding area. It took us 40 minutes to make the trek in and 30 minutes to make the trek out. This cache provides a spectacular view accompanied by some great hiking. There was evidence of several types of berries along the way and the trek was very quiet. You could hear the birds chirping in all their splendor. If you go, make sure you bring a camera. I received a new camera for Christmas and wish I could make the trek in to get this one again.

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Best Event Cache

A great turnout for the event. (click to enlarge)

The vote for the best event cache of 2012, again, comes from our caching three stars for September. It was the second star and is special to us for the simple fact that it was an event hosted by our friends with a small bit of logistics assistance by us. The event was hosted by Diego and Dora and was a true geocaching event! The event was called Cabin Fever — Caching Meet and Greet — 2012 (GC3V1A6) and was held at Dora’s family cabin. For a detailed description of the event, please see our blog post devoted to the event called Cabin Fever: An Event To End The Summer!. The event struck the right balance of caching, food and fellowship. It started with a few hours of meet and greet, then a BBQ, followed by geocaching. There was even some more fellowship after some cachers finished finding the caches.This well organized event gets our nod as the top event cache of 2012!

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Best Geocacher

By far, the best geocacher of 2012 has to go to magicdog. The guy doesn’t know the meaning of taking a break. In 2012, he found 4774 geocaches and hid 100+ of his own caches. He currently sits at a whopping 7499 caches found since he started in 2010. He is often seen on the trails with his good friend, the Trailwalkers. He is also ready, willing and able to help other cachers in time of need, lending his time to accompany other cachers on finding caches he has already found. He has cached in multiple countries and has taken in many events over the last year. He seems to be an unstoppable force in the geocaching world and is rightly deserving of the award!

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Best Rookie

Our award for the best rookie geocacher goes to a pair of individuals that, most of the time, cache together. They go by the geocaching names Doctor Tee and RubyEmm. According to their profiles, they have currently racked up 347 and 213 caches respectively and attended 5 and 3 events respectively in 2012. Doctor Tee started geocaching in May of 2012 while RubyEmm started exactly one month later. I first started noticing them when, more often than not, they were beating us to some first to finds that were in my immediate neck of the woods. After doing that for a few months, I later realized that I knew these geocachers from outside the geocaching world. Imagine that! They seem to have caught the geocaching bug and I suspect that they will be a force to be reckoned with in the future.

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And there you have it! The 2012 Annual Caching Heaven Geocaching Awards. We hope to make this an annual thing so please keep those hides coming for us to find. You never know, your cache might make it to our top. Also, if you see us out and about, introduce yourself. We might just feature your accomplishments in a future blog or next year’s awards.

Happy caching!

Frank (Jewel)

Caching Three Stars – December

First of all, let me take this opportunity to wish each and everyone of you a very Happy New Year and a safe and prosperous 2013! May you be blessed with an abundance of caches to find and weekends filled with great weather in which to find those caches. We did a little better finding caches in December than we did in November. We found five caches and attended two events. Any one of those would have been an improvement on November which saw us record a big goose egg, which seemed to shock many people, both geocachers and muggles. Nonetheless, the caches we found in December, although few, are worthy of three star material

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Christmas In The Park

Let’s hope this becomes an annual affair. (Click to enlarge)

Our first star for December has to go to the Christmas In The Park (GC41RBE) event! The event was held by Gilligan and MaryJane, along with Pip’n’Tif. It was held in Chamberlains Park, a beautiful wetland area that is currently being developed into a wonderful walking trail. Conditions were perfect for the event. A light snowfall had covered the ground which made the event location easily accessible. Upon arriving at ground zero, there were decorations in the trees and a real, live Christmas tree! Not an artificial tree or one that was cut down, but a Christmas tree that should be there next year. In a Kris Kringle type of Christmas, everyone was asked to bring a gift and place it under the tree. If someone forgot their gift, the hosts made sure there were enough presents for everyone. Names were drawn to give each cacher a turn to take a gift from under the tree. I opened mine to find a complete, ready-to-hide geocache container. I will have to find a spot in nature to hide it sometime in 2013. Gilligan and MaryJane had hot chocolate and Christmas cookies for everyone! Yum! It was truly a great idea, and one I hope will become a Christmas tradition. It was great to connect with cachers, both new and old. There was even time to get three caches that were scattered throughout the park. A big thank you goes out to the hosts for a job well done!

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Hospital Hill

It was a little too dark for me to attempt by myself. I will return with backup! (Click to enlarge)

It is true that geocaching often brings us to beautiful places, historic monuments and places we didn’t even know existed. They can also teach you something you never knew before. This can be said for our Second Star for December. The cache is placed by POKOS and is called Hospital Hill (GC3V35X). To quote the actual cache listing, In 1941, the U.S. Naval Base in Argentia commissioned a 100 bed hospital for the operating base. It was fully functional and had all the facilities of a complete hospital, with the added protection of being in the ground to keep it safe from bombing. The hospital is said to be three stories, although only the first floor and lookout point is available for exploration today. I never knew this before and was really intrigued! I found the cache at the main door which was blocked by boulders. I climbed up the hill and found the lookout. Once inside, I seen a stairwell heading down to the top level. I was tempted to explore but I was alone and my flashlight battery wasn’t the best. I will return with fellow cachers and a brighter flashlight to explore this underground hospital. Remember, if you decide to explore the hospital, you do so AT YOUR OWN RISK! You do not need to venture inside in order to find the cache.

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Firing Range

Awesome! Amazed at the reported accuracy of this gun! (Click to enlarge)

Across the main road from Hospital Hill, is a little parking spot that leads to another spot I didn’t know was here. The cache deserving of our third star is another one placed by POKOS and is called Firing Range (GC3V2Z4). To again quote the cache listing, Located right next to an abandoned bunker that is rumoured to be the old, underground jail, this gun was once intended to protect the U.S. Naval base in Argentia from enemy attacks. These cannons were able to fire 105 lbs of armor-piercing projectile up to 25 kilometers with a high degree of accuracy. At this time, there are only six guns in the world that are comparable. The cache was fairly easy to find and it was fun exploring the bunker. Be very careful of the open pits while walking in. You wouldn’t want to fall in one.

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Caching Three Stars – November

The month of November has proved to be quite a challenge, both in actually finding caches and in writing this month’s Caching Three Stars. With all of the bad weather, short hours of daylight, and the everyday commitments of this peculiar thing called life, we were not able to find one cache. That’s right! Another milestone achieved, or not. Since we have seriously started caching, there has never been a goose egg in our monthly tallies. So here is my dilemma. How do I write the Three Stars of November when there are none? While contemplating what I was going to do, I started reminiscing about our most memorable caches – the ones with the most story behind them. Then it hit me. Why not write on my three most memorable caches. So here we go. I will endeavour to tell you the interesting stories behind our three most memorable caches.

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Jessica’s First Cache

I have seen these guys twice since I started caching! (click to enlarge)

We have been caching for almost two years and Jessica’s First Cache (GC330DB) is the winner of our first star for our most memorable cache finds. The cache was placed by Fast Finders and is located near a high school. Can you already see where this may be going? Normally, Geocaching.com doesn’t allow caches to be placed near schools unless you have special permission. The cache owners were students and were allowed to place it there. Well, the cache was released after midnight and, with us loving late night caching, we set out to find it. When we arrived near the school, I parked up on the road as to not create suspicion. My wife and I walked down an embankment and proceeded to ground zero. While we were standing in the parking lot, I looked up at the car and seen a police woman looking in the car with a flashlight. We just stood there waiting for her to notice us. She must not have seen us as she got in her car and drove away. We took off in the woods to find the cache. While we were searching, I heard the sound of brakes whistling followed by a car door closing. We stood and waited. After hearing another door closing followed by a car leaving, I decided to check it out. As I looked out from the trees, I seen the police car driving away again. I told my wife that if she came back, we would have to talk to her. Sure enough, the cop came back so we walked out to explain to her what we were doing. I told her we were geocaching and showed her our GPS device. She didn’t know what geocaching was and didn’t seem interested in knowing. She thought we were drinking in the woods. At 41 years of age, I assured her we could do that at home. At that moment, another police car showed up and a male cop got out and knew about caching. After that the K9 dog unit showed up followed by a fourth police car. I remember thinking that it was a bit overkill for two forty-something geocachers. The male cop told the female cop to let us get the cache and we would leave. The police woman would have none of that. She insisted that we leave. We told her it wasn’t a problem and apologized for our actions. The next morning, I came back, on my way to work, and still managed to get an FTF. To this day, this has been our most memorable geocaching experience.

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Thinking Outside The Box – It’s Your Lucky Day

Imagine trying to find a nano here. (click to enlarge)

In the summer of 2011, we travelled down the Burin Peninsula to attend a caching event that was being held by shantrent and shermandkim. There was an overabundance of caches placed for this event. Some were easy and a few were very difficult. Placed by shantrent, Thinking Outside The Box – It’s Your Lucky Day (GC30E8G) happened to be a very tough hide. It was a nano cache that was placed somewhere on the beach. I will not divulge the cache container. All I can say is that it was like finding a needle in a haystack. Upon arriving near ground zero, we started searching for the container. We knew it was hard but were excited. Our son, tiny seeker, got bored and started picking up pieces of wood and throwing them. There was one lone rock in the area and he picked it up and threw it. We told him to get back to searching again. After a fair bit of searching, we gave up and moved on to other caches. After finding a few more, we ran into the cache owners and told them we couldn’t find the nano on the beach. They decided to come over and see if it was still there. They couldn’t find it, their own cache. Been there, done that many times. The cache owners were puzzled. They said that they laid a rock next to the cache. I spoke up and said “Do you mean this rock that my son picked up and threw away?” We all had a great laugh as the rock was now one hundred meters away from ground zero with no idea where it used to be. We helped them look for it for awhile before moving on. We found out that they found it shortly after we left. We had a great time at the event and fondly remember the laughs we had at this cache site.

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Protect and Serve

Not an actual photo of the crash. (click to enlarge)

While attending the Coast Guard College in Sydney, NS in January of 2012, I went out in the town to do a bit of night caching. The cache I was looking for was called Protect and Serve (GCWCJY) and was placed at an abandoned police station. The cache was placed by bmn747 and was located in the front parking lot, near an intersection. When I arrived at ground zero, I quickly realized that not only was the cache buried under a bank of snow, its location was probably frozen shut. Without being seen by the traffic driving by, I proceeded to dig the cache location out. It didn’t take too long to uncover but my second assumption was right. It was frozen. Without drawing too much attention, I started to kick the cover until it broke free. I retrieved the container and proceeded to sign the log. While taking the log out of the bag, I looked up at the intersection just in time to witness a car T-boning a pickup truck. The police showed up mere minutes later. I quickly signed the log and put the cache back. I, then, stood around for awhile. As the police was questioning the drivers, I heard the truck driver blame it on the woman in the car. The truth was, the truck driver turned left and cut off the car coming towards it. The woman in the car tried to stop but couldn’t. It was then that I stepped forward and gave the woman my contact information. I also explained it to the policeman. That was the funny part of it. After I told him why I was there, he was trying to comprehend why I would sit there digging in the snow just to sign a log. I told him he wouldn’t understand unless he was a geocacher. This was my first time seeing a car accident firsthand and up close. Truly memorable!

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What about you? Do you have a great story behind one of you finds, or hides? If so, please tell us. We would love to hear about it! Use the comment space below.

Until my next post, I hope that the short days, heaps of snow, and life doesn’t prevent you from getting some caching done. Happy Caching!

Frank (Jewel)

Caching Three Stars – October

Since I spent almost all of the month of October in Sydney, NS attending training at the Coast Guard College, the Three Stars for October all come from the Sydney area. If you ever take the ferry across to North Sydney, be sure to take a moment to check these out. These caches, as well as other, will also be featured in a couple of future blogposts.

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Ethel Goes To War

These bunkers are starting to be eaten away by wave erosion. (click to enlarge)

Since I love anything to do with the history of our Great wars, Ethel Goes To War (GCPDHW) is the winner of our first star for October. The cache was placed by MineRP and is located on a trail system in Edwardsville, a small suburb of Sydney. The earthen bunker was part of Fort Edward and was initially constructed in 1793 and used up until 1854. The entire fort was a four-bastioned earthwork fort, located southeast of the tip of the point. It was originally known as Point Edward Battery until it was rebuilt in 1813. The system of trails here contain other bunkers and barrack foundations. I will be featuring these caches in an upcoming blogpost. The bunkers are starting to give way because of wave erosion and are not safe to be climbing in. Therefore, I had to admire them from afar.

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St. Theresa

The statue is actually the tree. Notice the trunk at the bottom. (click to enlarge)

There is nothing overly special about the cache that is my second star for October. It is a simple micro containing a log and is located at a church. It has a higher degree of difficulty due to its high muggle area. It is where this cache is placed that makes this cache special and deserving of the second star. The cache is another one placed by MineRP and is called St. Theresa (GC3CCKA). The cache is located at St. Theresa’s Church and is placed near a special statue of St. Theresa. The statue is a wooden statue that is carved out of a tree. You might be saying that all wooden statues are carved from trees. True. This tree (statue), however, is still rooted in the ground. The statue was literally carved out of a living tree. I don’t know about you, but I found that pretty cool. If you are in Sydney, it is worth checking out.

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Sydney Boardwalk

Walking the Sydney Boardwalk at night. Beautiful! (click to enlarge)

There is no more beautiful a place to visit in Sydney, than strolling down the Sydney Boardwalk. Located on the southern shore of Sydney harbour, the boardwalk goes past many hotels and public buildings and leads down close to the Sydney Pier, where cruise ships often visit and you can get your picture taken next to a giant fiddle. There are many small boats and beautiful yachts tied up here as well. I have walked this boardwalk several times, but this time was extra special as I got to walk it at night. Again, this wasn’t planned. My purpose in coming here was to be a kind geocacher and pay it forward by replacing the container that had gone missing from Sydney Boardwalk (GCTQ9Y), a cache placed by The Dream Seekers. It was my last stop for the day and darkness had fallen upon me. This turned out to be a real treat. I must have stopped for about 30 minutes and sat on a bench listening to the water lapping against the pier. It was really peaceful and well deserving of our third star. This area will also be featured in an upcoming blogpost.

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Point Edward Cave

I was so looking forward to a bit of cave exploration. (click to enlarge)

I just had to give an honourable mention to Point Edward Cave (GC3RCNA), a cache placed by Pushkin. It gave me both the most anticipation and the most disappointment I have ever had while geocaching. When you read the cache description, you find out that there is a cave here that you can explore. Since it was a few hundred meters away from the Coast Guard College, I got prepared and headed out to it with great anticipation and excitement. I hadn’t explored a cave since my childhood. When I arrived at what I thought was ground zero, I had to check my GPSr. The dense tree cover was playing havoc with my unit so I broadened my search and came up with nothing. I went back to the original ground zero and quickly realized I was at the right spot. There had been a mudslide in the last year and the entrance to the cave was buried in sticks and mud. I found an opening but it was only large enough to fit a rat. That was a real bummer! It was a good thing that the cache was placed outside the cave as I was able to at least log a find on this cache and drop a trackable. For causing me great excitement, I think it deserves an honourable mention.

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Rest In Peace

A graveyard at night is creepy but cool! (click to enlarge)

When I first set out to finish getting some caches in downtown Sydney, it wasn’t my intention to retrieve one from a graveyard at night. It just happened that way. When I arrived at Rest In Peace (GC3NB1D), a cache placed by conohan007, I quickly realized where it was. Since graveyards don’t scare me, I headed in to retrieve the cache. It was hidden under rocks near what looked like a tomb. As I started to sign the log, I heard the sound of many car doors opening and closing. When I looked, many old couples were showing up to the church for evening Bible Study. To avoid detection, I had to hide behind a headstone for 10 minutes. Once the coast was clear, I put the log back and re-hid the cache. As I was leaving, I ran into a security guard for the apartment building across the street. He looked really puzzled at why I was coming out of a cemetery at night but didn’t seem to care. This cache was really fun and deserves an honourable mention. If you can, I suggest you do this one at night.

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Caching Three Stars – September

As with previous months, September didn’t result in any stand-out caches until towards the end of the month. The latter half of the month resulted in a cache with a great view, a cache that isn’t always easy to get to, and a great event cache, all making it into our caching Three Stars. If you haven’t found them yet, I encourage you to do so.

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View For The Gods

What a beautiful view! (click to enlarge)

Our winner of the first star for September was just featured in our last blog article entitled Milestone Marker 1500!. The cache is called View For The Gods (GC1YRJQ) and was placed by Ron 30207. Originally, we had no plans to go get this cache. In fact, we never even knew it existed. We had been in North River helping our friends put off a geocaching event (check the second star). The event occurred on Saturday and we never got the chance to go caching. Therefore, we decided to do some caching on Sunday. My son, tinyseeker, and I went around to get all of the event caches first. Then, our friend Dora (Diego and Dora) joined us to get all of the caches in the Clarke’s Beach area. It was then, that we decided to attempt this one. When we finally navigated the streets of Clarke’s Beach to find the entrance gate leading to the cache site, our GPSr indicated that we were only 650 meters away from the cache. We didn’t immediately realize that we would have to walk 2.4 km to reach ground zero. The long walk was well worth the trip. We were treated to a magnificant view of the Clarke’s Beach and surrounding area. It took us 40 minutes to make the trek in and 30 minutes to make the trek out. It would have been great if we could have stayed a little while, but we had to get back for an awesome cooked Sunday dinner, prepared by Diego.

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Cabin Fever — Caching Meet and Greet — 2012

A great turnout for the event. (click to enlarge)

Our second star is special to us for the simple fact that it was an event hosted by our friends with a small bit of assistance by us. We realize that, since we assisted with this cache, we might be accused of showing favoritism to this event. We hope you all realize that our assistance was in a logistics manner. Most of the layout and details of the event were done by Diego and Dora, the event hosts. The event was called Cabin Fever — Caching Meet and Greet — 2012 (GC3V1A6) and was held at Dora’s family cabin. For a detailed description of the event, please see our blog post devoted to the event called Cabin Fever: An Event To End The Summer!. This event struck the right balance of caching, food and fellowship. The event involved a couple of hours of meet and greet followed by a BBQ. After everyone had the chance to socialize a bit, they were sent on their way to find 20 caches. A few even came back for a bit more fellowship. It was truly a well organized event.

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Water Challenge

This little land strip is not always here. (click to enlarge)

Water Challenge (GCG2ET) , a cache placed by Alastair Allan, turned out to be a very interesting cache and gets the nod as our third star for September. The cache, itself, is just a regular cache with a logbook and trinkets inside. Its hiding place wasn’t too difficult either. In fact, getting to the cache was fairly easy too. It was easy, however, only because we attempted it at the right time. As the picture shows, there is a thin strip of rocks leading to the cache area. We attempted the cache during low tide. The rocks are exposed then. At high tide, you would have to use rubber boots and wade across to the other side. We thought this cache was ingenious and we raise our proverbial hats to the cache owner for this interesting hide.

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Favorite Places – St. Mark’s School

This sign seemed out of place until you read the cache description. (click to enlarge)

We love caches that are placed to provide some kind of memorial to what an area used to contain. It is for this reason that we had to award Favorite Places – St. Mark’s School (GC3QHWJ) an honourable mention. The cache was placed by wademercer and got our attention when we seen a sign, that read “Teachers Only,” standing in the middle of a completely overgrown area. There wasn’t much evidence that anything used to be here but whatever was here had to involve teachers. After completely reading the cache description, we found out that there used to be a school here but it was closed years ago and then destroyed by fire. The area had become overgrown with trees and shrubs. Obviously, this area was the teacher’s parking lot and, with a little imagination, you could picture how things used to be.

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Caching Three Stars – August

The month of August didn’t result in any caches that would make Geocaching.com’s cache of the month, but they were still pretty great for us. Most of the caches we found belonged to caching series which resulted in a large number of caches but very few spectacular places. Our three stars for August, however, did result in excitement and thrill for us. We hope you enjoy them.

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The View of Two Bays

What a view! Tinyseeker posing by the inukshuk. (click to enlarge)

For the month of August, our first star is awarded to View Of Two Bays (GC3QMWV), which was placed by guyfox68. We picked this one up on our way to the event being held in Gander. We had left a couple of days prior to the event to try and get some extra caching done. The cache is located along the side of the Trans Canada Highway at the top of a rock-cut. Getting to the cache location involves a bit of a climb. Tinyseeker and I approached it from the left side which proved to be doable but more difficult. As we reached the top, we were treated to a beautiful view of the terrain that is common to Newfoundland and makes Newfoundland such a beautiful place. At the top, near the edge is an Inukshuk that someone decided to build. I will give you one hint. The cache is not at the Inukshuk, which is not so close to the edge that you couldn’t get your picture taken there. With Gem in the car and more caches to get, we didn’t have time to simply sit down and think for awhile, which would have been nice.

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Flying Low

What a rush! (click to enlarge)

We picked up the second star for August while we were caching at the My Unbirthday Event in Gander on August 11^th. While we were getting some new caches that were out near the landing approach lights at the airport, we were told about this one by some local cachers. The cache is called Flying Low (GC328EB) by Snik&Jane. Most of the time, this cache will only provide you with a regular caching experience. The cache is a little difficult to find but, once found, you would walk away with just another find. The key, here, is in the timing. If you time your search for when a jet is flying into Gander, you will be treated to an awesome adrenaline rush. While we were retrieving the cache and signing the log, an Air Canada passenger jet came in for a landing. From our viewpoint, it seemed like the plane was going to land on top of us. As the plane flew over us, we looked up. It seemed like we could touch it. Gem was a little nervous but Tinyseeker and I were pumped. This experience was awesome!

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Is That King Lear I Hear

Cupid’s Haven Tea Room. The carrot cake was scrumptious! (click to enlarge)

Is That King Lear I Hear (GC3R6CG) , a cache placed by scrunchions, rounds out the top three. It is not so much the cache itself that gives you such a rewarding experience as it is where the cache takes you. The cache is located in the beautiful town of Cupids which has the distinction of being the oldest English colony in Canada and the second oldest English colony in North America. It is a beautiful, picturesque community which is steeped in tradition and old world charm. Near the cache, there is a Canada Select four star bed and breakfast called Cupid’s Haven, which used to be a church and was converted into a beautiful lodging facility. The restaurant part of Cupid’s Haven is called the Tea Room. It is the reason why this cache is special to us. As we reported in a previous blogpost (Life’s Pleasant Surprises), we met up with a fellow cacher and were treated to a drink, a delicious piece of carrot cake, and some great conversation. We recommend the Tea Room, and the cache of course, to all who read this blog. You won’t be disappointed.

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My Unbirthday Event

There was a fair turnout! Missing from photo is me! (click to enlarge)

My Unbirthday Event (GC3NZ9W) gets an honourable mention because we love events. The event was hosted by YQX52 and got off to a bit of a rocky start. The event, however, improved as the morning went on while the weather got worse. We had a great time getting the new caches with five other cachers. After all of the event caches were found, tinyseeker and I set off in the rain to find some of the caches around the airport. For some reason, we didn’t mind being soaked from head to toe. We simply concentrated on the caching. Afterwards, we returned to Subway and had our supper while all of the prizes were handed out. Overall, it was a great event and a great day of caching!

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An Event With A Theme Song #4

International Geocaching Day! (click to enlarge)

An Event With A Theme Song #4 (GC3RR58) also gets an honourable mention. This event was held by Gilligan and MaryJane to celebrate International Geocaching Day. Due to Gem not being well enough to travel far, we were unable to attend a wedding near Baie Verte. We were planning to do some caching there so that we could get our lovely souvenir. Gem was able to get out for the event and it proved to be the only cache we got on that day.

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Caching Three Stars – July

Well, I must say that July was shaping up to be a pretty dismal month for candidates for our three stars. Three weeks into July and we hadn’t cached very much. How, then, could we hope to have found some awesome caches. Well, the last week or so came through for us. That is one reason why we love geocaching. You never know when you are going to find some “stand out” caches! Let’s get on with the three stars for July.

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NaGeira’s Treasure

NaGeira’s Treasure (click to enlarge)

With two days to go in the month of July, we finally got to go on that geocaching trip to Bell Island and, as a result, the first star for July is awarded to NaGeira’s Treasure (GC6EDE). This cache was placed by aviex and boasts some spectacular scenery, which is plentiful on Bell Island. You can take your car to a parking area within a few meters from the cliff overlooking the cache area. There is ample parking there. You must then walk down a trail that is steep at times. Once down on a rocky beach, a tunnel is in sight. The entrance to the tunnel can be slippery due to water dripping down from the cliff above. Be careful and watch your step, especially when you come back out. The cache is located a small distance inside the tunnel and contains a fair amount of swag for trading. You will need a flashlight unless you take the cache and go through the tunnel into the daylight. If you proceed through the tunnel, you will arrive at a beautiful beach that can only be reached by using the tunnel, unless you are skilled at scaling sheer cliffs. The cache has plenty of booty and the fact that it is in the tunnel makes you feel like you’ve uncovered a buried treasure. I would recommend this cache for the whole family because of its fun factor. The kids will just love the feeling of being on an actual treasure hunt. Make sure you, however, you make them stay close to you when walking down the path. With good supervision, they should arrive at the tunnel safely and not have to miss out on what promises to be a great experience. This cache, as well as all of the caches on Bell Island, are worth making the trip over. Don’t forget to check out Dick’s Restaurant, for their fish & chips, near the ferry terminal on your way back home.

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Topsail Beach Cusps

The cusps can be seen. (click to enlarge)

The second star for July goes to Topsail Beach Cusps (GC3QKN3) by stcar. This cache becomes only the second Earth cache in this area and brings attention to the erosion that occurs on this type of beach. The cache description is fairly lengthy but needed in order to capture the proper descriptions needed for a great Earth cache. Even though Topsail Beach is not a sandy beach, it is still a popular spot amongst the locals for daytime fun and frolic, afternoon BBQs and evening camp fires. From the beach, you can look across and see beautiful Bell Island, Little Bell Island and Kelly’s Island. You can also see the other side of Conception Bay. Topsail Beach is a cobblestone beach and the wave action that hits the beach during storms causes scalloped areas to form on the beach. These scallops are called cusps. The cache description gives this definition for cusps. “Cusps are shoreline formations made up of various grades of sediment in an arc pattern where the wave hit the beach at an angle. The horns (side high points)are made up of coarser materials and the embayment (center section) contains all the finer grain sediment. They generally occur in a regular pattern with cusps of equal size and spacing forming.” The cache description also goes on to mention two possible causes for this erosion – Self-organization Theory and Standing Edge Wave Theory. You must decide which explanation seems more plausible to you and also describe the cusps, such as their size. There are two main reasons that this cache gets the second star for July. First, it is another Earth cache and, with Newfoundland being so old, we should have many more in this area and around the province. Second, I am surprised that I never seen these cusps before. I have spent an abundant amount of time here on this beach but never even noticed. I love caches that either teach a history lesson, or, as is the case with Earth caches, teaches a geography lesson. I like the fact that I leave the cache site being more knowledgeable than before I arrived. I would encourage everyone to pay a visit to Topsail Beach, perhaps for a BBQ or a campfire. While you are here, check out the cusps and this Earth cache. Also, while you are here, don’t forget the other five or six traditional caches around this area.

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The Silent Witness

The Silent Witness memorial. (click to enlarge)

On a recent trip to Grand Falls-Windsor to pick up my niece, who was visiting us for a few days, we stopped along the way just to get the cache that has earned the third star for July. Rounding out the top three is The Silent Witness (GCKT5H), which is located in an area marked by tragedy and remembrance. On December 11, 1985, Arrow Air flight MF128-5R, a Douglas DC-8-63 arrived in Gander at 5:34AM. It was carrying 248 military personnel and 8 crew members, as well as some cargo. It was on its way back from the Middle East to the 101^st Airborne Division headquarters in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. All of the military personnel had completed their tour of duty and were returning home to spend Christmas with their loved ones. At 6:45AM, the flight took off from runway 22, which has a flight path that crosses the Trans Canada Highway. As the plane took off, it gained very little altitude and, after crossing the highway, descended down a slope towards Gander Lake. The plane slammed into what once was a heavily wooded area. All onboard were killed. Little concrete evidence exists as to the cause of the crash and the whole incident has been surrounded in controversy and conspiracy. Ice on the wings is has been suggested and is the more plausible of any other suggested causes. The wooded area is now a beautiful grassy area and a monument has been erected there, complete with a statue of a soldier and two children looking towards Kentucky and a cross that was made from the door of the ill-fated plane. I used to live in Gander and have visited this site many times. I am happy to see that, in the six years since I left Gander, the site has been improved greatly. I would definitely suggest you visit this place when passing through Gander. There are road signs on the highway to direct you. Across the highway, not far away, there is also a Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery that you may wish to visit. Kudos go out to Christopher R & Pooh B for placing this wonderful cache here. For more information on the Silent Witness memorial site, Click Here.

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Welcome Home Clydeseeker

We had a great time at this event hosted by the Fast Finders. (click to enlarge)

Welcome Home Clydeseeker (GC3PCZK) gets an honourable mention because we love events. It was the first event hosted by the Fast Finders along with their aunt, Clydeseeker and was held at Don Cherry’s in Mount Pearl. There were approximately 32 cachers in attendance and everyone seemed to have a great time. Despite having trouble finding the nano hidden under my chair, it was a great event! We had a basket of Don’s Ultimate wings, which are to die for, and a plate of Carlo’s Nachos! Yummy! Kudos to the Fast Finders and Clydeseeker for a job well done!

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Island In The Stream

With a good rainfall, this cache will prove more challenging. (click to enlarge)

Island In The Stream (GC3QD9G) also gets an honourable mention. This cache was one of the more memorable caches I found in the first half of July. We featured this cache in our blogpost called Brigus: A Delicious Follow-up . I love caches that engage the cacher with a bit of a physical challenge. This cache, placed by Vinnie001, is located on an island in the river. At the time I retrieved it, the water levels were lower and it was easier to get to. I still needed rubber boots and the rocks were covered with an algae which made them slippery to walk on. This cache might pose a more difficult challenge if you wait until just after a good rainfall. Once on the island, the cache isn’t difficult to find. Thanks for the awesome hide!

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Caching Three Stars – June

Welcome to the first edition of our monthly recap of the top caches that we have found during the month. Since I am a big hockey fan, I decided to model it after the three stars in hockey. Please understand that, sometimes, our three stars may not appear spectacular as it all depends on what caches we have visited for the month. Nonetheless, as the blog promises, it will still be the top three caches of the month, with an occasional honourable mention. Let’s get to it!

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Kelly’s Meridian

The dedication plaque located about 600 meters from the cache site. (click to enlarge)

Kelly’s Meridian (GC5D29) gets top honours for the month of June. This cache was featured in our previous blogpost called the Atlantic Charter. This cache is located on the shores of Placentia Bay in Ship Harbour. The area boasts the honours of being the birthplace of the Atlantic Charter which ultimately became the foundation of the United Nations charter. The area is easy to get to and has a lovely picnic area and lots of room for playtime.

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The Brigus Tunnel

Tinyseeker in the Brigus Tunnel. (click to enlarge)

The second star for June goes to The Brigus Tunnel (GC26KPT). The Brigus Tunnel was hand blasted in the summer of 1860 by the Cornish miner, John Hoskins, in order to provide unhindered access to Abram Bartlett’s Wharf. It was constructed using steel spikes and black gun powder. Holes formed by steel spikes driven into solid rock and filled with black gun powder was the method employed in the blasting stage of construction. The tunnel represented an early engineering feat which took about four months to complete. Some of the steel spikes used in the building of the tunnel are on display at Ye Olde Stone Barn Museum. The tunnel measures approximately 80 feet long, 8 1/2 feet high and 8 feet wide. This cache is definitely worth a visit. While there, check out the other four caches in the immediate vicinity of beautiful and historic Brigus.

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WWFM IX – A St. John’s Time

WWFM IX Attendees (click to enlarge)

Rounding out the top three is WWFM IX – A St. John’s Time (GC3m1F2) This cache gets a nod simply because it is an event. Events are a great way to either reconnect with old geocaching friends or meet new geocachers. This event was the 9^th annual flash mob event which was graciously hosted by Gilligan and Maryjane, along with Pip’n’Tif. The flash mob event seems to always start off the geocaching event season. Over the summer, keep watching for an event near your area. Perhaps we might even bump into you there. If not, we hope to see you on the trails!

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The Newfie Girls – Tip Top Cache

The Newfie Girls – Tip Top Cache (GC3MTDH) gets an honourable mention. We loved the fact that one of us had to climb something. It added a bit of a risk factor to geocaching, which can add more excitement. Upon testing the tree, we found it to be quite sturdy when you take your time. Some cachers may not have liked it but I know a few of them did, also.

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Test Your Skill

Test Your Skill (GC3NATK) also gets an honourable mention. The cache was placed by my son, tinyseeker. Apparently, the cache has been fooling a lot of cachers. We weren’t with him when he placed it. After seeing all of the DNFs, we decided to check it out. After a five minute search, we found it. Very clever hide! All I can say is that you need to look at ground zero and ask yourself “Where would I hide a nano here?”

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