A day out in Crestmead - Logan

Sunday, April 27, 2014

On Sunday we: Kevin, Adele, Mikayla, Angus and I went to our first CITO event.  CITO stands for Cache In Trash Out, which meant that besides caching we were going to do a clean-up.

Cleaning up Lovely Logan (CITO) (event cache)

The event site

I arrived at 10am, registered and waited for the rest of the family to arrive.  One after another people arrived, picked up bags and gloves and started picking up waste around the area.  I was a bit worried that there wouldn't be anything left by the time we would start, but...... I shouldn't have.  After the family's arrival and a cuppa together we only had to walk a bit further than the others to find two bags full of trash.  After a long walk in the heat of the day we returned just in time for the raffle.  We deposited the bags and sat down with a cool drink in waiting to receive a FTF, but that wasn't going to happen. :-(

A FTF, received in a raffle, is your chance to be a First To Find of a cache, of which you alone are given the co-ordinates well before others receive them, hence your best chance of a FTF.

Lovely Logan Crestmead Tour Whereigo (whereigo cache)

After the raffle we were going to enjoy a BBQ lunch, but the group doing the wherigo cache was leaving and asked if anybody wanted to join them.  As I am still learning I didn't mind joining in and I must say, it was worth doing so.

OrionJ and Patrol14 with the cache in hand

A cute camo!

Lovely Logan Traditional Lay Low (Traditional cache)

In the meantime Kevin and family went in search for a traditional cache, of which I hope to get pictures later (if they have taken any) and also a virtual cache.

Shoot the Hoop (virtual cache)

I returned to this one with Kevin later, because it was necessary to have my photograph taken.  Have a good look at the picture.  A thunderstorm is looming, but we avoided all the rain until we did our webcam cache, and even then it was a brief shower only.  We were lucky.

Don't believe for a moment I was trying for real..... ;-)

I returned from the wherigo cache at the moment the Kevin and crew started on their traditional cache, so I decided I'd have my late lunch.  I was starving! :-)

When they returned we were going to try our hands at a multi cache.

Lovely Logan Multi (multi cache)

As Adele didn't have much experience yet with the use of a GPS she was going to learn while I gave Mikayla mine, because she had not had much experience yet either.  It makes it so much more interesting for the children.  For this multi we had to find WPs (waypoints) along the track.  This was quite easy, as we didn't have to look for a cache at each site, just a tag with the co-ordinates for the next WP and there weren't too many of those.

Kevin with the cache which he found in a burnt-out tree stump

Next a cache that none of us had yet come across: a letterbox cache.

Lovely Logan Letterbox (letterbox cache)

Letterboxes existed before the onslaught of geocaches, because the former didn't need a GPS to find them.  The original 'letterboxing' started in England in the 1800s.  They are still around and the geocaching community uses the hybrid letterbox.

We went in search met with OrionJ and patrol14.  Two other cachers with whom I had done the wherigo.  The letterbox itself was soon discovered, but then we needed the key, which, according to the hint, was within a 6 m radius from the letterbox.  This time I was the lucky finder:

Marion with the key to the letterbox

The letterbox

Everyone signing the logbook

OrionJ and Patrol14, two delightful people to go caching with

Last on the list for the afternoon was a puzzle cache.  We didn't have enough time to solve the puzzle there and then, nor did I have coverage for my mobile, so our two fellow cachers invited us to come with them since the had already solved the puzzle.  I have done so later at home, checked GZ against the co-ordinates in Google Earth and I seemed to have had the correct answer. The puzzle asked a number of questions about the Logan area, which could be found on the internet.  The answers formed the second part of the co-ordinates.

Lovely Logan Puzzle (puzzle cache)

Adele, who's really getting the hang of it, found this cache

On the long walk back to the BBQ area we visited the wherigo cache so that everyone could have a look at the cute camouflage and when eventually back in our chairs all we longed for was a cool drink.

We had a good rest and after Kevin and I had quickly walked over to the basketball court for the 'virtual' picture we packed up to go home.  Dark clouds were gathering and we didn't want to pack up in the rain.

The organiser of the event then offered to come with us to the last cache of the day: the webcam in Mt Gravatt.  Together with another cacher we drove to the parking area, and had our picture taken by the traffic webcam.  He suggested we had a look close by for an easy cache, which wasn't so easy after all.  The woman with us had a fall, because she slipped on the wet grass and since the compass directed us in that slippery area we let it go.  Only one DNF for the day is not too bad.

Mt Gravatt-Capalaba Rd webcam (webcam cache)

You have to believe me if I tell you that the four of us were standing on the grassy bit on the right of the car.  The webcam resolution isn't the best to start off with, but it was raining at the time.  But we were there.  I am the white spot in the centre to another white spot with Kevin on my left...

And that was the end of another enjoyable day.  Eight different caches of the ten that were originally listed.  The mentioned Earth cache was not available for some reason and a general event at 5:30pm we thought a bit too much to hang around for, so off home we went.