Upcoming Geocaching Events: June

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If you’re in the Labrador City / Wabush area on June 22, 2013, why not check out this geocaching event: Celebrating Summer Arrival (GC4DAG0) hosted by rocachale.  As the event title indicates, the official start of summer is just around the corner and we certainly cannot wait!  The events is of the meet and eat variety, whereby participants can get some breakfast while mingling with other geocachers.  We always like this type of event, as it really lends itself to good conversations with like-minded folk, now if only we were closer… Maybe next time. To those of you who are close enough, please attend on our behalf!

 

Cache of the Month: May

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Just back from vacation, this post is coming to you a little later than normal.  The month of May turned out to quite busy, a trip home to Central Newfoundland over the long weekend, which was followed by a 10 vacation to Toronto and Montreal.  Despite all of this travel we still managed to squeeze in time to find 30 geocaches.  What was lacking was the time to write this blog post apparently…

Our cache of the month was found way back on May 3rd, which to be honest feels like forever ago.  It’s one of those cache you just have to do to appreciate.  No words I say will help you understand the ingenuity and may in fact ruin the surprise.

The Cache of the Month for May is Spade Bit (GC4B6CN) hidden by Geomusprime

To everyone who hid a cache that we found in May, thanks so much for playing!

Salmon Cove Sands

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A few weekends ago we took advantage of the above seasonal temperature of 21º and took a day trip to explore Victoria, BC and Salmon Cove Sands.

Victoria, Behind Carbonear was our initial destination as we set out in search of 7 geocaches that would lead us to a view we were told we had to blog about! With a vista that allowed us to take in all of Victoria with a glimpse of Salmon Cove, how could we refuse? The cache series in question is called Harry Dean’s Hill.

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The sun was starting to shine, and we were feeling a bit hungry so after the trek back from atop Harry Dean’s Hill, we got in the car and headed to Salmon Cove Sands to see if we could find some geocaching friends that who we knew were in the area. Twitter is a great stalking tool.

Now I understand what most of you are thinking… I wrote the word sands up there a few times. If you are from Newfoundland you know that true sandy beaches are few and far between. Salmon Cove does not disappoint.

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This is the perfect beach picnic destination. There is a small boardwalk, public washrooms, and a freshwater river that provides a refreshing swimming opportunity. The cove is pretty sheltered so its not too windy and if you feel like you need to stretch your legs you can a walk up the Trail of the Eagles and find a geocache or two!

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When you’ve finished your picnic and feel like you still have some energy for geocaching, head back out on the main road and visit the Victoria Heritage Park.  The Park consists of a full size water wheel, forge, general store, saltbox house, Newfoundland pony barn museum, country church, lifestyle museum, children’s playground, bandstand, a short boardwalk, Newfoundland Ponies and other animals. Newfoundland’s second oldest power generating station, which is a Registered Historic Site, is located here also. Before leaving be sure to check out the two geocaches nearby!

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Where’s your favourite Newfoundland sandy beach? Willing to share a secret location?

Treasure Island Caching Who’s Who – Pip ‘n’ Tif

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This month, we’re featuring our good friends Pip ‘n’ Tif on Treasure Island Caching Who’s Who.  We met them through geocaching roughly five years ago, and we haven’t been able to get rid of them since! Our friendship is an interesting, and perhaps somewhat surprising one.  We call them our retired friends, they call us their adopted children.  Either way, it’s great to have met them and we’re happy to share the following…

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Cache # 1,000 for Gilligan and Maryjane, Cache # 1,500 for Pip ‘n’ Tif

What is your geocaching name?

Pip’n'Tif

How did you decide on this name?

Pip is a short form of Philip and Tif is a name given to Stephanie  by a friend…shortened from Tiffer

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Are you a Newfoundlander or a CFA (a.k.a Where were you born or where is home?)

Pip was born at North Sydney, Cape Breton, Novav Scotia and Tif was born in Buchans. NL. We have lived in Conception Bay South for 39 years.

What was the first geocache you found?

Follow the STARs (GCB934) just in the woods across from Paddy’s Pond

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How many geocaches have you found?  

2,813

Do you have a favorite geocache or a short list of favorites?

The most unique cache we have found was Attraction (GC39B4X), a team effort with Gilligan and Mary Jane. Our other favourites include:Paddy’s Pond Island which we had to use our canoe to access, Belle Vista, Nageira’s Treasure, The Beamer all in Nefoudland; The Secret Grove (Arnprior, ON)The Killarney Red Rock (ON), Skagway Treasure (AK), Pigeon Island (Turkey), Mount Vesuvius (Italy)

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Someone found their 2000th Geocache!

What is your favorite type of geocache (traditional, puzzle, other, etc) and why?

Traditional or one with a unique container…we really like to find something in a cache, especially marbles as we have a large collection. We like to leave toys for kids as these are the caches that keep the little ones coming back for more. After all, geocaching is a family activity.

What is your favorite geocache that you have hidden?

Pip’s favourite is the Triangulation Cache which involved a lot of effort to hide, but only a few took the challenge. Tif’s favourite is Got Milk (now archived) which was a multi cache involving all the aspects of milk production. We both enjoyed hiding our Night Vision Cache which disappeared in the extension of Team Gushue Highway.

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On the trails with Puff and Em

Who usually goes with you when you’re geocaching?

Duh… Gilligan and Mary Jane, our adopted family and Puff and Em our daughter and granddaughter

What are some of your other hobbies?

Pip likes golf, hunting, and flying. Tif likes cake decorating, reading, and music. We both like archery and volunteering with Chamberlains Park and our church.

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Well that’s a wrap on another edition of Treasure Island Caching Who’s Who! As always, many thanks to Pip n’ Tif for volunteering to help us out!

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Over to you….

Is there a local geocacher that you would like to know more about? Let us know and we’ll do our best to feature them on our blog in the future.

Freshwater Bay

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Freshwater Bay, East Coast Trail Sign

Earlier this month we hiked down to Freshwater Bay, a nice, short, relatively easy 6 km hike that yielded some excellent views and a possibility of seven geocaches.  We found all the geocaches along the trail, and after doing a little exploring and having a little snack we headed back up the hill.

A little bit of back story, Freshwater Bay was once a permanent settlement, beginning in he early 1800s, it grew to 11 households and 65 residents at its peak in 1857. Residents survived by fishing, hunting sea birds and farming on the eastern edge of the bay. The population entered a steady decline shortly thereafter, forcing the closure of both school houses in the community. By 1935, the community had just 9 residents and was completely abandoned by 1973.

During the 1950 and 1960, the area was a popular swimming location. Folks would travel by boat on Sunday afternoons and holidays to go swimming and have family picnics. The lone remaining year-round family operated a small shop, selling chocolate bars and soda pop to the beach goers.

While the houses and pop shop are gone, there is still a spectacular Barachois to explore. The boulder beach is lined with twisted steel parts, the result of numerous shipwrecks in the area.

Our favorite geocache of the morning (and this hike) was FRESHWATER (GCHFWK) hidden by Cptn. Jack.  The cache was an old one, hidden over nine years ago but was still in good shape, especially considering this was in a container that we often dread finding.  Back in the days of ole (circa 2004), salt beef buckets were popular geocache containers.  Their large size and available, along with their “waterproof” seal were appealing to geocachers.  Unfortunately after years in the elements, current finders usually end up open the lid to reveal a nasty pot of geocache stew. Mold, water, and geocaching contents.  Yum!  Luckily, a) this container was in great shape and b) we’ve moved on to better quality containers.

Here are a few pictures from our trip:

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The barachois in Freshwater Bay

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Freshwater Pond

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Freshwater Bay

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Kayla signing the log for Freshwater (GCHFWK)

20130504_105333Allan standing on the boulder beach

One point of caution on this hiking trail, our access point was the parking lot just off Blackhead Road (en route to Cape Spear).  Unfortunately this areas has been prone to break ins over the past number of years, so ensure your cars are locked and your valuables are left at home.