October 20th, 2011
Our own island boy coast2coast2coast + zoe is nominated for Geocacher of the Month. c2c2c (Tom) is an amazing fellow and a great friend, and so many people say that about him which I guess is why he’s nominated! I was surprised by my reaction when I first read the nomination because I was mad at myself for not nominating him first! “We should have thought of that”, I chastised myself, while thinking of all the great Tom stories and great points I could have brought up! I was jealous!! LOL!
Thankfully we have a blog, so we can tell our side of why this BC Cacher is absolutely amazing and a legend unto Canada… 
I was talking to Nikon-Guy in Ottawa, ON the other night and I mentioned that coast2coast2coast (aka ac2c2c or coastcubed) was nominated for Cacher of the Month. Nikon-Guy said “I think I’ve heard of him!” and yes, he probably has . Tom is the one who flew Bernie, Canada’s most famous travelling geocaching from coast to coast in a Canadian Forces CP-140 Aurora with the photos of Bernie in the cockpit to prove it! Tom being a CF Flight Engineer sure helped Bernie get that ticket! Tom was on the Board of Directors of the British Columbia Geocaching Association (BCGA) and was a great ambassador for geocaching during his term. When Tom travels, he caches, attends events and shares his love of geocaching with people he meets. He was part of the caching community when he was ‘on course’ in Nova Scotia and is key to the local community in Comox, BC where he is sorely missed by everyone when serving his country far afield. His name is in logs from Canada’s far north and in every province and territory of this fair country. Caching since 2002, he’s seen geocaching and the community of geocachers grow exponentially! It is an honour to work alongside him on the Island Spirit 2012 Organizing Committee. Chris and I are thrilled that Tom was nominated for Geocacher of the Month!
Helen (and Chris)
Tags: aurora, bcga, bernie, c2c2c, CP-140, geocacher, island spirit, nikon-guy
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October 11th, 2011
Title: Quesnel’s Corn Cache 2011
Location: N 52° 43.408 W 122° 27.220
Link out: Click here
Start Time: 14:00
Date: 2011-10-10
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September 27th, 2011
Title: GeoMonster Ball
Location: N 48° 57.369 W 122° 26.385
Link out: Click here
Start Time: 08:30
Date: 2011-10-22
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September 26th, 2011
Summer seems to be leaving the west coast with gusto, at least that’s what it felt like today when BC Ferries tweeted cancellations, rain was coming down sideways, winds gusted to 100km per hr, roads were closed and plumbers were driving hither and thither around town. We headed over to our favourite beach to find a cache, but even with layers and rain gear it was obviously not the place to be for long. Even Tieka was glad to get back into her crate and head for an inland and sheltered dog walk location at Elk and Beaver Lake Park.
We have just come back from participating as sponsors and vendors at the 4th Annual Geo Cathlon Event in Port Alberni. Thank you to everyone who came by our booth to say Hi and stock up on fall geocaching goodies. We drove the Valley Link Highway (VLH) from Port Alberni to Lake Cowichan via Youbou and had a great time exploring side roads and forestry rec sites. It’s great to see so many people out camping and enjoying the beautiful Cowichan Valley. We took some photos to use on the banner images on the new Island Spirit website that is promoting Island Spirit 2012 (WestCan 2). Sign up for the newsletter to stay ‘in the know’ and to find out when the event listing will go live!
This weekend there is a memorial service to honour Bob Carscadden. Bob passed away on August 2, 2011 at home in Summerside, PEI. Bob and his wife Gale enjoyed many winter and spring seasons with family and friends on the west coast. A Celebration of Bob’s Life will be held from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 2, 2011, at the Royal Canadian Legion (Prince Edward Branch #91), 761 Station Ave., Langford, BC. This Celebration is an occasion to gather together in honour of Bob’s loving relationships with family and friends, his 34 years of service in the Royal Canadian Air Force, his active and enthusiastic participation in the geocaching community, his involvement in the ham radio community, and his positive outlook on life. Everyone who was touched by Bob’s life and love is welcome.
Bob liked to visit our island (Vancouver Island) and we liked to visit his (PEI). We both put down roots on opposite coasts and became friends in the process. Bob was pretty special to us… he was a great help when we were setting up our cottage in PEI, and always a pleasure to be around. Nook will certainly be missed!
Tags: agate beach, bc ferries, bob carscadden, cowichan valley, elk and beaver lake, island spirit 2012, lake cowichan, port alberni, tieka, wood islands ferry, youbou
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August 26th, 2011
Geocaching Challenges!
Chris and I were excited to be among the first to try out Challenges set out by Groundspeak for the Block Party in Fremont, WA last weekend. We tried both Photo and Action Challenges and enjoyed them both! Many creative and fun Location Specific Challenges are already popping up all over the region.
We had a cache on the Ogden Point Breakwater (near the cruise ship terminal) that was initially an Alternate Logging Requirement Phooning cache. When the ALR rules changed we added a micro and a 48lb magnet rather than archive it! We replaced the micro and/or magnet about 10 times during it’s life and so we were thrilled to be able to create a Photo Challenge Cache and archive our very popular Phooning Cache at the exact same location.
Here are some tips and pointers that Groundspeak has added to help people create great Challenges:
What makes a good Challenge?
Location-specific
The location of a challenge should be directly related to the action. “Take a picture of yourself with the Eiffel Tower” is location-specific, while “Take pictures of the night sky in Seattle” or “Find this/a geocache” are not. The goal of Challenges, and Geocaching, is to explore the world around you.
There should only be one location where you can complete the challenge – This is key!! Worldwide Challenges are only issued by Groundspeak, but you can recommend new Worldwide Challenges on their feedback site.
Straightforward – The Challenge should be easy to understand and not too complicated to do.
Appropriate – Keep Challenges clean so it reflects the family-friendliness of Geocaching.
Fun! – Like geocaching, Challenges should be a light and fun activity. Create Challenges that reflect this.
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