Happy Holidays and ...

From the Desk of the Chairman

Hello from Chillax, my local in the very hot Bloemfontein. With Zuretha having emigrated to the Republic of the Western Cape, I've been forced into an emotional dilemma. Adopting the late Oom Louwtjie's caches from Zuretha meant I had to either archive them or put them on some serious life support. The lazy-boy in me obviously opted to archive but fortunately the nostalgia enthusiast overcame and off I went to the the internet to purchase supplies. I'd complain about the cost but I have recently done Signal the frog books his Licence (GC60190) in Fishhoek. After seeing the investment into that cache, I don't think I can ever complain about spending money on pack of pillboxes ever again.

I was reminded of Oom Louwtjie again when udjopa visited Bloem and we went to go do Lilac 8 (GC2K42R). Meeting the muggle home owner, he explained that he knew Oom Louwtjie from church and was convinced to put a cache at his home.

It's lovely to have the memory of such legends and to still be able to appreciate them through their caches. It's also lovely that their caches remain for the newcomers to enjoy. Every so often, one gets the warm feeling of running into somebody in a place they have no business being and knowing exactly what they are doing.

This happened on Naval Hill on the approach to MADIBA TRAIL Bloemfontein (GC9ED) which you can tell by the GC code is pretty old. I believe it's of the ten oldest caches in South Africa. That's why a little girl from KZN dragged her parents down that trail to get it. It was awesome to meet a new caching family and the stats hint that this is an increasing occurrence. Perhaps not necessarily family caching but certainly caching in general.

Just pouring over the 12 month averages, number of cachers is up over 200 since January and hiders also slightly higher than the beginning of the year.

It's looking nice and positive from a high level. The challenge remains keeping the newbies interested. It's interesting to look at the national map and see fairly few events in December. Seems it's not going to be a social holiday but hey, more time to cache.

If you're travelling, remember that many people buy their licenses so be patient and safe on the roads. If you're in or passing through Bloem, be sure to reach out and say hey. It was a wonderful surprise when a bunch of Gauteng cachers called me out of the blue and I was able to join for lunch on their way to the coast. Ingetjie even found her 2000th cache in town. Incidentally on an Oom Louwtjie original (GC24474)

Finally, to encompass every religious and cultural holiday, people tend to say happy holidays over this period. 

So happy holidays but there is a particular holiday I'd like to give tribute to that is lost on most people so for 30 December, I wish you a happy Bicarbonate of Soda Day. For a powder that has more use that an ammo can, it's good to be able to stop and reflect how much impact baking soda has had on our lives.

Much like geocaching, it's important to enjoy the small things.

Thanks for a great year. Stay hydrated.

Eben Naidoo - Eben1975
by Panthera03 

Late last week, I was shocked to receive the sad news of Eben's passing.  How could that be?  Eben was just 49 years old.

Eben was a great guy - always smiling with a great sense of humour.  I would be laughing most of the time when he would come to visit.  Eben thoroughly enjoyed searching for little boxes in the outdoors but he had another, deeper love - geocoins.  He would always make a point of stopping by at my geocaching shop, when he was up in Jozi for work. His most favourite series of geocoins were the annual Lackey ones.  He would only get one, if he had cached in that year, so he made sure to find a few caches before coming to visit. Sadly, I still have the one from 2019, which I had kept aside for him.  We chatted about getting together at some point in time, little did we know what would happen a few years later.

Eben had two daughters who he absolutely adored, and when they became of age, he enrolled them into Cubs at 1st Walmer in PE.  He also got involved as a Parent Helper, because that is how Eben was - part of the community and committed to helping out.  We exchanged stories and I encouraged him to keep doing what he was doing - every little bit made a positive difference.

Eben, larger than life, you will be sorely missed. I wish I had got hold of you sooner, just to have one last chat and laugh. Life is too short when you're having a blast.  Rest in eternal peace and light up heaven for us, until we meet again.
My sincere condolences go out to Eben's wife, daughters and the rest of his family and friends

Current and Known Upcoming Souvenirs

• Hider 2024 – Hide any cache between 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024.
• December Solstice - Find a geocache, attend an event, or complete an Adventure Lab® Location between 20 and 22 December 2024.
• Logged 2024 - Find a geocache, attend an event, or complete an Adventure Lab® Location between 24 and 31 December 2024.
• Discovering 2025 - Find a geocache, attend an event, or complete an Adventure Lab® Location between 1 and 8 January 2025.

Feature Caching Movie
as we continue our hunt for movies that involve geocaching in the hope of stumbling upon a good one. This month it's...
 

Left Fingers

IMDB Rating: N/A

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnapikZtbxk

Full movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DERblmkMjl8

Level of geocaching: Finger is the pie

A new rating methodology should be created for these sorts of films; how many attempts at viewing did you sleep through? If we were going by that rating, the answer would be 7. When you finally get to the eighth attempt, you’ll be impressed at how dedicated the filmmaker is to elongated cut scenes. This isn’t scenic b-roll. Not at all. Merely just scenes of walking to a geocache. There are hints at beating out the Fast and Furious franchise for narrative film with the least amount of dialogue.

Of all the films we reviewed, this one certainly takes the cake for most creative and yes it is somewhat horrific though to call it a horror would require that it doesn’t have a similar side effect to myprodol.

Current and Known Upcoming Events
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