Happy Holidays and ...

From the Desk of the Chairman

Hello from Rosepark Hospital ER!
[Update: I swear I'm fine now. I was just killing time writing this while waiting on the doctor]
 

Y'know. I never thought the line "and a tree just appeared in the middle of the road" could be anything beyond a drunken excuse. However, having been on coke zero all night to avoid this kind of encounter (and no it was not new years eve but rather new years eve eve), I can only blame the tree, and the storm, and the wet roads, and the power outage, and the darkness and the tree that fell into the middle of the road, and the car that rear-ended me in the mistaken belief that I wasn't sufficiently deep enough into the tree.

While I'll be okay, the same cannot be said for my trusty RunX.

It reminded me of my first DNF. Like many, the first time I went out caching on my own, I couldn't find the thing and it took 3 more attempts and about 500 other finds inbetween before I got the first one to stump me.

Point it, I'm excited of making 2025 the year of getting back on the horse and encouraging others to do the same. I'm looking forward to executing some exciting ideas this year. I've already seen some movement on the all time South African cache finder leaderboard.

Also, if anybody is selling a Toyota RunX, I may be in the market soon ;)

Here's to a great 2025 full of finds and experiences.

3D Printing and Geocaching

by chrisingy 

I purchased my first 3D printer about 6 years ago, so I could design and print buildings for my model railway.  I soon came to realise that it would also be good to print different caches to hide.  The first cache was a simple screw in container similar to 2 bottle tops glued together.  While this was pretty easy to design and print, it took time to print and did not really have that wow factor. 

So, I decided to go big and printed what probably is my favourite print – the life size human skull.  It took some time to print (if I remember correctly more than 24 hours).  Then came the painting and weathering, to make it as lifelike as possible.  It was first placed in Bisley Nature Reserve, here in Pietermaritzburg.  It had about 10 finds during the 2 years and when anti-poaching units were frequently searching the park for traps, I decided to remove it.  It then was hidden during the Midlands Meander event as “Rocky Horror”.  During the event it was found about 30 times and the proceeding 4 years about 10 times before being archived due to a large fire in the area.

During the event we held in the Underberg, I printed about 60 different containers (snow white and seven dwarves, superheroes, a coffin, birds, etc).  Since then, most of these have only been found a couple of times a year.
 

This is where Ingrid and I started to think hard about making 3D caches.  The amount of time it takes to design, print, paint only for the cache to be found a couple of times in a year, if you are lucky. 

So, let’s talk about the Pros and Cons. 

Pros. 

Every cache could be unique.   

Brings that added excitement to the finder, when they discover something different.  This makes the hider very happy. 

Could possibly make newbies more interested in the hobby.  Finding something different. 

The hider has the enjoyment of placing something unique. 

Cons. 

The cost in time to design, print and paint. 

If the cache goes missing, it will probably be replaced by a normal container. 

The hider gets despondent as they feel that the time taken to produce and hide is not really worth it. 

Needs to be placed in a high activity area. 

So, will we print more.  A difficult question to answer.  With the poor state of geocaching activity here in KZN, probably not soon.  It is a pity as both Ingrid and I love the thought process, printing and painting of these special caches and then hiding them for somebody to find.  When reading their logs, we always wonder what their reaction was to finding that special container that we enjoyed so much in making and hiding. 
 

Current and Known Upcoming Souvenirs

• 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...
 

Redemption Ride
 

IMDB Rating: 4.5/10

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPiAe4bWvas

Level of geocaching: By bike in fact

The Christian spirit may be torn apart by this film; on the one hand there may be some enthusiasm for the concept yet on the other, it’s offensively bad. As well meaning but clueless as grandparents picking out Christmas gifts, it has its charm. Whether you wish to spend 90 minutes with them is an entirely different consideration. Weirdly, for a Christian film, they cast somebody with the name Misty Steele but we checked and despite the name, there is no record of her acting in anything untoward. 

The mainline actor, John Risner, did have a big role in the 2015 film., The Scarlet Letter…though that was about the 7th iteration of turning the novel into a film so if you’re looking for originality, you could listen to his garage band, The Peppermint Readers, and their grammatically annoying song, “Your so smart”.

The band bio includes the phrase, “but realize that alot of "christian" music isn't really that good, and can turn off alot of listeners.” Which, going by the film reviews, is how some feel about Redemption Ride. 

It’s a warmly endearing plot that will likely have you pining for a semblance of execution. Enjoy.

Current and Known Upcoming Events
While there's time, you may want to set your event for International Geocaching Day

*CITO Event

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