• near the Sixth Line/Lower Base Line area Sunday
• near Guelph Line/Hwy 401 area on Saturday

A bear bell would be a good idea when caching in this area for the next little while.  Follow this link for additional black bear saftey tips.

The OGA Geocoin comes in four finishes.   But don’t delay these coins will be gone soon.

• Antique Copper
• Antique Silver
• Antique Brass
• Polished Gold

Millions of years ago, in a galaxy deep in Cyberspace, the Krystal Star exploded into a billion fragments. These fragments were collected by a mysterious figure known only to us as The Gassy One, a mythic semi-hero with a lot of time on his hands. The “Great Gassy” hid billions of shards throughout the galaxy. And now it’s up to you to help find them!

Come and meet with other geocachers, share stories, swap travelers and enjoy the time with fellow cachers.  There will be prizes including a draw for a brand new Magellan GC GPSr!

Find out what the GeoFreakZ are up to!

The Great GeoFreakZ Kick Off Adventure

Location: Trent Severn Waterway Visitors Centre
Date: May 19, 2012Time:  11am- 2pm

1. Attend an event.  Okay so sometimes you’ll need a GPSr for this one but in most cases the GPSr is optional.   Attend an indoor event and meet the cachers that write those entertaining logs or publish those tricky puzzles.  Take advantage of any ice breaker activities offered at the event you attend.  You’ll get to meet some interesting folks.
2. Solve a puzzle.   If you are in the Ottawa area you probably do this already.   The folks up that way seem to love their puzzles.   Every area seems to have one cacher that likes this aspect of the game.  Use your time indoors to solve that one puzzle that’s been eating away at you or has become your closest unfound.  The weather will be good eventually, be ready!
3. Go Shopping.  Not everyone needs to be encouraged to go shopping, you know who you are.   Whether it’s online browsing or visiting an outfitter there is always a piece of kit that would round out your geocaching bag.  For the summer I like to carry a pair of water shoes.  Makes wading a lot easier and keeps my boots dry.
4. Photography Tutorials.   Learning how to take better pictures, if you are interested in that, can be accomplished by watching some online tutorials related to the area you want to improve.   Perhaps you want to take better wildlife photos while you are out geocaching; just enter a search on YouTube for something like “tutorial wildlife photography” or

• Wildlife Tutorial
• Photographing Groups

5. Read Online Forums.   Geocaching.com and the Ontario Geocaching Association both maintain online forums.   If you’ve never visited a forum these are websites that allow users to share ideas, comments and socialize.   There is a wealth of information waiting for you in the OGA Forums.

That’s my list of five things you can do.   What do you do when you are stuck inside?  Have ideas to share?  Visit our online forums and share your thoughts.

Looking for a bit of a challenge?  This cache might be what you are after.   This four stage multi has a variety of terrain to negotiate, some field puzzles to solve and some additional physical challenges.   The general consensus in the group I was with would indicate this cache is worth trying if you aren’t afraid of the dark.

Geocache Spotlight is an ongoing feature of the OGA Newsletter. Each month a geocache will be recommended. If you know of a geocache that you either own or have found and feel it deserves some attention, please write something about it and submit it for publication in the OGA Newsletter.

We have also improved the template slightly.   This is to make the newsletter easier to read and share.  If you have questions about the newsletter or you would like to suggest story ideas please use the contact form on our website to let us know.

Regards,

John Robb (TeamVoyagr)
Editor

New in the OGA store is a brand new pin design which was just added.

We are also looking at getting other items including a new shirt design to add to the stock in our OGA store. If you have any ideas for a shirt or other items you would like to see OGA sell, please feel free to email any of the execs at any time. You can visit the OGA Store at http://store.ontgeocaching.com/ to see and order the new pins, Suncatcher geocoins and other items that we currently have in stock.

Have you heard of GeoFreakz? Starting May 19th the GeoFreakz will have a series of 4 caches that can be accessed close to the Peterborough LiftLocks. The caches are being placed as part of a National Pilot Project with GeoFreakz and Parks Canada and the mission is to locate as much of the Krystal Star as you can.

The OGA has been involved with placing the caches and will be hosting the official event to launch the kick-off of the caches. If you don’t have a GPS, don’t worry as there will be GPS units available for use at the Peterborough Lift Lock Visitor Centre. Mark May 19th on your calendar and Join the Quest!

Also a reminder to keep July 14th open for another OGA Parks Canada Event near Campbellford. There will be some very neat caches and a new coin. We are working at making this event another memorable one. You won’t be smilie-ing if you miss it!

Central Ontario Geocachers (COG) have been working with Groundspeak and Service Ontario to make these unique plates a reality. Each set of plates will have the Geocaching.com® logo along with sequenced number and the letters “GC”.
The project will be producing plates in sequence from 01GC01 through to 01GC99 and 02GC01 through to 02GC99.

Over 150 sets of plates have been sold so far; once the goal of 200 has been reached, Service Ontario will manufacture the plates and add the graphic to their general catalogue.
More information (and the order page where remaining number combinations are shown) can be found at http://www.driventogeocache.ca

Each set of plates is $90; all being well they should be manufactured in July and delivered in August of 2012.