Waypoints to the Mega 10 - 24th July 2011.

Waypoints to the Mega 8 - 7th July 2011.

Attendee Pre-registration is going well and keeping our badge makers busy. But there are still a lot of “Will attend” logs on the listing that haven't been followed up by registration on the Mega Wales website. For the “official Mega count” you need to register every individual Attendee – if you don't do it now, it has to be done at the door. Pre-registration ensures that you get your personalised name badges and entry into the event with the minimum delay.

The last day for pre-registration is now only 10 days away, on 17th July. This will be the last reminder.

If you want to know who will be exhibiting at the Mega, where to find everything on the day, the latest programme and other details of what is going on, full details can be found in the downloadable programme which can be found here http://www.megawales.co.uk/program.html

Unfortunately, we have had to make a change to the talks programme. Instead of the Earthcache talk there will now be one on the role of geocaching as a tourism feature, an important consideration across the South Wales Valleys area. More details will be posted on the website shortly.

Sorry if you missed out, but the Mega shop has now closed. Thanks to your wonderful support, it has done an excellent job for the event fundraising.

Waypoints to the Mega 7 - 25th June 2011.

Thanks to your support, the Mega Wales Shop has done an excellent job, with more Supporter's Packs and Polo Shirts sold than we ever expected, while our stock of fund-raising geocoins is almost exhausted. As a result, the shelves are almost bare, so the shop is closing to new orders in a week's time. If you want any of the remaining Ryder Cup golf coins, now is your last chance.

Since reporting on some expected visitors to Mega Wales in the last Waypoint, we have learned of another traveller of note. “H2G2: a towel” Travel Bug has over 96,000 km on the clock and will be looking to hitch a lift back to Seattle, as it is owned by a Groundspeak employee. Can you think of someone who will be going that way? Of course, it will also pass the 100,000 km milestone on the way.

While Attendee Pre-registration has passed the 1000 mark, it is clear that many are still thinking about it – or, perhaps, about how long to stay for. In case you haven't looked recently, there is at least one “side event” on each of the nine days straddling the Mega Event itself, making a total of 14 events over 10 days. For more information about these, check out our events page. And a small plea from the owners of the side events – it is a great help to the organisation if people post “Will attend” logs sooner rather than later.

Please don't forget that, as well as making a “Will attend” log for the Mega, you also need to pre-register every individual Attendee, to ensure that you get your personalised name badges and entry into the event with the minimum delay. The last date for pre-registration is just three weeks away, on 17th July.

Fancy racing to the 2012 UK Mega? The race will start in Swansea on 31st July 2011 and the finishing line, appropriately enough will be on Cartmel Racecourse, in Cumbria. If you have bought a Supporter's Pack, your official entry dog tag will be in the pack. Anyone else can join in too - the tags will be available to purchase on the day or, afterwards, through stockists. While there will be a massed start in Swansea on 31st July, entrants can start at different locations and at a later date.

We are expecting some notable visitors at Mega Wales, including:

• Cuckoo Cache (GC4C35) - but can you guess where in the event it will be hiding: cuckoos are shy birds.
• Eeyore Tulip, one of the largest and cuddliest TBs around. Eeyore set out on his travels in December 2007 and has clocked up over 7000km, while collecting over 350 logs and lots of images to record the journey. But he still looks gloomy, so the challenge is to put a smile on his face. He doesn't want to leave the UK, but he hasn't yet visited Scotland or N Ireland... hint, hint! He is currently residing with Write and Mane, but is getting bored with their company. So, if you think you can lift the gloom, let Write and Mane know that you want to pick Eeyore up at Mega Wales.
• Jeremy Irish, Groundspeak founder - if you haven't yet read the story of how it all started, check it out on The History of Geocaching.

The Mega Event is next month, so don't forget ...

• 17 July - closure of Attendee Pre-registration, which ensures that you get your personalised name badges and entry into the event with the minimum delay.

Waypoints to the Mega 5 - 18th May 2011.

If you haven't visited the Mega Wales website recently, you may have missed the more recent additions to the Side Events:

• Mission Impossible? Meet Steinmann 2011 (GC2TKT3), Thursday 28th July – this is located on Flat Holm island, but transport (which needs to be booked independently) capacity is limited, so don't leave it too late. – details of where to book can be found on the Event’s Cache Page
• Picnic at the Big Apple (GC2P7DQ) , Saturday 30th July – if you were wondering what to do at lunchtime ...
• A Taste of the North West, Monday 1st August – a chance to find out just how friendly and sociable the folk organising next year's UK Mega are.

Sorry it has taken a while to finalise the facilities for dogs at the Mega. Lots of promising avenues have been pursed, unfortunately leading to dead ends, but taking up time. The final nail in the coffin of our more ambitious plans was that dirty word, insurance. So we ended up with plan B: there will be a designated area for dogs, on grass immediately adjacent to the venue. Water and “doggie bags” (but no food) will be available and shade will be ensured under a gazebo. There are bins for dog poo very near. It has to be emphasized that this will not be a dog-minding service, so no dogs should be left unattended and responsibility for clearing up any mess rests with pet owners.

For the well-being of humans, the bar in the Brangwyn Hall will be open all day, serving drinks and a selection of hot and cold snacks. Also available in the bar area will be a free cold water dispenser.

The Mega Event is barely two months away, so don't forget these deadlines:

• 31 May – last day to order a Mega Polo Shirt
• 17 July – closure of Attendee Pre-registration, which ensures that you get your personalised name badges and into the event with the minimum delay.

With the processing time involved in batching and then obtaining embroidered polo shirts from our suppliers, as well as allowing for shipping to worldwide destinations, we will have to stop taking orders for these popular items at the end of May. Demand has greatly exceeded our expectations and we are looking forward to seeing well over 100 on parade at the Mega.

A final note about Supporter's Packs - in the souvenir brochure in the Packs, there will be the clues for an exclusive (for one week after the event) Supporter's Puzzle Cache. So if you want a "heads up" for a first to find, this will improve the odds. But there is just one week to go to get your Pack.

With the Mega Event less than three months away, remember these three deadlines:

• 12 May - last day to purchase a Supporter's Pack
• 31 May - last day to order a Mega Polo Shirt
• 17 July - close of Attendee pre-registration

The Mega Wales Polo Shirts have proved more popular than we expected and we are pleased that we have now been able to add child sizes to the range on offer, so now the whole geocaching team can have one. The first few dozen shirts have been dispatched, so look out for one being modelled on a cacher near you soon.

Waypoints to the Mega 1 - 26th January 2011.

It has been another busy few weeks for the Committee and we thought you might like to know what we’ve been up to.

After getting our PayPal account sorted and fixing a few technical problems, the shop was opened for the sale of Geocoins, Polo Shirts and Supporters packs – and what a response we’ve had! The innovative slate Geocoins flew off the shelves keeping the shopkeepers very busy packing and posting. We are now out of stock but don’t despair – more are on order, and early sales of the Supporters Packs exceeded our expectations with over fifty sold in the first two weeks. The camo bag production line is in full swing with the seamstresses beavering away at their sewing machines. They have even more incentive now that the packs are on sale.

Polo shirts have also gone well and the first batch has been ordered from the supplier and should be sent out to the customers by the end of February. The final tweaks have been made to the Mega Geocoin design and we are now eagerly awaiting the samples.

Of course there is always the administrative work to be done and we continue to look at how the day will run from registration to closing and all that will go on in-between, such as the Geocaching talks. Details of all our plans can be found on the website, and will be updated as things are confirmed. With only six months to go work (and excitement) is ramping up but everything is coming together quite nicely