Author Topic: Munich 2014 Giga (past event)  (Read 412 times)

Offline walktall

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Munich 2014 Giga (past event)
« on: May 28, 2014, 05:03:18 pm »
Thought I had better start a thread for Munich :)

Munich:
The hotel is booked for 3 nights, the coach is looking at being about £80 each at the moment but isn't finalised.

Cachers interested in it have voted on what they most want out of the trip and (luckily) it's my top three that are the top three: the Giga (the whole point of the trip), GC40 in Belgium and a March 2001 cache, not finalised but the one by Zurich looks to be the front runner.

Also, the route there and back is to get at least one cache in: France, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Belgium and UK ;D

Some excellent caches have had to be dropped as there isn't enough time e.g. 1141 Fav Pts!

« Last Edit: September 06, 2014, 10:44:58 am by Griff Grof »
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Offline walktall

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Re: Munich 2014 Giga
« Reply #1 on: May 28, 2014, 05:04:09 pm »
Hot off the press:

 
Paul Smith
28 May 15:36
I am the Route Master! ;)

Ok, given there's no point us going anywhere if we don't have time to stop and look around, let alone all pile off the coach, cache and pile on again, I've come up with the following based on a 60mph cruising speed. It doesn't save us much distance/travel time for the return leg, but it cuts two stops, keeps Austria/Liech/Swiz and 'guarantees' both GC40 (Belgium) and Luxembourg by including them in the in-bound leg rather than the return, where they might have been skipped due to time pressure.

This 'southern route' in-bound saves some miles but little time, due to swapping Maastricht and Eliz Castle for GC40 and Lux. The sacrifices are 'a cache in the Netherlands for your map' and the oldest cache in Germany - sorry. On the other hand, it makes the return quicker by something like 2hrs, meaning we'd get back to MK around 1am (sorry) rather than a stupid 3am - and that's based on a 7am start from Munich to come back rather than 8am! We still get 8/9 countries, a touristy thing (briefly) and a cache from March 2001, which I know people were keen to grab, along with the oldest cache in Europe and lots of nice views to admire as they stream past :)

Here's the revised plan which I'm sending to some additional firms:

Friday August 15th:
7am MK Coachway pickup
Potential pickup somewhere close to the M20 in Kent. Add 5 miles max for this.
Channel crossing at our expense
Across France and Belgium to Gedinne for a 30min pause.
Across Belgium to Luxembourg City for 60min pause
Across Germany to central Munich for a max of 2 drop-offs. Approx 10pm

Mileage: Approx 770miles/13hrs drive time + 2hrs stops

Coach and drivers not needed for Saturday/Sunday, but a nice (3-star, highly rated) twin room has been booked for drivers and we will give money for meals (amount to be agreed)

Monday August 18th
7am Pick-up in central Munich (max two locations).
South to Fussen on the Austria border for 30min pause.
Pause in Dornbirn, Austria for 15mins.
West to Vaduz, Liechtenstein for 30min pause
Across to Switzerland to Kloten (nr Zurich Airport) for 45min pause.
North to the French coast for crossing. Approx 9pm? (9.50 tunnel booked but may be swapped to ferry)
Potential drop-off in Kent nr M20.
Finish in MK 1am :/

Mileage: approx 950m/16hrs + 2hrs stops.

Round-trip Total: 1720m

Please include fuel costs, parking charges, tolls etc in your quote to keep it in line with what others are including.
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Offline Griff Grof

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Re: Munich 2014 Giga
« Reply #2 on: May 28, 2014, 07:39:15 pm »
We needed a thread  :)

How many are signed up to go?
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Offline walktall

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Re: Munich 2014 Giga
« Reply #3 on: May 28, 2014, 08:55:58 pm »
I think its about 30 so far, so there's still room, as its a 49 seat coach :)

Paul's confident we will have a full coach by the time we get to August.
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Offline Griff Grof

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Re: Munich 2014 Giga
« Reply #4 on: May 29, 2014, 08:51:42 am »
Wow! So you're in Munich for two full days - are those both Giga days, or will you have other special caches planned for the second day?
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Offline walktall

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Re: Munich 2014 Giga
« Reply #5 on: May 29, 2014, 09:18:42 am »
The Saturday is Giga day, Sunday is do what you want but there is talk about holding an Event in the Beer Gardens :)
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Offline walktall

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Re: Munich 2014 Giga
« Reply #6 on: June 05, 2014, 12:05:53 pm »
Latest update and if anyone is interested better book very soon, the trip has had a full spread in the UKCacheMag issue 13 which is just hitting door mats:

Quote
Paul Smith
Yesterday at 11:19

"This trip just got real!"

THE COACH: A nice 49-seater from Motts Travel of Aylesbury - who supply the coach for the Coach Trip TV programme - with on-board loo, air-con (it'll be August), DVD, seatbelts (please use), lots of luggage space, etc. I will check it also has USB or other power.

THE ROUTE includes a cache in France, GC40 in Belgium, a quickie cache in Luxemburg and on the return leg, the castle from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (plus cache), and a cache in each of Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, including one from March 2001 (none of these in the UK). I aim to get a cache placed at the MK Coachway too, to kick the event off!

ENTERTAINMENT: Anyone wishing to take part in various quizzes or a little light gambling (£1 to guess the final mileage, winner/nearest takes the pot, for example) will find themselves catered for. Back of the coach will be the quiet area for those wishing to nap/read/relax.

DEPOSITS:
With a confirmed coach cost of £4,095 or £83.58 per head I'm now in a position to take deposits. Woohoo!
Given the transport cost will be around £100 - assuming we fill the coach; tell your friends! - including driver accommodation, food/water and the channel crossing, I think £50 to secure a seat at this stage is fair. The remainder (exact figure closer to the time) will be due at the start of August.

BANK: My details are: ********* (removed on this open thread). This method shouldn't cost you anything and has less scope for '****-up' than Paypal, in my experience. Please include your caching AND Facebook name as the reference so I can see who's paid. Leave a note on this thread once you've committed too!

PAYPAL: You can use Paypal, but please be sure to select 'I'm sending money to family or friends' to stop a charge dropping in my lap! My email address is ******* (removed on this open thread). The Family or Friends route should cost you nothing if paying by Debit card or direct from your bank account, or £1.90 by Credit card (Double check this as I see conflicting info on the PP website about Debit card transactions). There's no Paypal Buyer Protection via this route though. PLEASE put your caching AND Facebook name on the transaction so I'm better able to follow who's paid, and also post on THIS thread. Thanks.

PULLING OUT: If you have to pull out of the trip for some reason, timing is important. If as a group we can fill your seat, have the new person 'buy' your seat off you at cost. Or make a profit; It's your seat. If it's not possible to fill your seat (I hope the trip will be over-subscribed now it's 'official', but can't guarantee this) refunding you would leave me out of pocket (not an option!) so... either it's bad luck, or we'll try to sort something out as a group. But hey, what can go wrong?

BALANCE: By August I'll know all other travel costs (at the moment I'm waiting to hear if a twin room for the drivers is acceptable, for example) and will be able to give an exact figure and you'll be able to complete payment by Transfer or Paypal again - plus make up any shortfall in the deposit if you selected a payment that cost me! I can't take cash on the day as the coach needs to be paid for in full before August 7th.

T-SHIRTS: I'll sort these in July. Getting a group rate will save us money and I could even round figures up to the nearest pound - this is the only thing I *might* make any money on, on this trip. Everything else is at cost. Original invoices will be shown to back up my philanthropy!

QUESTIONS? Please don't hesitate to ask them, but my reply may be slow as I'm away and may not have access to WiFi too often. Cheers folks.
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Offline Gackt

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Re: Munich 2014 Giga
« Reply #7 on: June 05, 2014, 01:09:08 pm »
the trip has had a full spread in the UKCacheMag issue 13 which is just hitting door mats:
And should also be available on-line to read now, I heard somewhere but not sure if that was true or not.

Offline walktall

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Re: Munich 2014 Giga
« Reply #8 on: June 07, 2014, 11:02:17 pm »
The word has certainly got out. At the Flash Mob Event at Witney today, the event organiser has sent Paul a deposit for him and his partner, as they saw the article in UKCache Mag  ;D
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Offline Wrighty

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Re: Munich 2014 Giga
« Reply #9 on: August 22, 2014, 08:26:52 am »
So was it all worth it and did you have a good time.

Offline walktall

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Re: Munich 2014 Giga
« Reply #10 on: August 22, 2014, 09:16:27 am »
The estimate for travelling time to and from Munich via certain caches was well out, AA.com was used. We left Milton Keynes at 7am with an estimate arrival time in Munich of 11pm - we got there at 4:30am the next day :o

It was a long time to sit on a coach with few stops.

BUT

All my goals for the trip were done ;D
Munich is a lovely city to visit, well worth going ;D
The Giga was like any Mega, just more people.
The venue, the old Olympic Park was great ;D shame there was some rain on the day
The Sunday was a great day, sightseeing and caching ;D
Munich is lovely at night, I went out again after midnight to get some shots of the lighting of buildings/statues ;D
It is a clean city ;D
Very good public transport ;D

So, overall, despite the long time on the coach and it taking a lot longer to get there and back, was it worth it?

YES YES YES


« Last Edit: August 22, 2014, 09:18:16 am by walktall »
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Offline L8HNB

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Re: Munich 2014 Giga
« Reply #11 on: August 23, 2014, 06:11:36 pm »
 ;D Yep, what he said ^^^^^   :P

Offline walktall

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Re: Munich 2014 Giga
« Reply #12 on: August 24, 2014, 12:35:08 am »
and I should say a big

Thank you  to  L8HNB,

who kindly gave me a lift back home from Milton Keynes. My wife was going to pick me up in the early hours around 1am but when this became 7-8am, she couldn't due to work. Then got home around 10am, only to find my wife at home, ill - just a stomach bug, all OK now.
« Last Edit: August 24, 2014, 12:37:04 am by walktall »
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Offline MrsDelta68

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Re: Munich 2014 Giga
« Reply #13 on: August 24, 2014, 08:59:09 am »
I loved it in Munich, it was a great place to spend a weekend!!  - Can't believe a week has gone by already!!  It was really good to see you there L8HNB and Walktall   ;D

Offline Griff Grof

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Re: Munich 2014 Giga
« Reply #14 on: August 24, 2014, 08:10:34 pm »
Good to see that everyone had a great time  :)

Any news on when the next Giga is?  :D
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