The crazy forest dwelling VanVosterbotens and their equally crazy cousins the sea raiding VonHovens are a fun loving bunch of adventurers who love placing treasures for others to find.
The VanVosterbotens live just to the north of the Dwarven community of THORNAD. They are ruled by 1 king who has 4 advisers representing the various areas within the land. The VanVostebotens are somewhat berserker in nature and therefore you probably have a 0 chance of predicting their behavior. Because of their unpredictability they are often asked to help in fighting evil throughout the land. A good example of that would be when a group of brave warriors went out and tracked down and killed the notorious wizard GARTATH. The Bards had a hayday with all the folklore created from that event. The destruction of the evil wizard brought peace throughout the land for 3 centuries. Although many people consider the VanVosterbotens crazy, they are a fun loving group who are quick to help out. Their methods of helping are sometimes odd. Their hobbies include raising sunflowers, which sometimes helps calm them down. They are relentless in their quests and always look after number 1.
While the VanVosterbotens rely on their strength and cunning they also believe in luck. They had good luck when they attacked the dwarves but less luck taking on the wizard. Their favourite numbers are:
-6, 2, 7, 10, -12, 27, 11
Now we all know the VonHovens rule the seas. They are truly 1 of a kind. Their dominance of the seas are legendary. They have 2 places where they primarily live, south of the Dwarven community of BRIMTUSK, and they usually over winter with the humans at OVERBEE where they provide protection. There is a 0 chance of the Overbees being attacked while the VonHovens are present. The king of the VonHovens at present is called NOON. He is a powerful but fair king and is well liked.
When the VonHovens over winter in Overbee they love staying in the town of Boom Bahn. They do, however, require several ales to understand them. Somewhere between 5 – 9 ales for the listener will usually cause a resident from Boom Bahn to start making sense. Once you get to the 8th sentence, you can usually start figuring them out. It can get quite confusing when there are 8 Boom Bahnians at the same table. And what is even more crazy, is the linguistic “rules” for the Boom Bahnians change after they’ve had 4 drinks. All in all a great time is had by all. The Overbees love the protection provided and the VonHovens love the hospitality.
There are actually two puzzles to solve for this cache. You need to solve them with two different sets of information and in two different ways. Once the puzzles are solved and you have the two locations, you will have to go to those locations for further instructions. There will be part of the instructions at one and the rest at the other. This is a multi stage cache with the two aforementioned locations plus 5 more locations and a Final. There are only containers at the Final (of course) and the two you have solved for. The other 5 locations have information on signs etc, or you will have to perform functions to determine info. Cache stages are named by letters, HOWEVER that does not determine the order. You will determine the order once you have figured out the instructions. Done properly, you will only have to go to each stage once. Not done properly....... well, bring some water. Besides, if you have decided to do this cache you may be part crazy as well as the VanVosterbotens and VonHovens, so the instructions will make sense. You'll also have fun looking at all the sunflowers along the way. These guys are definitely crazy but they’ve also learned from the Wanderers and can also be tricky, so read the instructions carefully.
Format for Waypoint Foxtrot (VanVosterboten portion of puzzles) is: N 43 XX.XXX W 079 XX.XXX
You can check your answers for this portion of the puzzle (VanVosterboten)on
Format for Waypoint Delta(VonHoven portion of puzzles) is: N 43 XX.XXX W 079 XX.XXX
You can check your answers for this puzzle on GeoChecker.com.
Recommended on site skill sets:
Project a waypoint.
Calculate distance and bearing between two wayponts.
Shoot a bearing.
Basic math skills.
Everything you know about an Acre.
Everything you know about a Hectare.
Knowledge of VanVosterboten and VonHoven tricks.
The capability of following crazy instructions.
Based on the above, bring the appropiate equipment such as GPS, calculator, compass (calibrated to true north), maybe some sheets of paper, and for Surly2, lots of Tylenol.
A little about the series: Normally I have a number associated with each of the caches in my series, eg Wayward #6 (Hex) or Dime a Dozen #7 (Bad Sudokus). This series will be different. As part of the fun and overall experience, you will be responsible for the numbering of the first 10 caches. This will become important when you go to the final. There are little clues throughout the first 10 caches that will help you out in your endeavour. There is even a Bonus clue cache to help you (or not) with the order. The series consists of 10 caches (which you will need to find to be able to get to the final), the final itself and one bonus clue cache to help you determine the order, for a total of 12 caches. There are 2 true puzzle caches in the first 10, 1 letterbox, 3 letterboxe types with a twist, 1 night wherigo, 3 water multis. The final and the bonus clue cache are also puzzle caches. Hope you enjoy the series.
The VanVosterbotens are a fun loving, forest dwelling people living north of Thornad. They, and their sea bearing cousins the VonHovens are berserker type warriors whose actions are often quite unpredictable. The VonHovens live south of Brimtusk and are often at sea. Both are always willing to lend a hand and help out. Sometimes their actions are so unpredictable that many people say that just like that famous entrepreneur, they’re craaaaazzzzzy!
Other caches in this series are:
The first ten:
What are you talking about GC3PNCN Walk this Way GC3PPT4 Walk the Plank GC3RXDP Vanguish the Dragon GC3MC70 Twice as Crazy GC3MC91 Pictures worth a thousand words GC3QQ43 Out on a Limb GC3RXEJ Drawn Out GC3PPEN Bin ther, done that GC3RTEA 16 GC3PYC2
The Bonus
The Entrepreneur GC3RXGC
The Final
The Final GC3RXJ8