Trip report: Project: Bei die Wikingers Mega-Event (GC8V1K1)
Geocaching HQ Lackeys attend dozens of Mega and Giga-Events around the world, shaking hands, sharing stories of adventure, and of course, geocaching! Nikkchick is a Community Manager and nykkole is a Product Manager at Geocaching HQ. They recently traveled to Germany to attend the Project: Bei die Wikingers Mega-Event (GC8V1K1) in Schleswig, Germany. Here’s their trip summary.
Far in northern Germany, almost at the border with Denmark, lies the small town of Schleswig. Around 800 AD it was just a little town next to the emerging commercial center of Haithabu, a viking port. A border town in a strategic location along a trade route and with a viking history, the town Schleswig has many mystical and historical sights to offer.
The Event kicked off near Haithabu, which is now an open air museum. Many attendees arrived to pick up their event bag and find the newly published Adventure Lab® Caches that brought the mystical history of the vikings to life. There was even a Yggdrasil-like tree nearby. Whether it was the real one or not, we’ll never know!
Attendees took advantage of the occasion to meet new friends and reconnect with old ones at the Event location. Between chatting with other geocachers and meeting geo-pups, trackable trolls, and sheep (both trackable and not) it was a wonderful way to kick off the weekend.
My personal highlight was meeting some members who spoke the Sign Language of the Netherlands (SLN), and learning the word for geocaching which is based on the international geocaching logo.
We started our day at the main Event with a climbing class. Neither of us had climbed a tree with tactical gear before, but the instructors were both geocachers and professional climbing instructors so we knew we were in good hands.
Refreshed with adrenalin from the climbing, we mingled at the Event and met geocachers from many different countries and enjoyed some time at the reviewer tent (a great place to meet geocaching community volunteer reviewers and other geocachers). Of the many activities, some highlights were the log in the shape of a viking ship with East-German kids show hero Pittiplatsch at the top of the mast; the viking lemonade that you optionally could drink out of a traditional viking drinking vessel (a horn); the Adventures, which ranged from gadget caches using braille and bluetooth in a tree, to visits to “bei die Wikingers” where we learned from a viking what it takes to make a true viking boat.
The evening ended on a high note, with the band Torfmusik playing into the night.
The next morning we could decompress during the CITO Event; it was great to see many now-familiar faces one last time while cleaning up near town.
Caching in such a historical place and seeing history come to life was very special.
A big thank you to all who attended, all the volunteers and vikings who made the experience at the Event a success, and a special thank you to the organizing team who made this happen through many months of organizing, creativity, and “Herzblut”.
