Hibernal Solstice 2025 Community Celebration Event
Greetings,
June may only be the first month of Winter; however, when this CCE takes place, we will have just observed the Hibernal/Winter Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere, marking the point where we now see a gradual lengthening of the days and shortening of the nights. A time of reflection and renewal...for many cultures, this is a time to shed the darker days preceding and come about reborn for the next cycle. Fire and candles figure heavily in many festivals and celebrations.
Celts would light a bonfire and feast on cattle, having offered up said cattle as a blood sacrifice. Scandinavians would burn Yule logs and drink warm mead. The Japanese would welcome back the sun (Toji) by bathing in citrus-scented water, eating Kabocha squash for good luck and also lighting bonfires.
Where Geocaching is concerned, we heartily relish longer days and more sunlight so that we may continue our exploration down a particular fire trail's Power Trail even further and so that we have a little more time to find those "last caches of the day". In the spirit of Community Celebration for 2025, let us all gather to acknowledge both the personal and shared achievements and milestones that have come to pass, and reflect on what was and what is yet to still be.
For myself personally, at the time of this Event, I will have cached for close to eight years and relished every second of it. I have been working towards 2000 finds and, with any luck, may be able to log this CCE as my 2000th. I have been very carefully working towards increasing my D/T average (at the time of writing, this currently sits at 2.0 for both Difficulty and Terrain). This saw me being selective with my finds and working especially to have my 2/2 finds overtake my 1.5/1.5 finds, the latter of which I have effectively stopped finding in an effort to maintain that higher D/T average, whilst also ensuring to increase all other higher D/T combinations across the board.
This CCE also marks my 100th hide. Whilst I positively and thoroughly enjoy finding caches, I find I relish the thrill of crafting hides and hosting Events (specifically CITOs) even more so. Those moments between submitting for assessment and impending publication to subsequently beginning to receive those first logs are always exhilirating.
As with my first CCE (Alephroom’s Community Celebration Event - GC8ZEC4), we shall convene once again alongside the George's River, in the majestical Simmo's Beach Nature Reserve. A picturesque patch of nature that is perfect for all things Geocaching. There are several caches available to find, scattered about, and the plan is to have several more set in place prior to the event date so that people may come and go in groups as they wish to notch up their desired finds.
The details are as follows:
Date: 22/06/2025 - Sunday 22nd June.
Time: 8:30am - 10:30am.
Location: Simmo's Beach Nature Reserve.
Fifth Avenue (segues into the road to SBNR carpark),
Macquarie Fields, 2564.
Bring: Yourself, Geocaching family, snacks/water, trackables, kayak and/or bathers if you want to go for a
paddle/swim at the beach, Geocaching stories.
There may be some games/prizes in place for the event, details to given closer to the date.
Looking forward to seeing you all there. Plentiful geo-chatter and hearty laughs to be had, plus you will garner the Winter Solstice Souvenir, if not already previously attained prior.
Stay safe and cache on!
Much Obliged,
- Alephroom.
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Community Celebration Events - 2025
This Event is part of a limited release of Community Celebration Events to celebrate 25 years of geocaching. Geocachers hosted events between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2025. Learn more about Community Celebration Events on the Geocaching Blog.
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