Cache archived automatically

I have been warned by The System that this and its neighbouring opencaches will soon be automatically archived since they have been Temporarily Disabled for too long. So be it. These caches are still checked and maintained but it remains the case that I do not wish them to be publicly logged, should an adventurer be resourceful enough to find them. Since it is not straightforward (or possible?) to view archived opencaches, I believe the html copy at http://abanazar.com/opencaching/OC_ARCHIVE/menu.html will suffice as a starting point, so long as the lure of the adventure outweighs the ability to log online.

This will be disabled for a while and should not be logged.

There is an important update regarding certain aspects of local accessibility. Please revisit the final stage of the solved instructions for more details, if this is on your ready-to-attempt pile.

It's only now that we've finally been given a 'Recommendation point' to use.

 

So, upon which cache should it be bestowed?  All the OpenCaches that we've found to date are definitely worthy of a hearty recommendation but two of them stand out as living on a higher plane (either a Hurricane or back-,  depending on the cache in question).  They are Der Fahrer and, of course, this one; it is desperately unfair to the superlative Der Fahrer, but in the final analysis there can only be One.

'I want to recommend this cache'?  You bet I do!

The new residential geo-program from Amberel has been uploaded to the core of the Matrix.

What is there to say, that has not already been said?

For me, it all began when a daring and hardened band of rebels contacted me seeking a little of my - shall I say... specialised - expertise. Little did I know how deep I would be led, and how far I would journey into unexplored reaches of arcana and entanglement.

Perhaps my companions in arms would agree to call me 'the keymaker' for that did indeed become my role; but, no less, I was a novice in the paths I came to tread.

For those who would come after, I have only this to say: be prepared. Be prepared to endure, to hunger and to persevere. Be prepared to become - yes - a little afraid. Be prepared to rejoice, and to be amazed.

And for the very few who will succeed... be prepared to remember for the rest of your lives.

I rescued Trinity  What more is there to say?

Probably quite a lot, but I'm not sure I can convey how awesome this adventure is/was in a few words. The puzzle itself proved quite straightforward up to a certain point, at which time I required the support of others to make sufficient progress. This is perhaps the most complex of the CO's deciphers I have had to deal with, and I have tackled most (if not all) of them, which should outline the deviousness involved. I would say, don't let that put you off, because the best part is defintiely the physical aspect of the whole plot.

In the end, we were a team of four, and I know the others who had planned to join us were heartbroken at having to miss out. We were ambitious in that we aimed to achieve all in one day, and in hindsight, we were also ambitious to be as succesful as we were in two journeys. My map reading skills of the Matrix have improved significantly after this adventure, and even when we were 'misplaced', we never felt lost. (I can't say that for other journeys!)

This is another of those outings that this hobby of ours produces that I will never forget. As is usually the case after completing the one of the CO's caches, I cannot thank him enough for the enjoyment that he has provided. A huge thanks for inviting us into your realm.

The c/o knows I almost never watch films. However, near the start of this puzzle we saw an excerpt of a speech by Morpheus, and it was such a powerful and gripping rendition that I immediately watched the whole movie. And I really enjoyed it! I guess though, for completeness, I should add that I watched the first 20 minutes of the sequel, which I found to be so uninspiring that I binned it straight away.

Well, that led me on a long voyage. I have mixed feelings about the puzzle stages of this one. On the one hand it is probably the best and most original puzzle I have ever done (or taken part in - this was a group solve), with me laughing outright at the ingenuity of some of the stages as we discovered them. On the other hand, there there is one aspect that is way, way beyond my understanding and abilities, and it was only the recruitment of mjcross into the group that got us past this stage (though smudge42 also joined in later, and was able to understand this part too).

So we assembled here last Sunday, with the group whittled down to 4 due to holidays and health. After a somewhat farcical start to the day, with two explorers following the wrong car from the Chippenham services, we made reasonable progress. We found all that we searched for, and got through a little over half of the cache, though that was the nearer half. It was tough going, though.

Today we finished it off. Fewer stages, but more distance covered, and combined with Orpheus and Eurydice, we took longer. And was even more tiring .

If you have ever done a cache on which you think the c/o has paid amazing attention to detail, before you say anything. try this one - many stages elicited a chuckle at what we found. And several stages caused astonishment, it was almost as if the quarrymen a hundred years ago had anticipated this cache being set, and provided the props . The c/o knows these quarries so well, we observed that for all the locations he found that fitted the theme so well, he must have visited hundreds that had no connection at all!

So, another awesome abanazar cache completed, I have one recommendation in the bank that I can "spend" here, and another TOP CACHE geocoin to award .

Thanks for an amazing cache,

Rgds, Andy

We did it.

We eventually battled our way to the Architect and rescued GeoTrinity from his clutches.

'We' is absolutely the right pronoun to use as it turned out that a single Geo-Neo would have been insufficient to overcome the malignant software ranged against us and we were forced to call upon the services of a good friend of ours - the 'copy and paste' function - in order to reinforce our insurgency contingent.

In this way, the One became the Four.

 

The whole episode, from initially swallowing the red pill through to the final liberation, was epic in both scope and realization and required both mental and physical flexibility and stamina to follow the convoluted trail through the literal maze of twists and turns to its final denouement.  Now, nothing will ever be the same again; post-Matrix, our eyes have been opened and we realise that the world of the Matrix represents the true, ahem gritty, nature of reality and all other geocaches are nothing more than a pale and ineffectual simulation of the real thing, lacking both depth and substance in comparison.

 

Should you too choose to follow the white rabbit, you are guaranteed an experience like no other and the knowledge of what the reality of geocaching can be like in the hands of a real Architect.

Well, we really made hard work of that! We took only two hours to enter the mine, find the cache and exit again this evening. It's a very odd feeling for our group to leave the mine while it's still daylight. However, although we flew through the mine like geo-Neo today, we had three previous visits. We had decided to only do the first half of the mission on our first visit, but our second visit was lengthened by not having the appropriate power cell and then not spotting the pertinent information at the Human Farm. The third visit was frustrating because we failed in our field deciphering and so had to retreat. We tried to ensure todays visit was as soon after visit three as possible to make sure the route is fresh in our minds, and so it proved - I'm not sure we could have done it quicker. 

The final is in a particularly lovely area of the mine. As we neared the final we were somewhat taken aback by an unmarked fall and we also found a nice cheeky cut through. We found the cache easily and only took the FTF prize (owner to be decided), as well as signing the log.

I feel i've not described the rest of the cache as it was mostly tackled on other visits. The second stage (I think) makes this probably the most extreme of the Box Mine caches, and even with our mistakes it's probably the longest (except for Der Fahrer) - With mistakes it took 15 hours, but probably would take 8 to 10 on a good run. Yet again, the CO has carefully crafted a fantastic cache. A great puzzle (although particularly difficult) and a great tour of the mine and some new locations to explore and admire. Thank you so much for the adventure. 

I realise that my original log forgot to mention what I thought was the most surprising and odd part of our journey through the matrix. Then I saw this programme and was reminded.http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06rd56j/scotlands-einstein-james-clerk-maxwell-the-man-who-changed-the-world

How did these equations end up on the wall? I know it can’t have been The Owner. I think Maxwell published them at the time that some of the old graffiti that forms part of another one of The Owner’s adventures was written but I can't remember how old the markings looked.http://www.opencaching.org.uk/viewcache.php?cacheid=854maxtrix

---

 

It’s hard to know where to begin with this adventure and I’m starting to wonder whether or not it was all a dream or hallucination. Perhaps I’m just trying to block out the tremendous struggle that was both mental and physical … or was it, how would I know for sure? 

I made rapid progress with the first steps down the virtual rabbit hole but then overthought one stage and BradLad and I both turned it into a field stage where our confusion was added to by the discovery of what turned out to be a Munzee.

Back on track, we reached a point at which we had all of the required information, which must have been in early September (BradLad made the crucial final breakthrough on that). Then we stalled for a long time, not knowing what to do with what we had until antpeng knuckled down with the puzzle. It must have been November when I properly returned to it and I think antpeng provoked a more concerted effort to try hard with a solution attempt that I had had in mind but hadn’t properly worked on.

After the virtual collaboration we dillied and dallied with getting down to the physical effort although BradLad and I found stage one as we passed on a mission to reunite two lovers. The next field mission included antpeng and my sister. I won’t say too much about what was required but I’m glad we thought a bit and didn’t try to take the more obvious route down the rabbit hole. Also, I must admit to “misplacing” myself somewhat within the matrix at one point and BradLad and antpeng were very patient in sitting tight and waiting for my sister and I to reappear.

The next trip was just as eventful but in a different way. We didn’t come totally unprepared but we did come underprepared and my power source for interfacing with the matrix died immediately. Undeterred, antpeng manufactured a field solution and it seems that The Owner was surprisingly understanding when it came to some minor vandalism of his equipment. Unfortunately, we then lacked the vision to complete the adventure at that visit and then, on our return, we suffered from not being clear enough about previous electronic instructions.Finally, today, we ventured into a new part of the matrix. This journey proved exceptionally uneventful as we made our way straight to The Core and took the generous prize that had been sitting quietly for over 10 months.

Thank you for opening my eyes. Things will never appear quite the same again but I think that many others would benefit from being similarly enlightened.  None of this is real

 

---

 

I'm sure we logged our find with antpeng and bradlad.  Sorry, I can't remember the date and I'm not sure I have the strength of will to rewrite the log- at least now.  I think I remember the password though- we'll see now.  

---

 

Thanks to Amberel for recovering our logs.

 

 

 

 

Copy of antpeng's found it log, if he would like to relog I will delete this note:

Well, we really made hard work of that! We took only two hours to enter the mine, find the cache and exit again this evening. It's a very odd feeling for our group to leave the mine while it's still daylight. However, although we flew through the mine like geo-Neo today, we had three previous visits. We had decided to only do the first half of the mission on our first visit, but our second visit was lengthened by not having the appropriate power cell and then not spotting the pertinent information at the Human Farm. The third visit was frustrating because we failed in our field deciphering and so had to retreat. We tried to ensure todays visit was as soon after visit three as possible to make sure the route is fresh in our minds, and so it proved - I'm not sure we could have done it quicker. 

The final is in a particularly lovely area of the mine. As we neared the final we were somewhat taken aback by an unmarked fall and we also found a nice cheeky cut through. We found the cache easily and only took the FTF prize (owner to be decided), as well as signing the log.

I feel i've not described the rest of the cache as it was mostly tackled on other visits. The second stage (I think) makes this probably the most extreme of the Box Mine caches, and even with our mistakes it's probably the longest (except for Der Fahrer) - With mistakes it took 15 hours, but probably would take 8 to 10 on a good run. Yet again, the CO has carefully crafted a fantastic cache. A great puzzle (although particularly difficult) and a great tour of the mine and some new locations to explore and admire. Thank you so much for the adventure. 

We came. We saw (how did we miss it last time). We failed. Hopefully we'll be back soon.

Some good practice at rapid navigation as we had to make quite a long journey.  We realised our careless mistake from last time (it still took a while due to an incorrect expectation about the what kind of marking we were looking for).  We had come well-equipped but still couldn't get our final message to make sense.  Back at home, BradLad worked out where we had gone wrong and it turns out that the dimness we struggled with at a previous location turned out to have hampered us.

This is turning into an epic.

Copy of comment log by pljg

Some good practice at rapid navigation as we had to make quite a long journey.  We realised our careless mistake from last time (it still took a while due to an incorrect expectation about the what kind of marking we were looking for).  We had come well-equipped but still couldn't get our final message to make sense.  Back at home, BradLad worked out where we had gone wrong and it turns out that the dimness we struggled with at a previous location turned out to have hampered us.

This is turning into an epic.

We had intended to rescue Geo-Trinity this evening, but fell at the penultimate hurdle. Everything was going well after our first three waypoints - We even had time to deviate off course to make contact with Zion to upload our progress to them. It was then that the wheels began to fall off. Our power source failed and with no back up we had some decisions to make, so at our 4th waypoint we regressed a couple of decades and became more MacGyver than Geo-Neo. Using what we had to hand (some elastic bungee cabling from a head torch, two springs and fuel cells from two of our three chemical ray generators), together with an ever so slightly modified power coupling enabled us to extract what we needed from the faint display from another decades earlier conundrum and progress to the fifth waypoint. Our elation at succeeding at #4 was short lived. We'd used up all our inspiration and so, having gleaned all the necessary information we retreated to plan our final assualt and rescue of Geo-Trinity. Only we're still stuck almost 2 weeks later.... We shall return.

I don't know whether this is quite a DNF.  We made our way all the way to the Human Farm but then failed to understand the final instructions.  I think that we were being dim (or it's possible that the problem was that the previous stage was getting dimmer and dimmer as we progressed) but it was getting late and we decided to think more at home and return later.

I will leave antpeng to log something about the epic engineering efforts with The Keymaker.  

The Oracle is very pleased that some people have chosen the red pill over the blue placebo. It is a strange and wonderful world that you have chosen to enter, but ultimately it is the construct of machines. Familiarity with the subject matter will surely help you along the journey, but machines, well, ultimately they tend to yield to careful inspection rather than inspiration.

Well, I have now watched the film and I have to say that it was one of the very few films I enjoyed watching, and possibly even fewer films where I thought the movie could handle the story better than could a book.

And the movie made me realise several ways in which abanazar introduces subtle humour to his cache story lines, which are not evident unless you are familiar with the subject :-)

And I woke up this morning thinking I knew the password for sure - but I didn't :-(

Rgds, Andy

As someone who watches very few films I knew nothing about this one - but having had a look at this puzzle tonight it looks more like one I might possibly enjoy! Anyway, made some progress but now stuck at the same point as minadequate. Have to sleep on it.

Rgds, Andy

http://www.simulation-argument.com/simulation.html

 

We have laboured hard (or that's how it seemed to me) but today we entered the matrix and descended the rabbit's hole.  As anticipated, after multiple adventures we had to leave this simulation within our simulation and return to our simulation.  Or is it a simulation in a simulation of a simulation ... ?

Approximately 2/3 way through - we stopped at an obvious pause point. It's more extreme than other caches in this quarry so we were shattered when we left at about 11:15pm. We hope to return soon to resuce poor Geo-Trinity.

Thanks....

Clearly conquering the Matrix is not going to be easy, even for The One. However, Geo-Trinity is hanging on in there and is ever hopeful of being reunited…

Progress report.

I haven't done a mammoth length staring-at-the-screen session for a cache puzzle for a long time. For this cache I got to the same place as minadequate quickly and a while before their note log. Then I was stuck. I put it to one side till today when I decided to take another stab at it. I had slow, but pleasing progress, as I got a lot further into the rabbit hole.

After many hours though I need to call it a day for while again. I thought I had got to 'the end', but it transpired it was just the 'prelude of'... Moved on a little further still, but now NeoGackt is wacked.

I love abanazar puzzles even though I'm rarely in the area to pick them up I've started trying to solve them in advance.... however I also hate abanazar as I seem to get stuck on so many (and normally pride myself on managing puzzles without help)! Believe it or not I once got stuck on the first page for days not able to find where to click! Currently i've been interviewed by morpheous but have come up lacking again.... he did warn us the password is not as straightforward :( 

I have dropped a geokrety here. It doesn't show (for me) in the "geokrety" section above, however, so here is the link.