Whatever happened to...

On my way to Cornwall last weekend for a family holiday I stopped at a random cache in Gloucestershire (okay, not so random as I'd planned to stop there as it is just off of the M5 and I was passing, but you know what I mean) and I found this fellow...

Yes, somewhat battered (and blinded!) but still going, it's my own long-eliminated entry, The Exterminator!

What was especially surprising about this is that the little DALEK was logged into a cache in North-West Scotland! Since being the second elimination from The Great Travel Bug Knockout, with only 3.78 miles on the clock, the evil pepperpot has visited The Balearics, Germany, Austria, and toured much of Scotland.

Not all of the now-eliminated entries have been so lucky, Rag Zombie and My Little Eye made some modest moves before disappearing, while Scary Halloween Monster, Quatchi, Billy Bear Racer, Voodoo Whodo What You Don't Dare Do People and Happy Hoppy all vanished without trace before being eliminated from The Knockout.

What will happen to the next elimination?

Another entry

Enthusiastic newbies Kez+Maz have so far moved along two entries in The Great Travel Bug Knockout, but they won't be able to move along any more as they have now entered their own Travel Bug into The Knockout; this rather ferocious looking zombie:

Rag Zombie

Interestingly, K+M have placed Reg, erm.. Rag I mean, into the same cache that current 2nd place TB Smart Car 10 Knockout Racer started from.

All aboard the 17th entry!

Nottingham cacher wemnog is the latest cacher to enter a Travel Bug in The Great Travel Bug Knockout, with his sailing boat;

The Skylark

I predict another TB that will sink without trace!

Two more (highly hazardous) entries

Leicestershire cachers lgxkls (close friends get to call her No Vowels) and Mat Smith are the latest two entrants in The Great Travel Bug Knockout with their entries Hazards of Geocaching 1- Karon's Knockout Racer and Hazards of Geocaching 2 (The Sheep) John's Knockout racer respectively;

A Hazardous Cow

An Equally Hazardous Sheep

I doubt that either lgxkls or Mat Smith have ever considered geocaching in the Australian outback or Amazon rainforest...

You've called your entry whaaat?!

East Midlands cacher geohunter-x has brought the total number of entries in The Great Travel Bug Knockout up to 14 with his slightly eccentrically named;

Voodoo Whodo What You Don't Dare Do People (Racer Bug)

Now, let's all find some pins to stick in it!

On a more serious matter, with 14 entries and at least two more promised to come, is the 1-month period between eliminations too long? If any entrant has an opinion, either you're happy with the 1-month period, or would like it shortened so that the knockout doesn't go on for so long, please post a comment and I'll take note of your suggestions. Whatever is decided, The Great Travel Bug Knockout is now underway and the first elimination date is December 1st, 2010. Good Luck everyone!

And the Lucky 13th entry is...

Love and Peace (Maan)

The latest, and most hippy-tastic, entry in The Great Travel Bug Knockout, entered by (very) infrequent Nottinghamshire cacher Hediya, wife of fellow entrant Happy Humphrey.

As the thirteenth entry, this means that The Great Travel Bug Knockout is now guaranteed to last for a year. I hope that no-one gets bored!

That makes a dozen!

Nottingham cacher Jacaru has entered a Travel Bug with instructions in its name;

Knockout Ferrari

I'm sure that the rest of us will try very hard to oblige! Of course with twelve entries received, just one more will guarantee that The Great Travel Bug Knockout will last for a whole year, so who will be lucky entry no.13?

First placement

My own The Exterminator! has become the first entry in The Great Travel Bug Knockout to be logged into a cache when I placed it in this TB Hotel between Middlesbrough and Hartlepool in the UK at 7:20 BST this morning (still Summer Time, surely not?!).

How long will The Exterminator! have to wait to be picked up and, more importantly, dropped off somewhere?

Now, which entry will be second to be logged into a cache?

Wanna see something really scary?

In that case, here's the 11th entry for The Great Travel Bug Knockout, longtime cacher Happy Humphrey's Scary Halloween Monster;

Oo, I can hardly bear to look!

The Smartest entry?

Derbyshire cachers Smart451 have submitted the 10th entry for The Great Travel Bug Knockout, and of course it is a Smart car;

Well, what else could Smart Car 10 be?



Ve8 is no.9!

Ve8 is the new caching i.d. of an experienced East Midlands cacher, and co-founder of EmCache, the website for the East Midlands caching community. His entry for The Great Travel Bug Knockout is:

Billy Bear Racer

Who, judging by his dancing, must be the missing third Jedward brother!

Meet the first overseas entry in The Great Travel Bug Knockout

Ohio, U.S.A. based cacher fuzziebear3 becomes The Great Travel Bug Knockout's first overseas challenger with her entry,

Happy Hoppy

How long will it be before Hoppy loses that inane grin?



The 7th entry into The Great Travel Bug Knockout is just asking for it!

We all know Who The Exterminator! would really love to exterminate, so are Derbyshire caching family cooper troopers asking for trouble by entering a miniature TARDIS as their TB in The Great Travel Bug Knockout?

Meet:

the noble traveller



Is the 6th entry a myth or a hoax?

Actually, it's neither as

Quatchi

Is quite real and has been entered by longtime Midlands cachers Grizzly Pair. Will this Big Foot be leaving his footprints around The World or will he soon be just a half-forgotten legend?

Will BraveHeart win fair trophy?

Nottingham cacher Blid435 has, unlike oceanblue07970, been whole-hearted in support of The Great Travel Bug Knockout by entering

BraveHeart

as the fifth Travel Bug in the competition. Now I just can't wait for it to be eliminated so I can use a "The Knockout Is Heartless" type pun!

A fourth race entry received

Derby caching family oceanblue07970 have entered their Half Hearted Travel Bug into The Great Travel Bug Knockout. Hopefully they won't be broken hearted when they're eliminated!

Half Hearted

Here's mine...

...meet ...

The Exterminator!

Are you scared yet?

Second race entry received

The (short) wait is over to find out the second entry in The Great Travel Bug Knock-Out. It is:

My Little Eye

Owned by Nottinghamshire teen cachers thejellybabies, closely related to castlegrice, owner of George's Fun Bus 2, if I'm not mistaken :-)

First entry received

Nottinghamshire caching family castlegrice are the first entrants in The Great Travel Bug Knock-Out with their entry:

George's Fun Bus 2

Who will be the second?

So, when does the race start?

November 1st 2010.

If you would like to enter the race, just leave a comment in the comment box for this post giving the tracking number of your Bug and then wait. The race starts officially on Monday, November 1st, but as I realise that some cachers only cache on weekends you may place your TB in it's first cache on either October 30th or 31st without penalty.

This isn't gambling, so there is no prize for the winner, but I have had made up an engraved trophy (photograph to be uploaded after the race has started!) which I will present as a gift to the owner of the winning entry.

If you have any questions at all about the race, please either email me at slightlytallpaul@yahoo.co.uk or post a comment.