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?

Unhappy Hoppy

No doubt you're all dying from the suspense, but now it can be revealed: the entry in The Great Travel Bug Knockout eliminated on July 1st was fuzziebear3's Happy Hoppy Travel Bug, and somehow I just can't help but think that whoever found the little amphibian resting in it's box experienced something like this...

Ah, a redo of the classic One Froggy Evening, possibly the greatest Merry Melody of them all? Oh, and am I the only one who loved that scene in Mel Brooks' Spaceballs..?

Although we bid farewell to the little green fellow, life goes on for other entries in The Knockout, with cooper troopers' the noble traveller TB adding 257.78 miles to it's distance travelled by being placed into this interesting puzzle/multi cache near Arnhem in the east of The Netherlands.

Another entry to add some milage to it's total is Smart451's Smart Car 10 Knockout Racer TB, which logged another 38.79 miles after being placed into this Swedish cache.

Slovenian cachers Kassiopeia82 dipped lgxkls' Hazards of Geocaching 1 - Karon's Knockout Racer into this cache, then dropped it into this one.

Finally, wemnog's The Skylark Travel Bug continues it's voyage around the caches of Greater London, having been retrieved by cacher Oofy.

Although we're now down to the final ten surviving entries in The Great Travel Bug Knockout things are looking healthy with entries currently available for retrieval from caches in 7 different countries on 3 continents; the U.K., France, the Netherlands, Sweden and Slovenia in Europe, plus Canada in North America and New Zealand in Australasia. Go get 'em cachers!

Scroll to bottom of this page for current official Knockout placings

Will fuzziebear3's TB have to hop it?

5...4...3...2...1...

Castlegrice can kick back and chill out; Their entrant in The Great Travel Bug Knockout has moved off of the elimination bubble thanks to Scottish cacher Claraloon, who yesterday retrieved George's Fun Bus 2 from the cache that it was resting in, and this morning placed it into this one, adding a vital 80.49 miles to it's distance travelled. This has moved GFB2 ahead of fuzziebear3's Happy Hoppy TB, which I suspect went missing from the cache that it is logged into many months ago...

Meanwhile, Wemnog's The Skylark TB continues to steadily rack up the distance, having added another 10.1 miles after being dropped into this cache, one of the controversial Timberland-sponsored TRAIL OF HEROES series.

In other Knockout news, Oceanblue07970's Half Hearted Travel Bug has finally been left in a cache, rather than just dipped, by French cacher christian35. This interesting looking one, to be precise.

As one cacher finally lets go of an entry in The Knockout, it seems another takes up the dipper's baton, as Slovenian cachers Kassiopeia82 have taken lgxkls' Hazards of Geocaching 1 - Karon's Knockout Racer to this cache, and have retained possession of the cud-chewing little trackable.

Scroll to bottom of this page for current Knockout placings

A beastly little hop for Happy Hoppy

Cacher twopuppylove has placed fuzziebear3's Happy Hoppy Travel Bug into this cache south-west of the intriguingly named Chagrin Falls, adding a beastly 6.66 miles to it's distance hopped.

Scroll to bottom of this page for updated Knockout placings.

Hoppy is now even happier

Fuzziebear3's Happy Hoppy Travel Bug has been retrieved by local Ohio cacher twopuppylove after spending just five days in a cache.

Possibly more significantly, Grizzly Pair's Quatchi - Grizzly's Knockout Racer TB has been retrieved by West Midlands based cacher al60uk after spending no less than 65 days in a cache. Possibly more significant because Quatchi was in last place and needs to double it's current distance travelled just to move up one place in The Great Travel Bug Knockout!

Scroll to bottom of this page for current Knockout placings.

Hoppy is a little Happier

Fuzziebear3's Happy Hoppy Travel Bug is feeling a little happier today, having been retrieved from it's previous home on December 4th and yesterday dropped into this cache, back in it's home state of Ohio. The cacher doing the retrieving and placing was veteran cacher Chris K in Geauga, who has added a handy 184.2 miles to HH's distance travelled.

Interestingly, this cache is another one set by the management of the park in which the cache is located, it being placed as an incentive for cachers to visit the park.

Scroll down to the bottom of this page for updated Knockout placings.

Hoppy is Happy now!

Cacher Grey-n-Red has placed fuzziebear3's Happy Hoppy Travel Bug into this cache near to the city of Spencer, West Virginia, giving Hoppy an opening milage of 161.57, sufficient to move the jolly little amphibian up into 2nd place overall in The Great Travel Bug Knockout.

Check out this page for more information on the cache that fuzziebear3's TB has been placed into. It's part of a series that has been financed by the area's local Chamber of Commerce to bring geotourists into the area (does this contravene Groundspeak's rules regarding commercial caches?) and local companies have supplied prizes and swag for the caches, and there's even a special geocoin been made up for the first 100 finders. I wonder if this sort of series will take off over here in the U.K.?

As ever, scroll down to the very bottom of this page for the latest updated standings.

Five little questions for Grey-n-Red

Thank You to American cacher Grey-n-Red who retrieved fuzziebear3's Happy Hoppy Travel Bug and graciously answered these questions (answers in bold);

1. Do You usually pick up Travel Bugs?  Yes

2. What especially attracted you to this TB?  It was in the cache

3. Do you try to help a TB achieve it's mission?  Yes

4. Do you ever follow the movements of a TB subsequent to you dropping it off?  Not usually unless it is an interesting TB

5. Will you be following this Travel Bug's progress in The Great Travel Bug Knockout?  I looked up the site and I might follow the race

Dropped off AND picked up!

It takes Real Talent to drop a Travel Bug into a cache and have the person who found the cache before you retrieve it, but fuzziebear3 managed it! She placed her Happy Hoppy TB into this newly published cache in the U.S. state of Ohio. Fuzziebear3 arrived whilst the previous finder of the cache, Grey-n-Red, was still present, so passed her entry in The Great Travel Bug Knockout directly on to him to move along. Simples!