Octopus Garden is North Carolina's oldest Geocache. In the PAST it was a moving cache, which means it has been in many locations (hence the interesting history). There are no "moving" caches anymore, so it will have a permanent home. So whatever you do, do not move it.

I repeat again. Moving caches NO LONGER EXIST. Do not move it.

The moving part while OK at first caused problems when people that didn't "get it" put it in inappropriate places. Originally the container was a paper Fed Ex shipping tube. The first time I found it, the cache was located in McAlpine Park. My most memorable find featuring this cache found the Octopus guarded by a wild chicken.

The original owner of the cache was named Iungionis. Oddly enough he never hid another cache or even bothered to find one. For a time it was maintained by a friend of mine. As Geocaching became more rigid and the "rules bearers" spent more time clamping down on the "good guys", while those that never quite grasped the concept of the game ran rampant, he gave up and moved on. For a time, I felt the same way. I no longer hunt, that thrill has gone, but I do maintain my original caches until such time that the blue meanies catch up to me.

The cache was first hidden in September 2000 and was first found on February 18th 2001.

If you are used to downloading coordinates and heading to the woods without reading the cache page, this hunt is not for you. Even in it's easy format, you won't find it.

I would love to have a maintenance free cache, but with the demise of the virtual those no longer exist. Therefore as you hunt this cache please take care of the clues. Do not remove them and DO NOT MOVE THE CACHE. If there is anything to read it is in plain site and isn't hidden, so removing a clue will do you no good, but it will cause me to take the cache offline while I fix it.

This cache was inspired by many people, both friends I have known and those I met through Geocaching.

Tom