First Adventures In Geocaching

Today we had our first try at geocaching. This is a treasure hunt type of game played globally using GPS technology. To play you'll need to register with Geocaching.com. You'll need a GPS device which can be found on your smartphone. It's also a good idea to download a free geocaching app like this one. You can use either the website or the app to find caches nearby. Then use the GPS to locate their exact position. Once in the right place it's a matter of searching around to find a cache which is like a small box. Inside you will find a log sheet and perhaps some treasure in the form of small toys etc. If you take a piece of treasure leave something in its place. There may also be a trackable object which you can take and move into another cache somewhere else. The trackable objects usually have a mission; for example, to reach a certain country. For more on how to play go to this section of the geocaching website.

Our first hunt today was at a nearby cemetery where we located our first geocache which was well laden with treasure. It was very exciting for the children and we were pleased that we had been successful on our first attempt. We had a look around at the graves whilst we were there and calculated how long ago some of the people had died.

Our first find, L clapping!

Opening up to find the treasure and log book

We tried for 7 geocaches in all and successfully found 5 of them. They were disguised in lots of different ways and were located in the town centre, housing estates, local parks and scrub land.

Can you see the cache? It's right in front of you, disguised as a bush

The terrain here was a little tricky

We found this one in a hollowed out tree stump

At one location the cache was located very close to a disused bees nest - this was just amazing but we were glad the bees weren't at home.

There are thousands of geocaches all over the world so we plan to seek them out when we go away. However, there are around 50 caches within our own neighbour hood to find first.