Geocaching



On Tuesday at Beavers we took all the kids on a hike to participate in something called Geocaching. I have heard of this before but wasn’t quite sure what it was about and to be honest I have steered clear of it. However I have to say it is a genius idea to get kids outside, using their navigation skills and searching for little treasures.

 

 

Basically Geocaching is the world’s largest treasure hunt which you participate in via an App on a smart phone or tablet. All around the country there are thousands of treasures hidden away with the GPS details, along with hints etc stored in the Geocache app. The treasures are typically a small box which contains a list and a small object. The idea is that you use the App with its compass and map to navigate and find the treasure, then when you find it you remove the item, swap it for something else and add your name to the list to show that you found it. You can then update the App to show what item you removed and what you replaced it with and then track these items as they move around the country with other Geocachers.

 

 

During our Beavers Geocaching we managed to find 4 treasures out in the fields behind the Scout camp. One of them was a lunch box size container that had loads of little knick-knacks in it. We removed a whistle to move to another Geocache location and replaced it with a flower. The other three we found were just small containers with the paper list of names on it. Brandon took to the Geocaching like a fish to water and really enjoyed himself, so much so that once we got home and woofed down dinner, he dragged me out over the Wick Park where we went searching for another 3 or 4 Geocaches. We only managed to find one of them which was a box containing a Sagittarius keying. We removed this and replaced it with a little Lightning McQueen car. We still have another 4 or 5 to find over the Wick Park so I guess I will be being dragged out Geocaching more over the coming weeks. Brandon is also keen to set-up and hide some of our own Geocache treasures and upload them to the website (so watch this space for more updates).

 

 

This Geocaching will be a great activity for exploring woods and various places when we are out camping later in the year. Can’t wait.



Holly and Brandon on a Geocache treasure hunt over the Wick Park.

 

Using the phone to navigate closer and closer to the treasure.

 

Brandon showing us the compass on the Geocache App.

 

Finally after a bit of searching around we find the treasure box and swap our item over and add our name to the finders list.