Ok. Just curious if any of you guys have ever given it a go, or heard of it. Some of you might have noticed the image in my sig perhaps...For those not in the know and those who enjoy walking and exercise outdoors, or have a GPS unit and want to get more exercise and see new places, read on!

Geocaching in simple terms is a slightly more technical version of orienteering I guess. On a basic level you have a location in lat/long, and a gps unit. You use the unit to get to the location to find a cache. These can just contain a logbook to sign to say you found it, or can be bigger, allowing for a policy of "take something leave something". Theres never anything of value really, the trinkets are just souvenirs of trips to be honest. Ive got a pack of playing cards from my first cache. I also have a very powerful small LED keyring light thats really useful too now.

The caches can be simple, as above, or they can get increasingly more difficult. Either because of terrain (some are underwater, others up the sides of cliffs), or possibly because of some pretty ingenious camouflage. others require the solving of complex puzzles to complete the coordinates. Im hoping to make a trip to Jersey when I finish uni this year to do as many as I can, which include a few tidal caches that are only accessible at low tide!

Anyway...

Id heard of this milarky a few years ago, and at the time, passed it off as a bit geekyish and pointless. This was when handheld GPS receivers were still fairly uncommon and expensive. Plus I was in computing mode and not that fussed on outdoorsy stuff.

Fast forward a few years and several field trips with a GPSr, and a couple of side-projects last year using GPS apps on a pocket pc, and you get to a few months ago. I was  procastinating and looking idley at new gps units as I figured for future fieldwork I could do with a unit that didnt need to be put in sandwich bags to be waterproof, and had a better battery life than 3-4 hours. I stumbled on the geocaching website, and figured out of interest Id have a look to see if there were any nearby my house. I figured thered be maybe a couple in Dorset. Well, there were over 300 caches within a 20 mile radius, how wrong was I?!?

Turns out that the hobby and interest is becoming increasingly more popular and active. As GPS units are getting cheaper the hobby is becoming open to all. It now appeals to me because of my love of being outdoors. It gives you a reason to visit somewhere new that you may have passed on the way to work several times before. Since starting in February Ive found 14 caches, mostly with my sister who turns out to be a bit of a geek too I guess.

These things tend to be off the beaten path. Id say half the ones Ive found so far have been surprising in how cool the location is. Today I found a really cool (mostly) wooden suspension bridge in the middle of Bournemouth in some tropical(ish) gardens that bounced as you walk across it. That was awesome!

So, if at all interested in all this, my suggestion is, if you have access to a GPS receiver, and like to do the odd bit of walking, have a look on geocaching.com and search for caches near you. You might be surprised by how many there are. Have a look through a few, you might find some interesting bits of history on your neighbourhood, or see some pics of a funky looking place. Use your GPS unit and get out there. Just follow the basic rules on the geocaching.com website.

More than likely. Theres been quite a few "horror" stories about different things...people finding bodies near the sites (Hey, if its a good place to hide a small tupperware box or something...) to getting arrested by the Tunizian police for acting suspicious outside a palace thingy!

Its not all bad though, theres a video on youtube where a cacher found an unexploded bomb somewhere, and it shows the bomb squad removing the cache, signing the log book, and then exploding the bomb.

Theres rules for this kind of stuff though. The bomb scare shouldnt technically happen, as when you place these things youre meant to get the landowners permission. Some places have blanket rules (Like Hampshire County Council has its own site for Geocaching giving permission to set them on their land) and the New Forest has permission for setting them so long as theyre under a certain size and you let them know the co-ords.

The most common mishap is the stuff being removed by litter squads, or a passerby noticing some suspicious activity and deciding to investigate.

Its weird, I seem to have no luck at getting people into the hobby...im met with indifference when i talk to my friends at uni about it. Yet my sister has gotten 3 people interested!

I think looking on the geocaching forums theres more interesting stuff in america (some mental challenges and really well camouflaged boxes)

Depends what you mean by interesting, most caches have information on the area theyre in, which could be interesting if local history is your thing...if scenery is your thing there are certainly interesting caches all over the place as they tend to be in really nice areas off the beaten path.

Theres one near uni that I keep meaning to do when I go in called "log log" and all the people who have found it have commented on it being an aptly named cache and well disguised, so when I do go and find it Ill take a pic, Im guessing its hidden as a log...

Search your postcode/area here: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/ You might find that there are some nearby that sound interesting, even if you think you know your area really well!

I went and found "log log" today. Was a pretty cool container...

Spot the cache


The name of the cache is a bit of a giveaway and it does stick out like a sore thumb if you know youre looking for something in the pic...

Click to see the cache

Wicked!

You soon get an eye for where theyre hidden. My first one I spent ages rummaging around. I looked at a pile of wood twice thinking "nah, cant be it, far too obvious" and just before giving up caught a glimpse of plastic hehe.

If you can, try and find some normal, non-micro caches. The kind of stuff thats left in them Im sure Sakura will love...bouncy balls and and plastic toys, playing cards, beany babies, all sorts. Quite often its all rubbish but every now and again there is something cool, I have a pretty nifty and bright LED keyring now thats as good as a maglite! Just make sure you bring some stuff to leave in case you do take something Its a great use for the pap you get in crackers!

signed up to this sight tonight
http://www.geocaching.com/

loads around my house and seems a good excuse to go for a walk might go find some tomorrow.

Hehe, now Im between contracts I might actually go on a mission to bump my finds to 50+ Watch this space hehe.

Ive also now got a travelbug from here through half of europe on the way to NZ, which is pretty cool.

Well, if you hadnt noticed...Ive added +1 to my finds tally, and hope to get a load more over the next week or two