Go Go Geocaching! fun in the bush for the whole family (and dogs too)

Was involved in my first geocache hunt today, while staying with Paul and Sam at Chiltern.

The idea is that someone hides a small cache - eg a jar or box - somewhere in the bush and then posts the GPS co-ordinates on the geocaching website.

Anyone who wants to join in can take their GPS or iphone and head out to look for it.

We chose one near Chiltern and piled in the car with the dogs (Daisy and Trevor, furfriends of Noreen who was visiting also), and our Team Leader Sam guided us to a Highway Rest Stop. Here we parked the car and headed out on foot... up a hill , over an old rusty barbed wire fence, and off into the scrubby bush. After about ten minutes (of excited) walk we came to the spot indicated by the GPS, and then had to hunt around until someone found it - in this case, hidden in a hollow log.

(Here's a pic of Daisy examining the hiding spot.)

Then you sign your name in the log book and leave a trinket. And if you want you can take one left by those before you. Sam left a flower stamp, and I scored a plastic ring (which surprisingly, no one else wanted. -- Thanks to whoever left that one.) Then put it all back as you found it for the next finders.

Be warned, it can be very addictive. One of my neighbours felt that she'd become a grass widow to Geocaching mania, as her husband refused to go anywhere on the weekend that there wasn't a cache planted. Fortunately, especially with the advent of iphones, it's no longer a subculture for orienteerers but is becoming more and more popular.

You can download an app for your iphone, ipod or Blackberry - the official one is called Geocaching, which also has a trial version called Geocaching Intro, which is what we used. Or various others (11 other apps described here).

But what a great way to get the kids out from in front of their tvs and computer screens and into the bush, or to add a little extra zing to a day out visiting a winery for lunch (which was what we were up to... lovely pizza at WatchBox in Indigo Valley - yum... except I had a chicken salad they kindly made for me, as I'm pizza-challenged.)

Geocaching sounds nerdy but was actually good clean fun, and a great sense of adventure and accomplishment as you can see here as we proudly examine our find.

Websites are http://geocaching.com (which has a little video about it), or http://geocaching.com.au if you want it specifically for Australia.

And ps if you are interested in wine and winemaking, don't forget to check out my brother Brian's website http://www.shirazrepublic.com.au.

Have fun!

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