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!

and please click and share if you found this useful.

15 of the best iphone and ipod apps for travellers of all kinds

in no particular order... my favourite travel apps for my iphone:

toiletmate - what a great app! locates the closest public toilets to your current position and gives you precise directions and walking and driving times on a google map.


ifirelert -- has fire alert and updates information for most Australian states.


resuscitate - from St John's Ambulance. Shows how to do CPR resuscitation and not only how to use a defibrillator but where to locate the closest one to your current position.

weatherzone - best weather forecasts and also has alerts for each area (such as flood warnings etc)





ipark - set it when you leave your car and it will guide you back to where you parked.


compass - various ones, just make sure you take the iphone out of your leather holder if there's a magnet in the flip-lid.


all-in-notes - keep a database of your favourite overnight and rest spots, walks, etc, with room for a photo, tag line, text and a voice message. Also four colours to code into different categories.


MoneyJournal - keep track of your spending. Compare spending day by day or month by month, or by category. This is a very comprehensive and good app for budgeting and keeping track of where your money goes. There are other simpler ones to keep track of expenses for work jaunts.


shoppinglist - not just for your shopping but for any kind of repetitive list, such as 'don't forget at next stop' for when you are in and out of people's houses and likely to forget bits and pieces. Can make store specific lists, and so on. Has an auto fill function so you don't have to retype frequently used items. And you can delete them from the list by a touch.


flashlight - not great, but useful to find your lock for your key in the dark, or to provide a slight glow to find things in the middle of the night without waking others.


Google maps - of course. It can give route info (map, and approximate time either walking or driving) between any two spots, including addresses from your contacts list.

Mosquito -- emits a faint buzz that apparently mimics the male mozzie, which apparently deters the pregnant female mozzies which are the ones who are seeking to suck your blood. Not sure how effective it is, but a good talking point at bbqs.


Alice in Wonderland and Shakespeare (etc) - loads of free ebooks such as the unabridged Alice or the complete works of Shakespeare, for when you have to wait in a queue or for someone who is late.

iFirstAid - lots of good tips. Another one to browse in down time, but also could be useful if you had someone reading out the info to you while you were helping someone with an injury.


Metlink Melbourne - train and tram info

KittenJump - the only game I have on my iphone. Super cute and engaging. A good head cleaner.

Farewell Malcolm McLaren - thanks for stirring things up

Vale Malcolm McLaren, provocateur and cultural producer (1946-2010).

Apparently his last words were 'Free Leonard Peltier'.

Leonard Peltier is a Native American man convicted in the 1970s of killing two FBI Agents but who many consider innocent. He has been described as 'the Mandela of the Tribes'. McLaren's ex-partner, Vivienne Westwood was active in the campaign to free Peltier and has designed t-shirts with this slogan, which one of McLaren's visitors to the hospital was wearing.

His son Joe (42) said, "He had a sense of humour to the end."

McLaren is best known as the manager of the Sex Pistols; but he also created some amazing songs and video-art, such as this gorgeous Madame Butterfly:

Vivienne Westwood, fashion designer, co-owner of the punk shop SEX, and ex-partner, once said of McLaren:

'He  taught me not to be frightened, that creativity was all a question of attention to detail and working through problems one by one. There was no magic to it - just painstaking work...

'He showed me that creativity isn't a mystical process. You don't really have to have an idea. It's the way you do something that becomes the idea in the end. It's ultimately technique which generates ideas, not ideas which generate technique. The form is the idea. .. With technique you never run out of ideas. As you cut and measure and look at fabrics, ideas come and associations are suggested - ways to progress and push things further."

(from Fashion and Perversity, pp 94 & 98)

how to rescue a wet iphone or mobile/cell phone... top tip

I had a nightmare a few weeks ago about dropping my iphone into a bowl of water.. Fortunately it was just a dream and my beloved iphone is safe and warm and dry.

However if this did happen...

here's a great set of tips on this short video:


http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-rescue-wet-cell-phone-rice-207604/

Basically he says:

--take the battery out immediately

--don't push any buttons! or use it in any way

--put the phone and the separated battery into a container of uncooked white rice and leave it there for 24 hours.

Trol lol lolcat, and shocked and appalled cat (two of my favourites)

Had to share this one....



and here's the shocked and appalled cat (which is a bit of a star on Youtube):

Bush Architecture: dog kennel

Spike's home. (Corop, Victoria.)

Designed and built by my brother Geoff.

Spike with his Xmas bone (in April).