Post by alice on Oct 26, 2010 0:32:52 GMT
Since I've had my car, and hence, the freedom to travel as I please, I've become addicted to Geocaching.
I don't know how many of you will have heard of it, but it's quite popular- there are now 1,223,774 active Geocaches around the world.
Basically a Geocache is a box or other container (usually somewhere between the size of a shoebox and a diamond ring box) that someone leaves hidden somewhere, say, for example, in some long grass under a tree, or attatched to an old railing.
The person who sets up the Geocache usually leaves a note and/or gift inside for the first person to find it. They then enter the global co-ordinates of the cache on the official Geocaching website (http://www.geocaching.com/) and the challenge is to find it using a GPS satnav (I personally just paste the co-ordinates into Google Earth though, it's much easier ).
You can go onto the website and enter your post code/ zip code and it will show you a list of all the Geocaches in your area so that you can try to find them.
There are over 20 of them within 5 miles of my house! I haven't found them all yet; some are trickier to spot than others. My cousin was searching in Blackpool, and she found a small black box about the 7cm x 7cm attatched by magnet to the underside of the railings by the park near her house. Inside was a bracelet, a small pencil and a note from the last person to find it.
The idea is that once you've found one, you can take the gift from inside, add one of your own, leave a note, or just leave it as it is. You can go onto the website and comment under that particular cache's description saying you found it and thank the last person for the gift etc.
So it's easy to see how many times a cache has been found before. It feels good if you're the first to find one- there is usually a nice prize inside too. I found one with a £10 note inside once
I've been on tonight and there are 2 more within walking distance from my house, so I'm going to go find them tomorrow
It's fun to see if there are any near where you live- why don't you try it?
(It's also fun to leave one in sight from your window, and see if you can spot people looking for it)
I don't know how many of you will have heard of it, but it's quite popular- there are now 1,223,774 active Geocaches around the world.
Basically a Geocache is a box or other container (usually somewhere between the size of a shoebox and a diamond ring box) that someone leaves hidden somewhere, say, for example, in some long grass under a tree, or attatched to an old railing.
The person who sets up the Geocache usually leaves a note and/or gift inside for the first person to find it. They then enter the global co-ordinates of the cache on the official Geocaching website (http://www.geocaching.com/) and the challenge is to find it using a GPS satnav (I personally just paste the co-ordinates into Google Earth though, it's much easier ).
You can go onto the website and enter your post code/ zip code and it will show you a list of all the Geocaches in your area so that you can try to find them.
There are over 20 of them within 5 miles of my house! I haven't found them all yet; some are trickier to spot than others. My cousin was searching in Blackpool, and she found a small black box about the 7cm x 7cm attatched by magnet to the underside of the railings by the park near her house. Inside was a bracelet, a small pencil and a note from the last person to find it.
The idea is that once you've found one, you can take the gift from inside, add one of your own, leave a note, or just leave it as it is. You can go onto the website and comment under that particular cache's description saying you found it and thank the last person for the gift etc.
So it's easy to see how many times a cache has been found before. It feels good if you're the first to find one- there is usually a nice prize inside too. I found one with a £10 note inside once
I've been on tonight and there are 2 more within walking distance from my house, so I'm going to go find them tomorrow
It's fun to see if there are any near where you live- why don't you try it?
(It's also fun to leave one in sight from your window, and see if you can spot people looking for it)