1K.Orger
Geo caching!
Not sure where to stick this as hobbies is full of "craft stuff" .
But google Geo caching and enjoy walks / drives out and about with the bonus of finding "treasure" ..there are rules ..do read them ..and abide with them...otherwise you will spoil it for lots of people including tourists and locals alike...if you do a swap it has to be equal or greater value!..tidying rubbish while there is good to do too....I dont lift poop bags that are filled and chucked(we all have our limits) though ordinary rubbish comes home with us so we leave the bits we hunt cleaner than we arrived.
Fun while enjoying our countryside!
Life is too short to spend it in beige underwear!
1K.Orger
I discovered the joys of geocaching two years ago, it's an excellent pastime, keeps me active and takes me to places I wouldn't normally go. I've made some great friends through it, in fact, one of them has organised a flash mob event for my birthday in two weeks time to coincide with my 2000th find; and one friend has become a bit more special than the others ;-)
1K.Orger
34 caches in 2 weeks so far!
Discounting re visits ...revisited a few spech the really local ones incase something exciting turns up for swaps!
Kids love the hunt, but, prefer the ones with "treasure" (ie kid bits to swap) lil caches are fine as they dont have space for swaps and are sneaky to find, but, bigger caches that are loot free are not great and we usually end up adding rather than taking something out and swapping...
Its costing us a few £ so far as the kids like to keep their swaps and needing a good mix of swaps "n" a box for the swaps to be done!
Must look for bargains/reduced stuff ...or is a 99p shop our best bet etc ..its starting to become intergrated into my shopping!
Arrgh Im a Geek/Nerd and proud t shirt needs to be ordered I think!
Life is too short to spend it in beige underwear!
1K.Orger
Unfortunately Dadie you'll find that most Cachers don't keep to the spirit of the game and take swaps with them. The bargain shops are great for picking up cheap items, the thing I buy most is packs of two antiseptic hand gel from the £ shop, I then split it and leave one in the decent sized caches, as you know some of the places we stick our hands is quite undesirable. I put out a large puzzle cache a few months ago and stocked it with really good swaps, one of them being a gents fashion watch that cost me £30, as well as toys and colouring pens for kids. So far it's only had four visitors which is disappointing, however with the quality of the cache I wanted the finders to earn the gift; and I'm the same, whenever I'm shopping I'm looking at stuff that I can buy for caching.
What started out as an inexpensive hobby has become the reverse. Walking boots @ £150, a few pairs of trousers @ 120, Helly Hansen jacket @ £150, then there's all the small bits and pieces: camouflage tape, duct tape, film pots, click lock tubs, multi tool, small plastic bags, the list goes on and on; but it's been worth every penny. I was a gold medal winning couch potato, now I can't wait to get outside and enjoy all that nature has to offer, whether on my own or as part of a group.
Check on Facebook to see if there are any groups local to you, I'm a member of several county groups as well as Geocaching In Scotland and North of Scotland geocachers. Getting to know others is handy for caches that are proving elusive or for help with puzzle caches, as well as broadening your circle of friends. For me personally, taking up the hobby is probably the best thing I ever did, chatting with other cachers we often wonder what we did to fill our time before we discovered the hobby.
1K.Orger
Ta for the help Joxville!
We are in it for the swaps...well the lil cachers are
Found out that little ones make for "great cover"...small child at the roadside =needing a P ...obviously to passerbys(why else would you have a child out the car in a passing place?)looking at the bushes/long grass etc!
Never thought about hand gel for a swap as we still have the pack of babywipes and a spare set of clothes each (Ok if all 3 end up soaked and dirty someone is going to wear a strange combination of clothes)in the car/bag when out and about...kids and dirt/mud attract each other!
38 caches found in the little time since starting (just under 3 weeks since registering)and a few revisited that do not count towards the total.
Only thing stopping us doing more caches is kids bedtimes (school nights) for walking caches and the dreaded car sick kid who Im unwilling to medicate(dry mouth/drowsy etc side effects) for roadtrip ones unless going for a trip over an hour in the car....that is needed ie not out driving round for fun!
Hoping not to get to the same sort of costs as you!
But always looking out for kid stuff when shopping (its the little bits that add up and you would be surprised how much they add up too if you sat down and worked it out!)but as for walking boots and waterproofs ,multitools,little bags and duct tape etc we are well sorted right down to the littlest cacher already ....wonder if to add DEET spray to my costings as Im loved by every biting insect out there.
Though we have a walking gps ordered.......rather than using the car gps for caching!...sure.. it will be used for other stuff too (not likely) was the justification in buying it...it will be handy...etc..!
We have already converted 2 other families into this ..one by taking the whole lot of kids caching for a picnic and the other by fb...they are an active/walking lot anyway and were interested in the "treasure" aspect (kids + treasure hunt whats better?)and they have the bug too!
Life is too short to spend it in beige underwear!
1K.Orger
I use the official Groundspeak app on my iPhone, there's a free version or upgrading to paid version gives more options, which I did; there's also an Android version if you that operating system. I also use a Garmin 450 GPSr which saves battery life on the iPhone, but I'd recommend buying rechargeable batteries, it's costly using just normal AA's. If you have a Garmin sat nav,(depending on the model), you can connect that to your PC and put the caches on to it, very handy for a roadside cache and dash.I see a lot of cachers with kids and they all say the same, the kids and/or dogs provide a good excuse when you're looking for something, especially the urban caches. It's funny how we become paranoid about people watching us, though I have a friend who doesn't care, he just dives straight in to look! He told me he used to live in London and said it's very difficult there, however because almost everyone is in a rush to go someplace they aren't looking to see what you're doing, you just think they are. I'm going to London next month with 5 others to have a full days caching there, we hope to get about 60, but with 6 of us caching it shouldn't be too bad as part of a group. I also keep a hi viz overalls in the car as well as hard hat and boots, and an orange flashing beacon to sit on the roof; I give the appearance I'm working and no one ever challenges me. I've done that 7 or 8 times and not been challenged.
1K.Orger
there are a lot of 'local' cachers in your area Dadie and lots of caches in Caithness alone. See you have done some in Dunnet Forest but a new batch was added last week. A great place for kids. Also check out Geise Woodland Walk for another great place for the little ones to go. I do agree folk don't seem to swap much these days which is a shame. my source of swaps was a local hotelier who collected the discarded Xmas cracker gifts! made for some great swaps. Think my biggest bugbear is cachers who don't re seal containers properly or rehide them where they belong. A great hobby though and so glad you are enjoying it. ps...... thanks for"it's a Relief!!" Good of you to check saved me a 16 mile round trip.
Families are like fudge - mostly sweet with a few nuts.
.Orger
Hey guys,
The Wild North Festival 2014 will be featuring a spot of geocaching down the east coast of Sutherland so keep your eyes peeled!
.Orger
We've recently become 'Cachers too! We've only totaled 14 so far but the kids have gotten right into it so it's a great way to get them outside in the fresh air rather than moping around the house all weekend.
Looking forward to a summer of long walks in places I wouldn't have otherwise known about.
Doolally
1K.Orger
Thinking if the weather is halfway decent to go to Geise as it was planned earlier on this week.
Let the kids work out the GPS themselves and see how that goes!
The lil cachers are all P3 and under so it will be a challenge in itself....might get 1 of the caches or all 5 or none ...but that is the fun of the chase!
It was a great night for caching this evening and managed to pick off a few easy passing place caches as we were a lil cacher short...(she was busy doing something else!) we went out without her and she wasn't happy to find out we went without her, but passing place caches are not my faves with having to look out for the littlest 2 and the road/cars etc...finding the cache before anyone else is more important to them than road safety at the moment ...so 2 wee cachers and 2 adults is better for me stress levels wise to find the caches and keep the lil cachers safe!
Life is too short to spend it in beige underwear!
1K.Orger
Errm geek level 11 out of 10 achieved!
Started to just look on ebay for cheap things to pop in geocache boxes....now watching a few listings on kiddy toys.
And tempted to buy a fifty finds coin for us ...maybe order a 100 finds coin too to save on postage (wont be long until it can be displayed)...or should I go for free postage and get the coin sets for 50, 100 and 250 finds together and display as earned?
Found 6 out of 8 town caches today..only gave up after the mermaid was getting attention she might not have appreciated as no inch was spared a feel on the back ...still not found that one but there is always tomorrow!
Life is too short to spend it in beige underwear!
1K.Orger
1K.Orger
The pics wont upload on your links.
But I think I may have seen them.....
We saw an Adder on our trip caching last weekend.
First time I have seen one for years!
Lil cacher was lucky he was watching where he put his feet as he could have stood on it otherwise.
We have had some lovely walks round Bilbster, Geise, Broubster, Achvarasdale, Dunnethead and Dunnet forest amongst others.
We have a few trackables to drop off this weekend while on our travels....
Now the hard part...deciding where to go....and what to put in the picnic
Decisions..decisions...hmmn.....
Life is too short to spend it in beige underwear!
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