As I told you earlier in the week, we have a brand new hobby - you can see our first geocaching adventure here. We managed to find a couple of caches just by following the instructions and having a quick look on google maps but I knew we'd need a GPS (or a smartphone) to do it properly so we headed off to a sports shop to buy one. I opted for a cheapie one to start with but I'm dropping (gigantic) hints about wanting a proper one for mothers' day (which is in June in France). We got the Quechua Keymaze 100 which is OK but needs you to convert the map coordinates into a format it recognises (you multiply the final three figures by 0.06, if anyone else is having problems and got here via a google search !) and I'm hoping it will get easier to programme with practice because it's a bit of a fiddle.
The great thing about geocaching is that, although it lends itself perfectly to getting out in the countryside, there are also innumerable caches in urban environments too so you can go and find a couple in your lunch hour, if you're so minded. (I *might* have looked up a couple on the map close to the school where I work for when I have a free period when I go back to work !) The main geocachers in Dunkirk have put together online fact sheets about the various monuments hiding geocaches, so it's a great way of learning more about our local area. I'd checked online and discovered that there was one hidden right on the wall of the sports shop - this could be a cunning marketing ploy actually ! - so we went for a look.
Yay, found it !
Out of the three caches that we've found so far, only one of them has had a treasure in it to exchange. Oh well, the most exciting part is tracking them down, so we filled in the log and put it back in its hiding place. We had a good sort out today and pulled loads of tiny toys out of the bottom of the toybox so we've decided that we'll fill up all the caches we find from now on, even if they're empty when we get to them.
Time for a quick refuel and we were ready for more adventures - we had a quick look for another cache on the way home but didn't find it so we'll be back with the GPS, once it's up and running.
We popped into the garden centre next door before heading home, where Pierre imitated the chickens !
He asked if this is where the Easter bunny goes when he's finished his rounds !
We didn't find the final cache but we did find these interesting mushrooms. Don't you think they look just like they've got fried eggs in the middle ?! I've no idea what type of mushroom or toadstool they are though so let me know if you know.
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Ooooh, now that's something we could really get into! I'll have to give it a try and report back :)
ReplyDeleteI'd love to hear how you get on - it's very addictive ! :)
Deleteyes Karen you will need to give it a try, its brilliant fun. Thanks for the urban post, we took some treasures the other day as well.
ReplyDeleteLove how you looked for one near a sports shop, and I hope you get what you want for Mothers Day, should do if they are enjoying thee hobby.
I may need to start planning my holidays around my new hobby!!
LOL I wouldn't go that far, they're all over the place ... but I have quickly looked to see if there are any where we're going over the summer ! lol
Deletethank you for linking to my new geocaching linky
DeleteI was surprised at just how many geocaches there were locally to us!!
ReplyDeleteThey're all over the place ! We've been doing circuits in the dunes - walked 4.5km and found 15 yesterday, then did 7km and found another 9 today !
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