Discover Geocaching the High-Tech Treasure Hunt!

I'm excited! I'm usually up to date with knowing about 'cool new things' but embarrassingly I have just discovered the new worldwide craze, Geocaching! Now I'm not sure how long this has been going on without me knowing but it seems a number of geocachers have been at it for quite a while, and that number is growing very quickly.

So what am I on about?

Described as a high-tech treasure hunt, geocaching is about finding secret 'caches' that have been hidden in public spaces by fellow geocachers, then logging your find online. The cache is usually in the form of a small weatherproof box or container with a log to record who has discovered it and when. Often there is also a selection of inexpensive trinkets that the finder can swap for one they have brought along.

Geocachers are found using a GPS which of course these days is as easy as having a smart phone. They are ranked according to how hard they are to find and the difficulty of the terrain they are located in. Users log onto the geocaching.com website and type in their location to get a list of nearby geocachers and their GPS co-ordinates.

Adults, kids, families, corporate groups, community groups - they are all getting into it. It's like cyber orienteering complete with its own language and jargon, secret codes, online community and clandestine methods of retrieving a cache in a public place.

There are close to 1.5 million geocaches worldwide with hundreds of thousands of them in Australia. They're hiding in old quarantine stations in the outback and in false pickets on an urban front fence.

What a brilliant activity to add to your Australian road trip! The kids get to learn how to use a GPS and you get to discover places you may not have stopped at, stretch your legs and together enjoy the thrill of the hunt!

For more information on Geocaching visit:
www.geocaching.com.au
http://www.geocaching.com/
http://www.australiangeocachingessentials.com/