geocaching
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Re: geocaching
They aren't in the campsite, but up the hill to the south of it ie on the Rannoch map. The event info doesn't specifically say those camping at Kilvrecht can't walk around the woodland walks near the campsite after the event, but as there may be relay controls up there I suspect it's implied. Have emailed relay organiser to clarify things. If the relay doesn't use that bit of the map then the walks and geocaches may be OK, but as it's a fairly central bit of map suspect they are OOB.
- frog
Re: geocaching
The forest walks by the campsite and the geocaches are all OOB until after the relay.
Anyone taking a minibus that could just drive us all to the pub (or back from the pub as that's always the worst bit)?
Anyone taking a minibus that could just drive us all to the pub (or back from the pub as that's always the worst bit)?
- frog
Re: geocaching
We have been geocaching for a couple of years now. I find it a great way to give a purpose to a bike ride or walk or to do the tourist bit in city. We have completed excellent geocaching tours of Chester, Bristol, Stratford upon Avon, Budapest and Prague. Caches are often placed in areas with good views that we would never have otherwise visited. We have had mountaious adventures in Wales and Ireland, discovered the spots visited by rabbits in Watership Down and a costal tour of Dorset. We have also spent a lot of time scratching our heads trying to solve puzzle caches in the Surrey Hills ( a real puzzle cache haven) and cracking a code to find a cache in Bletchley Park.
We are a bit choosey going for quality rather than quantity and generally find the real joy is in solving the puzzle or discovering the beauty spot. It has kept us entertained, I suppose it can be considered a bit geeky, but nowhere near as much as orienteering.
We are a bit choosey going for quality rather than quantity and generally find the real joy is in solving the puzzle or discovering the beauty spot. It has kept us entertained, I suppose it can be considered a bit geeky, but nowhere near as much as orienteering.
- Jude
- off string
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Re: geocaching
Went to the top of Scolty Hill at the SOL yesterday looking for the geocache there. Failed to find it as hadn't decoded the hint as didn't think I'd be faffing about that much, but my navigation had been crap and my ankle was sore so the scenic path detour seemed like a good idea.
We found a few geocaches down the Cairnomount and at Edzell on the way home though, including our first geocoin, albeit a laminated coin as the real ones apparently get nicked and go astray alot. This one started off being planted at the Highland wildlife park by a lass from Antwerp last month, and has moved round Scotland since then. We'll probably give it a new home in Edinburgh next weekend. Have ordered a load of geocache related stuff from the net so should soon have an exciting range of trackable items and badges to leave, if I can prise them out of my son's paws when he sees them!
We found a few geocaches down the Cairnomount and at Edzell on the way home though, including our first geocoin, albeit a laminated coin as the real ones apparently get nicked and go astray alot. This one started off being planted at the Highland wildlife park by a lass from Antwerp last month, and has moved round Scotland since then. We'll probably give it a new home in Edinburgh next weekend. Have ordered a load of geocache related stuff from the net so should soon have an exciting range of trackable items and badges to leave, if I can prise them out of my son's paws when he sees them!
- frog
Re: geocaching
I had my first experience of Geocaching last night. Bart and Lisa were doing it with scouts, so I decided to tag along.
My initial reaction was one of disappointment. It felt pretty similar to orienteering in the very early days when you often got into the control circle before hunting around for a poorly described feature. Even finding the cache didn't seem to excite the kids very much.
It was interesting seeing the sort of place they are hidden though. I must have run/biked past many before without realising they were there.
Orienteering is far superior to my mind and I wonder if there is a marketing possiblity in placing event flyers in caches?
My initial reaction was one of disappointment. It felt pretty similar to orienteering in the very early days when you often got into the control circle before hunting around for a poorly described feature. Even finding the cache didn't seem to excite the kids very much.
It was interesting seeing the sort of place they are hidden though. I must have run/biked past many before without realising they were there.
Orienteering is far superior to my mind and I wonder if there is a marketing possiblity in placing event flyers in caches?
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Homer - diehard
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Re: geocaching
Homer wrote:Orienteering is far superior to my mind and I wonder if there is a marketing possiblity in placing event flyers in caches?
Spookster wrote:I wonder whether leaving orienteering advert postcards (rather than tacky plastic junk) in caches might be an effective recruitment method...
The problem with event flyers is that some caches only get visited rarely, so the event date may have passed by the time a geocacher finds it. But generic "try orienteering" postcards, with the web address and pictures of kids having more fun than when looking for old ice cream tubs behind trees, might work...
Martin Ward, SYO (Chair) & SPOOK.
I'm a 1%er. Are you?
I'm a 1%er. Are you?
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Spookster - god
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- Location: Sheffield
Re: geocaching
My GPS gizmo's arrived in post this morning - me and kids are going tomorrow - for our first trip - could be intersting - gotta get kids to explain how to use them first!!!
- NFKleanne
- green
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Re: geocaching
I found some PWT postcards so have been sticking those in larger caches.
I've given up going for ones in forests, the cheaper GPS just isn't up to it and searching endless trees gets boring. We're starting to get fussy and just look for caches in places we want to visit.
Some of the puzzle ones with lots of clues can be good. We've had 3 recently in graveyards that were interesting , the graveyard next to the Dean Gallery has some great monuments, although we failed to find the cache there as it got wet and the GPS was pointing to a yukky bit of undergrowth.
The GPS is coming with us to Sweden tomorrow though along with a group of travel bugs and geocoins we've picked up in the last few days that want to "see the world".
We've got the co-ordinates for half a dozen sites in Stockholm and Orebro and a couple at each day location in case we've time to kill before the bus home.
As I'm struggling to get tent, sleeping bags and mats etc into rucksacks I do wonder why we're taking a load of metal nicknacks. Keeps the boy happy I suppose, he seems as excited by the geocaching as he does by the orienteering.
I've given up going for ones in forests, the cheaper GPS just isn't up to it and searching endless trees gets boring. We're starting to get fussy and just look for caches in places we want to visit.
Some of the puzzle ones with lots of clues can be good. We've had 3 recently in graveyards that were interesting , the graveyard next to the Dean Gallery has some great monuments, although we failed to find the cache there as it got wet and the GPS was pointing to a yukky bit of undergrowth.
The GPS is coming with us to Sweden tomorrow though along with a group of travel bugs and geocoins we've picked up in the last few days that want to "see the world".
We've got the co-ordinates for half a dozen sites in Stockholm and Orebro and a couple at each day location in case we've time to kill before the bus home.
As I'm struggling to get tent, sleeping bags and mats etc into rucksacks I do wonder why we're taking a load of metal nicknacks. Keeps the boy happy I suppose, he seems as excited by the geocaching as he does by the orienteering.
- frog
Re: geocaching
My kids prefer geocaching to orienteering, so looks like orienteering may miss out. Lots of opportunities to participate locally rather than the 1 1/2 to 2 hours drive to district events - plus we can do it in nice weather!!!
- NFKleanne
- green
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Re: geocaching
The question is - does their new enthusiasm for geocaching make your kids more or less likely to do orienteering when there is an orienteering event 10 minutes drive away?
- SeanC
- god
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Re: geocaching
I dunno - We'll find out in November, when we've got an event 4.2miles away!!! I'll take kids, then take them home, then do my course!!!! I think they'll be ok. James is thrilled when he does a white on his own (nearly) and beats the twins doing an orange. We'll see!!!
- NFKleanne
- green
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Re: geocaching
I'm not quite sure why as an adult I enjoy finding tubberware boxes in tree roots as much as I do.
Had a weekend in Munich and took a couple of travellers to drop off and did 4 caches whilst there. 1 had a clue in the Deutsche museum to hunt for which was fun, the other caches were incorporated into a cycle tour of the city, sadly no decent sized caches in the beer kellers. Munich is now my favourite city. Do they have many o events in Bavaria? I'm looking for an excuse to go back. It's warmer than Sweden with cheaper, better beer.
Geocaching can make the drive to o events more fun for kids as alot of caches are fairly near main roads.
We've still to do the geocaches at the Edinburgh permanent courses. We're redoing some of our permanents and I'm tempted to do an O themed cache to attach to them, but the areas are pretty saturated with caches already and are too far away for me to look after.
At the Perth mega event I picked up a kit to make a night cache. Might have a go at setting that up when I can be bothered with the geocaching.com red tape to get it going.
Had a weekend in Munich and took a couple of travellers to drop off and did 4 caches whilst there. 1 had a clue in the Deutsche museum to hunt for which was fun, the other caches were incorporated into a cycle tour of the city, sadly no decent sized caches in the beer kellers. Munich is now my favourite city. Do they have many o events in Bavaria? I'm looking for an excuse to go back. It's warmer than Sweden with cheaper, better beer.
Geocaching can make the drive to o events more fun for kids as alot of caches are fairly near main roads.
We've still to do the geocaches at the Edinburgh permanent courses. We're redoing some of our permanents and I'm tempted to do an O themed cache to attach to them, but the areas are pretty saturated with caches already and are too far away for me to look after.
At the Perth mega event I picked up a kit to make a night cache. Might have a go at setting that up when I can be bothered with the geocaching.com red tape to get it going.
- frog
Re: geocaching
Its a bit like Dartmoor letter-boxing really - tried to find one or two in the next village but I can't say it was that exciting - the best bit was actually exploring a copse a bit further along the path from the cache - so at least I had a pleasant few minutes in the woods.
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Red Adder - brown
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Re: geocaching
orienteering is definately back in!!! After seeing my white rose photos, the twins want to go next year!!!!
- NFKleanne
- green
- Posts: 323
- Joined: Tue Oct 07, 2008 7:05 am
Re: geocaching
Our keenest family have recently got into geocaching. I can't work out if geocaching is a threat to orienteering (by being another competing activity), or an opportunity (by getting more people into map reading/being outdoors who might eventually move into orienteering). It hasn't stopped them going to all our local events.
They showed me a map of Petts Wood on a gadget phone with geocaches popping up and I have to admit it looked quite good. I didn't get time to try it, but I guess for the sat nav generation, using gps and a phone map to find things is a good transition from sat nav to a real map?
How difficult would it be to supply GPS co-ordinates of controls at a local event, and allow newcomers with geocaching experience to use their phones or gps gadgets to geocache round say a 45 minute score course?
They showed me a map of Petts Wood on a gadget phone with geocaches popping up and I have to admit it looked quite good. I didn't get time to try it, but I guess for the sat nav generation, using gps and a phone map to find things is a good transition from sat nav to a real map?
How difficult would it be to supply GPS co-ordinates of controls at a local event, and allow newcomers with geocaching experience to use their phones or gps gadgets to geocache round say a 45 minute score course?
- SeanC
- god
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- Location: Kent
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