I FINALLY went and did my first
GeoCache. Given that I'd consider myself a bit of a techno-monkey and gizmologist, it's a little embarrassing that I'm so slow to the party. I've even had a GPS for a couple years now, and more recently on my phone.
There are LOADS of geocache listing sites on the net. I had a bit of a dig around, and it seems that
geocaching.com is undoubtedly the largest site, with a number of GPS and phoneGPS apps that run with accounts linked to that site. It made sense to start there.
So I went and
grabbed the phone app for my phone. You can use GroundSpeak, or Trimble's GeoCache Navigator. (there are others, the geocaching.com API is public) I'm on a Symbian phone so went with
GeoCache Navigator. These apps actually tie in to your geocaching.com account. Very cool, but YOU DON'T NEED THESE APPS. You could just get the GPS locations from any site, and then go find the cache with whatever GPS you use. The apps are just cool tie-ins so you can use less of your brain getting (auto-send coords to your phone), and finding the caches (follow the arrow!!) :-D
So, from geocaching.com I did a search for close cache locations, and decided to go find a
traditional one classed as 'easy' about
300 meters from my house!! You can scroll down the page on that link and see my log entry as "Mashee". :)
***Spoilers for this cache below. Unlikely that anyone I know will do this one anyhow****
The "clue" said look up, so I figure it's up in those trees somewhere.
Hmm, nope, this location is closer, and seems a more logical public spot. Etiquette dictates you scurry around for your cache covertly, not revealing its location to non-participants. A quick look around, and all is clear. Nobody around. Lets see if I can find this thing!! Looking up...yup, I can see something up in the framework!!
Got it!! This was very cool. Great choice of container, and a list of previous cachers have signed in. I entered my "FIRST ENTRY!!" notation, folded the log back into the mint container, and put it back where I found it :)
This was truckloads of fun. Doing this with a friend, or group would be awesome. You could easily make a great day out of this. I'm off to log a pile of these into the phone so I can pick a few more off as I drive around the local area when out shopping or coming home from work etc. Any kind of day-trip will prove extra fun with a few of these logged to find. The kids will go nuts doing this too. Can't wait!!!
notes: I've posted a pic of the actual location and container for this cache location here on my blog, but as a general rule you wouldn't do this on your geocaching.com account.
Be discrete with images and keep it fun for other cachers etc.
additional notes: I bought Geocache Navigator from the nokia ovi store, not from the navigator site itself. I figured it would be easier to re-download the app in future from a site I've already got an account with. I'd suggest using your respective iPhone or Android store to do the same. This was a full-blown app that tied into geocaching.com's API, not simply a glorified HTML page, so I had no reservations about actually paying money for it. A rarity for "apps"
Some more pics from the following days.
Found my first trackable coin!
Its travels are registered here. Found it at the
Freeway Triple cache. Currently in my possession till I drop it in another cache.
Many, many trees. Most with great hiding spots. It was a total fluke I found this one.
Full Log!!
On the geocaching.com site, you can "favorite" one cache, for every 10 that you find. I certainly found my first favorite today. This was a 1.5(easy to find) / 1.5 (easy terrain) cache. But it's the clever ones that you'll always remember.
Errmm...that's a sprinkler right?
"This sausage looks very suspicious !!" I actually did this one on my round today, hence the glove. Yes I was geocaching "on the job". What a life. This was the SECOND time I came back here today. I couldn't find it the first. Rode off...had a think about it, and came back later. Couldn't let that little sucker beat me ;-)
"Official Geocache" I've edited the location label out.
At first I thought this might have been a pre-fab "to look like a sprinkler" cache, but these look like standard parts from Bunnings. The finders-log is rolled around a piece of coat hanger for easy handling. Another homage to the pure awesome of real wire coat hangers. 
