Tuesday 19 July 2016

Finding my First Cache | Geocaching Photo Diary

A few days ago, I blogged all about my new hobby, Geocaching (find out what it's all about here). As a quick recap or for those of you that didn't see my recent post, geocaching is a outdoor activity that is a cross between treasure hunting and orienteering. Containers, known as caches, are hidden all over the World by people in this almost underground hobby. They even have a name for people who don't know about the geocaching world, they call them 'muggles' and as a Harry Potter fan, I thought this was awesome! There might even be a geocache or five in your hometown just waiting for you to discover. That's what I set out to do today (and yesterday, but I couldn't find it! haha), look for a geocache in my town. I wanted to show you all the geocache I found, along with some pretty things I saw on my walk. I hope you all enjoy it! 

Snails, Snail Shell, Mollusc,

Flower Photography

Darwen Tower, Darwen Lancashire,

The view above is of the moors over my town and Darwen Tower, which is also known as the Jubilee Tower. It was built to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. It's been on the hills overlooking my town since 1898! You can see for miles and miles from the top, but it's a tiring trek to get up there. I haven't been for over 10 years now. The next couple of photographs will be showing the geocache that I found, but I can't show you where it was because that's spoiling the game for any local geocachers that might stumble upon my post! :)

Geocaching

Geocaching

Geocaching in Lancashire


Geocaching in Lancashire

Caches can come in all shapes and sizes. This one was listed as an extra small cache, which can be anything from film canisters to pill boxes. Today's find was in a small black official geocaching container with one of those slide on and off lids. Inside each cache, there will either be a log book or if the cache is tiny, a piece of paper. This is for finders to record their names and the date they found it. It would be so cool to go back to a cache you've hidden and see how many people have signed your log book/sheet. My handwriting was so messy because I had to lean the paper against my leg to sign it. It was really nice of the geocache creator to leave a little pencil inside, too. This isn't always the case so geocachers should always make sure they have a pen with them. 

One of the many fun things about this hobby is that geocachers will often leave little trinkets and such inside the caches they find, sometimes for nothing in return and other times to swap for another trinket already in the box. The geocaching app told me that this would be an extra small cache so I brought with me this mini shell and a tiny wooden skull bead to leave behind. The shell was the only thing that would fit. It would be great to go back one day to see if the shell is still there! As you can see, the local spiders have also found this geocache and laid their eggs inside! There was also an Earwig guarding the cache, which my mum wasn't very happy about! haha 

Wild Rose, Geocaching in the North West, Geocaching in Lancashire,

Bubble Bee


Gorgeous Pink Flowers,

Geocaching in Lancashire, Lancashire,

Pokemon Go

Of course, I had to play Pokemon Go on my travels today, although I only found Pokemon that I'd already caught! I took so many more photographs but I didn't want this post to be more pic heavy than it already is. I had a really fun time searching for this geocaching, although it does drain me, plus the heat today really didn't help. I can't wait to continue with my new found hobby and find some more geocaches. I can tick 'start geocaching' off my summer wishlist now too. 

Thankyou for reading! 

 

Have you ever been geocaching or even heard of it before? 

 Enjoyed this photo diary post, check out some of my others: 
 

 
Share:

3 comments

  1. I'd never heard of it before last year, someone u work with does this a lot! I gather it's like letter boxing? I live not far from Dartmoor so letter boxing was huge when I was a kid!

    The person I work with has done it all over the world and found some amazing caches! I hope you have fun with your new hobby! Xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's awesome! I'm jealous :) I'd love to geocache all over the world. I wish I could drive so I could just go exploring around the UK and search for caches along the way. I've heard of letterboxing, it sounds fantastic! I've watched some youtube videos of people finding caches that are hidden in the old letter boxes. Thankyou :) I hope I can find some amazing caches like your friend from work x

      Delete
  2. I've heard of geocaching before :D I checked the website a few years ago but the ones in my area were hidden in dangerous routes (at the end of long walking trails with falling rocks) Your post has reminded me to check again, maybe the hiding places have been updated. ^_^

    cuteek.com | geek lifestyle blog

    ReplyDelete

Blog Design Created by pipdig