Any Geocachers amongst us??

knot_gillty

Active Member
Just wondering if there are any other geocachers in the 4x4 EARTH community? I know of myself and GippsSurfer that do it, so if there are others, let me know. Always keen to meet new cachers and see who's interested in that sort of thing.

Those who aren't sure what it is check out the Aussie geocaching site at Geocaching Australia - Free and Open Geocaching or the Yanky site at Geocaching - The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site

It's a good, fun reason (if you need another one) to get out and see our great country. Families love it too. My 5 year old is always bugging me to go "treasure hunting". So, get out and enjoy our country a different way......
 

cruiserlad

4x4 Earth Contributer
no im not but last time zoom and i were out he spotted a piece of paper under a roock i dont know how must have great eyes and i think he said there were co ordinates and names and dates is the geo caching
 

Offrdn60

Member
i have looked at the website... looks interesting, i have signed up and will have a go next time im out
 

frosty

4x4 Earth Contributer
no im not but last time zoom and i were out he spotted a piece of paper under a roock i dont know how must have great eyes and i think he said there were co ordinates and names and dates is the geo caching



HOPE YOU MARKED THAT ROCK!!:eek: They can be dangerous things, those "waste paper holding rocks"! Saw a bloke pick one up once! Realized what it was, threw it over his shoulder, cracked his missus on the scone then bounced threw his windscreen! POOR CAR!:rolleyes:
 

Davidman

5th Annual Victorian Gathering member
Geocaching

Hi All,
I am also into geocaching. It is incredible the amount of caches out there. I do a bit of travel with work around the country and always try to pick up a coin or bug to bring back to Melbourne. Worthwhile getting into if you have kids, mine love it, and like Knot_Gillty, are always at me to go and find some. The 4by makes things a lot easier in some locations too. Check out the website ( Geocaching - The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site ), create an account ( it's free ), punch in your postcode and see what is around your area. I am in Beaconsfield and cannot go any more than about 1klm without passing one. Many 4wdrivers have GPS units anyway, may as well make more use of them and have some fun with the family at the same time.

Davidman < or on Geocaching.com " Davidman +1 " the +1 is the daughter : ) >
 

Mainsequence

New Member
I have been meaning to get into it. There was a cache about 1k from our last house, but after numerous tries I couldnt find it, I think it had gone. Quite a few around here though (Redcliffe, QLD).

Great hobby/sport really. Will be great when my little boy is old enough to understand.
 

VWNuts

New Member
Yeah I've been into Geocaching since 2005, and enjoy doing the offroad caches the most. Especially with the VW's. We've done a couple on Stradbroke Island & Moreton Island as well as Double Island and Mt Mee
 

Davidman

5th Annual Victorian Gathering member
Hi VWNuts,
We have just got into the off road caching as well. Still enjoy the normal suburban ones , but the 4wd ones are just that little bit more challenging.
 

Ezookiel

New Member
Yes, I'm "Super-T" on geocaching.
My involvement dates back to about 2002, when there were not many around, but I spent a few years out of caching when I smashed the screen on my Garmin Vista while doing "Isaacs Incline" geocache in the ACT, and was years before I could afford the money to repair it.
I'm up over the 210 caches.

I tend to favour the original ideal of caching to attract people to something/somewhere special they may not have known existed, so all my caches I've placed are somewhere worth going.
I'm a little over the magnetic keyholder under an Australia Post Box in a suburban street, type of caching, which I see as pointless and a waste of time and effort. It does nothing but build up your numbers.
It was doing a seriously steep walk up to Spacey Cache, that got me into 4wding, as I vowed to go back and do that mongrel of a hill in a 4wd, and to NEVER walk it again. That track never did get done by 4wd by me, as they closed it, and the road to the top now is immaculately groomed 2wd dirt, but the 4wd has helped me with other caches, so it wasn't a total waste.
 

Davidman

5th Annual Victorian Gathering member
I have recently upgraded to a Hema Navigator. What I have done is to download all caches within say 50 kilometres of my home ( or wherever I may be travelling ) from Geocaching - The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site, import them into vantage point ( magellan free program ) or other similar program and then save them as a wapoint file. This allows me to see any nearby geocaches on the moving map function as I travel around. There is probably an easier way of doing it all, but as far as I can see, the Hema doesn't support geocaching in the true sense like my old Magellan Triton does.

If anyone has better or other suggestions, would like to hear them
 

havok011101

New Member
I am not into it, but it is something I have always been interested in since I first heard about it years ago.

Might have to sign up and give it a go, I think.

Any NQ cachers?
 

Ezookiel

New Member
I am not into it, but it is something I have always been interested in since I first heard about it years ago.

Might have to sign up and give it a go, I think.

Any NQ cachers?

Ooooohhhh.
Be careful, that's a dangerous thing to do, once you find your first cache, you'll never be the same again and I'm not sure if there are any programs for weaning people off this drug ;)
Especially addictive is finding the well hidden well disguised cache. When you find it. That can really get you hooked fast.

Do give it go, it is a lot of fun, the sign up process is pretty quick and easy and free, and there are guaranteed to be cachers in NQ, becuase there aren't too many places that DON'T have them.

When you do your first one, ensure that it's difficulty rating isn't too high, and probably make your first a traditional cache (no puzzle to solve), normal size container (not some incredibly hard disquised micro), in a bush location rather than a nano or micro in the suburbs, as they can be frustrating to find. Suburban micro and nano caches, by the fact that they are often in public areas, are more often stolen by people who saw someone retrieve the cache and then go to investigate. Nothing will put you off quicker than searching for half an hour on a Postal Box on a suburban street for a stupid magnetic micro that turns out to have been pinched.
Bush caches are more simply hidden, often just under a pile of rocks somewhere off the path a little ways. The lack of people traffic makes it less likely someone will have seen the cache collected and go pinch it.

One of the best aspects of caching is a cache that leads you to someplace that you didn't know exists. There are some remarkable places that I've found out about only through doing a cache, so find a cache that looks like it might be somewhere like that, and at least then if you don't find the cache, you'll find the view, or other thing that made the place special.

Good luck with it, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask me directly, I'm more than happy to help in any way I can, though can't help in person as Canberra and NQ aren't exactly geographically close.
 

Croozer

5th Annual Victorian Gathering member
Sounds cool Gilly have to do a hunt next time we do a trip and you can show us all about it.
 

knot_gillty

Active Member
Sounds cool Gilly have to do a hunt next time we do a trip and you can show us all about it.

Done deal mate. I see there are a few new ones out Walhalla way too. If you've got a GPS i can help you out. There are literally caches everywhere. You'll be supprised how close some may be to your house.

Also, the kids will love it Croozer and so should Elise. If she doesn't, thats one more reason to get out the house away from them all!!!!:D:rolleyes::eek::cool::p
 

Davidman

5th Annual Victorian Gathering member
I have attached a waypoint file which will work in OziExplorer etc. The files lists most of the caches around the Narre Warren / Beaconsfield / Berwick and surrounding suburbs, as well as several around Bunyip State Forest and a few other areas. Pretty easy to make these files from the Geocaching web site. Just put it up in case anyone is interested in using it. Am happy to make others if anyone is interested, or explain how.
 
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havok011101

New Member
I had a look on the caching site and signed up last night, there are heaps around here, and places that I'm likely to go from time to time (Cairns, etc).

So yes, might pick one of the parks near my house as the first and hope I don't get too addicted on the weekend.

I like the idea or merging 4x4 and caching too, might be a way to get the mrs more interested in the former maybe?
 
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Ezookiel

New Member
I like the idea or merging 4x4 and caching too, might be a way to get the mrs more interested in the former maybe?

They can be a great way to get your two hour "driver reviver" stop in. Pick a cache near the road every couple of hours on a trip. It gets you out stretching your legs, and sometimes your mind.

And you are right about combining 4x4ing and caching, there are often caches on 4x4 tracks around the place. Some you'd never go to except by 4wd unless a real masochist.
I bought my first "real" 4wd after a caching trip up a mountain that is really really steep on a track that even a good 4wd would have struggled up (as evidenced by the tyre burn marks on some rocky areas of the track). I vowed never to have to walk up such a hill again. We did the cache, but it burned out in the 2003 fires the next year. Which also prompted a complete rebuild of all the trails in that area, and that meant that when I did finally get back out there again, it was such an easy track, that a Commodore Wagon came down the road as I was going up, and the track that we'd had to walk the time before, had had huge mounds and holes dug into it by NPWS to stop vehicles trying to use it, so never got to pit a vehicle against the hill for myself.

Good luck with it, and hope it all goes well for you, and anything that keeps the Missus happy, or makes her more happy, is always a good thing.
 
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