It's been interesting to note how things have change over the last couple of years. When I first started geocaching, I'd download locations of caches onto my GPS, make some notes on a piece of paper (because I can't be stuffed paying $30 a year just for the ability to see the same info direct on my GPS screen), and away I'd go. It worked well, and if I was in a fix, I could bring up the website on my phone to get extra info or read previous log entries.
That's all changed now, seeing as any half way decent smart phone now has a GPS built into to, along with a web browser, essentially everything you need to get going with geocaching. There are even iPhone apps that will grab the cache info off the web, or from an email account, and show you on a map where to go. Yet even with all this technology at my fingertips, I still find myself reaching for my GPS first, and using the iPhone as a backup device.
See, the thing is, even though the iPhone has the GPS built into it, it's still not as good as my nearly 3 year old Garmin GPS. As an experiment, I gave my phone to Mrs Lemon while we were out caching, and I took the GPS. In theory, we should both have ended up going the same way, and ending up at the same point. Of course, that's just the theory, in practice I ended up at the cache, while the phone had Mrs Lemon quite some distance off course.
So, even though the technology's there on the phone, I don't think it's quite at the stage where it's going to replace a dedicated GPS unit, especially as my GPS is waterproof, and the phone's not. Still, it's a welcome addition, as I can log finds as I make them, and not have to do all the logging once I'm home at the end of the day. It's also dead handy for impromptu caching outings, as I've discovered.
In the past, if I wanted to grab a cache I needed to have my GPS with me, and a way of getting the co-ordinates onto it. Now, should I feel like grabbing a cache, all I have to do is fire up the appropriate app on my phone, and away I go. Even though the phone isn't as accurate as my GPS, it's still good enough to get me within a few metres. Reading the cache hints and previous logs are normally enough to find the cache after that.
The other great thing about the phone apps is that it's a cheap way for people to get into caching. Assuming that they already have a GPS enabled phone, for less than $30 they can be caching. Beats forking out over $100 for a GPS they may or may not end up using.
So, the phone's definitely a permanent part of my caching toolbox, but it won't be displacing the GPS anytime soon...
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Some People Have No Idea...
Over the last week, I've had a few opportunities to experience the sometimes irrational actions of others. I'd often assumed that the biggest threat to a cache was the chance of being "muggled". If you're wondering what that means, allow me to explain briefly. Geocachers refer to non-geocachers as "Muggles", and anytime a non geocacher interferes with, moves or destroys a cache, that cache is said to have been muggled.
So, as I was saying, I thought that being muggled was the main threat to a cache. Not so as it turns out. Last Sunday's caching expedition started off with a nasty experience. Mrs Lemon and I had gone in search of our first "multi-cache" (that's a cache where you need to visit one or more locations before finding the actual cache) at a nearby lake. Reading the logs before we went out, I learned that someone had left a chocolate easter egg in the cache previously, which someone had removed subsequently.
Now, food in caches is frowned upon, because it can go off or attract animals, which can destroy the cache trying to get to the food. Or, as we discovered, in the case of chocolate, it can melt, covering everything in the cache with a lovely sticky film. It was just lucky that there was a sink nearby, so I could get rid of the sticky mess after I signed the log book.
I'm not sure exactly what our next experience was. Co-incidentally, this one happened on our second multi-cache. Now, the etiquette of geocaching says that if you take an item from the cache, then you should leave something of equal or higher value. Now, most things left in caches aren't exactly high value items anyway, but I'm fairly certain that most people would think an old movie ticket was a pretty poor swap. Of course, it may not have been left as a swap, in which case, I'd think it was pretty poor form to discard your rubbish in someone's cache.
The third incident rounding off our caching WTF? trifecta appears to be a true case of a cache being muggled. After Mrs Lemon and I found our first cache a couple of weekends ago, I'd mentioned geocaching to some of my co-workers, who thought this geocaching lark sounded like fun. Anyway, they decided that they'd go and find the same cache that we did. Problem was, when they got to GZ (cachers refer to the location of a cache as Ground Zero, or GZ for short), there was no cache to be found. It was only a chance trip to the toilets that led them to find the cache. The cache had been taken and tampered with, as the contents were soaking wet.
I have to admit that I was a little bit worried, given that I was the last person to log the cache before it was muggled, that I may have somehow contributed to the muggling of the cache. However, I'm fairly certain that we weren't seen as we retrieved the cache, and that we left it exactly how we found it. Apparently some people just have no respect for other people's property. Bastards...
So, as I was saying, I thought that being muggled was the main threat to a cache. Not so as it turns out. Last Sunday's caching expedition started off with a nasty experience. Mrs Lemon and I had gone in search of our first "multi-cache" (that's a cache where you need to visit one or more locations before finding the actual cache) at a nearby lake. Reading the logs before we went out, I learned that someone had left a chocolate easter egg in the cache previously, which someone had removed subsequently.
Now, food in caches is frowned upon, because it can go off or attract animals, which can destroy the cache trying to get to the food. Or, as we discovered, in the case of chocolate, it can melt, covering everything in the cache with a lovely sticky film. It was just lucky that there was a sink nearby, so I could get rid of the sticky mess after I signed the log book.
I'm not sure exactly what our next experience was. Co-incidentally, this one happened on our second multi-cache. Now, the etiquette of geocaching says that if you take an item from the cache, then you should leave something of equal or higher value. Now, most things left in caches aren't exactly high value items anyway, but I'm fairly certain that most people would think an old movie ticket was a pretty poor swap. Of course, it may not have been left as a swap, in which case, I'd think it was pretty poor form to discard your rubbish in someone's cache.
The third incident rounding off our caching WTF? trifecta appears to be a true case of a cache being muggled. After Mrs Lemon and I found our first cache a couple of weekends ago, I'd mentioned geocaching to some of my co-workers, who thought this geocaching lark sounded like fun. Anyway, they decided that they'd go and find the same cache that we did. Problem was, when they got to GZ (cachers refer to the location of a cache as Ground Zero, or GZ for short), there was no cache to be found. It was only a chance trip to the toilets that led them to find the cache. The cache had been taken and tampered with, as the contents were soaking wet.
I have to admit that I was a little bit worried, given that I was the last person to log the cache before it was muggled, that I may have somehow contributed to the muggling of the cache. However, I'm fairly certain that we weren't seen as we retrieved the cache, and that we left it exactly how we found it. Apparently some people just have no respect for other people's property. Bastards...
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
What the Hell is Geocaching?
"What is Geocaching?" is a question I've heard a lot over the last week. Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunt. People hide containers around the place, and post the co-ordinates on the Internet. People can use these co-ordinates to search for the containers with their GPS receivers.
I first heard about geocaching 4 or 5 years ago, when I read about it on a website somewhere. It sounded interesting, but I didn't do anything about it, because I figured that no-one where I lived would be doing it.
So, what's in the containers? It all depends. All containers will have a log book, so that people can write down that they found the cache. The smallest ones will have just the log, nothing more, but the larger ones often contain "swag" or "swaps", toys or trinkets that people can take from the cache. The rule is that if you take something out, then you must leave something for the next person. Common etiquette says that what you leave should be of equal or greater value than what you take.
I first heard about geocaching 4 or 5 years ago, when I read about it on a website somewhere. It sounded interesting, but I didn't do anything about it, because I figured that no-one where I lived would be doing it.
Fast forward a couple of years to 2008, when I purchased a GPS for bushwalking. As I was going through the features of my shiny GPS, I discovered it had a profile specifically set up for Geocaching. It was enough to get me back on the 'Net, and searching for information of Caching in Australia.
I was rather surprised to find out that caching was quite popular, and that there were quite a few caches in my area. So, I grabbed some co-ordinates, found a couple of caches, and then didn't do anything more. According to my profile at geocaching.com.au, I didn't do any caching for 746 days, until I got back into it this year.
So, why the long break, and why the sudden enthusiasm again? I guess it comes dow to a few things. I got a bit discouraged after unsuccessfully trying to find a few caches here and there. Plus, I didn't always have free time to go out and look for caches.
So why the hell start again? To be honest, I can't answer that question. A bit over a week ago, my Fiancé and I were preparing to head out for a drive into the mountains, just for something to do. I don't know what put the idea in my head, but I thought "Hey, let's not go to Mountain 1, let's go to Mountain 2, and do some geocaching as well". I still don't know what made me think of geocaching that day.
I'd like to report that we found all three caches hidden on said mountain, and that the success there got both of us hooked straight away. Of course, this being real life, we found no caches at all. It wasn't until a couple of days later that we got our first find. I suspect that it was just a streak of stubbornness in me that made me keep going until I found a cache somewhere.
Of course, having found one cache, we went back to the website, and looked at all the unfound caches in our area. There's a surprising amount out there, and I'm determined to find as many as I can. I'm so determined that I've got a couple of geocaching apps on my iPhone, so that I can pick up any caches that I happen to be close to, should I feel like a bit of impromptu caching.
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