Have you ever been wondering on the hillside, maybe walking your dog, to the North West of the village hall, and come across someone or a group wondering around, as if lost, holding a mobile phone?   Do they, upon seeing you, go off on a tangent, as if trying to disguise their real purpose for rummaging in the undergrowth?

Yes?  Well you have stumbled on the underground sport of Geocaching! - in a nutshell it is a high tech treasure hunt, spanning the globe, and there are a number of hidden treasure "caches" in Hambledon.  It all starts at the international website.   Type in your postcode and find treasure boxes that have been hidden near you.  Type in the co-ordinates...

Once you are moving you can follow the GPS towards the hidden location, sometimes via waypoints or cryptic hidden clues.  The closer you get to the treasure, the more difficult it becomes.  Often the treasure cache is well hidden, in a waterproof box or ammo tin in undergrowth or in a hollow tree.  Also you have to ensure you are not discovered in your quest.

Once you find the treasure you can open it, log your visit, take a present and leave a momento or present for the following geocachers.  Many take a photo of themselves.  Lastly ensure the cache is left totally hidden.  Now proceed to the next one!

On return home you can log on to the website again and record your discovery, post a photo, see who preceeded or followed you.

The next  step is to plan you next outing....    Geocaching - a perfectly good walk - enhanced.

Paul Osborne