Geocaching - Huh?

We have been geocachers for just a few short weeks, but we are addicted. It is so much fun and a great way to get outside and smell the fresh air. Sometimes, it also involves crawling around on your hands and knees, in the rain, looking under rocks, bridges and trees to find tiny containers hidden with treasure. We are slowly working out the technology and working towards finding a way to be geocachers without printing out reams of paper each time, and if you have any tips or suggestions we would love to hear from you.

When family and friends ask what we have been doing we try to explain geocaching, but I think most of them think we are going crazy. How do you explain it to people? Today, we were searching for a geocache under a bridge near the police station (I know it sounds suspicious, but there really was one hidden there and we eventually found it), when a group of teenagers wandered past and wanted to know what we were doing (interesting because it's normally the adults who are wondering what the teenagers are up to!) anyway, we tried to look like we were taking the dog for a walk, but we spent the rest of the afternoon giggling about the excuses that we could come up with - our favourite is 'tightening the screws on the bridge - they are loose so you better get out of the way'. How do you explain what you are doing if you are surprised by a muggle when searching for the cache? Any ideas or suggestions are welcome.

Geocaching - an exciting new adventure

Over the weekend Jim and I had our first experience of Geocaching. For all you muggles out there (muggles are what we Geocachers call the non-believers), Geocaching is a treasure hunting game that is played all around the world by adventurers who use a GPS to locate hidden containers (called geocaches) then you go online and share the experience of the search with other Geocachers. It is a fun, outdoor activity that the whole family can enjoy and people of all ages can participate in.

With my friend Ellen, we headed out Saturday to look for the first cache hidden in the Whipstick forest not far from where we live. We had no luck and realised that the GPS that finds the streets was pretty much useless. We had a dodgy old handheld GPS and this was very handy. We had a trip home to get the GPS instruction book, then back out but still no luck and eventually we ran out of daylight. Home for tea and more strategy discussions, then we were out bright and early on Sunday morning. This time, our homework paid off and we found three caches in around an hour. Now we are hooked and searching the website for our next adventure. Have you tried geocaching? What do you do for fun on the weekend?

Helen and Jim

An update on my veggie garden

I went into the Veggie garden tonight to pick some spinach for tea. Remember a previous post, Success in the Veggie Garden?? Well anyway, this post should probably be titled 'Disappointment in the Veggie Garden'. Bloody kangaroos. They have come in overnight and gobbled up all of my spinach. There were 6 glorious clumps, all full, rich and looking very healthy after a little rain yesterday. I know it was the kangaroos because they left their droppings - I had considered posting a photo of evidence, however I thought that might be in bad taste. Grrrr.

Happy Birthday Meghan

Happy Birthday Meghan. Today is Meghan's 9th birthday - Meghan is my niece and unfortunately we can't be with her today for her birthday, but I am sure she will have a fun day and I know she reads this blog. Hey Meggie - please save me a bit of cake!.

This is a photo of Meghan when she was on holiday at my house in December - she was weating a CFA helmet and goggles and looked pretty funny.

And this is Meghan's sister Alice, who is also wearing the CFA goggles and helmet. You look great girls.

Spectacular Fiji

Jim and I have just returned from a long awaited holiday to Fiji. We have always wanted to visit Fiji and Jim's sister Cheryl is teaching there for a while, so it seemed like a good idea to visit Simon and Cheryl and see Fiji.

This was our first look at a Fijian beach, from the Sheraton Hotel at Denarau. Nice huh!

Friends had recommended that we stay at Mana Island, which was absolutely spectacular. We especially loved swimming in the horizon pool - it was awesome to look out across the pool and see the ocean.
The weather was perfect, the water was warm and teeming with colourful fish- in all shapes, sizes and colours, colourful coral and the most amazing blue starfish. We swam out to the edge of the reef and were stunned at the colour and depth of the water as the reef dropped away. We treasure our time at Mana Island and will definately return.

There is something magical about a Fijian sunset ... or maybe that comes from the rum in the cocktails at Happy Hour! We enjoyed Fiji and had a wonderful, relaxing holiday. The Fijian people were so friendly and kind, and beautiful people.

Where is your favourite holiday destination and why did you enjoy it so much?

Helen and Jim

Easter 2009

Easter is one of my favourite times of the year. The weather is usually nice, and it is a long weekend - long enough to get together with family and have some time to relax.

This year we went camping at Boundary Bend. It is a beautiful spot and it was a big camp this year as we celebrated Mum and Dad's 40th Wedding Anniversary. My friend Ellen baked an awesome chocolate mud cake, and brought along raspberry's, which was a delicious finale to our traditional camp oven roast for lunch.

The weather was glorious and it was a wonderful weekend.

Ahhh..

Mechanical Cow

Jim's been busy building a letterbox in the shape of a Cow for his cousin for his 50th birthday. I hope you like it Peter! This is the second cow Jim has made because he also made one for me for Christmas last year. They look great and it was funny to see the cows together. Then, he loaded the cow into the back of the ute and drove it off to live at a dairy near Lockington. This cow has a fantastic way to direct the letter from the front, down to the rear, where they sit on a steel mesh mat and stay dry from the rain. Jim is such a clever boy.

What do you think of it?