On Wednesday (9.12.20) I just discovered geocaching! No idea how I’d never heard of it before. I was so excited by the idea. People hide thousands of these little boxes, or ‘caches’ all around the world full. Inside, they place a log book and little treasures. The idea is to hide it in a place you want to highlight (you find interesting, beautiful, whatever), then you enter the exact coordinates on the app. Then other people can track it down, sign the log. Collect a treasure, leave a treasure. It just sounded so up my street. Looking at the map, It felt a bit like pokemon go, but with actual tangible things.
I was meeting my friend Harry for some noodles and a walk on Hampstead heath. I‘d seen that there was a geocach hidden on the vale of health. He agreed to go have a gander and see if we could find it. It’s a really beautiful part of the heath, right by a big pond. Picturesque, in quite an eerie way, the tree branches standing naked against the hazy winter sky.
After a little stumbling through the thorns and thickets, we found one! Unfortunately I didn’t have a pen, so I could not sign the log. I knew I had to come straight back the following day. On Thursday (10.12.20) I returned, signed the log, and left a silk sachet of tiny treasures. Gemstones: tigers eyes, amethyst, blue lace agate, shells my nan found: cowries and mini conches.
Not going to lie, I’d be so stoked to find something like this in a future geocach. Unfortunately, the highlights of this geocache were an expired tombola ticket and a “we love islington” badge. Nevertheless, I was still really excited to find it and leave something behind. I hope it makes someone really happy. I plan to hide a geocach of my own somewhere in Brighton, perhaps in Stanmer Park.