Geocaching, baboons and a lost child - all in a day's fun

Today I had my first experience of geocaching. It was .... interesting. On the one hand, it was a lot of fun. On the other, having 2 kids and 2 dogs on my own, and trying to find something when I don't know exactly what I'm looking for was .... not so much fun.

This site - Kirsty's Keyser Kache (GC2M7YA), is near Tokai Forest. It's a very easy first experience, as you can park right near the site. The write-up on it warned that if you're taking small kids, you should bring extra clothes. Good thing too - as his lordship decided to fall into the river. He was COVERED in little green leaves from the water weed - up his nose, in his hair, in every crease, and stuck to his skin like glue. It took ages to get him clean, by which time he was FREEZING. In between all this, Dog #1 was SO badly behaved I eventually just tied him to a tree and left him there (you can just see him on the left) while I dealt with the kids and finding the cache.

Madam thought it was FUN FUN FUN and can't WAIT to do the next one. However, she finds the concept of leaving the "treasure" behind odd. She's also not too sure about how this whole thing works. She likes the idea that the clues are on my phone, but doesn't really understand why they don't just TELL us where the cache is. Still, she's prepared to go along with it.

From this site, we went on to Porter's market (a bit of a let down, really...) and managed to lose his lordship for a while. This is becoming a feature of any time we go out with him. I have learnt that I don't need to panic. He's actually quite sensible for a 2.5yr old and will eventually come back to us. Sigh! (Are all little boys like this? I now understand why father went grey....) Still, with all those people, I couldn't help allowing a measure of panic into my voice. All I could think was that some horrid person would steal him. But no, as usual, he had just decided to take himself off for a little bike ride (he had it with him - memo to self: when going out as single parent with 2 kids and 2 dogs, DO NOT bring bikes into a crowded public space) down the hill - WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

During our snack break (still at Porters) we were rudely interrupted by a a few baboons who thought it would be nice to steal some food - fortunately, not from us. A 'helpful' passerby asked why I didn't set my dogs on it. Ummm... let's think about that shall we? Hmmm..... Oh yes! Now I remember why not - because the baboon would KILL my dogs. Stupid woman! If a baboon can kill a cheetah, then trust me, my little mongrels are no match for it. (Apart from which, I seriously doubt that either of mine would WANT to chase it. They're much too afraid of wild creatures! I mean, #1 dog thinks that a rotting log is terrifying and needs to be barked at.....)

Then we attempted the 2nd geocaching site. We eventually found the suggested parking lot, but by that time, #2 child was tired and getting grumpy. He wanted to stand and throw stones down the hill (again - what is it with boys that they love throwing sticks and stones????), not walk up the hill to find the site. So after about 10 mins (and realising that the site was A LOT further than I had anticipated) I decided to call it quits and head home, after promising #1 that we would go back and find the site when we had Daddy with us to help. Needless to say, both kids fell asleep in the car on the way home.

All in all, it was a good morning, and definitely something I'll repeat. But lessons have been learnt - two adults are needed, only attempt one site per day, and carry more food and water than I took, in a proper backpack (not just Nathan's little nappy bag thingy), with more packets to pick up dog poo! Oh yes, and the co-ordinates should be written with a black pen (not pencil) on thicker paper (not that see-through rubbish I had). My eyes are not what they used to be, I discovered!