Today was Geocache* day and once again the sun was shinning. This activity would also start from Island Pool. First one boy from each group was given a radio, map, compass and first aid kit, whilst another was equipped with a GPS tracker. The GPS tracker would allow their route to be mapped out on a computer later that evening whilst also allowing their location to be easily found in the unlikely event of an emergency. Once each of the groups of boys had checked with a staff member that their starting bearings were accurate, they set off trekking into the bush on their own. During this activity Krista and I would be following on foot whilst Keely would follow by car – an injured foot from the previous week meaning she shouldn’t walk the distance on foot.
I spent the morning enjoying talking to Krista whilst we walked and taking in the surroundings – slightly different from Karridale (Explorus) but just as beautiful and still full of those beautiful grass trees. Our distance from the boys was never too far and we could frequently pick up sound of their presence without them even knowing we were there. At lunchtime we met the boys at an agreed site. Unfortunately one group still hadn’t found their first cache site and we had quite a wait until we could move on. As each group arrived we gave them the opportunity to find a real geocache using a GPS which Krista was carrying. This cache was only about 100m away from our lunch spot and so could be easily located by the boys. This was a nice touch and a great way to make the activity more real and transferable for the boys involved.
In the afternoon the groups were required to find a second cache – this one would contain a surprise box of savoury biscuits for the boys to enjoy. Finding the second cache was a lot quicker and involved fewer problems now that the boys were getting used to the maps and their surrounding. We arrived back at base camp at Moray before dark.
Tonight dinner would be pizza cooked in a stone pizza oven built in the communal eating area outside of the base camp. The boys were each given a pizza base and shown how to load them with the range of toppings available. Keely was then in charge of cooking the pizzas two at a time. I stayed in the kitchen with the boys assisting with portion control before sending each of them with their completed pizzas outside to Keely. Needless to say every boy ate all of their dinner and enjoyed it very much!
After dinner the boys were all involved in the clean up, again under the inspection of the staff members. After this was successfully completed they collected in the main hall/classroom to discuss their day Geocaching. Surprisingly, despite drama and problems because couldn’t find their first cache, the group that took the longest spoke positively about the activity and talked openly about how they could improve it in the future. Clearly they had learnt from this activity. Krista also used a computer to show the boys the routes they had followed which had been tracked by the GPS each group was carrying. The boys were really excited about this and all fully engaged with this part of the evening. This was followed by ice-cream with smarties before the boys set off again with Krista to spend their second night camping out.
* a treasure hunting game where you use a GPS to hide and seek containers with other participants in the activity.
