One of Darren’s favourite pastimes is geocaching. This outdoor activity involves using a GPS receiver to find hidden geocaches – or treasures as Isaac likes to call them. We search on the internet for geocaches at interesting locations and use the GPS receiver to guide us to the location.
We enjoy doing this as a family because it gives us an opportunity to spend time together, in the outdoors. It also presents Isaac with an opportunity to explore the world around him.
On this occasion we drove to Springwood – in the Blue Mountains – to walk along a track at the bottom of Birdwood Gully. Isaac traveled on Darren’s back as we walked down the stairs. He enjoyed touching the ferns that lined the side of the path and seeing the moss and fungi growing on fallen logs.
Once we reached the bottom of the stairs, we let Isaac walk along the track. He enjoyed the sound of the water falling over rock ledges and sometimes called them a shower.
At one point Isaac lead the way, confidently striding ahead along the track. Occasionally he would stop and ask if we were OK.
Once we arrived at the geocache location, Darren had to search for it as it is typically well hidden. Isaac and Renee stopped for a drink and snack.
After five minutes of searching the geocache was found and Isaac couldn’t wait to look through its contents. He selected one object to keep – a toy car – and swapped it for another toy we had brought along (fair trading is a requirement).
We stopped at another location with interesting rock formations. As Darren took photos of the rock, Isaac played with his new toy car. We also looked at some of the insects that were in the area.
As were walked back up the stairs to the car, we sang songs to entertain ourselves.
It was a fun walk and Isaac enjoyed pointing out items that he knew (ants, water, mushrooms) and had recently discovered (ferns, moss).