General News
3 September, 2025
Treasure hunting in Pyrenees Shire
THE Pyrenees Shire is bringing a new kind of adventure to locals, introducing the real-world treasure-hunting game ‘geocaching’ ahead of this year’s Victorian Seniors Festival in October. When a special geocaching event will be held on October 9.
Geocaching, described as a mix of orienteering and hide-and-seek, allows participants to use GPS coordinates to find hidden containers known as “caches.”
Jo Brock from Geocaching Victoria recently visited Avoca last week to run an information session, explaining both the history and the fun of the game.
“You do hear it described as a GPS treasure hunt,” she said.
“It’s a mix of orienteering and hide and seek. And the fun one is using multimillion dollar satellites on Tupperware in the bush.”
Geocaching first began in May 2000 after selective availability was removed from the Global Positioning System, allowing for small containers to be hidden and precisely located using GPS.
Jo explained that the activity has something for everyone.
“The bottom line it is for anybody, young and old, even those in wheelchairs,” she said.
“People like the hide-and-seek value of it. They are placed by other geocachers, and some of them are really clever hides.”
To encourage locals to take part, the local ‘Cacher’ will be launching 20 new Adventure Labs and three new caches across the region, in addition to those already hidden in Beaufort.
Adventure Labs unlike traditional caches, don’t always require a physical container and can even be located indoors, adding a new twist to the experience.
Jo said it’s the thrill of discovery that keeps people coming back.
“We got addicted to this 10 years ago,” she said.
“I’m sharing the excitement that I get. You know, looking suspicious finding a cache but having a giggle at yourself.”
Examples of caches can be found everywhere, from cleverly disguised electrical boxes in Melbourne to parking signs hiding secret compartments.
For those curious to learn more about geocaching, another information session will be held on the 2 nd of September 10:30am-12pm at the Beaufort Community Resource Centre, Trafford Room.
More information is available at geocachingvictoria.com.au.