Wildlife monitor Alette Kattenberg introduces readers to geocaching at Port Lockroy, explaining how this global pastime has found a home on Goudier Island.

Geocaching is often described as a real-world treasure hunt. It’s an outdoor adventure enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people across the globe. But what does that have to do with Port Lockroy? As it turns out, quite a lot – because we host a very special geocache here on Goudier Island. Before I explain why it’s so special, let me introduce you to geocaching.

In geocaching, players use GPS coordinates to navigate to a specific location in search of a hidden cache. “Treasure” might be stretching it a little – most geocaches are well-worn plastic boxes tucked away in tree hollows or hidden beside footpaths rather than glittering chests of gold! Inside, you’ll usually find a logbook to record your visit and a few small items of “swag” that can be swapped or traded.

The very first geocache was hidden in 2000, and since then, more than three million caches have been placed worldwide. The Port Lockroy cache was hidden in 2013 by Kripau, a Belgian geocacher, and required special permission as it is located indoors – something that’s normally not allowed.

I’ve been geocaching since 2014, so I was thrilled to learn that Port Lockroy had its own cache. When we arrived on base in early November, one of the very first things I did was go hunting for a distinctive orange box. Opening it was a wonderful surprise.

Inside were several geocoins and travel bugs – special items designed to move from cache to cache around the world. Each usually has a mission. One geocoin currently at Port Lockroy hopes to travel from the world’s southernmost post office to the northernmost, in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard. Another, a shark-shaped coin, would love to make its way to the island of Coll in Scotland to see a basking shark in its natural habitat. Both are waiting patiently for the next geocacher to help them on their journey.

Before leaving the UK, I decided to send a couple of travel bugs to Port Lockroy ahead of me. I chose two small penguin charms – my “peedie penguins”. One was placed in a geocache close to my home in Orkney, and the other near the British Antarctic Survey headquarters in Cambridge, where we trained before deployment.

The Orkney penguin was collected quickly by geocachers RussellandGill and set off southwards, clearly eager to meet its penguin neighbours on Goudier Island. Along the way, it has done plenty of sightseeing, visiting 34 geocaches across Scotland and northern England so far. The Cambridge penguin took a little longer to get moving, but once it did, it travelled fast – three weeks later it had reached Paris and was last logged at the Place de la Bastille.

Since opening for the season, there has been a steady trickle of geocachers visiting Port Lockroy. Everyone I’ve met has been delighted to log a geocache at what truly feels like the end of the world – a small but memorable connection between Antarctica and the global geocaching community.

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