Kids join geocache push

A small primary school just 38-students strong has taken up the challenge of trying to increase tourism to their Mid West town, by creating a “digital treasure hunt” for locals and visitors.

Coorow Shire houses four geocaches along the nature reserves in Leeman and Greenhead.

A geocache is a container with a pen, log book, and trinkets.

People use a navigation system to find the geocache, after which they write their name, date and suburb they’re from in the log book, take the trinket and put a new item in the container.

Last month, Coorow Primary School expanded on the shire idea by popping an extra 13 geocaches between Marchagee and Winchester, adding to the more than three million containers across 190 countries around the world.

Community development officer Ted Jack said the school project complements what the shire is attempting to do.

“I’m completely supportive of the project and anything that gets schoolchildren thinking about tourism and undertaking outdoor recreation activities,” he said.

“There are people who dedicate their holidays and their retired lives to the task of geocaching. This initiative runs parallel to what the shire is doing.”

Coorow Primary School teacher Shiona Herbert said the Eyes Around Coorow Geocache Trail was a response from students to try to increase tourism numbers and exploration in Coorow and surrounding areas.

Students were tasked with designing and making the geocaches, as well as choosing a hiding place.

Coorow Primary School officially launched Eyes Around Coorow in September, in conjunction with an anniversary party celebrating 125 years since Coorow was gazetted.

The event was held at Winchester Cemetery to honour the many founding families buried at the site.

The last geocache of the trail was also placed at the cemetery. Other geocache locations include churches, heritage areas, parks and recreation sites.

Students will present Eyes around Coorow at a Scitech event and explain how it can help generate tourism in coming weeks.