Mazda CX-50: treasure on the road
A family go on a geocaching adventure into the Canadian wilderness to discover both Mazda’s fascinating history and the nature of the first-ever Mazda CX‑50.
Arriving in Gravenhurst, Ontario, in unseasonably warm weather, our Mazda CX-50 shimmering in the late afternoon sun, we are metaphorically dragging our feet to prolong a day that has taken us across one of Canada’s most beautiful regions.
My name is Ravish. I’m a YouTube vlogger who travels the world with my wife, Sakshi, and our two kids, Sam and Preet, sharing our adventures on the way. We’re in Gravenhurst because Mazda has sent us on a geocaching experience in the first-ever Mazda CX‑50, a rugged car designed specifically with the great Canadian outdoors in mind.
Rewind 12 hours and we’re in the car before dawn. With the Geocaching app loaded on Sakshi’s smartphone, we slice through the sunrise along some of Muskoka’s most incredible roads in search of our first cache. The CX‑50 clings to the road with a steely determination—it’s a riot to drive.
A turning takes us down a section of unpaved road and, with the car now dialled into Off-Road Mode via Mazda’s new Mazda Intelligent Drive Select, or Mi-Drive for short, we edge into the saturated green forest on our quest, the car providing a great amount of grip on the slippery surface.
The kids love the geocaching app and, using the compass feature, we soon find our first cache. Each one holds a treasure hidden by Mazda Canada, and this one contains a delicate origami paper crane. Like Mazda, the origami crane is synonymous with the city of Hiroshima. The crane is a Japanese peace symbol in remembrance of those killed by the atomic bomb dropped on the city in 1945.
The outside temperature is climbing so we open the moonroof and enjoy the fresh air and light that flood the cabin, welcoming nature into the car as a fellow passenger. The kids love the panoramic, widescreen view of the scenery the moonroof provides.
En route to our next cache, Preet considers the nature of the treasure we might find. Unfortunately for him, the PlayStation 5 his parents failed to source for his eighth birthday doesn’t make an appearance. However, the cork keyring we find hidden by Mazda proves a great distraction, telling the interesting story of the company’s 1920 formation as cork manufacturer.
Geocaching is a global treasure hunt game. Using the Geocaching app over three million geocaches are available to discover across 190 countries. Many hold small, trackable items or treasures left by a cache’s creator and visitors.
The last geocache of the day is hidden in a roadside model wooden house.
Find number three is a diecast model of the Mazda MX‑5. The celebrated MX‑5 represents Mazda’s commitment to building superb driving machines.
All the Mazda trackable items mentioned in this story are available to be discovered by geocachers. Sign up with Geocaching and visit geocaching.com/p/?id=40723570 to begin your Mazda treasure hunt.
We make Gravenhurst with the late afternoon sun beginning to flare as it descends over the low horizon. Our final cache—a model wooden house—doesn’t take long to locate, and inside it sits a diecast Mazda MX-5 RF model. Arguably Mazda’s most famous vehicle, the MX‑5 represents the company’s commitment to building superb driving machines. Sam is charmed. “Can we keep it?” he asks, but in the spirit of the game we leave it for the next geocacher to discover.
That evening we stay at a beautiful lakeside cottage and reflect on a fantastic day. As a family, we travel the world in search of adventure, but geocaching has opened our eyes to discovering the incredible country on our doorstep. The CX‑50 has been an excellent enabler in all this, able to carry mountains of luggage and offering a spacious, comfortable haven from the heat and mosquitoes—it’s also a complete blast to drive, on any surface.
Story written by Tommy Melville / Images by Dan Froude / Film by Ben Cox
Special thanks to geocacher CacheShadow.
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In harmony with nature
Explore the great outdoors in the Mazda CX-50
