Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Monday, 26 October 2009
Spandau Ballet & Cache No.3000
I've been neglecting the blog of late, but Saturday encouraged me to write something!
First off, after a bit of DIY (something else that gets neglected!) I jumped in the car with the geomutt to grab caches 2999 and 3000, which were a couple of new puzzle caches not far from home. I'd solved one of them, but the other eluded me, so I decided to resort to chance, knowing that they were likely to be on the same footpath.
Found the first one easily enough, then tottered off down the path with the clue in mind, and found cache No.3000 in the second place I looked!
Onto the main event of the day....you may have read a blog of mine earlier this year about me bidding for (and winning) 2 tickets to see Spandau Ballet with backstage passes thrown in. Well, Saturday was the day.
Over the last couple of weeks, I've been exchanging voicemail and texts with Alison Hadley (Tony Hadley's wife no less, which makes me sound like a bit of a name-dropper!). She assured me that the tickets and passes would be at the Box Office for collection on the night.
We arrived nice and early, at around 6.30pm, just in case there was a problem, and it was a good thing we did!
I asked the (rather grumpy) lady in the ticket office if there were some tickets left for me.....nothing....oh dear....
I called Alison Hadley.....voicemail.....oh dear....dismay!!!!
I left here a message, and settled in hoping for a response. In the meantime, I spoke to a very helpful Steward, who got on the case trying to contact someone backstage to find my tickets.
While he was doing his stuff, Alison finally called me back, and told me she was also on the case.
Progress !
My phone then rang again, this time, it was Tony Hadley's manager! My tickets were on the way! I returned to the (rather grumpy) woman in the ticket office, and explained the situation, and that she should expect my tickets to arrive shortly. She gave me a look that said "You chancer, trying to blag some tickets". The look on her face was a picture when the guy walked in with the tickets :-)
Finally, we got inside the Arena, only to realised that we didn't have backstage passes! Anyway, we found our seats, and I sloped off to talk to security at the side of the stage. As I was talking to them, Alison called me again to make sure I had got in.
A very nice chap then arrived and waved us through to meet the band!!
We met all 5 of them, had our photos taken, and got them all to sign our programme.
We went back to our seats and waited for the show to begin, and what a show it was!!!! They were absolutely brilliant, one of the best gigs I've ever been to.
A thoroughly cracking night out!
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
Geocaching Targets for September
I've decided to act like a large global corporation, and set myself a few targets for the month of September, and as I have 10 days off at the end of the month, I'm hoping to achieve them too!
Target No.1 - Most Finds in a Month
My previous record of 290 should get surpassed this month, I've got 43 finds already, and with maybe another 40-50 this weekend, I'll need about 200 on my holiday, and on the first day I should get around 70 on the Sussex Amble.
Target No.2 - Progress the D/T Challenge
I have identified (and solved) a couple of puzzle caches ready for my trip to Cornwall (actually I'll have to detour near Plymouth on the way from the Isle of Wight to get them, and will probably end up putting the tent up in the dark!), these should add a couple of ticks to the D/T grid, making 70 boxes completed out of 81.
Target No.3 - Most Finds in a Week
Previously 133 in March of this year, easy-peasy to beat this one once the Sussex Amble is done!
Target No.4 - Have a fabbo time!
Easy.
I've invested in a POYG Broadband dongle, and hope to Blog my way through the week, with photographic proof of my efforts!
Caches found at time of posting......2633.
Target No.1 - Most Finds in a Month
My previous record of 290 should get surpassed this month, I've got 43 finds already, and with maybe another 40-50 this weekend, I'll need about 200 on my holiday, and on the first day I should get around 70 on the Sussex Amble.
Target No.2 - Progress the D/T Challenge
I have identified (and solved) a couple of puzzle caches ready for my trip to Cornwall (actually I'll have to detour near Plymouth on the way from the Isle of Wight to get them, and will probably end up putting the tent up in the dark!), these should add a couple of ticks to the D/T grid, making 70 boxes completed out of 81.
Target No.3 - Most Finds in a Week
Previously 133 in March of this year, easy-peasy to beat this one once the Sussex Amble is done!
Target No.4 - Have a fabbo time!
Easy.
I've invested in a POYG Broadband dongle, and hope to Blog my way through the week, with photographic proof of my efforts!
Caches found at time of posting......2633.
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
Lack of Blogging
I've been busy working (for a change) and caching furiously in my spare time.
Plans for the trip at the end of this month are pretty much complete, and I'm targetting 250 caches in the week.
Caches found at time of posting......2590
Plans for the trip at the end of this month are pretty much complete, and I'm targetting 250 caches in the week.
Caches found at time of posting......2590
Sunday, 9 August 2009
Country Folk and their Country Ways.....
At last some half decent weather, so we headed for Dove Dale for some of the new caches that were placed for the recent Pirate Mania event.
Three earthcaches, plus lots of trads to do on an excellent walk, including an ascent of Thorpe Cloud for one of the earthcaches, a short but steep climb!
With just three caches left to do, we started to hear a PA system blaring out in the countryside, and as we got nearer, we found that we had stumbled upon Manifold Valley Country Fair, so we dropped on for a walk round.
They were having some bizarre sort of dog racing, using their own pets. An arena of sorts had been set up, around which some 500 people were gathered. The course itself was about 50 yards long, and consisted of a rather rickety box in which the runners were placed, and a fluffy penguin (yes, a penguin) attached to a piece of string. The "hare", or "penguin" was propelled from the start line to the non-existent finishing line by way of a loop of string tied around a bike wheel (with the tyre missing), this was further enhanced by the use of the pedals on the bike to make the fluffy toy fly along at a rapid rate of knots!
Utterly bizarre, but they loved it! They were getting themselves into a right frenzy, it was only a matter of time before a fight broke out!
We had a quick look at the owls, the market and one more glance at the "dog racing" before beating a hasty retreat.
One of the strangest things I've seen while out caching!
Caches found at time of posting......2460.
Three earthcaches, plus lots of trads to do on an excellent walk, including an ascent of Thorpe Cloud for one of the earthcaches, a short but steep climb!
With just three caches left to do, we started to hear a PA system blaring out in the countryside, and as we got nearer, we found that we had stumbled upon Manifold Valley Country Fair, so we dropped on for a walk round.
They were having some bizarre sort of dog racing, using their own pets. An arena of sorts had been set up, around which some 500 people were gathered. The course itself was about 50 yards long, and consisted of a rather rickety box in which the runners were placed, and a fluffy penguin (yes, a penguin) attached to a piece of string. The "hare", or "penguin" was propelled from the start line to the non-existent finishing line by way of a loop of string tied around a bike wheel (with the tyre missing), this was further enhanced by the use of the pedals on the bike to make the fluffy toy fly along at a rapid rate of knots!
Utterly bizarre, but they loved it! They were getting themselves into a right frenzy, it was only a matter of time before a fight broke out!
We had a quick look at the owls, the market and one more glance at the "dog racing" before beating a hasty retreat.
One of the strangest things I've seen while out caching!
Caches found at time of posting......2460.
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
Pen Y Fan 3 Peaks!
Saturday seemed to be the only day of the short weekend that would provide some half decent weather, so we headed off for the Brecon Beacons for a bracing stroll up the hills.
The main target was Pen-Y-Fan, the highest peak in the Brecon Beacons, and the highest point in southern England....and of course a few caches, including a nice Earthcache, which are sadly under-represented on my caching profile.
We parked up to the north, and started to make our way up Cefn Cwm Llwch, with the summit nowhere in sight. After half an hour of plodding ever upwards, the summit came into view.
After a good 90 minute slog up the slope, we arrived at our goal, and grabbed the first cache of the day, a virtual at the summit.
We then headed off to the nearby Corn Du, just a tad lower at 873m (13m lower than Pen-Y-Fan) and grabbed Tommy Jones, a sad cache commemorating a 5 year old boy who got lost on the hills and died in 1900.
We then made our way back up to Pen-Y-Fan, and down Craig Cwm Sere and up to Cribyn, after doing SWMCC 4 and bumping into some fellow geocachers (Capt Rico & Crew) on a trip up from Cornwall.
After doing the Earthcache at Cribyn, we enjoyed the views for a few minutes, then started to make our way back down to the car, and completed a 9 mile circular walk in just under 5 hours.
Great fun.
Caches found at time of posting......2408.
The main target was Pen-Y-Fan, the highest peak in the Brecon Beacons, and the highest point in southern England....and of course a few caches, including a nice Earthcache, which are sadly under-represented on my caching profile.
We parked up to the north, and started to make our way up Cefn Cwm Llwch, with the summit nowhere in sight. After half an hour of plodding ever upwards, the summit came into view.
After a good 90 minute slog up the slope, we arrived at our goal, and grabbed the first cache of the day, a virtual at the summit.
We then headed off to the nearby Corn Du, just a tad lower at 873m (13m lower than Pen-Y-Fan) and grabbed Tommy Jones, a sad cache commemorating a 5 year old boy who got lost on the hills and died in 1900.
We then made our way back up to Pen-Y-Fan, and down Craig Cwm Sere and up to Cribyn, after doing SWMCC 4 and bumping into some fellow geocachers (Capt Rico & Crew) on a trip up from Cornwall.
After doing the Earthcache at Cribyn, we enjoyed the views for a few minutes, then started to make our way back down to the car, and completed a 9 mile circular walk in just under 5 hours.
Great fun.
Caches found at time of posting......2408.
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
An Odd Statistic?
Like many geocachers, I use GSAK to manage my database of caches, and also use the excellent FindStatsGen macro to put all manner if useful (and indeed useless) statistics on my profile page at GC.com.
I'm a bit of a freak when it comes to things like this, and I find myself reviewing the stats almost every day, in fact, every time I find a cache, I update my stats page almost immediately!
Anyway, I was looking at it earlier today and spotted something a bit strange....but true.
It appears that I don't do much caching between 40 and 50 miles from home. Although I have found 445 caches in the 50-100 mile range, and 169 in the 30-40 mile range, I seem to have managed only 25 caches (1.04% of my total finds) between 40 and 50 miles from home.
It certainly not because of a lack of caches to find, there are hundreds of them!
Caches found at time of posting......2387.
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
Wet in Wales
Despite the appalling weather forecast, Julie and I jumped in the cachemobile early on Sunday morning and headed for Mid-Wales...Newtown to be precise.
At the last minute, Julie's son Jon, and his girlfriend, Anna, decided to tag along. Anna was quite excited about the prospect of find "treasure"; I told her not to get her hopes up!
After an uneventful one and a half hour car drive, we arrived in Newtown just about 10.00am, and it wasn't raining.
I had a string of 6 caches pretty much in a line heading north-east from Newtown along part of the the Severn Way (which, incidentally, does not appear to be on the Garmin Topo map of the UK....).
First up, Hendidley 2 (The "Organite" Cache), which is a fairly new cache, with a few recent finds. Four of us failed miserably, but there was a rope swing for us to play on!
We managed to find the rest of the caches without diffculty, and even managed to dodge the odd short shower.
Jon and Anna were surveying the route back to Newtown as it started to rain.
Near to the end, the heavens opened, and we were all soaked through by the time we got back to the car, so we abandoned the idea of grabbing the 3 caches near the town centre, and started to make our way home.
An enjoyable few hours nonetheless, with some good views along the way.
Caches found at time of posting......2387
At the last minute, Julie's son Jon, and his girlfriend, Anna, decided to tag along. Anna was quite excited about the prospect of find "treasure"; I told her not to get her hopes up!
After an uneventful one and a half hour car drive, we arrived in Newtown just about 10.00am, and it wasn't raining.
I had a string of 6 caches pretty much in a line heading north-east from Newtown along part of the the Severn Way (which, incidentally, does not appear to be on the Garmin Topo map of the UK....).
First up, Hendidley 2 (The "Organite" Cache), which is a fairly new cache, with a few recent finds. Four of us failed miserably, but there was a rope swing for us to play on!
We managed to find the rest of the caches without diffculty, and even managed to dodge the odd short shower.
Jon and Anna were surveying the route back to Newtown as it started to rain.
Near to the end, the heavens opened, and we were all soaked through by the time we got back to the car, so we abandoned the idea of grabbing the 3 caches near the town centre, and started to make our way home.
An enjoyable few hours nonetheless, with some good views along the way.
Caches found at time of posting......2387
Friday, 17 July 2009
Brummie Meet 4
I attended Brummie Meet 4 on Wednesday night, the fourth (obviously) meeting of like-minded lunatics we've held.
A top night was had by all, and I managed to behave myself at this one after the furore at the last one.....for those of you who don't know what happened....this is my log from Brummie Meet 3 on the 4th of March this year......
Well, what an evening that turned out to be. It started off with great beer, great chat and the usual great people.
At 10.20, there was only a few of us left, and I offered to get some drinks. The barmaid kindly informed me that due to an "IT" error (I suggested turning it off and turning it back on again), they couldn't serve beer, so I asked to see the manager. He came out (actually a scruffy chav walked out), and it was soon established that they could in fact serve beer, but he wasn't prepared to let me have any as the till wasn't working. He then went off into a rather long monologue about "my job's not worth it" (*which was of little interest, I just wanted a pint!). I offered to give him the correct money, or a bit more, to cover the cost of the drinks so that he could sort it out later. This didn't appear to acceptable to him, so I told him what I though of the service and made my way back to the safety of the allotted cachers area, only to turn around and find that the "manager" (I use the phrase loosely) had followed me and was obviously looking for an argument....so I obliged by giving him an argument!!!!
After a rather loud altercation in the middle of the pub, he asked me to leave, I didn't. After saying my goodbyes to the remaining cachers, Mark (the evenings non-cacher) and I decided to retire to a more customer-focussed establishment nearby. After calming down somewhat (another beer always helps!), the door swung open and in walk AJIGeo, The Strangler and Mumbo Jumbo!
More geochat for a while, then off home!
Aplogies to anyone who witnessed the "events", although I rather think you all found it somewhat entertaining!
Apologies also to Mark (who obviously won't be reading this) and to Harry the Furry Squid, for whom I was unable to buy a drink!
I also appear to have inherited the log book, and am now responsible for organising Brummie Meet 4. I fear we may have to look for yet another venue, as I may be barred from Bennetts! I've been to Bennetts many times over the years, and sadly it doesn't appear to be the place it used to be, which is rather sad as the beer was very good, and the company fantastic as usual.
Thanks to mj and The Strangler for organising it, a fun night in more ways than one!
T4TE. Stokesy.
A top night was had by all, and I managed to behave myself at this one after the furore at the last one.....for those of you who don't know what happened....this is my log from Brummie Meet 3 on the 4th of March this year......
Well, what an evening that turned out to be. It started off with great beer, great chat and the usual great people.
At 10.20, there was only a few of us left, and I offered to get some drinks. The barmaid kindly informed me that due to an "IT" error (I suggested turning it off and turning it back on again), they couldn't serve beer, so I asked to see the manager. He came out (actually a scruffy chav walked out), and it was soon established that they could in fact serve beer, but he wasn't prepared to let me have any as the till wasn't working. He then went off into a rather long monologue about "my job's not worth it" (*which was of little interest, I just wanted a pint!). I offered to give him the correct money, or a bit more, to cover the cost of the drinks so that he could sort it out later. This didn't appear to acceptable to him, so I told him what I though of the service and made my way back to the safety of the allotted cachers area, only to turn around and find that the "manager" (I use the phrase loosely) had followed me and was obviously looking for an argument....so I obliged by giving him an argument!!!!
After a rather loud altercation in the middle of the pub, he asked me to leave, I didn't. After saying my goodbyes to the remaining cachers, Mark (the evenings non-cacher) and I decided to retire to a more customer-focussed establishment nearby. After calming down somewhat (another beer always helps!), the door swung open and in walk AJIGeo, The Strangler and Mumbo Jumbo!
More geochat for a while, then off home!
Aplogies to anyone who witnessed the "events", although I rather think you all found it somewhat entertaining!
Apologies also to Mark (who obviously won't be reading this) and to Harry the Furry Squid, for whom I was unable to buy a drink!
I also appear to have inherited the log book, and am now responsible for organising Brummie Meet 4. I fear we may have to look for yet another venue, as I may be barred from Bennetts! I've been to Bennetts many times over the years, and sadly it doesn't appear to be the place it used to be, which is rather sad as the beer was very good, and the company fantastic as usual.
Thanks to mj and The Strangler for organising it, a fun night in more ways than one!
T4TE. Stokesy.
Nifty Little Web Page
Stumbled upon this page a few weeks ago, it's now my home page!
It basically gives you links to all the frequently used areas of the GC.com website, and allows you to search for caches, TB's and other players.
On the right hand side, you can add links to any website you like, almost like a "favourites list", so I've added in things like Wikipedia (perfect for the puzzle caches), an anagram solver, It's Not About the Numbers (for the UK map facility), plus a few other useful links.
Love it.
It basically gives you links to all the frequently used areas of the GC.com website, and allows you to search for caches, TB's and other players.
On the right hand side, you can add links to any website you like, almost like a "favourites list", so I've added in things like Wikipedia (perfect for the puzzle caches), an anagram solver, It's Not About the Numbers (for the UK map facility), plus a few other useful links.
Love it.
Not a Pain in The Butt!
I completed a nice cache today, Butt where's the cache? (Worcs), a puzzle cache with a D5/T1 rating, which was on my list as it filled another little hole in the D/T grid.
The puzzle itself is to find the instructions on the cache listing....they are there, honest!
Got myself to GZ, and then had to complete a bit of a multi-cache puzzle to get the final coords, and after a short and pleasant walk along the river, a nicely hidden cache awaited me.
One of the best multi/puzzle caches I've done for quite some time, and I've now got 65 of the 81 D/T boxes ticked.
Caches found at time of posting.....2365.
The puzzle itself is to find the instructions on the cache listing....they are there, honest!
Got myself to GZ, and then had to complete a bit of a multi-cache puzzle to get the final coords, and after a short and pleasant walk along the river, a nicely hidden cache awaited me.
One of the best multi/puzzle caches I've done for quite some time, and I've now got 65 of the 81 D/T boxes ticked.
Caches found at time of posting.....2365.
Monday, 6 July 2009
A Great Weekend's Caching!
We took advantage of the (occasionally) good weather again this weekend, and got out and about.
We spent the 2nd half of the series in the company of Snerdbe (Des and Bren), and came away with 21 finds in all.
On Saturday, we went to Maidwell (which is right at the top of Northamptonshire) to do 2 series in a figure of 8 walk of about 8 miles. The series were A Scenic Trail, and a nameless series of caches nearby which was toy animals with a micro container wedged in them.
Due to a lack of forward planning on my part, we end ed up stumbling into the middle of the Scenic Trail Series, and suddenly realised that 6 of the first seven caches contained a number for calculating the whereabouts of the 8th cache.....oh dear....
A quick look at the map, and it seemed that we could find 4 of the numbers before getting to the area we thought the bonus cache would be, so off we went.
After getting 4 numbers, I had a stab at the other two (I actually got one correct!) but it didn't help find the cache, as the clue was "base of tree" and well, err, there were lots of trees.
So, we decided to continue on and find the rest of the caches, then come back for the Bonus cacge, which added another 2 miles to the walk, so at the end of the day, we covered 10 miles rather than the planned 8.
A good day out nevertheless!
We woke up on Sunday (Julie's birthday, so I took her caching as a treat, well, I thought it was a treat, she wasn't so sure).
At first we headed towards Ashby-de-la-Zouch to do one of 2 series of caches with no info on container, and no hint, so I'd mentally prepared myself for a frustrating day. However, as we neared Ashby, the weather turned and pouring rain came in and seemed to be set for a while, so we decided to about turn and drive 40 miles to Telford in Shropshire to do a new series (published last night) in Granville Country Park. A total of 19 new caches, and 4 older ones, gave us plenty to go at.....and all "regular" size boxes too...what a treat!!!!
We spent the 2nd half of the series in the company of Snerdbe (Des and Bren), and came away with 21 finds in all. A truly excellent series of caches over some beautiful countryside, although the terrain ratings on some of the caches listings seemed a little on the low side!
We also bumped into The Washers near the end, as they were just starting at 5pm!
Caches found at time of posting....2333
Friday, 3 July 2009
A Review of Caching in June
Not as productive a month as April and May in terms of numbers, but not a bad month in many respects.
I’ve had a couple of enjoyable days up in the Peak District, including a few on Kinder Scout to add some ticks to the D/T grid, now I’ve got 63 combinations completed ot of 81.
I’ve also compiled a list of potential caches for the “unticked” combinations and will be making a special effort to get more done over the coming months.
Highlight of the month was a superbly organised event “Summer in Sambourne”, thanks to AJIGeo and The Webbies for organising it, and the superb weather.
I managed to bag 6 FTF’s on the day, along with a group of cachers….The Strangler, Delta68, Stevo185 to name but a few.
A FTF later in the month equalled my record of 7 FTF’s in a calendar month; I was hoping to beat it, but sadly it was not to be.
Plans are now well underway for September and my week away caching with the dog. I’ve booked the campsites. First stop is Graffham, which luckily (deliberately) is in the middle of a 15 mile circular route containing the 72 cache Sussex Amble series. Second stop is the Isle of White, where Graham1875 will be joining me to grab a few of the 107 caches on the island. Then finally it’s off the Cornwall for 3 days for some R&R caching before heading home to log all the finds!
During June, I’ve done a couple series of note:
Fairbrook Naze – brilliant series along the Kinder plateau
A Quarry Caper – 14 caches in the Peak District
Let’s hope the weather holds for July, as I’m planning a return to the Mega Series in Hampshire to get that finished!
I couldn't add any links into this post as the GC.com website appears to be down at the moment (lots of GAGB forum activity though, seems no-one has anything else to do!)
Caches found at time of posting….2292.
I’ve had a couple of enjoyable days up in the Peak District, including a few on Kinder Scout to add some ticks to the D/T grid, now I’ve got 63 combinations completed ot of 81.
I’ve also compiled a list of potential caches for the “unticked” combinations and will be making a special effort to get more done over the coming months.
Highlight of the month was a superbly organised event “Summer in Sambourne”, thanks to AJIGeo and The Webbies for organising it, and the superb weather.
I managed to bag 6 FTF’s on the day, along with a group of cachers….The Strangler, Delta68, Stevo185 to name but a few.
A FTF later in the month equalled my record of 7 FTF’s in a calendar month; I was hoping to beat it, but sadly it was not to be.
Plans are now well underway for September and my week away caching with the dog. I’ve booked the campsites. First stop is Graffham, which luckily (deliberately) is in the middle of a 15 mile circular route containing the 72 cache Sussex Amble series. Second stop is the Isle of White, where Graham1875 will be joining me to grab a few of the 107 caches on the island. Then finally it’s off the Cornwall for 3 days for some R&R caching before heading home to log all the finds!
During June, I’ve done a couple series of note:
Fairbrook Naze – brilliant series along the Kinder plateau
A Quarry Caper – 14 caches in the Peak District
Let’s hope the weather holds for July, as I’m planning a return to the Mega Series in Hampshire to get that finished!
I couldn't add any links into this post as the GC.com website appears to be down at the moment (lots of GAGB forum activity though, seems no-one has anything else to do!)
Caches found at time of posting….2292.
FTF!
Bagged myself an unexpected FTF last night.
Superted has been hiding one or two short multi's in Coventry's parks, and I was going that way anyway to finish off a couple, and during the afternoon a new one got published, so although it had been published for 4 hours, I thought I'd try my luck (4 hours around here normally gets at least a couple of finds!).
Nice park, and a nice hide despite it being a micro, although the park was populated with "youths" who were effing and blinding despite there being alot of small children around....
Anyway, found a blank log book, and went on to do 3 more multi's in the area for a nice walk with the geomutt.
Caches found at time of posting.....2292
Superted has been hiding one or two short multi's in Coventry's parks, and I was going that way anyway to finish off a couple, and during the afternoon a new one got published, so although it had been published for 4 hours, I thought I'd try my luck (4 hours around here normally gets at least a couple of finds!).
Nice park, and a nice hide despite it being a micro, although the park was populated with "youths" who were effing and blinding despite there being alot of small children around....
Anyway, found a blank log book, and went on to do 3 more multi's in the area for a nice walk with the geomutt.
Caches found at time of posting.....2292
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
Blogging from my iPhone
I've just set up my blog account so that I can blog just be sending an
email, how cool is that?
email, how cool is that?
This means I can blog at will even when I don't have the PC or laptop
and a good Internet connection!
Friday, 26 June 2009
Caching in September
OK, I know it's not until September (or 83 days and 18 hours, but I'm not counting), but plans are well under way for my week away touring the UK. The better half of the household is off to Cyprus with her sister, and I'm heading south (I did north last year!).
First stopp, Graffham camp site, arriving on the Sunday for a little light caching, followed by tackling the Sussex Amble series of 72 caches on the Monday.
Tuesday sees me heading a little further south to Portsmouth for a ferry over to the Isle of Wight, where I'll be joined by Graham1875 to grab some of the hundred or so caches on the island.
After 3 nights there, and saying my goodbye's to Graham, I'll be heading off to Cornwall for another 3 nights (and days) of caching with the geomutt.
I've already got the PQ's set up and have started planning caches to grab while out and about, including some that help fill in the gap's on the D/T grid (I'm up to 63 of the 81 now...).
I was thinking about 2 days in Hampshire to complete the UK Mega Series, but I've decided to try and get that done before then, in fact, Julie and I are toying with one of the loops for this Sunday weather permitting, mainly as her son has a load of mates coming round for his birthday barbecue, and I don't want to be there when the neighbours start complaining!
I shouldn't be getting excited yet....but I am!
First stopp, Graffham camp site, arriving on the Sunday for a little light caching, followed by tackling the Sussex Amble series of 72 caches on the Monday.
Tuesday sees me heading a little further south to Portsmouth for a ferry over to the Isle of Wight, where I'll be joined by Graham1875 to grab some of the hundred or so caches on the island.
After 3 nights there, and saying my goodbye's to Graham, I'll be heading off to Cornwall for another 3 nights (and days) of caching with the geomutt.
I've already got the PQ's set up and have started planning caches to grab while out and about, including some that help fill in the gap's on the D/T grid (I'm up to 63 of the 81 now...).
I was thinking about 2 days in Hampshire to complete the UK Mega Series, but I've decided to try and get that done before then, in fact, Julie and I are toying with one of the loops for this Sunday weather permitting, mainly as her son has a load of mates coming round for his birthday barbecue, and I don't want to be there when the neighbours start complaining!
I shouldn't be getting excited yet....but I am!
Thursday, 25 June 2009
Kinder Scouting!
Last weekend, with cracking weather again, we headed back to the Peak District, but a little further north this time, to tackle Kinder Scout, and the excellent Fairbrook Naze series of caches.
We covered just under 10 miles, parking up east of the plateau, and followed the valley to the north, then returned to the car along the northern ridge, tackling the caches in reverse order after grabbing a couple on the outward journey.
Some piccies of the day out.....
The start of the Fairbrook Naze series
View from the north ridge of the plateau
The landscape along the north ridge
Yours truly on the outward journey up the valley
Caches found at time of posting...........2265
We covered just under 10 miles, parking up east of the plateau, and followed the valley to the north, then returned to the car along the northern ridge, tackling the caches in reverse order after grabbing a couple on the outward journey.
Some piccies of the day out.....
The start of the Fairbrook Naze series
View from the north ridge of the plateau
The landscape along the north ridge
Yours truly on the outward journey up the valley
Caches found at time of posting...........2265
Tuesday, 16 June 2009
The Spoodle's Last Day
We've been looking after a rather rotund dog while it's owners spend 2 weeks in Egypt. It's something of a cross between a Spaniel and a Poodle, so I assume it's a Spoodle (I could be wrong, it could be a pedigree for all I know).
Sunday was it's last day with us, so we decided to take advantage of some more good weather and headed up to the Peak District for some walking, and of course some geocaching!
Stoney Middleton was our destination, a place that was host to the very first episode of Most Haunted. We parked up near to The Moon pub, where they held a nightime vigil...and most likely discovered absolutely nothing as per, but that scouse fellow probably fainted at some point anyway.....
From Stoney Middleton, we headed in a vague south-westerly direction to do the Quarry Caper series of 14 caches, and a few more along the way.
A cracking walk is was too, although we had to wait until cache No.9 of the day before we actually saw the quarry!
The final Trad cache before the bonus involved walking (or should I say climbing) a really steep bank through some woods, luckily it was fairly dry, it would have been impossible in the wet!
After finding all the main caches, we worked out the Bonus cache coordinates, thinking that the worst of the terrain was behind us, only to have to battle through waist high nettles and thorns for a quarter of a mile to get to the bonus cache.... at least it was a decent sized ammo can!
A cracking day out!
Caches found at time of posting...2223.
Wednesday, 10 June 2009
Frustration Beyond Belief
Last week, I had to go to our Bracknell office for a meeting. I left home early, at about 6.30am.
I always have the RDS on the radio, so that any travel news warns me of impending disaster ahead, but for once the system failed, and due to a fatal accident involving 2 lorries and 2 cars on the M40, I was literally stuck on the M40 for three and a half hours.
If this wasn't infuriating in itself, for the vast majority of the 3.5 hours I was less than 200 feet from a cache, which was actually on the road above the motorway!!!
I was tempted a few times to lock the car and run up the embankment for a quick forage, but common sense dicated that I stay with the car.
Since then, weather and work have been getting in the way of geocaching.
Another strange occurence yesterday.....I'm involved with the Forum for the Built Environment, and the committee are looking to hold an event later in the year, and quite a few (mostly bad) idea were pinging around by e-mail (I suggested Monkey Tennis, and Karaoke with Chas and Dave, but no-one seemed keen).
All of a sudden, an e-mail pops up and someone suggests geocaching!!!!!
Blimey, there's another one out there! I bumped into the guy this morning, and although he knows a little about caching, he has yet to find one, so he left the breakfast with plenty of things to look up on the www, and I don't think it will be long before he gets the bug (you've got to feel sorry for him, haven't you?).
Caches found at time of posting.....2192...a slow month so far, only 24 finds in 9 days!
I always have the RDS on the radio, so that any travel news warns me of impending disaster ahead, but for once the system failed, and due to a fatal accident involving 2 lorries and 2 cars on the M40, I was literally stuck on the M40 for three and a half hours.
If this wasn't infuriating in itself, for the vast majority of the 3.5 hours I was less than 200 feet from a cache, which was actually on the road above the motorway!!!
I was tempted a few times to lock the car and run up the embankment for a quick forage, but common sense dicated that I stay with the car.
Since then, weather and work have been getting in the way of geocaching.
Another strange occurence yesterday.....I'm involved with the Forum for the Built Environment, and the committee are looking to hold an event later in the year, and quite a few (mostly bad) idea were pinging around by e-mail (I suggested Monkey Tennis, and Karaoke with Chas and Dave, but no-one seemed keen).
All of a sudden, an e-mail pops up and someone suggests geocaching!!!!!
Blimey, there's another one out there! I bumped into the guy this morning, and although he knows a little about caching, he has yet to find one, so he left the breakfast with plenty of things to look up on the www, and I don't think it will be long before he gets the bug (you've got to feel sorry for him, haven't you?).
Caches found at time of posting.....2192...a slow month so far, only 24 finds in 9 days!
Thursday, 4 June 2009
Spandau Ballet!
I must be mental. I went to an NSPCC fund raising event last night at the Jam House in Birmingham, and they had an auction.The "top" item was 2 VIP tickets to see Spandau Ballet, complete with backstage passes and a meet and greet with the band!!!!!
I'd had a couple of drinks, and before I knew it, I was in a bidding war with a woman across the room. Bidding started at £150, and soon reached £200.....I eventually won the tickets for £270!!!!
Having woken up this morning thinking "what have I done?", I'm actually looking forward to it now, sadly it's not until October 24th so I'll just have to wait.
Sunday, 31 May 2009
May 2009 - Review
Not a bad month for caching, a total of 207 caches found in the month, a cracking weekend in the Lake District, and 6 FTF's.
Series completed this month:
Wheaton Aston Walk - a nice stroll around the countryside and along the canal.
Max's Favourite Walk - a figure of 8 around Packwood House
Jason's Jaunt - a beautiful walk in the Lakes near Staverley
Cleobury Country Wanderings - 5 caches near Cleobury Mortimer
Rambling Along The River Rea - one DNF (the clue, a number, appears twice, very annoying)
Hinchwick Valley - nice series of 7 caches
I also managed to (finally) complete the infuriating Big Kids Challenge near Pelsall.
I've also managed to fill in a couple of gaps on my D/T grid, and also completed a cache find on every calendar date in May.
Caches found at time of posting.....2168
Series completed this month:
Wheaton Aston Walk - a nice stroll around the countryside and along the canal.
Max's Favourite Walk - a figure of 8 around Packwood House
Jason's Jaunt - a beautiful walk in the Lakes near Staverley
Cleobury Country Wanderings - 5 caches near Cleobury Mortimer
Rambling Along The River Rea - one DNF (the clue, a number, appears twice, very annoying)
Hinchwick Valley - nice series of 7 caches
I also managed to (finally) complete the infuriating Big Kids Challenge near Pelsall.
I've also managed to fill in a couple of gaps on my D/T grid, and also completed a cache find on every calendar date in May.
Caches found at time of posting.....2168
Thursday, 28 May 2009
An Evening in Bracknell
I'm away on business today and tomorrow, and I'm booked into the Hilton Hotel, Bracknell for the evening. Hopefully I can get away from work about 6pm, and after a quick change at the hotel, provided the weather is favourable, I'll be out caching for a couple of hours.
I've got plenty of choice, as there seems to be alot of new caches in the area since the last time I went hunting around here.
There is a series of 20+ caches in Swinley Forest by "Lord of the Cachers" which sounds good, although it would involve a walk of about 6 miles, but I've looked at them on the map and I could just do half of them.
There is also a series called "Sign of the Times" around here, that appears to be a multitude of nano's on the back of road signs, so if the weather is a bit iffy, that could come in handy!
I've got plenty of choice, as there seems to be alot of new caches in the area since the last time I went hunting around here.
There is a series of 20+ caches in Swinley Forest by "Lord of the Cachers" which sounds good, although it would involve a walk of about 6 miles, but I've looked at them on the map and I could just do half of them.
There is also a series called "Sign of the Times" around here, that appears to be a multitude of nano's on the back of road signs, so if the weather is a bit iffy, that could come in handy!
Lake District - Day Three
Despite the weather forecast predicting some rain, Bank Holiday Monday proved to be a nicer day than Sunday, with sunshine all day and temperatures in the low 20's.
After packing up the tent and the kit, we decided to head into Windermere, park the car, and do a bit of a leisurely circular walking, taking in the banks of the lake, and of course a few caches along the way.
Nothing more to report! Oh, my neck got sunburnt!
Caches found at end of trip.....2134
Caches found at time of post.....2137, courtesy of 3 new caches within a couple of miles of home.
After packing up the tent and the kit, we decided to head into Windermere, park the car, and do a bit of a leisurely circular walking, taking in the banks of the lake, and of course a few caches along the way.
Nothing more to report! Oh, my neck got sunburnt!
Caches found at end of trip.....2134
Caches found at time of post.....2137, courtesy of 3 new caches within a couple of miles of home.
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
The Lake District - Day Two
Day Two began nice and early with a hearty breakfast at the campsite, followed by a one and a half hour drive to Wasdale Head to the starting point of our trek to the summit of Scafell Pike.
The weather seemed to improve as we got closer, and when we arrived, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Lots of people around, and we only just about managed to park the car!
We were toying with the idea of going up to the top of Lingmell, and then across to Scafell Pike, but in the end we decided on the more conventional tourist approach, mainly so that I could grab The Path to Death or Glory on the way up.
I did find it, but on the way down, as a 10 minute search on the way up proved fruitless, and on the way down I found it straight away...isn't that always the way?
There were some fantastic views of Wast Water on the way up.
Finally, after almost four hours of steady climbing in the heat of the midday sun, we finally made it to the summit, where 2 more caches (one Trad, England's highest physical cache, and one Virtual, the highest cache in Engalnd) awaited us, along with the incredible views across the Lake District.
It was pretty busy on the top, must have been 200 people up there, and a constant stream of people leaving and arriving, we only just about managed a photo!
After a quick bite to eat and a drink, we started to make our way back down again. It's just as tough coming down, very hard on the knee joints!
Once back at the bottom, the day started to get weird. We were making a brew in the back of the Cachemobile, and a guy with his wife and two kids came up to us and asked us if we were camping at Wasdale, which obviously we weren't, and he asked us if we would give them a lift to the head of the valley so that they could get a bus back to their B&B near Keswick.
For those of you unfamiliar with Wasdale Head, it's a dead end up a 5 mile long road, and has no bus service! Apparently, some friends of theirs had told them they would meet them there and give them a lift, but they had called and let them down.
After a bit of a discussion, we decided that we could do far better than a lift to the bus stop, and as we were going to go for a bit of a drive anyway, we offered to take them back to their B&B, a journey of 15 miles in a straight line, but 43 miles on the road!
As we made our way north then east towards Keswick, somehow the conversation turned to geocaching, and the young lad, Daniel, seemed very keen, so I promised that when we got to their B&B, if there was a nearby cache, he could join me on the hunt. As luck would have it, a cache was to be found only 320ft from the car when we parked outside the B&B!
After a quick beer, Daniel and I plodded off to find the cache, and during our search his sister, Lucy, and his mother, Linda, joined in the search, and with 4 pairs of hands, the cache, HERRIES HOUSE - The Herries Chronicles, was soon found. I got Daniel to sign the log, and gave him the GC code and some brief instructions on how to join up and log the find....I have the cache on the watchlist!!!!
We returned to the bar, and said our goodbyes, but not before Mike presented us with a very nice bottle of red wine as recompense for our kindness! Nice one!!
An interesting day! At the end of it, I'd climbed the highest peak in England, found 5 caches (two more boxes filled in on the D/T grid), and met some interesting people!
I also realised whilst at Wasdale Head that I found the cache at Wasdale Head Inn last year, and forgot to log it, so that has now been rectified.
Caches found at the end of Day Two.....2128.
The weather seemed to improve as we got closer, and when we arrived, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Lots of people around, and we only just about managed to park the car!
We were toying with the idea of going up to the top of Lingmell, and then across to Scafell Pike, but in the end we decided on the more conventional tourist approach, mainly so that I could grab The Path to Death or Glory on the way up.
I did find it, but on the way down, as a 10 minute search on the way up proved fruitless, and on the way down I found it straight away...isn't that always the way?
There were some fantastic views of Wast Water on the way up.
Finally, after almost four hours of steady climbing in the heat of the midday sun, we finally made it to the summit, where 2 more caches (one Trad, England's highest physical cache, and one Virtual, the highest cache in Engalnd) awaited us, along with the incredible views across the Lake District.
It was pretty busy on the top, must have been 200 people up there, and a constant stream of people leaving and arriving, we only just about managed a photo!After a quick bite to eat and a drink, we started to make our way back down again. It's just as tough coming down, very hard on the knee joints!
Once back at the bottom, the day started to get weird. We were making a brew in the back of the Cachemobile, and a guy with his wife and two kids came up to us and asked us if we were camping at Wasdale, which obviously we weren't, and he asked us if we would give them a lift to the head of the valley so that they could get a bus back to their B&B near Keswick.
For those of you unfamiliar with Wasdale Head, it's a dead end up a 5 mile long road, and has no bus service! Apparently, some friends of theirs had told them they would meet them there and give them a lift, but they had called and let them down.
After a bit of a discussion, we decided that we could do far better than a lift to the bus stop, and as we were going to go for a bit of a drive anyway, we offered to take them back to their B&B, a journey of 15 miles in a straight line, but 43 miles on the road!
As we made our way north then east towards Keswick, somehow the conversation turned to geocaching, and the young lad, Daniel, seemed very keen, so I promised that when we got to their B&B, if there was a nearby cache, he could join me on the hunt. As luck would have it, a cache was to be found only 320ft from the car when we parked outside the B&B!
After a quick beer, Daniel and I plodded off to find the cache, and during our search his sister, Lucy, and his mother, Linda, joined in the search, and with 4 pairs of hands, the cache, HERRIES HOUSE - The Herries Chronicles, was soon found. I got Daniel to sign the log, and gave him the GC code and some brief instructions on how to join up and log the find....I have the cache on the watchlist!!!!
We returned to the bar, and said our goodbyes, but not before Mike presented us with a very nice bottle of red wine as recompense for our kindness! Nice one!!
An interesting day! At the end of it, I'd climbed the highest peak in England, found 5 caches (two more boxes filled in on the D/T grid), and met some interesting people!
I also realised whilst at Wasdale Head that I found the cache at Wasdale Head Inn last year, and forgot to log it, so that has now been rectified.
Caches found at the end of Day Two.....2128.
The Lake District - Day One
We arose early (well, early for us anyway) at 7am, loaded the X-Trail up and set off for the Lakes around 8am.
Following a brief "comfort break" at Sandbach Services (there was a cache there, obviously), and after battling our way through the Bank Holiday traffic, we finally arrived at the campsite just after noon.
Got the tent up in double quick time, and then realised that Julie had brought the pump for the air bed, but not the adaptor to plug it into the car!!!!! Luckily the guy setting up his tent next to us had one, and he kindly loaned it to me.
Had a quick brew, and as planned, made a short drive to Staveley to have a crack at the Jason's Jaunt series of caches, based on Jason and The Argonauts. I'd planned these in advance, and from the listings they seemed as though they may be tricky, as they were all micros except for the final bonus cache. As it turned out, all the micros were contained in a further container, that made them far easier to find, and we managed to find every single one, although a couple still needed a bit of a search. Managed to pick a further cache up that wasn't in the series, but was on the route, making 13 caches in all for the day, not a bad start for the weekend.
We got back to the car around 6.30pm, and got the kit out for a well-earned brew and a bite to eat, closely followed by an early night ready for our assault on Scafell Pike in the morning!
Unfortunately, the air bed decided to slowly deflate through the night, and we woke up on a cold hard floor.....never mind....
Report on Day Two to follow.
Total caches found at the end of Day One......2123.
Following a brief "comfort break" at Sandbach Services (there was a cache there, obviously), and after battling our way through the Bank Holiday traffic, we finally arrived at the campsite just after noon.
Got the tent up in double quick time, and then realised that Julie had brought the pump for the air bed, but not the adaptor to plug it into the car!!!!! Luckily the guy setting up his tent next to us had one, and he kindly loaned it to me.
Had a quick brew, and as planned, made a short drive to Staveley to have a crack at the Jason's Jaunt series of caches, based on Jason and The Argonauts. I'd planned these in advance, and from the listings they seemed as though they may be tricky, as they were all micros except for the final bonus cache. As it turned out, all the micros were contained in a further container, that made them far easier to find, and we managed to find every single one, although a couple still needed a bit of a search. Managed to pick a further cache up that wasn't in the series, but was on the route, making 13 caches in all for the day, not a bad start for the weekend.
We got back to the car around 6.30pm, and got the kit out for a well-earned brew and a bite to eat, closely followed by an early night ready for our assault on Scafell Pike in the morning!
Unfortunately, the air bed decided to slowly deflate through the night, and we woke up on a cold hard floor.....never mind....
Report on Day Two to follow.
Total caches found at the end of Day One......2123.
Friday, 22 May 2009
Lake District Here We Come!
I'm a bit over-excited today! A long weekend, a trip to The Lakes, Scafell Pike, and of course a few caches along the way!
We'll be up early in the morning so that we can get pitched at noon and spend the afternoon doing a series near Staverley, then a bit of pub grub followed by an early night. Up early on Sunday for the ascent of Scafell Pike so that I can complete my set of highest caches in England, Wales and Scotland at long last.
The weather forecast has been getting progressively better as the weekend draws nearer, the forecast for Sunday is almost cloud free, so we should get some great views as we climb.
Full report upon my return!
Caches found at time of posting......2110
Sunday, 17 May 2009
Chased.....by Chickens
Over the years, I've been chased by cows on many an occasion, once by an irate farmer, and even once by some sheep with an attitude problem, but today, a definite first....we were chased by chickens.We spent the day cocooned in waterproofs due to the persistent rain, and tottered around Cleobury Mortimer in Shropshire in the process of grabbing 16 caches.
I didn't take many photos today, as it really was raining all day, except for the last hour when we got chased by chickens!
Nothing more to report, caches were OK, mostly micros, mostly easy, some good walking despite the rain!
Completed a series of 10 caches along the river Rea, then a small series of 5 through the countryside, and grabbed a couple of available ones en-route.
We had one DNF, which I think has gone missing, and one nano I nearly gave up on. Just as I was fiddling with the Oregon for the next cache, Julie cried "There it is!"....smug....
And here are the chickens, chasing us.....
Caches found at time of posting.....2097.
Saturday, 16 May 2009
What do you do when it's raining?
You go caching obviously!!!!!
Had a very pleasant days caching with Julie and the dog (Sophie), the rain kept off for most of the afternoon, just a couple of showers.
Parked up, and before we got to the first cache, Julie spotted an "urn" at the side of the footpath...just sitting there....for no reason. We exchanged glances, and I decided to open it....
Looked like someone's ashes, or it could have been sand and grit, who knows? Strange place to leave someone's ashes if that's what it was!
We had planned a 9 mile route, taking in series of 12 caches, plus 4 more just to the west, a cracking walk considering the weather, and no DNF's today, which makes a change!
Rain brings puddles, and puddles makes a dog happy....when we first had Sophie, she wouldn't go anywhere near water, now we have trouble keeping her out of it. Thankfully she had a "shake" straight away, rather than doing it right next to me like she normally does.
Last but one cach
e of the day, a Mighty Oak.
Caches found at time of posting.....2081.
Had a very pleasant days caching with Julie and the dog (Sophie), the rain kept off for most of the afternoon, just a couple of showers.
Parked up, and before we got to the first cache, Julie spotted an "urn" at the side of the footpath...just sitting there....for no reason. We exchanged glances, and I decided to open it....
Looked like someone's ashes, or it could have been sand and grit, who knows? Strange place to leave someone's ashes if that's what it was!
We had planned a 9 mile route, taking in series of 12 caches, plus 4 more just to the west, a cracking walk considering the weather, and no DNF's today, which makes a change!
Rain brings puddles, and puddles makes a dog happy....when we first had Sophie, she wouldn't go anywhere near water, now we have trouble keeping her out of it. Thankfully she had a "shake" straight away, rather than doing it right next to me like she normally does.
Last but one cach
e of the day, a Mighty Oak.Caches found at time of posting.....2081.
Thursday, 14 May 2009
Lucky FTF's
After work tonight, I reluctantly returned to GC1R4VK Drayton Cache Series 4a after doing the 3.2 mile round trip for a DNF earlier in the week. I'd had a little hint from a previous finder, so went with a little more confidence this time.
Job done, I set off back to the car with the geo-mutt sniffing around contentedly. Just as I arrived back at the car, e-mail arrived, alerting me to 2 new caches less than a mile from where I was, in fact, I'd just walked within 0.1 miles of one of them on my return journey!
Not fancying the long walk back, I decided to move the car a little closer and access them via the PF rather than the canal towpath.
With the FTF hounds round here, and light fading, I needed to get my skates on. I parked up at 7.55pm, and made the short walk, 0.12 miles, to the first new cache GC1RB2E Mad4Cache Stash15 and spent 10 minutes trying to find it without success.
I decided to run to the next one, about 0.44 miles further down the track. Maybe if I was quick, I would still be able to get FTF on this one on the return leg!
Arrived at GZ for GC1RB2C Mad4Cache Stash14 and due to spot on coords and a bit of lateral thinking I realised where it was immediately, in fact, I could hear it, but I couldn't see it! I had to use my car keys to prise off the top of a post to access the cache, and found a blank log!
Now for the dash back to the other one. As I ran across the canal bridge, I spotted a fellow leisurely leaning against the wall, and he said "Did you find it?", turns out to be the cache owner, Mad4Cache, spying on the FTF! Sadly I couldn't talk for long, I did have a cache to find after all!
Got back to the first cache, and thankfully found it almost immediately in a place I'd looked in before...isn't that always the way?
Got back to the car all hot and sweaty, but happy!!!!
And I was late for dinner....but who cares?
Caches found at time of posting......2062.
Job done, I set off back to the car with the geo-mutt sniffing around contentedly. Just as I arrived back at the car, e-mail arrived, alerting me to 2 new caches less than a mile from where I was, in fact, I'd just walked within 0.1 miles of one of them on my return journey!
Not fancying the long walk back, I decided to move the car a little closer and access them via the PF rather than the canal towpath.
With the FTF hounds round here, and light fading, I needed to get my skates on. I parked up at 7.55pm, and made the short walk, 0.12 miles, to the first new cache GC1RB2E Mad4Cache Stash15 and spent 10 minutes trying to find it without success.
I decided to run to the next one, about 0.44 miles further down the track. Maybe if I was quick, I would still be able to get FTF on this one on the return leg!
Arrived at GZ for GC1RB2C Mad4Cache Stash14 and due to spot on coords and a bit of lateral thinking I realised where it was immediately, in fact, I could hear it, but I couldn't see it! I had to use my car keys to prise off the top of a post to access the cache, and found a blank log!
Now for the dash back to the other one. As I ran across the canal bridge, I spotted a fellow leisurely leaning against the wall, and he said "Did you find it?", turns out to be the cache owner, Mad4Cache, spying on the FTF! Sadly I couldn't talk for long, I did have a cache to find after all!
Got back to the first cache, and thankfully found it almost immediately in a place I'd looked in before...isn't that always the way?
Got back to the car all hot and sweaty, but happy!!!!
And I was late for dinner....but who cares?
Caches found at time of posting......2062.
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Scafell Pike
Way before I started this blog (last July in fact), my non-caching girlfriend decided it would be a great idea for her to visit relatives in Greece without me.
Who am I to discourage a week of relative freedom (for me, not her obviously)?
I therefore planned a week to attempt to find the highest geocaches in England, Wales and Scotland (which are where you would expect them to be, on Scafell Pike, Snowdon and Ben Nevis).
So, the geo-mutt and I set off on our quest, but to cut a long story short, we failed at Scafell Pike, as the weather during our 2 day stay at Wasdale Head wasn't conducive to climbing a mountain, so we spent the day in the Wasdale Head Inn and got drunk instead!
We did, however, manage to get to the top of Snowdon and Ben Nevis, but annoyingly both were under heavy cloud cover at the time, so there was nothing to see at the top other than the trig point.
This has been nagging at me for some time, so I've now managed to pursuade Julie to purchase a tent, a couple of sleeping bags and a few bits of camping paraphanalia, and visit the Lake District during the forthcoming Bank Holiday for another attempt.
I've got three alternatives.....
Who am I to discourage a week of relative freedom (for me, not her obviously)?
I therefore planned a week to attempt to find the highest geocaches in England, Wales and Scotland (which are where you would expect them to be, on Scafell Pike, Snowdon and Ben Nevis).
So, the geo-mutt and I set off on our quest, but to cut a long story short, we failed at Scafell Pike, as the weather during our 2 day stay at Wasdale Head wasn't conducive to climbing a mountain, so we spent the day in the Wasdale Head Inn and got drunk instead!
We did, however, manage to get to the top of Snowdon and Ben Nevis, but annoyingly both were under heavy cloud cover at the time, so there was nothing to see at the top other than the trig point.
This has been nagging at me for some time, so I've now managed to pursuade Julie to purchase a tent, a couple of sleeping bags and a few bits of camping paraphanalia, and visit the Lake District during the forthcoming Bank Holiday for another attempt.
I've got three alternatives.....
- Ascent from Wasdale Head and up Brown Tongue
- Ascent from Wasdale Head and Lingmell
- Ascent from Boot/Eskdale
Last time I went for option one, but due to the amount of rain we'd had, the stream was a raging torrent, and I reluctantly turned back.
Maybe option 2 this time......full report on my return!
Tuesday, 12 May 2009
There's a Thief About!
I've often heard of cache containers getting stolen, but until now it has never happened to me.
I had a
"Found" notification on one of my caches today; Collector Cache 6 : Consumed Fence which seemed to indicate that they had found a 35mm film pot, rather than the rather posh metal camoflaged container I placed. I haven't yet been to check, but I have contacted the last 2 finders, who both claim to have found a film pot.
The third last finder (uklifesaver) took a photo of the cache at GZ and uploaded it to his log, so it must have happened recently.
I'm absolutely furious, what sort of dispicable w****er would do something like this? They even moved the original log sheet into the film pot.
I have of course put a notice on the cache page suggesting that the culprit returns and replaces the cache as it was.....but these sort of people generally won't have a conscience.
On a brighter note, I managed to find 2 caches today that have been causing me problems, namely Flip The Pancake and Big Kids Challenge 11 of 13. Bizarrely, they are only about 0.25 miles from each other.
Grabbed 4 of a new series locally this evening while walking the dog, so.....
Caches found at time of posting.....2055.....
I had a
"Found" notification on one of my caches today; Collector Cache 6 : Consumed Fence which seemed to indicate that they had found a 35mm film pot, rather than the rather posh metal camoflaged container I placed. I haven't yet been to check, but I have contacted the last 2 finders, who both claim to have found a film pot.The third last finder (uklifesaver) took a photo of the cache at GZ and uploaded it to his log, so it must have happened recently.
I'm absolutely furious, what sort of dispicable w****er would do something like this? They even moved the original log sheet into the film pot.
I have of course put a notice on the cache page suggesting that the culprit returns and replaces the cache as it was.....but these sort of people generally won't have a conscience.
On a brighter note, I managed to find 2 caches today that have been causing me problems, namely Flip The Pancake and Big Kids Challenge 11 of 13. Bizarrely, they are only about 0.25 miles from each other.
Grabbed 4 of a new series locally this evening while walking the dog, so.....
Caches found at time of posting.....2055.....
DNF Spectacular
There's a series of caches near me, along the canal near Drayton Manor Park. They've been there for a while, and I'd done them all...... until last weekend when the CO went out (maybe doing a little maintenance) and decided to place another one!
Now, you'd think that a cache on a canal would be fairly straightforward, and you'd be wrong in this instance. The parking for the cache is 1.61 miles from Ground Zero, which isn't a problem if you're doing the series, but it's one hell of a hike for one cache!
Needless to say, I couldn't resist popping out after work last night, only to be confronted by a cache with no hint, somewhere in the general area of a steel bridge surrounded by holes, trees, ivy and litter.
I spent 45 minutes searching, I even e-mailed the only previous finder via my iPhone in the hope that he was online to give me some assistance, but he wasn't.
I have since found out that the cache is on the steel beam of the bridge, but as I had a fingertip search of the beams, I'm not so sure, although I could have missed it.
So, 3.22 miles and two hours later, no find.
Caches found at time of posting....you guessed it.....2045...same as yesterday!
Now, you'd think that a cache on a canal would be fairly straightforward, and you'd be wrong in this instance. The parking for the cache is 1.61 miles from Ground Zero, which isn't a problem if you're doing the series, but it's one hell of a hike for one cache!
Needless to say, I couldn't resist popping out after work last night, only to be confronted by a cache with no hint, somewhere in the general area of a steel bridge surrounded by holes, trees, ivy and litter.
I spent 45 minutes searching, I even e-mailed the only previous finder via my iPhone in the hope that he was online to give me some assistance, but he wasn't.
I have since found out that the cache is on the steel beam of the bridge, but as I had a fingertip search of the beams, I'm not so sure, although I could have missed it.
So, 3.22 miles and two hours later, no find.
Caches found at time of posting....you guessed it.....2045...same as yesterday!
Monday, 11 May 2009
Cache Maintenance
I don't know why, but I have no problems with my caches generally, but when I do, they come in batches..
I had a notification last night that "A Bridge to a Bridge" needed maintenance, seems some "yoofs" have spread the component parts of the cache over a large area. Luckily a newbie cacher did precisely the right thing by reassembling it and putting it back. It was their first cache too! Hopefully their next few caches will be better. They were extremely chuffed when I e-mailed them and told them to log a "Found" log!
Went out this lunchtime and re-stocked the cache with a new log and pen, plus a few goodies.
I also seem to have problems with Middle England - Bridge, which has had 2 DNF's in a row, and is an easy find, so I think that's gone completely. It's one of a series of 13, and ironically it's not the easiest one to get at on it's own, so I need to make a 1.5 mile return walk to replace it. An excuse to walk the dog I suppose!
These things normally come in three's, so I'm waiting with baited breath for the next problem!
Caches found at time of posting....same as before....2045.
I had a notification last night that "A Bridge to a Bridge" needed maintenance, seems some "yoofs" have spread the component parts of the cache over a large area. Luckily a newbie cacher did precisely the right thing by reassembling it and putting it back. It was their first cache too! Hopefully their next few caches will be better. They were extremely chuffed when I e-mailed them and told them to log a "Found" log!
Went out this lunchtime and re-stocked the cache with a new log and pen, plus a few goodies.
I also seem to have problems with Middle England - Bridge, which has had 2 DNF's in a row, and is an easy find, so I think that's gone completely. It's one of a series of 13, and ironically it's not the easiest one to get at on it's own, so I need to make a 1.5 mile return walk to replace it. An excuse to walk the dog I suppose!
These things normally come in three's, so I'm waiting with baited breath for the next problem!
Caches found at time of posting....same as before....2045.
Sunday, 10 May 2009
A Sunny Day in the Cotswolds
I spent 4 hours doing an 8 mile figure of eight walk today taking in the Hinchwick Valley series, plus four other trads to the north-west, all by Stag Ramblers.
Lovely sunny day, great views, nice caches....sweet as a nut....
Caches found at time of posting.....2045......
Lovely sunny day, great views, nice caches....sweet as a nut....
Caches found at time of posting.....2045......
Which Way Would You Go????
I saw this sign yesterday half way up The Wrekin....
"The Other Way" pointed to the summit, so I went that way.....
"The Other Way" pointed to the summit, so I went that way.....
Saturday, 9 May 2009
Plodding Along
I've been plodding along with the cachin' this week.
Managed 12 on Thursday, mainly cache and dashes along the Bromsgrove Feeder road on my way to Brockencote Hall for a fabulous dinner.
Did the new series of caches based on Hindu words near Meriden over a couple of evenings while walking the dog. Incidentally, these caches have completely scuppered my forthcoming series for the summer, as most of them are on my proposed route! I'm currently searching for an alternative route, maybe one near Shustoke.....
Been out to climb the Wrekin this afternoon with the dog and the girlfriend (not one and the same I can assure you!), and grabbed the 4 trad's and completed the Earthcache. Not bad visibility up there today, so I took a picture or two.
Julie and the mutt at the summit trig point.....
View from near the summit......
Caches found at time of posting....2034.
Managed 12 on Thursday, mainly cache and dashes along the Bromsgrove Feeder road on my way to Brockencote Hall for a fabulous dinner.
Did the new series of caches based on Hindu words near Meriden over a couple of evenings while walking the dog. Incidentally, these caches have completely scuppered my forthcoming series for the summer, as most of them are on my proposed route! I'm currently searching for an alternative route, maybe one near Shustoke.....
Been out to climb the Wrekin this afternoon with the dog and the girlfriend (not one and the same I can assure you!), and grabbed the 4 trad's and completed the Earthcache. Not bad visibility up there today, so I took a picture or two.
Julie and the mutt at the summit trig point.....
View from near the summit......
Caches found at time of posting....2034.
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
FTF Mayhem!
Left the office late this afternoon, and the iPhone bleeped as I was stuck in traffic....4 new caches less than a mile from where I was!
Luckily not far from home either, so a quick change, drop the gpx files into the Oregon, grab the dog and back for the hunt.
Found the first one, a multi, and a blank log book....yippee!!!!!
Moved on to three traditional caches and 3 more blank logs. Bumped into the cache owner, "uklifesaver" and "fatface" on the way back to the car, then a phone call from Team Balders, who had just started the caches from the other end and admitted defeat when he saw my name in the first log book! Soz Kev!
Nice way to start the week!
Caches found at time of posting.....2005!
Luckily not far from home either, so a quick change, drop the gpx files into the Oregon, grab the dog and back for the hunt.
Found the first one, a multi, and a blank log book....yippee!!!!!
Moved on to three traditional caches and 3 more blank logs. Bumped into the cache owner, "uklifesaver" and "fatface" on the way back to the car, then a phone call from Team Balders, who had just started the caches from the other end and admitted defeat when he saw my name in the first log book! Soz Kev!
Nice way to start the week!
Caches found at time of posting.....2005!
2000 Up!!!!
I wasn't expecting to do any cachin' this weekend, but after doing all the shopping etc on Saturday....Julie (my non-caching girlfriend) wanted to go out for a walk as we are off to do Scafell Pike in 3 weeks and she needs to get some "practice" in before we go.
She therefore offered to accompany me and the dog on a caching expedition in Gloucestershire to do a little "Hillside" series of 9 caches, plus another one on the way round.
This is the first time she has been out caching with me, as she maintains it's a bit sad (which it is) for sad people (of which I'm one).
She actually spotted one of them before I did, so although she won't admit it, she "gets it" now....I think....
Anyway, on Sunday we headed for the Clent hills for 6 caches I'd identified a few weeks ago, so I wasn't expecting to reach 2000. However, the wonders of the PQ ensured that the 5 new caches placed in the Clent Hills by the National Trust gave us 11 to attempt, and we found the lot!
Cache No.2000 turned out to be GCD488 Clent Eastwood (Worcestershire), and it wasn't a micro, it was a big ammo can! A fitting cache for the 2000th!!!!
Caches found at time of posting.....2001!
She therefore offered to accompany me and the dog on a caching expedition in Gloucestershire to do a little "Hillside" series of 9 caches, plus another one on the way round.
This is the first time she has been out caching with me, as she maintains it's a bit sad (which it is) for sad people (of which I'm one).
She actually spotted one of them before I did, so although she won't admit it, she "gets it" now....I think....
Anyway, on Sunday we headed for the Clent hills for 6 caches I'd identified a few weeks ago, so I wasn't expecting to reach 2000. However, the wonders of the PQ ensured that the 5 new caches placed in the Clent Hills by the National Trust gave us 11 to attempt, and we found the lot!
Cache No.2000 turned out to be GCD488 Clent Eastwood (Worcestershire), and it wasn't a micro, it was a big ammo can! A fitting cache for the 2000th!!!!
Caches found at time of posting.....2001!
Friday, 1 May 2009
A Great April for Caching!
Now April is over, it's time to reflect on another record breaking month for yours truly;
Most find in a calendar month : 290
Most finds in a day: 84
Most finds in a weekend: 84
Most consecutive days with a find: 63 up to 24th of April
Other highlights of the month:
4 FTF's
Broke through the 1700, 1800 and 1900 barriers
Series done this month:
8 more of the March Mayhem caches
Swynnerfield Circular: 12 caches
AWebbie Wander: 12 caches
Sent2Cov series: 13 caches (still a few to do though!)
Witton Weavers Way: 65 Letterbox caches done so far, lots more to do!
Completed the Chiltern Hundred by grabbing the 5/5 Bonus cache
Not a bad month all being said. I don't think May will be as productive...but I remember saying that a month ago!
Been out today and completed the Waterside Wander series near Moira starting from the Conkers place, nice walk, good caches, 14 of 'em!
Caches found at time of posting: 1980.....not far to go to the 2000!!!!!
Most find in a calendar month : 290
Most finds in a day: 84
Most finds in a weekend: 84
Most consecutive days with a find: 63 up to 24th of April
Other highlights of the month:
4 FTF's
Broke through the 1700, 1800 and 1900 barriers
Series done this month:
8 more of the March Mayhem caches
Swynnerfield Circular: 12 caches
AWebbie Wander: 12 caches
Sent2Cov series: 13 caches (still a few to do though!)
Witton Weavers Way: 65 Letterbox caches done so far, lots more to do!
Completed the Chiltern Hundred by grabbing the 5/5 Bonus cache
Not a bad month all being said. I don't think May will be as productive...but I remember saying that a month ago!
Been out today and completed the Waterside Wander series near Moira starting from the Conkers place, nice walk, good caches, 14 of 'em!
Caches found at time of posting: 1980.....not far to go to the 2000!!!!!
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
My First D5/T5 Cache.....sort of....
I've had one eye on the weather this week for two reasons....firstly, me and the better looking half of the household are thinking about a camping weekend, and secondly, I wanted to go "darn sarf" to complete the Chiltern 100 and grab the 5/5 Bonus Cache.
I watched the news last night (after the football, obviously!), and it seemed that today would be better than Thursday, so I got up nice and early...well, vaguely early....at 7am and set off for Buckinghamshire with plans made to grab enough additional Chiltern Hundred caches to convert my 97 into 100+ and to grab the bonus cache. I then had a nice little series of 13 caches in Ashley Green to do.
Anyway...parked up in Chesham at about 10am, and soon had two more to add to the total, making 99....one more needed. Toyed with moving the car, but another 4 were within a mile, so decided to walk the dog!
The next one was a DNF, ch050 on Westdean Lane, notoriously difficult for some reason. I bagged the next two (one to get me to a 100, and another as insurance).
I found myself a perch (a bench on the main road) and sat down in the sunshine and using the iPhone slowly entered the numbers I'd got from all 101 caches into a web page....I hit send....I waited.....slow connection....and it eventually tells me I've got 98 and need 2 more!!!!!!!
I must have typed a couple in wrong then....so I typed them in again....same result!!!!
Luckily I had a PAF on hand (Mark of Delta68) and fortunately he answered his phone. I was horrified to learn that he had heard that the Bonus cache had been muggled! Oh no!!!!!
He gave me the coords for the Bonus (I had found more than a 100, so surely this isn't cheating), and he said he'd get Donna (Mrs Delta68) to e-mail me the numbers they got from the caches.
I drove on to Chesham Station to grab No.102 of the series for me, by which time an e-mail had arrived, which upon scrutiny revealed that I had got one of my numbers wrong. I then typed 102 numbers (which matched Delta68's) into said web page, only to be told that I now had 99 correct, and I could bugger off, I wasn't getting the coords!
Little did the web page know, I already had them, so I drove off towards GZ and found myself a suitable parking spot. By now I'd checked the listing for the Bonus cache, and it was active, so maybe drsolly had replaced the Bonus cache already?
On arrive at GZ, I find a blue piece of string...that's all...(see photo):
Dissappointed, I walked back to the car, and pointed the X-Trail towards Ashley Green for the series.
Now, the day gets better, I had one DNF, but a tremendous 4 mile stroll around the countryside, fabulous views, and some good caches.
Even the cows were paying an interest (I think they were checking I'd signed the log, the cache was in the bush at the bottom of the photo...)
Much happier now, I decide to head back to Brum by using the A5 rather than the M1, and bag a few caches on the way home, which I did....a rubbish Off Yer Trolley (dull), and interesting micro (Birth of Radar), and the final cache of the day, Roman View, making 25 caches in all on a day of ups and downs.
Upon my return home, I logged my caches, and logged the Chiltern Hundred Bonus as a DNF, and contacted the cache owner, who has kindly allowed me to log it as a "Find", which I have done, although it would have been nicer to have actually got my hands on a box!!!!
Total caches found at time of log: 1954
I watched the news last night (after the football, obviously!), and it seemed that today would be better than Thursday, so I got up nice and early...well, vaguely early....at 7am and set off for Buckinghamshire with plans made to grab enough additional Chiltern Hundred caches to convert my 97 into 100+ and to grab the bonus cache. I then had a nice little series of 13 caches in Ashley Green to do.
Anyway...parked up in Chesham at about 10am, and soon had two more to add to the total, making 99....one more needed. Toyed with moving the car, but another 4 were within a mile, so decided to walk the dog!
The next one was a DNF, ch050 on Westdean Lane, notoriously difficult for some reason. I bagged the next two (one to get me to a 100, and another as insurance).
I found myself a perch (a bench on the main road) and sat down in the sunshine and using the iPhone slowly entered the numbers I'd got from all 101 caches into a web page....I hit send....I waited.....slow connection....and it eventually tells me I've got 98 and need 2 more!!!!!!!
I must have typed a couple in wrong then....so I typed them in again....same result!!!!
Luckily I had a PAF on hand (Mark of Delta68) and fortunately he answered his phone. I was horrified to learn that he had heard that the Bonus cache had been muggled! Oh no!!!!!
He gave me the coords for the Bonus (I had found more than a 100, so surely this isn't cheating), and he said he'd get Donna (Mrs Delta68) to e-mail me the numbers they got from the caches.
I drove on to Chesham Station to grab No.102 of the series for me, by which time an e-mail had arrived, which upon scrutiny revealed that I had got one of my numbers wrong. I then typed 102 numbers (which matched Delta68's) into said web page, only to be told that I now had 99 correct, and I could bugger off, I wasn't getting the coords!
Little did the web page know, I already had them, so I drove off towards GZ and found myself a suitable parking spot. By now I'd checked the listing for the Bonus cache, and it was active, so maybe drsolly had replaced the Bonus cache already?
On arrive at GZ, I find a blue piece of string...that's all...(see photo):
Dissappointed, I walked back to the car, and pointed the X-Trail towards Ashley Green for the series.
Now, the day gets better, I had one DNF, but a tremendous 4 mile stroll around the countryside, fabulous views, and some good caches.
Even the cows were paying an interest (I think they were checking I'd signed the log, the cache was in the bush at the bottom of the photo...)
Much happier now, I decide to head back to Brum by using the A5 rather than the M1, and bag a few caches on the way home, which I did....a rubbish Off Yer Trolley (dull), and interesting micro (Birth of Radar), and the final cache of the day, Roman View, making 25 caches in all on a day of ups and downs.
Upon my return home, I logged my caches, and logged the Chiltern Hundred Bonus as a DNF, and contacted the cache owner, who has kindly allowed me to log it as a "Find", which I have done, although it would have been nicer to have actually got my hands on a box!!!!
Total caches found at time of log: 1954
Monday, 27 April 2009
Mega Caching Day "Up North"
Having failed to bag a single cache on Saturday, and hence finishing my "cache a day" quest on 63 consecutive days, I was cheered up considerably by an excellent caching trip 90 miles north of Birmingham in the rolling hills of the Lancashire countryside, in the company of 8 other likeminded weirdos who like hunting for tupperware in bushes.
The team photo below, fr
om left to right.................The Washers (Ron, Diane stayed in the car!), [Monki] (Ashley), Pete3 (Pete, obviously), Blue Nora (Nikki), Team Balders (Kev), yours truly, [MF]Taz (Lee), Graham1875 and AJIGeo (Alan).
Alan turned up with the height of fashion, a Tilly hat, so, not to be outdone, I got mine out of the boot of the cachemobile.
The day started at 5.15 am, when Nikki and Pete turned up at my house, and after a short diversion via Balders Manor, 4 of us were on the M6 headed for the rendevouz point at the reservoir.
Graham, as you can see from the photo, was sporting a fine pair of legs, despite there being a distinct chill in the air at 7.20am!
Our team were last to arrive (we stopped for a splash and dash at the services), and soon after we were on our way, heading in a vague southerly direction for our first cache of the day, then heading west on the Witton Weavers Way. We almost got ourselves lost on the first cache, but soon realised our error and we were soon bagging cache No.1 of the day.
After 11 hours we arrived back at the cars, after finding 1 Earthcache, 65 Letterboxes and 18 Traditional caches, a fine effort by all! We managed 3 DNF's in the day, 2 of which we think are still there....one we think has been muggled, but who knows...they're on the Watchlist for the time being to see if one cacher can succeed where 9 failed!
The terrain was tough in places, but worth it for the fine views along the Witton Weavers Way. Even Kev's one-liners didn't deter us from having a good time!
At one point (on a DNF) we were searching through the undergrowth when a couple came from nowhere, and Kev said "I knew we shouldn't have brought the damn lizard" and carried on searching. The couple moved on.....quickly.....
We even managed to see a couple of new born lambs....bless 'em!
After arriving back at the car, a very brief discussion was had about walking around the reservoir to bag another 15...... surprisingly no-one seemed that bothered, probably due to the fact that we had walked 23.1 miles thus far!
So, the 100 caches in a day eluded us all, and I'm not sure when the next opportunity will surface, not long I bet!
84 was a personal best for every one of us, so 9 people went on our way happy....but knackered.
After a good nights sleep, I decided to do a little light caching to stretch the muscles, especially as 8 new caches had been published within 2 miles of home while we were up north. I managed 4 finds and one DNF before the heavens opened and I headed for home.
I have the rest of the week off, so beating my record for caches in one month looks likely, and I might even break through the 2000 barrier before work beckons.
Caches found at time of posting.....1919.
The team photo below, fr
om left to right.................The Washers (Ron, Diane stayed in the car!), [Monki] (Ashley), Pete3 (Pete, obviously), Blue Nora (Nikki), Team Balders (Kev), yours truly, [MF]Taz (Lee), Graham1875 and AJIGeo (Alan).Alan turned up with the height of fashion, a Tilly hat, so, not to be outdone, I got mine out of the boot of the cachemobile.
The day started at 5.15 am, when Nikki and Pete turned up at my house, and after a short diversion via Balders Manor, 4 of us were on the M6 headed for the rendevouz point at the reservoir.
Graham, as you can see from the photo, was sporting a fine pair of legs, despite there being a distinct chill in the air at 7.20am!
Our team were last to arrive (we stopped for a splash and dash at the services), and soon after we were on our way, heading in a vague southerly direction for our first cache of the day, then heading west on the Witton Weavers Way. We almost got ourselves lost on the first cache, but soon realised our error and we were soon bagging cache No.1 of the day.
After 11 hours we arrived back at the cars, after finding 1 Earthcache, 65 Letterboxes and 18 Traditional caches, a fine effort by all! We managed 3 DNF's in the day, 2 of which we think are still there....one we think has been muggled, but who knows...they're on the Watchlist for the time being to see if one cacher can succeed where 9 failed!
The terrain was tough in places, but worth it for the fine views along the Witton Weavers Way. Even Kev's one-liners didn't deter us from having a good time!
At one point (on a DNF) we were searching through the undergrowth when a couple came from nowhere, and Kev said "I knew we shouldn't have brought the damn lizard" and carried on searching. The couple moved on.....quickly.....
We even managed to see a couple of new born lambs....bless 'em!
After arriving back at the car, a very brief discussion was had about walking around the reservoir to bag another 15...... surprisingly no-one seemed that bothered, probably due to the fact that we had walked 23.1 miles thus far!
So, the 100 caches in a day eluded us all, and I'm not sure when the next opportunity will surface, not long I bet!
84 was a personal best for every one of us, so 9 people went on our way happy....but knackered.
After a good nights sleep, I decided to do a little light caching to stretch the muscles, especially as 8 new caches had been published within 2 miles of home while we were up north. I managed 4 finds and one DNF before the heavens opened and I headed for home.
I have the rest of the week off, so beating my record for caches in one month looks likely, and I might even break through the 2000 barrier before work beckons.
Caches found at time of posting.....1919.
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