Monthly Archives: November 2016

first to find, solo

Billericay & Boo!

Trad: 5 Puzzle: 1
Walked: 6.6 miles

Around lunchtime today I noticed a few new caches had been published in Billericay, so I had something to eat and then headed out on the hunt for FTF. I bombed out on one, but managed to locate Caching Crew #5 by ljgeofinder935, which I discovered had a nice blank log sheet on arrival. Hurrah, FTF No. 49.

FTF No. 49
FTF No. 49

Then I headed over to Colchester to explore Westlands Country Park – not an area I have ever visited before. There is a series of caches locally by Boo!!!, which I thought I would look for, and grab any others which were on my way. One such was The Gates Of Eden by foxscout, which was a bit of a pain to find, but I got there in the end.

The Gates Of Eden
The Gates Of Eden

Some of the other Boo hides were guarded by interesting characters! I spotted this duck…

Quacking Good Cache
Quacking Good Cache

… and also this bunny, which was quite difficult to spot. I persevered and eventually found him tucked in a hole.

Bunny Hops!
Bunny Hops!

The evenings are drawing in now, so the sun had set by the time I had finished my searches. I also ended up with a few DNFs – but I suspect that was more to do with my incompetence rather than the fading light.

Sunset Over Westlands Country Park
Sunset Over Westlands Country Park
with alistair

It’s All Greek To Me

Trad: 5 Puzzle: 1
Walked: 3.5 miles

It was another crisp Autumnal day, but the sun was out so Alistair and I decided to have a walk to find some caches around Gosfield. We settled on the Greek Myths series by itandat, giving us a nice circular route.

Of course, no caching expedition is complete without at Church Micro – so we stopped off for CM370 in Gosfield before starting the main walk.

CM720 Gosfield
CM720 Gosfield

Part of the route took us past some of the holes of the local Golf club. Look out for low-flying balls!

Low Sun On Our Walk
Low Sun On Our Walk

Some of the signs were a bit the worse for wear, but we spotted them all in the end.

Alistair Shows The Way
Alistair Shows The Way

There were loads of lovely colours in the trees, and plenty of golden light to show it off at its best.

Golden Trees
Golden Trees

As the afternoon progressed, our shadows got longer and longer. I’ve never had such long legs!

Longest Legs I've Ever Had
Longest Legs I’ve Ever Had

Even towards the end of the day, there was still pockets of frost on the ground in the shadows. Some places hadn’t seen the sun all day.

Still Some Frost In The Shadows
Still Some Frost In The Shadows

As the last of the daylight was fading, we made the last of our finds – the bonus for the series, and then headed back to the car and home for tea and cake.

Last Light At Last Find
Last Light At Last Find
with alistair

Tinker’s Trail

Trad: 5 Puzzle: 1
Walked: 2.9 miles

It was a cold but sunny day. Alistair and I fancied a short stroll somewhere, and I found the Tinker’s Trail series near Warley which looked like the ideal candidate for a stretch of the legs.

There were some lovely paths on the walk, with Autumn colours in full view.

Is It Down Here?
Is It Down Here?

We met this rather stylish Elephant in one of the boxes – although we left him there as we didn’t have anything to leave in return.

We Met An Elephant!
We Met An Elephant!

Some of the walk was along paths next to rolling countryside. The blue sky and sunshine made it a lovely area to have a potter.

Rolling Countryside
Rolling Countryside

At the top of the hill we found a cache with a little boat inside. I think Captain Alistair wanted to keep it!

Captain Alistair And His Boat
Captain Alistair And His Boat

Across the bridge for a look at the M25, not so much of a car park today but still pretty noisy. Then we headed back into the countryside and towards the car.

M25 Car Park
M25 Car Park

We had remembered to collect info on the way round for the Bonus cache. Presumably this was the eponymous Tinker, who we found waiting for us in the box!

This Must Be Tinker
This Must Be Tinker

All in all a great little circuit which took just over an hour to walk – not that we were hurrying ourselves on such a nice day.

solo

Rettenden Ramble

Trad: 3
Walked: 1.1 miles

There are a few village signs around the Dengie peninsula and beyond which are not part of the national Village Signs series. Not sure why, but this one, newly published at Rettenden, is one of the renegades! The find was quick enough, however.

Rettenden Village Sign
Rettenden Village Sign

Once that was done and dusted, I picked up a couple more in Hullbridge before heading home.

solo

This Way! Or That Way?

Trad: 1 Puzzle: 1
Walked: 5.1 miles

I was in Hoxton for a two-day conference and needed to get a bit of fresh air this afternoon. So I headed north for a short walk to avenge two DNFs at hides from when I was here last year for the same conference.

The first was This Way! A delightful hide next to a lovely bit of sculpture on a street corner.

This Way!
This Way!

Having been This Way, I went That Way, or at least, a short walk away, to find the puzzle cache Art Loving, which had been missing on a previous visit.

Close To Art Loving
Close To Art Loving

It’s always good to have a DNF turned into a smiley, so two today was particularly pleasing, especially as I’m not in this neck of the woods very often.

solo, with alistair

A White Rabbit & A Village Sign

Trad: 2
Walked: 5.2 miles

I was working in Elstree again today, but arrived a bit early and stopped off in Shenley along the way. I managed to find the recently-replaced White Rabbit which had been missing last time I looked for it.

Butterflies In A White Rabbit
Butterflies In A White Rabbit

After work was done, I headed to St. Albans to stay with Alistair’s parents for the night. We went out in Tyttenhanger for a drinkie in the evening, so Alistair and I were able to bag VS#9 Tyttenhange Green on the way back.

solo

Copford Constitutional

Trad: 26 Puzze: 2
Walked: 11.2 miles

I went for a huge walk today, around the footpaths of Copford and Heckfordbridge, covering a little over 11 miles in total. The 28 finds for today mean I’ve done another day qualifying for a Challenge cache too.

Autumn Oak
Autumn Oak

There was a great variety of hides along the route – not one from a specific series, but I connected a few footpaths to make up a bigger circular walk.

The Copford Chicken
The Copford Chicken

Unfortunately, Postman Pat’s puzzle was rather soggy when I arrived at GZ, but I just about managed to sign the book.

A Soggy Log
A Soggy Log

Moley was happily burrowing at the base of a tree, and soon came out to say hello when I called.

Holey Moley!
Holey Moley!

There was a good view across the gravel pit workings just north of Colchester Zoo. There were certain aromas on the air around here too!

Gravel Pit Workings
Gravel Pit Workings

The light was lovely as I walked around the tracks, with some drama in the sky as well.

A Bridge Too Far
A Bridge Too Far

Quite a few of the boxes were a decent size with plenty of swag inside, and I picked up a couple of trackables to move along soon. All in all, a tiring but enjoyable day out.

Swag In a Box
Swag In a Box
with friends

Hello, Sailor!

Trad: 1
Walked: 4.5 miles

Another rainy start to the day meant we stayed indoors until it had cleared up a bit. But the temporary dog needed a walk and once the precipitation had ceased, we all headed out along the seafront for a stroll.

It was rather blustery but pleasant enough. The old Regent cinema is always worth a photo or two – and then I remembered there was a cache next door, Hello, Sailor!

The Old Cinema
The Old Cinema
with friends

Get To The Point

Trad: 1
Walked: 5.3 miles

I’m staying in Deal with a friend for a few days, and once the overnight storms had passed we headed to St. Margaret’s Bay for a nice lunch in the Pines Café. My friend was dog-sitting for another friend, so after our lunch we took the hound for a walk on the cliffs.

We just happened to be passing the hide at the Lighthouse, Get To The Point, so it would have been rude not to stop and find it!

South Foreland Lighthouse
South Foreland Lighthouse
road trip, solo

Birchington Bimble

Trad: 4 Puzzle: 1
Walked: 1.0 mile

I went to stay with a semi-muggle friend in Deal today, but first I had a client meeting in Birchington this afternoon. You never know what the traffic will be like, so I left plenty of time for my journey and arrived with a couple of hours to spare. What to do? Well, find a few caches, of course!

Over The Edge?
Over The Edge?

The chalk cliffs are quite impressive around here, and one or two caches had a great view from their GZ.

Big Cliffs
Big Cliffs

Birchington Bay has a good view across the water to Westgate-on-Sea, too.

View Across The Bay
View Across The Bay

With my caching done, and my meeting finished, I headed to Deal to my overnight destination.