August 31 day challenge completed

Well although I didn't manage to blog the whole month, I did manage to find a cache for every day in August.  A great personal challenge which I really enjoyed. And I get to put a cool souvenir on my profile page.

Day nineteen

Not much of an interesting caching day.  I quickly picked up two caches on the way to picking Alice up from work.    Indy's Stroll #5 and 6. 

GC4E8NN and GC4E8Q5

Both were nice quick finds thankfully. I was running late and the area was not too pleasant, so was pleased to be out of there quickly.  Will pick up the other three another day.

Day eighteen

  Andy and I had a lovely day today.  We headed into London to visit the newly re-opened London Dungeon.  As it turned out thousands of others had the same idea too.  When we arrived there was a two hour queue to enter the dungeons.  So we quickly decided it really wasnt worth the wait and will come back another time when it is quieter.  The South Bank was heaving with tourists - I've never seen it so busy, but then I do usually avoid these busy times, I guess.

We got the train at 9.21am and headed over to Royal Victoria where we tested out the Emirates cable car across the River Thames.  It was great fun and we took loads of photos.  Even Andy didn't seem too worried about being so high, not being a lover of heights.

 

 

 A penguin trackable enjoying the view.

Apparently though the cable car is going to be closed down as it is not used very much.  It really is right out of the way though, so that is a great shame.  After we made our way to Greenwich we just about made it to the river to pick up the cruise boat which would take us all the way to the London Eye.  The trip took about 75 minutes but it passed quickly as Andy and I really enjoyed this part of the day, taking in the sights of the city from the river.  Andy enjoyed showing me all the pubs that he has frequented in the past when he used to work in the city.  It was a lovely day, a bit cloudy so not too hot, and the sun shone through the clouds throughout the day.

We had just sat down when this lovely old sailing ship went past.  I didn't have time to get to the other side of the boat we were on to get a better photo.  I thought it looked a nice shot with the Greenwich Maritime Museum as a background. Shame we weren't on the top of the boat for a better photo.

A nice photo of Andy on the river cruise boat

We took all the usual touristy photos of course. It has been several years since either of us have been on the River Thames and today was the first time we had been on the river cruise boat together.  Still getting firsts even after nearly ten years of marriage.

 

Once we accepted we weren't going to go the London Dungeons today we ambled along the South Bank amongst the crowds and picked up a few caches along the way.  We were heading towards a caching event which had been planned for between 2pm and 4pm at low tide on the beach.  I've never been to the beach in London, so that was another quite exciting 'first' to do.  I picked up a cache which spends half its time under water at high tide. It was securely tide to a pipe and was nice and dry inside.  Evidence that it can be done.  It was lovely to spend a bit of time on the beach, chatting to people and picking up three different cache types in one go.  There was also an earthcache on this beach too.   A great many thanks to the chap who arranged the event.

The underwater cache container

My sandy 'log' at the event

The earthcache brought our attention to the flint on the beach

Some of the cachers who attended, the organiser is the chap all in white.

After attending the event Andy and I ambled back along the South Bank towards the London Eye. We stopped along the way to sit in a bar and have a refreshing cider. It was quite idyllic to just sit there snuggled up and watching the world go by.  We arrived just in time to board the next river cruise boat.  Here is our ride about to moor up.

We got the boat all the way back to the Tower of London as we planned to head home via Fenchurch Street for a more straight forward journey home.  Of course there was time for just one more (or three) caches on the way.  A nice little traditional right on the river front outside the tower - awesome!  The log was full so I put a nice new piece of paper in there. Hundreds of people have visited this one, so it was really cool one to get too.  The next was a virtual that has been here since 2002.  Now all 20 of my oldest caches on my profile page are 2002 or 2001, with one of them being from 2000. Just a small personal challenge I had set myself.

Then we tried to do a multi with is right outside Tower Hill underground station. I got all the clues easily enough but just could not find where the cache might be, with the hint not making any sense at what I thought was GZ.  Too many muggles about to search.  I think I must have been in the wrong place.  So after a wander around the area a couple of times we gave up and headed home.  Tired but happy.  A great day out with some quality time with my husband and a few caches as a bonus.

Day seventeen

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 International Geocaching Day is celebrated around the world on the third Saturday of August. This year International Geocaching Day also falls on the 17th day of 31 Days of Geocaching. By earning this souvenir, I have joined tens of thousands of geocachers in a global adventure.

I just picked up a quick cache and dash for today -GC4FTZR, although I believe lots of people made a big deal of the international caching day with all sorts of events.  We had planned to go to London tomorrow, so didn't want too full a day today. This cache was just around the corner from Andy's parents.  As we arrived at GZ there was a wedding party coming out of the church having the photos done.  We were both horrified to notice that the groom was wearing trainers!  Not having a chance to grab the cache with so many people milling about we popped round Andy's parents for a quick cup of tea and a chat.  Afterwards when we went back to the church it was all quiet again. After carefully studying the noticeboard! I finally found the cache tucked away.
 

Day sixteen

Day sixteen




 After physiotherapy I had a bit of spare time so I thought I would pick up a few caches over that way.  I'd solved this one - GC2Q5N3 a few weeks ago, so was glad of the opportunity to pick it up today.


 It was a little bison tube hanging on a bench. 











Close by was a pond which had completely dried up.

 

Later in the afternoon I had to head over to B&Q, which is right the other side of town, to try to find some wallpaper and paint to finish off our newly renovated bathroom. I didn't get anything in the end, except a cute hedgehog which I planned to use to replace a cache of mine.

Near B&Q there is a cache GC3Q6ET which is on the footpath behind all the shops. As I usually come here with Andy I never get to pop over and get this cache, so as I was on my own I decided to go for it today.  The cache has been published for over a year so I was glad to find this one eventually.  It took me ages to find. I was being a real klutz I think.  A newbie had found this the day before, so I was not going to give in. Just as well I was on my own as Andy would not have been pleased at the wait.  It turned out to be a nice sized container, so well worth the search.

Day fifteen

Day fifteen


I'm off work all week, but still the days fly by. After doing all my exercises I left early to pick Alice up from work.  On the way I thought I would do a quick bit of maintenance on a cache of mine that had gone missing and then take the dogs for a walk in the park near where she works.  It took me half an hour to sort out my cache as I couldnt park as close as I had planned.  So that left too little time to walk round the park with the dogs picking up a couple of caches.  Alice thankfully didn't mind coming with us after I had picked her up, so that is what we did. I didn't have to clock watch and worry about keeping her waiting at work, so it was quite a nice little stroll.

The first one - GC4H2PB  was a nice quick find. We headed off to another one but that ended up being a DNF after I had been scratched to pieces amongst the bramble and hawthorn. Not fun at all.   Then just about managed to grab another one GC3E069 before we got back to the car just in time as it started to rain.  The dogs had had a good walk, and I had two more caches found and another souvenir added to my geocaching profile.

Day fourteen

Day fourteen
Today there was a caching event NW of Colchester, so as I was feeling okay I decided to meander up there and pick up a few caches along the way.  Mum and dad are new to caching and they were going to the event which would be there first one.

I picked up a couple of church micros, no photos taken today though.  When I got to the pub where the event was being held, mum and dad had just arrived. So after a toilet break and a quick drink we headed out to grab the four caches which were very close by.  Dad was chuffed to get their first multi cache. I hadn't really expected to be able to get it as you never know how long they are going to take or how difficult the path will become. Dad was on his buggy so we had to make sure he could get through.  Luckily this was a relatively quick multi just picking up a few numbers on the viaduct and then the final was just 50 feet away from the last clue.  After a bit of a search mum and I found it eventually.  One of those flat keyholder caches, so a bit difficult to spot.  We headed over to a traditional hidden high up in a bus shelter. Thankfully mum and dad's caching friend Nathan had just gotten there ahead of us and so was able to reach up easily and grab the cache for us.  Then after picking up the final church micro we headed back to the pub for a much needed cold cider and some dinner.

It was great, as always, to chat to other caching enthusiasts.  Dad proudly showed off his home made brass cryptex which he has made into a trackable.  Everyone who saw it was most impressed.  A great afternoon and evening with a few more caches in the bag.