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

.
 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.

Day thirteen

Day thirteen
Feeling okay after yesterday, so went out for a quick cache and dash in some woods nearby. Nice quick find.

Day twelve

Day twelve

A third of the way through the month and still going strong.  Today I had to go into hospital as a day case for a simple procedure.  So not knowing how I would be feeling afterwards, I grabbed a quick cache on the way to the hospital at 6:45am.  It was a nice little one as well. One I have seen before.  So I could relax for the rest of the day knowing that I had bagged my cache for the day.

Day eleven

Day eleven

This really was a last minute cache and dash in the end. My parents had come round for the day and I was showing them some of the interesting caches along the seafront. They had a great day out but of course I had already found these caches. So in order to get my 11 of 31 caches in August, I had to nip out after dinner for the nearest one.  Unfortunately that is three miles away!  It was a nice one to do though. I have done it before but the previous one had been archived and re-released after the Olympics.

So the Hadleigh ones are called Legacy caches.   GC3QE88 Roundhouse.    I knew exactly where it was hidden which was fortunate as I arrived at the car park at 7.45. The gates were due to close at 8pm.  Eek.  I was in and back and out again in two minutes. How's that for speedy find.

Day ten

Day ten





Today was a really enjoyable one.  Of course being a Saturday helped too.  It started off by a flash mob type of event in Chelmsford town centre.  The 100 Club were setting off to walk the Chelmer Blackwater Navigation (CBN) series which runs along the River Chelmer from Chelmsford to Heybridge Basin. A group of us attended for a smiley (of course) but also to wave the intrepid walkers off on their 14 mile journey.  Three of them were dressed in onesies all in aid of raising money for charity.  They seemed well on the way to their target of £300 when I last looked.  This is some of the group just about to head off.  I think Lee looks a little too comfortable in his bright yellow geek onesie!

 After they had left a group of us went and did a lovely little multi cache around the town centre, picking up clues as we went.  We ended up in the library for the final location and the cache was found amongst the reference books and videos.

As we walked around the town centre we came across this giraffe. Apparently there are loads around Essex, particularly in Colchester. Something to keep the school children entertained.

10th August also marks the 6th anniversary of the Sidetracked series. I've found quite a few of these and thought it would be cool to get a souvenir for this too. So off I went to find a couple of sidetracked caches - one in South Woodham Ferrers and one in Wickford,.  This is the log for the South Woodham Ferrers cache.  It was within inches of some doggie poo. Lovely - not.

Then on to the Wickford one.  This was randomly placed on a green fence, not even near to a strut. Thankfully the infinson team turned up and helped me out with this one. After a quick chat about which caches we were all doing, we carried on to our respective caches.  So that was two sidetracked caches found in one day.  The souvenir was not automatic one like the 31 days in August, but was a html code to be loaded on to your profile page.


I went on to find a tricky little cache. It was really hard to work out how to get to it, instead of the 500 feet to the cache, I must have ended up walking nearly half a mile, back and forth.  Got to GZ in the end and found the cache container straight away. It was a snail but the shell was so fragile it broke away completely and is now unable to hold any of the logs.  A bit disappointing really, hopefully it will be replaced soon.

Days eight and nine

Day eight






 I stopped off on the A13 to pick up another quick cache and dash. A micro on an armco next to a sign. It was cleverly disguised in a grey bottle top so was not too small to find and blended into the surroundings nicely. Found this one after work, by way of a small detour.  Thankfully the two truck drivers and one car driver who were in the layby were all fast asleep so I don't think I was even noticed at all. :)

Day nine
 


And so another day dawns and almost passes.  I wasn't too sure what cache to do for today. So ended up getting this one in the evening, after dinner. 

Snowy's treasure GC3K6VK A nice little walk with the dogs.  This was actually quite a cool cache. It was high up in a tree, but no climbing required. It was attached to some string which was tied to the tree, so all you had to do was pull on the string. Very clever. And a nice sized container too.  I quite liked this one and can't believe that I haven't found it before.
 
It was a lovely evening and the dogs enjoyed the walk, though we did have to walk past a fishing lake with ducks swimming about. I had to keep the dogs on the lead as we walked past this bit, but then it opened up into a field which was surrounded by some trees. A very lovely way to spend an evening. 

Day Seven

Day Seven

Another quick cache and dash. Got this one just before I picked Alice up from work.

GC4DB57 - Up and Over.  It was just a nano on the bottom step of a footbridge.  Nothing glamorous, but it has kept my seven day streak going so far.  Only 24 more days to go. YAY.

Day six

It is day six of the 31 days of caching in August challenge.

I picked up a quick cache and dash after I had picked Alice up from work.  Nothing special, just a small box on a green next to a road in a housing estate.  Good to find another one so quickly though and tick off day 6 of 31.

31 days of caching in August - half way

DAY FIVE

I've managed to find at least one cache every day so far for the 31 days of caching in August challenge. Am getting into the swing of it now, though I was a bit disorganised the first few days.  Not sure how anyone can find a cache every single day for a year, or even longer.   It does require some degree of planning, especially if you start running out of local caches to do. 

5th August - I went and did the Herongate Loop GC4HK4B  - 11 caches plus one extra one which was en route.  A nice little circuit, with some shade under the trees to begin with and then opening out into fields.  It was great to walk both the dogs along with no livestock to worry about. I found all but one of the caches, there were some interesting ones there including one which was a silk leaf tied to a branch.  The one I didn't find was under some Leylandi which I hate searching through anyway. Apparently you had to practically lie down to get to the cache.  It was a long hedge and I really didn't fancy searching through it.  There was also reports of quite a vicious dog on the other side of the hedge which I really didn't want to have to deal with, having both my dogs with me at the time. So I didn't even bother looking for that one.  Unfortunately it started raining half way round so I was soaked through to the skin by the time I finished.  The dogs enjoyed the walk though and slept most of the afternoon. I had a hot cup of tea and a hot bath to warm up a bit.

Golden fields on the route

Day 4 of 31 days of caching in August challenge

DAY4
Sunday 4 August 2013

Today I popped over to the other side of town to pick up two caches alongside a stream.  Short stroll to both and nice quick finds.  They were both really nice caches actually - nice well stocked boxes in very nice camo type bags and a lovely note book to sign my caching name.