A trip to the great British seaside and showing a muggle how to go geocaching
To mark British summer time a trip to the seaside is always in order, so this weekend we packed up our buckets and spades and headed for Felixstowe on the Suffolk coast.
Team DannyJGB, comprising of my sister and nieces 3ft and 4ft, were holidaying there for the weekend, so we decided to visit them for a day and take the opportunity to do the new lab caches there as well.
It wasn’t the warmest of days, but then it always seems to be blowing a hoolie every time I go to Felixstowe, but it was dry and that’s all we needed for a nice walk.
We decided to do both simultaneously on two phones so that we weren’t walking back and forth too much and it was great that both COs had managed to include different, interesting places like the town centre, pier and the beautiful gardens and its many features along the front.
It was nice to see the stone arch cascade water feature and ponds down the far end…I’d not seen those before as I don’t think I had ever walked that far along the front. It was also nice to see the wicker statues of a family on a day out at the coast, with a kite and pram, all made from wicker. Very clever.
A few days later I was making the most of the sunshine and much warmer weather with a decent length walk between Oakington and Rampton in Cambridgeshire. The loop was part of the Histon to Rampton series and was partly along the bus way and country lanes.
A huge amount of work had gone into the series with so many well thought out custom containers in very good hiding spots. Most blended into their surroundings really well.
Along the verge of the busway and cycleway there were log containers attached to fake grass and sticks inside tree guards and a realistic looking bolt on a gate hinge.
As I neared the end of the busway section, I decided to divert slightly to pick up the ‘A Tree in the Woods’ cache.
It was quite a challenge getting to it, through thick undergrowth in the dense copse of trees and I was slightly eaten alive by biting bugs, but it was a really decent sized container and fun to grab from up in the tree, so I’m glad I did decide to go for it.
Back on the trail more clever hides and customs followed, including a small box within an old piece of farm machinery, and a bottle lid between the slats of a wooden footbridge. There was also a tiny micro in a brick, plus a realistic looking screw/bolt on a bridge.
It was a lovely walk and in in total I managed to get 33 caches. I’m planning to return for the southern loop soon.
My next geocaching adventure was with a muggle friend, who only knew about geocaching due to the many stories I have told her about my adventures. She was at a loose end so I decided to pop over and visit her in the pretty village of Barrington, just outside Cambridge.
After a nice cup of tea and a walk round her lovely garden, we set off on a walk around the village to collect some traditionals I hadn’t picked up previously and also to do the new lab cache series.
It was a lovely walk, but absolutely sweltering hot! Possibly one of the hottest days, we have had so far this year.
We had no trouble finding the Village Hall cache, which was hidden in the usual place in the phone box. And at the war memorial I showed Fiona how you work out the co-ordinates for a multi cache, and again we had no problems finding it at GZ.
It was actually quite a relief to do the lab caches ‘Barrington Queen Elizabeth II Woodland’, as they were pretty much all under the cover of the trees. The shade of the trees away from the hot sun was much appreciated and the woodland was really pretty.
All the info for each was quickly found and I even got to see a new little nature area that Fiona has been working to develop and plant with some other volunteers in the village.
It was also great to have a bonus cache here and we loved it, was a creative container, I do enjoy finding these fun ones.
The final walk this week was with dog Bobby and along another forest trail, this time at Santon Downham. He does like his forest walks!
Again, it had been set fairly recently by local cacher CrazyTom2001uk and followed part of the former Captain Slogg series, which used to run up to Grimes Graves. Called the ‘The Train Track Trail’, it featured seven caches and there were some really good custom containers.
A rock in a pipe had me baffled momentarily, until I decided to be brave and reach in. There was also a really well made log/stick, which blended in well amongst a pile of other logs and sticks; a pinecone, which took me ages to spot; and a well-placed bolt on a sign.
My favourites were the wooden acorn, which was a little larger than a usual acorn, but brilliant nonetheless, and the snail, cleverly placed in a small pile of logs.
I also had time to pick up the remaining unfound mystery cache on Captain Slogg’s Santon Stroll and the Tardis cache in the phone box back in the village.
Next week we are setting sail for the south…. Bon voyage until then.
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