Going for It
In August of 2016, I headed off to North Wales for that year’s edition of the UK Mega event, held in the picturesque town of Llangollen. This one wasn’t a solo outing. With me were Daughterus Maximus (and by Happy Hunter HP20 for much of it) for a busy old geocaching weekend. It wasn’t exactly far-flung travel, but it felt like a proper break nonetheless. Just a good few days of caching, catching up with the community, and finding inventive ways to squeeze a car down alarmingly narrow country lanes.
A Place to Stay
We kept things simple on the accommodation front. Rather than booking hotels or camping at the event, we stayed at my brother’s flat near Wrexham. That gave us an easy base of operations, with comfy beds, access to a kettle, and just enough room. Staying away meant we had to drive to the event site, but they’d done the parking fairly well, so it wasn’t a problem.
Getting There
The drive up was uneventful, which is always a win. We spent most of that day caching in and around Whitchurch, ticking off a big series and warming up for the main event. Plenty of pleasant countryside, canals, a few muddy footpaths, and the usual quota of “hidden in a hedge” finds. The only possible issue was getting blocked in at the place I’d parked. Thankfully it was easy to find the owner of the blocking car.
The Caches
Once settled, we spent one full day tackling a series of drive-by puzzle caches along an impressively narrow road—not quite single track, but close enough to make every oncoming vehicle a diplomatic incident. Still, the caches were well placed and gave us that satisfying rhythm of find, hop back in, drivev to the next one, repeat.
On the Saturday afternoon, we made our way into Llangollen itself for the event proper. A scenic spot, a solid turnout, and the usual mix of labs, trades, and conversations with cachers you sort of half-recognise from profile photos.
Extras
To be honest, this was very much a “cache and crash” sort of weekend. No major tourist stops, no detours for fine dining. Just caching, chatting, and navigating with what can only be described as optimistic confidence. It worked out though. Lots of boxes ticked, lots of logs signed. Ami and me went out for a good pizza in Wrexham on the Saturday night.
Individual Posts
Here is the day-by-day account of our long weekend in North Wales for the 2016 UK Mega.
