The Doings
It started out as a quick cache ‘n’ dash after school to the cache that is hidden in the woods near Ami’s school – Giles Brook Primary School. The whole family was present, with Kev having taken the day off work to fit a new dishwasher, which was done all bar the superficial “making it look nice” bits.
Déjà vu
The plan was to find the cache Linear Trek #3, do some swaps and then return home, possibly via the park. Having researched this cache after the previous failure we had discovered that we were probably searching the wrong side of the path last time. We quickly found Ground Zero again and started to search the opposite side of the path to last time. Et voila! Less than two minutes later the cache was ours. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
We decided not to do any swaps at this one, we had been hoping that we would be able to pick up a Geocoin to leave somewhere else but it was sadly missing from the cache. It was far too easy, so we had to have a go at some more. Can’t be giving up that early.
The Furthest Reaches
So off we set in the general direction of Linear Trek #2, which is much further up the Linear Park at the far end of Tattenhoe Park. This involved a kilometre bike ride from the last stop and some rummaging in the undergrowth. The biking was OK except Ami was being a bit weird. Once we got to the right place it was actually a really easy find. Sign the log, stick it back, and off we go. Well, off we go with Ami choosing to fall off the bike and drop it in the grass every five yards.
At this point we could either go home, or we could try a few more. More sounds a good idea. Ami was persuaded by the possibility of having a drink and Cheddars. Izzy, as ever, seems perfectly happy to sit on the back of Kas’s bike.
We set The End of the Road …(nee The Road) as the next target. This was the closest to where we were at the time. It involves a lot of uphill cycling, but only 10 minutes of it.
The iPhone, as often happens, was struggling a bit with location. We gave the description, logs and hint a good read and thought we knew where we were heading. But when you get there the iPhone is lost because of the trees. So we tried to triangulate from outside on the grass, with Kev pointing iPhone and Kas & Ami in the undergrowth. Just as Kev was about to shout up with a location Kas shouted “Found It” Cool. That could have taken weeks. So we brought the box out onto the grass in an extremely quiet spot and had a nosey through the goodies. Ami got her promised cheddars and drink.
Back Home
So what to do now ? Well, by now we were some distance from home and the route home could be chosen to pass a couple of other caches without adding distance. Westcroft was close, so we headed off in search of the interesting sounding Westcroft Water Monster. The Water Monster itself is some kind of bubbly, holey, thingy that alternately sucks and spouts water. The cache itself is one of those cunning magnetic nano jobbies. The hint is a giveaway, and Kas located it easily. However, some sneaky-ness was required because of the (assumed) muggle family getting in their nearby cars. Quick, grab it and lets crash on the grass and try not to look too out of place. Sign the log, back on the bikes, onwards to home.
Except home requires passing the Troll Hole. Kev remembered the description for this and so we were getting into the right location faster than you could say “where is it?” There were lots of muggles passing up and down the nearby Redway so some stealth and hiding was required, along with whipping out the drinks and Cheddars again to give some apparent excuse for sitting on the grass just here. Sign the log, swap a few jobbies, nick a few trinket toys and off we go home.
Enough
Five successes in one night, any more might be pushing our luck and would risk the girls getting well upset, so we decided to ride home by progressing down to the side of V2 and then along that Redway to home. Sorted, except that crossing the entrance road to Westcroft shopping centre took forever and we ended up getting off and walking across half a road at a time.
All in all it was a good night of exploring. The girls seemed to enjoy the chase, and it is good that this caching lark can be done as a family, or a couple, or individually, or anywhere in between. Time for bath, bed and that kind of stuff.
