"In your hands, the birth of a new day... " (Limahl)

22 June 2007

Geo-vandals

I was contacted by e-mail yesterday by a geocacher who notified me that my "Under African Skies" travelbug - destined for Africa - had been geo-vandalised.

The cute monkey, happily, is unharmed, and is resting with a geocacher in Caerffili. But he's certainly not going to Africa in a hurry!

However, the official travelbug dog-tag (pictured) has been taken. Apparently this happened to more than one travelbug in the M4 J30 geocache.

Simultaneous bad news has reached my friends at aber-cachers. Two of the "rainbow series" caches in Aberystwyth have been muggled, and it seems a geo-vandal has struck elsewhere in Ceredigion.

I don't get it. I hardly have the time to do geocaching, let alone be a geo-vandal.

In happier news, two of my geocoins have made it to an event cache in Oxfordshire: "Let's go camping in Oxford" Geocachers will be camping out for a weekend and doing the usual "event cache" activities. Who knows - maybe the event will lead to geo-love or even a geo-wedding!

I've given up writing new updates every time one of my trackables moves. You can follow the progress of my various trackables on the sidebar (right).

Cardiff Webcam Geocache


Cardiff Webcam cache

With the 100 cache target approaching, I've been browsing around all the conceivable caches that I could pick up during my daily routine.

Strangely enough, I've been overlooking the nearest cache to my home co-ordinates. This is the Cardiff webcam cache, which is located on top of the Hilton hotel.

Pic 1: Cardiff Hilton, with my GPS in foreground.

The idea is that you get a friend to log on to the Cardiff webcam site, and take a screen grab of you waving at the webcam. But only this morning I realised there is an easy and acceptable "Plan B", namely to take a photo in the general vicinity of the webcam.

I tried linking up with Maalie this morning so he could take a proper screengrab of me at the webcam. Unfortunately, the webcam wasn't running very well on his computer. So, I took the photos whilst ambling into town. By getting this cache, I have added the "Webcam cache" icon to my personal profile of geocaching icons at geocaching.com (already got regular cache, multicache, virtual cache, earthcache, mystery cache and event cache).

Pic. 2: Is this the actual webcam?

Incidentally, these are the first set of photos from my new, all singing, all dancing, Sony Eriksson K800i (3.2 megapixel) camera phone - which now doubles up as my first ever MP3 player (and it also picks up Radio 2 on FM so I'll always remember my TOG roots).

I've downloaded some other of the photos from the new phone, into my earlier posts. See TCA feeding "2nd cousin A", also a panoramic shot of Guildford!

20 June 2007

Map update

This map appears courtesy of Geocache UK, an independent site which tracks geocaching stats for each player in the UK. I don't expect the overall pattern of the map to change much in the near future so now is a good time for a recap.

My most recent geocaching inroads can be seen clearly, with a clutch of finds visible in Berkshire and Surrey. The "virtual cache" in Guildford represents my new eastern record, previously attained (with Maalie) at a cache in Leicester city centre.

The solitary cache up in Cheshire is "Poynton Brook" which I found recently with cousin Jack. This just shades the caches on the Great Orme in north Wales as my most northerly cache find.

My southernmost finds are easy to overlook on this map - a clutch of 3 caches on the Dorset coast (Portland Bill cache being the southern record). Meanwhile, my westerly cache appears to be in the sea. In fact it is the Pilgrim's Retreat cache near St. David's in Pembrokeshire, right on the coastal path.

Three recent caches on the southern boundary of Ceredigion have consolidated that county as a geocaching heartland for me. The reason for this is the volume of reasonably accessable caches placed by family-friendly cachers such as "Twm y Tonnau" and "Red Kite", which I have been able to attain on a "cache and dash" basis by car on my fairly frequent trips to the area.
NB the green represents my cache hides to date, all 3 of them took place in Cardiff.

Future developments? Well, now the 100 landmark is almost complete, I am looking for quality caching rather than quantity of caches. "Quality" includes interesting locations.

Notwithstanding future hols. in Scotland and Ireland, here are my best chances of new locations:

Hopefully a micro cache on Flat Holm Island will be forthcoming soon.

Obviously, it would be nice to do a cache on the Cumbrian coastline with Maalie.

The lack of a cache in Devon or Cornwall needs to be addressed.

I also have eyes for 2 or 3 of the more interesting caches in London. One of these is a Paddington Bear virtual cache (at Paddington Station). I would also like to find one of "Goldpot's" caches in Regents Park. Goldpot, apart from being a geocacher, is a senior groundsman at the park.

A trip to London would also offer the chance of one of the caches on the symbolic Meridian line, and a first cache within the eastern hemisphere.

That's all!

18 June 2007

Roath Park Cache

Cardiff Parks 1. Roath (Multicache)


Red Handed Geocoin


This had been on my hitlist since it first appeared a couple of weeks ago. Found all the clues to the multicache on a pleasant Sunday stroll round Roath Park with K. However I didn't find the cache that evening, so I had to come back again this evening for a second try.

The cache owner, "Scanker", had left a "red handed geocoin" in the cache as a permanent resident. The coin is a variation on the "geocoin thief" coins which make a protest against people who steal geocoins without logging them properly and moving them on for others to share.

96 down - only 4 to go!!!

Michigan Lighthouse geocoin

"Not another Pink Thing!" (Travelbug)


2006 Michigan Lighthouse Geocoin


Early morning visit to the Cardiff Bay Travelbug and Geocoin exchange today - dropped off th etrackables accruing from my Guildford trip.

Picked up a travelbug that was taking up too much space - formerly a squashy pink elephant that has had it's trunk cut off so it now looks like a pig. On less tacky note, the Michigan Lighthouse geocoin is a joy to behold. It's travelled from the USA and wants to visit the lighthouses of Ireland.

14 June 2007

Great Leap Forwards...

Motorway Mayhem M4 J16: Come into the garden Maude (traditional cache)


Motorway Mayhem J7 M3 (Traditional (nano) cache)


Motorway Mayhem M3 J5/4a Fleet Services North (traditional cache)


Motorway Mayhem Fleet Services North (traditional cache)


History Cache: 1497? (virtual cache)


JAG001: A cache with a view (traditional cache)


Jag-in-a-bag (traditional cache)


Sulhamstead Lock (traditional cache)


Garston Lock (multicache)


Write in the log (multicache)


Travelbugs (x4) "Sassy", "Bettrina", "These Boots", "I'm Number one"

"Magic" Geocoin


"Mayma, Russia" Unite for Diabetes travelbug


The last few weeks has raised the question of whether or not I would hit the 100 caches in a year target (i.e. by August 31). After an incredible first few months of 2007, things went a bit quiet stuck in the 70s.

However, I had some long-standing business to conclude in Guildford this week. It would be fair to say that I devoted inordinately more time to my geocaching plan than to the formal business which was the raison d' etre of the trip in the first place.


Pic 1: view of Guildford from the North Downs way. Note the Cathedral.

My formal business was conducted in the university buildings just behind the cathedral.

Taken on new Sony Eriksson K800i.


I left the house at around 5.30am and was keen to get off the mark early. M4 J16 cache was perfect start - a couple of mins off the M4 in the vicinity of a garden centre near Swindon. Dropped a travelbug, and took a travelbug originating from the USA that wishes to see "all of God's creation". I have logged a runcible note for the TB owner which TCA and Maalie may approve of.

I could have done any permutation of 5 caches on the M3 between Winchester and Fleet. My decision was made for me by a calamatous driving error on the outskirts of Winchester. I went all the way round the roundabout and ended up going back up the A34 the same way as I'd come down!

Pic 2: "Keskerdh Kernow" memorial stone with my trusty "Geko 101" - the "Trabi" of GPS systems - also in view

Ended up doing a nano (extremely small) cache which was magnetically fixed onto a roadsign near Basingstoke (M3 J7). It was a bugger to get to but very satisfying to complete.

Next stop shortly afterwards was Fleet Services. Two easy caches - one micro behind advert hoarding, one (including a geocoin) in woodlands beyond the service area. Crossed over the footbridge to try the southbound side, but the micro was not to be found.

In summary - I reached Guildford with 4 caches under my belt, up to 89 altogether. The formal business didn't take very long. After a quick buffet lunch with my friend, I headed up to the ridgeway outside of Guildford which looks out over the city. This is part of the North Downs National Trail - so I was now in "enemy" Sensesless Thing country for the first time in my geocaching life.

Pic.3: Classic "Altoids" tin, which keeps foreign coins as part of a themed cache (Jag in a bag) on the North Downs near Guildford

Three caches were planned here and I got all 3 in little over 45 minutes. The first cache was of most interest to me. It was a "virtual cache" (History cache 1497), a commemorative stone placed in 1997 in honour of the 500th anniversary of the Cornish March - "Keskerdh Kernow" - on London which was repealed by the English army. Incidentally I list Cornish links on my sidebar (on the right and down a bit) under the same title "Keskerdh Kernow".

Found the two other regular caches on the ridge easily enough and made the descent back to the car to start the next phase of the journey. one of these caches, Jag in a bag, included a classic Altoids tin (beloved foodstuff of Gareth Hoskins, IGES) for foreign coin swaps. Anyway, it was back to Fleet Services for another crack at the M3 southbound cache - again no luck. Was starting to attract suspiscious glances so I quit and headed up to Reading.

No luck either at Reading services (M4 Westbound) where a muggle was guarding the lampost where a small metal cache was supposed to be hidden. On, then, to the Kennet and Avon Canal - and what a finish!

Pic. 4: Flower arrangements on a narrowboat on the Kennet and Avon canal (note the sleeping sombrero guy)

Once I'd arrived, there were four caches. Two regular and two "multicache" which depend on aquiring a set of numerical clues. Funnily enough, I missed out on the first (and suppoosedly easiest) regular cache (M4 J12). Again, I was put off by the beady muggle eyes of a canal boatman staring up- at me through the narrowboat window.

Managed to regain momentum with a regular cache at Sulhampstead Lock. Then back to the car park and the canal milage post where the numerical clues for both multicaches were to be found. Had to wade chest-high in nettles for the Garston Lock cache. I grabbed 3 travelbugs here.

Pic. 5: Rescuing travelbugs from the nettle-bound Gaston Lock multicache. NB the wacky pink one hadn't been properly logged for nearly 8 months.

But the real highlight was "Write in the log", the second multicache on the Banks of the Kennet and Avon. I took two wrong turnings. Again, lots of nettles and grass to wade through. But a very creative cache hide - one of the best I've seen - the cache was neatly slotted into a "jigsaw" of log pieces which had to be removed to reveal the cache. Unfortunately contained one of the ugliest travel bugs I've seen today - a pair of plastic legs called "these boots".

Pic. 6: Ingeneous hiding place for the "Write in the log" multicache.
In conclusion - a grand day out which had the air of a "geocaching stag party" about it given that caching is about to slip very rapidly down the list of life's priorities. Only 5 to go before I can activate that 100 finds geo-acheivement coin which has been sitting in my desk drawers since my 50th find...

7 June 2007

Travelbug update

Aberystwyth Race Travelbug


Good news from Ireland. My Aberystwyth race travelbug was taken from Reading to County Cork, thereby doubling its mileage to date. Better still, the TB has been picked up by gumbyatl92, who is taking the bug to Atlanta, Georgia! This will put me in the clear in the TB race, though I belive other bugs in the Aberystwyth race are destined for the states as well. A bonus was this pic. taken by gumbyatl92 (Destination: accumulate mileage).

Pic 1: Tortoiseshell's Aberystwyth race travelbug enjoying a pint in Cork City!


Under African Skies Travelbug

The TB has made a short opening journey, from the Cardiff Bay Travelbug Exchange to a motorway mayhem cache on the M4 just north of Cardiff. (Destination: Africa).


Tortoiseshell's 25th find "Not another Micro!" geocoin

After a lengthy spell down in Devon and Cornwall, my "Not another micro" geocoin has made it back up to a multicache in the Trowbridge area of Wiltshire (Destination: unspecified).


Microskate Travelbug

In other news, my new travelbug "microskate" made it to a cache on the banks of the River Wye in Monmouthshire - before being picked up again this weekend (Destination: various microstates in Europe).
Mid Herts Maestro ...finally made it to Hertfordshire! Sopecifically, to an event cache organised by Regents park gardener, Goldpot. (Destination: stay in Hertfordshire)

London Calling Travelbug
Was taken to an event cache in Dartmoor, but has been picked up by the Luton-based "House of Boo" (Destination London).

4 June 2007

Operation Gwbert

Orienteer (Travelbug)


Canoe find it? (Traditional cache)


Celtic Leet (Traditional cache)


Foel y Mwnt (Traditional Cache)


Saturday saw a journey out to a long-standing engagement in Gwbert, on the south-westerly tip of Ceredigion. On my way, I was able to take a further step towards the landmark of 100 cache finds. All of the caches I had planned for the day were hidden by Twm y Tonnau, a prolific geocacher from west Wales.

All of the caches were superbly hidden. Canoe Find it? was a handy cache only a few minutes walk from the centre of Llandysul - will be able to pick up geocoins here in future. Nearly got muggled as I replaced the cache.

Next up was "Celtic Leet". I wasn't really planning on this but parking etc. was very handy, with a nice cafe for lunch. So made the delightful walk down the nature trail that runs alongside the Teifi Valley Railway. I was able to photograph the steam train as it came the other way. Left my Quebec geocoin.

Pic 1: Teifi Valley Railway

Foel y Mwnt is situated on Mwnt, a triangular rock which is a notable landmark. Again, an ingenious hide in the side of the hill overlooking the sea. Picked up "Orienteer" travelbug, which is attached to a compass.

The only downside was the multicache in Newcastle Emlyn. Found the clues OK in town, but failed to locate the final cache. Very frustrating. However, Twm y Tonnau has contacted me with info. that should help me find it next time I'm out in those parts...

Scavenging: 1

5 x Travelbugs


Sequoia National Park 2007 Geocoin


Quebec Geocoin


Alabama Geocoin



A good first weeks' pickings was had from the Cardiff Bay travelbug & geocoin exchange. I missed out on Blackpool Tower and Michigan geocoins but managed to get my hands on the above.


Traffic to the cache has perhaps not been as busy as I'd anticipated, but no doubt people will come in due course. I know fro "Tiger Bay Toddle" and "Goldfinger revisited" that Cardiff Bay does attract regular cachers from outside the Cardiff area.