Sadie's Mob

"World Caching (Ocean)" Geocoin
Sadie's Mob are a prolific geocaching team based in Wales. I caught them red handed at my geocache in the Pembrey dunes. "Nice day for geocaching!" I exclaimed to their bermusement. It was nice to catch up with a name I have seen on many cache logs, but never met. Fortunately, they had dropped of a nice geocoin in my cache, which I duly grabbed.

Afon Rhiw - First muticache hide

...hidden in roots of tree

Afon Rhiw (multicache)


Set my first multicache hide today. I walked out of Berriew looking for a hiding place and eventualy found a place in the bank of the River that runs through the village. The route to the cache is a bit circuitous, so I used a bunch of numerical landmmarks for clues so as to keep people on the right track. The cache has just been found by a fairly new cacher, so at least the co-ords seem to be ok.

Caching Karma

Old Trecastle Road


A-Road Anarchy A470 (1)


A-Road Anarchy A470 (4)


Beeching's Legacy - Forgotten Gate

Devil Duck

The good form in August continued with a scoot up to Powys. Started out with a delightful cache and dash at "Old Trecastle Road", on moorland round the source of Afon Tawe. The cache for some reason had had the container removed, so all the contents were sodden and in a parlous state. Luckily I was carrying a container and a drawstring bag, so I invested some geocaching Karma by using my own equipment to rehabilitate this fairly young cache. The pictures show 1) The cache, after repairs had taken place, 2) The cache location, hidden in a stone wall, and 3) The general terrain. I just love the open moorland in misty, drizzly weather. It's this sort of cache that makes it worthwhile. My round trip was complete by caching-and-dashing two caches by "Uze" on the A470 and one by "Eclectic Penguin", near an old level crossing gate at Dryslwyn which is still in place despite the railway line having been closed by Dr Beeching all those years ago.

Tortoiseshell butterfly

Spotted near Abereiddy.

Chirk (again)

"Sidetracked in Wrexham" (trad. cache)


"Tunnel Vision" (mystery/unknown cache)


"Sidetracked in Chirk" (trad. cache)

Previously this year, I had stayed at Chirk and managed to find a nearby multi-cache, a fairly rare occurence. This time I went one better and found only my second-ever unknown (or mystery) cache, the other one found on another trip to north Wales last year (but in a completely different life). On this occasion, the cache was to be found in a spider-infested canal tunnel at the end of Chirk aquaduct.

The other two were cache and dash micros at railway stations. But all three caches I found on this trip were set by Team Marzipan.

Severn Tunnel Junction & the Blorenges

Geo-jelly geocoin


"Along the junction"

"Down the junction"

After my FTF exploits at the Gwent levels, it was back to regular business, snapping up two quickies set by the prolific "Blorenges" geocaching team, this time near Severn Tunnel Junction station. An attractive "geo-jelly" geocoin from Sweden was duly grabbed. Previously, I have grabbed a "Blorenge Orange", a plastic token in the shape of an orange fruit, which the Blorenges leave as "calling cards" at caches that they have visited.

First to Find!!!!!!!!

"Who's that trip trapping across my bridge?" (Traditional cache)




"Buddha's retreat" travelbug




There is a big deal made in geocaching of being "First to find" a cache. I've never really been into this. Rarely can I make geocaching such a priority that I can speed off to a cache at the drop of a hat. "FTF" also favours those with instant alerts on their new-fangled GPS-phone-space shuttle launchers, so my Geko 101 has no chance.

But, this morning, I was off to Newport and so I had a quick browse to see which caches might be easily accessible from the eastern side of Newport.

I saw that this cache, in the Gwent levels, was new. My hunch was that the foul weather today would put off a lot of other potential FTFers. I was right!


Got to the general area OK after a bit of a circuit in the car. The Gwent levels always seem so eerie - maybe its the electricity pylons, or the proximity to the sea wall, or the grey drizzle...


A lot of animal species are mentioned in the cache description, but not cows! A herd of them in
the far side of the field were staring me out, and I nearly bottled it sltogether!


I found the cache easily (despite the nettles). On my return to the parking spot, the cows started charging, though not in my direction. But the adrenalin was pumping by the time I made it back to safety - whether it was the cows or the FTF I'm not sure...


Cache was found underneath a style to the rigt of the bushes under the pylon.

Newport County 1-4 AFC Wimbledon

Newport County (Amber) and AFC Wimbledon (White) line up for the opening day of the new season in Blue Square south. See match report.

On business in Pembrokeshire

Trackables:




Parissi 2008 Geocoin

Traditional caches:

Y Ty Teletubbies


The Turn Table


Abereiddi Tower


Ponies' Peak


Dogs and Bitches


Tenby Welcome


Last week probably ranks as one of my favourite caching trips, alongside the trips to Leicestershire, Great Orme and Guildford in 2007. The trip gave me a chance to knock off a list of caches around the Pembrokeshire coastline with which I am familiar from vacations.

"Y Ty Teletubbies" celebrates an interesting eco-house near Nolton Haven, was completed a day before the remainder.

"Turn Table" involves a slightly precarious slither into a quarry near Porthgain, a former mining / quarrying port near Fishguard.

"Abereiddi Tower" was a breathtaking cache which involved another scramble onto a prominentory that most likely will become an island in its own right in a few thousand years or so. This is possibly my favourite cache of all time - the views and sheer drops involved skipping several heartbeats.

"Ponies' Peak", near Whitesands Beach, rectified an old grievance from my earliest geocaching days in September 2006. On that occasion, I had spent 20 mins turning over lots of boulders, in the company of the other Dr Tortoiseshell, to no avail. This time, with 2 years' experience behind me, on this occasion I found the cache within a couple of minutes.

"Dogs and Bitches" was an indulgence: easy find, big ammo box, and superb views over towards Ramsey. It also gave me a chance to say hi to Mr Toad at St Justinians.

"Tenby Welcome" was a rather awkward cache and dash (micro) near the main road leading out of Tenby.

PHOTOS

1. With cache @ Abereiddi Tower


















2. "Blue Lagoon", with Abereiddi Tower in background

















3. Cache location in the quarry nr. Porthgain



















4. View over Porthgain Harbour

5. Porthgain Harbour, with old brickworks prominent in photo

Misc in Pembrokeshire (2)

Spotted in Uzmaston, Pembs.

Misc in Pembrokeshire (1)

Spotted this garden in Pembroke Dock. Looks like the ideal place for the Travel Gnome Geocoin!

Back to BAYsics

Hamadryiad Park


Britannia Quay


Off yer Trolley (Cardiff Tesco Extra)


Today saw an opportunity to root for a couple of caches where I had been based in a previous life. I myself had a cache for a few months in Hymadriad Park, where the first of todays caches was hidden. Although this new cache was a micro, I managed to stuff two geocoins into it - a new record? Second up was a cache at Britannia Quay, a stones throw from my old "prison". Finally I took in a well disguised cache on my way out of Cardiff, hidden in the grounds of the Tesco superstore.