DIY Micro Cache

Hi,

Just thought I'd share this video made by Sonny from Podcacher, as it shows you a cool way in which to make a micro cache.

Watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GTEu2qM8x4

Enjoy!

Griff Grof

My new series is out there!

Hello,

Just to let you know that my new series is out, and will be sent for publication ASAP.

More info soon, but for now, I leave you with some photos from the walk...

Griff Grof

Come along to... CacheWalker Butchers Bash 2012

Hi,

Just to tell you a bit about our upcoming CacheWalker event: CacheWalker Butchers Bash 2012

The all new CacheWalker event is live, this year hitting The Butchers Arms, Mickleton on 19th February for what is promised to be a great days caching!

CacheWalker launched back in 2007, and adds a unique twist to events - the original 2007 Twixmas Bash, was the first event of it's kind... An early meet for a group walk finding new caches, and then back to the pub for the main event - many events have followed it's format, but, this time, we are offering another unique twist...

With CacheWalker hitting 5 years in September, I thought it was time for a little change, so I will be filming the event and producing a documentary all about it, with exclusive DVD's available to attendees! There will be plenty of fun at the pub (Starting at 13:00) including my own quiz  and some more surprises. 

Come even earlier, at 08:30, for the depart of the CacheWalker group walk - this time a trail of 7 miles, consisting of around 20 all new caches, with stunning views, in and around Mickleton. 

We hope to make this the BIGGEST CacheWalker event ever, meaning we must get more than 42 attendees - will you come along, for what is sure to be a great event... Are you up to race the group for those FTF's? Are you a budding hollywood star? Are you desperate to have some geo-chat in a pub? If any of them is "yes", then come along, and visit CacheWalker Butchers Bash 2012!

Have you found Westcote Wander yet?

This is just a post to say... well... THANK YOU for all your lovely comments regarding my latest series "Westcote Wander"

I am chuffed at the amount of favorite points the caches in the series have received, and every word of every log puts a smile on my face - makes me want to set another one... Which I'm planning.... which will make Westcote Wander look silly (I hope - maybe you'll prefer Westcote Wander)

I aim for my caches to be family friendly, and exciting for a whole day out - thus why the series includes a variety of containers to keep you guessing. 

So, have you found it yet? If not, maybe this snap from the walk will convince you:

And that's only the lowest point of the walk!

You will pass through stunning Cotswold countryside on your walk, through varied terrain, with a stunning view from #2, over the rolling hills of the Area of Outstanding natural beauty!

So, what are you waiting for? Get out there, and bag 22 caches  and a lovely 5 mile stroll!

GG

Watch out for my upcoming series, too!

This is my new blog - now complete

I hope you enjoyed reading the posts, for archive.

I hope you like the new look added to the blog!

Looking back: My posts from my old blog... (Oldest to newest)

WEDNESDAY, 2 JUNE 2010

Kildane Bottom Trail (80 Finds last week)

Hi,

Wacky Races, Glamour Princess and I are currently creating a brand new geocaching trail in our area! There are already 11 active caches on the trail, with new ones being added reguarly.

Keep your eye out for 'Kildane Bottom'.

Plus on 26th May in less than 2 months Griff Grof has reached 80 finds, almost at 100!

SATURDAY, 12 JUNE 2010

Delay, and Big one soon!

Hi,

Our Bonus and multi caches are not yet availble to find, due to reviewing problems. Therefore we are just going to resubmit them both as tradttionals- sorry.

Plus I am planning on hiding a 1 galon container in the next few days. Keep your eye out for the whole Kildane trail, mainly these three new caches!

GG

MONDAY, 14 JUNE 2010

Sidetracked Moreton in Marsh

'' FOUND IT ''.

Finally! WE were on our way to Moreton sweet shop, when I decided to give it another go! We searched long and hard, and almost gave up but MuddyM spotted it just in time! Plus Moving home is now published and ready to find!

SATURDAY, 19 JUNE 2010

No. 99

Hi,

Wacky races and I have just come back from caching, and I'm proud to say I've now found 99, with my 100th to be found tommorow!

GG

new caches!

hi,

as you may have noticed I don't post very much these days, but I'll try to over the next few months.
I placed a new cache (a walk in the woods) on sunday, and well done to Foraging 5 on the FTF!!! keep your eye out too, there will be more in the Cotswold area!

GG

WEDNESDAY, 27 OCTOBER 2010

7 months (27/10/10)

hi,

a big day for me! 7 months since my first cache! and what a 7 months it has been! I have discovered new places, met new people, and best of all, I found the great outdoors!
---
Stat Stuff: In 7 months I have found 267 caches, and hidden 13 of my own!

---

If it wasn't for ''Wacky races'' I would have never found out about geocaching, so heres a massive THANK YOU! And, also thank you to all who have made it such fun, and have helped me, and who have placed all the great caches I have found! I hope that by March 27th (my 1st anniversary) I have got even more out of the great sport that is... Geocaching.

GG.

New caches

hi,

I am finally getting serious about hiding - there will be some new caches VERYsoon!

I have already hidden two, which will be sent for publication soon!...

Also, you may have noticed my BRAND NEW cache ''TV Times'' ...


And there will be more! I am currently planning a new series of about 10 caches, which will be hidden during November!

So, watch this space - will you be FTF on one of them?

SATURDAY, 30 OCTOBER 2010

Go Find TV Times!

hi,

check out my new cache : TV Times!

Well done to Walk Tall on the FTF, but remember theres still a STF and a TTF up for grabs!

GG.

SUNDAY, 31 OCTOBER 2010

Talk Talk - NEW CACHE!!!

hi,

if you're not trick or treating tonight, why not find my brand new cache (Talk talk)

It's a puzzle, so you'll need to do homework before going out - that FTF is up for grabs!

Visit Talk Talk here:
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=76bbc170-0632-4e70-8a0b-3235df904dfd

Good luck, and happy caching

GG.

THURSDAY, 4 NOVEMBER 2010

Walk Tall, FTF! (+big news soon)

hi,

just to say a big well done to walk tall on the FTF, Talk Talk!

As it say's in the title: BIG NEWS!!! All will be revealed soon! Watch this space,

GG.

SUNDAY, 14 NOVEMBER 2010

300 finds, new geofrenzey and a whole day of caching!

hi,

yesterady was a all- caching day! I set off to finish the Abberley caches (the 10 that I had left to find), and afterwards we went to do another series of 13 caches, #6 being my 300th find!

This meant that I had found 23 in one day, beating my last geofrenzy of 18 (set on may 5th 2010)

I was a fantastic day, a great caching mission to get from 284 to at least 300 in one day, which I did, leaving me on 307 finds!

Logs for caches will follow shortly,

Griff Grof.

MONDAY, 15 NOVEMBER 2010

earthcache bronze level!

hi,

I have just reached bronze on earthcaches! Now i'll be working towards silver! Take a look at what they gave me:

I am a proud

WEDNESDAY, 17 NOVEMBER 2010 New hide- Earthcache hi, have just sent an earthcache of my own for publication - this will help me get to silver! more (phsical) caches to come! GG MONDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2010 Lenches! hi, yesterday i did the lenches series with Wacky races! It was an 11 mile walk, with 26 caches. We had no DNF's so therefore a new greofrenzy for both of us! GG. TUESDAY, 23 NOVEMBER 2010 Goodbye, Kildane Bottom! hi, you may have noticed that our Kildane Bottom series was archived by reviewers on Friday [:(] Picked up the caches with Wacky races on Sunday, shame to see them go. Just like to thank all who did the series, and congratulate all the cachers who got FTF on the caches. There is a small chance that the series will be re-hidden, but we'll see. watch this space? GG. SUNDAY, 28 NOVEMBER 2010 'Littlecombe Ring' and 'Pertwood Bonanza' Hi, So, today was a day of caching in the snow! Woke up bright and early to do these two series (47 in total) in Wiltshire, 58.8 miles away from home! We did get a few DNF's but it was a lovely walk! (And a new county+Geofrenzy) Plus we met some cachers on the way, and one of them happend to be doing their 1000th - which we helped them find! SUNDAY, 5 DECEMBER 2010 It's Back! - Kildanes hi, After 6 months of my Kildane Bottom series being enjoyed by many cachers, on a dark, cold winter's night I checked my e mails - the series was archived... Wacky races and I had no choice but to pick up the series and it was such a shame to see it go. We tried to get permission for the series - but we only got a no.  I checked my mail again - only 2/13 were on the land.  I worked hard with reviewer Andalusite, and with a lot of work behind the scenes she told me that I could re-place the series! The series was ready to be re hidden - but the snow was in our way! Like before, I never gave up and so yesterday the series was once again put out (in the snow) So, it's back! better than ever before! We ditched the name Kildane Bottom (too long) and gave it a new fresh name - Kildanes. Set on a similar route , but with a few changes at No. 5 you can now do Hinchwick Valley 1 on the way.  WR and I both hope that you enjoy the new walk, and we hope that this time they live for years and years to come! Go get those FTF's! GG. THURSDAY, 9 DECEMBER 2010 New series soon (And a 'Golden' Cache!) Hi, Keep your eyes opened, I'm currently planning a new series on a 4-5 mile walk, which will hopefully be out by the new year! Plus - Wacky races and myself have added another cache to the new Kildanes series! Although not strictly part of the Kildane walk, it can be done on the way, but to find the cache you must first work out the coordinates.... WR came up with the puzzle - Hope you like it (well done Walk Tall on FTF) The cache is named 'Golden Balls' - and your promised a golden find! GG. TUESDAY, 14 DECEMBER 2010 A Webcam, Virtual, 'Temple Bottom', X-mas event and 400 finds!!! WOW WOW WOW - what a Sunday! We woke up super early and drove 36 miles to Avebury (Wiltshire) for what was promised to be the best day of caching ever! *** There were several reasons of which we were attracted to come caching in this area - and one of them was the fact that there was a webcam in the middle of the stone circles! We made it the first find of the day, but the listing said webcam was down, so it was just a photo from our camera... After a lot of photo's we went inside the tourist shop, and they told us that the camera was still down (good to double check) *** After my first webcam, we went to a nearby virtual, and were very suprised on the answer to the question on the listing!!! *** After two quick, fun caches it was time to get to buisness - Temple Bottom (A series of 36 caches on a 8 mile round walk) two of them were disabled, so it was 34 for us with 1 DNF :( It was a fab walk, though most of the paths were not marked, and so we got lost at one point :O After 4 hours of walking the series it was time to do my [:D] 400th [:D] Next it was all on to get to Wacky races 400th (WR joined me on the walk, and we had a joint 400th day) After his 400th the day light was fast fading, and so we had to miss out the last 2 caches :( *** After a bite in the car, we were off to Swindon for the ''Soirees Christmas Special'' !!! Had a bril time, and won the raffel + spot the difference competition :) Plus - Father Christmas himself made an appearence! An early christmas present... So... a pretty successful day of caching I think! Found 30-something caches, went a a great walk, found 4 cache types in a day, and topped it off with a event! Next weekend's caching will be hard to top this weekends! GG. TUESDAY, 28 DECEMBER 2010 Cache 'n' Dashing near Burford Hi, With all the snow ect I had not been caching for many days :( So, Wacky races and I decided to do a little bit of cache 'n' dashing.... We set off near Burford to finish off 'Judy's Circular Drive' It's a series of 8 caches, and we did 2 of them on July 10th and got a FTF and STF. We got a DNF on #6 and I forgot to put #3 on my GPS :( All in all a good set of caches, and hopefully we'll get out to do some proper walking soon. GG. FRIDAY, 31 DECEMBER 2010 Etchilhampton Hill - Last in 2010! Hi, Woke up at the crack of dawn to do stanthews ''Etchilhampton Hill '' series ( 5 miles, 29 caches), and we challenged ourselves to do it before luch, as we had family coming at 1:00 pm. I went with Wacky races, and we had 100% on the series - No DNF's :) It was a nice walk, with lovely views of 'the white horses' on the hills. Variation on the terrain, and the caches, so it was a pretty got morning! Not only was it the first time we could do a walk in weeks due to snow, but #29 (last in series) was ofcourse my last geocache of 2010. So all in all a good year of caching. Since I started on March 27th, I have found 450 caches, and hidden 21 of my own. I have made new friends, and found out that some of my friends already do it! On with 2011.... GG TUESDAY, 4 JANUARY 2011 Cachewalker Twinew Bash 2011 Hi, On Sunday I set out with Wacky races to attend my first Cachwalker event! Arrived at 09:33, and as soon as all the cachers were together in the car park, we set off for the Cachwalker group walk ( A Wander Around Long Compton - 4 miles with 15 caches) WR and I were behind JimJinks at first, had a race with him on FTF for #1, but he got there first. A nice stroll to #2, decided to run over the ridge and furrow for the FTF, but still no luck. I then joined Lucy and James (From the Lydford Locators) as a front runner, but didn't get any FTF until #8, where the group stopped to admire the view (and have a bit of chocolates) Got a couple more FTF's (#9 and #11) before standing back and letting Grizzly Pair claim FTF on their 5000th find. Lovely downhill amble from that one, with stunning views over Barton, and the Comptons (little and long) and I got another 2 FTF's on #13 and #14. Decided 5 FTF's was enough for one day, and so I re-joined the croud for the muddy walk to the Bonus, which got FTFed by JimJinks. After the superb walk (and a change of footwear) it was into the pub for the main event. had a great sunday roast, and I really enjoyed putting more faces to names. It was really nice to hear praise for the Kildanes series from Finstall :) Also had fun browing through wrighty's coin collection, and looking at photo's from cameras in his own caches. So, all in all, it was a really, really good event. One of the best - if not the BEST event i've been to (so far) (Please see my geocaching.com gallery for photos throughout the day) TUESDAY, 11 JANUARY 2011 Griff Grof's upcoming caches.... hello, As you know, I have been planning a series of about 20 caches, but it's a little bit delayed so they probally won't be out until later this year... Please keep checking though , because they may be ready to find sooner than you expected! I'm also planning another series, which will probally be out first, with Wacky races. It's a different type of series too! I'm not going to give too much away, but lets just say you won't need your walking boots... GG. SATURDAY, 22 JANUARY 2011 'A Series For Your Pleasure' and 'Starman' - my 500th Hi, Sorry for delay in posting, heres a look at 15th and 16th of January... The weekend started off with another trip to Wiltshire, to complete stanthews 'Series for Your Pleasure' (4 miles, 26 caches) It was a very windy day, so it added a bit more 'fun' the walk ;) Completed the walk in just under 2 hours, and there were some lovely views towards the end! Afterwards, I decided to give 'The Biggest Cache in Wiltshire (so far....)' A go, but that was cancelled as soon as the Northings couldn't be found it 'Get Lucky'. So, it was back home in the dark at 499, and 500 ready to be found..... I woke up to a sunny Sunday morning, and I just knew today was going to be the day! We had to go to Stratford Upon Avon to do some shopping (:[), and on the journey back, I somehow managed to persuade my dad to take me to Starman. I had wanted Starman to be my 500th for a while, after reading and hearing so much nice things about it. My log has the full details, but to sum it up: Brilliant! There were lovely views, and odd carvings, and I finally had the golden 500th in my hands! On with the next 500! GG MONDAY, 14 MARCH 2011 Back caching, and ''Corton Ring'' Hello (for the first time in 43 days) If you have noticed, I have not been caching for 43 days! Yes, I know it was a long time - and it makes me frown even thinking about what it had done to my previously good statistics. It was because of family issues, and now that my friend ('Wacky races') is in-active, it meant I couldn't even go with him :( What made me most upset, is that I had set myself a target to get to at least 600 finds by 27th March (my 1st anniversary of caching) but I guess that looks pretty unlikely now! But - after months of waiting, I could finally resume my caching weekends! YAY! Looked all over the place to find a larger loop of caches (to start bringing my stats back up), and we struck gold by finding the ''Corton Ring'' in the West Wiltshire Downs. Woke up at 6:00 am, and at 7:00, we made a 60 mile journey down south to the charming village of Corton! And, within moments I found my first cache in those 43 days - a nano (oh well) It was a 12 mile walk, so we decided to hurry up and find the 44 (yes, 44) caches on the loop - but things didn't look good as we got a DNF on #4! After a while, we were looking for another cache, when we saw someone coming our way - he too had a GPS... It was none other, than the 'CornishWalker', who ended up finding the well hidden cache. From that point on, 'CornishWalker' joined us, and together we took wrong paths, found caches, and had a good talk. After a while, I remembered that the owner of the series had said that 4 of the loop were missing - and sure enough, they were :( And it could have been another DNF for us, at #31! We spent 27 mins looking for it, (but I gave up at around 24 mins) However, 'CornishWalker' kept looking, and found the tucked away box - one of those caches that could have been an easy find - but it wasn't! We also picked up a couple more ''Church Micros'' after that one, and at #33 it was time to say goodbye to 'CornishWalker' (as he started at #34) Once we left him, we were met by yet another DNF :<, before the last cache was in our hands! But at that last cache, we noticed something odd - on the gate next to it were the words ' Corton Series step B' It puzzled us, because there was no 'step b' in the series, as there was no bonus - maybe there was but it's now archived? To sum up, a great series, with some fantastic views. A good variation in caches, the only downside was the fact that some of the logs (and caches) were damp/wet. So, great to be caching again, and watch this space, because 'Griff Grof' is back! (logs for caches to follow soon on GC.com) GG MONDAY, 21 MARCH 2011 Burbage Outer Ring Hi, Once again yesterday was another dose of 'caching galore' :) We went 44 miles from home, to complete TedsTeam's ''Burbage Outer Ring'' or ''BOR'' for short. It was a 10 mile walk, taking in up to 39 caches - however my dad doesn't like puzzles, and there were two, so that took our cache limit to 37. When we started the walk we wern't too impressed - it was all on paths next to a busy A road. However, once we arived at #10, we realised we spoke too soon. We were in a lovely, peaceful spot, next to the K&A canal. For a while after that, the walk did infact continue along the K&A canal - offering more lovely cache spots. Afterwards, there was a lovely stroll through fields and under trees! And before too long we were back at the car. It just go's to show ''don't judge a book by it's cover'', because after #10 the walk was stunning - and some caches will be getting some of my favorite points! Thank you TedsTeam! The series is a must do, and also no DNF's!!! Yay!!! In other news, you may have noticed that I have still not logged my 40 caches from last week AND my 37 from this. So, in total thats a massive 77 caches to log! It's going to take a while (and will hopefully be done by Friday) but just to update I am on 580, not 503. GG. SATURDAY, 27 MARCH 2011 1 year Caching Hi, Yay, today is one year since my first find! I'm about to leave to have a go at ''UK Mega Series 2'', 60 caches, to celebrate. I will post all about it soon, and tell you a little more about my 1st caching anniversary! Griff Grof. UK Mega Series 2 (and 1 year) Hi, Sorry about delays in posting this, but heres the post that should have come out on my cacheaversary (27th March) Uk Mega Series 2 - 15 miles, 56 caches  Woke up at 6:02 am, and we quickly got ready to travel 70 miles south east, to Basingstoke. However - we thought it was 6:02, but it was infact it was 7:02 - THE CLOCKS HAD GONE FOWARD! Unfortunally, we didn't notice this for a while, as all the clocks in the house still showed the old time. So, instead of leaving at 7:50, we left at 8:50! Quite late, you might say for a 15 mile walk far from home! As is was my caching anniversary, we decided to do something different - cycle the series! It was the second time EVER for me to cache on bike - we had done it once before in Spain, with my uncle (el fantasma) So, back to the trip - with the bikes strapped up, and GPS ready, we were off to Basingstoke. After about 2 and a half hours, we arrived a little later than expected at 11:30! The ride was easy at first, but then we had to lift the bikes over stiles at the end of every field! Another bad thing, was that the camera had no battery left! A huge letdown, as we were in Hampshire's finest country side, with stunning views! Oh well, it was a fantastic ride, and lot's of the caches were easy finds! Though, I think most of them win the award of ''wettest cache found by Griff Grof''!!! At the 56th and final cache, we stopped in the pub (which happend to be oppisite the cache) and I had a lovely, cool lemonade! The perfect way to end a perfect year of caching! Also, the series has brought up a lot of my statistics! I now have a new record for most in one day ( 54) and a new record for most in one month (132) 1 years caching! YAY!  So, thats it! One year of caching has gone by, and what a year it's been! I've seen so many new places, met so many new people, and found so many caches! In my first year, I can reveal that Griff Grof has found... 637 caches! And thats over 92 caching days (meaning 92/365 days I've been out caching) So, thank you to everyone who has been so kind to me over the past year, making me feel welcome to my new hobby! Thank you to all the cache hiders, Wrighty for placing my favorite cache (Starman) and to Delta68 for placing my favorite series (Abberley Advent[ure] On with the next 365 days! Griff Grof 600 Finds!!! Hi, woops forgot to say that ''UK Mega Series 2 #18'' was my 600th find! Also, logs for the series will follow! GG. THURSDAY, 31 MARCH 2011 Cache update! Hi, As you know, I'm planning two new series', but unfortunally the series I was planning with Wacky races is on hold, as he's inactive at the moment. And, theres my other series. I can reaveal that i'm very close to setting it - it will be out and published by 1st May! It's about 4 miles, and will consist of 20 caches. GG WEDNESDAY, 20 APRIL 2011 Kington Lane Loop (and others) Hi, Yesterday I completed another series - ''Kington Lane Loop''! It was a great walk, with a mix of terrain and plenty of wildlife to be seen - I saw 2 deers, 5 rabbits and many birds! It was great! The series had 16 caches, and we only got 1 DNF meaning we found 15. Recently, we have also been ''clearing'' caches in our local area... We have found more fantastic caches by Wrighty, and have been doing some of Foraging 5's new series ''Fiendish Few'' - all very clever hides! Also - today I will putting out something new in the area... Griff Grof FRIDAY, 22 APRIL 2011 My new series is out there! Hi, My series is FINALLY out, after months of planning. The caches are being reviewed and will be ready to find by next week. Heres a snap from part of the stunning walk SATURDAY, 23 APRIL 2011 Westcote Wander Hi, Well, after months of planning my new series is finally out! The series has 20 caches, and 2 more en-route giving a total of 22 caches on the walk... The walk is around 4.5 miles long in total, and offers stunning views and a mix of cache containers. It took a really long time to prepare and plan the correct route, and series.Hope you can go out and complete it! Griff Grof. SATURDAY, 7 MAY 2011 Caching Around the Rissingtons Hey, It was a grey day today, but I hadn't been caching for 2 weeks, so I just had to go ;) Decided it was far to gloomy for a proper, so it was a quick wander around the Rissingtons instead! I had done 1 of the caches (There is 1 cache in each of the Rissingtons) for my 100th find, so I had 3 left to do. First, it was into Upper Rissington - I found the place a little spooky :0 Found the cache quickly, next to a really spooky building (it was fenced off though :D) A nice sized cache, biggest in the series. Then, I was off to Great Rissington, and the cache took a while to find as the coords were out, but the hint helped me. Unlike the first one, this was in a much "better" village, which was really Cotswold! Due to this, there were plenty of muggled at GZ. Finally, we were going to Wyck Rissinton. A great drive over there, with stunning views over Bourton on the Water. Parked the car, and I walked across the very pretty Cotswold village, a place I had never been before (Thank you Geocaching) An easy find at GZ, and a nice end to the series! GG. SATURDAY, 30 JULY 2011 A long break, soon to be caching (at last) Hi, Yes - I haven't been caching since 7th May :( It was a horrible few months, and I've really missed the sport. This was due to some personal issues: First of all we had to move house - a crazy month moving everything out and so I had no one to take me. Then, once settled into my new home, we found out we had to wait 2 more months for internet - so no geocaching at that point either. well, we still don't have internet and i'm writing this post from my dads office. Hopefully, I can come here to put caches on my GPS for the summer after the Mega, which I WILL be attending tommorow as a "re-launch" of Griff Grof. I will post all the news from the mega as soon as I'm back here. Hope to see you there - I will be wearing a sticker with "Griff Grof" on it ;) GG SUNDAY, 31 JULY 2011 Mega Wales 2011 Hi, Well what a great day it was at Mega Wales 2011 today! Check it ALL out on my official log - it's got photos and a brief summary of the day! Visit it here - www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=9eedf115-e89f-41dd-9fb8-f052ee150356 We also found a cache in Swansea, which was in a lovely spot by the beach. A great day, hope you all managed to come, if not there's always next year ;) GG WEDNESDAY, 10 AUGUST 2011 MDT Trail, with flyhiy Hi, Had a great days geocaching on 8th August, when we decided to return to Wiltshire, where we had enjoyed the Temple Bottom series I decided to go with another caching friend - flyhiy. He was very excited, and so we set off at 8:00am and arrived at 9:00 for a 9:16 start. The walk was brilliant, with stunning views and landscapes throughout. A good variation of hides, and they were spread out well on the 7.5 mile (12km) walk. I would highly advise for all who can to complete the series to do so. My last days Geocaching until my holiday to Spain, and when I return, my challenge to complete drsolly's "Chiltern Hundred"! Watch this space... GG FRIDAY, 30 DECEMBER 2011 Return to caching, and 2011 in review Hello, I am back, and would like to point out that I haven't posted due to password issues, but now all is sorted and I can keep you all up to date. After 119 days without a find, who wouldn't want to get back into caching - for the 3 months of in-activity personal life took over, and although I did always have a spare Sunday, the fact of a "lift" to caches was still unacomplishable . I decided, while still in a festive spirit, to have a go at sumadartson's ABFTN Christmas series, which was a superb walk, and jaw dropping hides, no.2 was just amazing, remember to read my logs for more. I was chuffed to come home to find that my fellow cache walkers had posted an entry welcoming me back to caching, after such a long time. Thank you for all your kind thoughts, and I'm not letting 2011 end without some last caches, to be attempted on New Years Eve - more on that when I can. 2011 in review Now it's time to go back, and look at the year as a whole. From my 2011 cache of the year "starman" right to a festive treat, how did my first full year of caching sum up overall? The year kicked off with some wrighty caches, as every year should, and I felt sure I would be at that golden 1000 by December at latest... The second day of the year, already saw a superb cache walker event and 15 caches by walk tall, it seemed as we were getting off to a superb start. Less than a month, and 50 caches later, I found my 500th, which turned out to be my cache of the year, but shortly after Febuary saw a month long drought. I was determined to still have that goal of 1000, so for my first anniversary of caching on 27th march we found all of the UK MEGA SERIES 2, beating my most in one day, and The month as a whole beat my most in one month. I saw the goal in mind once more. April, May and June saw a few more trails, but I mainly concentrated on planning and setting my new series, Westcote Wander, which was successfully published, and enjoyed by many cachers. I was so surprised about the amount of favourite points that rushed in, suppressing some outstanding caches, such as Starman, when they clearly aren't quite as good - none of my caches have ever been close to the standard of wrighty's! July, and August saw another caching drought, but it was quickly patched up with an excellent Wiltshire trail with flyhiy. I went with flyhiy after another drastic thing occurred in the year - wacky races, my friend who I cached with for my first year, moved to the south of Spain. On the trail, I found my 700th cache, and being more than halfway through the year, my goal of 1000 caches seemed a long way now. September, basically one cache on the first day, and so I began my nearly 3 month drought... Every week I would dream of finding one single cache - and after 2 months I finally accepted that 1000 just wasn't within reality. It made me sad, remembering when that time last year wacky races and I had been saying "next year we will have found 1000" . It was like my only goal for the year had slipped from my hands, and I found myself missing caching more than ever. On top of all this, my dad twisted his back, and it still is as I write, meaning that I would have to wait another month at least. That month was December, and I made my return with ABFTN Christmas. I selected my cache of the year, which as I've said before was wrighty's Starman. And now, I wait and plan and Prepare for my final caching day of what has been a mixed year. 2011 certainly wasn't a big year for numbers - although I started well, and had a whole year rather than 7 months, I found 135 caches less than last years 450. I certainly didn't get to 1000, or hide my second planned series for the year.... But I did achieve something far better than that. I found the true joy of caching, hidden gems that many people don't visit, because it isn't a big number series, or it is only one cache - the Chiltern Hundred has tons of caches, but compare that to Starman... Starman is a cache, the Chiltern Hundred is an attraction, like a fairground. It may have more number wise - but it has less quality wise. More people visit the fairground, than the treasure trove- 2011 has seen some amazing caches, the move of a caching friend, the very worst caching can get, but it surely has ended on a high! What does 2012 hold? Will I get to 1000? Will I hide more caches? Only time will tell. Happ new year, check back for my review on tommorows series, yet to be decided! Griff Grof SATURDAY, 31 DECEMBER 2011 Stan's Sausage Series Bonjour! The end of 2011 is nigh, so I knew I had to get a little bit more caches in while I can! We ended up choosing "Stan's Sausage Series" by stanthews, and so we bid farewell to the Cotswolds, and had a long drive through Avebury, and further into Wiltshire. The series was ok, all the cache hides were similar, but there were some nice views... however, always read the cache page: we completely ignored how the CO had stated that the walk was quite muddy. We literally stomped for 5 hours, through what seemed like a bog, and a mud bath at the same time. The mud was so slippery, I fell over and was plastered in mud for the entire series. My dad says that the soils are like this due to poor draining conditions, and the fact that this part of Wiltshire sits on clay ground, rather than chalk. Towards the end of the series, I bagged my 800th at last. To end the year, we popped back to Avebury to find a lovely virtual. Remember to read my official logs for more! And so another year of caching comes to a close. Happy new year! Griff Grof MONDAY, 2 JANUARY 2012 ABFTN Revisited, and 2012 kicks off! Hello, Happy new year, and chose the "A Break From The Norm Revisited" series to kick what will hopefully be my biggest year yet off. Need to log, so will keep this quick. A stunning walk, with some great views, and wonderful containers - will remember this series for a while. Remember to read my logs for more! GG SATURDAY, 7 JANUARY 2012 My next series is on it's way... Hola Just to let you know that after planning the route, it is coming to the time to set the caches. What would you like to see from my new series? E mail me and I will try my best to include your suggestions I will be out caching again tomorrow, so make sure you check here for all the news. Griff Grof SUNDAY, 8 JANUARY 2012 Cocktail Circuit for Cacher's (CCC) Hi, Series Review Today I was out with flyhiy once more, and we decided to complete the relativity new "CCC" series by 2blues. The series started off great, with lovely byways to walk on, and nice hides in good condition. Next, all that was good became better, with a great uphill climb onto what seemed like the top of the world - superb views, fantastic! And, nice caches to go along with them too - what more could you ever want??? Then, we were sad to be descending downhill, which meant no more hill walking - which is what I love most, therefore backing up "Abberley Advent[ure]" and "Temple Bottom" as my favorite cache series'. Oh well, it was still in nice lowland countryside, with more nice hides. I was over the moon (or sun) that it was now sunny, which made the series even more enjoyable. And so we completed the series :) 1 DNF on #9, and another DNF on a cache along the way, which wasn't part of the series - making them the first DNF's of the year... and I was hoping to have none! The only part of the walk I didn't enjoy was the part where the footpath was a stream - yes that's right - A FLOWING STREAM for a footpath! Got my feet rather wet there, as I'd opted to not wear my waterproof shoes - silly me! The only other issue I had, were the containers themselves. Although they were all cleverly hidden, the containers weren't that great - old quality street tubs, and vanish cleaning tubs, don't exactly scream out "we're caches" - would have liked to have seen lock 'n' locks, and ammo boxes instead... but then again, I'm very traditional, and that is only my opinion. So, all in all, a superb series, very much enjoyed by myself, flyhiy and my dad. Recommended - but make sure you wear waterproof shoes! New Caches (Update) Still gathering together some containers, well, I have an odd 10 left to purchase, the walk is around 7 miles, with amazing views... I'll keep you posted! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Griff Grof SATURDAY, 14 JANUARY 2012 Part of "Life Begins" Hi, We were recommended this series by Delta68, and so selected it as our weekends caching walk. It was lovely to travel to somewhere else other than Wiltshire, but we do love Wiltshire, and we were soon ready to start. Had to be back by 2:00 pm, so unfortunatly had no time to work out any puzzles, and we had no choice but to skip the last 6 caches. Oh well, Remember to check my logs for more, this is a brief review: Series Review Lovely views to start with, the frost bitten Buckinghamshire landscape looked stunning along with the rising sun. The first cache was a great hide, and so was the next, and the next... so we spent more time looking than walking! Be warned, as the listing is very misleading - we picked the walk as the CO claimed it was 7 miles, but as many other cachers have said it is at least a whopping 10 miles - well, whopping for us to complete in 3 hours!!! So, as we went along we had tons of DNF's... 6 to be exact, making it out most DNF'd day ever and perhaps our most DNF's in a month ON THIS ONE TRAIL. We didn't really have enough time to spend much seconds searching, and the hints didn't help... they were too vauge, complex, and some still don't make sense now... also, what is it with cachers abbreviating the hints these days? "mtt" is multi-trunked tree, but it could be anything... such as "moving tap trap"?!!! This was a problem with this series, and It would have been much easier just to say "big tree", so this didn't help us speed anything up. Also, this is to caching families out there with young children, some caches can be hidden quite dangerously. Particularly 1997, we got a DNF, but we knew where the cache could be. We couldn't retrieve it due to the amounts of thorns, poking in our faces, so be careful with children here. Variety would have topped off the walk - there were a few different containers, and perhaps 5 lock 'n' locks, but all the rest were the same - however, Simply Paul has been very sneaky in his hiding, so they were still great - we had never seen hides quite like it, he really has a talent for hiding them as he does... and you can see all the great planning and preparation that has gone into the series. The best thing of all for us, was the walk! It was beautiful, offering superb panoramic views, and a variation in terrain. We'll return to finish it off soon, but we recommend the walk!!!! Go for it, we found 25, even better if you have more time and your heads with you... giving 41! GG SUNDAY, 15 JANUARY 2012 "Angel(ica) of the North" event, and some Swindon caches. Hi, Wrighty invited me to go to an event with him, and so off I went. The event was "Angel(ica) of the North", but before the event we found a few caches. The caches were in and around Coate Water, and some of them were nice, big hides. Unfortunately, we got 2 DNF's - One on a multi, and one in a tree which we just couldn't find... but we think we spotted it. The event itself was great, nice to chat to caching friends old and new. Won a Geolympix lanyard for my GPS [:)] This was just a quick post to let you know about my days caching, remember to check out my official logs for more! GG MONDAY, 16 JANUARY 2012 Cachewalker Productions Hi, I have been asked to make a short film of the upcoming Cachewalker event, 19th February, and so I drew up a version of the Cachewalker logo, basically just adding the words"production" :D If you are 100% sure to attend the event, and would rather not watch it on this blog, then you can order a limited edition DVD copy... but Cachewalker members come first. If you are interested let me know at the event. The film will show the walk, the event in the pub, and will have some fun interviews with cachers. GG SUNDAY, 22 JANUARY 2012 BEEline to Wentnor, and my 900th find! Hello, Today we were off for a long 60 mile journey to Wentnor, Shropshire, giving us a new county and what was promised to be a superb series. Well, to start with, we struggled to find Wentnor itself. After a while, we were there, GPS on, walking shoes on, and off to the first cache. We could see the hills looming at front of us, and from that moment on, we knew it would be a cracking walk. For #3, I found the one container I expected to find the least... a nice big ammo box! Then, as we hiked upwards, even more ammo boxes! Already, I could see the huge amount of effort, time and expense that had gone into this smashing trail. The views around us were outstanding, making us feel like we were on top of the world! Then, it was like we really were, at #8, where the wind nearly blew me off the hill (I am not joking) well, I survived, but my trusty pencil sadly didn't - I always carry a spare, though! We then descended downhill for some nice easy finds, and got our pace up between them. The walk then kept on delivering, strolling down a lovely lane (with more ammo boxes), and then I was dazzled by two consecutive devious hides - both of which I've seen before, but both of which also always deliver and make me say "wow". Next, it was off to my 900th cache, which I found in an instant, even though we were overlooked by a farmer. Had lunch at this one, then were off through a field with a nice stream running through it, for a few more simple finds. Went back uphill, with some more amazing views, and got our only DNF, but weren't alone, as 7 cachers had got a DNF there consecutively before us on that cache. The walk ended with ANOTHER ammo box for the bonus, never seen so many in one day... or maybe even in one month - think there were at least 5 or 6? Shame the bonus/puzzle wasn't en-route though, had to drive and park somewhere else for it, but it was worth it. So, was the series worth the 120 mile round trip? YES, YES, YES I am lost for words, brilliant, just brilliant. A vast variation of containers (I include variety for my own series') and also a variation of terrain - It was all worth it, as soon as we first saw the views! This is what caching should be all about, possibly my new favorite caching trail, beating Abberley Advent[ure] and Temple Bottom??? Highly reccommended, when you can next go caching, choose this loop, I will be back to find more by ShropshireSeekers - a lovely county, and lovely loops as proven today. Thank you tarmacjohn for helping me solve the puzzle, yesterday. I hope you enjoyed a few of the 200 (YES - 200) snaps from the walk. Our new CacheWalker event is now live, and set for 19th February for 08:15 - 15:00. Logs for the caches will follow.