It's been a couple of months now since my last find!
So, it seemed fitting to attend the 'CacheWalker Introduction to Geocaching' event with tarmacjohn, who kindly offered me a lift, to reintroduce myself to caching!
We, along with Wrighty and Walk Tall, turned the event (aimed to introduce newbies to caching) in to a proper CacheWalker as we set out to find some of the local caches, forming a nice circular walk. We found several caches, as well as picking up the new ones by Gackt, some sound hides. However, our route was disrupted by a footpath which was closed off due to an angry hornet nest said to be in a tree further down the path. As a consequence, we continued to the road instead, and found another cache there - so I'm not complaining!
The event was located at the Cotswold Water Park, and what a nice place it is: the lakes were very picturesque under the sun, once again making an appearance at a CacheWalker event.
Overall, it was a thoroughly enjoyable day, spent in excellent company, finding some good caches in nice spots, all before returning to the event for plenty more geochat and trackable spotting.
Well done Gackt for a great event! Here's to the next one... Twixmas, anyone??
Again, no photos here! I PROMISE to have my camera at the ready for the next post!
Griff Grof
Showing posts with label geochat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label geochat. Show all posts
Sunday, 3 November 2013
Saturday, 3 August 2013
A MEGA day caching
Ah, and so it's that time of year again - the day of the annual UK roving Mega Event. And this year it's visiting the West Midlands; I felt this event was close to me. Not only did we have a fund-raising raffle for the the Mega at our CacheWalker event, but I had got very familiar with the names of the committee and supporters, through the (now gone) West Midlands Regional Forum. My expectations were high, and I was looking forward to putting these faces to names. Walk Tall invited me to attend with him; he even hinted that we may be able to squeeze some caching in during the day (well, no one wants to be sat in a venue cramped with people all day, do they?!)
We did literally pop in to the venue to register, chat to friends from home and look around the stalls - then we were off caching - hurrah! Walk Tall wanted to take part in the CITO, and rightly so (I enjoy them!) We moved with the crowd, collecting whatever rubbish we could find as we reached the village of Gaydon. Gloves off, it was time to have a go at the new Wherigo - it was quite confusing, as the cartridge wasn't really working on our GPS, but thankfully there were others who weren't in the same situation who could help get us back on track: with this, the cache was now found not much later.
There was an icon challenge - 11 in 11 - going on throughout the day, but we had no interest in this having achieved it at the Geolympix last year. But we were starting to collect quite a few icons! Three so far, and a fourth as we bagged a Multi, and a fifth as we found the standard traditional once we teamed up with some other cachers to complete part of a Marrow Bone - sorry, that's MARROW BONE - series.
The part we did was quite enjoyable, nothing outstanding, but good caching. The hills to our left, (where they held a Kite event on Monday) looked nice, I expect there are great views from up there! Don't get me wrong, though, just like the Ottmore series, the scenery was lovely and alive, this was especially noticeable under the sun. What I love about Mega events is the fact that there are so many cachers about - we must have passed nearly a hundred throughout the day by this point!
With a pleasant walk over in good company, and all caches bagged, it was time to grab our sixth icon - an Unknown. And finally, we completed another quick walk which had two more 'In Honour of...' caches (these were published on the day, one for each past UK Mega; we found a couple whilst on the series earlier.) We bumped in to even more familiar faces here, and put some more to names. Then it was back to the Heritage Motor Centre to watch the closing ceremony; I cannot wait until Ayrshire next year, it'll be fab! (that's if I can make it: Scotland is a long drive away!)
I'm sorry for no photos again, didn't take any!
Griff Grof
We did literally pop in to the venue to register, chat to friends from home and look around the stalls - then we were off caching - hurrah! Walk Tall wanted to take part in the CITO, and rightly so (I enjoy them!) We moved with the crowd, collecting whatever rubbish we could find as we reached the village of Gaydon. Gloves off, it was time to have a go at the new Wherigo - it was quite confusing, as the cartridge wasn't really working on our GPS, but thankfully there were others who weren't in the same situation who could help get us back on track: with this, the cache was now found not much later.
There was an icon challenge - 11 in 11 - going on throughout the day, but we had no interest in this having achieved it at the Geolympix last year. But we were starting to collect quite a few icons! Three so far, and a fourth as we bagged a Multi, and a fifth as we found the standard traditional once we teamed up with some other cachers to complete part of a Marrow Bone - sorry, that's MARROW BONE - series.
The part we did was quite enjoyable, nothing outstanding, but good caching. The hills to our left, (where they held a Kite event on Monday) looked nice, I expect there are great views from up there! Don't get me wrong, though, just like the Ottmore series, the scenery was lovely and alive, this was especially noticeable under the sun. What I love about Mega events is the fact that there are so many cachers about - we must have passed nearly a hundred throughout the day by this point!
With a pleasant walk over in good company, and all caches bagged, it was time to grab our sixth icon - an Unknown. And finally, we completed another quick walk which had two more 'In Honour of...' caches (these were published on the day, one for each past UK Mega; we found a couple whilst on the series earlier.) We bumped in to even more familiar faces here, and put some more to names. Then it was back to the Heritage Motor Centre to watch the closing ceremony; I cannot wait until Ayrshire next year, it'll be fab! (that's if I can make it: Scotland is a long drive away!)
I'm sorry for no photos again, didn't take any!
Griff Grof
Monday, 31 December 2012
CacheWalker Twixmas Bash 2012
Power to the CacheWalker | 8 caches | 5 miles | Guiting Power
Hello!
Yesterday was a superb day! It was the CacheWalker Twixmas Bash 2012, which we'd been organising since mid-September!
We met up outside the venue in the village of Guiting Power, The Farmers Arms, at 09:00 for a 09:15 set off for the pre-event group walk. I was already spotting some familiar faces, and checking people off as I saw them, so that the pub knew who was here for food. I went to give the landlady the list, and when I came back out everyone had already set off! We quickly caught up with them, and were well underway on the group walk!
The group walk was planned and set by Wrighty (How lucky can we be?!) and it took us along tracks that I love but hadn't been on for years - it was like walking along memory lane! The caches were all great, and I even got joint-FTF on one of the caches - my second, and undoubtedly last for 2012!
Griff Grof
Hello!
Yesterday was a superb day! It was the CacheWalker Twixmas Bash 2012, which we'd been organising since mid-September!
We met up outside the venue in the village of Guiting Power, The Farmers Arms, at 09:00 for a 09:15 set off for the pre-event group walk. I was already spotting some familiar faces, and checking people off as I saw them, so that the pub knew who was here for food. I went to give the landlady the list, and when I came back out everyone had already set off! We quickly caught up with them, and were well underway on the group walk!
The group walk was planned and set by Wrighty (How lucky can we be?!) and it took us along tracks that I love but hadn't been on for years - it was like walking along memory lane! The caches were all great, and I even got joint-FTF on one of the caches - my second, and undoubtedly last for 2012!
The walk and caches were all great, the walk took us along some beautiful woodland, over river valleys, right on top of hills with far reaching views, and also some pretty Cotswold villages like Kineton.
Talked to a lot of people on the walk, there must have been at least 40 of us, and everyone was friendly as useful, and having just as good a time on the group walk as I was.
The walk really was a special one, and made the event even better than it would have been otherwise. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and the CacheWalker company, with the series finishing with a large ammo can, in true Wrighty style. Highly recommended
Once we arrived back in Guiting Power, it was back to The Farmers Arms for the main event. It was a HUGE success with everything going to plan in the end... nearly 60 people were booked in to eat!
Food was enjoyed, as was Wrighty's quiz, and before too long it was time to announce the winners of the CWSBC 2012 and the CacheWalker Forum Awards. I was honoured to be crowned the winner of CWSBC at 949 miles, and also the CacheWalker Forum Member of the Year! Congratulations to all the other winners, and to walkingwood for winning the quiz. Secret Santa was fun, too, with everyone getting a fun gift at the end.
The company at the event was superb too, and it was great to catch up with bikermel76, who made it to the event! Everyone was lovely, and I enjoyed talking to several people and putting faces to names too. The younger cachers also had a great time playing skittles!
Overal the event was AMAZING! One of my 2012 caching highlights... talking about my caching in 2012, you better check back here later for "2012 in review" - a must read, plus the announcement of my cache of the year.
Griff Grof
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)