Exmoor/Minehead - Geocache

Oh boy are you in for a treat this blog, I must say that this is probably one of the best series I have yet to do. As well as one of the most rewarding ends. We were away on holiday with Lewis' family in Minehead and planned a couple of cache walks; nearby our cottage was a series in a town called Luxborough, near the Exmoor National Park. This is a generous journey offering 16 caches, all of which will not disappoint with caches from Micro to Large, very large indeed!

1 Slowley Does It

First cache in the series is right besides the bay where you park to start the journey, the first is a simple Micro hidden well behind a sign post.

2 Slowley Does It

 Slightly up off the path, this cache requires I climb up a bank. The log (literally) isn't what it seems. Picking it up revealed that the cache was hidden inside.

3 Slowley Does It

Took a little rummage but still an easy find!

4 Slowley Does It

This cache earned a favourite point from me, with a hint of "Field of Eden"; I knew the trees were suspicious. Hanging in one tree was an apple, the cache hidden inside. Luckily we had done this series in Autumn and no leaves were on this tree. Having done this series in Spring perhaps this cache would be a much harder challenge to spot!

5 Slowley Does It

 A good old, under the stone cache.

The series takes you a long a footpath that provides you with some amazing views, although the journey can be tiring with a slow incline up the hill to the top. Very glad I wore my walking mud boots as the field was slightly wet and full of cow poop. 

6 Slowley Does It

Something magical about this tree, it seems to grow a special kind of fruit. 

7 Slowley Does It

Some of the containers on this series are so charming, this being one of them. It makes the journey seem that bit more fun when you have playful caches rather than just micro or small tubs. 

8 Slowley Does It

 I spotted this before Paul said we were approaching, the pile of sticks inside a tree were very suspicious. 

9 Slowley Does It

 A lovely hint of "Ho Ho Ho", a Christmas tree hiding away a little bauble. A bit of a prickle arms reach away but still great. I like that it's green so it blends away!

10 Slowley Does It

 This cache is actually quite large and if you were walking from the other side of the tree you'd definitely not miss it. It makes it hard to believe more muggles haven't found this.

11 Slowley Does It

Again this is a cache that would seem suspicious to passers by, it's like a fairy has nested up in the tree and has put little doors to hide all the holes. Can you find the right hole with the hidden cache?

12 Slowley Does It

 I've seen a rock cache like this before, I also believe it was when we were journeying with Kashpop. It's a hollowed out rock with a micro inside.

13 Slowley Does It

 This cache took us a few tree searches to find, we couldn't seem to locate the correct tree stump but eventually found we kept going up the wrong path. I think we were trying to avoid going up hill again but the caches took us that way..

14 Slowley Does It

Guarded by a rat!

15 Slowley Does It

 Another cache that took a little exploring to find the correct spot, with Paul's GPS it doesn't tell you how many meters away you are so you end up going either side of the path until you find the cache. 

16 Slowley Does It

 Now this is a multi-cache, it is the final cache in the series and it leads you to probably the biggest cache I've found so far, perhaps ever will find! It does take you slightly off path and we were stumbling around in the woods for ages trying to find this location. Being in the trees makes your GPS jump around proving even more difficult to find the cache.

Once you have found this cache it only provides co-ordinates to the final cache.

 Lewis found the final cache and look at the size of it! It is a massive box big enough for anything you could possibly want to swap. Sadly no trackables inside but if you have one you want to get rid of, then this would be the best place! You have to have the patience to do the series though (or cheat and do just 16.) 

This series is great for any age, children would love the cache containers while it gives adults a break from the same micro caches you find daily. It does take a while to walk, especially if it's windy like it was for us. The view is great as you reach the top of the hill and it's overall a really great walk. It's about 4.5 miles and we were out for about 3.5 hours but that includes a lot of stopping for photos.. I would recommend this series to anyone and will definitely be giving lots of favourite points away!

Chichester Trundle - Geocache

Me and Lewis decided to use our day off together to get some caches under our belt, there's been a series nearby that Lewis has done before with Kashpop that we hadn't done together. So on a nice cold November (also windy) day; we decided to go to the Trundle which happens to be on top of a hill. The Trundle is an Iron Age hill fort which is found right next to Goodwood Racecourse. The Trundle is a great place to go if you like views, especially at night time. The car park is layered so its great for sitting in your car and staring out into the distance. It ranges from Bognor all the way across to Portsmouth. 

Along the series each cache has a letter alongside a number which you need to collect in order to gain coordinates to a bonus cache at the end. If you forget there are two caches at the end which have all the coordinates (spoils the fun a little but still great if you forgot.)

#1 - 7 Points Ramble - The Rubbing House

The first cache is located near the car park, all of the caches in this series are in "obvious" spots; it just requires knowing the existence of the caches. I actually think the caches could easily be found by children exploring or climbing but perhaps because of the area people would only join in and not destroy the caches. 

The first cache may seem like a pile of Ivy but you'd be wrong!

#2 - 7 Points Ramble - Arboretum

 An easy spot, although we did walk past it because we were level with muggles and had to "stop" for a coffee break. We did this three times with the same person, probably made them feel quite uncomfortable but luckily we ended up getting ahead! I think the log book on this cache was quite wet and damp but someone had put some dry paper in there. Will need to tag for maintenance! 

#3 - 7 Points Ramble - Welcome to Westside

 All the caches are of decent size, with a few being big enough for trackables. They all seem to be well maintained and dry, luckily! 

#5 - 7 Points Ramble - Westside 2

#6- 7 Points Ramble - Wall gate

Reaching this cache we started to walk along side some crops, Lewis wasn't sure what they were because they were purple and I told him that carrots before the 17th century were actually purple! It was only until carrots were cultivated by the Dutch (by cross breeding red and yellow carrots) that they were orange. The whole field here on the other hand were purple carrots. 

 This cache was pretty close to a little door, just reminded me of the Secret Garden. Wonder where the door leads too! Probably more mysterious coloured fruit. 

#7 - 7 Points Ramble - Fence post

#8 - 7 Points Ramble - Tractor gate

 The hint for this cache was "This one will have you stumped, old timer!" It just takes a little think of what you're looking for!

#9 - 7 Points Ramble - Sycamore

#10 - 7 Points Ramble - Along the Bottom

#11 - 7 Points Ramble - Trail post

#12 - 7 Points Ramble - Top Gate

 Our walk was quite pleasant up until this point, hardly any wind. That was because you start to realise you're at the bottom of the hill and after this cache you have to get back up to the top. I really struggled getting up the hill with the wind against us and it was pretty cold that my knees were struggling to get me up! This is probably the hardest part of the walk if you struggle with hills; I'd definitely recommend going when it's warmer and less windy. Or you could even do the series backwards as I think coming down the hill earlier was more gradual and therefore might be easier to walk up. 

Although when you get to the top the view makes up for the work.. one man behind us even tried cycling up the hill! 

#13 - 7 Points Ramble - On the way back

#14 - 7 Points Ramble - Almost Home

This cache was covered in snails! I did have to take them off (sorry little snails) as I didn't want to break their shells when trying to take the lid off. They covered the cache so you couldn't get a grip on it! Not great if you don't like little slimey things! 

 These were all the caches in the series, we had collected all the co-ordinates along the way and just double checked them at the end. After we put them into our GPS we made our way to the final bonus cache!

#15 - 7 Points Ramble - Bonus cache

I'm not going to post the co-ordinates here as that just spoils any fun and makes it easier for people to just find the bonus cache. It does take you to the well-known Chalk Pit lane. Chalk Pit lane is one main indicators that this site was an Iron Age fort because of the perfect straight line down the hill to the town. Although it appears to be a straight road going down I believe you aren't allowed to drive down; even if you were to try you'd probably take the bottom of your car off. 

The final cache! 

The series took us 2 hours and 10 minutes including the hill struggle and stops for coffee and tea. We walked roughly 3 miles. Despite the cold you do warm up walking. It's a great series if you want a nice walk and views as well as easy caches. The multi-cache is easy to get so if you don't have many of those in your collection this is great to add another. We sadly found no trackables on this trip! We have another series completed and more caches gained!