Third of three finds on this, my final morning here before my flight to Helsinki. Taking a brisk walk/slow jog up to Hotel Levi Panorama, but first, a QEF. TFTC, and greetings from
Oxfordshire, UK!
The second of three caches hunted on this, the final morning of my brief stay in Lapland. Found on the second host I tried. Greetings from Oxfordshire, UK. TFTC!
It’s the final morning of my short visit to Sirkka. Having 90 minutes until I need to set off for the airport, I decided to come out for a quick geocaching expedition first.
This was the first cache on my list, and I was so glad to choose it. A truly beautiful and well-maintained cache in a wonderful spot. FP awarded. TFTC!
FTF after a delightful walk and a surprisingly challenging hunt!
When I woke this morning and saw a new semi-local cache, about when I ought to be getting myself and the geopup up anyway, I was intrigued. Bed called me back for a Sunday morning
lie-in, but eventually I escaped its clutches and the geohound and I set out on our adventure.
Parking in Bladon was a challenge but we were fortune enough to find a residential road with a few spots up towards St. Martin’s Church. After that, and working out how to open the gate
to the Community Footpath, we were on our way.
World’s most-pointless gate?
Passing the world’s most pointless gate and a heron finding his breakfast (both pictured), the doggo and I enjoyed our riverside stroll in relative peace and quiet, excepting the
occasional jogger or dog walker that would come the other way. Eventually we found the bridge, stopped to enjoy the view a little, and then began the hunt.
The long, patient wait for breakfast to swim by.
Even with the hint and a strong idea of what I was looking for, this was a challenging search. I’ll bet my kids would’ve found the cache much faster than my ~15-20 minute search, but
eventually I caught a glimpse of it, worked my way to it, and retrieved the log. Seeing it still blank, I claimed my FTF, and then had a brief panic when I discovered that I could no
longer see it’s hiding place! A brief re-search and I’d found it again, but for a while there I was kicking myself for taking the time to return to the wall of the bridge to write my
log!
As a semi-regular at Fairport’s Cropredy Convention who likes to get up earlier then the others I share my tent with, I’ve done my fair share of early morning geocaching in this neck of
the woods.
Of course: over the years this practice has exhausted most of tree caches local to Cropredy and my morning walks have begun to take me further and further afield. But this is certainly
the first time I’ve walked to the next county in search of a cache!
Coming across the fields from Williamscot via Prescote Farm treated me to gorgeous rolling hills free fields of freshly-harvested corn getting picked at by families of deer, while the
red kites above went looking for their breakfasts.
The final hill up to the GZ required a bit of a push for my legs which were dancing until late last night, but soon I was close and the cache was quickly found in the second place I
looked.
My little tribe and I have, in some form of another, been attending Cropredy for decades: intermittently in the past, but lately with more regularity every year. For me, it’s coincided
with the growth of our family: I’ve been attending with my partner and her husband approximately since our eldest child, now 11, was born.
As our group’s early riser, I’ve a longstanding tradition of getting up while everybody else lies in, to take a walk and perhaps find a geocache or two. Of course I soon ran out of
caches in Cropredy itself and my morning walks now take me much further afield!
Last year I was very ill and had to be sent home from Cropredy before I had the opportunity to log this cache, but I’m back again this year and taking a moment at the Oak to reflect on
those we’ve all loved and lost.
Answers to follow as soon as signal permits. TFTC.
My family and I have made a tradition of our regular attendance of Fairport’s Cropredy Convention. There I – being the earliest riser of us – have in turn made a tradition of getting up
early to find a nearby geocache on any morning that I’m up before the kids.
This practice has already eliminated all of the caches in Cropredy itself, and so now my morning walks take me further afield. This morning I opted to follow the footpath over the
fields to Great Bourton to investigate the two multicaches commencing in the churchyard.
Having determined the coordinates for both and (unsuccessfully) attempting the other cache first, I was optimistic for a smiley face here. The GZ was easy to find – I’d stopped here to
check my map on the way out! – and I was soon searching in earnest.
In the low-angled light of the morning sun, the shade of the thick leafy canopy made for challenging conditions, so I flicked my torch on and pointed it in the direction of the host
object… and there, clear as day despite its camouflage, was the cache. Easy as pie! SL.
I was briefly tempted to re-try the cache I failed to find earlier, under the assumption that the container would look similar to this and the same technique might bear fruit. But I
didn’t feel like doubling back twice more while my stomach was rumbling, so I carried on towards Cropredy to see whether any others if my party were yet ready for some grub.
My family and I have made a tradition of our regular attendance of Fairport’s Cropredy Convention. There I – being the earliest riser of us – have in turn made a tradition of getting up
early to find a nearby geocache on any morning that I’m up before the kids.
This practice has already eliminated all of the caches in Cropredy itself, and so now my morning walks take me further afield. This morning I opted to follow the footpath over the
fields to Great Bourton to investigate the two multicaches commencing in the churchyard.
Solving for both was easy enough, and I opted to seek this one first, given that the other could become part of my route back to my tent. As others have observed, finding the right
footpath was slightly tricky: it looks a bit like a communal driveway, to begin with… and then, for the moment at least, looks as though it might become a building site!
But I pressed on towards the target coordinates and soon spotted a likely host. I searched for a bit without luck, then hit up the hint: looks like I need to go deeper, I figured, and
pushed into the foliage.
But after 20 minutes or so of searching all around the conceivable spots, I was still struggling. Plus I’d narrowly avoided kneeling in something truly gross and couldn’t face another
round of crawling about under a hedge. And further, I realised I’d soon need some breakfast so I gave up on this one and made a move for the second. Maybe another year!
QEF (once we started paying attention to the right host object!) for the geopup and I on a morning dog walk after an errand in the village. TFTC, now better get off to work!
Checked-in on this cache as it’s had surprisingly-few visits yet. Reassured to find that it’s all still in place and findable. Second-to-find’s still up for grabs.
It’s possible that cycling this path wasn’t the wisest idea, I realised, as I dodged brambles on both sides. So focused was I on riding safely that I forgot which GPSr I’d brought with
me and listening for the beep it gives when I get close to my target… only realised 120m after the fact that I was using the GPSr that doesn’t give an audible beep and I’d overshot!
Doubled back and gave an extended hunt for the cache before finding it in pieces. Looks like it’s been wilfully vandalised (see photo). Returned the pieces to approximately where I
figure they’re meant to live.
Love the idea, hope it can be fully repaired soon!
After an appointment in Witney I opted to divert my cycle home to find this and the other cache on the same path. After cycling down to the GZ (past the noisiest sheep I’ve ever heard!)
I was pleased to discover that the recent weather has left the island very dry, and I’d be in no risk of damp feet.
Brambles were a minor threat, but soon the cache was in hand. SL. Outer container has a damaged hinge; just needs a few screws to repair, and it’s not urgent. TFTC!
Sometimes all you need to complete the perfect offset geocache is a GPSr, some hand tools… and the willingness to unilaterally declare a remote bench to be a memorial to a fictional
person, just to get a particular set of numbers out into the world!