I
woke this morning with a rather serious headache (too much beer last night) and a face glowing as though I’d been n
the sun for too long (inexplicable).
I fed grubby laundry into my washing machine, and whilst it chewed the fish
slime out of my trousers I prepped “Hannah”
for today’s planned adventure, then had a look at the Internet.
The
videos I’d posted from last night’s band gig had received quite a few views.
Surprising for videos; whilst people like to look at photos on social media, it
has been my experience that videos don’t get such attention. Probably because
they go on for too long?
I
had quite a few emails; none worth having though. I turned off the lap-top,
hung out my de-slimed trousers to dry, and got ready for the day.
Earlier
in the week I’d posted on the “Geocaching
in Kent” Facebook page asking of anyone fancied going for a little stroll
today. A dozen of us (and three dogs)
had a rather good walk along the “A
Little Wander” geo-series in Littlebourne. Footpaths, fields, woods, a
country lane, splashing in a river… all rather pretty. I’ve not been on a “mob-handed” walk for some time; it was
rather good to catch up with friends. It was a shame we didn’t see the “keep your dogs out of the river” sign
until *after* they had all had a good
swim, but such is life.
After
five miles and twenty-four geo-finds we were back in the village of
Littlebourne. The pub had closed down years ago but having just walked off a
hangover I was happy to settle for a tin of Dr Pepper from the village shop.
We
sat and chatted whilst we scoffed a picnic lunch under the shade of a tree on
the village green, and then we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.
Having been keeping an eye on the weather forecast all week my plan had been a
short(ish) walk in the morning before
the forecast heat of the afternoon. There are those who would say that five
miles is anything but short, but what do they know (you know who you are!!)
However,
reality hadn’t taken any notice of what the BBC had said. I’ve always
maintained that the BBC weather forecast is definitive. In cases of
discrepancy, reality has got it wrong. Reality had got it wrong today. Rather
than having bright sunshine, the afternoon was somewhat overcast. With "er indoors TM" needing to find
a few more caches before she got her
World Turtle (I got mine last weekend)
we drove into Canterbury, parked up in Zealand Road and went on a rather pretty
walk through the orchards.
This
second walk of the day really did sum up the magic of geocaching, Having been
driving to and from work through this area for over five years I really had no
idea that there were orchards anywhere nearby; let alone how pretty they area
is.
This
second walk was one of seven geo-finds over a mile and a half. A rather short
walk (for me) but one I would
heartily recommend for anyone contemplating hunting Tupperware for recreational
purposes.
It
was only a shame that the corner shop we’d parked by had closed when we came
back to the car. I’d been looking forward to an ice cream.
We
headed homewards. But seeing how we’d be in the general area of Chilham, and
also bearing in mind we’d logged a DNF there the other week (something one tries to avoid) we went
back and found the cache we’d missed last time.
I
took a few photos whilst we were out. We’d had a rather good day
today. I had wondered if it might have been too hot for the dogs, but their
cooling bandannas seemed to work as did regular drinks of cool water. They
didn’t seem at all fussed by the heat.
I did have a plan to go
to the geo-meet this evening. But by the time we’d got home, fed the fish and
got the washing in, the meet had already started. I checked Google Maps - the
meet was nearly an hour’s drive away and it finished at seven o’clock I sent my
apologies.
The timing didn’t
really work for me, but as I once said to the organizer it is impossible to
time any sort of event to suit everyone. It is probably for the best to
organize such an event at a time that suits yourself and hope for the best.
That’s what I do.
Rather than going to
the meet we scoffed some tea, and with "er indoors TM" off bowling and
the dogs snoring I settled in front of the telly.
I woke up three hours
later…
