I can only describe last night as being akin to the
first night of cub scout camp. With "My Boy TM"’s
little dog Rolo with us for a week, excitement abounded. There’s no denying
that the four o’clock barking frenzy was instigated by him.
After
an early brekkie I set off to collect "My Boy TM" and
his tribe. Having turned down the opportunity of a week in Turkey with them, I
was driving them to the airport today. I was wishing I was going with them.
We
made a good start; after fifty yards Lacey announced that she’d left her phone
behind. We went back for it, couldn’t find it, and so dialled its number. A
ringing sound came from one of the suitcases. We drove off again.
"My
Boy TM" then had this genius idea that we set the radio so
that it would give us updates on traffic jams. I pressed the appropriate button
and five minutes later an announcement came thorough. It mentioned Gatwick
Airport, and there was then so much excitement about Gatwick Airport being
mentioned and that there was something worthy of mention on the radio that the
first fruit of my loin talked all the way through whatever it was the nice man
on the radio was trying to tell us.
We
got to Gatwick only twenty minutes later than expected. I waved them off, then
set off on a little geo-mission to pass the time on the way back home.
There is a
challenge geocache not that far from Gatwick Airport. To qualify for this one
you have to have found different types of geocaches as your official “milestone” finds. I have, and with my
next official “milestone” find being
realistically five years or more away I thought today would be as good a day as
any to go find the thing.
Having
found it and done the secret rituals known only to those who do this sort of
thing I thought I might follow the theme of this cache and take a route home
via different sorts of geocaches.
My
second find of the day was an Earthcache. There is a statue of an iguanodon in
a shopping precinct in Southwater (near
Horsham). I soon found it, did my geology homework and emailed in my
answers, Hopefully I got them right.
From here there was a
little drive up to Lingfield in Surrey for cache types three and four. Much of
the effort here was on a Wherigo. Having created
several of my own I appreciate just how much effort goes into making one;
however this one was *dull* (sorry). It didn’t help that I found the
GPS was out a little in some places. I’d tried to blag this Wherigo from home
several times; I’ve finally got it done.
Whilst I was walking
round I got the multi from the local village sign done too.
The fifth port of call was near Edenbridge in Kent where I rummaged in a bush near a golf
course for a traditional cache. And having rummaged successfully I then took a
little diversion to the Brecknock Arms in Bells Yew Green. I had developed a
hankering for a stilton ploughman’s for lunch. I was rather disappointed when
the barman said they didn’t do them, but was rather happy when the chef (who was passing) said she would knock
one up.
It was brill! Fresh
bread, loads of butter, Rocket with balsamic vinegar, tomatoes, pickles,
strange purple vegetables and two types of stilton. I scoffed it whilst
watching the antics of the baby birds in the beer garden aviary.
And so having had lunch
I had but one cache type left to find. I set off to East Sussex where I very
nearly fell at the final hurdle. The hint for my target cache mentioned a water
trough. Water trough? There might have been one deep in the brambles but I
couldn’t see one. Fortunately there was another letterbox cache within
walking distance of this one, so the day was saved.
I came home via a fishing tackle shop that I never
knew existed. I’ve driven past it every day when working in Pembury. It has
been there for two years. I had no idea. "My Boy TM" had got
one of his mates to email me the address; having told me it was either in
Biddenden or Ham Street, the place was half-way between High Halden and
Bethersden. (About ten miles from either
of the places he thought it might have been!)
They had fishing
trolleys; they had the idea trolley for me. It was only two hundred pounds… I
think I might try some charity shops for trolleys.
Once home I got all
three dogs onto their leads and we went round the park. Fudge lost his new
collar. It was on him when he went under the ramp in Bowens Field, it wasn’t
when he came out. I couldn’t find it. Rolo picked fights with every dog he met
that was more than ten times his size; amazingly every one of them ran off in
terror.
"er indoors TM" came home and
boiled up a rather good bit of dinner, and I then doze for much of the evening feeling
rather rough. Too much sun ?
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