I slept reasonably well. Apparently Treacle was off
bothering others at half past two this morning. Oh well – it’s all part of “The Great Dog Experience” I expect…
With
adventure planned for today I was up and about shortly after five o’clock. It
wasn’t long before others were also about. We scoffed brekkie (I say “we”; Fudge had to be hand-fed every
morsel) and we were in the cars and on our way long before dawn.
We
had a rather good drive out to Cranbourne; as we drove the sun slowly came up
and lit up a beautiful misty morning. As we drove we saw the horses doing
whatever it is that they do, and we even saw a deer too.
Once
in Cranbourne we booted up and set off on a little walk.
The
Cranbourne Chase Circular is a series of over ninety geocaches over some
sixteen miles which was only a short hop from where we were staying. It was a
major factor in our coming to the New Forest and was a rather good walk. With
only one dodgy part the route followed well-marked paths and lanes. We saw
friendly cows. As the early mist lifted we saw rather spectacular views.
There’s no denying that the grass was rather damp, but I should have worn my
gaiters. And things did get a bit iffy when Fudge charged off into the distance
in pursuit of a pheasant (I eventually
captured him some five hundred yards later). We started walking at about
eight o’clock and got back to the car just as the sun was setting.
Geocache-wise...
I don’t want to be negative but… Quite frankly it is a very old series of
caches which has had its day. Having read the “Found It” logs we knew there were going to be problems with the
caches. I’d messaged the C.O. before we left to ask if they wanted us to do any
maintenance for them, but not had a reply. Are they still active in the noble
pursuit of sticking a film pot under a rock? I think not.
We
found all of the caches but one. Some of the hides were straight-forward. Some
clever. There were a couple of ammo cans on the way which was nice. But if the day
had a theme, the theme had to be “randomly
drop-kicked into a hedge”.
We
replaced several paper logs which over the years have become mush. We replaced
a few of the caches which were broken. It was evident that previous relatively
recent finders had also had to perform running repairs. It was also evident that
the names of recent finders on the paper logs (that were legible) bore no relation to those who had logged the thing
on-line. In the blacker reaches of the world of hunting Tupperware there are
lists of series of geocaches that you can log on-line with impunity as the
C.O.s don’t bother with the game any more. Is this one such circuit?
We
deliberately didn’t visit the pub at the half-way point on our way round. I
know what I am like. If we were only meant to have “a quick drink” God wouldn’t provide the stuff in great big barrels.
One pint so easily becomes two and then three, and by missing the lunchtime
pint(s) we managed to find the last
cache with seven minutes of daylight left before sunset.
With
walk done we found the Cranbourne Inn where a pint of Badger’s Best slipped down
rather nicely followed by a pint of Red Rambler.
As
we drove back to base through the dark we played a game of “Animal Cricket” which is a far more
family-friendly version of “Roadkill Cricket”
that the fruits of my loin would play on car journeys.
And
once at base I had a shower. Oh, the luxury of a wash and clean pants after
walking sixteen miles. More Ringwood beer, some rather good pizza, and a few
hands of cards before bed.
Not
a bad day at all…
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