Basketcase Crew and our Adventures.: AirEd

Friday, 16 March 2012

Elmdon Park

Well another Friday has turned up and so another days caching. I awoke at 5.50 am and was at first cache of the day at around 7am.

LQ:WEST MIDLANDS - The road to nowhere by OldNickCov

http://coord.info/GC1669A

I have been doing some of the Little Quest series of late with caching partner Jules and today as I was close to this I decided to pick it up. I parked up at end of road and then walked the rest of the way.
The cache located in Meriden is believed to be the centre of England...Always nice to take a History lesson when Geocaching..

After this I picked up a couple of drive by's before parking up on a Church car park in Elmdon Park.
The park is very close to big roads and Birmingham International airport but it really is a lovely pleasant area.

I started off doing some caches on car park side of church, picking up caches by Aramis144, matlou98 and part of a Tree series by Family B.

There was a cache up a tree right by this.

The caches were all straightforward except for one perhaps which was up a tree, infact I did not attempt that one as there were just too many muggles around. I will have to go back there with Ben and create a distraction hehe.

Down stream side.

The park really is ideal for families and good to mix the Geocaching with playtime too.
After I had managed to get all the sperate caches I decided to keep car where it was and attempt the Spotted Trail series by R&T with M&T. It was a fun little series apart from #1 being missing at the time.

I had enjoyed myself round here very much and will need to pop back for a couple. I think Ben would love the walled garden.

The Walled garden!

Walk around Elmdon Park workout

I did a few more drive by's and then parked up for a bit of a walk along the canal. My objective here was to pick up a TB owned by caching partner Jules and to take it on its travels for a while.
The cache was Bridge 80 by matlou98 and it was a real sneaky hide and took me a couple of minutes to locate.

Canal side

After lunch I had arranged to meet up with some caching buddies and do the Wast hills walk.

WHW 1 by Lime Candy

http://coord.info/GC3CYXH

The walk is approximately 3.5 miles long taking in 10 caches on the way. The terrain is pretty good but can be muddy in places especially after rain....of course.!

This is a lovely walk with some really fab views of the city, was just a shame it wasn't just a little bit clearer. The walk also takes you over the top of the Wast hills tunnel.

The team for the series was AirEd, Catshill Clan, the Bedfords, Turnbull Tribe & of course myself.

The rest of the team!

Baaaa!

None of the caches posed any difficulty in finding really but could see a couple maybe cause a few probs for some.

As we were having so much fun we decided that we should carry on the walk and do a Letterbox hybrid called Stagecoach Stash by Steve-e-b and Marina. This was very enjoyable and different in many ways but don't want to give anything away.

Wast Hills & Stagecoach workout

Another fantastic days caching and another 39 smilies bagged.

Friday, 10 February 2012

On the way to Henley in Arden

Another early start on yet another very cold winters day. Today I had arranged to meet some fellow cachers later in Henley in Arden so thought I would get a few on the way first.
I started off in the Lickey Hills as there was a blindmouse cache I had solved a while ago but didn't know when to fit in going for it. I then bagged a few close to the road before parking up at recommended parking for On the Catwalk series.

On the Catwalk by Sumadartson

http://coord.info/GC23AEH

I had spotted this series last night and thought it looked just the right size and distance to do before meeting up with others.

A series of eight caches and a ninth bonus cache on a roughly four mile circular walk between Lowsonford, Claverdon and Preston Bagot (near Henley-in-Arden). The walk is on mainly flat terrain with just one or two banks, but nothing too difficult.

There are nine caches in all signifying the nine lives of a cat, each cache is named after a famous fictional cat. The series is dedicated to the memory of the C/O's two beloved cats Heidi and Lucy who both sadly passed away.
On each cache lid is a number designated to each cat cache (the number is also in the logbook), you will need to note down each cat and the number it represents to do the working out for the location of the bonus cache. All of the caches are well hidden from view and are in camo bags for extra protection.

I loved this series and walking through the snow, it had snowed again last night but there wasn't really much but just enough to make a perfect picture.

Another cold day

Included in the walk I also making it over 6 miles in total I also found another 7 caches, 5 of them from the Little Big Cat series.

Little Big Cat Series by Steve-e-b and Mini Marina

http://coord.info/GC353JJ

A series of five caches on a 2 mile circular walk near Lowsonford. There are a couple of stiles to hop over, but otherwise the walk is fairly flat and easily accessible.
This was great to do along with the above series and was also thoroughly enjoyed.

Loved this part!

As part of the series you could also complete the challenge by finding Mowgli.

Found him!

I had a great time and enjoyed all the different caches.

On the Catwalk & Little Big cat workout

After returning to my car I drove into the town and met up with Andy (Citrus-Lizard) and went off to find another 3 caches before meeting up with Julia (the Bedfords), Rupert (AirEd) & Brett (Mwahppets) to do Shiver Me Timbers! where we found first stage no problem but had no joy at final stage.

Four happy cachers, despite a DNF.

We then all moved on and did a Delta68 puzzle cache before carrying on to do the latest 2 Special Op missions.

Special-Ops by Mwahppets

http://coord.info/GC3BPBR

How to persuade Andy (Citrus-Lizard) to come caching? That's easy, just mention Special Op's.
Myself , Andy & Julia needed these 2 latest Special Op's and were joined by C/O Brett and the FTF Rupert...... I would just like to add we were given no help.

I don't want to say much about these caches as it's not fair to C/O or other cachers, but if you like fun and enjoy a challenge then they are a must.

Total caches bagged today = 25 and there was also 1 DNF