Geocaching around Fazeley Part 1

We had the urge this weekend to go out Geocaching since we haven’t been for a few weeks due to the snow. We decided it would probably be wise to stay away from field and country walks because of all the rain last night and looked for some town trails. A town up the A5 from us called Fazeley looked ideal; there is a circular walk around the town with ten Caches leading to a final mystery cache.

Geocaches camouflaged with sticks

We parked up within an estate in Fazeley quite close to the first cache, out came the phone and we made our way to the first of ten caches we had planned for today. When we arrived at Ground Zero (GZ) we gasped. We had looked at the clue for the cache and it was ‘stickoflarge’ i.e. the cache was likely to be camouflaged with sticks. The bushes in the area had recently been pruned and there were sticks EVERYWHERE! That and the amount of rubbish around meant that this was not going to be easy. Half an hour later we still had not found it and I was about ready to give up when I noticed the cache peeking out from beneath a pile of sticks... we had been looking on the wrong side of the footpath! We signed the log and moved onto the next cache which we hoped would be easier; how wrong we were.

Geocaches camouflaged with Ivy

We knew this next cache was hidden within Ivy, and had our suspicions that it would be disguised as a fake Ivy leaf. However there was at least six Ivy covered trees that could be hiding it! We focused our attentions on one particular tree but wasted so much time groping around in the Ivy...the locals must have thought we were up to something!

Eventually Angela spotted a fake Ivy leaf lying on the floor; it must have become detached from the cache itself so we began to search around for the cache and finally spotted it close to the ground. His is the Ivy leaf Geocache (the light coloured leaf in the centre of the photo):

Ivy Geocache camouflage

So far we had spent over an hour around Fazeley Geocaching and had only achieved two of the ten caches! We were about ready to call it a day and decided to go for one last cache which proved to be straight forward (a Nano cache by a lamp post). We then walked back to the car and witnessed a lovely rainbow; I bet there is a really big Geocache at the end of this rainbow.

Geocaching rainbow over Fazeley

It happens so often that Geocaching does not go to plan and in this case the first two caches of the day were possibly the hardest we have come across to date. However we look forward to returning the Fazeley area to continue the challenge!

Mick

Geocaches that I dislike and Nanos!

To be honest it is very rare that I dislike a Geocache however some are better than others! The caches I am particularly not fond of are the tiny Geocaches known as Nanos. These are the smallest of all Geocache containers and often measure approx 2cm long and are just big enough to house a small paper log.

Nano Geoches

The Nano Geocaches are mainly metallic and are often magnetic. They really are tiny and often remind me of metal screw heads or bolts. The magnetic versions can often be found attached to metal road signs. The ones that really do frustrate me are the ones attached to railings, especially railings in a public area. There is nothing more frustrating than having to feel around long lengths of railings for the illusive Nano with people about.

Thankfully this Nano cache was not on railings but within the metal work of a local park bench; it is quite difficult to spot if you don’t know when you are looking for, can you see it?

Nano Geocache - Hidden in a park bench

Here is the Nano removed from the bench, what a small thing it is too!

Nano Geocache container

And here is the same Nano cache opened up to show you the log book. The log is an extremely tightly rolled up piece of paper and surprisingly holds quite a few log entries.

Opened Nano cache showing log

Geocaches that look out of place

This is my least favourite Geocache to date. Firstly I dislike Geocaches that do not fit into the surrounding area and look out of place. A bottle in a tree is not the most attractive sight is it. Also why a bottle? There are so many camouflaged Geocache containers available out there and I find the bottle quite ugly! We gave up trying to extract the log out of the neck of this bottle to sign...it just didn’t want to come out! There is also room within the bottle for a trinket or two but you just can’t get them in or out! A jam jar would have been better but again, not hung from a tree!

Geocache bottle in a tree

So there are my least favourite Geocaches found to date. I would love to hear what yours is?

Mick

Unusual Geocache finds

Ok admittedly we haven’t been Geocaching very long however we have already discovered several interesting and unusual Geocaches in the area. No doubt that this list will be added to as we search new areas however I thought I would share these with you.

All of these Geocaches were found within the area of High Cross, just off the A5 near Hinckley in Leicestershire. This has been our favourite place for Geocaching over the winter with some great circular walks and caches. I would recommend the High Cross area for anybody starting out Geocaching as it provides a great introduction to the sport. We have spent several weeks in the area however most of the caches could be covered in a weekend.

Geocaching at High Cross, Leicestershire

The first unusual cache I am going to share is this rock. It is the left most of the two in the centre of the picture and looked so realistic! The fake rock is hollow and neatly holds the log book within a small container. This cache had us stumped for quite a while until I picked the rock up and it rattled!

Geocache disguised as a rock

This next cache is also clever. The cache itself is a small tube that has been inserted into a hole drilled into the end of a wooden stick. At one point I actually had my hand on the stick and moved it out of the way. My son then picked it up and said ‘what’s this’? It just goes to show that you need to check everything!

Geocache disguised as a wooden stick

This next cache was hidden inside a squeaky pig! I have never had so much fun squeaking a Geocache ‘oink oink’ and I am sure will not see another one like this again!

A pig Geocache!

This Geocache is very clever. It appears to be a metal bolt however the top unscrews and contained inside is the paper log book. This was hidden behind a park bench and was magnetic so it did not look out of place at all.

Geocache disguised as a metal bolt

Equally as clever was this Geocache tap! The tap had been swallowed by the tree and the Geocache container was actually a small length of copper piping leading to the tap.

Geocache tap!

And here is another wooden log Geocache container. It doesn’t look so convincing when held up like this but lying on the grassy floor could be easily missed!

Geocache wooden container

... Finally our most unusually Geocache discovered to date. The clue pointed us to a tool that we needed to use to extract the cache. This tool was actually an empty container and since it was adjacent to a stream we pretty much knew what to look for. The cache itself was contained within this tube which we had to fill to float it to the surface.

Geocache water in the tube challenge

I hope you enjoyed my collection of unusual Geocaches and I am sure there will be more to come. I would love to know what clever and unusual Geocaches you have found.

Mick

What is Geocaching?

Geocaching is a worldwide treasure hunt game that is free to play and I am addicted! Geocachers all over the world hide containers called caches and submit the GPS coordinates and information to a global database located at www.geocaching.com. Other Geocachers can then try to find the treasures using either a GPS device or smart phone. The treasures are actually small trinkets that can be removed if swapped with something of equal worth. My children love this as quite a lot of the time they contain small toys! All caches contain a log book that you sign to prove that you have found it.

Geocaching - Avoiding the mud!

After Geocaching for a few months now I find it a great way to get out into the fresh air and explore areas that normally I wouldn’t visit. Most of the time the caches are placed on lovely walks that the owner of the caches wants to share and quite often the details of each cache have lovely write-ups about the area. I am so looking forward to playing this on holiday as I it is likely to take me to beautiful places that otherwise I may not visit.

Geocaching - Another muddy walk

You will find there are probably hundreds of Caches hidden in your local area, some you may pass by every day. Here is a sample of an area near to where I live. Take a look at the website and see if there are any Geocaches near to you.

Geocaching map

I use a mobile phone App called CacheSense when out and about tracking the actual caches. This app provides a map of all the caches in the area. You can then select a cache and view the details and even a clue to its location. You can then switch to compass or radar view when you are getting close. Once found a cache changes to a smiley face on your phone app so that you can keep track of those you have found.

Unusual Geocaches

The caches themselves vary in difficulty and also in size. Some of the caches are tiny and contain nothing but a log book. Here is an example of one that was disguised as a bolt on a park bench:

Geocache disguised as a bolt

Other caches can be quite big and contain lots of goodies that my children eagerly wade through:

Large Geocache

Geocaches can also be very well disguised. Can you spot the one hidden in this photograph?

Cache disguised as a rock

It was actually a hollowed out fake rock. This next Geocache was one of our favourites. It was located next to a stream and to extract the Geocache we had to fill a tube with water (the tube had holes in it that we had to block with our fingers). The Geocache then rose to the surface which we grabbed before our daughter got very wet legs.

Fill the tube with water cache

So that is my introduction to Geocaching. If you get chance give it a go; it is free to play, keeps you fit and is very entertaining, but be warned it is very addictive!

Mick