Caching Holiday

It was time for a numbers caching holiday overseas. Flights were booked, although I think the travel agent randomly picked spots for me to go. After being waved bye from the family (after scoring a cappuccino from my Niece at Hudsons) I boarded my Qantas flight.

First stop was an unexpected landing at the Honda Airport N 35° 58.475 E 139° 31.595. I was allowed off the plane and headed out to grab GC21MY1, followed by the puzzle cache close by. After a good day of caching and a nights rest, it was time to board my next flight.

After a long flight, I landed in Ireland at the Dublin Airport N 53° 26.190 W 006° 15.695 and headed off to grab GC22J2C, followed by the next closest traditional. A good couple of days caching including many puzzles.

My next flight was a short one, with an emergency landing at the Florennes Air Base N 50° 14.375 E 004° 39.610. I grabbed a bicycle and set off in search of GC186KM.and then continued to find the other caches in the Dharma series. The series was enjoyable, along with all the other caches I found in the few days I was there.

After a late checkout from my hotel, I said goodbye to Europe and caught my next flight to America landing at Tucson airport N 32° 07.130  W 110° 57.421. Hiring a car I found my first cache for the day - GC1TGNJ, quickly followed by a nearby puzzle cache. With the car for the day I finally cracked 100 caches in a day. Woo Hoo.

Following a good night’s sleep I caught my next flight to Washington.

However, it turns out it was an adventure flight and rather than landing in Washington I was given a parachute, and after being pushed out the plane screaming, soon found myself landing in the middle of a road at N 38° 53.988 W 077° 00.843. I flagged down a taxi and headed for GCQN4P. A good day to do virtuals.

Tried to get an invite to dinner at the White House, but after lucking out got a good night’s sleep instead to ready myself for another big day of caching and sightseeing.

After a few days I was soon boarding a proper flight and found myself heading back to Eastern Europe.

Awoken by the air hostess I found we’d landed at Poprad-Tatry Airport N 49° 04.460 E 020° 13.440. I hired a bicycle and went in search of GC25MN9, before heading off to do a Multi. Not sure what my travel agent was thinking sending me back to Eastern Europe, but I ended up staying a week and just loved it. I almost cleared all the caches within 20km.

I boarded a plane again and my final stop after another long flight (found out later the travel agent was boosting my frequent flyer miles to save cost) was the Charlotte Airport N 35° 13.427  W 80° 56.164. After checking out the planes close-by and to the East (highly recommended) I headed out to grab GC1HB5Y, followed by the puzzle cache close by. I had arrived on a Friday and after a good night’s rest spent my final weekend of holidays caching caching and sightseeing.

On the Monday I bid farewell to the states and boarded a Qantas jet and headed home to Adelaide. Looking at my logs I discovered I’d found 634 caches with only 87 DNFs. I also managed to get 9 FTFs as I always checked for new caches whenever I landed.

To commemorate my trip I decided to hide a cache. I couldn’t leave it at the airport and then I remembered – West Lakes was advertised by Delfin as the place to have a holiday all year round. You could leave your car at the dummy coordinates and enjoy a lovely walk to GZ, as the minutes of the cache are the same as the dummy coordinates. It’s even better if you do the walk with a friend.

Enjoy
The March Hare.

P.S My caching holiday was just a dream, but the commemorative cache isn't. The information you need to locate the cache is in the story and also at www.geocaching.com