Amberel TOP CACHE geocoin - Kings Wood

Just be thankful that the photo was such poor quality - that's all I'm saying. For someone who spent the evening whinging about my inappropriate attire, he certainly was pushing the boundaries of decency.

All credit and large quantities of respect and admiration (and possibly a few sessions in therapy) must go to MrSVimes. Not for climbing up for initial log signing requirements but for going beyond the call of duty when physically shoving Muzza up there later. Not for the first time I'm told - I think I was a bit of a gooseberry. Another "not for the first time" experience was having Muzza hurl himself out of a tree at my feet, although this time he managed it with a little more grace and elegance.

The night had started badly with two DNFs and a run in with some children dressed up as police (Allegedly. I wouldn't know as I'd shuffled off to the car, head down as soon as I clocked them in the distance). MrSVimes and I had insisted that this was going to be Muzzas 100th and we were forcing him to find 13 caches on the way down, whether he wanted to or not.

Having finally arrived at the parking coordinates with the right number of caches under our belts, excitement was building as we prepared ourselves by the car. I'm sure the passing vehicle that hooted at us was full of cachers and nothing dodgy - after all, we'd not brought a dog.

The first tack was spotted after a short squelch along a muddy path as first MrSVimes and then I lead the way, with Muzza cursing and tripping up behind us. Tacks followed thick, fast and bright (I'll let you work out which of us those apply to) and soon we were at the first stopping point. A disaster was narrowly averted, another cache was claimed a cross-woods walk away, and we headed off elsewhere to climb, throw and laugh hysterically.

Despite my demands that this not be found until after midnight, the log was signed at about 11:57, followed by at least 30 minutes of knot tying, huffing and puffing and, in one case, a close encounter someone didn't want to repeat. Like I said, count yourselves lucky the photo is a) poor quality and b) taken about 3 minutes late.

Fabulous cache and fabulous fun 🙂

After a quiet day spent idly caching with no agenda at all had left me on 665 caches, I arranged to meet some friends in the cafe at John Lewis to discuss which caches were worthy of the honour of being #666. I was expecting some social chit chat over a caramel macchiato and possibly a slice of blueberry cheesecake and had dressed accordingly. I should have been suspicious at the attire of my comrades but I assumed Muzza was going clubbing in SoHo afterwards and MrSVimes had probably come straight from work. Also, Belarus was performing at Eurovision, I was 2 glasses into a bottle of Pinot and my attention span was limited. Odd choice of parking spot too, when we got there, but no matter - perhaps this was the VIP entrance.

You know that sound made when you scratch a needle off an old vinyl record? Insert that here.

There was no cappuccino, macchiato or latte.
There was no cake.
I was bitterly disappointed.

Thankfully, I had worn my Anti-Bat Hat, which doubled as arachnid protection. Nevertheless, I stooped far more than was strictly necessary in order to put at least 24 inches between my head and anything with more than two legs. As it happens, there were no bats. Probably because the spiders had eaten them all.

At one point I thought I was going to be swept away by a maelstrom of... well, let’s just leave it at maelstrom shall we...? But other than that all was as pleasant as an uneventful riverside stroll in the spring sunshine. Apart from the spiders. Did I mention those? Usually the advice when doing stupid things is “Don’t look down.” This was definitely a case of “Don’t look up.”

After a short while, I skipped happily up to the cache and signed the log.
Or I may have hissed, menacingly, “Just tell me where the $£%&*@ thing is and get me out of here.”
Who knows. Either way, the cache was found.

After signing the log, I turned round to find Homer Simpson and King Kong. Clearly there was something other than water in the mist.
And, after a short while, Elvis turned up.
As did a large spider, sitting on my hand, which I brushed off nonchalantly and laughed about. Or shrieked and danced around flapping my hands... I forget which.

I would like to say TFTC but I’m not entirely sure that covers it...

Perhaps the most beautiful cache we've been to :-)

Spotted at Selbac 2nd anniversary! What a beautiful coin!