Our D/T grid

Our Difficulty and Terrain grid is filling up nicely. Today we added a new D/T rating to the grid (it will be on there when I update the stats).

After a bit of tree climbing and searching, I found a 5/4 cache- a great new rating to get.

Caching by Bike

With Big QC at a party, Mr QC and I took the opportunity to ride round a few circuits near Devizes. Little QC has loved being on the bike recently so was quite happy to sit back and let me do all the hard work.
We picked 2 series that formed a figure of 8, all on byways. The route wasn't quite as flat as I'd read, but we didn't need to walk up any hills! Seeing as we both once too part in triathlons we weren't quite as bike unfit as we thought. It was a great ride and one which took us through some amazing scenery.
We found 22 caches before we headed off to a nearby pub.

What a big cache!

Little QC and I found this cache recently. The cache was the end result of a challenge; to find a cache published in every month since 2005. I had one date that proved tricky to find, but eventually I found it. Little QC and I headed off on my bike to the cache...and this is what we found...

Ewwww!

Ewwwwww to this cache container!

"and I shall name him Ratty."

Lots of series!

Over the last few weeks, we've been round a few series. I took Big QC round the Cache and Cake series (19 caches/3.6 miles) as she wanted to hit her 1000 cache milestone.

I then walked round the new Hannington Hop series which was an excellent loop. The following day we did the Loncott loop which was very very hard. At least half of the 5 mile loop was through head high rape seed fields. This would have been ok had we not had to push the buggy through 10cm width overgrown paths. I ended up carrying Little QC, he is about 26lbs now so was quite a heavy lump!By the end of the series, it wasn't fun. I have never wished a series to end like this one. It would be absolutely fine without a buggy...or hayfever!

As a family, we had a wander round the Kelmscott series. We have walked many of the other series set by this cache owner, as usual, the route did not disappoint and we had a great few hours.

I finished off The Skylers series. I started this series in the Autumn, but never finished it off, so I took the opportunity to last week. This was a fab series and highly recommended.

Hopping around Hannington

A new series of 20 caches over 4.5 miles popped up last week so a caching friend and myself headed off to walk round it.

It was a lovely, fairly flat walk in the Hampshire countryside. I spotted a few more caches that looked clse by so I suggested a short detour. *Short* was in fact an extra 2 miles due to me misreading a path on the GPS! By the end of the walk we'd logged up 25 caches and 6.7 miles.

Lacock Wandering

Lacock, home to numerous films and TV filmings including Harry Potter!
I started the 6.5 mile walk at 9am, having left Mr QC at home with the two kids. I DNF'd the first cache due to some bizarre maths on my part! The rest of the series was excellent, the hides were brilliant, the cache containers ranged from boxes, to snails, logs etc. By the end of the walk I'd found all 20 caches, plus 3 extra on the circuit. I went back and recalculated my DNF and then found the cache very easily.

In the afternoon we all went for a walk as Big QC wanted to get her 1000th find. We did another 19 caches over 3.5 miles.

My legs are seriously tired tonight! A chance to recover on the sofa was non existent as Little QC was being a hyper boy!

North Hidden Series

Today, I had a wander round a new series called The North Hidden Series. The series is located just south of junction 14 of the M4. There were 10 caches on the series plus an extra set by another cacher over a distance of about 3.5 miles.

I set off from #6 as it was easier to park there today. There was a real mixture of hides and cache containers, plus a multi incorporated into the walk. Half of the series was on very quiet roads, I was passed by 3 cars on the entire series. I had one stile to cross which is always a bonus! This was a great walk and one that both Little QC and I both enjoyed a lot.
I didn't realise how close we were to the M4, it was barely audible but could be seen not far away:

Bank Holiday Caching

Over the long weekend we went down to the New Forest. We spent some time on the Friday walking round the Michelmersh series (19 puzzle caches over 4.5 miles). Saturday was spent at Paultons Park where the kids had so much fun, we picked up one cache at the supermarket on the way back to our campsite. On Sunday, I took both Big and Little QC to an event cache, run by one of the top 3 UK cachers. We spent the event catching up with old friends and making new ones. There was a multi close by that we all attempted en masse. It was far harder than I imagined. Big QC was helped down a very steep slope by one cacher and carried back up by another cacher! I had Little QC in my arms; it would have been much easier without 26lbs of boy to hold!

We then moved onto the Verwood series (4.5 miles and 14 caches). We'd been told by the cachers at the event that the route could be cycled. Big QC jumped on her bike and headed off. I had to run to keep up. I haven't run properly in at least 5 years. My last proper race was the Stockholm Marathon when Big QC was 18 months old! Anyhow, we found all the caches before heading back to the tent. I cannot remember falling asleep, all that running with the buggy was hard going!

On Monday we took in two caches before heading back home, one of which was a virtual cache based around the author Arthur Conan Doyle.

Michelmersh Puzzle Series

We spotted this series of 19 puzzle caches last week. Big QC decided it would be fun to have a large smiley face on her caching map, so I set about solving the puzzles. I managed 18 of the 19 puzzles. We set off on Royal Wedding day and walked round the 4.5 mile loop collecting the caches as we went. We even managed to pick up the cache to the puzzle we couldn't solve! A great walk and a fun smiley to have.