I've caught a new bug! An excellent new hobby, which I'm very much enjoying. Geocaching.
I'd heard of it of course, here and there. But I'd never tried it. Until Easter Monday. We were relaxing at Mum's and wondering what to do with ourselves. We did a wee bit of research and chose our first geocache - one nearby in the village (A Quiet Oasis).
We togged up in coats, hats and scarves and strapped Baby R on. Then we marched off, compass in hand, through the streets of Mayland. We'd seen on the map that the cache was near to my old primary school, so we knew roughly where we were going. Here's a little clue - it was somewhere around here:
This was the moment we all caught the bug - when Mum discovered the little tupperware and we found the logbook and little trinkets inside. SO exciting. I always longed to do treasure hunts as a child and this was a genuine grown-up treasure hunt, treasure and all! The thrill of finding a secret box in a secret location is simply superb. Lots of childish giggles were heard floating on the icy blasts of Arctic wind that swept past us.
Frozen but elated, we wandered home through the fields, and spotted this at the edge of one. I think it's a fox - would you agree?
Later that very day we had a go at a multi-cache in Burnham-on-Crouch, but we were simply unprepared. We were able to crack the mysterious code and follow the co-ordinates to the location of the cache. But we didn't know (until, despondent, we'd returned home and did some more research online) that caches could be really, REALLY tiny. We'll have to go back one day and find that one.
Mum and I also had a little adventure in Tiptree on Tuesday and managed to find a magnetic micro-cache. Well, in truth, Mum found it while I dealt with a bit of a nappy situation on the front seat of the car. Tee hee hee. Very satisfying to find such a well-hidden and miniature treasure!
Today we went on our most successful geocaching mission thus far, to the neighbouring village of Woolpit. It was a GORGEOUS afternoon, and the bright sunshine and blue sky called us out. "No," said the fluffy clouds, "Don't mow the lawn and weed the patio... go for a nice walk instead! Find some hidden treasures!" And who were we to disobey?
We found the first cache very quickly, as it was only a matter of metres from the parking spot. Well hidden and very exciting, since it was the first one I'd actually spotted myself.
We signed the log, which was so small it was just a wee piece of paper. A well-used cache though - been found lots of times.
Spurred on by this success, we meandered through the village on the hunt for the second. Again, I spotted it first, although we were trying to be quite quiet as there was a "muggle" nearby and we didn't want to appear silly! Lovely little smurf in this one!
As we wandered from cache to cache, we enjoyed looking round the backstreets of Woolpit. Only ever been to the high street and the health centre before. There are some beautiful old buildings. Really quaint and peaceful.
The sky above us was so blue and the sun was actually warm on our faces! After months of snow, ice, sleet and leaden-grey skies, it was a very nice change.
It was Baby R's first taste of WARM sunshine, and he seemed to enjoy it. He was perfectly content just watching the world go by from his buggy, snuggled under blankets.
I spotted this cute little bunch of snowdrops under a hedge.
Some more caches were located. Some more logs were signed. There was one we simply couldn't find although we were certain we were in the right spot. Quite frustrating.
And we saw such amazing spring sights. Just look at these lovely weeds. Are they weeds? I'm guessing so, since they were growing wild on a grass verge.
I love the way the sky looks through tree branches.
Such a beautiful day!
It was a very serene way to spend an afternoon, and we got to enjoy that lovely tingly feeling when we stepped back into our warm house with red cheeks and tired feet.
I am officially hooked!