The Real Boudica.
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Posts posted by The Real Boudica.
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And if you want to walk it this time of year then you have to consider the daylight hours and also how you will get back to your start
How about returning by boat ... then you could have another 'boat only' series for the return!
(sorry, I'll get me coat!)
Ooh now you are talking, I was chatting to my hubby last night and he got quite excited about the idea of doing this by canoe. I pointed out that we would have to get in and out 100 times, but walk there canoe back. Oh but 14 mile walk then 14 mile paddle, possibly a little too much of a challenge, unless its windy and we can get out the umbrella 'sail'
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And everyone stop castigating others for playing the game the way they want to.
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Well no because I went walking before I heard of caching, this just adds another dimension to a walk. If I thought I was going to find amazing caches I might be disappointed, but if the caches take me on a walk I probably wouldn't have done otherwise then I wont feel cheated because without the caches I wouldn't have done it, as I have said before thats one of my favourite things about this game, you have other priorities and thats fine, for you. To me and many others a walk along a canal with an incentive to walk that little bit further than we might do otherwise sounds a good way to spend a few hours.
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I agree I would like to attempt at least part of it. Back to the quality over quantity debate though, it would be really frustrating if they were all sneaky hides. It took us 5 hours (inc lunch stop) to to a 5 mile walk once and if these caches were harder to find
we would be there all day and night. Some caches are a challenge, some caching walks are. -
If you ever find any of my caches I would rather you gave me an honest opinion, whether it be good or bad.I am fairly new but have come across some caches I would rather have avoided in hindsight, but would never want to highlight them in public and make CO's feel bad.As a proponent of quality caching I prefer logs to be of good quality, as well as caches. But the difference between a bad quality log and a good quality log is not that one criticises the cache and the other heaps praise on it. What differentiates them for me is the amount of thought and effort that the logger has put into it. E.g. a log where the finder takes the trouble to clearly explain good reasons why he believes a cache is in a poor location is a good quality log. A blank log, just TFTC, or copy and pasted logs are poor quality logs.
Of COURSE I like to receive logs that say the finder enjoyed my cache - but ONLY if they really did. If they didn't enjoy it, but didn't say so (especially if lots of people do the same) I'm more likely to put out other caches they won't enjoy.
Rgds, Andy
Amberel, when I ever come across any of your caches I will make sure I do give an honest opinion, as you have asked for it, although as I am sure that your caches reflect your feelings then I would hope they would be worthwhile. If I had any criticism I would probably do so via private means rather than on a forum or cache log.
I don't think I have ever written any one word logs, as right from the start I appreciated the effort people had put into even the most mundane of hides. But you can probably tell from my logs the ones I have enjoyed most and those I have least
. I do tend to ramble a bit about my experience but try to always ensure my gratitude comes across in some way, without praising it if its not really worthy, and I have had some nice emails from CO's whose caches I have really enjoyed. If I ever attempt all or part of the Essex Power Trail I would try to write something different on each cache (I say try even with my wordiness I might strggle a hundred times) I you check the cache pages for even one of them, most if not all the logs were more than TFTC (even if they are mostly cutnpaste)and thanked the placers for a great walk, one of the reasons I like caching, its like a little tour guide.
And also, interestingly a lot of mel-rays caches have several favourite points which suggest (I know not proof) that they are also a proponent of 'quality' caches too, but sometimes all we want is a nice walk with out too much faffing and the feeling of your number count increasing.
Off topic, looking at the map of the walk, theres an awful lot of puzzles down there
and mel-ray how do you manage to set a series in a smiley face, my friend suggested a straight line as in all on the same line of longitude or latitude but we thought that would be rather hard to manage to find hiding spots in the right places. -
or at least bad for what I would like caching to be.
Rgds, Andy
Thats the bit you should take note of mel-ray, I can understand how those posts come across as criticism of you. But it is only bad for the type of caching Amberel likes to do, and others no doubt, thats their personal view/choice, there are also those who will enjoy the challenge and the walk, and for them it is only good.
Personally I think that is the beauty of this game, there is something for everyone and you get to choose what you want to do. I am fairly new but have come across some caches I would rather have avoided in hindsight, but would never want to highlight them in public and make CO's feel bad. I am not a fan of caches in built up areas, I get too nervous and it ruins the hunt for me, so for now I will avoid those. No doubt when I have routed out all the out of the way ones nearby I might give them a go.
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you did notice the dates didn't you eusty
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I thought it was mean't to be a breast bust??
Actually I noticed GOF's was on someone else yesterday, I just thought it was all part of the funyou guys have, can't remember who but it was the poster before him although he still had his which was why I noticed.
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The phone works fine when services to it are available but there are some things to think about.
1. Caching in an area w/o 3G service. I spend quite a bit of time in that environment so the phone wouldn't work.
2. Battery life. I am often out for 7-9 hours. Phone batteries don't last that long when using the gps (it chews them up pretty good).
3. Ruggedness is a factor since when out hiking or biking they get jostled around and even dropped a few times. Phones can't take the abus
So.
4. Touch screen devices often are have visibility issues in the sunlight.
1. Phones do work fine out of signal area (certainly android do cant say for iphones), either via PQs, or if not available to you for whatever reason, spend a bit of down time in a serviced area (I used to use our local pub with free wifi
) saving individual caches for offline use. It does take a while (a few pints/visits) but eventually I had about 150 caches in my immediate area saved for future use offline. Just takes a bit of planning (extra trips to the pub) if you intend to visit a new area. I keep trying to convince my caching buddy to do this but we always have delays while she wanders around trying to get a data signal.2. Depending on the app you use, use the screen lock in between viewing the navigation page, this makes my battery last at least twice as long. And get a spare, or two, mine was £2.99. Far cheaper than a handheld.
3. Lots of people bring this issue up and I realise I cache on the completely unrugged East Anglian coast, UK. I have never seen this to much of an issue when you have a decent case. My only fear is dropping it in water but even a handheld gps would sink if I dropped it in a river I think.
4. My SGS is absolutely fine so I guess it depends on the phone.
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I often have a 'bag' in hand. If caught caching I just pretend and scoop up some leaves, must remember not to try that when I don't have a dog with me.
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Quite, if I found what I REALLY thought was body parts there is no way I would be investigating further. If this had gone the other way, the OP thought they were fake and were actually real and they ended up messing with vital evidence, we'd probably be heaping scorn on them for that, and that really would have given geocachers an bad rap.
Not being there we should give the benefit of the doubt and reckon caution was probably the better route.
editted cos i can't work out where capitals GO
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Ahh thank you. I think I was trying to make it more complicated. As you say the picture describes it much better than words.
I am a phone user and was trying to work out how to make a new waypoint but as you say for short distances there is no need. For longer I will try an app, there seems to be a couple that say they can do this!! GCC is one free one but has so many tools some of which I have no idea what they could possibly mean I suspect it might be a bit of overkill, another is GeoMT for 99p.
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We will succeed!
We didn't
but still good fun, bumped into a gagle of geomobbers. When we got back the reviewer had disabled one because it hasn't been found since placed a month ago or so. But not another thats still up for grabs. Seemed a bit random and a bit off, are we only allowed to set easy caches that get found straight away now.
Edit: Just had an email from the CO (yes I had asked for clues
) it seems at least one of the unfound ones has definately gone missing so they have personally disabled the whole lot till they can get out to check on them all, hopefully on Sunday. He says the one he was able to check easily was in such a place it seems to have been deliberately removed 
needless to say he is rather disappointed, especially after all the time it took to get the RSPB to agree to them.We read threads all the time about caches being removed due to lack of permission, these had that in place and I can say that some of those we found are very unlikely to have been muggled by accident, so it does seem they may have been taken deliberately. I will wait and see the outcome of their check.
Its still a bl**ddy good walk though.
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I am a bit in the dark about this. Is projecting a waypoint something like move 200m @ 230 degrees? How do you work that out? I could probably manage the degree correction but have no idea how degrees/minutes relate to distance, do I need to know? Its one of those conundrums that confuse my brain the more I think about it, and being reasonably intelligent and inquisitive I want to know and it annoys me. Can anyone help me out?
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How to put it back on topic - my dog is rubbish at caching, he hates it, walks are for walking, not rummaging in bushes, if we stop and he is off the lead he legs it and as he's deaf we have to leg it after him, as a consequence he doesn't often come. I do go with a friend and her two terrier cross cross crosses who are a joy to watch speeding off into the undergrowth but we were wondering at the weekend, looking for a cache with a clue 'at ground level' why they haven't learnt to sniff caches out yet?
Does anyone have a dog that does?
Having said that the collie we are looking after has helped out once. Perhaps I could take a day off and go out with her?
Back off topic for a wee while..........
@ thehoomer, they definately know whos the boss, at its not their male owner or my husband! And the one you met thats the sort of owner who shouldn't have a dog, why they bother I don't know.
@ drsolly, I am with you there, what is it with the picking up of poo and then hanging it in a tree, surely its the act of picking it up thats the most objectionable bit, once its in the bag you're good to go? Or is that an alternative geocache idea?
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Having unkowningly acquired a staffie cross collie (see previous post, he was so underweight he looked nothing like a staffie) we have tried to find out about their personality traits over the years, I am sure someone will disagree with me, but although they are indeed very good with people, they aren't as keen on other dogs, this is a natural breed trait as they were originally bred for bull baiting and dog fighting. Their ability to lockjaw makes it a very dangerous thing but as said so many times in this thread, its the owners, people need to know their dogs and their breed/s and train or adjust their behaviour accordingly.
We have seen it withour boy, we lived on a farm till he was 9 and so rarely socialised him with other dogs, mistake, once we moved although he was older and calmer he had regular contact with a friends collie, not a sociable dog in the least, not really interested in people other than its owners but so agressive with other dogs when with her dad on her lead! Totally a protection thing, we have slowly tried to train the dad
not to tense up when other dogs are about, but at times I have taken her lead when other dogs are about to prove to him what going on. As both dogs come with us to the local pub regularly this can cause some drama, if the collie goes for something our boy will invariably leap on her as if to say 'what do you think you are doing'. Despite his age he still doesn't like it if any dog showns signs of aggression towards him even if only percieved like friendly barking and boisterousness but generally will give a box as a warning then a snap if that is ignored when being socialised, but dogs passing in the street are another matter. However the only dog I can recall him proper scrapping with is our friends collie, but that is purely because we have let our guards down. They still have a go about once a year just to remind us what they are! The other thing he does do though is shake when dogs are around, other staffie owners have said this is quite common, I can only put it down to that inbred trait, they don't want to fight but they will if provoked and so get into a state of anxiety.
On a side note we have just agreed to look after the collie for a couple of days next week while the owners are away. Not sure what we have let ourselves and our old man in for!
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Those caches round minsmere look good, they should occupy us for a few hours of dog walking/birdwatching/caching
There are some which seem slightly dubious though - some recent ones been put out some of which don't seem to have been found yet and there doesn't seem to be a note from the cache owners at all.
The CO emailed me after we first did them, the two that have not been found are meant to be a bit tricky apparently and he has changed the hint on one as no-one understood it. We are definately trying again on Sunday, had a good look at the maps this time. We will succeed! I had a suspicion the co-ords might be slightly out but as we dont have handhelds only phones I wouldn't like to swear to it, and others who found one we didn't, say they were spot on, for most the hints were good enough to guess at the hiding spots which have been chosen carefully. The caches are not the most adventurous for sure but definately aren't poor and the walk is the best, which is why we go caching.
If you are out that way, Blue Square Thing, Dunwich Dial Dilema and Confused Lock Com plus bonus's are good fun you might need a gps though!
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Those caches round minsmere look good, they should occupy us for a few hours of dog walking/birdwatching/caching
If you/your friends are into birding then that walk will certainly give something for everyone, and plenty of time for dogs off leads too, the walk actually circles around outside the Minsmere reserve although the first one is (unsurprisingly) near one of the public hides, if you start at the Coastguards Cottages parking is £4.50 Natonal trust but there are a few pull in parking spaces along the access road if you can manage the extra steps, then the Eels Foot Pub Eastridge just after No. 4 is well worth a stop, dogs very welcome, or you could start in Eastbridge and stop at the cafe at the Coastguards.
Think we might be heading back there this weekend to see if we can find the elusive two unfound. There are few more you can pick up on the way round as well. Eels Foot Silver Box, Deer walk to the Cliffs and some of the (very) easy but educational Dunwich Heath ones are on the way back to the car. I have always loved this area but have never mangeed to orientate myself much to hubbys disgust, caching has helped me actually figure out where I am.
If you get time for a bit of fun really try and do a Bassett or two, they aren't really hard just ingenious feats, my favourite is TB's Nemesis, my caching buddy likes Wily Wanderer best, hubby prefers Dr Munnings but that took us ages to find.
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Look for any of the Bassett caches, in and south of Lowestoft, only done a few (cos I am rationing myself
) but they are great. Wily Wanderer, Enigma, Fuzzys Reward, TB's Nemesis, Pig Pen Revenge and more. But if the friends are new to the game you will have to warn them not all caches are like these!! Doh bendos beat me to itHow long a walk are you thinking. How far to travel, do you want nice walks or great caches. Look around Walberswick/Southwold we have some good stuff. Dunwich Heath National Trust (4ish miles easy caches but great walk) & Dunwich Woods (similar distance some good and some great caches and lovely woodland walks) Minsmere Circular (5+ miles but the prettiest circular walk in Suffolk with every habitat you could expect to find and a great pub halfway round and AFAIR two FTF still to go at the mo) all the latter three areas are close by each other just over half hour from Lowestoft.
Also the CO's 'The Trekbuddies' and 'Dawn and Dave' have a good reputations, lots of interesting looking caches in the town itself as well, don't recall doing any of theirs yet but have my eye on the Lound Heath series north of 'Lowey' and Back of Beyond which is and to the south west. To be honest I think you will be spoilt for choice with out having to travel far.
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When I first saw that clip I thought it was quite humorous, now, I don't.
Two potentially dreadful outcomes....
1) Should the Gamekeeper have been around, I think I am right in saying he would've been within his rights to shoot Benton/Fenton for worrying the deer. I know this rule applies with farmers & livestock but I'm not 100% about this instance.
2) Benton/Fenton was not only chasing the deer, he was heading toward (what looked to be) fast moving traffic.
After the initial laugh, I listened more carefully to the sheer panic in the mans voice as he attempted to get his dog back and thereafter, looked on this clip with very different eyes.
I'm with you there although I think I am erring on the its still funny side. On the basis that I hope no real harm came to any parties. It the sheer panic/embarrasment that I find funny and slightly reminiscent (although it could have turned out very badly and I must repent my evil streak inside). Our boy is so deaf now he seems to hear sounds from the wrong direction, he also seems slightly senile. We are seriously having to consider getting a retractable lead as its not safe to let him off for our own sanity anymore. He has habits of deciding we aren't there anymore but he can find us by trotting off in the wrong direction, because of the weird hearing thing the louder we yell the more he trots off in the wrong direction. If he stops for a pee and turns himself round in the process that adds to his confusion. It turns a nice peaceful walk into a trauma but I just hate the bulky handles on those things.
I agree with the bell thing, not many cyclists seem to have them anymore, around us there are lots of narrow paths and cyclists do tend to creep up behind you and then get impatient if you don't hear them in time and they have to have a wobble.
I had been wondering about the bold, my husband works on a local estate which runs a shoot. His boss the farmer has always maintained his unequivical right to shoot a dog on sight if its worrying his livestock. Recently I asked about dogs that chase game birds and what the gamekeepers rights were, hubby said the same as far as he knew.
So I just looked it up, penned animals, such as rearing birds are considered livestock, as soon as they are released they are considered wild game otherwise the guns would not be allowed to shoot them. Are the deer in parks like that wild or farmed? I think they are probably considered game as they are routinely culled. In which case a gamekeeper has no legal right to shoot a dog (or cat) but there is potential for the owner to be prosecuted(of a dog only, apparently owners are not responsible for their cats actions). They are within their rights to ask that the dog be kept on a lead though.
When the animals are considered livestock the right to shoot applies to a landowner, occupier or his servant (potentially in my husbands situation servant could be him
or the game keeper) when an animal is worrying his livestock and there is no other way to reasonably end the worrying. Bit open ended really, the good old 'reasonable'. The Protection of Livestock act is actually intended to provide for the punishment of owners not dogs.
So even the law seems to agree 'its not the mutt its the owner'
Getting a farmer or gamekeeper to appreciate this before the deed is done though might be a different matter -
So sorry for the long burble, to sum up good dog owners pick up after thier dogs, get thier dog on a lead where appropriate - fields that may contain livestock, near any known triggers (ChihuahuaX hates runners and bikes and will chase and bark, if not on a lead), near any new situations for the dog (with ChihuahuaX we have recently met horses being ridden for the first time, so on goes the lead) and obviously near traffic.
now if only we can get the cows to poopa scoop ;-)
I feel for those who have had bad experiences, dog owners infuriate me. I am one, an owner that it is, we do like the dog to be off lead when possible its nicer for them and us but we always keep an eye out for hazards.
We got him 10 years ago as a rescue, funny though he had been in the 'rescue home' for over two years, was about 10kg underweight, had chewed the end of his tail to the point the vet wasn't sure it would recover, and his claws were worn down to half a nail bed from being kennel crazy. We didn't know what he was when we got him and his back story was that he had been given up beacuse he lived in a housing estate and chased cats!!!!!!!! We just both fell for him independently probably because he wasn't giving us puppy dog eyes, he was too busy chasing himself.
Anyways, turns out he was a staffie cross collie, we honestly couldn't tell this to begin with he was in such a bad way. Once he filled out we were well aware that he looked, well a bit scary to some people, we thought he was handsome of course, he was full of energy and excitement at having a nice home and lovely walks. When we got him we learn't our lesson the hard way. We had got to the point where we trusted him off lead, he was too attached to us by then to bother with anything in case we left him behind, went to a deserted beach and let him off. Suddenly a man appears with a big striding stick, dog goes, not for him but the stick. The man tries to fight him off, with the stick. The dog doesn’t like the stick, battle ensues. This was the first sign that he had been mistreated in more ways than just neglect!! The next thing that happened was a few months later, he was a good dog, he had really settled, we had him on lead in a public bar when he decided out of the blue to take offence at a small girl walking past, just barking aggressively, not attempting to bite, this behaviour happened a couple more times. We did some digging over the years and reached the conclusion that a. he had been beaten b. a small girl in the family had also mistreated him in some way c. the most disturbing thing was it appeared the beatings were done whilst he was muzzled.
He is 16 now, he still doesn't particularly do other dogs, having to fight for supremacy for two years did that to him, but he doesn't really bother. He loves adults and fuss. He is great around livestock as we were lucky enough to live on a farm when we got him and he was 'trained' with an electric fenced paddock of sheep on the farmers request. He puts up with children if he has to.
With patience and understanding he has been an absolute pleasure to own, almost everyone loves him, yes even those who might not like dogs otherwise, we want to put him up for town mayor if he is still around next year, he will win
The only point being we always put him on lead when other people approach, whether they look wary or not. You cannot trust a dog ever. And I want people who have had bad experiences to hopefully get over it in time just like he has, not have their fears exacerbated every time they meet a dog.
On the other side it sends me up the wall when other people do the 'oh he’s ok', 'just being friendly' blah blah. Your dog might be ok but I hope you don't mind if mine bites him if he gets too close. You can see what I am doing why can you not take a prompt from it? And don't look all hurt and surprised when he does.
A friend of mine has too small terriers crosses who are really cute, but don’t do children. The other day a 4 year old ran up to one grabbed him by the ears and kissed him, he was so shocked he didn’t do a thing but his sister had snapped before he could reach her, no damage done apart from to the owner, they were traumatised, it happened so quickly and they are aware and responsible owners, the parent were like ‘oh he does that sort of thing all the time’?!?!
There are so many sides to every situation I despair sometimes.
There that’s a burble.
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Well done
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I generally get cheap boots from the factory shop, brantano, sports direct and other cut price outfits, and they are so hit and miss. I have decided they are generally seconds of some kind and it depends what the problem was whether they last. I bought a great pair from factory shop about 7 years ago, they were by Groundwork and lasted me about 3 years for £15, wore them everywhere, not just hiking, cos they looked good, were lightweight and had great ankle support, never seen them again. Still have them for dry day walks even though the soles now leak. They are brown with little bits of pink on just to make me feel a bit girly, but I have always suspected it was the colour choice that meant they ended up in the cheap bin. Others you can pay up to £30 and they fall apart in a few weeks.
The factory shop is great though, everytime we go we guess at what we will get free, another time I got a pair of awesome trainers free, they just forgot to scan them, other times they seem to have the wrong prices on them, I always make the husband walk away from the till so he doesn't break out in a big grin when he realises they have messed it up again
we would be there all day and night. Some caches are a challenge, some caching walks are.
. I do tend to ramble a bit about my experience but try to always ensure my gratitude comes across in some way, without praising it if its not really worthy, and I have had some nice emails from CO's whose caches I have really enjoyed. 
and mel-ray how do you manage to set a series in a smiley face, my friend suggested a straight line as in all on the same line of longitude or latitude but we thought that would be rather hard to manage to find hiding spots in the right places.
but still good fun, bumped into a gagle of geomobbers. 
) it seems at least one of the unfound ones has definately gone missing so they have personally disabled the whole lot till they can get out to check on them all, hopefully on Sunday. He says the one he was able to check easily was in such a place it seems to have been deliberately removed 
needless to say he is rather disappointed, especially after all the time it took to get the RSPB to agree to them.
) but they are great. Wily Wanderer, Enigma, Fuzzys Reward, TB's Nemesis, Pig Pen Revenge and more. But if the friends are new to the game you will have to warn them not all caches are like these!! Doh bendos beat me to it
Getting a farmer or gamekeeper to appreciate this before the deed is done though might be a different matter 
Power Trail in Essex
in United Kingdom and Ireland
Posted
Early July we canoed the Stour over two days, which was stunning (and I saw my first wild otter
) then shortly after I (re) discovered geocaching only to find there are a few hidden along the Stour, as hubby is keen to go back this year I am looking forward to getting them on the way, though not even close to a powertrail, I see there were a few more hidden for the event at Bures on Tuesday.
Its one of my bored time pastimes, looking at places we have been and seeing what caches are there, tucked away that we knew nothing about!
With the utmost respect Amberel, you say you are not trying to convert others to your way of thinking, but your posts, to me at least, do come across quite sermonizing, rather than simply a point of view we are allowed to disagree with, I too get what you are trying to say, but neither is anyone trying to convince you to change your mind, just to accept that there may be no right or wrong way.
Mmm, I really mean the respect bit 'sermonizing' isn't quite the right phrase I'm not even sure it is a word, but I couldn't think of a better one, apologies.
For what my newbie 6p is worth, as long as there are people like you who do encourage quality caching, and there are plenty, I don't think there is a risk of caching in the UK becoming a Powertrail frenzy. Looking at the forums it seems it might beome more of an issue in other countries, but we don't really have the Alien Head type landscapes or the Route 66 style roads where this would really be practical or possible (I don't think). Any new cachers coming into the game starting off with what you describe as 'bland,totally obvious' locations and '35mm film cans dropped behind a post', will either drop out quite quickly, because you are right, if thats all caching was it would get boring, or they will stick with it, explore the community and get to know that there is more to it than that.