CITO in the sunshine!

Today I was able to adorn my profile with a new BadgeGen badge (Silver CITO) and souvenir (CITO 2013):

But more importantly than that I got to take part in a great event where I had the opportunity to contribute to the upkeep of our local environment by litter-picking with dozens of other cachers on Meon Shore in what is turning out to be an annual event. Much better than last year which was a total wash-out, the sun was out the whole time!

Another highlight of the day was spending time with other people of like mind, particularly Cat a Tonic and Mellers. Many thanks for your company!

I look forward to the next CITO event, whenever that may be. They tend to come only in annual waves and at Megas so maybe I'll take part in one in the Midlands in August. Always feels so satisfying at the end though; wish these were more common event types. 

Reviving my inner orienteer!

It's been far too long since I took up a detailed O map and compass to locate controls at a run. Very glad I got in contact with Southampton Orienteering Club and turned up to the event this morning. I think perhaps the orange course was a little too basic for me, but I thought it would be best not to overestimate it! I was looking forward to going to the next events, but I am otherwise committed for the next few weeks. Oh well, in time!

Cache #2000 in South Wales

I hadn't intended to get my 2000 cache milestone whilst enjoying a four-night stay back with my parents in Wales but as cheesescones, cloudspotter and I went and mopped up loads of caches in Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and West Glamorgan I thought that I would be within touching distance of this large milestone. Time to seriously consider what cache it should be before I overshoot it and find I've landed myself with a dull cache 'n' dash for the big one!

Bunkered? was a cache I'd been eyeing up for some time, ever since it was published in fact! But living so far away I never really got the chance to seriously consider it! Now was my opportunity though so when I was on cache number 1993 cheesescones and I made our way to Pembrey Country Park via some caches en route (Sluice Gate being another excellent hide). I have been to Pembrey a few times and done some great orienteering there but I love it so much - to me it's like a small taste of heaven right here, right now. There's just something for all the family there. So being able to get my milestone in one of my favourite places on earth (Rhossili Bay and Toronto being the main others) was a real pleasure.

Did the cache disappoint? Hell no! I won't give away all the details just in case you're ever in the area and want to have a go yourself, but basically it involves a bit of crawling through an old disused bunker. When I saw what I had to do, I had doubts for a second then threw myself in (literally) and enjoyed the different caching experience. Cache found, number 2000 achieved, favourite point duly awarded!

When I got home later, I read up more on the history of the area and found that Pembrey has actually got a rather sinister history and the neighbouring forest is supposedly haunted. Make of that what you will, but it was a little creepy seeing the very bunker I'd been in filmed briefly for an episode of Most Haunted! (See below)