As explained on the title page, geocaching is one of our main hobbies, and it involves wandering about the countryside following a signal from a GPS receiver until you either find the cache you're searching for, or give up in disgust. Luckily we have only had to do the latter on a couple of occasions :-)

Cache containers can vary widely, although the most common is probably the lunch-box type tupperware container. We have found large and small tupperware boxes, screw-top beakers, metal ammo boxes, 35mm film canisters and even the tiny metal tubes usually used to attach address details to pet collars.

The types of location where a cache may be found varies even more. They can be found in town, village or countryside, sometimes in the most ingenious hiding place. They may tucked under a tree root, hiding in a sign-post or, on one memorable occasion, underwater, attached to the mooring rope of a canal narrowboat. Although "hidden at the base of an ivy-covered tree" does seem to have become something of a geocaching cliche, you really never know quite what you're going to find.

I think the main reason we enjoy geocaching so much is that it gives you a reason to get out-and-about, visiting places you may never have come across otherwise, and getting plenty of exercise into the bargain. We generally prefer trying to find two or three caches on a trip, combining them if possible into a circular walk (ideally with a pub somewhere en-route!) - the main purpose is the hike, the fresh-air, the scenery and the feeling of achievement, rather than the caches themselves.

This page contains a set of statistics for all the Caches we have visited, for sad people like me who like that sort of thing! You an also access a page showing a sort of "diary" of our various caching trips. At the point I started writing it, we had already visited over 100 caches, so the early ones are limited as to detail, but hopefully later ones will have much more information. I hope reading about our experiences will tempt others into trying this fun and healthy hobby, and that they get as much out of it as we do.

80)	28-Aug-2005
	Link to Bookcrossing
Enjoyed the walk in the Bank Holiday sunshine - nice easy find, GPS took us straight to it.
79)	28-Aug-2005
	Camp Copse
Another cache near Barby - a lovely little spot, hidden away from sight til you get there. Luckily no sign of the bull. There was a sign that said "beware of the bull" but I'm not sure how helpful that actually is - is he less likely to charge if he notices you're "being ware"??
78)	28-Aug-2005
	Sir Zakelot
Lovely walk along the canal near Barby, but you really do need to watch out for some of those edges!
77)	28-Aug-2005
	M1 Drive By Series Jn 18
Near the village of Crick, just off the M1 in Warwickshire. Lovely walk on a sunny Bank Holiday weekend, although my combination of shorts and sandals didn't go down too well with the nettle population!
76)	31-Jul-2005
	Sudoku Stealth
This was an unusual one - you have to do a Sudoku puzzle to get four numbers for a combination lock to open the cache box! The box itself took a bit of finding - we spotted a likely hiding place straight away, but no joy so we kept poking around. Instinct kept taking me back to one location, but couldn't find it. Sent Dave to have a look in the same place - and there is was! Not sure how I missed it! Luck ran out at that point, as none of our combinations seemed to work. We were so absorbed, we failed to spot some potential muggles approaching - but luckily they turned out to be a fellow geocaching team (snerdbe). Just as well, as he had different numbers to us - turns out we'd solved the puzzle corectly, but greyed-out one of the wrong boxes! Still turned out to be the last of snerdbe's combinations we tried though!
75)	31-Jul-2005
	Cropredy Bridge
Short but pleasant walk round the village of Cropredy in Warwickshire, site of the Battle of Cropredy Bridge fought during the English Civil War in 1644. We went to the suggested Red Lion, but they'd stopped serving, so we carried on and had a very nice meal in the Braenose Arms instead - well worth a vist - very nice pint of Adnam's Broadside too
74)	31-Jul-2005
	Stone's Throw
Not the most pleasant walk I'm afraid, but that may just have been the time of year. Paths were very overgrown in places - shoulder-height nettles and short-sleeved t-shirts aren't the best combination! Walking along the cornfield was a little awkward, but there were nice views before that point. Dave nearly stepped on a snake, which he swears was about three feet long - all I saw was moving grass, however, so I can't comment
73)	31-Jul-2005
	St. Peter's Corner
Second attempt at this one - we tried to find it while doing the other Edgehill caches a few weeks ago - we were looking it the right place last time, but somehow failed to find it - this time found it in seconds!
72)	09-Jul-2005
	Puerile Photo-Cache No. 2 - Splashing Out
Found with small nephews while visiting Cuddington Fete - little Ben won a coconut!
71)	18-Jun-2005
	Building Bridges
Stopped off in Wetherby to buy a helium balloon for my nephew's 5th birthday, and couldn't resist picking up a cache while we were here. Lovely spot, but very hot today - lots of people out enjoying the sunshine so we had to be extra careful!
70)	05-Jun-2005
	Castle View
Hurray! Our first ever FTF (first-to-find for the uninitiated!) after being beaten to the mark by an hour or two on several occasions. Since we didn't set off til 12:30, we were convinced we'd end up being second again - but we made it! Lovely spot for a cache, with great views of my favourite local castle.
69)	30-May-2005
	Ram Pump Walk 21
Second of two linked multi-caches today near Meriden, both from a series of caches set by the "A Coventry Way Association". Lovely walk with panoramic views in the Bank Holiday sunshine.
68)	20-May-2005
	Broad Ridge Walk 21
First of two linked multi-caches today near Meriden, both from a series of caches set by the "A Coventry Way Association". This cache contained co-ordinates required for the second one. Lovely walk with panoramic views in the Bank Holiday sunshine.
67)	29-May-2005
	Blue Bells
Cache in Oakley Woods south of Leamington Spa, with parking in the grounds of a Crematorium! Found the cache fairly easily, although we did find the surroundings led to rather morbid conversations en-route, such as the relative merits of being burned alive vs buried alive, should something go horribly wrong :-)
66)	29-May-2005
	Blog Standard: Panorama
Another cache a couple of miles south of Edgehill. As the name suggests, this one had glorious panoramic views across to the Malverns. We were slightly worried that we'd be in full view of some gentlemen flying micro-gliders, but by the time we got part way down the slope towards the cache site, we were well out of their line of sight - although I did wonder if we might get a glider in the face on the way back up!
65)	29-May-2005
	Close to the Egde
One of three caches we did on a walk near Edgehill, a little village NW of Banbury. This was a 3-stage multi in the woodlands overlooking Edgehil battlefield, where the first pitched battle of the English Civil War took place in 1642. Really enjoyed this walk, although it had a lots of "ups and downs"!
64)	29-May-2005
	Edge of the Hill
Wow this one was tough on the legs! Luckily there was a bench at the top of the lovely buttercup-covered field, where we could sit and look at the view for a few minutes to recover. Did manage to get several nettle stings, though, as one KnightOwl tried to hold the offending plants out of the way while the other reached for the cache. Ouch.
63)	28-May-2005
	A Show of Common Muck
This was a 5-part multi-cache from the outskirts of Kenilworth and over the River Avon. It should have been a 3-mile walk, but we ended up doing over 5 miles due to misinterpreting one of the clues - it mentioned a "red box" which we thought was the phone box but turned out to be a postbox. Great cache though - we enjoyed this one despite the extra walk!
62)	22-May-2005
	Hartshill Hoard
Spent a long time looking for this one, getting unnecessarily wet and muddy in the process. We should have had more trust in the statement that you don't need to leave the path :-) Still, it was kind of fun in a way - I felt a bit like Indiana Jones at one point :-)
61)	22-May-2005
	Park Lane
Second of three caches on a trip to Nuneaton. Nice easy find but rather muddy after the storm.
60)	22-May-2005
	Paul's Pocket Cache
First of three caches on a trip to Nuneaton. Would have been an easy find if it wasn't for a sudden hail/thunder storm which resulted in two very wet and muddy KnightOwls!
59)	15-May-2005
	Centre of England (Solihull)
Multi-cache based near Meriden, a village often claimed to be the centre of England. There is a plaque in the village which is said to mark the actual central spot. Had a few problems with this one, as several sections of the path were unmarked, so we had to backtrack a few times, but we got there eventually.
58)	08-May-2005
	GoogleCache Cross
A puzzle based multi-cache near Banbury, with clues that have to be worked out in advance, via Google or another internet search engine. I think we got one of the clues wrong, but managed to track the cache location down anyway.
57)	08-May-2005
	Banbury Run-13
Enjoyed the walk for this one, although there was a little bit more road-work than we might have liked! The caches are slightly awkwardly placed if, like us, you prefer to make a circular walk. For others doing this set of three, there is a footpath near the M40 which could be used to make a longer circuit, if you prefer not reversing your steps too much, and don't mind the traffic noise.
56)	08-May-2005
	Banbury Run-12
Second in another Messe three-some, on a 3-mile round-trip.
55)	08-May-2005
	Banbury Run--11
Another set of three from Messe, who has such a fondness for certain types of hiding place that we now often refer to caches we come across as "Messe types" if they follow a similar trend!
54)	08-May-2005
	Banbury Run-10
Another fairly easy find on an enjoyable walk - although we thought we were going wrong at one point when the public footpath basically took us through someone's (very pretty) garden - I bet they get fed up with geocachers traipsing through all the time!
53)	08-May-2005
	Banbury Run-9
Made a pleasant 2-and-a-bit mile walk for these three caches, with better weather than yesterday. Dave took loads of photos of the little windmill!
52)	08-May-2005
	Banbury Run-8
Another mini-series of Banbury Run caches, two micros providing co-ordinates to a third cache. Yet another ingenious hiding place from Messe - but I think we are starting to figure out how his mind works, as we're spotting them much more quickly now. We were watched intently by some "muggles" as we retrieved this one, but they were only cows, so we decided they probably wouldn't give the game away.
51)	08-May-2005
	Banbury Run-7
Well, we couldn't let this one beat us, so we came back down to Banbury again the next day, and found it fairly easily this time. Enjoyable series of caches, although some of the micros are in very public places, so tricky to locate without being seen.
50)	07-May-2005
	Spiceball Stealth
Took a break from the Banbury Run Series to do this one, which involved a stroll around Spiceball Park, still in Banbury, visiting several locations to work out clues for the final cache. One clue stumped us completely (sometthing to do with numbers on a pylon, but we couldn't find them). Luckily though, it didn't actually matter - because we knew the cache was in the park, there was only one possible number the missing one could be. The cache itself was fairly easy to find, despite the 3-ft tall nettles! Also marks our 50th cache!!
49)	07-May-2005
	Banbury Run-6
Had a much longer walk for this one, as it was beyond Spiceball Park, near the reservoir. Much more difficult find too - lots of nettles, and a rather sneaky hiding place - we ad to read the clue for this one.
48)	07-May-2005
	Banbury Run-2
Slightly larger container this time, with room for some small swaps. We took a miniature photo-frame, and left some foreign coins.
47)	07-May-2005
	Banbury Run-3
Fourth find so far, in variable weather - we've had sun, rain and hail so far!
46)	07-May-2005
	Banbury Run-4
Micro number three, as the rain started to come down. We picked the first three up in about ten-minute intervals, so fairly quick work.
45)	07-May-2005
	Banbury Run-1
Second in the Banbury series, this one hidden in a pretty little church-yard.
44)	07-May-2005
	Banbury Run-5
First of seven caches today, on a day-trip to Banbury. This is part of a series of micro-caches hidden around the town, which provide part-coordinates to a final full-sized cache. This one was hidden fairly low down, and there were lots of people around, so we went for the "pretending to tie a troublesome shoelace" technique to retrieve the cache without being too obvious!
43)	03-May-2005
	Edlingham Castle
Third excellent cache of the day, en-route home from Berwick. Loved the location - we spent ages wandering happily around the ruins, taking some really atmospheric photos, before we remembered we were supposed to be finding the cache"
42)	03-May-2005
	3 Bridges? and a Waterfall
Really enjoyed this one - a lovely spot for a cache, which we would never have found otherwise. The "three bridges" bit does make sense when you get there.
41)	03-May-2005
	Cheviot View
The first of three caches we picked up during a detour on the way home from visiting my parents. Another superb view, but a bit blowy today!
40)	02-May-2005
	St. Cuthbert's Cave
Took quite a bit of searching to find this one - the co-ordinates were good, but there were various heights involved, which complicated things a bit. Another superb spot, with rewarding views, which would probably never have found if there was no cache here - part of the joy of geocaching!
39)	02-May-2005
	Ros Castle
Fantastic spot, with stunning 360-degree views of Northumberland. It was a clear day, and we could even see both Inner and Outer Farne islands. This was a real nostalgia trip for me too, as I remember coming here as a kid many years ago, and Dad teaching my brother and I to crawl through the bracken, stalking each other. Dad always seemed to find us first, and it was years later that I finally realised he was probably just standing up now and then to have a look! At the time it seemed like magic, and we were very impressed.
38)	01-May-2005
	White Heugh
Lovely walk along the cliffs, although we had to pretend to look at the view several times to avoid being muggled, as there were quite a few walkers out taking advantage of the late-afternoon sunshine.
37)	01-May-2005
	Roond Hill
After a thundery, rainy morning, the weather brightened up, and we had a lovely walk round St. Abbs. This was my parent's first ever caching trip with us - I'm not sure they really understood the attraction, but they showed a lot of patience as we wandered up and down, poking into hidey-holes and muttering to ourselves til we found it!
36)	17-Apr-2005
	Don't Lose Your Head
Excellent spot for a cache, although the description of the "rough path" was a little too accurate! Walked here via the golf course, after doing the Christmas Lunch cache - it was raining steadily by then, so we didn't hang around!
35)	17-Apr-2005
	Christmas Lunch
Lovely spot for a cache, after a pleasant sunny walk from Leek Wootton (we recommend the food in The Anchor for hungry cachers). It was just starting to rain slightly as we left, but we decided to push on for Don't Lose Your Head anyway - both a little soggy by the time we got home :-) Really enjoyed this one... We took a water pistol (handy to have around when the cats start scratching the furniture!) and left a monster finger puppet in its place.
34)	09-Apr-2005
	Never at Sea - Two Boats
Second cache on a 3-mile round trip, which was pleasant but rather cold. At least that meant there weren't many "muggles" near what must normally be a very popular spot - we never saw a soul!
33)	09-Apr-2005
	Never at Sea - Cuttle Inn
Made a nice 3-mile walk along tow-paths and footpaths to join two of the "Never at Sea" series of caches. Found the co-ordinates a little out, both GPSr devicess agreeing on that, so we had to read the hint, but then found the cache very quickly.
32)	06-Apr-2005
	Magna Park & Hide
Can't say we liked this one at all - it was in a small copse of trees right next to a very busy roundabout, and there seemed to be quite a bit of litter round the place. Probably just as weel it has now been archived!
31)	06-Apr-2005
	All Stressed Out MkII
A fiendish, and slightly annoying one this - but as the name suggests, it''s meant to be! The cache is actually below ground level, hidden in a tussock of grass, which as we discovered, looks very like every other tussock of grass - and believe me, there were plenty of them to choose from. Eventually had to read the clue, which was only slightly helpful (although I think they have expanded on it since we visited, so it might be easier now) as there seemed to be two areas matching the clue. After a lot more searching, we eventually found it, but thanks to the strong wind and high chill-factor, we were both cold, grubby and rather grumpy by the end!
30)	03-Apr-2005
	Spa Trek 3
This was the last of our three Leamington based caches today, and gave us a lovely sunny walk along the same track we were on a few days ago, doing Royal Ripparian Rummage - at least we didn't get soaked this time :-)
29)	03-Apr-2005
	Spa Trek 1
Simple little offset cache, rather than a true multi, but a pleasant walk anyway, especially combined with the other two Spa Trek caches.
28)	03-Apr-2005
	Spa Trek 2
One of three caches today on a "trek" round lovely Leamington Spa. This one was a but tough due to lots of lads rushing around on bikes, but after several minutes spent pretending to tie a stubborn shoelace, we managed to extricate it.
27)	02-Apr-2005
	A bad day for Charlie
Fourth cache today, picked up on the way home from Market Harborough. Located near the village of Naseby, at the site of an English Civil War battle, between Charles I's Cavaliers and the Roundheads of Oliver Cromwell. I guess the name of the cache suggests who won!
26)	02-Apr-2005
	Confederate Hideout
This has to be, without question, the most ingenious hiding place we've come across so far. It took quite a bit of hunting around, then comments like 'it couldn't be, could it...?' before we finally managed to get our hands on it. Absolute top marks for this one! Also met another set of cachers, for the first time ever. They must have seen us looking a bit shifty, and came over to talk to us - the fascinating bit being, they had just picked up the Travel Bug we left at Bowden Bits earlier in the day. How weird is that?
25)	02-Apr-2005
	Cash Cache
Second cache of the day, killing time before going to try Confederate Hideout again.
24)	02-Apr-2005
	Bowden Bits
Made a nice 4-mile walk, mainly along canal tow-paths, to pick up a couple of caches in Market Harborough. Actually tried Confederate Hideout first, but there were too many people around to be discreet, so we made a detour to get this one before trying again. Dropped of our new 'Huckleberry Dol-Fin' Travel Bug.
23)	29-Mar-2005
	Royal Riparian Rummage
Another one we felt we'd really earned, as the rain was torrential most of the way. We were very wet and whingy by the time we got to the cache site, and the trudge back was long and weary, but we made it, and it always seems better once you've got to the pub.
22)	29-Mar-2005
	Jephson's Jaunt
Really enjoyed this multi-cache set in Jephson Gardens in Leamington Spa. The clues were fairly straight-forward, and the gardens look really pretty in the spring. The final cache location was a little hard to spot - although we figured out the basic location quite easily, it still took a bit of searching to actually get our hands on it.
21)	27-Mar-2005
	Katie's Cache
Nice little walk across farmland, on the outskirts of Kenilworth.
20)	27-Mar-2005
	Unigate Walk 5
Another cache close to the University, where we dropped off our history-buff Travel Bug Smithy, off to explore historical sites in the hands of fellow-cachers, and hopfully make his way to Rome.
19)	27-Mar-2005
	Tocil Tuffy Walk 5
One of a couple of caches we did at Warwick University, fairly close to where I work. I think this was the one where we met our postman as we were walking through the wood!
18)	25-Mar-2005
	Keith's Birthday Cache
Not the prettiest cache location we've come across, and pretty muddy at thos time of year.
17)	25-Mar-2005
	On Weston High Walk 7
Another ACWA (A Coventry Way Association) cache, fairly close to the two we did last weekend.
16)	20-Mar-2005
	Tubular Belle Walk 7
This was our first puzzle cache, although it wasn't the most difficult introduction to that type of cache. All we had to do was jot down some numbers which were given in the Cubbington cache we visited previously, and plug those into the set of partial co-ordinates given on the Tubular Belle cache page.
15)	20-Mar-2005
	Cubbington View Walk 7
This was a micro-cache, hidden in South Cubbington Wood, in Warwickshire. It's part of a series of caches created by 'A Coventry Way Association', which are all located on or near the long distance footpath, Coventry Way. The cache also contained a clue to the co-ordinates of another cache, which we visited next.
14)	19-Mar-2005
	Don't Make A Habit Of It !
Probably the closest cache to home, this one is just down the road in the grounds of Coombe Abbey country park.
13)	12-Mar-2005
	P. de Les Aigues (A)
Our first ever cache outside the boundaries of the UK! We snagged this one on a trip to Barcelona, visiting Dave's sister and her family, who are living there for a while. They all joined us on the cache hunt, and the two kids seemed to quite enjoy it - future cachers themselves, maybe!
12)	20-Feb-2005
	Stare View Walk 6
This was our first "multi-cache", where you have to visit multiple locations to find co-ordinates, or clues to co-ordinates, for the actual cache itself.
11)	20-Feb-2005
	Lord Leigh
On a cold and windy day, we really felt we'd earned this one. Dave had to scrabble about on hands and knees to reach the cache container, and was rather put-off when a large dog ran up and actually peed on the tree right next to him!
10)	12-Feb-2005
	Crag & Tail
Really struggled with this one, in fact if I remember correctly we actually tried this the day before, and couldn't find it. We were determined not to give up though, and found it on the second attempt. The cache is located on Castle Hill, beneath the massive granite outcrop that protects Edinburgh Castle.
9)	11-Feb-2005
	The Other Side of Edinburgh
Another cache on the Water of Leith Cache Trail.
8)	11-Feb-2005
	Home to Scottish Rugby
Close to Murrayfield Stadium, this was a really awkward one to find - when they call it a "micro" they really ain't kidding!
7)	11-Feb-2005
	Dean Bridge
Part of the Water of Leith Cache Trail that runs through the city of Edinburgh.
6)	10-Feb-2005
	Greyfriar's Bobby
This was our first Scottish cache, done on our annual trip to Edinburgh to watch a Six Nations game - Scotland v Ireland on this occasion - we (Scotland) lost 18-19. Cache is located in Greyfriar's Kirkyard, and celebrates the faithful Skye Terrier, who stayed by his master's grave for fourteen years.
5)	08-Jan-2005
	Of all the trees that are in the wood
North of Brinklow Village in Warwickshire
4)	02-Jan-2005
	Scent to Coventry
Located in the centre of Coventry, close to the new Cathedral.
3)	26-Sep-2004
	Free Lunch
Located in the grounds of Kenilworth Castle, which is well worth a visit in itself. This cache has since been disabled.
2)	26-Sep-2004
	Saxon, Ducks and Rock and Roll
Nice walk along the River Avon near Warwick, starting near the Saxon Mill pub which serves great if expensive food - well worth a visit for a special occasion. Cache site was a little too close to the water, so the contents were a tad soggy, and there were quite a lot of nettles around. Intriguing looking ruined building on the opposite side of the river - would love to know what that is!
1)	25-Sep-2004
	Crack'in up with tree coverage
First ever cache. Located in Crackley Wood, near Kenilworth.