Saturday 22 January 2011

So much fresh air!

I mentioned a few days ago that my DS3 got me into geocaching. I am so glad he did, all that fresh sea air is doing me a world of good. We have been doing this for a week now, not every day, and not many caches ( we are up to 37 ), and it has been quite invigorating and at times rather bracing. Icy cold sea winds, drizzle, occasionally some very welcome sunshine......... we didn't really care what the weather was like. I did say that I would show you some pics of our outings, but when I looked at the pics I took, I realised that I didn't take anywhere near as many as I thought I had. LOL, guess the excitement of the hunt was just too much for me, I forgot all about photos.

I do have a few though, and I promise, one of these days I will take a womble through the beautiful Old Town of Hastings and take some proper pics without any distractions.

The great think about geocaching is seeing things in and about your town which you have never seen before or haven't really taken any notice of. For example, there is a whole series of church caches. We have only done 1 so far, but as I love church architecture, I am sure there will be more. This was it -


On one search for a cache in the Old Town, we came across these little mosaics on old walls, which I had never seen before -



These steps in the Old Town are steep!!! Seen from near the top -


and looking up from the bottom -


I don't have a very good head for heights, I freak out on a stepladder, so these steps were a challenge. I hung on to the rails for dear life, lol.

These fabulous sea creatures also live in the Old Town -

Octopus -

Seahorse -

Conger eel -

I loved this faded and peeling advertisement on a house wall, in a different part of the Old Town. This is the area where the television series "Foyle's War" was filmed. I must go back there and take some more photos, that area is so pretty.


This was one of our failures, we spent ages searching for a cache here right on the sea front, under the cliffs, but it looks like this cache has been lost, possibly under rock falls -


The seagulls are happy though, lol -


Away from the Old Town, along Hastings seafront, another cache location. And, you can see our favourite Oriental Buffet Restaurant, " Cosmo" in the distance. You probably remember that I have mentioned once or twice that I had to bribe Nick with lunch at Cosmo for helping me out with something or other.


We got quite carried away one day and it got dark much quicker than we thought it would. We were high above Hastings and the sky above the sea looked too interesting to be ignored -


A few photos taken in Alexandra Park ( seems quite a few caches are located here ). The Park really is quite lovely and stretches for miles right through the town -


All the animals in it are so tame -





This is a small cache we found in another leisure area, White Rock Gardens, silly little things, but so much fun -


Nick, about to sign the log book -


Today we had a couple of multi caches on our to-do list. That means you have to find a number of small caches with clues and part co-ordinates, in order to find the Bonus Cache at the end. We didn't have a very good start, it was a horrendously muddy location -


Interesting mushrooms along the way though -


But FIVE caches later, we had a very good end, we found the big Bonus Cache, woohooooooo! We spent a very happy few minutes looking through a whole bunch of little treasures before deciding which ones we should swap. Just look at the size of that cache -


Ok, and now prepare yourself for a rare pic of me, yikes. NO make up, wet, very windswept, muddy, frozen, but with the biggest grin on my face, holding that huge Bonus Cache in the Firehills, Hastings cliff top country park -


Aaahhh, happy end to the day.

Oh, see how big that cache is? And you saw the somewhat smaller earlier with the goodies in it? Right, compare those to this one, a nano pod, and then try and imagine how difficult it is to find one of those -


We found a few of them, with either clues for a bonus cache or the tinest little logs. Sweet.

Thats it, all that fresh air has wiped me out, I can feel an early night coming on. Back to crafting tomorrow, we are having a geocaching free day.

Toodlepip xxx

16 comments:

Titbelsoeur, mixed-media addict said...

I do love old towns, and Hastings looks very very nice !!
see you on the OWOH !!
big hugs

Sarah - Red Gingham said...

Lovely pics Lizzie! Love the squirrels so much, we don't have any here. Your windswept photo is fabulous, the real Lizzie! Glad you are enjoying yourselves and seeing the country side at the same time.

Dorthe said...

UUHHHH LIZ,-you truly lives a most wonderfull place-- to be close to that church, and I guess many other old beautifull buildings, must be such a gift--and this "treasure hunt"among old wonders, and nature is fantastic.

Your wonderfull photoes just tells all- I must say I love the sight of the steps, you shows from old town-think I would not love so much taking them from buttom to top!!!
AND you looks so sweet dear - I can see you had a wonderfull tour with your son- then make-up and all that, don`t mean a thing--happiness makes beautyfull.

Love and hugs, Dorthe

Floss said...

Wow, it looks so much fun! I liked that photo of you too. Ben has his work GPS at home this weekend, and I've been eyeing it up... But Son 2 is ill and Ben and Son 1 are going skiing, so no geocaching for me!

Sissie's Shabby Cottage said...

Hi Liz,
This looks like lots of fun but also lots of work.

We should all look as good as you do without makeup! You look wonderful.

hugs
Sissie

Anonymous said...

OK...I'm confused! What's the cache? Did your son plant it there and you were supposed to find it? I'm stuck in brain mire! LOL! Whatever it is...you and your son look like you had a VERY FINE TIME! And I envy you your time outdoors in such a beautiful, historical place!
We didn't get as far as Hastings when we visited your area, just Rye, Herstmonceaux (did I spell that correctly?) and a wonderful parsonage B&B that is 600 years old! Your part of Britain is so wonderful!
XXO Diane

stlbarb said...

I really enjoyed reading about, and seeing pictures of, your geocaching adventures. My sister and I have been caching for about four years now and LOVE it. You are hardier than we are, though -- we don't go out much in the winter cold. We live in Missouri, USA. I know what you mean about caching taking you to places in your own area you would not ordinarily have visited or even noticed. It can be a great adventure!

TAPESTRIESOFNATURE said...

I'VE NEVER HEARD OF THIS BEFORE, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE GREAT FUN AND SOMETHING THAT MORE PEOPLE SHOULD DO TO FIND ALL THAT IS WONDERFUL AROUND THEM.

LOVE THE PICTURES THAT YOU TOOK ALSO. THEY ARE VERY GOOD! WISH I WAS THEREL

TIDDLEPOOPS, JUDY

Julia @ Vintage with Laces said...

How exciting, Liz! It seems like you two had so much fun treasure hunting and you look so cute and happy. I'm working on my sweet hubby to give geocaching a try. It has to become a little bit nicer outside for us though. We both don't like to go out when the weather is so nasty. Your town looks lovely. I'm looking forward to seeing more pictures of the beautiful old British architecture.
Have a great Sunday and I wish you a successful hunt for antiques or caches or both :-)!
Big HUGS,
Julia

Salma said...

oooooooooh wie toll ist das denn?? ich hab von einer bekannten schon mal von geocaching gehört, die ist auch so begeistert wie du! :)

deine bilder sind ein traum - ich LIEBE englische städtchen... ich lese seit jahren begeistert historische romane, und da bevorzugt die von rebecca gable. und die spielen ja zu einem guten teil im englischen mittelalter, u.a. auch in hastings :)
da kann man sich so richtig schön in frühere zeiten zurückversetzen *hach*

zeig uns demnächst bitte unbedingt weitere fotos! :)

glg
salma

Me and Ma said...

I have never heard of this before Liz but it looks really fun, something that I think the children would all enjoy too...

Serenata said...

Sounds and looks, if the photos are anything to go by, a fun thing to do! Love the picture of you - you look like you are really enjoying yourself out in the fresh air.

Gaby Bee said...

I enjoyed reading about your geocaching adventures. It looks like lots of fun!
Your photos are gorgeous and I almost feel I am walking along with you :-)

Hope your day is going great.
Gaby xo

Vicki said...

We did some geocaching too this weekend in a local state park. So much fun. Your pictures are just beautiful.

Alexandra said...

Das scheint ja lustig zu sein euer geocaching :) und tolle Bilder hast du gemacht. Das Städtchen mit der Altstadt ist zauberhaft und eure Eichhörnchen sehen zum knuddeln aus.
liebe Grüße Alexandra

Paper Bagley said...

Great!...I have got to try this on my grand daughters and friends...what fun...great picture taking...your inch tells it all....Tootsie in oregon