First to Fail - part 3

After an update to the cache coordinates by the owner. I decided to take a third stab at Irvine New Town Trail #1 but despite a thorough targetted search in the exact vicinity indicated by the coordinates I still couldn't find the cache. Another wasted hour.

0 out of 1

Albert Chemikal Burnz

Sunday Morning (30th October) me and Mrs SC decided to go cache hunting. I'd already choosen the A White Elephant - Irvine’s Millennium Dome cache which is located at the now derelict and inaccessible Big Idea exhibition centre at Irvine bay. This was a Glasgow Science centre before it's time which for some reason closed down and has now been forgotten and left to rot at the tip of a strip of land which is only accessible via a 4 km beach walk. It's because of this beach walk that I took Mrs SC along. Her job was to with me protect me from the famous white elephants that frequent these parts (nudie men). There was just one today and he scampered off to his wee tent as soon as he saw us coming past.

En-route we passed another cache but decided to get it on our way back. This is close to a giant painting on the sea wall of Robert Burns. Amusingly this has been creatively altered by some of the locals and he now has a nice pair of sun glasses. He's also been renamed "Albert Chemikal Burnz" which seemed rather appropriate considering the poximity of the ICI plant!

By the time we got to The Big Idea we were knackered so we spent a while looking around. Mrs SC discovered a young deer which had got trapped in one of the fenced off areas around the back and helped free it - her good deed of the day! I decided to climb up onto the roof and pretended to be a Tellytubby (not Tinky-Winky he was back along the beach!!). When we started hunting I was looking for the letters SC3 which was what I thought the clue was. This was only until I realised that I hadn't actually de-crypted the clue. Once I'd figured that out and had the correct clue we found the cache pretty quickly.

Job done we headed back to the beach but that was when our problems began. The tide was now in (despite Mrs SC insisting it had been going out) so there was no way back to Ardeer where we'd left the car other than a scramble over rough rocks or along the sea wall and dunes. The latter was chosen but proved to be quite a challenge. In the end we covered a good part of the distance trespassing in ICIs grounds before climbing back out to the beach just before the Big Rab cache. We collected that too of course!

2 out of 2 (and four very tired legs!)

First to Fail - part 2

Not to be outdone I popped down to the Irvine New Town Trail #1 cache again on Saturday morning. This time it was in daylight so I thought it would be a no brainer. Oddly it still hadn't been claimed so I was so was still on for a First to Find (FTF). An hour later I admitted defeat and headed home.

0 out of 1

First to Fail

On Thursday (27th October) I was sitting looking through the Geocaching website when I noticed that a new cache Irvine New Town Trail #1 had popped up about 10 mins from our house. This was about 10pm and it was pitch dark out but I grabbed my coat, a torch and some treasure and headed out in the car to try to bag our first FTF. When I got to the GZ it was pitch dark but I managed to have a pretty good hunt around but without any luck. I was a bit surprised not to meet anyone else out looking for the cache too. Came home empty handed.

0 out of 1

Ayr

We were down in Ayr today as the kids wanted to spend the remainder of their holiday money on toys. It seemed like a good enough reason to go Geocaching (who needs a reason!) so when we were done we nipped over to the river and picked off The Kirk Between Two Bridges. This took a wee while to find but only because it's a wee nano on a long fence. In the end the coords were spot on but our GPS was skipping around to begin with so we were hunting blind using the clue.

October Week - Loch Tay

We headed up to Bracken Lodges on the South coast of Loch Tay for a wee October Week holiday. The lodges themselves were fab and we found plenty to do on foot, in the car, and on our bikes. This area is crammed full of caches so a spot of Geocaching was inevitable. In all we collected a 44 caches near Loch Tay and a couple in Perth on the way home. Believe it or not that's just a fraction of the caches available so there's plenty more for our next visit to the area! Highlights were Hermits View, Moraigs Ring, Kenmore Hill, and Falls of Dochart. In the process I even got electrocuted!

Caches Near Loch Tay

 Hospitably Generous
 Meggernie
 Habitual Geocacher
 Heroic God
 Hubblegardner Meets Katie Morosky
 He's Great
 It's Old!!
 Hermits View
 Melting Mouths ~ Bonny Bridge
 Middle of Nowhere
 Melting Mouth ~ Patchwork Mountain
 Melting Mouth ~ Loch Freuchie
 A Drive in the Country - Awfy Awfy Awfy Braw View
 Melting Mouth ~ Bonnie Brig
 A Drive in the Country - Tichardie
 A Drive in the Country - Dont take the Hump
 Freuchie view
 Melting Mouth ~ Ancient Crannog
 Melting Mouth ~ But n' Ben
 Melting Mouth ~ Bath Time
 Melting Mouths ~Moraigs Ring
 Melting Mouths ~ Red Squirrel Crossing
 Melting Mouth ~ Mojitos@Acharn
 Melting Mouth ~ Bloomin Larch
 Melting Mouth ~ Another Scone Stop!
 Melting Mouth ~ Tufty's Howff
 A Waterfall Not Worth Going A Foot To See!
 Melting Mouths ~ Fish Nae Chips
 Melting Mouth ~ Crannog
 Above Kenmore - Kenmore Hill
 Melting Mouth ~ Cupcake
 Melting Mouth ~ Falls of Dochart
 Melting Mouths ~ Crumble Cake Falls
 Melting Mouth ~ Chorizo Falls
 Weir's Way: The New Settlers
 Melting Mouth ~ Kenmore Folly Gatehouse
 Melting Mouth ~ Kenmore Bridge
 It's Good to Talk (3) Ardeonaig
 Melting Mouth ~ In the Highlands
 Melting Mouth ~ The Meenisters Falls
 Melting Mouths ~ Road to Python
 Melting Mouth ~ Ardtalnaig
 Melting Mouths ~ More Ben Views
 Melting Mouth ~ This One's For Enid
 Melting Mouth ~ Settlement


Perth

Huntingtower View
End Of The Road

The Prince and the Lord are missing

I decided to take another wander in Kelvingrove Park at lunchtime today and had a look for a couple of caches.

The first of these Highland Light Infantry : Kelvingrove Park is located at the Prince of Wales bridge over the River Kelvin. Unfortunately I failed to find this cache despite being certain where it should be hidden. Upon examination of recent log posts it appears that this one has gone missing so I'll return another day once it has been replaced.

Lord Kelvin Monument : Kelvingrove Park was next. As it's name suggests this is located near to the monument erected in memory of Lord Kelvin. I had a really good hunt for this one throwing all caution to the wind but couldn't find the cache. Again checking recent log posts it seems this one has also disappeared.

Lesson for the day, read the previous log posts!

0 out of 2

Kelvingrove Park

I took a stroll along Argyll Street yesterday in my lunch hour and had a look for a couple of caches just to make it interesting.

First up was The Lane 1103 (L5) which as its name suggests is hidden in a small lane off the Western end of Argyll Street. I took a quick walk into the lane only to find it full of cars and overlooked by little workshops, businesses and even a cafe. I really didn't feel comfortable poking around here. Apparently a lot of the muggles around the lane know about the cache and even help Geocachers but noone came running to help me so will have to go back at a later date when the place is quieter.

I then headed over to Kelvingrove park to look for Glasgow 2014 - Kelvingrove Park. This one was an easy find but with a few muggles around I had to wait a wee while to grab the cache, sign it and return it to its hiding place.

1 out of 2

Stevenston

Sunday afternoon and we were looking for something to do so we decided to go out for a wee walk. Stevenston is just up the A78 from Irvine and I knew there was a circular walk in the area with six caches along its route so we headed there.

First up was R.U. Coming or Going (Stevenston) which is near the Pennyburn Roundabout. We parked in Morrisons car park and spent a while looking around its perimeter before deciding that the cache must be elsewhere. We finally discovered it hidden on a road sign. I have no idea what the "R.U." part of the cache name means but the rest now makes sense.

 Following a small path NW led us up the side of the supermarket and towards Geocaching........I luv it. This was a simple enough find however we were being watched by a McDonalds employee who was loitering out the back of the resaurant. This area is heavily used by muggles with their duggles and is littered with duggle poo so we had to watch out step in the grass. The smell however, was drowned out by the stink coming from McD's.

Further up the hill, the path ends as it reaches the remains of a road which once led east. This has now been cut in half by the A78 bypass and the Road to Castlehill cache is hidden here. This one was easy to find and had the added bonus of being in the midst of lots of bramble bushes. Yum yum!

As we moved along to the next cache we came under attack from two yappy dugs. These were both allowed to freely roam around the area without restraint and their owner was nowhere to be seen. After barking furiously at us and seeing us off one of these daft mutts decided they wanted to come with us and followed us for half a mile almost getting hit by several cars in the process. We were rooting for the cars!

 Crossing over the bypass via Hayocks Road brought us to a junction which where we would turn to walk back down towards the Pennyburn roundabout. It was near this junction that we found our next cache aptly titled Bridge over a River of Tarmac. This took a little while but we found it in the end.

Heading SE again brought us to Old Castlehill Road which took us seconds to find following the GPS coordinates. Opening the container we were thrilled to find a Help for Heroes Geocoin.

Our final cache of the day was to be Where's the fire which is located between the Pennyburn roundabout and a firestation (thus the title). This is in a very exposed spot with lots of people walking to and from the shops and a constant stream of cars. After a good hunt however we still couldn't find the cache so we cut our losses and headed to Morrisons for some lunch and a heat. Having now read some of the comments from other cachers and having had a better look at the map I think I know where the cache is located but I'll have to wait for another day.
5 out of 6.

Off yer trolley

The kids were at a birthday party on Saturday and on the way home we popped into Tesco in Irvine to pick up a couple of things for Mrs Super Collector. On the way back out we decided to look for the Every Little Helps cache. Well done to Eilidh who found this one and Fiona who put it back in it's hiding place.  

Night on the town

I was at a leaving do after work on Friday so decided to have a look for some of the caches around Glasgow City centre which are too muggle infested to find during the day.

First off I headed back to Mitchell Library which is a cache I'd had a look for the day before and which was just around the corner from the pub I'd been in. Even a night this area is fairly busy but with some dutch courage from having had a wee drink and a gap in the muggles I found it this time. The log was absolutely soaking but I managed to sign and replace it without much difficulty.

The Cameron Memorial Fountain is only a few minutes away so I headed there next. There wasn't a soul around so after a quick look the cache was in hand. Unfortunately the log must have been wet at some point and has now completely disintegrated. It was totally unsignable.

Next I went to have a look for the King's Theatre II cache. This area was very busy but noone was paying any attention and by now it was pouring so everyone was running to get inside. I managed to have a really good thorough look for this cache but couldn't find it. There's a fairly clear clue that comes with this one so I know where the container should be hidden. I think it's missing.

A short walk up the hill is Blythswood Square and the Madeleine Smith cache. The clue and GPS coords have it in the corner of the square in the bushes behind a lump of tar. By now it was getting dark so I could hardly see the bushes nevermind any lumps of tar. This is an awkward position for a cache as you have to go rumaging in the bushes in full view of the street. I wasn't very comfortable doing so with people milling around so I gave up looking and moved on.

Heading toward Central Station for my train home took me past The Lane Under (L1) which is near the junction of West Campbell Street and St Vincents Lane. This was another DNF but not for the lack of searching. Will return in daylight at some point for another look as this is one of the few non-nanos in the city centre.

DNF number four in was Atrium Court on Waterloo Street. I think I know where this cache is hidden but due to a combination of it being really dark and there being a million muggles around I failed to find it (even using the shoelace trick!).

Walked right past Citizen Firefighter on my way to Glasgow Central, but I didn't even try to look for the cache. There were around 200 muggles at the cache location and another 400 milling around the station entrance and taxi ranks. No chance!!

Finally I tried for a snap of the Firefighter statue in order to complete the Citizen Firefighter challenge but didn't get a very good photo as the camera in my phone struggled to get a phone of both me and the statue at the same time! I'm going to mark it complete anyway!

2 out of 6