Cumbrae

Saturday and it was a lovely day so after the kids clubs were finished we decided to go for a cycle. It was supposed to be Brownie camp that weekend and we'd promised Super Girlie that we'd do something nice to make up for it being cancelled. Our first plan was to head up to Strathclyde park but after a quick rethink we got the bikes on the car and headed towards Largs and the ferry to Cumbrae. I'd never been to Cumbrae myself although some of the other Super Collectors had so this was all new to me and what a great place it turned out to be. Oh and we did some caching along the way!

After a fun ferry crossing we got our bearings and were faced with the choice... left or right. A handy information board showed us the route around the island and as Millport seemed slightly closer to the left, left won. We were hungry!

Our first cache of the day was Stinking Goat which came pretty quickly. After spotting this within seconds I decided to let the kids find it, but after a few minutes I had to resort to giving them clues. In the end I pretty much had to tell them where the cache was and it was a race to get to the hiding place first.

Next up was another goat, this time Green Goat. This cache was being guarded by a couple of divers who were sitting in the layby next to it having a chat. We nearly moved on, but using the kids as cover we had a quick look and came up trumphs! Log signed and back on the bikes I don't think the chin waggers had even noticed us!

Lion King was located at Lion Rock which as it's name suggests is a rock which looks like a lion. From the road this is quite impressive, however when you get close up you can see how much of it is being held together with cement. This cache turned out to be a bit tricky and the coords are definitely miles out. After a long hunt myself and Super Girlie were about to give up and head back down to the road when I happened to spot a rock in a hole which didn't look the same as any other rock in any other hole. Good job I'm not a short arse and I could reach in for a feel. Aha that feels like plastic... and so it was. Hint for others, we found this on the opposite side and opposite end from where our maps were directing us.

Back on the pedals again and we were nearly at Millport when we pulled over and Mrs SC and Super Girlie headed off down a wee path to look for Raiders of the Lost Ark. They were back in jig time so I guess it wasn't difficult but they reported that the log was unsignable. However it was a type of cache we've never encountered before so not all bad!

Once we got into Millport we decided to give the towns caches a miss and to leave them for the next visit. We were hungry and nothing unhealthy junk from a chuck wagon would do. After burgers and hotdogs on the beach and a visit to the local toy shop (they do excellent goodie bags) we headed off again to complete our circuit of the island. and soon reached Deadman's Bay.

Here we found a small memorial garden dedicated to members of the armed services who have died in the service of our country. This is a nice spot and aside from all the walkers and cyclists passing by is quite peaceful. This was another cache which took a while to find. At first we thought it was hiding in the middle of a huge scratchy bush, however after a look around we found an easier way to the middle and after several thourough searches, we finally searched properly and found the cache.

Further along the road we arrived at the coordinates for Shallow Grave. This was one of those caches which seems easy once you know where the cache is but which is amazingly difficult to spot. After looking everywhere I even ventured down to a little stream at the side of the road for a look and found a tunnel! Despite being fairly certain that the cache wasn't in there, I decided to make my way under the road just for a laugh. Once on the other side it was great fun surprising the kids who were wondering where I had gone! Back at the correct spot and after a few minutes I happened to stand in the right place and look in the right direction and spotted something which was silver and shiny. Ah ha!

By now we were all getting a bit tired and hungry again (junk food doesn't really fill you up!) so we decided to skip the rest of the caches we were going to pass and get them another day. That was the plan anyway, but it wasn't long until we were having a look for The Hunt For Red October (I just couldn't go past a cache with a name like that!!). This turned out to be one of the easiest caches of the day as well as the last.

We had a brilliant day on Cumbrae and will definitely be back to hoover up the rest of the caches we missed some time soon but for now it was back to Largs on the ferry and a lovely slap up dinner at the beautifully refurbished "The Waterside" just outside Seamill.