As a departure from my usual geocaching practice of choosing random areas to visit, I have decided to work back from the farthest part of Essex, Harwich. I have done a few already so had a list to caches to try to find. I started off in Ramsey doing some of the "Gromit goes for a walk" series, having one DNF and then did the complete "Festive Tunes" series. I also picked off some of the SEBC series. This was a great walk around Ramsey with the splendid Windmill always in sight. I then moved onto Parkeston, Harwich and Dovercourt. The caches were mostly odd caches but I made a start on the Mr Men series and picked off some more of the Random series. I did some recon on the HighStreet cache. How this is only a low DT, I do not know! I think I'll give it a swerve. A long day but I found 40 caches, mainly trads but there were 2 puzzles and a multi. There were also three CMs to add to my tally.

I need a cache today cos I don't want to go more than two days without a find. There's a new series of trad caches on Fobbing Marsh which I'm saving for situations like these. I walked out to the furthest cache, #6, and it had called problems for the previous searchers. I checked out three caches on the way to #6 and they were ok so I'll save them until later. Unbelievably, it was a straight walk out to the cache and absolutely no problems here. The previous searchers must have come in from another direction. I tried to find a different path back but ended up on the same track. I have been planning do a 1/5 cache which would fill a nice gap on my DT grid. Unfortunately it's on the River Blackwater attached to a navigation buoy! Luckily I've been able to hire a boat to get out there. That should be good, shouldn't it.

This is getting to be a regular thing on a Saturday morning! I haven't done much geocaching in Kent but it has so many unfound caches so I can pick up quite a few in a short time. I get here about dawn and want to get back home for around ten. I had decided to do the Galloping Galleons series situated between Hook Green and New Barn. The Gallops were training runs for racehorses and the views over towards Essex are fantastic. It was a varied series of 17 caches in suburban and urban settings. There were some really old buildings, a 16th century farmhouse, some church cottages with a 1540 date in Southfleet, some splendid undated barns and of course, oast houses. During a pleasant walk in dry weather, I found all the caches without too many problems. I DNFed the next cache after the series: it isn't there, and then, with time running out, I headed up to Southfleet church to try for the mult. I quickly worked out the coords and walked through the neat and tidy churchyard to GZ for a quick find. I spent some time wandering back, looking at the church and back to the car. Home James! So 18 caches on the day, 17 trads and the total now stands at 4716. I'm getting close to being in the top 1000 cachers in the U.K.

There are still so many caches left in Colchester to find! I set out a plan to walk around Lexden picking up as many as I could. The plan included a ST, a VS and very hopefully a 4/5 tree climb! I started off with a gentle trad at Colchester's Divine supermarket before driving down the Lexden Road to walk around part of the Gathering Grounds reserve for the first three of the series. I then moved across to the other part with was woodland and picking up the rest. On the last one, I got confused, seeing gravel as grave. The trouble was that I found part of a memorial stone which confused me even more. In these woods was a high rating cache called VERTIGO, a 4/5 which would fill a nice gap in my D/T grid. It was difficult but I achieved it. They said that you shouldn't tackle it alone but I got on with it. I'd rather leave this mortal coil by falling out of a tree than wasting away in a bed! I then picked up a VS after waiting for the mayor to complete a photo shoot. It was just a short walk to the car where I set off for another two trad, Lessendon and the Lexden Tumulus. Both were quick finds but the tumulus deserved some viewing time. My next port of call was a small series of caches called the CM Farm trail. However, I spotted an odd post box on the way and stopped the car. It turned out to be an E8R box produced briefly in 1937. It was the first E8R box that I'd ever seen. The Farm Trail was a great walk over the meadows. I found 6 of the 7 in the series and added a multi, a few more trads then deviating off to find the SideTracked cache at Colchester Station. This was a cunning cache, so cunning that it some way away from where it should have been. After that it was back to the car for a late lunch and planning what was next. It turned out to be a short walk through woods in Braiswick which I know is an Essex Wildlife Trust reserve but I can't recall the name. I worked out a multi based on an area called Keepers Green but decided to leave the cache for another day. I had to get some shopping on the way home so went to the big Sainsbury's in Stanway. I knew that I could get all my wants there plus there was an elusive cache nearby! At the cache, I looked in many places and decoded that it could only be in one place. So I prised out the plastic end and there it was, complete with a weapons grade magnet that I could just about prise away from the steel frame. Good job I don't have a pacemaker as the magnet would have done it some damage. Another great day, 27 caches including the 4/5 tree climb, some multis, a ST, and decent weather. what more could you want? More caches and no DNFs!

Its not often that I get the chance to visit Colchester town centre. I spend a lot of time geocaching on the outskirts not wishing to pay the parking charges but this week I had the opportunity to visit the innards when we went shopping. I love Colchester, so much history - Iron Age, Boudecia, the Romans, the Civil War, the contribution by the Victorians, you could spend weeks there and not see everything. We had four hours for the cost of £3.50! Apart from going in the shops, having a coffee, finding an old favourite eatery etc., I had the chance of a few caches en route. They were all CMs. I joined the long list of DNFs at the Lion Street URC. I found the Roman Church and the Trinity Street CM, both cunningly hidden in very busy places. I'm going back to the outskirts of Colchester today (Thursday) for a days caching, wish me luck. 👍🏻

After the success of my last event, I organised another and today was the day.

You may remember that I qualified for a CM challenge by finding 20 CMs in a day last Thursday.

Thursday is the day that I go caching all day. However the media are going bonkers about Storm Doris which is going to create havoc and don't travel unless you have too! Nah, I'm still going caching!

It would be useful to find a cache today but not imperative. I thought I'd have a wander looking for the Warley Wander, a puzzle cache but more of a multi around part of the site of the old Essex Regiment Barracks.

I've just about cleared up all the caches to the east, north and west of me apart from some real stinkers! They are dotted around the place and I don't want to go after 2 or 3 at a time.