After convincing Madhouse Daddy to come along geocaching in the Dunes de Cabourg with us last Thursday (which was a bank holiday in France, followed by a "pont" or "bridge" day, which is a great French tradition of creating a long weekend when a bank holiday falls on a Tuesday or a Thursday!), I was surprised but also really pleased when he suddenly piped up the next day with "Who wants to go geocaching again?"! I think we have a new fan ! Well, he is very good at sniffing out the well-camouflaged ones like this box, cunningly disguised underneath a fake log !
We headed off into the dunes behind Dunkirk beach which are a geocacher's paradise. We had the choice of numerous circuits but we picked one that had 20 caches to find.
It's a natural reserve of protected wildlife and I was surprised by the different landscapes we saw, from sandy dunes to muddy paths, scrubland and even this marshland.
In the distance, we could also see lots of World War 2 bunkers.
We've noticed that once you head out of town and into the countryside, you're more likely to get bigger and better filled caches, which always puts a smile on the kids' faces.
We were surprised to see that the GPS was taking us right up into the bunkers.
These concrete sentries always look out of place in such a beautiful setting and it's quite strange to think of the thousands of soldiers who lost their lives on these expanses of sand.
We admired the views of the beach from above.
Before squeezing down a little path next to the bunkers to get to the beach.
Funnily enough, this took us to exactly the same bunkers that we'd visited from the beach a few weeks ago (that I told you about here).
Time to head back up into the dunes away from the beach and the bunkers.
Who knows what's hiding around the next corner when you go geocaching ?!
This was our haul for the day - the bullet wasn't in a cache, Madhouse Daddy found it down the side of the bunker but goodness knows how old it is, it may be quite recent.
Running up and down sand dunes was more tiring than walking on solid ground so after doing 9 of the caches (just under half) we decided to call it a day. We'll come back and do the rest another day.
Totals for the day : 9 caches, 14455 steps, 7.2km, 378 calories burned !
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Looks like you had a fabulous day. I love these bunkers, so strange to have them lurking on the beach still
ReplyDeleteWe saw some in the middle of fields surrounded by sheep on another trip out too !
Deleteshame about the sad history of the bunkers but nice to see them being used and getting people into them and hoping they will remember. We are the same when your walking up and down muddy slippy slopes in woods, its hard going, but fun. But you discovered some great treasures, and covered a good distance, well done kids. we need to start leaving treasures and a blogging card as well.
ReplyDeleteIt definitely makes it more fun - we've been revisiting a couple of our past finds if we happen to walk past them to see if our treasures are still in them or if they've been exchanged !
DeleteWe were so frustrated last Saturday cuz we are looking for one and we gave up hehe. We are going goecaching again tomorrow. Try and try until we succeed! =) Your trip looks amazing! #countrykids
ReplyDeleteAwww it's frustrating when you can't find them but it makes it more special when you do find them ! You can ask for extra hints on geocaching if you need to, or report it as not found because sometimes, people destroy the caches.
DeleteI have to say I'm seeing lots of posts on Geocaching and have never tried it! Looks like great fun though and something my monkeys would no doubt enjoy! Looks like you had a fab family adventure!
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what made me go and look and we're hooked now - I blame it on Fun as a Gran ! lol
DeleteNever done geocaching but would really love to. Must have a look to see where we can do this locally as my son loves the outdoors and this would burn some energy :)
ReplyDeleteHave a look on the map at geocaching.com - I was amazed at how many there are local to us :)
DeleteWe love geocaching, its so good to read other stories. Fantastic scenery, and some sea air too! Thank you for sharing. #countrykids
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed at how many people are into geocaching, it's great ! Make sure you click through on the geocaching badge at the end of the post to see everyone else's adventures :)
DeleteThat's an impressive number of caches for one day and in such interesting and beautiful surroundings too! It's nice when people remember to take treasures to exchange too - a great family activity. Thanks for linking up and sharing with Country Kids.
ReplyDeleteWhen I went to log my finds, someone had done 80 in one day !! I prefer to make it into a fun day out and take our time ... although it's hard to stop when you know there are more just around the corner !!
DeleteThat looks like it must be quite exciting for the kids. Lots of fun for you too. We have 'bridge' weekends in Spain too called, guess what, Puentes. #CountryKids
ReplyDeleteOoh I didn't know that ! :)
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