Madhouse diaries : Geocaching around the docks

This week we've been so busy running around hiding new caches for other people to find that we haven't been out hunting any ourselves. A lovely sunny afternoon was too good a chance to miss though, so I grabbed the gps and headed off with Juliette to see if we could find some of the few remaining caches in our neighbourhood. The first one is one that we had already failed to find.

 This time, we came armed with spoilers - photos showing you exactly where to look - and even though we found the exact stone in the picture and lifted it out of its hole, we failed to find the cache.

Not to be disheartened, we continued on our way, taking a long detour round through the town centre to get to the other side of the docks, and Juliette talked me into buying her a milkshake as we walked past McDonald's. It's the little unexpected treats, like a doughnut or a play in a park, that keep smiles in place despite fruitless searches and long walks. (I walked 20,000 steps/13.6km today according to my fitbit, although that wasn't all geocaching !)

On arrival in the port, I was just explaining to Juliette that we'd be walking over a swing bridge when the sirens sounded and the barriers came down. Great timing - we got to see it in action !

It slowly swung round, opening up the channel for a small boat to pass through.

I didn't realise just how close we were to the lighthouse (as the crow flies - not by foot because you have to go the long way round to get to the other quay).

 Once the boat had passed through, the bridge slowly started swinging back into place.

It's an ingenious device, turning the road a full 90° and it is fully automatic, so we had a nervous giggle as we walked over, saying that we'd have to hang on to the railing if it started swinging round again before we got off !

The seagulls seemed totally unconcerned though !

Once on the other side, the geocache was easy to find.

As we filled in the logbook, we spotted the lift bridge over by the lighthouse opening up too - possibly for the same boat to go through.

We laughed at the masses of overlapping seagull claw prints on the ground - they looked like they must have been having a wild party !

This is the dock where several big seismic survey vessels have been berthed for many months.

We'd seen them from a distance but didn't realise just how big they are until we got up close.

I had never seen the town from this angle before, looking like it is on a waterfront.

 The sun was starting to set but there was one more geocache to grab on the way home, just a few hundred metres away.

The birds were starting their aerial acrobatics in the dusky sky.

Oh, where's she gone?

Ahhh there she is ... with the geocache in her hand !  

The photo doesn't do it justice but the sun was an amazing, huge red ball in the sky. We could feel the temperature starting to drop as we walked back home, with Juliette discussing what comfort food she fancied to warm us up (mac and cheese with bacon and mushrooms ... I could have guessed !)