We all need targets, and 22 seemed like a nice number to aim for.

I’d decided this before I stumbled across the 29th February event in London – a day I happened to be visiting the Capital.

Attending such an event is classed as a “Find”, so I just needed a couple more before I reached the Packenham Arms, off Gray’s Inn Road.

But, first let me look back on this first tranche of caches…

Although I had downloaded the Geocaching App over a year previously, and registered on the site even before then, it was only when on holiday in Tenerife in 2011 that I first decided to play with the App. It immediately informed me of quite a number in my vicinity, and so I set off in search of the first one – which I found under a huge boulder. Quite an exciting moment and although I searched briefly for a few others, we were flying home within the next few days and that solitary cache was all I came way with – but the interest was kindled.

Due to taking on a new role at the University I shelved the activity until on holiday over New Year 2012, when I picked off another and then kept the pace up with finds in Hull, Newport (S. Wales), Loggerheads, Llandudno and London as well as my home town of Chester. I’ve managed to work the hobby into my running, shopping and even my work as I travel to different towns.

Obviously, as you uncover more and more about this sport/hobby (which is it?) you realise that there’s so much more to it. I’m intrigued by the puzzle caches, and the series of linked ones, and the Earth caches which direct you interesting geographical sites of interest. And then there are trackables – the objects left by cachers, many of them registered online, and which are moved on from site to site.

The Witch has compared these to Letterboxing, of which she is a past-master, and reading up about it I can see it is a venerable tradition of which geocaching is but a new arm. We humans love puzzling, discovering and collecting – and this sport/hobby covers all those bases.

And so to London, and February 29th 2012; a leap day of course and the geocaching fraternity treat this as a special day. I came upon the following event whilst looking for a suitable next target…http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=a435b3b8-6bb5-4bd7-8b7c-0dfc07c74321

I happened to be in town and so went along and met some nice characters; friendly, helpful and (of course) full of enthusiasm. The event was organised by goldpot and it was relaxed and welcoming. Trackables were passed around but I had to leave just as Eeore (the Donkey) arrived – apparently infamous in this locale.

The two caches I’d found that day took my total to 22, and yet on I go and it’s now at 31 as I write this just 11 days later. Out walking with the Whelk and the Witch yesterday in the Yorkshire Dales we discovered 2 set by the National Parks Authority and one delightful one by geoartcache. Wonderful stuff.

I am now going to learn about the art of Trackables and the other offshoots of this great sport … or is it hobby? Watch this space …

[pictures shortly]