Anglesey

• A5 Drive By No.1 - Now this is a View!
• Llanddona Witches
• Curse of the FTF No. 5 - St Tegfan's Church
• Beaumaris Micro
• Can't See the Wood for the Trees
• A5 Drive By - Showground
• Curse of the FTF No. 4 - Postbox Lay-by
• A5 Drive By - Historic View

Write-up and piccies to follow ...

Hercule's Gift - GC1V3R2

This was to be the last cache on Sarah and my short trip to Anglesey - we'd actually had a half-hearted go two days ago after a Wedding Anniversary meal in the nearby Chinese restaurant. We thought it would be an easy fnd as we know the Belgian Promenade quite well, but the failing light made searching too difficult.

From here you get a really good view of both of the two historic bridges which cross the Menai Straits.  The beautiful Menai Bridge which seems such a natural part of the landscape and the rescued Britannia Bridge which was took on a new form and function following a fire in the 1970's.  We'd seen both bridges close up doing some caches on our first day in Anglesey.

Today we found the cache location without too much trouble and I spent more time photographing a heron fishing on the banks of the Menai, some shelduck and a solitary oystercatcher on the Menai mudflats than I did actually caching. A great place which is always worth a visit, especially if you walk to the little church on the island.

Anglesey Stepping Stones - GC22XAW

Sarah and I found this one on the last day of our short Wedding Anniversary trip to Anglesey. We parked near the now seemingly defunct 'Bird World' and took an alternative route to the one chosen by most people - well, we do like to be different. On the way we saw a brood of fluffy young Greylag geese and their (three?) parents paddling in the narrow waters of the Afon Braint before it becomes much wider near the cache.

We crossed several stiles and fields and ended up walking parallel with the river for a while before the huge stepping stones came into view. On the way there were several large splashes in the river but we couldn't see if they were caused by fish or not. There were many possible places for the cache to be hidden, but Sarah persevered in the area indicated by the GPSr, and was eventually successful.

The stepping stones were very impressive, and like many others have said, are the largest I have ever seen. How on earth did people get them here so long ago? A great place and well worth a visit.

Oh What A Wall - GC242NB

This was to be the last cache of the day for Sarah and me. The wall in question is amazing with lots of places to hide things of all shapes and sizes - believe me, I looked in most of them! I thought the cache owner was very naughty in locating this cache, as it is not where you would generally expect to go. Anyway, find it we did and so ended the day on a high.

We'd had a wonderful walk up and down the coastline here but were running out of time as we had to get back for a guided walk around the RSPB reserve in Conwy. It was therefore with some disappointment that we had to leave the final two caches in the area for another day. But we'd had a great afternoon caching and had bagged five of the seven caches, so that wasn't too bad was it?

Little Bay - GC242P8

This was to be the most northerly cache of the day on sarahjones65 and my geocaching trip to the beautiful Rhoscolyn area. I thought this cache was rather exposed and a little obvious - I hope it doesn't get disturbed by some inquisitive youngesters of which there were quite a few in the Little Bay area. Anyway, with a successful find we headed back down the path to enjoy the wonderful coastal scenery without having to look for little plastic boxes.

Old School Desk - GC242PO

This was the third find on our geocaching trip to the beautiful Rhoscolyn area. We'd just some from the Tyger cache and were enjoying the wonderful coastline scenery along the way. This cache took us a little further (not much) inland and in amongst some large rock outcrops. After wandering in amongst the outcrops for a while Sarah finally laid hands on the cache. It didn't remind me much of my old school desk - there was no grafitti on it!

Tyger - GC242MR

This was to be the second find for sarahjones65 and me whilst out on our caching expedition in the beautiful Rhoscolyn area. We came from the Tywrideen cache and now the fantastic coastline was in full view. It's a wonderful place to walk with lots of interesting geomorphological (haven't used that word for a long time) and geological features along the shore. We could see the line of large boundary stones from quite a distance away and so we made a beeline for them, completely missing the 'Tyger' stone which is the reason the cache is here. Nevermind, we'll just have to go back one day.

Tywrideen - GC242Q7

Sarah and I planned to do this one as the first of a set of seven fairly new caches in the Rhoscolyn area. We had just come from South Stack where we had been doing a spot of birdwatching from Ellins Tower and the lighthouse stpes - we'd seen a few puffins there (from a distance) and the ubiquitous razorbills, guillemots and gulls. Perhaps the highlight however was a chough which landed right in front on me on the steps down to the lighthouse and which obliged me for a few close up photos.

We really couldn't decide the best way to tackle all seven of these caches to make a circular route without backtracking on ourselves. After much debate we just parked by the church and decided to head for Tywrideen first. It was a beautifully sunny day and the walk was very pleasant with excellent views of the countryside and coastline. The cache was a fairly straightforward find, although we did have to wait for some muggles to pass by before we could pick it up and do the admin.

Bridging The Gap - GC20BDQ

Another cache found on our short Wedding Anniversary trip to Anglesey.  I wasn't sure that putting a cache on this bridge would be allowed, but Sarah assured me it was a public footpath.  I still thought that the cache might be directly underneath the bridge as our GPSr doesn't indicate altitude.

However, Sarah was proved correct when she found the cache in amongst the iron girders - a sneaky but clever hide though Sarah actually found it fairly quickly after letting the muggles pass by.

Here are some more views from Thomas Telford's world famous suspension bridge which was the first of its kind anywhere in the world.

A great historic location and one of the best iconic views known the whole world over.

Top Ten Anglesey Caches

Whilst Sarah and I have been collecting the last few remaining geocaches on Anglesey this week, we've been thinking about what we would have in our Top Ten Anglesey Geocache List to recommend for others to try. It's very hard because there are so many great places on Anglesey, so we've tried to choose ones which are a little bit of a challenge as well as being a great place to visit.

In no particular order they currently are:

• South Stack
• Mini Island
• Moe's Tavern
• Church in the Sea
• Anglesey, Holyhead Mountain
• Dingle Delight
• Peninsula Views
• Signal Summit
• Parys Mountain 1, 2, 3, and 4(1 Earthcache and 3 traditional caches all close by)
• Penmon Folds and Faults, Bell and Buoy, Beach Berm and Puffin Island (same place really with 3 Earthcaches and 1 traditional cache)

There is an eleventh cache on our list called Janpe's Inspiration for which I know the location but haven't found as yet. I can't tell you where it is because that would spoil the fun of it for everyone.

Click on the links to see my logs of these great places to visit.

Please note that this list is subject to change as we recollect our fabulous memories of geocaching on Anglesey in 2009.

Penmon - Faults, Folds and a Layer Cake

Went out fairly early to avoid paying the car parking but the bloke was waiting for me there on the road up to Penmon Point - he must have known I was coming! Well, as this was to be my last cache on Anglesey (for a while anyway) I gritted my teeth and paid the £2.00 fee. We normally walk to Penmon Point in the evening when everyone has gone home and so paying the parking fee is something I don't usually need to do.

I drove down the familiar road towards Puffing Island and parked up quickly hoping to make this earthcache a cache and dash, as I needed to get back to the caravan to help Sarah load up the last of our junk ready for our eviction from Plas Coch. Little did I know that I would become so fascinated with the are that I spent over a hour there taking pictures and wandering around.

More details later ,,,,

Final Days on Anglesey

Today we visited the following caches on Anglesey:

• Cybi 2 - Found
• Holyhead Hill Earthcache - Found
• Celtic Rolo - Found
• South Stack Lighthouse - Found
• Mini Island - Found
• Peter's Fishing - Found

We also revisited the Anglesey, Penrhos Park cache which we couldn't find yesterday and managed to find it using the hint today. We finished the day with a really nice pint in the Pilot Boat near Moelfre on the way home. Recommended!

More details and pictures will follow shortly.

Beginning of The End

Please Note: Pictures will be added by the weekend - a blog is so boring without them!

Well Sarah and I are here on Anglesey for the last few days. Our caravan at Plas Coch is being scrapped on October 30th and we have to leave the island which has been 'home from home' over the last nine years. Our kids and extended family have grown up here and so it's a very sad occasion - we love the place.

Yesterday Sarah and I did the following caches:

• GC1BF5E - Holyhead Breakwater - Found
• GC1BB4 - Anglesey Penrhos Park - DNF
• GC1ZF8R - Tunnicliffe's Cache - Found
• GC1E2B1 - The Canadian Cousin's Cache (in Anglesey) - Found (in the dark!)
• GC1BZ49 - Rocky Shores - Tyn Llan - Found (in the dark!)

We may go back today to have another look for the one DNF at Penrhos Park as we will be in the area again.

Today we hope to do the following caches:

• Cybi 2
• Holyhead Hill Earthcache
• Celtic Rolo
• South Stack Lighthouse
• Mini Island
• Peter's Fishing

And tomorrow maybe:

• Penmon Faults and Folding
• Janpe's Inspiration (for a second look after our first DNF)

And that should be all the caches that we can do on Anglesey this year. The only currently remaining caches are:

• Moelfre Lifeboat Station (currently disabled)
• Anglesey Quick Stop (currently disabled)
• Lemony Snicket Series - The End (the last in a set of 13 puzzles in North Wales)
• North Stack Lighthouse (too damn dangerous for me, but Sarah may do it)

Not bad for our first year's caching, but disappointing not to have done them all and have a screenshot with all current caches found - nevermind, perhaps we'll complete them next year.

Bwgan 3 - GC1ZJA5

This was the last of seven finds today whilst out on a very successful day's caching on Anglesey with sarahjones65, RiggyRob and CathyMay. By now there was no point in even asking if the sprogs wanted to get out of the car - we just left them listening to their iPods as we did this quick cache and dash.

It was easy to find the Bwgan Rock, but locating the cache was a little a little trickier as it was surrounded by so much rubbish and we were very wary of looking under some of it. After circling the rock a couple of times, Sarah found the cache in a pretty obvious place and signed the log. A few photos later we were back in the car and on our way to watch Man Utd play Liverpool on a big screen TV in a bar somewhere (but the less said about that the better).

Cybi 1 - GC1FMVW

This was to be the sixth of seven finds whilst out on Anglesey with Sarah, Cathy and Rob. We didn't actually intend on doing Cybi 1 today, but after making a wrong turn on our way to 'Bwgan 3' from 'A Ruff Idea', we ended up so close to it we just couldn't ignore it. So we carried on a little further up the road and parked in a small layby next to a footpath.

Leaving Rob and Cathy in the car who were both a bit fed of caching by now having done five caches already today, we set off on the footpath and soon realised that the GPSr was pointing back across the field away from the path. We knew we had to get some coordinates from this cache to be used in finding the final location. The reason why we were leaving this one until later in the week is that it's part of a series of three caches which end up at South Stack lighthouse, and we didn't have time to do them all today.

Anyway, a likely location soon appeared and, after a quick look round, the cache revealed itself. As usual, Sarah did the admin whilst I look some panoramic pictures. Then I packed everything away and we set off back to the car following a more direct route this time. When we got about half way there I remembered that we needed some numbers from this cache and as Sarah hadn't written them down, we had to go back - duh!

Nevermind, only one more to do today after this one - good job, as we were tired and hungry by now.

A Ruff Idea - GC1ZDRT

This was the fifth of seven finds whilst out caching on Anglesey with Sarah, Rob and Cathy. After being blown around for the most of the day, it was nice to get down to sea-level in this sheltered cove. Whilst descending the steps we could see many muggles on the beach. A couple were scrambling up the steep rocks on the side of the cove - perhaps they were geocachers?

When we got down to the beach it became clear that they were just a couple of families enjoying this nice place with their dog - is this why it's called a 'Ruff' Idea? Anyway we tried to look nonchalent whilst finding the location of the cave, which thankfully was out of view from the beach. CathyMay found the cache after a little prompting from Sarah, who then did the admin of signing the log. Meanwhile, Cathy went up to the top of the cave to explore whilst Rob just stood around in 'Kevin' mode, yawning a lot and looking bored.

Thanks for bringing to this location, it reminded me of a little smugglers cove in Cornwall.

Porthdafarch Heights - GC1FE2D

This was the fourth find of the day whilst out on Anglesey with sarahjones65, RiggyRob and CathyMay, but we left the sprogs in the car whilst we did this one. We'd been to thisw lovely beach before but never really noticed the footpath and as we made our way to it there was a group of geology students taking part in a fieldtrip down on the foreshore. They were drawing a rock formation, probably an example of folding or faulting in these highly metamorphised ancient rocks. Ah, it took me back to my university days when, believe it or not, I actually studied Geology and Geography. That was some 30 years ago and I can't remember too much geology now as I made a career move into ICT.

We found the cache quite easily on the footpath, and were very lucky that we weren't seen from the nearby caravan site which overlooks the cache location - or so we thought! After we had replaced the cache and were walking back we were sure we noticed a little pair of beady eyes staring out from one of the caravans. Oh well, it was too late now - perhaps he'd seen what we doing, perhaps not. A great place but we couldn't linger long, so many caches and so little time you know ....

Bwgan 1 - GC1ZJ9Z

This was the third find whilst out on a rather blustery day on Anglesey with sarahjones65, CathyMay and RiggyRob. It nearly didn't turn out to be a find as RiggyRob found the log book loose on the rocks some way from GZ. When I looked down I saw the camo bag and some of its contents also strewn on the rocks - a little more wind and it all would surely have been lost in the sea.

After signing the log, we did our best to restore the cache's contents in the camo bag, although we couldn't find the container's lid anywhere. Then I hunted for and eventually found some rocks to pin it down as close to GZ as we could. We tried to put it in a niche in the rocks, but maybe the cache owner should do a maintenance visit just to check where we have put it.
After doing the admin, I took quite a lot of pictures of the sea crashing on the shoreline rocks - it was a spectacular day, and my lens kept fogging up with seaspray. A great location and thanks for bringing us here.

Bwgan 2 - GC1ZJA2

This was the second find of the day whilst out on Anglesey with sarahjones65, RiggyRob and CathyMay. We parked a little further up the road and walked back down to the gateposts that marked the start of the footpath. To our right we could see the golf course and every now and then we heard the 'thwack' of club meeting ball. The lane went past a couple of houses and a very old property in need of some TLC. We did wonder if we were walking on someone's driveway even though the route was designated as a public footpath at the gateposts.

Soon the footpath became more as we expected and shortly we reached GZ at the stile. As there was no hint we could only use the description, the logs and the GPSr reading to find the cache. From these it wasn't clear which side of the stile the cache was hidden and so we spent a good fifteen minutes looking for it, often getting snagged by the brambles in the process. By now RiggyRob and CathyMay were getting fed up - they need instant gratification or else they lose interest quickly. Indeed, even I was starting to think we'd might not find it when Sarah came up with the goods.

We signed the log and took an ice cream-eating pirate TB. Our faith restored, we set off for the next cache in this short series.

Ghost House - GC1BF4Q

This was the first of seven caches found today whilst out on Anglesey with sarahjones65, CathyMay and RiggyRob. We haven't been to Trearddur Bay for a while as it's usually too busy for us - there are only so many posers on noisey jet skis that we can take and the smell of diesel is often rife. However today was different as the wind had been howling all night and was continuing now, making the waves crashing on the shoreline very impressive. It was really quite stunning.

We knew the Ghost House from our pre-caching visits here - it commands an incredible position on the headland and is quite an odd greenish brown colour. Yes we too think it's quite spooky-looking. We parked in a small layby a little further up the road and walked back taking pictures of the sea along the road. Before long we we'd found the cache with the aid of the clue, but had to wait for a few muggles to pass by before we could go for it. We decided not to take the Hawaian travel bug in the cache as its mission is to go to Ireland and we won't be there anytime soon - so we simply to logged it out and back in again.

After replacing the cache, we went for a short walk to the top of the ridge to take in the views. A good start to the day in a great place.