Sunday Geocaching - Shanklin and Ventnor

Sunday, January 18th 2009 - Our first day out 'Caching as a team. We found a total of five caches during a lovely day out in Shanklin and Ventnor.

First stop was Rylstone Gardens for cache GC1E2QB. It proved to be the hardest find of the day as the location wasn't exactly clear from the hint and our GPS signal was all over the place, especially when we were under the canopies where the cache was located.

Fishamatician eventually found the well-hidden container, and we logged in. All-in-all, a great cache in pleasant surroundings.

Next up was Sibden Hill for cache GC1E2QH. None of us are particularly familiar with this part of the Island, and we were very surprised by this little bit of countryside that backs onto a quiet little estate. It took us a while to find one of the entrances to the footpath, but sure enough a short climb later I discovered the cache exactly where the hint said it would be.

Absolutely wonderful views from up there, by the way!

A short drive later found us at the bottom of the rather imposing Nansen Hill, out towards Ventnor. After climbing the slope, we stopped at the top for a quick bevvy then got ahead of ourselves and climbed up the next (shorter) hill rather than double-checking our GPS co-ords. It turned out to be one hill too far and back down we went. I took a tumble due to my completely inappropriate footwear and ended up with muddy knees!

Fishamatician found and inspected the cache (GC1E058) whilst I took a couple of snaps from the top:

 

We stopped for a quick drink and a snack in Ventnor town, then made our way over to Ventnor Park for cache GC1E2QX. This one took a little effort to find, but after I climbed right into a bush I just about made out the canister well-hidden under leaves. It turns out the cache had previously been stolen, so we made sure to re-hide it just as well as we found it.

A quick cache and dash before we headed home - we stopped at Bonchurch Pond (GC15981) to log in to the micro that is hidden there. The ducks weren't interested in the bread that we bought for them so we all climbed back into the car satisfied that our day's caching was done.