Through great detective work, I had gleaned that the next stage of the gem heist was to find another 35 caches to be able to return the gems to the Museum. I needed 1 Emerald, 3 Diamonds and 3 Rubies to get to that stage.
Now I was always going to go up to Suffolk this week so had another plan to get the gems that I needed. The first stop was going to be in Chappell and Wakes Colne which would give me four of the gems I needed. Now whilst I was there, it seemed silly not to pick up all the available caches in town. So I found 2 VS, 2 trads as well as the virtual at the magnificent Chappell viaduct.😀
The next stage was in Great Cornard where I should get the remaining 2 Rubies and a Diamond on the Benjy’s Walk series. Alas the first one was a DNF but I picked up two more which left me with a shortfall of a Ruby.
It was time for breakfast so I parked up in Sudbury and went to my favourite coffee shop to use their wifi. Over a sausage bap and a large americano (cold milk on the side, John) I used the filters to look for a Ruby. I wasn’t looking for a curry but a mystery - The Old Cinema #1 met my needs.
I had a quick find of the final cache of my quest and the next stage opened up. It was true, I needed 35 random caches which wouldn’t be much of a problem in the time remaining for the challenge. So now, I’m reverting to my plan A - finding CMs, VSs and FPs plus any other series caches that I can find.
However, the first one on my list has to be my present nemesis cache - the St Gregory’s CM in Sudbury. Now as regular readers will know, I just cannot find this one. I parked up and walked the familiar route down the mill race to the search area. As I got there and was putting on my gloves, a lady vicar walked past with her dog. I asked if she was the vicar at St Gregory’s. She said that she was and asked what I was doing. I said Geocaching and she said that she often sees geocachers wandering through the church yard. I said that they were looking for the clues to get the cache that I was looking for. So I put my hand into the huge clump of ivy and pulled out the cache. Now was that divine intervention?
So the rest of the day was spent wandering through little villages such as Acton, Alpheton (it‘s their church in the photo), Lawshall, Stanningfield, Bradfield Combust and finally Lavenham, picking up series caches. Mind you, I had a few DNFs but I saw some great countryside and have the chance to return. I found 18 of the required 35 caches so I’ve almost cracked it.😀
1 Virtual 2 Mystery 8 Multi 16 Traditional
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