Quite a nice midweek day as my walking partner and I set out around lunchtime in search of more drop spots. After Monday's disappointment I was determined to get at least two cassettes in and did the duplication and research in the morning. After one of my previous excursions in Hove I had noticed some likely sized caches in the Portslade area but decided to take a scenic detour to visit this cache on the way. Despite a local woman who insisted in sitting in her car across the road as I fumbled with the box I was successful in planting the first of the day's cassettes. I retrieved a geocoin which I'll most likely drop off next week and headed North across the A27, back through Benfield Nature Reserve and towards Devil's Dyke.  

The Dyke is old news to us now (ahem) so we headed West for a kilometer or so across the South Downs Way.  At roughly 4.30ish the light was fading slightly so we decided to head South through the valley, following the decending pylons.  I was aiming for this particular cache and dragged us off course a little (being on a parallel road to the track we were on) but eventually we reached the very lovely Mile Oak Farm and spoke for a few minutes with a very nice local man (possibly the proprietor?) who was beaming at the lovely evening. By this stage I had realised I couldn't make the cache I was heading for and had rerouted us towards one over the Shoreham By-Pass tunnel.

Heading under the motorway and further down Mile Oak Road I was gutted that we seemed to be moving away from the destination but I spotted a pedestrian laneway which lead back up to the hills above the tunnel. After a few minutes wrestling with some pretty tough gorse bushes before the light completely disappeared I had located the cache and dropped a triple-ziplocked cassette into it. Great site but the box definately needs waterproofing.

Photo taken from here.

With a couple of copies of the "Forever War" tape in hand I decided to get out and do a bit of caching on what turned out to be a rather fantastic day here in Hove. I set off at lunchtime and headed for Benfield Valley where I had noticed a few caches pop up on my GPS the last day I was out in that direction. Tried in vain to find this cache the last time I was out but it was practically dark by the time I reached it so no dice. Alas, no dice again this time out despite suspiciously scrabbling about in the undergrowth for a good 10 minutes. I've just see photos of where it should be on the geocaching site now so I will try one last time next week.

After that minor disappointment I headed into Benfield Nature Reserve on the trail of what promised to be a suitably sized container for dropping a tape. I wasn't disappointed although the box was a little damp inside but I always double-wrap my tapes/cds in ziploc bags for extra protection.

At this stage the sun was still beaming and my energy levels were up for the first time in ages (screw you 60 hour working weeks) so I was keen to stay out. Located this one not too far away but the cache itself was only large enough for a small log book. Seems to be mention of an additional box nearby in the notes however, I wonder did I miss something. Further up the track my GPS beeped again but between the suspicious looks and every dog that passed pissing against the marker I decided to avoid it. Couldn't have been much more than a nano anyway? I didn't check.

By this stage I was really in the mood for a proper walk so I headed off in the direction of Devils Dyke (didn't realise it was so close actually) with the intention of locating this and this cache. The latter is gone sadly and the former requires a rethink in terms of tools to access it.

With only one tape deposited I began to feel like the day was a little wasted so I thought I'd try for one last cache in the area.  Expending the last bit of energy I had left (after not eating since lunchtime) I located this chap. An awesome spot but once again too bloody small for a tape.

Good fun though. Was pretty sore the next day from all the climbing which is always a good sign.