We are always on the lookout for new places to visit and explore.

Wild spaces to roam, mischief to be made and if we can get our feet wet all the better.

Where possible we try to choose somewhere with an adventure playground as a lure for the kids and these day we now of course have to ensure that the hound is welcome too.

A trip to Colchester and we soon found somewhere that fitted the bill; High Woods Country Park, a diverse country park made up of  woodland, open spaces, a lake and wildflower meadows. Along with marshy areas, hayfields and scrubland.

Throw in a a scattering of play equipment, and consider it’s very dog friendly and things were looking positive.

Even better, a quick glance online showed a handful of caches located too. Win!

With only a few hours to visit we headed straight for the woodland. A quick pit stop for a play on the fantastic adventure playground and off for an explore.

With plenty of dens to explore, trees to climb and mossy logs to trip over balance on everybody was happy and so the perfect opportunity to casually slip out my GPS, no biggie. 😉

The closest cache however was showing as a D4. A challenging little number and the type that could get me in trouble if I took too long, but in for a penny….

The biggest challenge however was to be the tree coverage. A lush leafy canopy towering above us.

As the compass span I came to the conclusion the cache could literally be anywhere. A vague hint mentioned a tree. Oh goody. A tree in the woods…..

However using instinct to narrow down a likely area we soon had the cache, camouflaged as a stick in hand.

We meandered further with no purpose, or plan just enjoying being in the woods and now appreciating the thick tree canopy as up above it was pouring with rain.

Our stroll soon leading us to a woodland stream at which the children charged at with giddy delight, resulting in one muddy bottom and one doing the splits.

I of course went to their assistance, once I had finished laughing. 😉

Having quickly learnt that maybe stream jumping probably wasn’t the best plan on such a wet day, branches were quickly gathered and a bridge hastily constructed. Not so easy when a cheeky pup keeps running away with your branches.

Bridge built, it was sadly time for us to depart, but a place well worth a visit and we will most certainly be back again soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Somebody soon decided to build a bridge from nearby branches.

A trip sadly over all to quickly as we had to be home for a family event but a great place to visit and we will certainly return.