Amberel - AvonWiltshire

Earnanaes

abanazar

Wiltshire

25 points

No. 94

Near the dragon 🙂

The Quest for Aladdin's Lamp very nearly received the maximum possible TOP CACHE score, but I knocked off a point, else I wouldn't be able to award a higher score if an even better cache came along. On this one I can't see how I could justify deducting a point from any aspect!

At the time this was almost the most physically difficult cache I had ever reached. I would almost certainly not have been able to get out again without the expert and patient assistance of digdug123.

Abanazar's cave caches have story lines that start with the puzzle, follow through each stage as you act out the part, and end very much later at the cache. Brilliant caches 🙂.

View the cache page on geocaching.com
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Earnanaes

There and Back Again

abanazar

Wiltshire

25 points

No. 150

In the mountain 🙂

Abanazar does it again - the second TOP CACHE to get top marks (and there would be more in future).

A superb underground cache, themed on the Hobbit - the recovery of Thror's treasure from the dragon Smaug by Bilbo, Gandalf and the dwarves.

The best cache I have ever done (until another abanazar cache some time later 🙂 ) !!!

Truly worthy of its 5/5 rating.

View the cache page on opencache.uk
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

ThereAndBackAgain ThereAndBackAgain_Back

Stargate SN13

abanazar

Wiltshire

25 points

No. 291

With owner

It took 3 days underground to complete this one, with our route taking us to new, challenging and rarely visited locations in the quarries. The navigation challenge was a greater test than any of the other caches in the quarries, both Groundspeak and opencaching listed.

Originally I marked this up as 24 points simply because the subject matter suits me a little less than "There and Back Again", but this marking is supposed not to be subjective and I really couldn't justify taking a point off anywhere - so it's a third maximum pointer for abanazar 🙂.

View the cache page on opencache.uk
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

Stargate Stargate_Back

Enter the Matrix

abanazar

Wiltshire

25 points

No. 463

With owner

An awesome puzzle, one of the most difficult caches ever, both mentally and physically.

We took the red pill ...

View the cache page on opencache.uk
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

Orpheus and Eurydice

abanazar

Wiltshire

24 points

No. 462

With owner

A clever and very original interpretation of a moving cache 🙂.

View the cache page on opencache.uk
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

TopCacheNew

Open Sesame: The Quest for Aladdin's Lamp

abanazar

Wiltshire

24 points

No. 73

With owner

A taxing puzzle and some fairly tricky underground terrain led to an outstanding cache 🙂. I can't say much more, or I'll spoil it for future finders.

View the cache page on opencache.uk
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

OpenSesame OpenSesame_Back

If You Go Down To The Woods Tonight...............

cannonfodder32

Wiltshire

24 points

No. 454

With owner

This night cache was in a class of its own! Imaginative in conception and exquisitely presented, it oozed quality all the way.

View the cache page on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

TopCacheNew

Los Juicios de la Inquisición

abanazar

Wiltshire

23 points

No. 137

With owner

Another cache with a very original theme running through it. Terrain not for the faint-hearted 🙂.

View the cache page on opencache.uk
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

TopCacheNew

Below Above - The Janitor's Blither

JestersMagpie

Wiltshire

23 points

No. 156

With owner

Another great journey through the Bath stone quarries, to a great cache container.

View the cache page on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

JanitorsBlither JanitorsBlither_Back

Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate

abanazar

Wiltshire

22 points

No. 56

Near cache 🙂

At the time, the most physically demanding cache I had found. Much as I enjoyed the nearby quarry caches, the terrain for this one was an order of magnitude more difficult. It didn't have the interesting artefacts, but almost every step of the way was a challenge.

I wasn't scared stiff in the way I was when doing some of the climbing caches, but I failed on my first attempt and believed reaching this cache was simply beyond my abilities. A second visit proved it wasn't 🙂.

So - an elegant puzzle, a well constructed cache page, a most challenging route to the cache and a neat hiding place - a TOP CACHE.

View the cache page on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

LasciateOgneSperanza

Below Above - Mega Breakfast

JestersMagpie&Lichee

Wiltshire

22 points

No. 157

With owner

I've been down these quarries more than a dozen times, on some epic journeys, but this was the grand-daddy of them all 🙂.

View the cache page on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

TopCacheNew

Der Adler ist gelandet: der Fahrer

abanazar

Wiltshire

22 points

No. 177

With owner

Yet another refreshingly original theme, and a cache hunt that involved many disciplines over a long, exhausting and highly satisfying day.

View the cache page on opencache.uk

derFahrer

Raven's Well

madrab

Avon

22 points

No. 456

With owner

An amazing location, in remarkable order for its age!

View the cache page on geocaching.com

TopCacheNew

Der Adler ist gelandet: Saboteur

abanazar

Wiltshire

22 points

No. 493

With owner

A puzzle that went way over my head, but I was able to make a contribution to solving the field stages. As always, it is truly remrkable how the c/o finds relevant locations and field puzzles to weave into the story line.

View the cache page on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

TopCacheNew

Below Above - Gruidae

JestersMagpie&Lichee

Wiltshire

22 points

No. 591

With owner

One of the more challenging Below Above caches - the number is out of sequence because while I said TOP CACHE on my log, I forgot to add it to the database!

View the cache page on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

TopCacheNew

Mind The Trains

BareClawz

Wiltshire

21 points

No. 32

With owner

Noticeably different to the previous Below Above caches we found - this quarry is larger and the underground passageways and caverns more spacious. It's hard to say which was the more interesting.

As with The Fallen Monarch, prior to the visit it seemed utterly improbable that these caches would fail to achieve TOP CACHE status, so I had taken the unique step of manufacturing the coins BEFORE visiting. The location did not disappoint.

Now archived, but the same ground is covered by others in the series.

Click the image to expand it.

View the cache page on geocaching.com
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MindTheTrains

Forbrydelsen: Mangler

abanazar

Avon

21 points

No. 140

With owner

Humour in abundance, variety, superb detail, probably abanazar's best "above ground" cache.

View the cache page on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

TopCacheNew

The Ascent of Man

abanazar

Avon

21 points

No. 141

With owner

Multiple free tree climbs, the last one in particular being very challenging for me, but set in the most breathtaking landscape of green hills and valleys, this one would get 11 out of 10 for the location if it could.

View the cache page on opencache.uk
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

AscentOfMan AscentOfMan_Back

The Quest for St Aldhelm's Glove

abanazar

Wiltshire

21 points

No. 142

With owner

This one had to be on the itinerary as I had been urged to do it by so many different people. A most unusual starting task, after which it was a little bit of a slow burner, but some great final stages in a place I know well, and a superb cache 🙂.

View the cache page on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

TopCacheNew

PuRe GeNiUS

digdug123 & bam

Wiltshire

21 points

No. 584

With owner

A most elegant puzzle, and from me there is no higher accolade than elegance 😉 A nice walk to the cache, though very muddy, and as always with this c/o, a big, well stocked box in immaculate condition 🙂.

View the cache page on geocaching.com

TopCacheNew

Below Above - Multi 2

BareClawz

Wiltshire

21 points

No. 65

With owner

We came back for Multi 2 some 6 weeks after finding the previous four Below Above caches. This one was on a different scale - neither more nor less interesting, but different. Another great experience.

Click the image to expand it.

View the cache page on geocaching.com
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BAMulti2

Below Above - Multi 1

BareClawz

Wiltshire

21 points

No. 46

With owner

The fourth and last (though that would soon change) of a group of subterranean caches - the longest, and with some of the trickiest terrain. But with so much of interest to see. A fantastic place to visit. Too good to visit only once - this coin was presented to the cache owner on a return visit 🙂.

Now archived, but others in the series cover the same ground.

Click the image to expand it.

View the cache page on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

BAMulti1

The Fallen Monarch

BareClawz

Wiltshire

21 points

No. 33

With owner

An awesome experience. As someone with a mild claustrophobia it took a little determination to tackle this in the first place. But it was so interesting that at no point did I give a second thought to the small spaces and tight squeezes.

And what a reward! Some fascinating ancient artefacts, and a challenging exit.

It was a privilege to be able to present this coin to the cache owner at the cache location.

Click the images to expand them.

View the cache page on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

FallenMonarch

Below Above - Mind The Trains

JestersMagpie&Lichee

Wiltshire

20 points

No. 576

With owner

TopCacheNew

Below Above - Hanging Death

JestersMagpie&Lichee

Wiltshire

20 points

No. 575

With owner

A little more exercise than usual at the end 🙂.

View the cache page on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

TopCacheNew

Below Above - The Peach Stealers Mission

JestersMagpie&Lichee and Wan Hu

Wiltshire

20 points

No. 574

With owner

A familiar place, but a tricky route to follow for an old body 😉.

View the cache page on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

TopCacheNew

Knock Knock

digdug123 & Boo

Wiltshire

20 points

No. 93

With owner

This was a rather different type of puzzle to those I normally tackle. I had to enrol the entire Amberel clan to help solve it. And even that wasn't enough - we needed a nudge to shift us out of a rut we got stuck in. But once I had the location I wasted no further time.

From previous logs I was expecting it to be good, but I didn't know in what way. It turned out to be such an obvious idea, but only with hindsight, and I think that is a feature of the very best ideas 🙂.

So a great and original idea, and a great deal of effort to produce, but it was worth it. A fantastic cache 🙂.

View the cache page on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

KnockKnock KnockKnock_Back

The White Bird

BareClawz

Wiltshire

20 points

No. 48

With owner

Our first taste of what these underground caches would be like. The entrance was challenging, the whole experience amazing.

Now archived but the same ground is covered by others in the series.

Click Heffalumps's legs or the log book to expand the images.

View the cache page on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

WhiteBird

University of BoA: School of Engineering

pljg

Wiltshire

19 points

No. 760

With owner

A great location and a challenging recovery/replacement, successfully achieved.

View the cache page on geocaching.com
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UniversityOfBoA

Der Adler ist gelandet: das Ende

abanazar

Avon

19 points

No. 789

With owner

DerAdlerDasEnde

River Avon Wet & Wild

kiricache

Avon

19 points

No. 768

With owner

RiverAvonWetAndWild

il Nono Cerchio

abanazar

Wiltshire

19 points

No. 77

In the ninth circle 🙂

Without any doubt the most physically demanding cache I've ever looked for, and probably the most physically demanding thing I've ever done in my entire life.

I tried my best, but I got stuck about 75% of the way there, so this is one of those rare beasts, a TOP CACHE award for a DNF.

The reason it falls below some other caches in this list is because the points allocated to its strong suit have "maxed out", and it loses out by being only a micro, even though getting anything bigger than a micro down there would be a very difficult task 🙂. So despite "only" 19 points, this is a TOP TOP CACHE.

In this short space I can't begin do it justice - if you are interested you should read the logs.

View the cache page on opencache.uk
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

ilNonoCerchio

International Icon Challenges

redsox_mark

Avon

18 points

No. 860

With owner

A somewhat challenging climb up the hill to large and well stocked caches.

View the cache page for "Silver" on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

InternationalIconChallenges

Scooby-Doo! Sally's Mystery

abanazar

Wiltshire

18 points

No. 494

With owner

The puzzle was a bit too taxing for me, but great field stages I could participate in 🙂.

View the cache page on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

TopCacheNew

Forbrydelsen: Bron|Broen

abanazar

Wiltshire

18 points

No. 520

With owner

The usual ingenuity and painstaking attention to detail.

View the cache page on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

TopCacheNew

Cruising the Avon

madrab

Wiltshire

18 points

No. 767

With owner

A really tough canoe series on the embryonic river Avon.

View the cache page for #1 on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

CruisingTheAvon

Playing Around in Kingsdown + Piddypug's Hole (In One)

abanazar

Wiltshire

18 points

No. 133

With owner

A clever and amusing Groundspeak multi, leading directly to a short, but tight and tricky, opencaching.org.uk cave cache.

View Playing Around in Kingsdown on geocaching.com
View Piddypug's Hole (In One) on opencache.uk
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

TopCacheNew

Attributes Challenges

higster

Avon

18 points

No. 781

With owner

A lovely walk in the Wiltshire countryside, and some extraordinary cache containers 🙂.

View the cache page for #1 on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

AttributesChallenges

h4ck3r

abanazar

Wiltshire

18 points

No. 136

With owner

One for the technophile 🙂. But after the geeky stuff, a lovely walk 🙂.

View the cache page on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

TopCacheNew

Below Above - 地狱

JestersMagpie&Lichee

Wiltshire

17 points

No. 597

With owner

TopCacheNew

Der Adler ist gelandet: der Anfang

abanazar

Wiltshire

17 points

No. 495

With owner

TopCacheNew

Below Above - Fred's Dog

JestersMagpie&Lichee

Wiltshire

17 points

No. 506

With owner

TopCacheNew

Der Adler ist gelandet: Einzelgänger

abanazar

Avon

17 points

No. 521

With owner

TopCacheNew

Below Above - The Lost Geocacher

JestersMagpie&Lichee

Wiltshire

17 points

No. 455

With owner

A return visit to Brown's quarry after quite a gap - lots of fun 🙂.

View the cache page on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

TopCacheNew

Tim'n'Marion's Attribute Challenges

Tim'n'Marion

Avon

16 points

No. 761

With owner

AttributeChallenges

Cache by Kayak - Avon

antpeng

Wiltshire

16 points

No. 214

With owner

A series of 12 caches set on the River Avon and accessible by canoe. We did it while the river was in flood, which made for a very interesting and enjoyable ride 🙂.

View the cache page for #1 on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

TopCacheNew

The (Water) Crystal Maze

Winter Foxes

Wiltshire

16 points

No. 372

With owner

TopCacheNew

Below Above - Nuts & Bolts

JestersMagpie&Lichee

Avon

16 points

No. 647

With owner

A series of 9 caches in a very interesting underground location.

View the cache page for #9 on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

NutsAndBolts

Dundas adventure lab

Ev1l 81tch

Avon

16 points

No. 859

With owner

DundasAdventureLab

Flotsam & Jetsam EXTREME

FollowMeChaps

Avon

16 points

No. 523

Declined

Declined

Big Game Fishing - MARLIN

Magic Traveler's

Avon

15 points

No. 720

With owner

A great series of "fishing" caches, with this one in particular being quite a challenge!

View the cache page on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

BigGameFishing

Safety Dance

redsox_mark

Wiltshire

15 points

No. 292

With owner

A nicely put together cache with an unusual theme, a good walk, mostly through lovely countryside, and a nice container at the end of it 🙂.

View the cache page on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

TopCacheNew

A Practice Tree

swindon_leys

Wiltshire

15 points

No. 646

With owner

PracticeTree

Centenary Challenge

Lydford Locators

Wiltshire

15 points

No. 201

With owner

A representative cache from a series of challenges. What made them stand out from other challenge cache series I've done was the good size, well stocked containers, and the setting in a lovely woods.

View the cache page on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

TopCacheNew

TIDAL Avon

TeamEww

Avon

14 points

No. 769

With owner

TidalAvon

Mix-tapes

antpeng

Wiltshire

14 points

No. 464

With owner

A series of songs to identify, of increasing difficulty. And a series of trees to climb, quite a variety, some good some not quite so good 😉.

View the cache page on geocaching.com, for the hardest of the puzzles but the best of the climbs
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

MixTapes

It’s not so Grimm in Box

abanazar

Wiltshire

13 points

No. 75

With owner

Done as an opportunistic cache, as we were passing close by and I spotted it had been awarded a lot of "favourite" points.

A typical abanazar cache, combining metaphor and allegory into the cache page and search. An excellent cache, and an unexpected TOP CACHE.

View the cache page on geocaching.com
View the geocoin page on geocaching.com

TopCacheNew