After the rain and dismalness of Friday it was great to see that the weather on Saturday was fine and sunny. An excellent cooked breakfast in the hotel and then I was on my way back to the campsite for Mega Day.
I was glad that it was sunny as I have been telling people all year that the reason our Mega was so well regarded was because of the weather, a bit of sunshine and you can overlook any slight niggles (- though the Aberdeen niggles were maybe more than slight)

10th August 2019 – Aberdeenshire UK Mega 2019 GC7WEP4 – cache #4865
This was the 8th UK Mega I have been to and I really enjoyed it.
I thought the location was really good, I liked the pipers, and I really had a good time sitting on the grass in the sunshine watching the kids running about and the adults looking to see what was under Munro’s Kilt
A novel log book, whereas ours had been the sheep, they went for a wire frame of a coo with coloured strips of material which you wrote on and then they were stuck into the frame. Did it work ? well partially… they should have just stuck with the head and neck to get the ‘Steven Brown’ look they were obviously after

10th August 2019 – Sussex Stand Lab Cache – cache #4866
Ten more Lab Caches at the Mega itself, the first one on the Sussex 2020 Stand, it’s their Mega next year so they get a lab cache on the stand to make sure people visit their stand to find out what’s going on next time

10th August 2019 – Shine A Light Lab Cache – cache #4867
A variation on the ball pool lab cache, this time loads of balls, no pool, and the writing only visible with ultra-violet light (torches provided)

10th August 2019 – Munro The Coo Lab Cache – cache #4868
So you get to find what Munro wears under his kilt

10th August 2019 – Crathes Castle Lab Cache – cache #4869
What is the word written on the flag on top of the castle ? Who knows because the day is flat calm and the flag isn’t visible

10th August 2019 – Country Dweller Lab Cache – cache #4870
Something to do with Scottish Dialect words – made no sense even when I knew the answer

10th August 2019 – Royal Exchange Lab Cache – cache #4871
That’s a bit of a posh phone box

10th August 2019 – Lost in the Woods Lab Cache – cache #4872
Use the binoculars to spot the word – that anybody with good eyesight can see anyway

10th August 2019 – Hook Line and Sinker Lab Cache – cache #4873
Magnet fishing, in a very small pool, with only one fish

10th August 2019 – Pull In Close For A Cuddle Lab Cache – cache #4874
Haven’t got a picture of this one, it was just a large spider up a tree

10th August 2019 – Crathes Castle Capers 01 GC8BCHT – cache #4875
Found while doing the lab caches – well when I say found it was handed to me to sign by one of the crowd around it !

10th August 2019 – ERDGT: Crathes Castle GC5XQRH – cache #4876
I was with a few friends as we approached this cache and I am so tempted to put out a set of caches about Tree Recognition as they seemed to have no idea of the difference between a Rowan and a Yew tree…

10th August 2019 – Crathes Castle Capers 12 GC8BCMM – cache #4877
Hidden in a rotten stump… it really was hidden this time, not handed to s… though we did pass it on to the next cacher rather than hiding it back away ourselves

10th August 2019 – Word Search Puzzle Lab Cache – cache #4878
I didn’t do the word search, I didn’t even know where to find the wordsearch until I got to the bar

10th August 2019 – Crathes Castle Capers 15 GC8BFQD – cache #4879
Found while on the walk down from the Mega site to the Sidetracked event

10th August 2019 – Crathes Castle Lunar Calendar? GC6WTP0 – cache #4880
Found while on the walk down from the Mega to the Sidetracked event

10th August 2019 – Crathes Castle Capers 03 GC8BCJM – cache #4881
I hadn’t read the hint, saw a low bird box, thought that it must be the cache but it turned out to be a real bird box !

10th August 2019 – Aberdeenshire 2019 – SideTracked Day GC884JA – cache #4882
I came… I saw… I got absolutely soaked as the heavens opened torrentially while we sheltered under a tree

10th August 2019 – Deeside Way: Railcar GC5V9NH – cache #4883
Splashed through the puddles after the downpour with Sam539 and Zoe94 to get the cache – not hard to find as it was in someone else’s hands when we got there

10th August 2019 – ERDGT: Deeside Railway GC5VBNZ – cache #4884
Found with Sam539 and Zoe94 this was just a bit further along the railway so we went for it

10th August 2019 – Deeside Way: Tree Frog GC5V9P8 – cache #4885
Down by the river, find the right tree stump and find a frog

10th August 2019 – Crathes Castle Pond GC5YKVB – cache #4886
A bit of a scramble up a steep bank to this, not helped because the rain had made it very slippery

10th August 2019 – Crathes Castle Capers 04 GC8BCJR – cache #4887
I really liked all the wooden walkways as the ground underneath was mainly water after all the rain !, fortunately the cache while not on the walkway was on the high ground and dry underfoot

10th August 2019 – Burnett’s Booty GCY1P5 – cache #4888
under a large log – every log in the vicinity had been turned over, but I got the right one eventually

10th August 2019 – Crathes Castle Capers 14 GC8BFQ9 – cache #4889
A bit treacherous getting down the slippery slope to the cache – really liked the camouflage on this one

10th August 2019 – Crathes Castle Trail – The Leaning Tree GC5YKWY – cache #4890
As the sun got lower it was difficult to see clearly under the tree. I met a Norwegian cacher who had been there for more than a few minutes and was about ready to give up. – It looked like every rock and twig in the vicinity had been turned over several times, after 5 more minutes my Norwegian companion did give up, but I looked at the photograph Team Geochef had put on the cache earlier in the afternoon, and lined myself up with where they had stood and from that quickly found the cache
(I met the Norwegian again at Number 5, told him where the cache was and he went back to find it)

10th August 2019 – Crathes Castle Capers 05 GC8BCJW – cache #4891
I had been told by Hublander about the secret compartment in the container so I wasn’t surprised by the red herring and quickly got to the log to sign it

10th August 2019 – Crathes Castle Trail 1 GC5YKRY – cache #4892
Last one on my walk back to the campsite – which was good as it was almost time for the Ceilidh to begin… just time to go back to the car and change my shirt !