CacheWalker
Cotswold Caching => Cotswold Caching => Topic started by: Gackt on September 23, 2018, 06:49:46 pm
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Painted Rocks
There's a new craze, or at least a relatively new craze compared to Geocaching, called Painted Rocks.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v733/TTblood666/CW/painted%20rocks%201_zpsojtr8xwd.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/TTblood666/media/CW/painted%20rocks%201_zpsojtr8xwd.jpg.html)
What is it? Simply... people are painting small rocks and hiding them for other people to find. When you find one all you have to do is; take a photo if you want, and then re-hide for others to find.
Very similar to Geocaching. Even more similar to caching sites like Opencaching and Terracaching that have "movable" caches. What this activity does not have though is a central base (website) to log your finds. Usually, on the back of the rock there will be a message of where you should log your find, or what you should do with the rock. Most of the finds, or the logging of photographs of your finds are directed to various Facebook groups.
We have found 10 painted rocks to date. Now when I say "we", I actually mean my daughter Chloe who has found them all except one, and my son James who has found the "except one", I haven’t found any :P
In addition to what I have written above, when I say "found", I should say "stumbled across" as, as I have already written, there is no central database of these hidden rocks... they are just out there somewhere.
I first heard about this new activity in September last year, but didn't actually see one of these until August of this year whilst I was on holiday in north Wales. My daughter found one, and James found another. We (Chloe) has subsequently found a number more, including the one with poppies above near Cirencester Amphitheatre today.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v733/TTblood666/CW/painted%20rocks%202_zps1ixqm3vs.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/TTblood666/media/CW/painted%20rocks%202_zps1ixqm3vs.jpg.html)
We re-hid (re-placed) one whilst we where still up in north Wales, which was also picked up by someone before we left the area (we checked on it), and brought one home to re-hide as it was placed to highlight dementia, my better half works in a dementia care home so thought it would be a good place to re-hide near.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v733/TTblood666/CW/painted%20rocks%203_zpswesv0ke4.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/TTblood666/media/CW/painted%20rocks%203_zpswesv0ke4.jpg.html)
Always up for new ways of getting young people off their butts and outdoors enjoying themselves, and this activity ticks that box.
So, has anyone else found one of these painted rocks? Where did you find them? Were they in or near a cache? (This was asked this on a recent #UKCacheHour (https://twitter.com/GeocachingHour/status/1039600614840459266)) Have you painted any and hidden any yourself?
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We have them in our village "Rissi Rocks" ;D I've found six in our village, moving just one of them.
Out caching, I've stumbled across two on two different days in two different villages :)
They all seem to have a FB page associated with them. The kids seem to enjoy finding them, posting a picture and moving them on 8)
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Apparently they are common on Bredon Hill where I walk on a weekly basis. But it looks as though my Geocaching 'force' remains, as I have currently found none of them.
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Saw one on top of a fence post near my Cotswold Olimpicks cache last week,left it there.
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Like tarmacjohn i did not see or find any on Bredon hill today but did see a pair of red Kites. 8)
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Like tarmacjohn i did not see or find any on Bredon hill today but did see a pair of red Kites. 8)
Ok, deviating from the painted rocks, but.. Red Kits, one of my favourite birds of prey. First time I ever saw one was walking up in the Chilterns, some time before I learnt about Geocaching. A rare site then. But in the last couple of years I have spotted a couple over Chedworth. Earlier this year I saw quite a number near High Wycombe, and this past summer there were a couple flying over Chesterton Farm south of my home town Cirencester :) I look forward to seeing more of them whilst out and about in coming years.
Why my favourite? I think it is just their distinctive shape, colouring, and size. They have such an awesome presence when circling above you. I won't paint a rock depicting them (I technically failed art at school), but my daughter may have a go at one :)
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Being out in the sticks, Red Kite are seen nearly daily, beautifully marked birds :) We also see regularly Buzzards, Kestrel and Sparrow Hawk :)
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I saw a Magpie pecking at a dead badger this morning :'( You definitely have the upper hand on locations to see interesting birds walktall.
My daughter found four, yes four painted rocks yesterday just on her way to school. She has re-hid two already, but here's the couple she brought home to re-hide this weekend...
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v733/TTblood666/more%20painted%20rocks_zpsee7xhjev.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/TTblood666/media/more%20painted%20rocks_zpsee7xhjev.jpg.html)
Her painted rock finding totals are blasting my cache finding away at the moment. Must do something about that!
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You definitely have the upper hand on locations to see interesting birds walktall.
I do prefer being out in the sticks but it does have it's downsides. Use to see an albino roe deer on a local walk but not seen it for over a couple years now.
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I haven’t found a painted rock yet, first I heard about them was a few months ago. There’s an article about them in Seeker Issue 36 (https://gagb.org.uk/uploads/Seeker/seeker36.pdf), page 12 :)
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Thanks for highlighting that, I've just taken a read of the Seeker article :)
The painted rocks are now looking for us...
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v733/TTblood666/CW/paintedrockseye_zpswy6731d0.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/TTblood666/media/CW/paintedrockseye_zpswy6731d0.jpg.html)
Another find for my daughter yesterday.