[Just before the corona-lockdown I traveled down to Wales, inspired by a hitchhike-encounter in New Zealand... I decided to explore its capital using Geocaching.]He was driving his van through the countryside of New Zealand, I was standing on the side of the road. He was the type of guy who picks up hitchhikers, I fitted the last category. A friendship was initiated, life can be as delightfully simple as that. The chances of the unorthodox - embracing a lifestyle of adventure and non-routine rambling - crossing each other’s paths are by any means significantly higher… because they follow (/initiate) more paths to begin with. An effective mechanism allowing me to meet the exact kind of people I want in my life. People like Matt, whose stories of unconventional memoirs connected with how I see the world, and whose experiences in this little stretch of his journey enriched my own because I was blessed enough to share them with him, if only temporary.
He never stopped traveling. Neither did I. Which is why I didn’t meet the Welshman again in Wales, as it obviously is an absurd request to pin a vagabond down on one location… but I did meet his family, who without hesitation slammed their doors wide open and started baking (veganized!) cottage pie the second I set foot in his homeland… allowing me to grasp the difficulty of leaving this wonderful land behind. Wales, the place I always wanted to go to without knowing I did.The 100% Welsh experience? Check! Effectively connecting with local culture and cuisine? Check! Sightseeing? Hm, let’s see… as I only had a rather compact time-frame in the Cardiff area, I aimed to optimize this first and short encounter by following purely local recommendations, without losing myself into touristic beaten-trail-stereotypes, while respecting the optimal city-nature balance. Besides the useful advice of my native hosts, I found exactly that in the most comprehensive global treasure hunt of our current time: Geocaching. In search of cleverly hidden boxes of all shapes and sizes (‘caches’), I more than anything found the reality of local inhabitants: the places where they left memories, that meant something to them… where shreds of history were once created and almost escaped the collective memento, or where you can simply find the most fantastic views, selfish to keep all to yourself.
Cardiff by Geoaching: Downtown Area
Friary Gardens (GC41WV6)
I kicked off with an easy little catch in the lovely park right next to the main bus stop. The central Frairy Gardens were built in honor of the Third Marquess of Bute: John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, whose father founded Cardiff and developed it (at a great financial risk) into the prime port of export of South Wales Valleys’ minerals. The good man eventually reached his goal in the fifty years that followed… however, he died before he could properly enjoy the glorious wealth that created. The poor bastard didn’t even get a statue, as here we’re looking at the life-size depiction of his son John… who by the way was also born as the (back then) richest man world wide, initiating a lazy life of privilege created by daddy’s hard work. A dyna'r union ffordd y mae'r byd yn gweithio, ynte?
[The park is closed at night, so catch the cache at daylight]John Cory & Gorsedd Gardens (GC58Z9)
The next cache led me to another statue of another John… Mr. Cory this time. Even though it was once again his dad who gave him a head start at his early lifecycle in Cardiff, this John led the more admirable career of a self-made man having to actually work for his success. After joining his father at the docks, engaging in trades such as shipbroking and coal-exporting, he eventually worked himself up to being the Chairman of the Board of Directors as one of the Cory Brothers. Besides being the largest private railway-wagon owner in Britain, as well as one of the prime players in shipping and coal-exporting (and as such, one of the richest entrepreneurs out there), John found Jesus. Bible in hand, he went on daily quests to support causes such as Temperance and Salvation Army, as well as donating to hospitals and schools (incl. annual prices for proficiency in Bible knowledge – to put the actual usefulness into context). Hallelujah to that, I guess.
While you’re here, pop into the National Museum for a free visit. I’m pretty solid that anything that has ever happened in Wales is profoundly covered here. From geology to history to art… and not the least, when speaking of the latter: my eye spied Cézanne, Monet, Degas, Rodin, Manet, Sisley, Renoir, Pisarro, Turner, Rembrandt, Hals (from my hometown Haarlem!), Van Dyck, Rubens, Cuyp, Boudin and even Van Gogh. Not to mention the sublime Welsh landscape painter Kyffin Williams. I honestly can’t shout enough words of appraisal when referring to this museum. Go! Gorsedd Stone Circles (GC4N78Z - Earth Cache)
The Gorsedd (Cerrig yr Orsedd) Gardens, in front of the National Museum, bear that name for a reason. At a stone’s throw (HAHA – ahum) away from the previous geocache, one is able to admire the Gorsedd Circle of standing druids. There’s another circle right where you’re standing now, in Cooper’s Field Bute Park, which has been erected to celebrate the cultural festival of Eisteddfod in 1978, and is as such not of any significant historic value besides remembering this event… however, the geological value is something to be more thoroughly explored at this Earth Cache, which invites you to dive into the world of Triassic rocks, Radyr Stones and Liassic limestones in order to answer the questions to earn this badge. An intellectual pause at your Cardiff sightseeing-round.
A More Perfect Union (GC5WE1V)
Another place of intellectual development, be it for others, is located right next to a student hub in the Cathays area. Besides studying, a lot of wild partying goes on in this life phase (I was of course told by others, mom), underlined by my experience while searching this cache by feeling the gaps of the old university wall. “Hey you there, is this what you’re after?” – a copper yelled, his menacing mustache moving up and down when sharply inhaling, holding the nano-cache at a 5-cm distance from my face. As apparently this wall is Cardiff’s prime place to hide drugs, this encounter was followed by a long conversation about the innocent art of Geocaching.
Just leaving this information out there, in case you feel like spicing up your Cardiff nightlife experience without additional costs.
Splash! (GC6W3W7 - currently archived)
A location of a more physical nature of development is the Great Wales Empire Pool, built in 1958 for the Empire Games. Don’t grab your swimmers just yet, as this cache solely highlights the historic significance of this location… the pool, with a space for no less than 1722 spectators, was demolished in 1998 to make room for the Millennium Stadium. The area provides for a nice river stroll just outside the downtown area.
| I have not the slightest idea who Tiger Bay Girl is (it sounds like someone who wears animal-print-leggings), but here she was at some point of her life*. At the churchyard of St. Mary’s. And it looks like she left a little Tupperware box invisible to the untrained eye, to be retrieved with a funny mechanism. Also, she provided us with a thorough Wikipedia copy-paste of this place of worship, informing us for example that the entire façade is a sham with fake windows and doorways. * Later on, I found out that the church’s main claim to fame was in fact singer Shirley Bassey (from that James Bond tune), who was baptized here. Her nickname? Tiger Bay Girl. While at this cache, you might as well continue walking towards Mermaid Quay, Cardiff’s pleasant river side promenade hiding quite a few caches of its own. |
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Thor (GC89297 - Virtual)
“It looks as though one of his lightning bolts has gone astray and landed here, no doubt during some epic battle with the frost giants, trolls or other nefarious villains.” A funny one, while you’re at it anyway: this cache requires you to shamelessly photograph yourself doing some over-the-top heroic poses next to the lightning bolts marking something significantly less exciting: an entrance of a shopping mall.
Cardiff by Geoaching: Green Wanderings
There’s no denying that Cardiff is a more-than-pleasant city to visit and reside in. One of its main charms, and of Wales as a whole, is however its close proximity to nature (or at least it is in my humble opinion).
Garth Hill (GCXVJ2)
Lucky bastard as I am I was spending my nights right next to the green highlight of the area: Garth Hill, in the community of Pentyrch (yeah – I don’t know how to pronounce that either). Straight on the first night I was enriched with the story around the Hugh Grant movie “The Englishman who went up a hill and came down a mountain”, based on a narrative of director Christopher Monger’s grandfather regarding a cartographer who sadly concluded the hill is in fact a hill, and not a mountain as was hoped, missing a lousy 1000 feet (305m) in height. As the story goes, perplexed villagers immediately joined forces and started adding the necessary earth on top to properly qualify for that sought-after mountain-status.
Nowadays, Garth Hill provides some sublime hiking opportunities and splendid views over the Taff Valley, Cardiff, Flat Holm and into Brecon Beacons. The Geocache is to be found on top, close to 2000-year old protected burial sites. A highlight in both senses of the word.Garth 1 t/m 5 (I catched GC1ZCB4 / GC1ZCAW / GC5N3H6 / GC5N49G)
Once you reached the peak of Garth Hill don’t think you’re done and can simply go down again. Oh no, the hill stretches out into more hills further than the eye can see, and passionate Geocachers have done their work here. The series of Garth Caches are scattered out over the wide variety of trails forming a circular walk of approximately 1,5 hours, requiring a proper pair of fit legs. Each location highlights another interesting natural or historical treasure you would have totally missed if it wasn’t for the cache… be it the ‘cabbage stone’ (marking the burial spot of the savagely murdered ‘witch’ Mary Ann Cabaits – “Cabbage”), the ‘hobbit hole’ actually resembling the hiding space of Frodo & co, or the house ruins of the ancient mining community of Gwaelod.
Don’t Go Fishing (GC7GVCE)
As a vegan I can’t agree more with the title. This cache is a suitable follow-up of the Garth Series, leading you to a scenic path alongside the river Taff in Gwaelod. While here, you can continue to the “Football Micro Series Caches” (GC7J4D9) highlighting the history of Taff’s Well AFC… man a man a mwnci!
RR & DT’s Witch Tree (GC5MFGY)
From a witch stone to a witch tree… while this tree has actually nothing to do with any medieval torture techniques, the tree does seem to come straight out of a fairytale. It’s located on a charming forest path connecting the mountains (or hills) with the villages in the valley.
Sidney’s Stroll 1 t/m 7 (I catched GC49HPE / GC44C04)
Another lovely series leading you across the cycle & footpath stretching from Caerphilly into Taff’s Well. It has elements of nature as well as the Welsh villages adopted en-route, and you’ll be required to watch out for ‘muggles’ (a Geocache-term referring to people who don’t know about the ‘magic’ of the treasure hunt… derived from Harry Potter’s term for non-wizards).
Cheshire Cat’s Cache (GC7ZMZJ)
I hope you’re not tired yet, as this cache will lead you along the stunning Taff Trail, in total about 55 miles (89KM) between Cardiff Bay and Breacon. Another mission for another time, but certainly an interesting taste of this breath-taking Welsh endeavour.
The Forest by the Castle (GC3DM5C)
Even if you hate hiking (if that is even humanly possible), you still have no excuse to skip on the north-western area of the Cardiff region. You see, however intensely you might have enjoyed your visit to the Cardiff Castle… Castell Coch is without a doubt situated even prettier, to be spotted from a distance both day and night (it’s beautifully illuminated at nighttime). Walk the short yet steep trail up to reach the entrance (mind: there’s a modest entry price), and don’t forget to schedule in some extra time to explore the forest creeping up the hill (freely accessible).
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Tick-tock-tick-tock, and done already. It doesn’t really matter how much time you had planned in this lovely nation, the desire to return will inevitable leave with you as a mental souvenir. There’s simply so much to experience! The people, the history, the language that looks like a cat walked over the keyboard… I don’t think there’s anything I did not like during my way-too-short but oh-so-memorable stay here.
Mae fy hofrenfad yn llawn llyswennod!
*By the way, if you think that was a deep and spiritual ending to this article I have to disappoint you. It means “my hovercraft is full of eels” – by Omniglot listed as one of the ‘top useful expressions to learn when visiting Wales’… I obviously missed something.