Yesterday lunchtime found Chris, me and Nessie, on a geocache prospecting hunt to find some interesting places to leave our own caches in. The ideal geocaching trip, as far as we’re concerned, is one that involves a good walk along some trails amidst pleasant scenery as well as finding the hidden cache. This is what we’re trying to create for other geocachers out there.

We walked into éolienne (wind turbine) territory. I’ve blogged a lot about our nine local éoliennes in the past but haven’t given them much attention lately. Suffice it to say they appear to be operational part of the time, but they’re by no means in full-time use yet.

We thought we’d found a great route, even though the green lane has been ripped up by recent logging activity. I’ve no objection to logging per se, but I do most definitely object to the way the companies disappear, having got their harvest to make their money with, leaving the public green lanes they’ve been using in a dreadful state. They seem to wait until the weather’s wet before they bring in the heavy machinery so it can do the maximum amount of damage to the paths, carving deep ruts in the ground that will be there for a long, long time. In the wet these become a muddy quagmire, and when it’s dry the rock hard uneveness is a killer to walk on. The loggers should leave the paths in the state they found them and be forced to do repair work where necessary.

Anyway, a bit further along the boggy, rutted path disappeared altogether. A farmer had ploughed it up! Farmers don’t seem to like public footpaths. So that route proved to be no good to us. However, we got a nice view of several of the éoliennes in a row out of it, so all wasn’t lost.

Returning to the car we stopped to admire the warning signs by éolienne number 3. These small orange ones indicating the presence of deadly electric cable underground are new and there are a disturbing amount of them scattered around.

But this big panel is the best!

Clearly you have to be prepared to run like blooming heck if you’re passing an éolienne in the ice or snow. But the rest of the warnings were cryptic to say the least. In fact, I think it’s probably a comic strip rather than a warning. Here’s my version of what the first column is all about.

  1. M. Jaune, M. Vert and M. Blanc were going for a walk one day when they came across M. Noir lying on his back on the ground. “Stay back, he could be dangerous!” cried M. Vert, nobly shielding the others with his arms out. “Don’t be silly. I think he’s dead,” retorted his companions.

 

  1. “How can we be sure?” asked M. Vert. “I know,” cried M. Blanc. “Let’s roll this giant red doughnut that I brought with me for a snack over him and see what happens.” So they rolled the doughnut over him. He didn’t stir. “OK, let’s dig some holes and stick his hands onto the underground electricity cable and see if that revives him.” It didn’t, but it did vaporize M. Blanc in the process.

 

  1. Next, M. Jaune suggested letting off a bomb next to the fallen M. Noir to get a reaction. All that happened this time was that M. Jaune blew himself into smithereens. The blast also ripped through the bank of a nearby stream causing a flood and washing M. Vert away.

  2. All this commotion alerted the attention of a passing alien. Cunningly disguising his craft as a traffic cone, he landed close by, nipped out with special breathing gear on so he wouldn’t perish in earth’s atmosphere and dragged M. Noir back to his spaceship to do a few experiments on before having him for tea.

 

I started on the other columns but it gets way too complicated. All I can say is the fourth picture from the left on the bottom row looks like the one they’re having the most fun in!