Back in the day the Umlazi river meandered through swamps down the valley and went south around this mountain into the sea at Reunion Beach. With hippos and crocs abounding, this was AFRICA! But then the settlers came, and eventually by 1951 the airport and 1963 the refinery were to be built so they moved mountains with the white man's machines and the river became concrete. This is the history of the cutting, or so the legend goes.
SAPREF is the largest Petrol refinery in South Africa and is the biggest refinery in the southern hemisphere. According to their website:
"Beginning on 4 November 1960, the first
major operation was to eliminate the swamp
and raise the ground level about two metres,
to four metres above sea level. A section of the Bluff that was protruding onto the site
was sluiced with high-pressure water jets, and
two million cubic metres of sand was spread
over the site. A canal was repositioned, a new
access road constructed, and two bridges built
over the Umlaas canal on the north side. Six
22 000-tonne tanks with floating roofs were
built at Island View to receive imported crude
oil, and four pipelines to the refinery, about
13km away, were laid. (More facinating history about this can be found at http://www.sapref.co.za/Media/Default/News/Documents/SAPREF_50_year_for_web.pdf)"
A fun and yet sometimes daring walk will be needed to reach this cache.
Getting to this cache may be a little challenging. If you pick the right time of the day you may be able to drive fairly close on the road and then hoof it (6am-8:30am + 3:30pm-6pm Monday to Friday), otherwise you may have to park and walk from a bit further away.
You will NOT be entering SAPREF property, however please still be mannered to their security guards who are nearby. No special permits nor trespassing will be required to retrieve this cache.
Recommended that you have good balance, do not go alone, and not exactly a children friendly spot.
Please return this cache exactly as you found it so that other cachers can also enjoy it.
Be aware of muggles, including those peeping eyes on the other side of the river.
Please note, due to recent developments if you have NOT signed the logsheet, your online log will be deleted.