London Invasion
N. 51 30.784 W.000 07.453
( Kook29 was on holiday in Barcelona in June 2006 and tried to find a cache called Barcelona Invasion by mcruley. It was based around finding SpaceInvaders, usually made from small tiles and stuck on walls etc.Mcruley has kindly gave him his blessing to do a similar type of cache in London. His was very well presented and kook29 was not ashamed to say that he has used a few of his ideas.
The cache is a small plastic container with log only, held by a magnet.
This cache is ok for children if accompanied by an adult. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND DOING IT AFTER DARK. PLEASE READ THE LOGS.
It all started a few years ago when an anonymous person in Paris known as Invader placed these tiled representations of Aliens (based on the 1980s Space Invaders game) in unusual places all over that city and started an idea that Aliens had invaded Earth.
Kook29 did a bit of searching when he got home and found that a small invasion of London had also taken place soon after.
These Aliens were of mixed race and colour but, unlike us, they had realised the futility of war long before Earth supported life. They were more "E.T." than "Dalek." Although they took part in our leisure activities and enjoyed our culture they knew it would be wise to make themselves invisible to us. However, they were vain enough to leave enigmatic depictions of themselves for us to ponder over.
Your task is to find the Aliens and use the clues to get to the Alien Base Camp. Signals are poor so I have put hints in the text.
Start at the above co-ordinates. They are for a very busy Underground Station.
WP1. N. 51 30.797. W. 000 07.452.
You emerge from the Station and wonder which way to turn? Stand so you can see in all directions and you will see an Alien guarding the street. He is not at all shy. Keep looking as he is sometimes briefly obscured. (Alien killed by humans: you can see his ghostly image on the wooden post.)
Stand behind him and look for the large two digit golden number.
This will = A & B.
WP2. N. 51 30.824. W. 000 07.489.
A characteristic of these Aliens, which is the same as Earthlings, is an insatiable desire to buy certain things. This has nothing to do with need and some Earthlings have been know to have hundreds of them. You will realise that this Alien is of course female. She is hiding from her mate who will not understand why she needs more of what this shop and others nearby are selling. Sneak up from another direction and she is clearly visible.
What is the background colour of this orange skinned Alien? Use the colour chart to find the number. (Sadly this old Alien has been vapourised. The colour was green) This will = C.
WP3. N. 51 30.825. W. 000 07.514.
The Aliens also took a liking to alcohol so they were very interested in marking this place.(not a pub/bar/restaurant.) Close by is a very appropriately named shop.
Between shop and Alien is a door number. Divide it by the number corresponding to the BACKGROUND colour of the Alien.
This will = D. I think the alien has gone which is susprising as he was high up. The alien's back ground colour was orange.
WP4. N. 51 30.868. W. 000 07.588.
This yard is home to a number of vegetarian cafes, new age shops and homeopathic remedy stores, has been the home of alternative medicine, occultism and astrologers since the 17th Century, all of whom were attracted by the sundial and the symbolic star layout of the streets.
The Alien is easy to spot. Which way is he looking? Follow his eyes past the salad bar and answer the question. How many dials? Deduct the number corresponding to the colour of the Alien. The answer will = E.
WP5. N. 51 30.723. W. 000 07.577.
On your way you may pass some amazing timepieces. Apparently they are accurate to 10 seconds!
The Aliens liked this place as it showed that Earthlings were also an explorer race. They even found a map showing their home galaxy, Dessipos M1. To show how smart they were they left their usual mark and also printed the co-ordinates on the glass in degrees, minutes, seconds.
What is the second digit of the West seconds (")?
This will = F. The coordinates have disappeared: they were 51 32.42 0 7.28
Follow the alley guarded by the Alien to "The Lamb and Flag" if you fancy a pint. If you convert the printed co-ords to decimal minutes you may be surprised to find that they are not the same as the ones I have given you. In fact they differ by about 100m. A bit of Googling will explain. Or not:).
WP6. N. 51 30.876. W. 000 07.866.
This was formerly Rose Street but has been re-named after Dr Manette, who lived hereabouts in A Tale of Two Cities:
"In a building at the back, attained by a courtyard where a plane tree rustled its green leaves, church organs claimed to be made,and likewise gold to be beaten by some mysterious giant who had a golden arm starting out of the wall...as if he had beaten himself precious..." The golden arm referred to is now preserved at The Dickens House Museum. However, a modern replica of it can be seen protruding from the wall a little way up on the left, whilst Artists' House, No 10 on the right, is a possible contender for the Manette residence.
This building is a tower of strength! It took TWO Aliens to guard it since one of them was often drunk. In fact he could make you feel drunk if you just caught his eye. What's the number on the black door? = x.
The other Alien at the front of the building has been in a fight.
How many tiles has he lost in the top four line of tiles? = y.
x/y = G.
There is currently an exhibtion of Invader's aliens at 8 Greek Street.
WP7. N. 51 30.903. W. 000 07.973.
This Alien has just landed and has been sent to replace the ones from St Giles who have both been atomised.
He has been sent to this spot to investigate the "Off-side Rule". Find where he could look for this information. Add the two digits together and deduct the number corresponding to the background colour of this lovely Alien. (18/08/09 Alien atomised. Background was yellow, door number was 25.) This will = H.
WP8. N. 51 30.855. W. 000 08.066.
This Alien has chosen this secluded spot to have some little black babies. She is sending a message home to report the happy event. One or two babies have already left the nest but most are still beside her.
How many in the top bunk?
Unfortunately she has now returned home and is I understand sueing for child support from the fathers. However if you look closely you will see a small creature who came to keep her company. The name of letters in the name of this creature less 2 will = J.
Read the plaque on the wall further along and you will see why the bar/restaurant/night-club is called Revolution.
WP9. N. 51 30.791. W. 000 08.228.
Walk along this road of high concrete and glass. You may lose signal but the Alien is easy to spot. Deduct the number of mirror tiles from the number of dark blue tiles on this Alien.
This will = K.
The nearby pub is named after the person who realised that people using the water pump were dying of Cholera and those who worked and drank at the brewery were not. Closing down the pump saved hundreds of lives.
WP10. N. 51 30.805. W. 000 08.322
This Alien is tucked away next to a pub. There's a surprise!
What is his skin colour? This will = L. This alien has galloped off but if you take the number of letters in the name of the pub and divided by two this give L
WP11. N. 51 30.738. W. 000 07.988.
You should now be standing next to a Man of Iron sitting on a rainbow. (Recent refurbishment has removed the rainbow, but it makes no difference) The Alien is just across the road but you won't see him. Approach from a different direction. Enter the grounds of the place guarded by this Alien. You are looking for the burial place of:
"The First Metaphysician of his Age."
"Ready to depart....grateful and contented."
Look for the last digit of the year of his birth. Deduct the number of black and white tiles found on the Alien.I believe the Alien may be missing and there were four black and white tiles on the Alien. (NB this place may be closed in the evening, but the answer can be googled using the key phrase in quotes)
This will = M.
WP12. N. 51 30.593. W. 000 08.071.
Now we're off to the circus! The co-ordinates are for the centre of this busy place but you don't need to go to the middle. The Alien was on the top step guarding the Alien Fraction used by visiting Aliens to help find Base Camp. Sadly, this Alien got drunk and fell down the steps and disintegrated, so look for 49-319 and go to the nearby steps to find the fraction. There are many of these fractions about so make sure you are at the right place. Use the colour chart and the numerator will tell you the direction to travel. In the denominator the 1st digit minus 1 and corresponding colour tells you the line to take: the 2nd digit tells you how many times you must change trains; the 3rd digit tells you how many stops to your destination. When you arrive leave by Exit 1 ramp.
How many swimmers? This will = N.
WP13 The Aliens' Base Camp.
N. 51 30.GxHxEx(M+A+J+E+D)+K
W. 000 (F-A-M)(E+D+H).ExLx(B+L)
;
In case the following colours don't appear correctly they are:
Brown, Black, Green, Yellow, Blue, Grey, Red,Orange.
| 1 |
|
Westbound |
| 2 |
|
Tipperary |
| 3 |
|
Northbound |
| 4 |
|
Timbuktu |
| 5 |
|
Eastbound |
| 6 |
|
North Pole |
| 7 |
|
Southbound |
| 8 |
orange |
Romford |
You can check your answers for this puzzle on Geochecker.com.
As ground zero is now planted I have moved the cache . See hint for new location.