This will take you on a tour around the Hankey area.
You will visit two tunnels: The one made by Mother Nature the other by man.
Set aside 1,5 - 2 hours and follow the waypoints and don’t rush to the end, as you will need info along the route to access the final cache and therefore claim a find. You will need good walking shoes/tekkies and a small flashlight (optional).
Location 1 (Start – Original Coords):
Dr John Philip head of the London Missionary Society in South Africa, started Hankey with the purpose of establishing the village to grow mielies (corn) for the LMS main station at Bethelsdorp and also to carry out evangelistic work.
Here you will find the year in which Dr. John Philip died. The last two digits of the year = AB
Location 2:
Following the road drive to S33 [A-B]9.307 E024 [A]0.885 - Park Here.
Find Philip’s Tunnel. William Philip, son of Dr John Philip, studied surveying in Cape Town from 1834 to 1836. Later he trained as a missionary in Britain and in 1841 he returned to the mission station at Hankey. At the time Hankey was experiencing a serious water shortage; Philip therefore examined the site and discovered that he could lead water out of the Gamtoos River onto the settlement's farmlands. This would, however, involve the construction of a tunnel through the cliff which, for those times, was a formidable undertaking. Philip and his Hottentot labourers started digging from both sides in 1843 and within little more than a year they reached each other and completed a tunnel of approximately 100m long. This tunnel has been declared a national monument and the commemoration plaque was unveiled on the same day as the opening of the Kouga Dam. The tunnel is no longer in use.
At the entrance to the tunnel you will find the plaque, the two digits representing the DAY of the date on which the tunnel where completed = CD
The copper plaque has been stolen ! - The date info you are looking for is: 13 August 1844
Location 3:
Walk from where you are parked at Phillips tunnel to location S 33 [C+D]9.278 E024 50.9[C+D]6
This is where the tekkies come into play. Enter the path that leads up the cliff. At the wooden pole enter the brush. Close to the pole keep left.
Climb to the top of the cliff. Follow the steel cable to assist you in your quest to the top (My 6 year old does it successfully with some help). On the way up you will find two steel ladders.
Final Location:
Enjoy the views on both sides of the cliff, through a tunnel created by Mother Nature (Vensterhoek).
The final cache is located close by! Located at S33 49.2[B+D]0 E024 50.[A+D]9[B+D]
A further climb to the top of the window is also possible, but I would not advise this for the kids. Please be careful.
Enjoy!
Original Content:
First-to-Find celebratory JC Le Roux - FTF Honour goes to iPajero (12 March 2008)
Tennis ball, binoculars, Fingers stamp, Glitter, Red car, Aeroplane car and Octopus.