There are some unprotected cliff edges near the first part, so be careful if you take kids or dogs. Access is from the level of the lighthouse. The approach to the final part is a bit rough as well, and can be wet, but is not at the edge of any cliffs. The cache trail is all on paths. There are quite a few steps, and many of these get slippery in wet weather.
Sir Humphrey Humphrey will be well-known to all geocaching scholars of late 19th Century Manx explorers. To those unfamiliar with this brave and foolhardy leader of men, let me refer you to the epic poem "Humphrey's Archipelago" and (less complimentary), "Farquar's Top One Hundred Blithering Idiots" (sadly, now out of print).
To find the cache, you'll have to partake of a short stroll around Douglas Head, a favourite haunt of Sir H H in his later years.
For those not familiar with "Humphrey's Archipelago", briefly the story is about his journey to explore these obscure islands (near the Caspian Sea), and the misunderstandings which drew him into a failed plot to assassinate the President of the Isle of Zygnatiar. It's recommended to the connoisseur.
On his return from the Archipelago, he drew a large and detailed map of the islands on a wall near Douglas Head and gave lectures here about his exploits. The wall has now gone, but luckily he painted the required name on the building's foundations as an "aide memoire". This location is the site of the first part of the cache hunt. The second part can be found by answering the question "Where did Sir Humphrey stay on his first night in the Archipelago?". It's marked on the building's foundations and, with the help of information here on the cache page, should reveal the location of the next stage.
Convert the town name to numbers using the following table;
| Town |
Number |
| Aarluz |
583 |
| Creyana |
420 |
| Dimontor |
510 |
| Easursur |
549 |
| Jeytronz |
591 |
| Nyartuz |
404 |
| Obz |
617 |
| Poklov |
372 |
| Shaaturz |
399 |
| Ubist |
606 |
| Winloz |
500 |
| Yetlonz |
446 |
This gives you "A", "B" and "F" (part of the final coordinates).
Head back along the path and past the lighthouse. Look out to sea on the way; whales, dolphins, seals and basking sharks are often seen here (there was a Minke whale in sight when I first researched the cache). You'll observe some steps leading upwards towards the second location on this little tour. Use them to reach the road, and walk on to Stage 2, where you should find a container attached to a post. This contains a note, which gives you "C" and "D".
Then, retrace your steps and climb the bank up to Stage 3. According to the story in the poem, Sir Humphrey met the conspirators on a particular row of the theatre. It was between "E " and "N". Which row was it? If you go to the back row at the location suggested, you'll find that it is the same row as the one in the story. To check, if the front row is "A", the second is "B" (etc.), what is the back row? To convert the row letter to a number, simply use "1" if it's "A", "2" if "B" and so on. Now, subtract 5 from this number.This gives you "E" (if you're not too confused!).
Now you have ABCDE and F. The final cache is to be found at;
N 54°08.ABC, W 004°28.DEF.
It is easy to access, so no need to go climbing around or crossing fences, or fighting through gorse.
Original contents included a (really good!) FTF prize, a solar-powered keyring torch, some leather-bound nail clippers, mini karabiners, trolley tokens and various other items.