So the Mega Event, GC7DAJM 2018 Jolly Jozi Jol is a memory now, but it certainly isn't fading yet.  For those of you able to join us from all over the country (and some from all over the world), thanks for making the trip. It was a day of great adventure, and many interesting stories.  The highlights included having all the South African reviewers on a talk panel (even those not usually based in South Africa).

Afrika Rocks/geoawareAFR (Grant Little), Xanthe Terra (Andre van Vuuren), Knagur Green (Christina van Vuuren), ROTSIP (Rodney Pistorius), Pte Curb (Bruce Pantland)

We performed a CITO with a difference when in addition to cleaning up a bit, we also planted some new trees.

And that was all on top of discovering hundreds of geocoins at the coin fest, as well as finding many awesome geocaches hidden just for the event.
 

The GoSA Store still has some Mega silver geocoins for sale, you can place your order online.

For the month of November, we will highlight a geocache placed for the recent Mega - Jolly Jozi Jol. Please tell us which Mega JJJ geocache really stood out for you. Please send your nominations to .

It is engrained into our psyche to go treasure hunting and if you had any doubt, watch how kids love to go searching for a treasure at parties. The reward one feels when finding a treasure is worth much more than the treasure itself, whether the treasure be pieces of eight, doubloons, alchemical wands or just trinkets.
 

It is believed that Robert Louis Stevenson was inspired by the notorious Captain William Kidd when writing Treasure Island. Captain Kidd was originally tasked by the English government to rid the waters of pirates and other enemy vessels (such as the French) in the 17^th century. His pay would have been half the spoils. He crossed the line from privateer to pirate when he attacked an American vessel, commissioned by an English company, flying a French flag.
 

When he was finally arrested and tried, Kidd was unwilling to testify against the lords who had originally contributed to his appointment as privateer and furthermore, it was discovered many years later that records which would have saved Kidd’s life were deliberately suppressed. He was sentenced to be hanged on the May 23^rd, 1701.  If Jack Sparrow was real, he would have been inspired by how Captain Kidd managed to survive the first two attempts by the executioner because the rope snapped each time. The third attempt was successful.   Captain Kidds’ ship, Adventure Galley, was sunk off the coast of Madagascar, and it has taken 300 years of searching the area for the first 50kg bar of silver to be recovered from the wreck. It was later discovered that this bar of silver was actually mostly lead, and if it was in the Adventure Galley, it might have been there just to help weigh the ship down to sink it. Diving deep into the ocean trying to find a pirate’s treasure is an extreme form of treasure hunting, but finding that bar of lead-infused silver must have been such a thrill for Barry Clifford, the explorer who found it.

There have been modern treasure hunts set up by inspired people. My favourite so far is in the category of armchair treasure hunting and is called The Merlin Mystery. Information for this treasure hunt can still be found on the website http://www.treasureclub.net.  The format of this treasure hunt was to purchase the book, find 75 objects in the page borders, get the order of the clues right to work out how to array the objects and then discover what words were used to cast the spell.  What fascinated me most was that the clues were all visual, and there was no need to understand English to solve the puzzle or submit the solution.

The full solution is explained in a multi-page article, available online. The prize was a beautifully designed wand which includes metals and stones sourced from across the world. For example, a blue Lapis Lazuli was sourced from the foothills of the Himalayas, and a Rutilated Crystal ball was sourced from Brazil. The artwork of the wand is magnificent, every little bit has a meaning, and the New Zealand jeweller who acted as the goldsmith had to work for several months to bring it all together. The effort put into crafting the wand seems to mirror the idea that Kell, Blaise and Merlin spent centuries making the wand truly magical with infused Pendragon Alchemy.   When time was nearly up, many people were close to solving the mystery, but in the end, nobody got it correct. The wand was auctioned, and all the prize money was donated to the World Wide Fund for Nature.

Merlin’s Wand
(image sourced from the Armchair Treasure Hunt Club)

There is a modern day treasure hunt using the Internet and GPS receivers that is taking over the world. On May 2^nd, 2000, the U.S.A. switched off the scrambling of the GPS signals from 24 satellites and instantaneously, thousands of GPS receivers were vastly more accurate. On May 3^rd, 2000, the first stash was placed in a bucket in the woods somewhere in the west of the U.S.A. N 45° 17.460 W 122° 24.800.

This stash is now considered the first geocache hidden and was found a few days later. South Africa has 20 active geocaches which were placed in 2001. There are over 14000 active caches nation-wide and over 3 million world-wide.  Geocaching is a modern blend between screen-time and getting outdoors and feeling the reward of finding the treasure.  Looking up a geocache when travelling can often result in finding a place you would never have known about and even if you did not find the geocache, the place can be a treasure enough. For the more socially inclined geocacher, there are also organised events. Quite often these are just opportunities to sit at a coffee shop or restaurant and discuss the adventures, but other times there are competitions with prizes. In South Africa, an event catering for 500 people has been held every 2 years since 2012.

Online puzzle solving and treasure hunting is becoming more prevalent. In 2012 a complex challenge, that is claimed to be the hardest online challenge, was created by Cicada 3301. Some think that either the Illuminati or the Stone Masons are behind it, but that seems rather unlikely.  I became quite interested in this and had to see what it was about. Because the palindromic prime number 1231507051321 appeared in the puzzle I looked it up to see what the significance was. To my surprise I found a twitter account with that name and I read the only tweet on that account.  Then I started my journey into wonderland.  Incidentally, it was my maiden journey into the dark web, and I emerged a few hours later feeling the victory of being unaffected by this over-stigmatised deep dark place and the uplifting reward of yet another puzzle solved. Other than deciphering computer encodings to solve the puzzle, I learnt all about what onion is and how the Tor Project makes things secure and private … and a little slower.

A story that brings together armchair puzzle solving (by the Armchair Treasure Hunt club), the geocaching community and a real treasure minted in South Africa is about a hunt called Lucky 7. This short story took place in March 2005 and concluded with a lucky participant finding a Kruger Rand.  The only information for the puzzle is the following image:

LUCKY 7. Puzzle
 

Many geocachers participated in a forum to share ideas where one can see how the comments progressed from “this can’t be real” to “Yes, I got it!”  The solution (summarised from the treasureclub.com website) is:  The black line leads to the point farthest from the sea (‘C’) within the UK.  The Ordnance Survey mapping of the spot shows the yellow road with a small building at a junction. A little to the south of the crossroad is a footpath and a timber signpost. The signpost is square in cross section and oriented as shown by the black 'point' next to the '7', relative to the road. At the foot of the post, on the south east side (indicated by the arrows), lay the treasure.

 

Whether one is stuck in an armchair or keen to get outdoors, or if one likes alchemical mysteries or prefer to just find gold, taking on the hobby of treasure hunting does result in personal rewards.

 
Let the hunt begin!

Article submitted by Fier