The cache is not at the listed coordinates and you probably shouldn't park there either... The final will take you to Hermanus's own space station! BYOP
This cache will take you to the the South African National Space Agency Space Science Facility right here in Hermanus!
The WHAT? WHERE? No joke; Hermanus is home to SANSA's Space Science Facility.
Formerly known as the Hermanus Magnetic Observatory, SANSA monitors and provides early warnings on space weather close to Earth. This includes solar storms, solar winds and disturbances in the ionosphere. The facility also monitors solar flares that might affect electricity grids, satellites and digital information.
By good fortune, it is well placed to observe a strange planetary phenomenon – the South Atlantic Anomaly. The Earth’s magnetic field is slowly weakening (for reasons no-one can quite explain), but is doing so with speed in a large and growing patch that straddles South America and South Africa. The patch is called the South Atlantic Anomaly.
Many scientists think the anomaly (which is like a very weak North Pole in the wrong place) may herald the beginning of a polar switch – a potentially cataclysmic event during which the Earth reverses its polarity. This occurs roughly every 500 000 years, and it’s been 780 000 years since the last switch, so we’re more than a little overdue...
Interestingly, the reason for SANSA ending up in Hermanus is greatly due to Sir William Hoy, head of the South African Railways in the early 1900’s. When a railway link to Hermanus was planned, Sir William, supported by his wife, Gertrude, promptly thwarted any such plans; both loving their quiet, little hideout in the Overberg and therefore reluctant to pollute the little village with dirty steam trains bringing hordes of noisy holidaymakers.
So, when Cape Town’s magnetic observatory had to be moved in the 1940’s as the recently built suburban railway lines created too much electromagnetic interference, Hermanus was chosen as it had remained magnetically unaffected.
S (Dumbbell + Ptolemy)o (Andromeda - Butterfly) . (Pinwheel - Cigar + Trifid) (Pinwheel - Owl)
E (Cigar - Sunflower)o (Ring - Beehive) . (Black Eye - Lagoon) (Ptolemy)
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