Please Note: This cache is best suited to be done in the (late)
afternoon when the illumination of the Sun brings out these
features best. But for the real challenge, you need to be at a
specific place at a specific date and time - more later.
The designated coordinates brings you to a spot with a stunning
view of the Hawekwa mountains behind Wellington. Incidentally, the
name Hawekwa have more than one possible meaning. One explanation
is that it is a Khoisan word meaning "the old man in the mountain".
This is because the horizon forms the silhouette of the profile of
an old man. A more likely explanation is that it is derived from
the Khoi word "Obiqua" meaning "murder[er]" which was how the Khoi
referred to the San (Bushmen). As you can deduce, there was not a
lot of love lost between these two tribes.
If you are familiar with the geology of Table Mountain, you will
notice some similarities here - in particular, the overlaying
formation of the Hawekwas which consists of the Table Mountain
Sandstone Group. If you look carefully at the crags at the top,
particularly under the illumination of the late afternoon Sun, you
will notice that the colour at the base of the sandstone sequence
is distinctly red, compared to the light grey sandstones overlaying
it. Like Table Mountain, the reddish sandstone and shale of the
Graafwater Formation is followed by a thicker sequence of grey
sandstone of the Peninsula Formation. Not only is there a colour
difference, but these sandstones differ in hardness. The Graafwater
sandstone decomposes much easier compared to the Peninsula
formation which is 95% quartz. The latter erodes very slowly,
resulting in the "clean" and white bolder-lined Witte River (hence
its name, "White River") which runs parallel to the road when you
ascend Bain's Kloof on the Ceres side. The main difference between
these two mountains lies at their bases - Table Mountain has an
underlying granite base where the Hawekwas has Malmesbury shale
below which decomposes into rich soils as can be seen from the
vegetation growing on its slanted base.
But there is also a tiny granite "intrusion" hidden somewhere in
these sandstones - in the Graafwater formation to be exact - in a
section of the mountain known as the Seven Sisters. This is
actually a human granite intrusion that manifests itself under very
special circumstances, almost like the illusive seventh star in the
Pleiades (also known as the Seven Sisters).
To pick up the story we need to backtrack to 19 November 1959
when two local boys, Piet Hugo from the farm Hexberg and Frans
Ferreira, the only child of the then police chief of Wellington,
during their university vacation, set off that Thursday morning to
climb the Hawekwas. Frans's beloved Doberman went along and as the
party went through the farm Patatskloof, the then owner, Sarel van
der Merwe warned them about the wisdom of taking a dog to the
mountain. Frans replied that his dog was used to climbing but
Sarel's reservation soon came true when the dog got stuck on a
narrow ledge high up on a cliff. In an attempt to lift his dog to
safety, Frans lost his balance and fell to his death. Although his
heroic deed saved his dog's life, story has it that the dog later
mourned itself to death.
Needless to say, the Ferreira's were devastated by the tragic
death of their only child and decided to erect a headstone,
cemented to the rock-face lower down on the mountain. It is unclear
if it was intentional or not, but this stone, being made of highly
polished granite, very effectively reflects the light of the
setting sun, sweeping a bright beam across the full width of the
town of Wellington. In fact, since most people cannot believe that
an almost black stone can produce such a bright reflection, a
fairly general story developed stating that a real mirror was put
next to the plaque to produce the light. However, this was proved
to be a mere legend when we visited the site in 2002. (If you want
to visit it, the approximate position of the plaque is S33 40.293
E19 04.639.)
A small group of people gathered at the plaque during the
unveiling ceremony. (Source: Wellington
Museum)
The unveiling of the plaque with Frans' farther looking
on. (Source: Wellington Museum)
My son (left) and I posing at the plaque during our 2002
visit.
From when I first heard of the story of the "Hawekwa Mirror", I
was intrigued but found that, no matter how much I enquired, nobody
could tell me when to look where to see this illusive phenomena. It
was only until I was tipped off by Jacques Retief (incidentally
also born and bred on a subdivision of the original Hexberg farm)
that the "mirror" was visible from Hexberg - so I first managed to
see it for myself on 27 January 2002. I was amazed by how bright it
was, making me understand how the legend of a real mirror could
have came about. I actually calculated it to be slightly brighter
than the full Moon, all concentrated into a single point. Using my
astronomical and mathematical background, I calculated visibility
predictions for when and where the reflection should be visible and
followed it for a few months to verify my predictions. With an
article
in the local paper, I alerted others to share this phenomena
and published a more scientific article in the journal
of the Astronomical Society about it. My research was also
included in a project where the complete history of Wellington was
recorded - a copy can be viewed at the Wellington Museum. It was a
really rewarding exercise indeed! (View a 30 minutes
'footage' taken through a telescope at 70 power.)
You can also share in this experience by doing this EarthCache.
To see the reflection you need to be at the designated coordinates
within about week around 04 February @ 19h00 or around 07 November
@ 18h30. If you cannot make it then but you want to hunt down the
reflection at some other time, this
image can be used as a guide for where and when to see it (or
get this
GPX-file accompanied by this
list to do your own detailed predictions). Note that these are
only guidelines (allow about a week and ten minutes around the
predicted dates and times). Visibility also depends on local
conditions like clouds around the Sun or low on the mountain which
will spoil it. Having a printout of this picture
(reflection arrowed) with you will help you to know where to look.
(Note: the mountain looks slightly different from different
angles.) Also note that you can lengthen the visibility period
slightly by using binoculars. Although it is ideal to see the
reflection when doing this cache, it is not mandatory to qualify
for "Found it".
A picture of the reflection (arrowed) taken from the
cache coordinates on 4 February 2002 at18H58. The rectangle refers
to Q.1 below.
To claim "Found it" you must email me satisfactory responses to
the following:
Any logs not accompanied by an email will be deleted.
- Compare the area in the rectangle in the above picture with the
corresponding area on the mountain. What do you see is
different?
- Identify an area on the mountain where the Graafwater sandstone
is most obvious. Send me a picture of you/your party with your
navigation device showing this area in the background.
- If the order of the sandstones were reversed, ie the Peninsula
formation was below the Graafwater - would these mountains have
been higher or lower than they are today?
- As a bonus, if you managed to spot the reflection of the
Hawekwa "mirror", send me the date, time, GPS coordinates and
description of your observation.
Note: Do not post any spoiler
pictures/hints to this page, even if encrypted.