The Curse of the Basilisk

The Basilisk: a creature so powerful that staring directly into its eyes can cause instant death. Look at it through a reflection or a lens, and you will be petrified. First introduced in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the power of this creature is one to be feared.  Rumour has it that it has been around the Magic Forest, lurking in the darkness and petrifying unsuspecting creatures.  This cache brings you back into the Forest, where you can see relics of this creature’s power!

The Earthcache

The Basilisk’s powers may be unimaginably scary, but did you know that Mother Nature herself, too, has the awesome powers of turning living creatures into stone! At the published coordinates, you will find specimens which show how trees can be transformed into stones, as we explore the phenomenon of “petrified wood”

What is petrified wood?

“Petrified” is derived from the Greek word “Petros” meaning “stone” and petrified wood is basically fossilised wood: wood that has literally turned completely into stone. Do not be fooled by the stones’ looks: petrified wood look like trees, are shaped like trees but are 100% NOT wood. So, how is it formed?

How are they formed?

Many, many years ago, these stones were really what you might expect them to be: perfectly good living trees. But, some catastrophic event, like a volcanic eruption or a flood caused the trees to be buried in ashes or mud extremely quickly. Such a swift process means that the wood had no time to be broken down by bacteria or fungi on the surface, and thus, becomes preserved and locked in the form it had when it was buried.

Over time, mineral-rich water in the soil seeps into the organic cells of the wood, slowly replacing the content of the cells with harder substances and crystals like quartz or calcite. The minerals imitate their moulds so completely that they look just like the wood itself. Over the centuries, all the organic matter is slowly broken down, but the more resilient stuff, which is the minerals that have seeped and solidified in the cells, remain behind. The result is stone that looks exactly like the wood that it was formed in, just like how the jelly looks exactly like the mould it was left to cool in.

What do they look like?

The minerals that from the petrified wood are usually quartz and calcite which are normally colourless, but the actually wood themselves take on colours based on the elemental and mineral content of the surrounding earth.  The following lists the common minerals and colours that they provide the petrified wood:

·         carbon – black

·         cobalt – green/blue

·         chromium – green/blue

·         copper – green/blue

·         iron oxides – red, brown, and yellow

·         manganese – pink/orange

·         manganese oxides – blackish/yellow

Petrified wood is found all over the world where the conditions are right for the transformation from wood to stone. There have been no specimens of such stones found in Singapore to date, so the Earthcache site provides locals an opportunity to observe some of these stones up close.

The Earthcache site   

At the coordinates, you will find a set of petrified wood “trees” related to the tasks for this Earthcache. You will need to complete the following tasks to complete the Earthcache

1.  Estimate the height of the tallest piece of petrified wood in the area
2.  Describe the shape, colour and texture of the petrified wood at the coordinates. What are the different colours that are present on the wood? Where are these colours on the surface of the wood? Which part of trees is the petrified wood from?
3.  Describe the features of the original trees that can still be seen on the petrified wood today
4.  Suggest the identities of the minerals present in the location where the wood were buried based on the colour of the wood.

You can log the cache once you send us the e-mail with the answers. There is no need to wait for a reply. We will let you know if there are any issues.

Feel free to post your pictures of your visit to the Magic Forest in your logs, but, PLEASE, no photos that will give away the answers to the tasks.

...

It was a cold and dreary Monday night, and I was busy typing out that thesis of mine. Things have been going slowly, and my tiredness isn’t helping with progress either. Maybe it’s just cabin fever from being cooped up for so long, after all, getting around isn’t as easy as used to be. Anyway, I was getting really sleepy and even as music from the Youtube Player, playing the 40-minute medley of variations on the “I am the Doctor” theme, turned to comfortable volume, attempted to keep me awake, I was slowly dozing off...

...and I found myself in an entirely different place, worlds apart from what I was used to. A strange console stood in the centre of the room, with levers, flashing lights, screens and even some strange odds and ends, things that don’t usually belong on a console like this one... and they looked like there were modified to function as part of the machine itself. The place looked strangely familiar, where have I seen it before? Was it in a play, a movie or a book? Hmm... Suddenly, it struck me. Of course, this is the TARDIS console! Oh, my goodness me, the layout was unmistakable, the iconic blue door and the repeated cyclical whirring noise of the TARDIS manipulating the Time Vortex. It was at that stage, I knew someone was missing, the owner of the blue box that could travel through all of time and space. I wondered which regeneration of his (or could be, at some point, her?) I would meet in this dream come true. It was at that very moment, however, a screen flickered to life...

On the screen was the Time Lord himself, complete with that iconic bowtie and tweed jacket (and for those who are uninitiated, yes, I’m referring to the Eleventh Doctor). He was trying to say something, but all I could hear is static, he seemed to be in some distress, his bowtie was slightly askew and his hair ruffled. I could make a few words out, something about “Elizabeth”, “Help”, “Poem” and “The Bard”. The transmission ended as he was dragged away by some men in 17^th century clothing. I was perplexed, he obviously needed help and without the TARDIS he had no way to leave the current era he is currently trapped in. Perhaps I could pilot the TARDIS to him, but even then, I had no idea how or where on Earth and when in time he even was. Perhaps, I could glean some sort of hints from the transmission. I racked my brain for prominent women from throughout history, and who was “The Bard”, and how what are the connections between these names? After a while, I had it figured out and it also made sense. Now, the task is reduced to merely figuring out the exact coordinates of his location. Where could the clues to that possibly lay? All I need now is the missing link...

The cache coordinates are:

North 01 (B-C-2A)(E-D).(H-3F+2G)(J+K-I-M)(N/2O)

East 103 (P-L)(R-Q+2S).(U-T-O)(X-Y-Z)(W-3V)

The value of the letters are, of course, acquired from solving the cryptic crossword. If you see a suspicious article, you know what to do.

Got your ez-link card at the ready?

ACROSS
	3.	One may be excused if he thought that this was the first station in Singapore
	5.	A great place to rest, considering that they have reasonable furniture just for that purpose here
	6.	She got up onto a horse here
	8.	An adverbial Simpson, perhaps
	10.	Strangely, both the north and the south sides of this station are in the USA.
	11.	This mountain is buzzing with activity
	14.	Tough LOTR soldiers fought here and made a mess.
	15.	Well, why didn't anyone open a Malay clinic here?
	17.	An area where lucky draws were held often.
	20.	Reciting the alphabet backwards will definitely cause you to stumble onto this station
	21.	One may be excused for wearing a rad bigini to this beach station
	23.	I was told that The God of Prosperity might visit the masses at this station come New Year
	25.	Damp lingerie? Yikes!
	27.	It looks like someone left the door to the goat enclosure open
	28.	I doesn't seem like a place I know, but it does sound like a place you would
	DOWN
	1.	No white cliffs here, or bluebirds for that matter
	2.	Maugham's old stomping ground.
	4.	Three laws govern this station
	7.	Stop dirtying the top of your room!
	8.	Snowy pachyderms lurk here!
	9.	Does anyone need to get their laundry done?
	12.	A coloured station, full of fragrant flowers
	13.	Good old Lizzie loves this place, so much so she settled here once, I heard
	16.	Some spooky water-liking birds haunt this station
	18.	A canine garden, perhaps?
	19.	It sounds like one may find many pale folks at this garden
	22.	Great views from this station, I was told by an Italian.
	23.	A typist might find this station helpful in unlocking some mysteries
	24.	A capital of a SEA country.
	26.	So, what do we do now, guys? Check count

To reveal the final cache coordinates, solve the puzzle below:

North 01 1(F-A).B(C/G-B-A)(H-G)

East 103 4(D/2).(E/B)G(D-E)

Cache is a small lock-and-lock box with a TB, some Malaysian coins, logsheet and a very special prize for the FTF-er(s). Good luck!

It was a Friday the 13^th. He had heard the myth that it was supposed to be one of those unlucky days. He never found out why, though, but today, that superstition couldn’t be any truer. He had been in the mosquito-infested rubber plantation on the ridge for a few days now, and hope is running out. The bombardment had been non-stop; punctuating the sound of buzzing insects in his ear were mortar explosions that made his ear ring. In all his years of military training, he has never been more shaken. It was neither the insects nor the explosions that shook him to the core; it was the threat of death, a sudden, unforeseen death. His regiment was severely outnumbered by the unrelenting enemy, who had taken the western part of the island by storm. They had captured Reformatory Road with ease, wiping out the troops that were stationed there, and he was next. He could not run away, his stand is the all that remains between the enemy lines and the city. If the ridge falls, the city would be defenceless, and that would be a disaster beyond his, or even his superiors’ imaginations. So, he will hold the fort...

It was 0213 hours, and the enemy was advancing onto the ridge. He and his regiment had retreated to Point 270, which he had been ordered to hold at all costs. It was a strategic location for it was the highest point in the area. There is an outpost there, built a couple of decades before the war. He and his men chose to shelter here as the bombardment continued. Deep in the recesses of his mind, he knew that they could not hold their lines for much longer, but he still maintained a veneer of confidence, lest his uncertainty further lower the morale of his men who he knew were as afraid as he was. So, he would continue to hold the fort...

He reached into his pocket and took out his most prized possession. It wasn’t worth much, but it meant the world to him. It was a gift from his mother, who must certainly be worried sick for him. It was his duty to defend his family. However, he knew he will not last long. The enemy were said to be particularly cruel and from the tales he heard, they will kill every last person who fought against them, regardless of rank or race. He had to hide it away, or it would be lost forever in the hands of the enemy. He scribbled the location of the cache containing in a coded letter, stashed it in a water bottle and hoisted it up into a nearby tree, to ensure that the cache will never fall into the enemy’s hand. With the cache and letter safely hidden, he returned to his watch. With a heavy heart, he would hold the fort to the last drop of his blood...

The letter was well hidden in the secondary forest on the ridge until recently, when some construction work caused a tree to collapse, revealing the location of the letter. There were two scraps of paper in the bottle. The first was the coded letter, and second was an odd scribbled set of alphabets. The latter, however, was written on poorer quality paper, had become quite degraded from the decades that had passed. Is it still possible to find the cache? Well, I am sure the geocachers in Singapore are up for the challenge...

Good luck and enjoy the GZ!

Note: The characters, cache, letter and its subsequent discovery in this story are fictional, but the ongoing war, date and locations (including Point 270) are very real. In fact, the cache will bring you to a little-known place where you could almost imagine the events in the story come alive.

Stage 1 (N 01° 18.212 E 103° 46.455)

Welcome to University Town! You’re now standing at the main thoroughfare of U-Town which is known as the Town Plaza. This plaza is surrounded by the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) buildings, food outlets (where you can enjoy a meal after you find a cache), an auditorium for lectures, seminar rooms and a bus stop with buses that connect to the main Kent Ridge Campus. To find the cache coordinates, collect the following clues from the vicinity:

1. Find the number of Internal Shuttle Bus that connects U-Town to the Central Library (it consists of a letter and a number, note the number only). Let this number be A
2. Visit some of the F&B outlets at the Town Plaza. There is only one outlet which has a three letter name. Let the letters be BCD.
3. Figure out in which month of 2011 did U-Town officially open. Let January = 1, February = 2 etc. This month is E.
4. Finally, count the number of Seminar Rooms at the Town Plaza. You don’t have to enter any of the buildings to do this, if you’re observant enough. The number of rooms is F.

Stage 2 (N 01° 18.306 E 103° 46.414)

As you proceed northwards from the Town Plaza, you’ll be making a quick stop at the Graduate Residences. Consisting of 2 towers, this building can house up to 1700 residents and their families. Your task here is to find out the address of the North Tower (only the numerical address). Let the address be G.

Stage 3 (N 01° 18.313 E 103° 46.382)

The penultimate stage before the cache will bring you to the Town Green, a sprawling open space for events, sports and other student activities. It is a great place for a nice picnic, or simply just chilling out. The building nearby is the Educational Resource Centre which houses a Starbucks (because all students run on coffee), open air and air-conditioned study rooms, another auditorium and multimedia labs for students to use. While you enjoy and explore the area, keep an eye out for the following clues to the cache:

1. Count the number of arrows on the Emergency Meeting Point sign near the coordinates for Stage 3. Only count the arrows on one side. This number is H
2. Just outside the Starbucks cafe are a series of (approximately) 6-metre tall, grey structures that have a narrow base and a broad top, which make them look like giant pins. How many of these structures are there? Let this number be I.
3. Lastly, look up! There are giant fans above you. But, exactly how many? This number is J.

Now that you have the numbers A – J, you are ready to head to the end of the tour, and the GZ!

Stage 4 N 01° 18. (G/F) (I-J) (D/E) E 103° 46. (B-C)(B + A)(F-H)

This is it! You have found the GZ! The GZ is located at a nice vantage point just outside the two new residential colleges in U-Town. These colleges are an experiment in undergraduate residential life, and they are an initiative to combine work, play, meals and social interaction under one roof. The colleges are named after the trees found in the area and aptly enough, the coordinates (if you got the answers right) will point to the trees that gave its name to one of the colleges in front of you. The cache is a small transparent airtight box filled with stuff I’ve collected from my geocaching adventures thus far and a log book, of course. However, if you want to sign the log, one last challenge awaits. You will find instructions to get to the log book within the cache. BYOP. Good luck and treat yourself to some Starbucks once you’re done. You’ve earned it.