The annual and very popular Five Museums Treasure Hunt, introduced in 2013, is in the process of being metamorphosed  and will re-emerge  as the Ndlambe Heritage Challenge during the Easter break.

The Treasure Hunt was traditionally held as close as possible to International Museum Day (18 May) each year and required entrants to visit the five museums in Ndlambe  – Bathurst Agricultural Museum, 43 Air School Museum, Vintage Car Museum (not part of this year’s event, as the proprietor will be away), Kowie History Museum and Richmond House.  Participants won prizes for finding clues and correctly answering questions pertaining to the five museums.

This year the committee has decided to expand the event into other areas of Port Alfred and Bathurst to incorporate additional places and points of interest, like the Heroes’ Monument in Nemato, the West Bank monolith, Morley House, and others.  Each team will be required to have a digital camera – either a stand-alone or a smartphone – so that they are able to take photos or selfies at some of these historical places in order to collect bonus points.  The teams who answer the most questions correctly and acquire the highest number of bonus points will be the winners.

The committee has also decided to bring the event forward to the first week of the Easter Break, and it will now take place on Monday, March 21, which is Human Rights Day.   Good Friday is on the 25th, so the committee is hoping to attract Easter holiday makers and visitors taking advantage of the two long weekends, as well as local participants, who have been the heart and soul of the event for the past three years.

Teams will be able to start the challenge either from the Kowie History Museum or the Pig ‘n Whistle Inn, where they will collect their sheets of clues and pay the entrance fee (still to be finalised);  another change this year is that the finishing point will be the museum at 43 Air School.

The event will take slightly longer this year, with teams meeting at 12h30 for a briefing; the challenge will officially kick off at 13h00.  Cut-off will be at 16h30, by which time all the teams should be assembled at 43 Air School for the tallying up and the prize-giving.  A film about the history of the Air School will be shown whilst the points are being tallied up, followed by the prize-giving.  The pub and bistro will be open and braai facilities and braai packs will be available.

Prizes will include a night for two at the Pig ‘n Whistle, lunch for two at Morley House, and other exciting prizes, which will considerably raise the stakes this year.

The committee are pulling out all the stops to take the annual Museums Treasure Hunt to new levels as the Ndlambe Heritage Challenge.  Having participated in the last two challenges, the writer can highly recommend this event as great fun and a historically informative day for adults and children alike.