2008-06-01 -35 148
| Sun 1 Jun 2008 in -35,148: -35.3491079, 148.9162389 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox |
Welcome to another edition of... "It's a successful geohash from the Canberra group!"
Contents
The Place
35.3491079341188037, 148.9162389042702137. 800m off Paddy's River Road, just past Pierces Creek. link.
Note: the spot we're going to looks like a fingerprint! Zoom in on satellite view and see!
The People
- Joanna - is excited about going to remote locations with strange men :)
- Nemo - is a strange man, but not in the way that you may expect given Joanna's statement!
- Andi - Nemo's housemate
- Psud - Who scouted the location earlier in the day. Is there a prize for dual visitations?
- Kieran - another strange man!
| “ | He [Psud] came in earlier to dig the shallow graves
|
” |
—Nemo, to Joanna
| ||
Psud's First Visit
Psud was bored. He should have been brewing, having said he would prepare a beer for next time the hash falls in Canberra on a weekend. Psud decided to check out the hash instead.
Guided by a paper map, he drove to the location. Psud was surprised to find traffic. Cars passed him going the other way; a charter bus was parked within 200m of the hash. On the good side, signs marked out the way to the road nearest the hash.
It turned out that trees were being planted on the other side of the track from the hash. Greening Australia were busy making a black bit of Australia a little bit greener. Scouts were helping. This area, like everything else within kilometres of it, was burned out at Christmas in 2003, in a bushfire that destroyed hundreds of homes in Canberra. Psud found that fungi were eating the fallen and burned trees.
Psud explored. He found a fallen tree that would serve as a bridge. It reached within a metre of the far side of a shallow gully full of thorny blackberry bushes. The bridge has a certain degree of spring to it, so one can leave the far end of it in the same way as one leaves a diving board. Psud sprang towards the hash.
Psud plans on returning during blackberry season.
A short way beyond the bridge, Psud's GPS showed he was on the spot. Psud made a mark.
| “ | Never trust GPS in rural areas
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” |
—Psud
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Psud was surprised to find traffic
Tree planting. With a bus
Greening Australia planting trees
And they signposted the hash for us - to within 200m
This hill was in the direction of the hash
Psud found the spot
And marked the spot
Carpooling
Nemo, Andi and Joanna made it to the designated nearby meet spot a little early and found evidence of treasures (keys, locks and emergency meetup signposts). Psud and Kieran joined shortly and led the way down the path of much dust.
The Story and Photos!
We followed random paths through the forest regrowth - tackling blackberry brambles and ad-hoc log bridges over gullies, till we found the "the spot" by the GPS. It disagreed slightly with the spot found earlier by Psud, but the error circles overlapped. A pinecone was found in the centre of the overlap and deemed to be upon the hash. We were next to a rather steep hill which, whilst the views must have been awesome at the top, we were nevertheless happy to not have to climb. After the requisite photos, picnic was had with automatic half-minutely photos (go Psud), rumless rum balls (yay Joanna), and the start of the Geohash Card Game. We returned to the abode of Nemo for dinner, Doctor Who watching, more card game refinement, and a promise of more next week!
More photos may appear. We arrived in daylight this time, but it got dark on us on the trek out (between 5 and 5:30pm) - so we've decided to plan our hashes earlier in the day (2pm is promising) as a result.
Psud and Kieran watched for ducks. Keiran advised that any ducks would be in large groups near a body of water. Despite the sign, we expected no ducklings.
Psud and Kieran found ducks. Psud's driving scared all but two pairs of the large group near the river away.
We crossed two single lane bridges. This one had traffic lights.
We're on the right road, at least.
Psud and Kieran were trying to find Nemo - this group looked promising.
Nemo showed photo ID. And warned Psud to knock off the wisecracks.
The road toward the hash.
Psud and Kieran left Nemo, Joanna and Andi in their dust!
Psud leads the way.
But we made it. With convenient things to mark the spot.
"Welcome to my Hash! The camera you see before you will capture your every move at a rate of one frame every half minute".
Psud checks his camera in front of the hill whilst Andi, Joannac and Kieran watch suspisciously
Psud gave a countdown, Joanna and Nemo photographed Psud's CCD.
Night fell.
Joanna managed to get quite a few scratches on her legs through her jeans
And her hand got scratched while fighting a drop bear
She was unhappy about the drop bear attack.
Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, we fought our way back to the cars, beyond the dropbears' brambles...
Achievements earned
- Land geohash
- MNIMB Geohash - For proof, see photos of terrain and evidence of Joanna's legs and hand when she was totally attacked by a drop bear!
- We invented the first Geohash Card Game
