2009-10-13 50 -1

Have you seen our geohashing marker? We'd love to hear from you! Click here to say "hi" and tell us what you've seen!

Curious about what geohashing is? Read more!

Location

Chandlers Ford, in an alleyway across from the big Asda.

Participants

Plans

Sermoa will take the Bluestar 1 from Winchester to Chandlers Ford, probably to be at the geohash between 19:30 and 20:00. I doubt i'll stay for long; it's probably not a very exciting location. I will, however, print and laminate a marker to leave as close as possible to the geohash. This is exciting because i expect people often walk down the alleyway and they will notice the marker. Not sure yet whether i'll manage to sync up with Macronencer. We'll both be there, but maybe at different times! One of us will surely see the other's marker! :)

Macronencer will be driving. Parking is a no-brainer! AS-DUH! It's quite likely we'll be there about the same time as each other, actually: once I've got back from work and eaten and generally organized stuff at home it's usually 7pm anyway. It will be dark, so I'll bring a torch. I reckon it's a farm road, by the way. Looks public enough though. Unless there's a gate at the end it should be easy.

Oh good, i'm glad there's a strong chance we'll meet up! Good thing you're bringing a torch. maybe some coloured chalk too? I might get the earlier bus and be there by 19:00, or at the latest i'll be about 19:30. I plan to do a bit of shopping afterwards too! ;) -- sermoa 20:57, 12 October 2009 (UTC)

Expedition

Sermoa's trip

The amazing sunset, from Chandlers Ford

I managed to get an earlier bus than expected, and took some video of the journey and some photographs of the amazing sunset!

Asda, Chandlers Ford / Eastleigh

I grew up in Chandlers Ford so this geohash brought back some memories for me! I remember that Asda when it was still a Carrefour (yes we used to have those in the UK!) It was about a quarter of its current size and i think i played in the childrens play area once or twice! I remember when it changed to a Gateway, and then it underwent massive expansion to become the enormous Asda that it currently is. I also remember the more recent building of the B&Q headquarters that is right next to today's geohash.

Familiar though i am with the area, i had never noticed this little track leading quietly away to a farm. It is easy to miss. Two cars drove through the track whilst i was there, but i don't think they were geohashers! Within a hundred metres the track became extremely dark - i was grateful that my torch was working this time!

A different marker, on a different tree

I had a text to expect Macronencer at about 19:30 so i had half an hour to look around and take photos. My android phone couldn't get very precise GPS readings but i think i was in about the right place anyway. I found a marker on a tree - it said 0768. I don't know what that means. It looked kind of like the hashtags that Ilpadre often leaves ... but the message didn't mean anything to me.

Our marker, on the chosen geohashing tree!

Macronencer turned up - we saw each other by our torch lights from a distance! I started running, hoping very much that it was definitely Mike and not a random stranger! Fortunately, it was! We verified the position of the geohash, made a chalk marker on the ground and pinned our poster to the tree. As it was so cold and dark, we didn't really do much else. It took a bit of geofaffing to persuade the camera to take a photo of the two of us! Which reminds me - Macronencer - you'll need to bring my rechargable batteries to our next geohash together! ;)

We had a little chat and walked back to Asda before parting ways.

On the bus back home i met someone i know. They asked what i had been doing. I started warily, "Oh, i've just been taking photos ..." but when i was pressed for more information i explained the whole thing! :)

Macronencer's trip

This was a familiar one for me too, as I once lived not far away. One of the few car hashes that I've reached without the aid of my Tomtom! I parked in the ASDA car park, and stupidly walked out of the main entrance, which is not designed for pedestrians. Escaping unscathed, I waited for a satellite fix (lots of trees about) then located the dark road. As I walked down the road, I at first though perhaps I was alone - then I noticed the faint light of Sermoa's torch, and waved my eTrex screen in the air, hoping that would identify me in some way. All in all, I wasn't being very bright tonight - heh. Anyway, the location was unusual but very easy to reach, so the main issue was the dark. Everything took twice as long as I was faffing about getting stuff out of my bag and we had to keep taking turns holding the torch! Very pleased the hash point wasn't another few metres further, or it would have been behind a fence. A rapid but pleasant expedition - and wow did I miss out on the sunset - thanks for the gorgeous photo, Sermoa! Sorry about the batteries - I forgot I had them! I'll put them in my eTrex case so I don't forget. Love the long-exposure photos, by the way - that second one worked brilliantly.

Gallery

A lovely sunset on my way to the geohash, seen from the bus
The same lovely sunset; another view
ASDA Superstore (that's our Wal-Mart in the UK)
A short distance into the narrow dark road, looking back out towards Asda
Coordinates reached (at least according to my android phone - this was before Macronencer turned up)
Looking around the geohash area. It was kind of spooky.
Looking further down the road into a big black who knows what!
The marker, before i'd attached it anywhere
This is why it was so dark!
I found a sort of marker on a tree, but i don't think it was an xkcd marker
It literally was THIS DARK! that's with a torch shining on the marker!
Hurrah! A Macronencer arrives!
Yay! Co-ordinates reached without any undergrowth to crawl through
Sermoa with marker poster
Marker on the road. It was DARK!
More of the road marker
The D ended up in the dirt!
Fixing the poster, and looking a little bit guilty about it!
The Internet was here!
Closer view of the geohashing poster
A successful geohash, with convenient shopping nearby. Win!
Experimenting with some long exposure photography whilst waiting for the bus home
This one's great because you can actually see the location very clearly on the sign post! Where it says "Hypermarket" it means Asda! ;)