2011-06-09 -38 145
| Thu 9 Jun 2011 in -38,145: -38.6639940, 145.5882757 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox |
Location
Between Hamer's Haven and Cape Patterson on the Gippsland south Coast
Who went
Expedition
Felix Dance
I've just come back from my epic trip around the Indian Ocean (on land, that is), and am now working down on the Wonthaggi Desalination Plant as a construction engineer, but living at Inverloch. When I got an email from my good friend Alex telling me about the accessible geohash near work that day I knew I had to get there - my first since India.
Annoyingly, not only was my GPS and camera back at home in Inverloch, but just before the email I'd agreed to watch movies and have pizza at a workmate's house. I do have a car now, so I could DRIVE to the hash... but kind of defeats the purpose for me. But damn, I could NOT be bothered riding home (I've been commuting the 20 kms by bike), then riding back to near Wonthaggi again.
Luckily, this workmate gave me a lift to Inverloch, giving me time to both hash and pizza-iffy.
Stopping on the way to buy more batteries for my GPS I was on my road bike and gliding around dark, wintry corners of the Bass Coast. I kept checking the status of my GPS to see if it'd found enough satellites, but the answer was consistently, "No". It hadn't been turned on since Africa, and took an entire hour to come online.
At last, passing through Cape Patterson for some Mars Bars, I was losing myself in the holiday house streets and clambering along a dirt road towards where I thought the hash would be. Sadly, I at last got to a crossroads and, not knowing which way to turn, decided to pack it in and go home.
But no! Just as I was turning to leave my GPS sprang to life - and I was only 650m away from the hash. The next half-K involved hurling my bike over locked gates and avoiding muddy puddles illuminated by my feeble bike light, and all too soon I was clambering beneath the barbed and electrified fence into the hash paddock.
The hash turned out to be on a small grassy hill, next to a cow pat, overlooking the tumultuous ocean near Hamer's Haven. If only I'd been there during the day, it would have been a really good view!
Getting a call from my work buddy wanting to know what was taking me so long, I jumped back under the fence, onto my bike and rode off towards Inverloch and outrageous speeds. Here I went straight to the pizza and the entertaining Will Ferrel movie, Land of the Lost. Not a bad effort.
Time of geohash start: 18:30.
Time of geohash: 20:00
Time of completion: 20:45
Total distance ridden: 42.4kms.
Here is the Google Maps route I took.
Photos
Failing GPS!
The dark road where my GPS came to life
GPS Proof
Freaky Felix
Bike near hash
