2014-05-25 53 8

Location

The hash lies on a field near Spohle, Wiefelstede (link to WP:de).

Participants

pah (prev|next)
Daniel
oliver (prev|next)

Plans

In order to celebrate Towel Day, pah intends to hitchhike to the hash after casting his vote for the European Parliament. I'll try to be there at around 15:00, as I have other appointments later that day.

oliver is aiming at 16:00h-16:30h.

I'm currently still stuck at my desk and will probably be there around 15:00-16:00, depending on my hitchhiking luck. So maybe, there's still a chance to meet. :-) -- pah (talk) 07:43, 25 May 2014 (EDT)

Great, let's see how this turns out :-) I will take the train that arrives at 15:45h at Rastede, and then cycle from there. Oliver (talk) 08:00, 25 May 2014 (EDT)

Sorry, I'll have to leave now ... See you next time! pah (talk) 10:23, 25 May 2014 (EDT)

Expedition

Daniel and pah

After starting the trip at the polling station to cast my vote for the European Parliament, I headed towards a major road in Oldenburg heading towards Wiefelstede. On my way, I had to stop to pat a cute kitten that was enjoying the sun on a garden entry. Fortunately, I manage not to get too distracted to continue my journey. I just started to put my thumb up when Daniel stopped and picked me up. I didn't expect the hitchhiking part to work out so smoothly, but on the other hand, which day is more suited for hitchhiking than Towel Day, when you have your towel handy and a convincing sign to hold up?

We had a nice trip of about 20 kilometers and although it was not directly on Daniel's path, he kindly offered to bring me to Wiefelstede. Once we arrived there, he even prolonged our ride towards Spohle. We passed along the "Spohler Krug", where he – having grown up in the vicinity – used to party in his younger days. From there, we continued on the "Petersfelder Straße", from where it was just a short trip by foot to reach the hash. Daniel joined me on the final part of the expedition and we arrived at the hash on a (corn?) field at around a quarter past three. We took some pictures and recorded the proof. Soon afterwards, Daniel had to leave and continue his journey. Before he left, I handed him my extra copy of the geohashing poster I brought with me to lead him here (Hello, Daniel!). It was a very pleasant meet-up with a nice stranger!

Afterwards, I pinned the other copy of the poster to a nearby tree and took some more pictures. Weather was great and I enjoyed the sun and a (reasonably cold) Club Mate while waiting for oliver to arrive. oliver planned to be at the hash between 16:00 and 16:30 and I waited until about 20 minutes past four. While waiting, I realized that my original plan to go back to Oldenburg by public transport won't work, since there is no public transport on Sundays in the rural area of Spohle. Consequently, I prepared a (less convincing) sign to hitchhike back again. In order to be back in time for another appointment in Oldenburg, I had to leave right before oliver arrived by bicycle (of course carrying his towel). We briefly met about 300m away from the hash and had a quick chat. I've described how to find my marker and we said goodbye. Looking forward to meeting him the next time! After another 15-20 minutes of thumb-upping, another kind stranger gave me a ride to the train station in Rastede, where I caught a train back to Oldenburg. Fun times, Happy Towel Day!

oliver

The idea to go for this hash and for the meetup came on Sunday morning/noon, pretty late unfortunately. Though voting didn't take long, it was already 14:15 when I left home by bike. Took the train to Oldenburg and then to Rastede, and then enjoyed a nice cycling tour through the countryside. While direction markers for cyclists were pretty sparse in Rastede, they became more common in the countryside, directing me to Nethen and then to Spohle.

It was already past 16:30 when I was just outside of Spohle and was wondering whether pah was still there, when a black-clad figure came on the way towards Spohle. Yup, there was a towel hanging at the side - there could be no mistaking here that this must be pah! We had nice chat and he explained how to reach the geohash, and we parted after a while. Let's hope we'll find another geohash where we can do a proper meetup!

The geohash was indeed easy to find: past the shed and the cattle and along the side of the field, and then a few meters aside to the stone marker on the field. Took a few photos (sadly no picture of the hash coordinates on the phone, as I don't have a camera at the moment) and enjoyed the sunny quietness in the wide fields. Finally decided to get back, and remembered just in time to take a photo of the towel!

The trip back was pretty uneventful. I planned to use the web of small cycleways to get back to Oldenburg Central Station, but somehow got to Wiefelstede and then back to Rastede instead and so decided to take the train from there. Arrived back home at moderate time and concluded: this was a great day!

Photos

pah's photos

pre-expedition voting with towel
hashcat patting
hitchhiking selfie
Daniel gave me a ride, seduced by the convincing sign
proof #1
Daniel and pah at the hash
adding the marker to a nearby tree
view from the marker to the hash
Stupid Grin^TM
Daniel is leaving
panorama
proof #2
screenshot #1
environment-friendly marker at the hash
tree with geohashing poster
waiting for oliver ...
screenshot #2 (from my tablet at the picnic place)
view from the picnic place to the hash
towel, tablet, mobile, mate – geohashing equipment
preparing the trip home
"Spohler Krug"

oliver's photos

pah's marker, with an additional stick
panorama
more panorama. Note the conspicuous similarity with the image directly above
a towel might be useful for crossing an electric fence unharmed, but I wouldn't trust it in hand-to-horn combat...
... good thing the hash was on this side of the fence