2022-02-23 -38 146

Location

At the edge of a forest north of Mirboo North.

Participants

Mdixon4 (talk)

Expedition

I stirred, it had just gone 5am. It was too early to rise, but worth checking the hash, just in case. It was not close by, but it did look achievable, certainly would be a nice day ride if I had the spare time. But I'd taken some leave for a hash just two days before - I ought not make a habit of it.

I checked the other graticules. It looked tough across the map. I was certainly the closest of the team to any hash - but I had no time, did I?

Would this be the end of our Victorian streak? Rob had put in a spectacular effort on Sunday to keep it alive, I'd taken some leave on Monday to reach one near me, and Felix had managed to fit in a lighting visit to Myniong on Tuesday. Together, the streak had reached 15 consecutive days.

It was too much pressure. By 5:45 I was on the road, heading out along my favourite back-country route towards Mirboo North, different now in the darkness of night, with only venus rising above the fog to herald the coming dawn. By the time I had climbed to McDonalds Track the morning light had begun shifting the colours of the fog. No longer a grey-blue blanket over the valley before me: now orange hues crept up from the bottom and greys and purples reached skywards. Cows were just beginning to wake, and the road became filled with wallabies and kangaroos grazing for their breakfast.

I followed the Mirboo North route until reaching the rail trail, and shortly after, diverted along a road that would take me to the Strzelecki Highway, at such a point that I would only have to go a few hundred metres before turning off again. That road then took me up until I reached the point at which I'd start the bush-bashing, or so I thought.

I couldn't believe my luck. A disused track, well overgrown, lay before me. It was a simple matter to follow on foot, and before I knew it I was through the bush and into the paddock beyond, where the hash lay at the base of a giant tree.

It was a simple ride home, with a couple of diversions from the outbound route for variety, but I made it home before 10, ready to start on the day's work. The streak continues - 16 days!