2023-06-04 -37 145

Location

On a footpath in Camberwell.

Participants

Expedition 1:

Expedition 2:

Expedition

Expedition 1

I'd (Felix) noticed this hash early on Saturday morning and suggested it to Laura who lives in that area. But I was also kind of thinking that I'd be able to do it too.

You see, Ruth, myself and baby Gretel were all driving back from a weekend away at our Moe friends' house and it could be plausibly argued that the geohash was on the way.

Since the trip up to Moe with 8-week-old Gretel had been pretty successful, Ruth was open to going via the geohash on the way back, assuming our baby wasn't in wildly-upset-land. So on we drove.

One complicating factor was that Gretel had already had a long sleep before we left Moe, and she usually wakes up after about two hours. And sure enough, as we were about to pass through Longwarry, Gretel woke up. So we went for Hungry Jacks and to feed and change the small person. I had to cross the freeway to the opposing HG's due to an order error on my Oreo Flurry, which was then stolen by a group of kids before I could get to it. The shop made me a new one though.

So, Gretel awake but not wildly upset, we went onward to the hash. After getting off the freeway and into the 'evil' Eastern Suburbs, I accidentally went through two successive red lights getting through the off-ramp interchange, so hopefully no ticket from those.

And very soon we were driving down the leafy street at which the hash was at the end. At about 2pm, we all three got out and walked/were transported over to the hash-footpath and did our little hash-dance to get to the exact spot. I took a few screenshots, at one point getting to 17mm from the hash. Close enough! Gretel stayed pretty chill throughout, we took our photos and headed home.

This was my 200th successful geohash and Gretel's first. I was sad not to have brought some celebratory cake or something to mark the occasion. I remember drinking stout in the hot sun at my 100th successful geohash near Darwin.

Expedition 2

Earlier in the week, I (Tom) had made arrangements with Lachie to attend the Australian Handmade Bicycle Show in Williamstown. When organising the logistics of meeting up on the Saturday evening, Lachie, who is perhaps a little more into geohashing and a little less interested in boutique bicycles, suggested we make an attempt at the hash after the show. I confirming that it didn't add too long a detour to my ride home, and Lachie made a call out to find any more takers. Cam and John both took up the call and we had a geohashing peloton!

At around 1:30pm, after downing some nasi goreng for lunch, Lachie managed to tear me away from the bike show, suggesting we read our complimentary fortune cookies at the hash point. Running late, we rushed along the Hobson Bay Coastal Trail, swerving around countless pedestrians, with Lachie calling "passing" on repeat and my bike bell getting more use in 15 minutes than it had in the last decade. We collected John near Hop Nations Brewing and turned onto the bike path that passes the docks. The works on the West Gate Tunnel bridge sections are in full flow, and I was astounded by the size of the project. Soon we were in the city, and travel along the south and north banks of the Yarra resulted in more pedestrian traffic. We collected Cam near Federation square and headed out to the eastern suburbs along the Main Yarra Trail and the Gardiners Creek Trail. We took a very minor side trip to do some laps of the Hawthorn velodrome, then headed into the suburban back streets. Lachie's single speed bike met some significantly steep obstacles, and Cam and I took the opportunity to "cop a feel" while providing some well received assistance :P.

I wasn't long before Lachie and John had their phones out, locating the exact position of the hash. On success, Lachie surprised us by pulling out some Moon Dog Pale Ale cans he's been carrying all day, complete with stubbie holders that had done a commendable job at keeping the beer to an acceptable temperature. After a good chin wag, I headed home leaving the others to visit Quiet Deeds Brewery. A couple of minutes later it dawned on me that we had forgotten to eat our fortune cookies. I pulled to the side of the road and opened mine:

"A positive mind is the key to happiness"

I'm not sure if it's a tautology or truly sage advice. I am very sure however that bikes, beers, friends and geohashing make for a great time.