2023-07-18 -37 144

Location

By a pond in the Jawbone Marine Sanctuary, Williamstown

Participants

John
Bridget
Stevage
Lachie
Felix

Plans

At 11:32pm, two minutes after the hash was released, Felix messaged the chat "cool one tomorrow!". Lachie responded that he and I (John) had a rehearsal in the evening, but perhaps we could do it afterwards.

Steve replied that he would struggle to squeeze it in.

Meanwhile, although I am often one to check the hashes at 11:30pm when they come out, I had been asleep since 10:50pm according to my watch. In the morning, I awoke and checked the hash first thing, and discovered how excellent it was. I then looked at the chat and saw that others were in agreement about its excellence. I suggested to Bridget that we could ride there that morning, and she was keen, even though it was a Tuesday, since she had taken this week off work. I had to make the agonising decision to abandon Lachie and his proposed evening plan, but Bridget wasn't going to be able to join an evening expedition, and I didn't want her to miss out, so we resolved to set off as soon as we were up and breakfasted.

But all was well, Lachie and Felix arranged to have their own evening expedition, so Lachie didn't have to miss out either. When they announced their planned expedition to the chat at twenty past four, it turned out that Steve was already en route to the hash. Cam was tempted to mount a fourth separate expedition, but wasn't going to be able to make it work (as far as I am aware)

Expedition 1

Bridget and I set off into the chilly, but sunny, morning at just after 9, We made our way through the Footscray Hospital district, and crossed the Sunbury line at West Footscray, where you are allowed, encouraged even, to ride up the ramps and along the station overpass. After a fiddly bit getting across Geelong Rd, we reached pleasant backstreets. We rode south, crossed the Westgate at the Fogarty avenue overpass and continued south. We rode across the Newport Lakes reserve, where Bridget had been for a walk, and to visit the nursery, only just the day before.

We then went up Maddox Road, where there is a bike lane/path but it was annoyingly obstacled at times, by roadwork signs and a random truck parked upon it. We got through to the coast safely though. We headed eastwards along the path, and the hash drew ever nearer. With about 400m to go, we stopped and admired some birds: Pied cormorants, in all their large glory in contrast to the more commonly seen little pied cormorants, and black swans. Then we saw a pair of great crested grebes which was very exciting.

We continued riding towards the hash, and after a couple of false stops, where I checked my phone only to discover that there was still some distance off, we got there. The hash itself lay just a few metres into an area planted with little grass bushes. Thankfully not in the thicket just a few metres to the north, or in the lake a few more metres to the south. Easy to pop in and get the snap and screenshot required. We then decided to go home the longer way along the coast via Williamstown.

However, the sunlight we had been enjoying was starting to fade. Over the ocean we could see dark clouds threatening, looming, advancing. Optimistic that any showers might miss us, we continued on. We saw a couple of pelicans, passed the timeball tower, and then started north. We didn't get very far however, only as far as the Nando's in Nelson Place in fact, before the hydrometeors started falling. The heavens opened, and in a flash rain turned to hail. We made a break for the Nando's veranda and considered our options. The radar didn't look promising, so we decided to head for a train in the short break we had before more showers were going to hit.

We went up Parker st, past a church where I once played the last post at an Anzac Day service, my tone being given a generous vibrato from the involuntary shaking of my legs due to nerves. We then went past my old school's gym, and then the school itself, where the schoolkids of today were frolicking in the yard.

We got to the station, and within a few minutes the rain had started again, confirming that our choice to not still be out there peddling was the right one. On our train home, at Newport, several people bedecked in fluro orange got on and appeared to be planning/carrying out some sort of emergency exercise. Thankfully, our trip wasn't interrupted by this. We got off at Footscray, stopped off to check out Footscray market and to get a few last things for the dahl I was planning on bringing to rehearsal that night. We then rode a few more unevenful kilometres back to Maribyrnong and got home just on midday.

One million swamp/moor-hens
View from hash
Success!
Bridget at hash
Avoiding inclement weather
GPS

Expedition 2 (Steve)

I had plans precluding an expedition to this oh-so-tempting expedition to the local hotbed of seaside geohashing, Williamstown. But the best-laid plans got cancelled, freeing my afternoon for a journey westward.

Starting from Fairfield, I did the usual meander through bike paths to reach Footscray Road, where as usual, everything was unusual. The chaotic construction of the existential-dread inducing Westgate brunnel mean that every journey through this area is different. Literally, they keep re-aligning the bike path in several different locations.

These temporary paths are surprisingly not terrible, which is terribly surprising. This week's detours took us on a sharp wiggly bit before crossing Dynon Road, which had chosen that moment to block itself to cross traffic. On Footscray Road, we snuggled up a freight train line for a bit, then got extremely friendly with large stacks of containers, before getting to know some construction equipment that was taking the afternoon off. That had never happened before.

I couldn't stop stopping and taking photos, so impressed was I by the scale of the existential dread being wrought upon us all. Enormous steel beams lounged about lazily upon concrete platforms, waiting for their moment to shine. Tomorrow's daylight I guess, because today's was quickly running out.

Big spiral twirly steel beams had already been set into place across the Maribyrnong River and dared you to challenge their right to be there. I would have, but I was kind of in a hurry to get to the hash before it got completely dark.

Approaching the Westgate Bridge, I suddenly recognised a spot from an early online reconnoiter, where our Google overlords smugly suggested a side trip out through the water. Felix claimed there was a bridge there, but a small jump might be required. This boardwalk through the mangroves seemed to be missing a good metre and half, but for no obvious reason. On a different day, perhaps with a different bike, or even no bike at all, and endless daylight, and without a pressing mission at hand, I might have attempted it. On this day, I u-turned and pressed onward.

The minutes of daylight ticked away, but I was now at the moment of peak infuriation, as every street seemed to run perpendicular to the direct line from me to the hash. There was no quicker way than to continue into Williamstown then loop around on bike paths to the point. Or so I claim. And on this tenuous presumption I proceeded, eyeballing the map, and wiggling this way and that until I was suddenly almost at the point, and it was almost dark.

I mean, really, you'd probably say it was dark. But because I didn't technically use any light source to walk to the point, and because I took photos without a flash, you could claim that it was still twilight. Whatever. Photos were taken. Local residents became concerned by the sight of my bike abandoned by the path, red flight flashing violently. I could practically hear the tut-tut as they gathered in their twos (ok, in their two) to ponder what on earth to do about this unexpected contraption which had confusingly befallen them.

As I made my way out of the bushes with the firm intention of not explaining anything, they unfortunately saw me coming, put two and two together (to make two) and made a u-turn. "U-turn?" I thought. "You too can u-turn" so I, too, u-turned toward the hash for a quick bush pee before re-u-turning towards my secondary destination for the evening, the famous fish-and-chippery in Williamstown, known from previous adventures such as Williamstown Geohash Number 1 (in which mid-meal I was accosted by a middle aged man lecturing me on the dangers of cycling) and Williamstown Geohash Number 2 (in which pre-meal I was accosted by a middle aged man lecturing me on the dangers of cycling). I could hardly wait for a third rendition.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. Other then the seemingly-polite, but clearly ulteriorly-motivated attentions of a quiet seagull who sat with me throughout my meal, I was almost completely unaccosted. The fish was, once again, very good. Crispy, somewhat fatty, delicious. The potato cakes were marginally disappointing. And there were three, and I really only wanted two, and I didn't know who to blame, but I sure as hell wasn't giving it to the seagull. Sorry seagull.

Eventually the seagull's mates turned up and had a brawl, so it was time to go. The path home was all the things that it was on the way here, but darker, and less surprising. Annoyingly I'd forgotten my earbuds, so inflicted annoyance on everyone else by listening to Crabb and Sales out loud on my handlebar-mounted phone. Seriously, who does that? 🖐 Then I got home the end bye.

Expedition 3

Lachie made some noises on the Geohashing chat earlier in the day that he needed motivation to reach this hash. Therefore, I (Felix) thought about whether I could in fact fit this one in between the feeds of my baby girl. And yes, theoretically possible. Lachie and I had a plan to reach the hash sandwiched in between his band practice and my baby's night feed.

I met Lachie at Flemington Bridge on our respective single speed bikes. We rode down Moonee Ponds Ck bike path from there, and then along Footscray Rd where we saw some absolutely stunning road construction (full disclosure: I worked for a time on this construction project).

Heading through Yarraville we contemplated briefly visiting the last days of Two Birds Brewery, but then realised it was closed tonight. Onwards we went, under the Westgate Bridge, past the Newport Gas Power Station and around the coast of Williamstown to the hash along the Altona foreshore. Lachie entertained me with tales of his recent unusual gigs.

We were suddenly at the hash. We stomped around the grassy shoreline getting the right numbers on our apps, saw some black swans in the lagoon, and then settled in for a short beer sitting on a rock before returning home via a slightly quicker route but back through the incredible West Gate Tunnel Project construction works. We even saw a giant, arched steel girder getting lifted into place by a 600T crawler crane next to the Maribyrnong River.

Beer at the hash!
Geohash success
Felix at the hash
Lachie at the hash
Hashswans
Point Cook
Altona
Elevated viaduct above Footscray Rd for the West Gate Tunnel Project
Installation of an arched steel girder, a span segment for a new bridge across the Maribyrnong River
Bridge out at Westgate