2023-08-30 -37 145

Location

On a street in North Balwyn.

Participants

Expedition 1 - Tom

Hit with a touch of insomnia in the early morning, I was notified of this relatively nearby and accessible hash by Steve through our geohashing chat group. The expedition was eerily similar to a hash I did in late April, however shorter and in the opposite direction along the Main Yarra Trail. As with the April hash, the sky was full of showers, however this time I was better prepared with a rain coat and a bike with mudguards. I left home around 1:30pm and was home well within an hour, and just in time for my son's child care's Father's Day celebrations.

Expedition 2 - Lachie

Lachie drove! And brought chairs and a beer. Then he callously took his chairs home, leaving no creature comforts for the next three expeditions.

Lachie Chair
Lachie car chairs
Lachie Rainbow

Expedition 3 - tAlex

I saw this hash when I woke, temptingly close to one of my commute options and thought it would be a shame not to go. The ride to work was rather dreich and I was leaving half an hour later than I'd hoped. With already damp clothes and more rain, motivation was low. Fortunately, Stevage came to my aid in the Melbourne geohashing group chat.

Stevage: "I'm just grumbling about the weather".

Well, that's me sorted. I have a thing about people complaining about Melbourne weather (I consider it actually pretty good) and that minor comment reminded me it wasn't that bad and provided all the motivation I needed to get on with it. I rolled out, the situation improving once I was across the river. I rolled along the boulie and the rain eased off. Turning off to the main yarra trail I was treated to a flock of ~40 yellow tailed black cockatoos flying by.

I turn off the trail and head towards the hash. At this point I was going by memory, I ride up looking for a street starting with a 'W'. I turn into it, next I'm looking out for a chair. I ride past ~10 houses and stop, I was sure the hash wasn't this far. I check my phone, the hash is 3 houses back. I roll back, confused and sad I see no chair. I do see a sign "on side road" which i thought is missing "Caution: geohashing".

The ride home is straightforward but suboptimal. The gravel part of the main yarra trail is in poor condition and after the rain is quite muddy. Good thing I was due to clean my drive train that night anyway...

Caution: Geohashing...
Alex GPS

Expedition 4 - Steve

On a day of work funk and iffy weather, I was looking forward to a post-work hash on the way to having dinner with someone. I got my stuff ready, and was half dressed when...shit. Rain. Heavy rain.

I changed my plans, and decided to skip the hash, and take the tram.

The rain cleared up. Back to plan A.

The rain started again. Fuck.

Now I was so grumpy I needed the ride to clear my head.

I waited a little bit, it eased up a tiny bit, and I set off.

With all the water on the bike paths, I had to be a bit careful. Soon the rain eased up completely.

Passing through an intersection near the hash I realised it looked familiar. Ah yes, this was where I had once run out of petrol with several passengers in the car. Rolling into the intersection I suddenly spotted a petrol station at the bottom of the hill, and I was able roll all the way up to the pump. Win!

At the hash, I looked around for the expected chair, but was disappointed to discover its disappearance. A woman across the road eyed my suspiciously as she put out her bins.

Continuing on with my plans I had to forego my idea of a lap of the Yarra Boulevard, as I was running out of time. I just did the very last little bit, and got to see the Gipps St bridge works underway. So far, just a big pile of earthworks.

Eastern Freeway
Success!

Expedition 5 - Rob

After being subtly pressured by Tom on the group chat, and having learnt of Lachie's selfish chair antics, Rob headed to the hash just after 10pm with beer and his large cargo bike to sit in. He enjoyed the view, the beer, and the comfort of his cargo bike but was displeased by some of the local architecture.