2012-10-06 -37 144

Sat 6 Oct 2012 in -37,144: -37.8559654, 144.7559718 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

On a street within the Royal Australian Air Force Base at Point Cook

Who went

• Felix Dance

Expedition

Felix Dance

tAlex again alerted me to this one, so after an afternoon snooze in my West Melbourne share-house I jumped on my bike and headed to the North Melbourne train station (I'm still suffering from my knee injury incurred on the 2012-09-08 -37 144 geohash a month ago, so I've been taking it easy). My plan was to jump on the train, head to the station known as Aircraft, get the geohash at the RAAF base, return to the city and go straight to a friend's birthday dinner on the other side of town.

However, things didn't go to plan. It soon started bucketing down with rain as I headed out to the western suburbs on my train. After half an hour I had a brain fart and missed my stop. No idea what I was thinking about, I just suddenly noticed I was at the next stop. Despairing at my lack of concentration, I messaged my friend to say I'd be late, but to hold a spot for me on the table. Meanwhile, I took the train all the way to the end of the line, at Werribe, so I wouldn't have to sit in the rain on the platform waiting for the same train to come back and pick me up. Returning, I remembered to actually get off at Aircraft, and wondered with my bike in the darkness and drenching rain towards the hash.

However, at the gate to the base, I tried to walk in but was stopped by the Air Force security guard asking what I was trying to do. "Oh, you can't just walk in can you?" I asked bemusedly. The guy looked at me for a second, then with a sneered laugh told me, "No. Absolutely not". I walked back to the station, having failed the geohash.

Since the rain wasn't abating, I thought that rather than hanging out in the cold, I'd take the train going the other way to Werribe, and come back again, like last time. I called my friend at dinner and told him I'd have to miss out on eating, but would come later.

Sadly, again, this train wasn't the one on the timetable returning to the city. It was, in fact, terminating at Werribe. So after waiting for about 15 minutes on the empty train at the end of the line I was told to get off and go to the other platform. Of course, by this time, I'd already missed the train I was supposed to be on, so had to wait another 20 minutes for the next train, now two hours after I'd got onto the train in North Melbourne.

Finally, reaching North Melbourne station again I realised that I was so horribly late for dinner, or even after-dinner drinks, that I might as well just go home. And that's where I've been this Saturday night.

Photos

One photo coming soon...