2024-07-26 -37 145

Fri 26 Jul 2024 in -37,145: -37.7618096, 145.2724409 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

On Yarra Rd, Wonga Park

Participants

Expedition 1:

• John
• Lachie

Expedition 2:

• Jude

Expedition 3:

• Gimcrack

Expedition 1

I was on the train back from my Bendigo hash, and my admission that I was thinking of heading to Wonga Park for hash no. 2 for the day aroused plenty of interest and plenty of encouragement in the chat. Jude had also announced her intentions of heading there after work, but unfortunately that (around 6:30) would be too late for me to link up with her, as I was going to head straight there or not at all.

Lachie was also very interested though, and our timings would align nicely; he also had to go sooner rather than later due to evening plans (which are sacrosanct and not to be forgotten). With Lachie on board, my decision to head to a second hash become certain. I let him know my scheduled arrival at Southern Crustacean, and he drew up an itinerary for us, involving an narrow 8 minute changeover for me onto the suburban train. He also helpfully let me know that my plan to catch a train to Croydon was flawed by Croydon currently being non-operational. Luckily we could still ride from either of the stations on either side.

By the time I was at Kyneton my VLine train was already 5 minutes behind schedule, so Lachie drew up a new itinerary based around the next Lilydale train about half an hour later, since making the earlier one was looking quite iffy. By the time I reached Sunbury, my train was miraculously back on schedule. I let Lachie know that the earlier train was still an option, but he informed me that no it was no longer an option if he was to be on that train. I didn't mind sticking with the later train, the Bendigo sushi hadn't quite fully satisfied me, so I was going to be able to obtain some food during the lay over.

At Southern Crustacean I sussed out the food options and settled on a Zesty Mexi burger from Grill'd. I took the opportunity to work a bit more, seated at a Grill'd table while digesting and waiting for the anointed train. Despite all the planning and discussion that had occurred during my train trip, I had also managed to work reasonably well. So the day was definitely far from a write-off workwise (though admittedly, far from my most productive day).

Time progressed, and I headed off for the Lilydale train. Lachie still hadn't arrived but it was okay because he was actually joining at Melbourne Central, where he duly found me in the last carriage. On our train trip out I heard all about Lachie's trip to Vietnam that he had only just returned from, and he also gave me a bit of a Vietnamese history lesson.

As we neared our destination, we had to decide which side of Croydon station to approach from. Ringwood East was a bit further away, but the other option, Mooroolbark, would involve considerably more climbing. We decided to alight at the former option, but after the hash to enjoy the descent down into Mooroolbark to get the train back.

Even going the less hilly way, there was still considerable hilliness, which Lachie bore the brunt of due the excess weight of the bike he was using. But we made it to Yarra Rd without issue and soon we reached the hash. Our GPSs seemed to disagree on the exact point but we were definitely close enough (me in a ditch and Lachie out of it).

Our planned return train was actually looking difficult to catch by this stage, but we decided to give it a go. It started well, with a speedy initial descent into the Brushy Creek valley, but unfortunately some navigational errors soon put any thoughts of catching our intended train to bed. The next train was only 15mins away though, which we comfortably made it for, even with my phone-based myki playing up at the gates.

On our train trip back we learnt about axle-counters and Lachie learnt that even though he was now slightly late for his evening plans, his co-planner was going to be later.

At Flinders St, Lachie got back on his bike and headed north, while I changed to a Werribee train, then got off at Footscray and rode the few kays home into, now the sun had disappeared, what had become not particularly pleasant cold windy conditions. At least I had the satisfaction of a successful double-geohash to warm my cockles.

Achievements

John earned the Multihash Achievement by reaching the 2024-07-26 -36 144 and 2024-07-26 -37 145 geohashes on 2024-07-26.

Photos

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  Success

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  Microjohn

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  Hillview

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  GPS proof

Expedition 2 (Jude)

I found myself unusually working in the east and was thrilled to find a hash nearby. Unfortunately I couldn't manifest getting there in an ambulance. However after work I was able to drive there, which was made even sweeter by it being almost directly on my route to Lilydale station to meet Astrid. It dark and a bit hard to find a safe place to park but after a few false starts I found somewhere around the corner and walked to the ditch and climbed in to get the hash. Another random adventure on a starry winters night.

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  Jude's GPS proof

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  Jude at the hash

Expedition 3 (Gimcrack)

Noticing that this hash was close to my old stomping grounds and plausibly on my way home (where plausibly is doing some heavy lifting) I resolved to swing past on the spur of the moment. Other than the usual joys of Friday evening traffic, the drive was relatively uneventful, though long enough for my current playlist to wear thin. Initially I thought I had achieved a flyby, but I'm conscientious about not driving into ditches (or cyclists) while faffing with my phone, so the proof evaporated. A second attempt failed to register as close enough, so I had to go old school, parking around the corner and walking back to the hash. Given that the hash was between the road and the footpath, the flyby was always going to be a bit iffy. It has to be said that the location was much darker than when John and Lachie visited earlier, due to the sun having set, but I can add a nice night vision shot of the same paddock. Some pleasant real estate out there, it must be said...

Photos

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  Proof

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  Paddock by night