2023-07-19 -37 143

Wed 19 Jul 2023 in -37,143: -37.7032615, 143.5889059 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

Just inside the boundary of the Clarkesdale Bird Sanctuary near Linton, Victoria.

Participants

• KT
• Dangermum
• Dangerdad

A Wholesome Family Adventure Pt. 2

Hello and welcome back to another soul-nourishing Geohash, starring my danger-loving parents.

I am visiting because Dangerdad has had surgery. He has a new shoulder. It's not yet a week old, but according to me that's old enough for adventure.

Anyway.

It is a perfect winter's day. Crisp, but the sun is showing off and it seems unbearable to stay inside, so I suggest an adventure to the Clarkesdale Bird Sanctuary. No one us have heard of it before; not even me, who is suggesting it. The Dangerfolk seem confused, bordering on slightly reluctant, but I bully them into the car. "It'll be good for us!" "You like birds!" etc. It's a 40 minute drive, longer because I let Dangerdad direct.

When we are half way there I tell them the truth. Our true destination is the Geohash that is just outside the sanctuary.

Weirdly enough, they both perk up at this.

"Oh! We like those!"

I guess next time I'll lead with that information.

On the way, we pass Smythesdale, Scarsdale and Linton. Dangermum gives a history lesson, because her side of the family farmed in that area over a hundred years ago. She points at things. "That was the old Bryant farm." "Great great aunt Mavis is in that cemetery." She also requisitions a stop at the Smythesdale park to see some recently-installed mosaics that her craft group made. Great work, U3A Ballarat's Friday Mosaic class!

Just out of Linton, we make a sharp turn off the main road and head towards Happy Valley. It's idyllic. We trundle along and pull over once we near the hash. Dangerdad opts to stay in the car, so this time Dangermum and I bravely venture very slightly off-road to our destination. It really is a gorgeous part of the world, but Dangermum almost bails because she doesn't want to step over a log. With some encouragement, she makes it! Heroic effort.

We take our little selfie and brave the very small log back to the car.

According to maps, the bird sanctuary is just ahead. But it's poorly signed and we go straight past the entrance. I decide to reverse back, thinking we probably barely overshot. Turns out we overshot by a long way, so I reverse for a long time. We all have a chuckle, oh ho ho etc.

The sanctuary is... quiet. We are the only people there. Are we allowed to be there? We're not sure. We're also not sure where to park. There's not really any signage.

We awkwardly park beside a green shed thing and a woman emerges to greet us. Her name is Emily. She says she wasn't really expecting anyone today, but shows us where the good walks are and tells us a bit of the history. Clakesdale sanctuary was started by an older farmer in the 60s who noticed there were fewer and fewer birds in the area. He felt sad about this, so he started buying blocks of land as soon as they were up for sale. He revegetated and then donated the land to Birdlife Victoria in the 70s. It's now over 500 hectares!

I do some maths and realise today's hashpoint is technically on the sanctuary, so I enjoy that thought.

The Dangerfolk and I say bye to Emily, and walk quietly through the sanctuary. It's hard to describe just how lovely it is. When we stop walking, the only thing we can hear are birds. It is so quiet and peaceful and sunny and there's this one tree that smells like honey. We see lots of birds, a lot we can't recognise, but my favourites are the yellow robins.

The second part of the sanctuary is a short drive away, across the road. We go through a small pass Dangermum says is known to locals as the Devil's Kitchen. There's a bird hide, and the Dangerfolk bicker about identifying the waterbirds but neither of them brought their glasses so they're both just guessing.

Dangermum says they're not her "proper glasses"

We don't have time for the full tour, but we enjoy making future plans that involve another sunny day and a picnic lunch.

We get back to the car, all of us pleasantly surprised at the day's success. A true Geohashing win for the history books.

Photos

spotted: a pair of lovebirds