2022-11-02 53 9
| Wed 2 Nov 2022 in 53,9: 53.6594386, 9.8326221 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox |
Location
in a private back garden in Rellingen, Schleswig-Holstein
Participants
Expedition
I was at university in Bahrenfeld and noticed that from Eidelstedt station, where I had to go anyway, this hash was only 10 minutes by train and then 10 minutes by bike. I knew it was likely inaccessible, but for only an hour extra I deemed it still worth it; so I went there after classes were over. The hash lay right on the boundary between two private back gardens. I approached from the south, and saw that I'd have to walk through an archway to access the garden, and I couldn't view the hashpoint from the street. There was a car parked in front of the house, and though it was an old-timer that probably always stands there, I didn't want to risk it. So I cycled to the house on the other side, where I had a very clear view of the hashpoint 24 m away: across the lawn at the back fence, with a robotic law mover right beneath. The house looked empty, and I could step across a very low fence, run there in five seconds and be back in twenty.
I waited for a while to ensure no one was watching, and was still on the fence (pun indended) whether I had the resolve to go for it, when I heard a car approach. I immediately backed away and looked at my phone, but (of course) it was the owner of the house and he asked me what I was doing. I tried to shrug it off, but he asked again, so I tried to explain Geohashing to him (across his preteen daughter in the passenger seat), making it clear I hadn't intended to enter his garden. Fortunately he didn't seem too angry, but rather confused and slightly amused. As I prepared to leave and he parked in his driveway, he asked me how to remove the geohash from his garden, so I made it clear that it was only there for a day and encouraged him to go to geohashing.site to learn about the game and maybe write a report (if you're actually reading this: hi, and sorry!). It occurred to me that I could ask him let me go there or go there himself, but it seemed too awkward at the time – in retrospect, I really should've gone for the Ambassador/Puppet Master achievement, or perhaps even a reverse Abduction achievement.
What a missed opportunity. An amazing coincidence that he arrived exactly in the few minutes I spent there, and very fortunate that he didn't come while I trespassed his property. Though, statistically, I think I should've been approached several times already while geohashing just by the number of people who saw me in suspicious places – this was actually the first time!
Thankfully, I had taken screenshots earlier, so I cycled off and decided against trying again from the other side (though the hash was literally on the fence, down to 10 cm accuracy) because I was too shaken by the events and wasn't sure whether anyone was at home there. So I cycled back through Rellingen to Thesdorf station and made my way back home via Eidelstedt.
Photos
will follow shortly (4 pictures)
Achievements
No trespassing consolation prize
