2023-02-26 -37 145

Location

In a field within a labyrinth of housing estate construction sites, in Wollert.

Participants

Felix Dance

Expedition

I initially resisted this hash since I had a few things on, but once I realised our group's consecutive geohashing streak was imperiled, I shifted some things around and made sure I found the time to get out there.

Straight after my and my partner's birth class, I jumped on my bike, rode to Moonee Ponds Station and took the train north to Craigieburn. From here, I took the long, boring Craigieburn Rd east into the tailwind.

Soon, I arrived at some new housing developments, and Google directed me through a maze of half-constructed streets and desolate, liminal spaces, the old having been destroyed but the new waiting to be born - a place, as Gramsci would say, of monsters.

One of these streets Google directed me along was completely under construction, complete with a cyclone fence and angry, construction-y signs. Of course, I clambered around the poorly-linked fence panels and rode on it anyway, doing the same at the opposing side to pass through. This is where I started recording my track log below.

I then travelled east again, but this time along a restricted gravel road, rubbish-strewn on both sides.

And this is where I encountered my second obstacle - yet another uncompleted housing development that I needed to sneak through. This one was open to local traffic, though, which I guess is me.

After a short overshoot, I was next to the hash. I locked my bike, donned high-vis to pretend to be a government inspector of some sort, and climbed the low fence into an overgrown paddock. I was careful to watch for snakes. They'd love this place.

Soon I was confident I would reach the hash. The metres ticked down from 200 to zero and I celebrated my success in the long grass by taking photos and observing my surroundings.

A fox ran out from the hashpoint and over a small knoll. A pile of rocks faced me from the north. A rusty wind pump spun listlessly in the breeze, each rotation creaking at me like it would in a horror movie.

I turned around and returned to my bike. From here I retraced my steps and made the train with 10 minutes to spare. An uneventful trip took me home.