2024-07-15 -37 145

Location

On a footpath in Dandenong, in Melbourne's southeastearn suburbs.

Participants

Expedition 1:

Mdixon4

Expedition 2:

Stevage

Expedition 2 (Stevage)

With the benefit of two days' notice, a glorious plan beckons on the horizon: first, take a train up to Harcourt, and with a leisurely bike ride and a stomp through the bush, claim my first geohash in the Bendigo graticule, and with it, the completion of my Minesweeper achievement. Then, a series of trains sweeping through the city down to Dandenong where a very quick bike ride would nab a second hash, completing my first ever multi-hash without a car.

Then reality intervenes in the of a rainy day, and the grand plan is immediately scaled down.

I tram into the city, and enjoy a surprisingly efficient administrative chore, acquiring an international driver's permit for an upcoming trip overseas. A quick scurry through the rain to Flinders St coincides neatly with the arrival of a train to Dandenong. It's quiet. Not many other people going for the hash at this time, apparently.

It's a bit warm on the train, as I discover with some embarrassment that I am wearing no fewer than 5 garments with hoods and zips.

In Dandenong, the weather has crept up a notch from "gloomy" to "bleak". It's too windy for an umbrella, so I carefully select amongst my excessive number of layers and form a fetching poncho combo.

For entertainment, I fire up the second last episode of the hit-and-miss podcast "Who Shat On The Floor Of My Wedding?" I'm deeply engrossed in the story of how a man named Henk spent 4 hours socialising in the women's bathroom when I discover with some regret that I have somehow mistakenly ended up in...the women's bathroom. There are no witnesses.

A hastily acquired dimmie for the road, and away we stride into the wind and rain. It is no one's idea of a delightful afternoon, with busy roads, grey skies failing to enliven particularly bland suburbia. But it feels good to be moving.

The 25 minute walk passes quickly, distracted as I am by the dubious legal advice that states that a bribe is not a bribe as long as the wink is performed with both eyes. It's unclear to me how offering a small payment to a suspect is intended to effect a confession, but to be honest, I don't think it's clear to the podcast detective either.

The point helpfully turns out to be easily accessible without entering private property, and that's success! My 53rd success in this graticule, one more than long time graticuleader Felix Dance. I now see that I just missed Matt here by half an hour or so.

I'm now curious to explore Dandenong a bit more, so follow the main roads past Dandenong Market and through the many shops that lead toward the train station. The market is closed on Mondays, alas, so I try to fill the void with an Indian groceries shop and a Cash Converters, but it's not really the same. The rain eases off just in time to catch a return train to the city and homewards I go.