2013-03-03 53 7

Location

Near the village of Vlagtwedde

Participants

Plans

Go there by car, walk a little bit, write some postcrossing cards, be back in time for dinner.

Expedition

It was quite easy. For the first time in human history (ie in my somewhat skippy checking of Geohashing) the hash in the Emden graticule was actually in a spot feasible to get to without travelling at least 100 km. As I had to work at 15:30 PM this was quite convenient. So I decided to go for it!

I drove the A7 until Winschoten, then turned right towards Vlagtwedde. Then I turned left towards Bourtange (wonderful old fortress town - but as I'd been there before I've not visited it now). Because the Dutch police frowns on taking pictures while driving (whyever would that be) I haven't got any of the journey there. To compensate I took pictures of a few things in my car (before setting off) and took some extra near the hashpoint.

Exactly as I surveyed, I first came across a small canal to the left and then to a lock in a bigger canal. Since the road from there looked earthy and muddy I decided to abandon car and continue on foot. I didn't fancy explaining geohasing to the local farmers while they pulled my car out of the muck.

It was exceptionally quiet and a bit bleak. The only people I met were a few cyclists. I also met three horses (behind a fences). I looked first for a bend in the canal and then for a kind of 'dip' in the opposite shore that was near the hashpoint. Lo and behold, there turned out to be no fence around the hashpoint! Apparently farmland near Vlagtwedde is so quiet that this is not necessary. Since the hashpoint was at the very edge of the field in the middle of some tractor tracks I figured it wouldn't hurt if I actually went there. (I wouldn't have done that if there had been a fence or plants that I could have trod on. The Dutch law concerning right of way says that you can't go somewhere if there's a fence or ditch obviously restricting access, or if you can damage the produce; I decided that none of these were applicable here.)

Yay, hashpoint reached! I wrote some postcrossing cards when I was back at the track and mailed them from a mailbox in Vlagtwedde. And that was that - a succesful hash. But none yet in my home graticule of Groningen unfortunately. Soon...

Photos

Preparations: my "map". (I didn't actually use it.) Points for anyone who understands even part of my scribbling...
Odd title for a song...
... ah, it just means that my CD player hasn't come to terms with special characters yet.
Said lock in the canal. This is also where I left my car.
Not sure if creative.. or just took a picture without meaning to.
Retreating cyclists (you sure need courage to go cycling here on a cloudy Sunday afternoon in early March)
The dip that indicates my hashpoint being near.
View from hashpoint
View of hashpoint after having reached it
Happy geohasher
What's that? Ooooh, I almost thought it was going to be springtime! Except that it was almost freezing.
My sent postcards - there should be a postcrossing geohashing achievement!