2012-02-10 -38 145

Location

In the surf off the beach near Kilcunda, a small town on Victoria's south east coast.

Who went

Felix Dance by bicycle

Expedition

Felix Dance

Discovering the geohash to be within striking distance while expending my precious time at work on the Wonthaggi Desalination Plant here in this particularly cold and wintry corner of south-east Victoria I embarked upon the usual geohashing dilemma of trying to decide if that geohash only thirteen kilometres away and, woah, actually in the water, was really worth going for. Inevitably, I found the decision being made for me, as is often the case when inhabiting a brain whose composition and mechanism I have no control over.

Jumping onto my bike in the late afternoon as a gloomy storm began to descend on this weather-wracked coast I decided that I could save significant kilometres by riding along the beach rather than all the way around onto the highway and back towards the ocean (this being a desal plant I find myself hugging coast). Luckily, there was a tail wind propelling me towards the hash. Unluckily the tide was receding, causing the soft, damp sand to warp under my tyres, sucking the energy out of my ride.

Eventually, I’d reached the mouth of the Powlett River, a point at which I had to plunge my route inland towards a bridge I’d discovered there some time ago. Spending the final kilometre or so on the rail trail passing through the area, I launched myself back onto the sand towards the hash. Throwing my bike and clothes down onto the beach with a ferocity matched only by the vicious storm tumbling towards me down the beach, I hurled myself into the tumultuous waves, 40 metres from the hash. Camera in hand I snapped photos wildly of the scene surrounding me, reveling at not having to drown myself to attain the exact location I was now turbulently inhabiting.

With relief and exhilaration I returned to shore, frantically text messaging the geohashers I know about how awesome I am, sanding the beach off my bike and battling the crazed wind and stinging rain to return to the rail trail. I spent the next thirty kilometres slogging through the unrelenting head-wind back to Inverloch where I promptly baked a cake and uploaded my photos.

Here is the Bikely route I took.

Total riding distance, including the 20 km ride to work that morning: 49.7 kms. Time of hash: 6:20pm