It was hard going

at last Sunday's run in the Village. Especially so for Gastrick, who had to make a few stops due to his Christmas over-indulgence. Payback wasn't in good shape either, so he didn't even attempt to run.

It looks like New Zealand was the place to be leading up to Christmas. Hardcore, Big Top, Eloise, In Your Dreams, WTB? and honorary hasher Nathan were hashing at the Cloudy Bay Winery in Marlborough. Nathan was briefly spotted on the trail but decided to detour to the Moa Brewery to do some research.

Next run details
When:  Sunday 4th January, 5 pm
Where: B&W and Trudi Fruti's mansion near Jolly's Lookout
Hares:  B&W and Trudi Fruti

On, on!

The run before Christmas 2014

Gosh! There really are some pleasant leafy byways in Bardon and Ashgrove!  Gastrick and Miss Fit (assisted by Nunu) introduced us to a number of them this last Sunday. They set a run and walk which featured a number of challenging checks, some slightly hilly bushland sections, and some shady creek verges. They led us past some interesting and varied samples of domestic architecture and around what must be the biggest dog park in Brisbane. Snags, panettone and mince pies followed as we replenished our precious bodily fluids. Good on yer, hares!

Meanwhile, in New Zealand, Superhacker interrupted her Research Retreat to gatecrash Hardcore, Eloise and Bigtop's holiday.  Another offshore meet for Samford Hash!

Next Sunday's Yuletide Recovery Run will give us a chance to get rid of some extra Christmas kilos as well as our surplus turkey, ham and pud....

A Happy Christmas to all Samford Hashers! And, as Tiny Tim remarked, "God bless us, every one!"

Next run details
When: Sunday 28th December, 5 pm
Where: John Scott Park, Samford Village
Hares: M. Promptu will set the run; Potluck will cater. (Please bring some Christmas leftovers to share.)

On, on!

Mud and wine tour

This Sunday's run started near that interesting geological phenomenon, the Aspley mud springs - and both runners and walkers passed the site. The runners then took a winding route through the wine-buffs' suburb that adjoins it, running along and passing streets named after champagne, shiraz, riesling, sherry, cabernet, tokay and so on. (It was a good place to work up a thirst.) Exploring new areas is always fun, and some of the 1970s architecture was (shall we say) very interesting....A pleasant stroll along Cabbage Tree Creek completed the circuit.

A number of visitors joined us for the run and the walk, and Payback was back again, pounding the trail in his inimitable way. Many thanks to our hares!

Here's a little compilation from our boating weekend:


And here's a song from that rare creature, the Finnish Blue parrot. (Leave Pass joined in a bit too):


Next run details
When: Sunday 21st December, 5 pm
Where: Gastrick and Miss Fit's Bardon mansion
Hares: Gastrick and Miss Fit

(If you need directions to this run, please email us.)

On, on!

Three-day Hashfest!

After 3 days of Hash piracy last weekend, we've all just enjoyed another frenetic 3 days of Hashtivities. All of us, that is, except for Payback. Here he is (complete with alcohol drip) in his hospital bed:

The good news is that he is now back home after 5 days in quod and will be doing the Wednesday run!

Saturday night found us at another Hash Christmas party at Haughty and Culture's. The Pacific Rim theme was treated fairly liberally:

Strine took out the award for the best costume, though there were some hot contenders:

The stayers finished up with a big breakfast on the deck:

This event was followed up by Leave Pass's run on Sunday. Who'd think the walkers could get lost in Upper Kedron? And Leave Pass's Rogans were all beautifully Joshed. As Le W*nk would say, "Many tanks, bro!"

And then Monday saw a goodly contingent taking part in the Red Dress Run, though some were put off by the threat of storms and tempests. Here's the group, minus Superhacker (it was hard to drag her away from the bar for the photo):

And here is the absentee. Hopalong sported some stylish headgear:

Gastrick frocked up in a cute little number for his first Red Dress event:

And Amazing was asked to prove that she was at least 18 when some of the walkers turned off trail for a pit stop at the Casino:


Next run details
When: Sunday 14th December, 5 pm
Where: Rotary Park, corner Graham Road and Gympie Road, Aspley. A map! (Note: you may find parking spaces at the neighbouring sports club)
Hares: Jamesbondage and Redbreast

On, on!

Pirates of the Tweed

Arrr, me hearties! And avast, ye scurvy swabs! As the Water Rat* says:

"there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats....Nothing seems really to matter, that's the charm of it....you're always busy, and you never do anything in particular...."

And we did have a very pleasant weekend messing about in boats and doing nothing in particular. We really have to thank Strine for taking on the major task of organising the boats and ourselves - she did a magnificent job. Thanks also to all the cooks, galley hands, cocktail bartenders and swabbers of the decks - we certainly ate and drank well!

Here are a few stills from the forthcoming motion picture production Pirates of the Tweed.

Misty dawn on the river:

Perfect weather in Tumbulgum:

One that didn't get away (another one got away with Payback's rod and reel as well):

Pirate Hugandkiss celebrates drenching the defenders of the Blue Bayou during a successful pirate raid:

Hash walk in Condong - surprise, surprise! - the trail took in the bar at the Condong Bowls Club:

Men and women overboard:

An interesting inlet. Is that a sandbar ahead, Leave Pass?

More pirate raiders:

Pirates with parrots:

Sunset and Mt Warning:

Look out for more to come, including the movie....

And here are a few shots from our highly educational study tour the week before (thanks to Shockjock for these):

The trail:

On the trail:

The group we started with:

Some serious drinkers:

And some stayers at the end of the evening:

Over the next few days we have a real Hashfest coming up!

• Hash Christmas on Saturday from 5 pm at Haughty and Culture's! The theme: "The Pacific Rim". And please remember a unisex Secret Santa gift to the value of $10! Sleepover facilities available.
• A "normal" Sunday run at Leave Pass's
• The Red Dress run at the Plough Inn, Southbank on Monday - register by 6 pm for a 6:30 pm start. The $10 run fee goes to the Salvos.

And finally - don't forget Hugandkiss and Mile High's Jewellery and Accessories Expo this weekend as well! This could be the answer to your Christmas gift problem!

Next run details (Sunday run)

When: Sunday 7th December, 5 pm

Where: Leave Pass's palace in Upper Kedron

Hare: Leave Pass

*In Kenneth Graham's The Wind in the Willows, of course.

On, on!

Riverside Recovery Run

A number of us had been on Le W*nk's Craft Brewery Study Tour on Saturday, and were still feeling a bit delicate on Sunday (must have been something we ate.) A pleasant shady stroll along the South Pine and through the Bunya Crossing area helped clear out the alcohol fumes...and the runners were quite satisfied with a shortish trail.

Miss Demeanour had spent a hot afternoon slaving over a hot barbecue and the Aussie Burgers she served up to some 25 hungry hashers were quite delicious. Many thanks, hares!

And now - Avast, me hearties! The Hash takes to the water of the Tweed next weekend aboard the good ships Kalinda and Blue Bayou. It looks as though we'll be eating a lot, fishing and swimming and walking the plank and talking like pirates as we explore the ins and outs of the waterway. Arrr! - and we may splice the mainbrace now and then as well....

Next run details
When: Sunday 30th November
Where: The pirates will be on the Tweed. Superhacker and Hopalong will meet any landlubbers who are at a loose end at the UQ Tennis Club, Blair Drive, St Lucia at 5 pm.
Hares: Jolly Roger on the Tweed; Superhacker at St Lucia

On, on!

Historic temperatures; historic territory

Temperatures this last Sunday broke all records, so it was great to see how many brave souls turned up to explore some new territory in Chermside. Even Topless left the relatively cool and breezy peninsula to join us....And Eloise joined her in going topless.

Hardcore, Bigtop and Co. have introduced up to a range of unfamiliar routes in the past, and they did so again this week. This was an area with an interesting history. 7th Brigade Park formed only part of the Chermside Camp during WWII; the military camp also covered Marchant Park and some of the surrounding streets. In fact our trail on Sunday extended only a little way outside the old camp perimeter. Follow this link for some historic pictures and stories!

A halfway drink stop was much appreciated - and we have to apologise to our hares for the amount of shortcutting that went on. The heat must have affected our brains....Many thanks to Bigtop for a triffic meal - we loved it! (We must get the recipe.)

In the meantime, here's Charcoal's recipe for

German Meatloaf (Hackbraten auf spezielle Art)

Ingredients for 4 people

• 750 g mince,
• 2 stale  bread rolls, softened in water, squeezed out and crumbled – Charcoal usually uses about 4 slices of stale bread,
• 125 g of dried fruit e.g. apricots , apple rings or pears, soaked and cut up small,
• 2 tablespoons of chopped up parsley
• 1 onion chopped up fine
• 2 eggs
• Some salt and pepper
• You can add marjoram – Charcoal didn't for last week's Hash run

Preparation

• Mix everything together and put in a rectangular cake tin – Charcoal lines it with baking paper to make it easier to remove the meatloaf from the tin.
• Preheat the oven to about 220 degrees C and bake for an hour.  If Charcoal makes several, he rotates the tins about.

You can use the same recipe for rissoles, but it saves time making meatloaves.

Next run details
When: Sunday 23rd November, 5 pm
Where: Bunya Riverside Reserve, end of Dugandan Road, Bunya. A map!
Hares: Miss Demeanour, Shockjock and Co.

On, on!

Going the right way and taking care

A pleasant Clear Mountain run/walk this last Sunday. The runners tackled School Road the Right Way Round (i.e. downhill) and thereafter followed bike tracks for quite a way back up again. Haughty was missing, having fallen off a mountain bike the day before (honestly, you'd think that by his age he'd have learnt to either stay on bikes, or to stay off them altogether....) Bearing his example in mind, the runners negotiated the track very carefully - without mishap.

Afterwards we were spoiled with some old fashioned meat loaf and bread and butter pudding. Thanks, hares!

Remember the following upcoming events:

• 22nd November - Le W*nk's craft brewery experience
• 28th November to 1st December - piratical houseboat weekend on the Tweed. (A normal run/walk for the stayathomes.)
• 6th December - Hash Christmas
• 8th December - Red Dress Run

And this coming Sunday - a chance to try out one of the biggest playgrounds in Brisbane on a really hot day!

Next run details

When: Sunday 16th November, 5pm

Where: 7th Brigade Park, Chermside - near the big playground. A map!

Hares: Bigtop and Hardcore, assisted by Eloise.

On, on!

Chilling out in Dayboro

The cool change that came through on Sunday made for a very pleasant jaunt along the North Pine and over the hills and dales. The runners saw a black swan on one of the dams (it looked as though Dayboro had had more rain than most of SEQ) and the jacarandas were in spectacular full flower.

Back at the hares' we enjoyed a warming Thai prawn curry and a brilliant crumble as we replenished our precious bodily fluids - many thanks!

Next run details
When: Sunday 9th November, 5 pm
Where: Corner Buranda Road and Clear Mountain Road, Clear Mountain. A map!
Hares: Charcoal and Strine

On, on!

Hot! We're so hot!

It's definitely time to move to our summer start time of 5 pm - and we'll be doing that from this coming Sunday. Those who met for an M. Promptu and Potluck run in sweltering conditions on the last Sunday of October would certainly have appreciated a later start.

Bombay TV by Graphéine - graphiste paris

In fact one member was so eager to anticipate this move that she turned up an hour late. Usually it's Leave Pass who gets in a muddle, but this time it was Superhacker. She received a down, down reminder:

Potluck as usual supplied a magnificent feast.

Next run details
When: Sunday 2 November, at 5 pm - note, 5 pm
Where: Banger and Make an Offer's hilltop hacienda in Dayboro
Hares: Banger and Make an Offer

On, on!

Oktoberfest in West End

Who knew there were so many alpine tracks in West End? Our hares roped us up for a route that took us to the summit at Dornoch Terrace to enjoy some sweeping views over the city. And they found us plenty of minor peaks to ascend as well (mostly on false trails, of course.)

Back at the bierkeller the German beer flowed freely, supplemented by an authentically traditional meal of wurst, kraut and potato salad. Many thanks to Where's the Beef? and In Your Dreams!

It's time to move to a 5 pm starting time for the Sunday run. This will be on the 2nd November. Mark your diaries!

A preview of some upcoming events:

Oct 31, Nov 1: the 2014 Samford pantomime, featuring a number of Hash members. A very special person stars as the cow's backside!

Nov 22: Research/field trip to 3 beverage establishments in Newstead. Le W*nk is organising.

Nov 29 - Dec 1: Houseboat weekend on the Tweed River. Pirate theme.

Dec 6: Hash Christmas at Culture and Haughty's. Theme - The Pacific Rim.

Dec 6 - 7: Hugandkiss's Jewellery and Accessories Expo - Old Catholic Church, Samford.

Dec 8: Red Dress Run, Southbank.

Our next run is a M.Promptu/Potluck one in the village.

Next run details
When: Sunday 26th October, 4 pm
Where: John Scott Park, Samford Village
Hares: Toss O'Coin will set the run. Potluck will cater (please bring something to share.)

On, on!

Jacarandas, weddings, pitch and balls

2014 is not a good year for jacarandas in general, but the UQ ones are among the best around. Runners and walkers both trod the purple carpet near the uni lakes - where the walkers also took the opportunity to gatecrash a wedding or two.

The run/walk split occurred after the traditional Chariots of Fire circuit of the Great Court.


The walkers continued their exploration of the campus, including a visit to the world-famous Pitch Drop Experiment. You can watch a live feed here, but make sure you have your heart pills handy - you wouldn't want to be overcome by the excitement.

The runners ventured out of the halls of academe and into the wilds of St Lucia. They'd been warned to look out for swooping magpies and flying golf balls - Superhacker had sustained an injury from the latter in setting the run - but do you think they paid any attention?

Back home at the tennis club, our hares were loudly applauded for a couple of varied, interesting and well-marked trails. They followed up with a choice of seafood pie (for those allergic to lamb), fish pie (for those allergic to seafood) and shepherd's pie (for those allergic to fish.) 28 hungry hashers gobbled the lot, and then wished Superhacker a very happy birthday with the aid of an ice-cream cake and a bottle of Bailey's.

Some of our travelers returned from Fiji sporting Fijian hair-dos (or should that be hare-dos? This is Hash, after all....)

Next week our hares are laying on an Oktoberfest run in West End. I'm sure we're all looking forward to seeing Le W*nk's dirndl! It puts me in mind of our Beer Fest weekend last year in Tenterfield. Oh, all right - dirndls and lederhosen are not compulsory, but will be highly applauded. The most important thing to bring along is the desire to drink lots of beer.

And finally - by courtesy of Miss Fit (and her mother) - here is the recipe for the choc chip cookies we enjoyed at Bardon a few weeks back:

1 cup flour
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
1/2 tsp salt (only if using unsalted butter)
125 g butter softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups oats
1 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Sift together flour, soda and salt. Add beaten egg, sugars, butter, milk or water and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Fold in oats, choc pieces and nuts. Drop from a teaspoon onto greased baking tray and bake in moderate hot oven 12 - 15 minutes. Cool and enjoy.

Next run details
When: Sunday 19th October, 4 pm
Where: In Your Dreams and Where's the Beef?'s West End bierkeller.
Hares: In Your Dreams and Where's the Beef?

(If you need directions to this run, please email us.)

On, on!

Real men and unreal men

There was bacon and egg pie for the real men this Sunday - and quiche for the unreal ones. Numbers were smallish (14 humans and 3 dogs) for this long weekend/footyfinal run, but we polished off both dishes anyway.

This was our first meet at Tinchi Tamba, and it turned out to be a very scenic spot for a flaaaat run/walk beside the water. The tide was too high to spot wading birds from the hide, but we did see some biggish Macropus giganteus - oh, OK...grey kangaroos, then.

Sunset over the water of the Pine River:

And (courtesy of Superhacker) here's another sunset earlier this week over the water off Fiji:

The group of 7 hashers who have been over there are due back this week, and Superhacker is hosting a "Jacarandas of UQ" run/walk this coming Sunday. Some of us missed out on the jacaranda run last year because we were in Tuscany. But do you remember this exciting excursion around UQ earlier in 2013? Or this one?

Events are starting to pile up - as they do at this time of the year. The end of this month sees a number of us treading the boards again in the 2014 Samford pantomime:

Then some of us - me hearties - will be taking to the water for a piratical Hash houseboat weekend at the end of November. Hash Christmas follows on the 6th December. And then there's the Red Dress Run on December 8th....

Mark your diaries, everyone!

Next run details

When: Sunday 12th October, 4 pm

Where: University of Queensland Tennis Club, Blair Drive, St Lucia. A map!

Hares: Superhacker and Hopalong

On, on!

South Pine saunter

It was a very pleasant afternoon for a gentle stroll around parts of the South Pine valley. The stream itself looked pretty, with sunbeams slanting down through the trees onto the mossy boulders and quiet pools, and the surrounding hills looked...well, rather scenic.

Mile High and Le W*nk rejoined the running pack after spending several weeks among the walking wounded. Welcome back, guys!

Breaking news is that Floater has finally submitted all her assignments. So she's about to start a life of marking other people's assignments now....

We'll be a bit further down the Pine River this coming Sunday and our hares suggest that we take our fishing gear. Let's hope that they supply some backup tucker as well. I suspect we may kill more mosquitoes than fish.

Which reminds me of the American who went on a fishing holiday in Ireland. After 2 weeks his haul was one trout. "I reckon," he said, holding it up, "that if you counted what I've paid out for fares and accommodation, this fish has cost me $10 000." "Well," said Paddy, his fishing guide,"it's lucky you only caught one, isn't it?"

Next run details
When: Sunday 5th October, 4 pm
Where: Tinchi Tamba Reserve, Bald Hills. A map!
Hares: Cash Converta and Payback.

Please bring a


On, on!

Bunyaville bushland bash

There are many fine trails through Bunyaville and this week's route took us along some of the best. It included part of the Bunyaville Parkrun although we certainly did not match the times many people achieve on a Saturday morning! At the end of a very pleasant and well-planned excursion our hares managed to bring runners and walkers home simultaneously, all except for...well, never mind. You know who I mean.

Then it was back to the hares' place for pickled pork and trimmings - very nice too! And for those who'd like to follow up some of the classy conversation in the circle, the word to search on is "vajazzle"....

Next run details
When: Sunday 28th September, 4 pm
Where: Undambi Rotary Reserve - corner Mt O'Reilly Road and Greggs Road, Samford Valley. A map!
Hares: Culture and Haughty

On, on!

Kicking back along Kedron Brook

It was a lovely afternoon for a relaxed perambulation along the banks of the Brook. Amazing took care of the walkers while Le W*nk led the runners upstream, pausing for a sprint leg at the Arana Hills oval (this is one section where he didn't lead - the reverse, rather.) We'd better not say where we ended up for fear of prosecution - let's just hope that Le W*nk's membership of the Keperra Golf Club has not been suspended....

Back in Mitchelton our hares did their usual Amazing and W*nky things with the food, providing a range of outstanding dishes - with some pretty darn good tucker on them too.

We celebrated Cash Converta's birthday with champagne all round and the usual quaint ceremony.

Baby Eloise attracted a crowd of admirers:

And here's a clutch of long-lost photos which Mile High found on his camera. Don't they bring back memories?

Finally - it may seem a while off, but Christmas is just around the corner! Remember to mark the date of the 2014 Red Dress Run on your calendars. It's on December 8th at the Plough Inn, Southbank:

Next run details
When: Sunday 21st September, 4 pm
Where: Meet on Bunya Road, about 100 m west of Farm Road - as indicated on this map
Hares: Redbreast and Jamesbondage

On, on!