Wetland wayfaring

What a great job the BCC does in controlling mosquitoes! After recent rain, you might have thought the mossies would have sucked us dry as we traversed the Deagon wetlands and circled the Third Lagoon - but there were none! And it's equally surprising how large an area of highly significant habitat can be found in the midst of the surrounding suburbs (a habitat, that is, for everything but mosquitoes....) Many thanks to our hares for taking us on a couple of well-marked, flat and scenic walking and running trails, at a time when the wetland is really living up to its name....

No-one had a camera out on trail, but here are a couple of reminders of the area, supplied by BCC and made available under a CC licence:

You'll find more reminders here, and here and here.

We gathered back at the park near the end of Greendale Place for our Covid-safe BYO drinks and eats, forming a pretty wide circle. It was good to welcome four vaccinated visitors, and we hope we didn't put them off too much with our behaviour.

Le W*nk's birthday was commemorated in the usual way with a down, down and some Covid-safe cupcakes. What better way to celebrate a Big Day than with a run, a drink, a feed, and some hash fellowship? Actually there probably are lots of better ways, but we're a bit too stupid to think of them....

Australia Day this week sees four wise and responsible Hash runners taking part in the Dayboro Beer Mile. There'll be more news on how it went next week. Looking further ahead, many of us will be away on a Hash weekend for the 6th February; and Superhacker's farewell follows on the 13th.

Next run/walk details

When: Sunday 30th January, 5 pm

Where: Serge Testa Place - corner Flinders Parade and Flinders Lane, Scarborough. A map!

Hares: Dingaling and Shannan

PLEASE BRING CHAIRS. Dogs will need to be on a leash for the majority of the trail.

On, on!

Slacko

Haughty had said that he would set a trail "if he got round to it." Did he? Ha! - slacko!

Luckily we all know the village well enough to find our way around. It was pretty darn warm, so both runners and walkers chose routes that gave them a bit of shade along the creek. And at least some of the walkers cooled their feet still further by electing to wade the South Pine under the new $2.4 million bike bridge (we'll christen it when it's finished in 2025 or so.)

We tried out the new shelters at John Scott Park for our BYO drinks and eats - and were both astonished and pleased to find that the lights came on as they were meant to.

At Banger's invitation a few wise and responsible souls put their hands up to join him at the Dayboro Beer Mile on Australia Day. You find the rules for this sort of event here, as well as information about the World Record we'll be aiming to beat. Just possibly there might be a RBT outside the gate?

The word from Hervey Bay is that Shaggy and Cadbury have not yet linked up with a local hash, but they have found somewhere to walk (and get their feet wet) on a Sunday afternoon:

We're off to Bracken Ridge next week for a real marked trail, since Eweshggr definitely will "get round to it". We'll be in a park again - please bring chairs, as well as your own drinks and eats!

Next run/walk details

When: Sunday 21st January, 5 pm.

Where: End of Greendale Place, Bracken Ridge. A map!

Hares: Eweshggr and Flaps Down

On, on!

Pushing through

A year ago it was as uncommon to know someone with Covid-19 as it is to know someone with a RAT today. With cases surging, we now all know someone who's tested positive - including a couple of Samford Hash regulars. Some of our members have taken note of the Chief Health Officer's advice on Sunday morning that anyone over 60 who hasn't had 3 doses should exercise care over social interactions and avoid crowds. And for this last Sunday's meet, Charcoal and Strine returned us to the sorts of Covid-safe procedures we were following 18 months ago in the early stages of the pandemic. Good on them!

The Clear Mountain forest was looking very green and lush following recent rain. Charcoal used maps to set the trail because there was a high risk that flour would have been washed away - and it was interesting to see from the contour lines that the ups and downs on the route really were as extreme as they looked on the ground. We were joined by Dingaling (formerly from Kalgoorlie HHH), who brought along her hash-virgin partner. The hills didn't seem to put them off....

Back at the hares' place, we enjoyed pasta and salad followed by cake! Very tasty! Strine explained the Covid-safe serving arrangements to a spread-out gathering:

...and we practised social distancing:

Sheer serendipity had led these 3 runners to wear the same shirt:

Many thanks to our Covid-safe hares!

We decided in the circle that we would take Health Department advice seriously over the next few weeks as the present wave is expected to peak. So we'll be meeting only outdoors - in parks - and returning to the BYO food and drinks arrangement we had earlier in the pandemic. Hares over the next few weeks will only be responsible for setting the trail, and not for providing nosh. And we'll kick off these arrangements next week with a home-ground John Scott Park meet.

Cash Converta and Culture attended the funeral of Tony "Boxer" Chew this last week. Boxer had a long hashing career in Malaysia before we met him, but Samford Hash was proud to name Saucy, his wife. Many of us remember the heaps of home-grown tropical fruit they used to give us when we hashed from their place. Vale and on, on Boxer!

Finally - a date claimer. Superhacker is returning to the UK and has scheduled a farewell party to follow the run/walk on 13th February. It'll be at the Farmers' Hall, so we'll be running/walking from John Scott Park on that day. Please prepare for an extended period of carousing on that night!

Next run/walk details

When: Sunday 16th January, 5 pm

Where: John Scott Park, Samford Village (we'll try out the new picnic shelters)

Hares: Haughty will set a trail (if he gets round to it). BYO food and drink for Covid-safe reasons.

Please bring a chair to assist with social distancing.

On, on!

The best to date

Le W*nk promised during the chalk-talk that this last Sunday's walk/run would be the best of the year so far. On the second of January, who could dispute that it was?

Our hares took us on a flat route that followed one of the unnamed tributaries of Albany Creek, and led us back through the burbs. Recent rain had done a bit of damage to the flour, but they had supplemented this with pasta (now there's an innovation!) which had stood up well....Here are some of Snappy's shots from the walk, showing that it was still a wee bit damp underfoot, and that the locals treat traffic-calming islands with contempt:

Some excellent sausages featured at the on, on - and there was a down, down for Haughty (for forgetting to bring the hash cash tin) and another for the hares (just because). Many thanks to Lax and Le W*nk for an excellent kick-off to the year!

At this time of year, we usually review notable events from the previous 12 months. This time we're looking back over another plague year, but one that wasn't plagued with quite as many lockdowns and restrictions on our meets. (They did affect us though in January, and again in July and August.) There was no overseas travel, but hashers like Shockjock and Miss Demeanour, Shaggy and Cadbury, Bigtop, Le W*nk and Lax - in common with many people around the world - did a lot of home renovation, and we enjoyed admiring the results. We were able to hold most of our usual celebrations this year - Ozday, Mothers' Day, Christmas in July, Fathers' Day, University Challenge, Halloween, and Hash Christmas, and were able to join in the Red Dress Run in November. Hash Femmes held a frocked-up outing in June. A couple of members tied the knot in November, and we celebrated a bunch of wedding anniversaries in April. Overall, we enjoyed some great weather last year; the most memorable meet from the meteorological point of view was B&W and Trudi Fruti's run in March. All in all - we kept busy...and we look forwards to a busy 2022 as well!

Next run/walk details

When: Sunday 9th January, 5 pm

Where: Corner Clear Mountain Road and Buranda Road, Clear Mountain. A map!

Hares: Charcoal and Strine

On, on!