The Escapades of Bushranger Rob Murray, Alias XXXX. Run No. 2379
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Our resident Bushranger is held in high esteem by many in the SH3 due to his flagrant disregard for hash rules, inept government authorities, puffed up societal protocol, and for being ‘anti-most-things-that-bug-us’. He likes to short cut and also l o o o o o n g cut many of the hash runs, and delights in embarrassing government agencies which are unable to deliver. But most of all he loves the romanticism of anarchy over authority. A bushranger of true individualism. Ned Kelly, please take a posthumous bow to our very own XXXX, alias Rob Murray or might that even be Rob Barrie. Clearly those who prefer to live on the fringe of the law (or at least its confines) have several identities. And why not? That’s what our hash handles are for …n’est pas? .
So …..on one of his early recce’s for our run in Mr Rob Murray, alias Rob Barrie, aka XXXX and his Mrs, “Our Lady Hill o’ Grace” did what the SES and Police failed to do for 9 weeks, .. since early November 2012 in fact…and that is stumble onto and identify one “Missing Persons” schoolboy leaver who had gone for bush walk and not returned home. Authorities had given him up for dead. But he had survived by drinking water from the creek for 60 days. And there he was, just a mere 1 km or so from home.
As they say “it takes a crook to catch a crook”, so perhaps it takes someone of like mind to have found this missing lad. Mind you after all that time he had shed all his body fat and undoubtedly only had a matter of two or three days left before the final curtain. All credit to “Mr Murray” (a name to ward off the prying eyes and in-yer-face press) and his Bushranger knowledge and capabilities. As a result we now have another celeb within our midst. Not that our emaciated schoolboy was particularly grateful. In fact he denied his name and didn’t want to be “rescued”, but XXXX wasn’t having any of that. No dead bodies to haunt our run!
Now the run was encrypted …..“Fire! A baptism under fire at a bridge too far”
With an offer of a smart bottle of collector’s fine vintage wine as a prize to anyone who could crack the Gollum like riddle, off we set into what was virgin territory for most of us, although XXXX ‘fessed up that much of his run was used about 25 or 26 years ago. Mmmhhh !…..I can think of not just few members who haven’t been around that long, so it would be virgin territory for them, for sure.
XXXX also refuses to have a co-hare (from the SH3) but invariably delivers a top run. Last night was no exception. It was steeped in runs of yesteryear. You know…the old gut and wrench stuff. It was well marked through untamed bush, down steep slippery hills, across waist deep creeks with safety ropes, (yes the whole idea was to get our feet wet) through narrow crevices that even XXXX’s body would have trouble squeezing through, fighting off man eating leaches, ropes to haul up the elderly over rock outcrops and so much more adventure. Real “Boys Own” stuff for the ageing and aged deniers. .
Even the ubiquitous CWA gossip group (you know ….the likes of Poly, Khyber, Captn’ Bligh and so on) were too spread out, and panting too hard to hold their weekly tongue wag meeting. But, Hey!…. that’s what they were there for, right?. Anyway we crossed the valley and up to an electricity pylon where Music misread a double arrow facing outwards and onwards for the trail and called a ‘check-back’. Actually this gave the pack a moment to catch up under the gentle radiation of the overhead cables, but it’s clearly back to primary school for Music Man …..for elementary reading lessons.
And then we found ourselves on a series of what geologists might have called ‘batholiths’ had they been granite or any another igneous material…but this is Sydney and the rocks were sandstone.
But ‘Grand’ they were ‘wiv t’riffik’ views all around, and as it turned out they were a central part of Gollum’s cryptic riddle. See below.
Then more downhill (mostly on our bums) and across more creeks. Actually it was the same creek but further upstream. And that’s when daylight-time, trail-cunning and hashmen-energy all collided. Or was that colluded?. XXXX had surpassed himself. A whopping great big loop for the runners and a sneaky trail for the walkers were sabotaged by his over-intellectualized trail marking, which up until then had been exemplary. Markings for both trails were about as absent as the missing schoolboy, had been for 9 weeks. Hope faded with the light. But not so for the diehards of the pack…like Scotsman, Cinders, Music and Super all of whom were intent on eking out everything that XXXX had planned for them.
Most of the pack however, with whispered influence from our TM, followed a steep well formed track from over a timber bridge up the hill towards home. Scud kept referring to this bridge as the “Bridge Too Far” with high hopes of walking away with a bottle of Hermitage Grange or its equivalent.
“Winch” was written on the path at the top of the hill depicting where “our missing person” had been air lifted by a chopper after failing to convince a policewoman that he would like to stay in his cave but have a Domino’s Pizza delivered to him.
And as the dark descended, most of the pack trotted or limped in for a good pull at the bucket. Not so Swampy and Hanoi Bill who were both shanghaied in the valley below and returned well after dark ‘sans’ torches but led back to the On-On BBQ’s and tables by the smell of steak and salads in their flared nostrils.
Another excellent summer run with XXXX’s well earned reputation held in high regard. And added to this is his name of fame for saving a young man’s life in the process. Our thanks should go to both XXXX and Margaret for all their excellent efforts.
Gollum’s Cryptic Clues
For those with short memories and/or limited cognizant capabilities the answers to Gollum’s cryptic riddle are as follows: –
Fire! The rock platforms are called ‘Refuge Rock’ and were named for their use by firefighters in a bushfire.
A Baptism is the pool at the second crossing of Berowra Creek called ‘The Dipping Hole’ as legend has it was used for baptisms early in the life of the colony.
Under Fire is for the holes on Refuge Rock which was used as a target by soldiers using mortars in the WW II training ground at Cherrybrook.
A Bridge was the Rock Arch which was marked with a view and is called London Bridge.
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