Sunshine North, again

I wasn't going to get out of the car but I needed to know what was inside this giant white box thing

Aghhh

Mystery solved - nothing of value was inside the box, just more garbage

There were lots of onions on the ground for some reason

I thought I spooked these crows but it was actually some random in a 4WD that drove up the valley escarpment and along the railway line while I just stood there and I didn't know whether to make eye contact or not so it was kind of awkward

That's a lot of oil

I only just realised this is where the onions came from

I stopped by Solomon Heights and my presence triggered an alarm on the solar-powered doover to the right which was irritating so I left. Interestingly there was very little in the way of hard rubbish so I think it's working

Thompson Street Reserve, Avondale Heights

Yet another post about visiting some place after going to LaManna on a Saturday. So predictable, I know. The view of River Valley Estate is nice, but the view from there is way better, sorry Avondale Heights

I tried to mentally picture a bridge across this valley from Duke St to wherever but I couldn't do it. It's too weird and I can see why proposals to connect each side of the valley never came to fruition

Not at the park - nice view though

Sunshine North and some extras

The power steering rack in my car finally decided to kick the bucket after almost 27 years so the last month has been really boring i.e. I'm either at home or at uni, doing/seeing nothing worth posting about.

Anyway $1400 later (ugh), everything is OK, now I can drive all the time and go anywhere I want - so of course I visited Sunshine North on my way back from LaManna today: 

How do you even do this to a fence

Don't know if you can tell but there's another part to the new barrier/gate thing which is completely obstructed by the main gate. Someone didn't think it through

Can you tell I was doing a three point turn at this point? Check out that reflection, the mechanic washed my car for me (something I haven't done in years)

This was once an independently-owned hardware store which basically went out of business as soon as Bunnings opened on Ballarat Rd. Weird building but also a bad photo

Now for random things - Footscray Market at 10 pm on a Thursday

Getting car back yesterday

Hoya on the balcony bloomed for a second time this summer - love these flowers, they don't look real, nice velvety texture too. Blurry monstera in the background is thriving as well though I don't know if the fruit on it is ripe or rotting

Factories in Airport West and Sunshine North

Can't stop visiting quarries

On Thursday I met with a local resident to interview them. We ended up going on a walk around the quarry and he pointed out weird little things (4WD tracks, car embedded in a riverbank, NYE party spot set-up by teens) and it was brilliantly informative. I don't know if that walk counts as an observation of the site but if it does, I have notes from which to write up an actual 'report' (key events were seeing the crossbow hunters and more people 4WDing, as well as cars acting as 'lookouts' for those driving in the quarry area).

Today's visit:

6:00 pm: There is a blue car parked at the dead-end. A couple are standing near the quarry together. They look quite young (almost too young to be driving) but someone could easily assume the same thing about me so I won't judge.

6:14 pm: They're still there, standing and hugging - they seem awkward but nothing too weird. They haven't wandered far beyond the mangled fence so I get the feeling they're a bit scared or reluctant to explore the site further. I don't think they're aware of how visible they are from RVE.

6:20 pm: A cyclist on a mountain bike emerges from the filled quarry, and rides out and down the path adjacent to the Maribyrnong River. I can definitely see the appeal in this activity, the landscape is right for it.

6:32 pm: The couple get back in their car and leave.

6:45 pm: A strange car appears - they've dimmed their headlights while descending down the hill before disappearing into RVE. They reappear for a minute and I can see the silhouettes of four (or potentially more) people crammed into the back seat of this dark blue sedan. They slow to a stop near my car and slowly do a three point turn before driving away again.

7:00 pm: I leave. Nothing else has happened. While driving uphill from the dead-end on my way out of RVE, I notice a red sedan (late 90s model, very blocky) with super-tinted windows parked in the driveway of an undeveloped block of land. The passenger side window has been wound down slightly but I can't see the occupants. My 25 year old car struggles uphill right past the red car and almost on cue, I see the brake lights come on before it reverses out and follows me through RVE. 

I got out of RVE without them following me but they sped up to follow me as I turned right into Surrey St. They turned into a side street soon after. Could be a coincidence? I don't know.

At the very least, my observations so far have given me a nice sample of the various things that go on at the quarry, from 4WDs to dirt bikes to bored teens and cyclists. I wonder if it would've been any different had I changed my methodology slightly (i.e. observing on foot rather than from a vehicle [probably unsafe though]) but I'm happy with the results thus far. I'm going to visit once more in the afternoon on Thursday and then stop by on Saturday and Monday morning, and maybe Sunday afternoon if I have the time. I'm actually kind of sad this is coming to an end because visiting the quarry so regularly has become a pretty major part of my routine. 

Spot the stolen car

Sunday at the quarry

I can't be bothered turning this into a narrative so I have just typed my notes verbatim. The visit was productive and I look forward to returning on a weekday afternoon to see what kind of things happen then. I have been ruminating over the lateness of my visit on Friday night and whether I should attempt anything like this again and I think probably not (even though I would really like to) just because of safety reasons (but that makes me feel like I'm missing out on a whole lot of weird things that would be interesting to observe so I don't know). Maybe I can compensate for the lack of nighttime observations with information provided to me by Sunshine police. So far the developers of RVE have ignored my attempts to contact them but I may physically attend their sales office in the coming week.

I think I forgot to mention this but I have been told by Brimbank CC that any information I want must be obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and therefore costs real money. I don't know if this is for real or just an excuse to get me to stop calling them. I'm going to the VU library again tomorrow to read through some final things and when I do, I'll wrote the biggest blog post ever about it, because I've discovered so many interesting things. I guess the challenge here lies in actually integrating these findings into my thesis rather than stating a series of facts but I guess the difference there is a critical analysis of the things I have discovered.

Anyway, the point of this post is the quarry, so here you go:

3:45 pm - I arrive at the quarry. There are 3 trail bikes on a small plateau about 150m from the dead-end street (where a blue Mazda is parked).

3:51 pm - A small white car arrives, and parks next to the other car. A couple exit the vehicle and walk around, crossing the mangled fence and walking about 10 metres into the quarry site. They mostly just looked around.

3:53 pm - A mother and her two small children walk over from Halong Drive and explore the fence line. The youngest picks up a plastic bag and takes it with him. The couple from the white car return to their vehicle and stand next to it talking. 

3:56 pm - The couple get into their car and leave. I wonder whether they're considering buying property in the area, or whether they were there for the quarry. 

3:57 pm - The mother and her two children walk back up the hill. Four young adults, who I didn't see before, walk out of the quarry hole towards the trail bikes and continue uphill towards SH, before changing course and walking out onto the first terraced ledge of the quarry (closest to the water). The quarry looks larger than usual with a group of people providing scale.

3:59 pm - Distant motorbike sounds (I can't see anything, though - probably coming from the other side of the river or dense shrubbery on the quarry side).

4:00 pm - A black Mercedes arrives. The driver of the vehicle slows down and gestures repeatedly to his passenger, pointing at the quarry. He drives away.

4:01 pm - More motorbike sounds. Two members of the quarry ledge group return to their bikes.

4:02 pm - A small black car with a half-open boot containing building materials arrives and proceeds to park perpendicular to the other cars at the dead-end. 

4:05 pm - A trail bike rider (perhaps relating to the above motorbike sounds) exits the quarry, driving over the mangled fence. They disappear down Halong Dr. The black car full of building materials leaves. I don't know whether these materials were new or used/going to be thrown away.

4:09 pm - Two sports cars arrive in a row, driven by a male and a female. An old man walks past my car. The two sports cars park next to the blue car noted above. A male exits one vehicle and proceeds to punch (jokingly or seriously?) the car tailing him. A young woman then gets out of her car, speaks with the male, and places her handbag in the boot. 

4:12 pm - The two drivers set off to explore the quarry on foot. They enter the site with some confidence, like they've been here before (as contrasted with the other couple, who seemed to exhibit some trepidation).

4:13 pm - Those on the quarry ledge walk back to their trail bikes, although a member of the group has been left behind. He sits alone while the couple wave at the rest of his group - they proceed to greet each other and begin socialising. 

4:15 pm - The now-larger group walk slightly downhill and are out of view. The couple follow those who have already been at the site for quite some time.

4:16 pm - The group now begin walking uphill to SH. 

4:17 pm - The group stop on a small slope; they look around and point out various things to each other (I wish I knew what). Most of them seem well-acquainted with the area.

4:18 pm - The group slowly descend.

4:20 pm - The group return to the trail bike plateau. The group member left on the ledge is still there, sitting motionless on a large piece of basalt.

4:21 pm - The group now return to the ledge. There is a motorbike noise to the north-east of the site. Ascertaining the true location of this noise is difficult given most sounds tend to echo throughout the valley.

4:23 pm - All group members are now on the ledge, but one individual decides to return to their car.

4:24 pm - A young male drives down the street (Rivervalley Boulevard) in a Burgundy sedan. He does a full loop of the roundabout and drives past me slowly, before pulling over to the left about 100 m up the hill. He proceeds to park in a driveway (for an unsold and empty block of land) directly in front of me. 

4:26 pm - Quarry lurker who returned to their car now back with the rest of their group.

4:27 pm - A silver car arrives, driving slowly and probably looking at property. It does not stop and leaves almost immediately (unsurprising - there isn't much to see if you're not into quarries). The people on the ledge are still there: someone is yelling and others are laughing. I can hear the motorbike again.

4:28 pm - This burgundy sedan is still parked in front of me. I can see the driver looking back towards me every now and then. I wonder what their deal is.

4:30 pm - A motorbike drives up Halong Dr, crosses the mangled fence (sorry - there's no better way to describe it, so get used to hearing 'mangled fence') and stops.

4:32 pm - The bike person proceeds to join the ledge group. There are now five people there.

4:33 pm - Another bike person appears! This seems to be a popular activity. Makes sense given the good weather (and lack of mud). They don't make contact with the group.

4:34 pm - Two men walk downhill from the more developed part of RVE. As they do so, they pass the burgundy car, which leaves almost immediately. The driver does not go past me (or the quarry) again, instead opting to drive straight to Duke St.

4:35 pm - The ledge group begin throwing stones into the quarry. Some guy in a white shirt is the main instigator of this as he picks up stones and begins hurling them into the water. Others start joining in as they begin walking south along the quarry ledge.

4:39 pm - The group are still throwing rocks. A few cockatoos are bothered by this and fly away from the quarry in a panic. 

4:41 pm - A young family walk along Halong Dr and briefly towards the quarry before changing direction and walking uphill.

4:42 pm - The group catch on to the idea that rock size = splash size. They start lifting heavier rocks and throwing them in, while two individuals decide to sit on the very edge and push loose stones with their feet (the thought of this makes me feel so uneasy). They're still laughing and yelling.

4:44 pm - They're still going. I would love to hang around and see if anyone eventually falls in or does something stupid but I have a birthday dinner to go to. So far they're having a great time which makes me wonder if they come here every weekend to do this kind of thing. I know I would if I had more spare time. It's kind of cool that they feel such ownership over the space that they just leave their motorbikes and related gear on their little plateau while they explore the area.

That was boring so I'll make up for it with photos:

This picture has no purpose I just thought the bird was cool 

Tyre marks on the roundabout

More

CCTV cameras installed somewhat recently

A crow and some new signage. A lot of the trash and some of the concrete pipes have been removed

Poor fence

Such a mangled fence (if you look closely you can only just see the shaded plateau thing where the motorbikes were) 

Relatively clean (the pile of crud is the concrete pipes)

Useless fence

New signs!(!!!!!) which were definitely not there last time I was here during the day 

More tyre marks (I'm going to assume 4WDs) plus you can see how far away the closest houses are (the last few times I visited, I've parked up near the house in the middle) 

What a nice day to be at the quarry

Cut paw paw

Reading a lot about quarries in Sunshine North:

• Unsurprisingly the council owned the land
• For some time the area was the "Parish of Cut Paw Paw"
• Footscray was called "Stoneopolis" by the "Melbourne Punch" circa 1850 
• 1870s - quarries in "Braybrook Shire" (I believe this is the area now known as Sunshine North but I'm not yet certain of this) supplied stone for "road metal" and railway ballast (I think road metal is just large pieces of gravel)

From this document:

• "Sometimes a single small reserve located in a residential or industrial landscape is a hint that a small quarry once existed on the site"
• Somewhat unrelated but the bluestone house between my house and the fish and chip shop had a basalt quarry behind it
• Again unrelated but I like the name of this company: "Footscray Enterprise Dandelion Wine and Aerated Water Manufactory"

I think I would also like to contact one of the authors of this report (or maybe both)

Additionally I found a document entitled "Brimbank City Council Post-contact Cultural Heritage Study". It notes the quarries are historically significant in the context of local economic development, and confirms that they're the last quarries left undeveloped. I'm not sure what to make of their suggested timeline ("Date 1920c" - "Prior to 1933, the land was used for farming" - "The first quarries were opened … probably shortly after World War Two". Boral got involved at some point during the 80s and then moved operations to the urban fringe (beginning of the end). Public oppositions to the quarries and operations taking place is noted as having occurred in the 70s and 80s (being able to interview someone who was involved in this would be really neat). Apparently the local community was also concerned about the environmental impact of quarry remediation given the general trend to turn them into tips. I wonder what the site would be like today if local residents gave in to the idea of a tip back then - it'd probably be a giant flat park (or some sunken houses) by now

Further to that, the River Valley estate was actually sold to private investors in 1994

This is also interesting

And also this: "…the land was previously used for quarrying, soil extraction and other industry and there is a need for a return on the investment in rehabilitating this degraded site."

Other misc. matters:

• Saw musk lorikeet family in the (elm?) tree outside the Royal Melbourne hospital
• Two masked lapwings standing in the middle of a puddle outside geometric bank HQ in Docklands
• Unintentionally eavesdropping on conversation outside said HQ: "At the end of the day I feel as though I excelled in my skill set. I've been corporate for 9 years"
• Kitten introduced two crickets into the house and promptly lost track of them both, then conjured a small beetle as a new friend and tapped it around for a little bit while the beetle made that odd sucking noise beetles make
• Thought something was a white rabbit or cat but it was a plastic bag
• Still having dreams (or nightmares) where I'm in close proximity to the spillway of a very large, deep dam and I can see the algae growing on the concrete. What does it mean

And some old Trove things I found related to the quarry (I would provide links or dates for the articles but it is well past midnight and I am lazy):

Good work on obviating that nuisance 

And other things

This was embedded in between ads and various articles. I think it's a joke

This is my favourite thing I have found so far

Lastly, things I should find and read/look at:

1. Gary Vines, Quarry and Stone, Melbourne's Living Museum of the West, 1993: 27
2. O. Ford and D. Parsons, Quarrying in Melbourne's West, Living Museum of the West, 1988. 
3. Sands & McDougall Melbourne Directories, 1930 - 1968. Australian Survey Corps, Topographic Survey, Melbourne Sheet SJ55 South (map) 1933.

I was going to include a drawing but my sense of scale is off which is a sign I need to sleep