Happy Valley Enigma?

For some reason, I was born a fossicker and have always enjoyed a good old trip to the garbage dump over a trip to the beach. My favourite dump (or landfill) is sadly no longer with us (Grrr) however, I am growing rather fond of the Southern Landfill or what is more locally known as 'Happy Valley Dump'.

Happy Valley residents seem to be made up of an odd mixture of student surfers, show horse breeders, bagel bakers and Limousine drivers all somehow managing to thrive around the glaringly obvious giant landfill.
None more so than the person(s) responsible for what I like to refer to as "The Happy Valley Enigma". At the base of the road leading to the Landfill it sits, a proud but lonely (I've never seen anyone there), sprawling behemoth of giant turbine propeller blades, enormous cogs and delicately balanced boulders, lovingly (and backbreaking) placed one upon another. You will either (as I did) automatically fall in love with the energy exuding from the place or turn away in horror, a gasp as one hideous eyesore after another reveals itself.


Every time we go to the dump (and theses days any excuse will do), I have Sue make a special effort to pull over and wait in the car (what a girl to patiently wait outside a dump by herself!) while I venture around this beautiful giant installation, getting bolder and keener to explore more with every visit.
Let me tell you what a richly random yet intentional assortment of items on display once your eyes move past the giant construction galleries and you begin to pick out the smaller things in the surroundings. I've seen the beginnings of an underground tunnel covered in saw blades, a shed filled with a mountain of old rusty spanners on one side and a spooky tree growing out from the middle covered in forgotten hanging portraits on the other. (I'll get the photographs to prove this).

And Oh yeah I almost forgot. A dead body...

... Well to be precise, maybe a torso...maybe, and there's quite a lot of creepy bird taxidermy on display nailed to an adjoining wall.

It is my resolve then to find out who is responsible for this labour of twisted love (and possible murder or grave robbery). And to try and talk Sue into driving me out there at night (while not freaking out and driving off without me), when there's a bit more of an atmosphere to capture for some photographs. I don't rate my chances very high as Sue refuses to have anymore to do with my favourite little haunt after I showed her the Torso Pic and bird taxidermy (closer picture. Any guesses what it might be if not a torso?).

By Erueti Brown with 1 comment