Rock On !

The jackhammer, the bobcat, the digger, the sweat, the heat, the work!!!

All to get these enormous rocks out of the bloody big hole in the backyard.
The job's done .... and look at the culprits. HUGE!

Three rocks were finally extracted. James and Ben plan to use them in the mini project they've slated after the house is finished.

Have I mentioned it before? A traditional BBQ and wood fired oven.

The rocks will be used for the support walls for the structure. James has also salvaged a number of other rocks from the hole and is planning a couple of dry stone walls as features in the garden.

As for the hole, a concrete retaining will will be built inside to support the tank.... then the decking will go over the top.

The Rocks Win!

Poor Ben
He's been jack hammering bedrock in 42 degrees!
OK OK.
Enough already!
Rocks, you win!!!

Because we can't get the hole as deep as we'd like, the compromise is a 10,000 litre water tank, instead of the 15,000 litre tank we'd been planning.

And the cool change is through - dropping 12 degrees in an hour.

in less than an hour.

But that's Melbourne.
Phew!

Beer anyone??

Ahhhhh ....

that's better.

A Bloody Big Hole

There's a bloody big hole in our backyard

It looks like a meteorite hit the earth and landed right beside our house.
It's HUGE!

Ben's dug the hole for the dirty, great big water tank we're installing under our deck.

But remember all the rock when we first excavated .... those rocks look like pebbles now ... compared to this Mother!
There are a couple of huge boulders that Ben has to dig out.
They're massive! He's managed to split this one into three pieces. It's taken him days.
And there's another humongous rock facing him on Monday morning.
Good luck with that.

We've got another two mini skips outside our house for the rocks and soil.

Hitting Rock Bottom

Ben has been keeping a private stash on the front verandah.

A little collection that he's put aside for the future.

He showed it to James this week ... and revealed all.

Our block sits on top of an old volcanic flow, so you can imagine how rocky the ground is.  

Ben's stuck plenty of rock during the excavation. He's saved some of the best bits from the top of the reef. 

And the plan?

We'll use the rocks at the base of the fireplace in the living room, as if the fireplace is coming out of the ground.  The basalt will come up beautifully once it's scrubbed clean.  A real natural look ...