Marree and Mundi Men
'Readymix' sign engraved into the Earth out by Caiguna?
One only had to be able to navigate by using a WAC. I suppose there is no one left in aviation who can use a WAC for navigation.
Getting back to the original question, I flew over this area a lot a few years ago, and it was virtually invisible when I tried looking for it.
I did end up on a ferry over the exact location with another pilot who knew exactly where it was and only some parts of the original "man" were only just visible. Its all but gone by now unfortunately.
I did end up on a ferry over the exact location with another pilot who knew exactly where it was and only some parts of the original "man" were only just visible. Its all but gone by now unfortunately.
Pinky, just west of Caiguna. North of the hwy I think.
Was in the Guinness book of records as the largest sign in the world.
Yep, visible on google maps. Satellite overlay, there's a diamond in the a few miles paddock nw of Caiguna
Was in the Guinness book of records as the largest sign in the world.
Yep, visible on google maps. Satellite overlay, there's a diamond in the a few miles paddock nw of Caiguna
Last edited by compressor stall; 25th Apr 2014 at 12:48. Reason: Found it on google maps
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I can remember the "Readymix" sign from 1969 and 1970, whilst flying back and forth over the Long Paddock in B707's.
The story behind the Readymix sign and the Readymix diamond logo, actually make a sizeable story. The full story is in the link below.
The diamond in the desert: the story of the giant Readymix logo on the Nullarbor. - Free Online Library
The Readymix company was contracted to carry out quarrying works for hard rock aggregate for ballasting for the Transcontinental Railway - and for the construction, re-alignment and sealing of the Eyre Hwy, from Norseman to the W.A./S.A. border - starting in July 1964.
Shortly after commencing work, the Readymix bosses decided to install a large, highly visible Readymix company logo (a diamond shape with "Readymix" wording in the centre) in the soil just North of the 225 mile marker, almost halfway between Norseman and the W.A. border.
As Readymix regularly used light aircraft for urgent parts supply, and for transport of senior executives who regularly visited work sites, the diamond section of the Readymix logo was claimed by Readymix to be intended primarily as a dual-direction unsealed airstrip for light aircraft.
However, it appears the graded logo area was never registered as an airstrip, nor does it appear it was ever used as such.
It's been suggested the primary aim of the name and logo was just for Readymix advertising purposes.
Readymix did construct several other airstrips along the Eyre Hwy, that were utilised as airstrips.
This logo and the Readymix wording was constructed over a weekend by Allan Hoare, a MRDWA grader driver. Allan peeled back the low vegetation and thin topsoil with the grader moldboard, to expose the bright white underlying limestone rock - thus creating a highly visible aerial landmark.
This work was done, typical of that era, without reference to, or approval of, any Govt authority.
By the late 1960's the logo and wording was becoming degraded as vegetation grew back. The Readymix name and logo was regraded at some time in the late 1960's or early 1970's.
Attempts to regrade the name and logo in the early 1980's, met with fierce opposition by the local Station (Ranch) lessee owner, Hugh MacLachlan - whose station manager, had initially allowed the regrading.
MacLachlan started to become angry about the damage to the Stations already-sparse, semi-desert vegetation by the logo and name - and perhaps some dry seasons brought the problem into sharp focus. 1980 was the driest year on record, since the huge drought of 1899-1902.
Then the Dept of Land and Surveys became involved and requested information from Readymix bosses as to who provided the authority to construct the name and logo.
It appears likely the "airstrip" story was concocted to try and smooth over a Dept that was angry about unauthorised work on land under its control (think BLM in the U.S.
)
The increase in "environmental responsibility" demands, and the fact that the Marree Man, the Mundi Man, and the Readymix logo were all constructed on land that is easily and rapidly degraded by vegetation removal (it's illegal to use or drive any tracked equipment in undisturbed natural vegetation areas, without Departmental authority in S.A. - and it has been, since the mid-1970's), means that none of these large visible features will ever be reworked again.
Anyone who tried to do so (illegally) today would most certainly go to jail when caught, and the full weight of a police investigation would fall upon them.
The constructions were all illegally carried out - but the enforcement of the laws of the day were much more lax than it is today, and the constructions were not regarded as being destructive, back then - as they are today.
The story behind the Readymix sign and the Readymix diamond logo, actually make a sizeable story. The full story is in the link below.
The diamond in the desert: the story of the giant Readymix logo on the Nullarbor. - Free Online Library
The Readymix company was contracted to carry out quarrying works for hard rock aggregate for ballasting for the Transcontinental Railway - and for the construction, re-alignment and sealing of the Eyre Hwy, from Norseman to the W.A./S.A. border - starting in July 1964.
Shortly after commencing work, the Readymix bosses decided to install a large, highly visible Readymix company logo (a diamond shape with "Readymix" wording in the centre) in the soil just North of the 225 mile marker, almost halfway between Norseman and the W.A. border.
As Readymix regularly used light aircraft for urgent parts supply, and for transport of senior executives who regularly visited work sites, the diamond section of the Readymix logo was claimed by Readymix to be intended primarily as a dual-direction unsealed airstrip for light aircraft.
However, it appears the graded logo area was never registered as an airstrip, nor does it appear it was ever used as such.
It's been suggested the primary aim of the name and logo was just for Readymix advertising purposes.
Readymix did construct several other airstrips along the Eyre Hwy, that were utilised as airstrips.
This logo and the Readymix wording was constructed over a weekend by Allan Hoare, a MRDWA grader driver. Allan peeled back the low vegetation and thin topsoil with the grader moldboard, to expose the bright white underlying limestone rock - thus creating a highly visible aerial landmark.
This work was done, typical of that era, without reference to, or approval of, any Govt authority.
By the late 1960's the logo and wording was becoming degraded as vegetation grew back. The Readymix name and logo was regraded at some time in the late 1960's or early 1970's.
Attempts to regrade the name and logo in the early 1980's, met with fierce opposition by the local Station (Ranch) lessee owner, Hugh MacLachlan - whose station manager, had initially allowed the regrading.
MacLachlan started to become angry about the damage to the Stations already-sparse, semi-desert vegetation by the logo and name - and perhaps some dry seasons brought the problem into sharp focus. 1980 was the driest year on record, since the huge drought of 1899-1902.
Then the Dept of Land and Surveys became involved and requested information from Readymix bosses as to who provided the authority to construct the name and logo.
It appears likely the "airstrip" story was concocted to try and smooth over a Dept that was angry about unauthorised work on land under its control (think BLM in the U.S.
)The increase in "environmental responsibility" demands, and the fact that the Marree Man, the Mundi Man, and the Readymix logo were all constructed on land that is easily and rapidly degraded by vegetation removal (it's illegal to use or drive any tracked equipment in undisturbed natural vegetation areas, without Departmental authority in S.A. - and it has been, since the mid-1970's), means that none of these large visible features will ever be reworked again.
Anyone who tried to do so (illegally) today would most certainly go to jail when caught, and the full weight of a police investigation would fall upon them.
The constructions were all illegally carried out - but the enforcement of the laws of the day were much more lax than it is today, and the constructions were not regarded as being destructive, back then - as they are today.
Last edited by onetrack; 25th Apr 2014 at 13:46. Reason: addendum ...
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Here's a 2006 SMH article about the Readymix logo ...
Giant Nullarbor logo zooms back into focus - web - Technology - smh.com.au
Giant Nullarbor logo zooms back into focus - web - Technology - smh.com.au
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this green bollocks is amazing.
if you get a hema map of australia and look on the transcontinental line between kalgoorlie and the border there are 15 little sidings marked.
people have come close to death driving the railway line access way to visit these small "towns".
none of them exist.
I think zanthus, rawlinna, loongana and forrest still exist.
forrest is the airfield at the old met station. loongana is a closed lime mine.
all the rest of the sites have been levelled, obliterated, rehabilitated by the greenies.
you know that if they were in australia, the images on the nazca plains would have been rehabilitated by the greenies. :-)
if you get a hema map of australia and look on the transcontinental line between kalgoorlie and the border there are 15 little sidings marked.
people have come close to death driving the railway line access way to visit these small "towns".
none of them exist.
I think zanthus, rawlinna, loongana and forrest still exist.
forrest is the airfield at the old met station. loongana is a closed lime mine.
all the rest of the sites have been levelled, obliterated, rehabilitated by the greenies.
you know that if they were in australia, the images on the nazca plains would have been rehabilitated by the greenies. :-)
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Dubbleyew - I'm no greenie, but one has to remember that most of Australia's vegetation has been irretrievably altered and damaged by white inhabitants over more than 200 yrs.
In the 1960's, it was W.A. Govt policy to ensure that more than a million acres of native vegetation was cleared every year.
I was part of that wholesale clearing rampage, and our family owned a whole lot of bulldozers. Yes, a lot of farmland was developed - but way too much was cleared and salt encroachment utterly ravaged vast swathes of the W.A. wheatbelt, because of excessive clearing, and poor understanding of the mechanics of the original environment.
Much of the semi-desert interior of Australia is particularly fragile, with annual average rainfall in the 200-250mm range. That "average" might mean, say, 5 or 8 lots of rain over 3 to 5 years, and huge gaps in between, of anywhere between 6 to 36 mths between those rains.
As a result, wiping out the sparse vegetation can often result in a rapid increase in erosion by wind - and then worse erosion by water when it does rain heavily.
I've seen sizeable native trees in the W.A. goldfields (8-10M high Blackbutts) hanging so close to survival, that sweeping up the fallen leaves around the base of the tree, has killed the tree. The leaf ground cover was all that was keeping the tree going, by preventing moisture loss from dew, and by preventing the suns heat from striking the soil directly.
I don't have a problem with efforts to preserve our sparse vegetation, and to plant more trees, and to protect what little vegetation we have left.
We have literally hundreds of thousands of trail bikers and 4WD-ers who are all happy to beat the crap out of the country with their multitude of spinning wheels and general carelessness when it comes to protecting the fragile environment of the interior - and they all whine about how everyone else is damaging and degrading the countryside - while they refuse to recognise the damage they cause themselves.
The "white invaders" really are the rabbits of the human world - and I look back now, with the beauty of 20-20 vision in hindsight and understand how we could have done things so much better in the '60's and '70's, with a whole lot more foresight and planning - and restrictions.
The greenies are our conscience against rampant, unfettered, money-hungry development - and without them, the whole of Australia would just be one huge, bare dustbowl, by now.
Yes, Govt red and green tape and associated BS, has gone overboard in some areas - but we do need restrictions and serious consideration of projected works and developments - otherwise the place would become unliveable.
(P.S. - If people did their proper research before setting out, they'd quickly learn it's an offence to drive along the Trans-line access road - except for the 375km section between Kalgoorlie and Rawlinna, which is where the Loongana Lime mine is located. You can use the access road in an emergency, but you'd better have a good story).
http://www.exploroz.com/Forum/Topic/...cess_road.aspx
In the 1960's, it was W.A. Govt policy to ensure that more than a million acres of native vegetation was cleared every year.
I was part of that wholesale clearing rampage, and our family owned a whole lot of bulldozers. Yes, a lot of farmland was developed - but way too much was cleared and salt encroachment utterly ravaged vast swathes of the W.A. wheatbelt, because of excessive clearing, and poor understanding of the mechanics of the original environment.
Much of the semi-desert interior of Australia is particularly fragile, with annual average rainfall in the 200-250mm range. That "average" might mean, say, 5 or 8 lots of rain over 3 to 5 years, and huge gaps in between, of anywhere between 6 to 36 mths between those rains.
As a result, wiping out the sparse vegetation can often result in a rapid increase in erosion by wind - and then worse erosion by water when it does rain heavily.
I've seen sizeable native trees in the W.A. goldfields (8-10M high Blackbutts) hanging so close to survival, that sweeping up the fallen leaves around the base of the tree, has killed the tree. The leaf ground cover was all that was keeping the tree going, by preventing moisture loss from dew, and by preventing the suns heat from striking the soil directly.
I don't have a problem with efforts to preserve our sparse vegetation, and to plant more trees, and to protect what little vegetation we have left.
We have literally hundreds of thousands of trail bikers and 4WD-ers who are all happy to beat the crap out of the country with their multitude of spinning wheels and general carelessness when it comes to protecting the fragile environment of the interior - and they all whine about how everyone else is damaging and degrading the countryside - while they refuse to recognise the damage they cause themselves.
The "white invaders" really are the rabbits of the human world - and I look back now, with the beauty of 20-20 vision in hindsight and understand how we could have done things so much better in the '60's and '70's, with a whole lot more foresight and planning - and restrictions.
The greenies are our conscience against rampant, unfettered, money-hungry development - and without them, the whole of Australia would just be one huge, bare dustbowl, by now.
Yes, Govt red and green tape and associated BS, has gone overboard in some areas - but we do need restrictions and serious consideration of projected works and developments - otherwise the place would become unliveable.
(P.S. - If people did their proper research before setting out, they'd quickly learn it's an offence to drive along the Trans-line access road - except for the 375km section between Kalgoorlie and Rawlinna, which is where the Loongana Lime mine is located. You can use the access road in an emergency, but you'd better have a good story).
http://www.exploroz.com/Forum/Topic/...cess_road.aspx
Last edited by onetrack; 27th Apr 2014 at 14:54. Reason: addendum ..
