Grey

Sometimes you get really lucky

on Monday afternoon, Mousie and I went down to the Christies' Creek Tunnel to take some shots of him. I'm told i'm not allowed to see how they came out, because his skin 'looks wrecked'... what a girl.
Anyway, we approached the tunnel, which to all the non-locals is an enormous corrugated iron drain that runs under the trainline so the creek can overflow if need be over the concrete floor and continue its course to the sea (haha yeah right, the Christies Creek overflow, ha ha ha). It's stupidly huge for a drain and could easily accomodate a whole other trainline or something thru it. Over the years its acquired a whole heap of graffiti from gangs and crews that came and went, and the sound you get simply from talking by the entrance is really quite something; I've always wanted to film down there just to capture the nice echoey sound.
So yeah, Mousie and I were walking to the eastern entrance when we heard a weird sound, Mousie froze and asked "what the fuck was that?"
I peered far down to the western end and could just see that rocks were being thrown from the otherside of the trainline high above and into the entrance and water, creating a rather impressive sound effect. Some of the rocks were huge and made pretty cool noises as they either richoted off the walls and floor, or 'splooshed' into the pool of smelly Christies water.
From the voices and laughter that travelled down the tunnel surprisingly clearly to us I gathered it was just a bunch of teenagers killing time after school. Later on when one came down to retrieve some rocks and reload, the backpack and navy uniformish attire confirmed my guess.
I told Mousie what was happening. He looked warily down the tunnel and said "I hope they dont come down here..."
I stroked his sculpted hair and cooed "Don't worry Princess, I'll protect you."
So anyway we started the shoot in the fading light, I didnt like the camera Mousie asked me to use and we were soon caught up in the 'ins and outs' of a shoot, when a man came walking down the same path we had come from. Just a guy taking a walk.
He started down the tunnel and I took advantage of having a silhouette of someone in the distance behind Mousie and we were snapping happily away as the man continued his afternoon walk.
Soon we heard an almighty boom as a shower of rocks - one or two twice the size of housebricks, and others a size that I found myself momentarily wondering how on earth those kids managed to launch them - hailed down what Mousie and I estimated at about a metre in front of the man walking down the tunnel.
His head could have easily been crushed... Like a cockle shell under a hammer.

These kids were no longer killing time. They could have killed a whole lot more.
The man just stood and stared at the ammo that had fallen short of crushing his skull for a moment, most probably realising how close he'd been to being killed. He glanced back up the tunnel at us. We were just standing and staring, I took a few shots and said quietly "Uh, yeah, I wouldn't keep walking that way mate" and only thought afterward that he probly could have heard me thanks to the tunnel's phonomenal sound effects. I felt slightly guilty that when he passed us I didnt warn him about what was happening down there.
A kid came down and there was a small exchange between him and the man, Mousie and I were talking to each other so I didnt hear what was being said, but we kept watching them expecting some sort of altercation to take place.
I got the camera ready, realising the position Mousie and I were now in.
Thankfully - and for some reason, rather disappointedly - I watched the kid let the man pass and he continued on his walk up the western path, although now I guessed he had something to ponder while he walked, if he hadnt already.
Mousie and I finished off what we could in the now rather pathetic light, and left the tunnel gratefully.
I think all of us left the place with the event on our mind.
Makes you think, dont it?

2:06 pm | Post A Comment... >

homepage | back to top | ...