Old Car Bridge
The car bridge takes the driveway over the water race down to the hay barn, the Hazelnut Orchard, and the back paddock where the sheep graze. This is the original bridge.
Fern by the Car Bridge
After a while it started sinking noticeably at one end, and eventually had to be rebuilt. Car Bridge had to be able to support not only cars, but heavy machinery like the hedge-trimmer and trucks.
the car bridge in 1999
Every time Non-Gardening Partner drove his tractor over it he was reminded of the sagging beams underneath. There was much muttering about installing a concrete pipe underneath. And eventually contractors did get called in to build a safe and strong new bridge.
No Planting Planned
For a long time there were no plantings planned near the bridge at this end of the water race. We inherited rough grass and masses of farm rubbish. And when a row of large Eucalyptus trees were removed in the winter of 1999, their stumps were left in the ground to eventually rot. But of course I soon started developing garden areas. The grass area close to the bridge has now been developed. Trees (mainly Oaks) have been planted among the existing stumps, and new gardens created around them. The whole area is called the Willow Tree Garden, and there are some now been cleared and is a foliage and flowers garden, full of rhododendrons, roses, flaxes, and Pittosporums.
the old wooden gate
Rustic old gate
When we first came to live at Mooseys, all the cats would happily cross the car bridge except little Mugsy. She rarely left the immediate house gardens, and was scared by the sound of running water. The others didn't seem to notice that this was a bridge at all.
A Sheep Bridge
Our small flock of merino sheep would cross this bridge once or twice a month, on their terribly exciting (for sheep) journey from the back paddock to the front paddock and vice versa. They'd always keep to the rough driveway and never ever deviated to check out the grass or the gardens. I guess that the exciting new paddock was etched in their sheep memories.
Oddly the old farm gate pictured here is still stashed by the new Car Bridge. It's a useful barrier, just in case the current merinos are tempted to stray when to-ing or fro-ing.