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SydClan & UEGA expo - Page 3
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chrisyelroy wrote:
blakjak wrote:This Sunday is as good as any.
And, I don't care where, but MH certainly has more to see than La Pa, & it's more steeped in history too.
lol u serious???

What's do you mean?...the Sunday expo?
Because there are 4 bunkers at La Pa, & the longest one is probably only 60m long at most with 2 rooms either side of the corridor & a shell/powder magazine. The other was an underground command post (plotting room). The 3 at Cape Banks Battery were built in 1942, & the one at Henrys Head was built during WW1 & were reused during WW2. Not long after that they were abandoned & have had over 60 years to decay & be abused (burnt out, graff galore, crumbling masonry, etc).
The Middle Head bunkers, of which there are over 10 decent ones, date back to the 1800s, & they have been used during every war since then to train & house troops. They have many winding tunnels with offshoots, shell hoists, & other rooms. And they are far more accessible, & in better condition (less graff, no signs of major fire, original fittings still in place, etc) due to having remained in army hands till at least the mid 1990s.
You could spend days exploring MH & still not see everything yet you can explore every bunker in LP in a few hours.

If you think La Pa bunkers are good, you would sh1t if you saw North Head!
Blakjak of the Sydney branch of the Cave Clan.
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You can get in via the grill next to the manhole. Or the other grill further upstream in the army lands.
Blakjak of the Sydney branch of the Cave Clan.
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Nuggs wrote:I think the point Doug was trying to make, is that it may be seen as reckless popping a m/h during the day, and would draw much unwanted attention from the public.
I reckon if it was a relatively quiet street and there was only 1-3 people it would be alright, but then again, it depends on the location.
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Since the deaths in Fortress the locals have been told to keep an eye out for anybody entering the drain so you have to be careful.
Blakjak of the Sydney branch of the Cave Clan.
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blakjak wrote:Since the deaths in Fortress the locals have been told to keep an eye out for anybody entering the drain so you have to be careful.
Oh.
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Midget wrote:
blakjak wrote:Since the deaths in Fortress the locals have been told to keep an eye out for anybody entering the drain so you have to be careful.
Oh.
Yeah that happened to us last weekend when we were entering, and a women saw us. She just sat watching the grill while I was just chilling on a ladder. Luckily she got bored...
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blakjak wrote:
chrisyelroy wrote:
blakjak wrote:This Sunday is as good as any.
And, I don't care where, but MH certainly has more to see than La Pa, & it's more steeped in history too.
lol u serious???

What's do you mean?...the Sunday expo?
Because there are 4 bunkers at La Pa, & the longest one is probably only 60m long at most with 2 rooms either side of the corridor & a shell/powder magazine. The other was an underground command post (plotting room). The 3 at Cape Banks Battery were built in 1942, & the one at Henrys Head was built during WW1 & were reused during WW2. Not long after that they were abandoned & have had over 60 years to decay & be abused (burnt out, graff galore, crumbling masonry, etc).
The Middle Head bunkers, of which there are over 10 decent ones, date back to the 1800s, & they have been used during every war since then to train & house troops. They have many winding tunnels with offshoots, shell hoists, & other rooms. And they are far more accessible, & in better condition (less graff, no signs of major fire, original fittings still in place, etc) due to having remained in army hands till at least the mid 1990s.
You could spend days exploring MH & still not see everything yet you can explore every bunker in LP in a few hours.

If you think La Pa bunkers are good, you would sh1t if you saw North Head!
I've done North Head hahaha but still i disagree as there are a few La Pa bunkers that blow my mind. The graff is crap in all of them but nonetheless, some fantastic structures. Have you been to the bunker where you have to abseil 20m to get into? It's fairly close to the helipad but quite unknown. Some sections of it havent been tagged and there is a mining shaft that goes around 50m in a downslope underground. That structure alone is amazing, and i explained in another forum i drowned there...anyway, some sections of it is unexplored. Just before I drowned i saw another section on the other side of the submerged bit but haven't had the balls to go back and do it yet.


Also, I meant the La Pa area...this includes Malabar Bunker which is only .5 or 1km away from this :) which in my opinion are better than NH as it's fairly large, interesting, historic and recently someone busted the gate which leads to a freaky 40m tunnel filled with bats. Which. Is. Sikk

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no end? by chrisyelroy, on Flickr



Also if we have time we could do the old asylum/hospital there....I've found some freaky documents there and some cool stuff AND its about to be demolished :/

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Untitled by chrisyelroy, on Flickr

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mental notes! by chrisyelroy, on Flickr
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Scarecrow wrote:
Midget wrote:
blakjak wrote:Since the deaths in Fortress the locals have been told to keep an eye out for anybody entering the drain so you have to be careful.
Oh.
Yeah that happened to us last weekend when we were entering, and a women saw us. She just sat watching the grill while I was just chilling on a ladder. Luckily she got bored...
Yeah this is true but we can easily take more precautions next time or go a different route. Fortress is a sik easy drain. Good for an expo
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So any solid plans for this expo? :D
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chrisyelroy wrote:I've done North Head hahaha but still i disagree as there are a few La Pa bunkers that blow my mind. The graff is crap in all of them but nonetheless, some fantastic structures.
You could include the whole of La pa & Malabar & every other bunker in Sydney except North Head & they still wouldn't add up to what's on offer at Middle Head, but that is just my opinion.
chrisyelroy wrote:Have you been to the bunker where you have to abseil 20m to get into? It's fairly close to the helipad but quite unknown. Some sections of it havent been tagged and there is a mining shaft that goes around 50m in a downslope underground. That structure alone is amazing, and i explained in another forum i drowned there...anyway, some sections of it is unexplored. Just before I drowned i saw another section on the other side of the submerged bit but haven't had the balls to go back and do it yet.
Yeah no offense, but I used to smoke cones there in the mid 1980s, before the Cave Clan, urbex & all that stuff was even invented. Anyway, the original (CC) urbex discoverer (Predator) of that bunker named it 'The Squeeze' (in 1991), that is because originally you needed to squeeze through the doorway to get in. That is officially the No1 9.2 inch coastal defense gun emplacement of the (former) Banks Battery, built in 1942. It has some short underground sections, which include the pump room (first room on right of corridor), & the ammo magazine (Powder room, & shell store with rotting hoist). The other emplacement just south of there was the No2 gun (very similar in design except pump room is off to the left & there is a bend in the tunnel), was named Pistol Range by Predator, because of the nearby shooting facility (derr). The tower on the hill behind them was the Forward Observation Post (lower level), & main searchlight station (upper level), & engine room in basement. Behind them about 100m, is the (sort-of) extensive underground plotting room. The first-aid station was that semi-submerged room covered with bushes between the 2 gun emplacements, very near to the entry of the No2 gun emplacement's tunnel entry (Pistol Range).
This 'mine' you talk of was not a mine at all, it was actually the battery engine room, where there was once a diesel (former submarine) engine hooked up to a generator that provided electrical power (mainly) for the hydraulic pumps that ran all the guns & other machinery there. The main entry to this room was once that light blue/grey blockhouse you pass to get to the bunkers from the car-park, but that is now capped off & the bottom of the shaft has debris blocking the gate (I will post a pic later). The alternate entry (your so called 'mine'), in the tunnels of No1 gun, was a shaft cut at 45 degrees down through rock, & it is still accessible (if you can get in), but the lower room is almost always flooded. It is 22m below surface level, not 50m.
Till a year or 2 ago, you could get into this bunker via the main entry door, but this was backfilled (by bulldozer) & the only way in now is via that emergency shaft which is about 4m deep (not 20m), if the bars haven't been repaired by now. In fact, the whole bunker is only 14m below surface level at the deepest point (not including the engine room), & that is at the ammo room directly below the former gun emplacement.
Also, & you can take this as you like, but apparently that lower room was once used to store radioactive materials, & I only found that out after I went there about 20 times :|
You can read more about this place in a book called We Stood And waited. It was written by a soldier who served in Fortress Sydney during WW2.
chrisyelroy wrote:Also, I meant the La Pa area...this includes Malabar Bunker which is only .5 or 1km away from this :) which in my opinion are better than NH as it's fairly large, interesting, historic and recently someone busted the gate which leads to a freaky 40m tunnel filled with bats. Which. Is. Sikk
They are not 500m or 1km away, the bunkers at La Pa & the ones at Malabar are about 3kms apart in a straight line. But as you know, in all reality you have to drive for 5kms & walk for another 2kms to get from 1 to the other (if you know any other practical way please let me know). Not withstanding that, Malabar & La Perouse are different suburbs.
We have our yearly awards night at Malabar bunkers, and again, in my opinion they are very nice bunkers & I rate them highly, but you are not seriously trying to compare them with North Head? One has a 100m long burnt out tunnel full of dirt & graff (Malabar) & bats, the other has a 600m long pristine tunnel like it was during WW2 with a natural stream running through it. One has rusted & burnt out metal everywhere & no original fittings, the other has all it's original fittings & working shell hoists. The plotting room at La Pa is practically demolished, the one at NH is like it was the day it was abandoned in the 1960s. I could go on & on, but I think we are talking about 2 different North Heads.
chrisyelroy wrote:Also if we have time we could do the old asylum/hospital there....I've found some freaky documents there and some cool stuff AND its about to be demolished :/
Yep, they left plenty of personal papers there, very careless of them, but then again most of the subjects are long dead by now.

Bro, you need a new tape measure or something, all your measurements are way out. I can just imagine what you tell the girls about your d1ck size. :)
Blakjak of the Sydney branch of the Cave Clan.
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Holy crap, you know so much. :shock:
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Midget wrote:Holy crap, you know so much. :shock:
Haha smart arse lol.

Yeah, I do rave on about bunkers a bit, but that is because I love them so much. Earlier on in my urbex career you could find me wading through 4 foot deep canals, battling ocean waves to enter drains, & jumping fences to explore train tunnels (see Panic's website). However, these days you would more than likely find me chilling at a bunker or in an abandoned train tunnel somewhere. Stooping through 4 foot tall drains is not my thing any more, although I do like history, & sneakiness.
I have made it my job to explore & document every bunker in Sydney, & most of the other ones on the eastern coast of Australia (Fort Bribie, Townsville, Jervis Bay).
Luckily, being a member of the Cave Clan, I've managed to explore most of them, including the infamous Bankstown Bunker, North, South, & Middle Heads, Signal Hill, Shark Point, Bradleys Head, La Pa, Malabar, Wollongong (Hill60, WIN, etc). & the bunkers at Camden airport, amongst a few others.

The Tiger Cages & the 1877 bunker/tunnels at Middles head are probably my faves, although the North Head Fortress runs a very close second. Bankstown Bunker is overrated.
Blakjak of the Sydney branch of the Cave Clan.
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Wow, I wouldn't want to come across ocean waves any time in relation to draining. :lol: I'm really paranoid of deep water or places near the ocean. You've been in so many bunkers. :shock: I'm surprised you got into the Bankstown Bunker. You should publish a book on the history of bunkers in Australia. :D
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Midget wrote:Wow, I wouldn't want to come across ocean waves any time in relation to draining. :lol: I'm really paranoid of deep water or places near the ocean. You've been in so many bunkers. :shock: I'm surprised you got into the Bankstown Bunker. You should publish a book on the history of bunkers in Australia. :D
lol There's already a pretty good book. And books are dead these days, this website is pretty good...
http://www.ozatwar.com/locations/coastalguns.htm
Blakjak of the Sydney branch of the Cave Clan.
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blakjak wrote:
chrisyelroy wrote:I've done North Head hahaha but still i disagree as there are a few La Pa bunkers that blow my mind. The graff is crap in all of them but nonetheless, some fantastic structures.
You could include the whole of La pa & Malabar & every other bunker in Sydney except North Head & they still wouldn't add up to what's on offer at Middle Head, but that is just my opinion.
chrisyelroy wrote:Have you been to the bunker where you have to abseil 20m to get into? It's fairly close to the helipad but quite unknown. Some sections of it havent been tagged and there is a mining shaft that goes around 50m in a downslope underground. That structure alone is amazing, and i explained in another forum i drowned there...anyway, some sections of it is unexplored. Just before I drowned i saw another section on the other side of the submerged bit but haven't had the balls to go back and do it yet.
Yeah no offense, but I used to smoke cones there in the mid 1980s, before the Cave Clan, urbex & all that stuff was even invented. Anyway, the original (CC) urbex discoverer (Predator) of that bunker named it 'The Squeeze' (in 1991), that is because originally you needed to squeeze through the doorway to get in. That is officially the No1 9.2 inch coastal defense gun emplacement of the (former) Banks Battery, built in 1942. It has some short underground sections, which include the pump room (first room on right of corridor), & the ammo magazine (Powder room, & shell store with rotting hoist). The other emplacement just south of there was the No2 gun (very similar in design except pump room is off to the left & there is a bend in the tunnel), was named Pistol Range by Predator, because of the nearby shooting facility (derr). The tower on the hill behind them was the Forward Observation Post (lower level), & main searchlight station (upper level), & engine room in basement. Behind them about 100m, is the (sort-of) extensive underground plotting room. The first-aid station was that semi-submerged room covered with bushes between the 2 gun emplacements, very near to the entry of the No2 gun emplacement's tunnel entry (Pistol Range).
This 'mine' you talk of was not a mine at all, it was actually the battery engine room, where there was once a diesel (former submarine) engine hooked up to a generator that provided electrical power (mainly) for the hydraulic pumps that ran all the guns & other machinery there. The main entry to this room was once that light blue/grey blockhouse you pass to get to the bunkers from the car-park, but that is now capped off & the bottom of the shaft has debris blocking the gate (I will post a pic later). The alternate entry (your so called 'mine'), in the tunnels of No1 gun, was a shaft cut at 45 degrees down through rock, & it is still accessible (if you can get in), but the lower room is almost always flooded. It is 22m below surface level, not 50m.
Till a year or 2 ago, you could get into this bunker via the main entry door, but this was backfilled (by bulldozer) & the only way in now is via that emergency shaft which is about 4m deep (not 20m), if the bars haven't been repaired by now. In fact, the whole bunker is only 14m below surface level at the deepest point (not including the engine room), & that is at the ammo room directly below the former gun emplacement.
Also, & you can take this as you like, but apparently that lower room was once used to store radioactive materials, & I only found that out after I went there about 20 times :|
You can read more about this place in a book called We Stood And waited. It was written by a soldier who served in Fortress Sydney during WW2.
chrisyelroy wrote:Also, I meant the La Pa area...this includes Malabar Bunker which is only .5 or 1km away from this :) which in my opinion are better than NH as it's fairly large, interesting, historic and recently someone busted the gate which leads to a freaky 40m tunnel filled with bats. Which. Is. Sikk
They are not 500m or 1km away, the bunkers at La Pa & the ones at Malabar are about 3kms apart in a straight line. But as you know, in all reality you have to drive for 5kms & walk for another 2kms to get from 1 to the other (if you know any other practical way please let me know). Not withstanding that, Malabar & La Perouse are different suburbs.
We have our yearly awards night at Malabar bunkers, and again, in my opinion they are very nice bunkers & I rate them highly, but you are not seriously trying to compare them with North Head? One has a 100m long burnt out tunnel full of dirt & graff (Malabar) & bats, the other has a 600m long pristine tunnel like it was during WW2 with a natural stream running through it. One has rusted & burnt out metal everywhere & no original fittings, the other has all it's original fittings & working shell hoists. The plotting room at La Pa is practically demolished, the one at NH is like it was the day it was abandoned in the 1960s. I could go on & on, but I think we are talking about 2 different North Heads.
chrisyelroy wrote:Also if we have time we could do the old asylum/hospital there....I've found some freaky documents there and some cool stuff AND its about to be demolished :/
Yep, they left plenty of personal papers there, very careless of them, but then again most of the subjects are long dead by now.

Bro, you need a new tape measure or something, all your measurements are way out. I can just imagine what you tell the girls about your d1ck size. :)

Lol i have no need to tell girls about my dicksize, they find out how large it is by themselves ;)


Also yeah, always forget to bring measuring tape and cbf. But I know for a fact, what I called the "mining shaft" is deeper than 22m....simple Pythagoras triangle..The reason I call it such is that the way it looks now and it's natural formation makes it look so...Lol it's defs not a mining shaft, I'm not that stupid to think one sprouts out of an old disused bunker but anyway

I always cycle to Malabar Battery after doing the la pa areas so I took a rough punt.

I'm not dissing NH I love NH. You are forgetting that this is all opinionated and this is a forum to which people are entitled to their opinion. In MY opinion I reckon we should Hit La Pa for the expo as its fairly simple and accessible, and it's getting locked up soon...

anyway
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Wow took me 10 minutes to read that.
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So, all the chatter asside, how about a firm time date and place for this get together?

I suggest this coming Saturday the 8th at 12 midday at the main fort at the end of Old Fort road.
If the weather is good, at the highest point of land (the small above ground thing) or down in the gap beneath the footbridge if the weather is shitty.

Is that good for everyone?

I see this as a meet and greet rather than an explore. So check any greivences, or disagreements and open your minds to new exploring buddies, new friends and new fun. If the Cave Clan and I can put aside old differences and just have fun then I am sure others can too. So how about posts on the topic of how we can make this work rather than negative stuff folks? (not picking on anyone, just a general suggestion).

Cheers,
Panic!
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Saturday is excellent for me.
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The reason BlakJak does 4ft tunnels is because he's only about 4ft tall himself.
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This weekend won't be very good, as quite a few Cave Clan members are heading out of Sydney for the long weekend for exploring.
Scarecrow of the Sydney branch of the Cave Clan.
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Crane wrote:This weekend won't be very good, as quite a few Cave Clan members are heading out of Sydney for the long weekend for exploring.
Was that the Canberra thing?
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dougo wrote:Leave him alone, he is just being "newbie" annoying.
Lol real mature...most of your input on the forum is linking to your YouTube channel..(#fairlyannoying)

The Cave Clan doesn't have a monopoly on organised Urban Exploration as much as you would like to think it does. The threat you felt with Bunker Boys and Tunnel Rats is over and you think you're all sweet but this is Urban Exploration Group Australia, and not caveclan.org. This means newbies, oldies alike and strong opinions and discussions. Grow up a little dougo and maybe hop off your high horse?
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Hahahahahaa.
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Crane wrote:This weekend won't be very good, as quite a few Cave Clan members are heading out of Sydney for the long weekend for exploring.
Doesn't matter, we can always have another expo very soon, we just had one last week I beleive?

It would be great if we can resurrect the Sydney Cave clan newbie mailing list. God knows how many people in that mailing list have missed out or have simply forgotten about urbex (e.g. me).
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chrisyelroy wrote:Also yeah, always forget to bring measuring tape and cbf. But I know for a fact, what I called the "mining shaft" is deeper than 22m....simple Pythagoras triangle..The reason I call it such is that the way it looks now and it's natural formation makes it look so...Lol it's defs not a mining shaft, I'm not that stupid to think one sprouts out of an old disused bunker but anyway
I dunno, I'm going off the plans I read in the book. But I will say that distances can be deceiving, unless you actually measure them. Then again the original builders could be wrong & you could be right. I'll show you the book when we meet.
chrisyelroy wrote:I always cycle to Malabar Battery after doing the la pa areas so I took a rough punt.
Did you cycle direct (cross country through the golf courses), or via the roads?
chrisyelroy wrote:I'm not dissing NH I love NH. You are forgetting that this is all opinionated and this is a forum to which people are entitled to their opinion. In MY opinion I reckon we should Hit La Pa for the expo as its fairly simple and accessible, and it's getting locked up soon...
The thing is, North Head & Banks batteries were built with almost identical equipment, & at roughly the same time (NH 1939, Banks 1942). However, the layouts are a little different due to topography. They both had 2 x 9.2 inch gun emplacements, a forward observation post, & a submerged plotting room, in roughly the same positions relative to each other. However, NH has a the bonus of a 600m tunnel linking the 2 gun emplacements, whereas the guns at Banks have no such tunnel, you need to walk on the surface to get from one to the other (there is a small 2ft tunnel/pipe for hydraulic & power lines at Banks). Secondly, NH is in pristine condition, like the day it was when it was being used, walls still painted, lights working, first aid-station semi equipped, & both shell hoists are in working condition. The ammo rooms still have their original anti-spark tar lino floors, the shell store contains (dummy) shells, & the powder room has (dummy) bags of cordite. And NH also has the nearby Bluefish Point Fortress command post bunker nearby, the one at Maroubra was demolished long ago. The reason it is still in good condition is that they were never abandoned. They were in use till the 1960s, & remained in army hands till the mid 1990s when it was turned into a (locked) museum. It was only opened up to the public a couple of years ago, although the bunkers & tunnels & are still locked up tight & alarmed.
Cape Banks on the other hand is totally & utterly trashed. Admittedly, it does have the (also trashed) Henrys Head & Malabar bunkers nearby which makes for a good day/nite out. But it is in very poor condition, & the longest corridor or room is only about 50 long.

The only other bunker in better condition than North Head is the similar emplacements on Rottnest Island off the Western Australian coast (25kms from Perth). The 9.2 inch guns are still in place there, only because it would have cost more to bring them to the mainland than the scrap metal is worth. They run guided tours there, it is a very extensive network, & because most of the original equipment is still in place, you can understand how it all worked. The guides are also very informative. I will post up some pix of the Rottnest Island bunkers soon.
Blakjak of the Sydney branch of the Cave Clan.
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