If you’ve ever visited us at The Outpost, then you already know it’s a little bit of an adventure to get here.
We’re off a main road and fairly close to civilisation – actually getting here is pretty straight-forward if you’re travelling through. But then there’s a 1.6km private ‘Lane’ which is under shared ownership leading to our property. Some of that lane is easier to drive than other parts.
And The Outpost is right at the end of it.
We drive an SUV, and the truth is the state of the lane means we need that high clearance from the ground. We’ve also fitted 4×4 tyres to ensure we could make it up and down the lane, especially in the wetter months.
But the great news is that the worst part of the lane has now been fixed! A couple of weeks ago, some nice guys from Just Earthworks came in with some big machinery and several truck loads of rocks.
And just three days later, getting to our place was significantly more enjoyable.
Befores and afters
There’s nothing quite like a good before and after shot, and I knew this was going to be pretty dramatic, so I made sure I got them.
The investment
I’ve said it a few times recently: owning property means getting excited about spending thousands of dollars on the most boring things.
This section of the lane is owned three ways, and the three of us accepted a quote for $15,000; which came in closer to $12,000 in the end.
So a new road isn’t cheap – and the shiny new part most certainly does not stretch the entire length of the lane.
But 18 months of solid rain really left us with no choice. It wasn’t going to get better without the investment. And the longer we waited, the worse (and more expensive) it would be.
Future maintenance
From here, we’re committed to maintaining this thing of beauty.
That means the edges need spraying 3 or 4 times a year to ensure the water runs off. There’s some trimming of trees to do. And the culverts need to be kept clear to ensure water doesn’t pool and wash parts of it out.
I’ve been out and trimmed some of the trees up. There’s a small handful of self-sown natives that were just extending a little far and affecting visibility. So I trimmed off the branches heading in the wrong direction.
There’s still a few more to do closer to home, but they’re a bit bigger and I’m gonna need a ladder, so I haven’t got to them quite yet.
Given we saved some money from the original quote, we purchased 20 litres of glyphosate. Turns out, it’s significantly cheaper when you buy it in bulk. So this should mean we have what we need to look after our investment for years into the future.
As much as I hate spraying, mowing isn’t an option due to the slopes around the driveway. And there’s around 200m to maintain by ourselves at our end. It’s the most logical solution.
I’ve already been up to knock back whatever was left (or has regrown) after the work. I’m hoping to be on top of everything by the time the winter rains settle in (usually late-April/May).
The truth is, it’s pretty embarrassing welcoming people with an adventurous 4×4 journey of a driveway. It’ll be nice to have my friends arriving less stressed from the final kilometer. It’ll make building a house much easier too.
The trick is going to be maintaining and caring for it so it doesn’t get that bad ever again!
