A tour beneath Hill 60
So yesterday I did what I've been meaning to do for a while now, and that's explore the old wartime bunker system at Hill 60, just a 40 minute walk from my place. I told myself that I had to go for story research (I plan to write a story set in the tunnels), and while that's true enough, my real motivation was just intense curiosity.
The extensive tunnel complex was built to support coastal artillery dug into the cliffs, guarding the approaches to Port Kembla in WWII. Since then it's been sealed up, broken open, made hangout by local teens and lived in by homeless junkies, at different times in its history. It's dark, wet, everything not bolted to the reinforced concrete walls has been stolen or smashed, everything that is bolted down has rusted to hell, and graffiti covers all. And there are bats. So lotsa fun! I went in with a cheap camera phone and a torch, and this is some of what I saw.
Photo #1 The entrance to one of the tunnels. On top of the hill stands a Coast Guard station.
I couldn't find a map of the tunnels online, so I had to make my own, first with paper and pen and then this crude effort in MS Paint. It's a warren down there, and scribbling one-handed in the gloom wasn't easy, but I hope this gives an idea of layout. I've also marked where the photos were taken.
#2 Going down. There are two main tunnels, servicing the two artillery emplacements. Each tunnel descends steeply into the hill before leveling out. Notice the tram tracks, for hauling the artillery shells.
#3 A face in the dark. Like I said, graffiti everywhere. Scary faces and floating skulls and dripping pentagrams prove popular. Not a good place for a junkie to get high by candlelight, in my opinion. It's a bad trip waiting to happen.
#4 In the long narrow tunnels, every footstep echoes. The light ahead was a tease, there turned out to be a grate welded across. I had to double back and find another way.
Did I mention the bats? It took them a few passes before I realised what those shapes flittering past my head were.
#5 #10 Parts of the complex are just a maze of tight passages and numerous rooms. Signs of habitation are clear, from the burnt-out cooking fires to the candle stubs covering the floors.
#6 #11 This room is curious. Behind a heavy steel door frozen half open, you expect something special, but it turns out to be just a small space. The walls and ceiling have the same dimensions and shape as one of the main tunnels, only if someone had walled it off a few meters in.
I guess I'm not the only one to have had this same thought, because at some time someone has taken a power drill to the wall. They didn't get far in before giving up, just a few inches.
#7 #8 Into the light. Emerging out onto one of the gun emplacements now. You can see where the 6 inch artillery piece was mounted. They took them from scrapped Great War cruisers. As far as I know, they never had a chance to fire on any Japanese submarines threatening the port, though some shipping was sunk off the coast here during the war.
The gun shield looks like a giant's war mask, dontchathink?
#9 And this is why they put those guns there. Million dollar views of the sea approaches to one of Australia's major industrial areas.
The extensive tunnel complex was built to support coastal artillery dug into the cliffs, guarding the approaches to Port Kembla in WWII. Since then it's been sealed up, broken open, made hangout by local teens and lived in by homeless junkies, at different times in its history. It's dark, wet, everything not bolted to the reinforced concrete walls has been stolen or smashed, everything that is bolted down has rusted to hell, and graffiti covers all. And there are bats. So lotsa fun! I went in with a cheap camera phone and a torch, and this is some of what I saw.
Photo #1 The entrance to one of the tunnels. On top of the hill stands a Coast Guard station.
I couldn't find a map of the tunnels online, so I had to make my own, first with paper and pen and then this crude effort in MS Paint. It's a warren down there, and scribbling one-handed in the gloom wasn't easy, but I hope this gives an idea of layout. I've also marked where the photos were taken.
#2 Going down. There are two main tunnels, servicing the two artillery emplacements. Each tunnel descends steeply into the hill before leveling out. Notice the tram tracks, for hauling the artillery shells.
#3 A face in the dark. Like I said, graffiti everywhere. Scary faces and floating skulls and dripping pentagrams prove popular. Not a good place for a junkie to get high by candlelight, in my opinion. It's a bad trip waiting to happen.
#4 In the long narrow tunnels, every footstep echoes. The light ahead was a tease, there turned out to be a grate welded across. I had to double back and find another way.
Did I mention the bats? It took them a few passes before I realised what those shapes flittering past my head were.
#5 #10 Parts of the complex are just a maze of tight passages and numerous rooms. Signs of habitation are clear, from the burnt-out cooking fires to the candle stubs covering the floors.
#6 #11 This room is curious. Behind a heavy steel door frozen half open, you expect something special, but it turns out to be just a small space. The walls and ceiling have the same dimensions and shape as one of the main tunnels, only if someone had walled it off a few meters in.
I guess I'm not the only one to have had this same thought, because at some time someone has taken a power drill to the wall. They didn't get far in before giving up, just a few inches.
#7 #8 Into the light. Emerging out onto one of the gun emplacements now. You can see where the 6 inch artillery piece was mounted. They took them from scrapped Great War cruisers. As far as I know, they never had a chance to fire on any Japanese submarines threatening the port, though some shipping was sunk off the coast here during the war.
The gun shield looks like a giant's war mask, dontchathink?
#9 And this is why they put those guns there. Million dollar views of the sea approaches to one of Australia's major industrial areas.