the position of the house was always non-negotiable: that’s where the great views are. the same goes for the position of the shed: we needed that structure to be in the spot where sun exposure is optimal. the challenge: both buildings are about hundred meters apart, and the area between them used to be covered in dense shrub – at least until i got stuck in there with the excavator. and is it not said: where there is a kubota there is a way?
i admit i needed a bit of help from a friend with a machine ten time the size of mine with a few of the larger rocks, but i was pretty happy with how the path turned out. we managed to bypass all the larger trees and the trail also has a bit of a curve in it, which gives it a natural feel.
the big orange conduit houses the energy cables and lies on the bottom of the trench. the water pipe is separated from it (vertically) by 300 mm of dirt, then it is all covered back up. i really hope we’ll never have to dig it up again. there were quite a few rough spots and heaps of rocks, so we decided to use gravel to create a smooth surface; after all, we expect we’ll be using this track a fair bit to walk between the house and the shed.
i got four truckloads of gravel, and frankly, once again i have no idea how i would get all of this done without the excavator. between the bucket and the blade it took me an entire working day to sort it out.
believe it or not, this is ten tons of gravel. the benefit of this kind of gravel is that it does compact nicely and stays in place once it dries.
i think it worked out pretty well. i may need a bit more (maybe another truck load) to even out a few little bumps and dips, and i’ll move a few rocks to create features along the trail. there is also a large pile of dry shrub sitting there to wait for cooler and wetter weather – a few weeks off at this point.