About The Quarry
The
ringing of an anvil can be heard high in the hills above the
Raymond
purchased the Quarry in 1997 after spotting a tiny ad in the Christchurch
Press. Without a minute’s hesitation he
jumped into his old Hilux and headed up to the Waipara gorge for a look. No consideration was required, once he had
set eyes on the place he knew it was exactly what he had always wanted, a
unique location with spectacular views and lots of old sheds and abandoned
machinery. Most people thought he was
totally mad buying a dusty old lime quarry-but he took little notice of this.
Since
those early days of lime grit in his breakfast and the blinding light of the
stark white ‘limescape’, the Quarry has undergone a huge transformation. A unique opportunity arose when a neighbouring
vineyard excavated a large dam leaving a mountain of topsoil. Raymond heard of this and soon approached the
owners with an interest to buy the soil.
What they wanted for it was far beyond what Raymond could afford so he
suggested he make a set of entrance gates in exchange, which they readily
accepted.
The next
hurdle to overcome was how to transport the soil back to the Quarry? After phoning a number of earthmoving
contractors Raymond literally fell off his seat realising he had been ridiculously
naive in expecting that his already-stretched shoestring budget could even come
close to covering the cost.
Following
many a sleepless night he realised he was somehow going to have to move it
himself with more than a wheelbarrow.
Making one of the worst investments of his career, Raymond found himself
with a big old tip truck (THE LEMON) that required he take a self taught crash
course in truck mechanics. He had
already bought a decrepit old 20-ton digger that he became rather fond of
despite being another handyman’s special.
So with both machines he set to it.
Although a challenge to his mental stability (and to those close to
him), three months, many breakdowns and 350 truckloads later the soil made it
to the quarry.
Since then
Raymond and Sue have continued to develop the Quarry that has now become a
beautiful space for exhibiting his works.