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00:04Australia's backroads are littered with once vital buildings that played their
00:08part in our nation's development. But eventually, for many, that development and
00:13progress made them redundant. The locks went on, the boards went up, the cobwebs
00:17gathered and the crumbling commenced. If you don't use them, you'll lose them.
00:22But can one little outback engine room of a building that helped build some of
00:27our greatest enterprises and most vibrant communities find a new life as a country
00:32home?
00:38I'm Anthony Burke, a professor of architecture, passionate about buildings of the past,
00:44this is incredibly impressive, and what they can tell us about better ways to live
00:49in the future. This is very confronting. It's a ruin. It is. Join me as I travel the
00:54country, meaning homeowners embarking on the challenge of a lifetime, restoring homes from
01:00the 1800s to the swinging 60s, looking to balance our rich cultural heritage with life in modern Australia.
01:17Sydney's Narrabeen Lagoon and its chirpy, wildlife-rich bushland perimeter is a local oasis for Alison Baker and Christian McGowan.
01:27Come on.
01:27For the Northern Beaches couple, it's a natural neighbourhood gem that speaks to their love of the wild outdoors.
01:35When they're city bound with work and family obligations, it scratches an itch.
01:39Oh, gorgeous. Look at that.
01:43But any chance they get, they break for a long country road in search of a perfect camping spot.
01:50So what do you think?
01:51Yeah, looks good. Looks all right. A bit of a leave. I'll be OK.
01:55In fact, for two city dwellers, it's fair to say they've got an unusually dedicated relationship
02:01with country Australia, for Christian in particular.
02:09For the past 25 years, he's volunteered for the Rural Fire Service.
02:13He's shot this famous vision from his fire truck, ploughing through the catastrophic black summer bushfires.
02:20I shot the footage as we went through.
02:22The guys posted it on their Facebook page or Twitter.
02:25So we're driving back and then we started noticing straight away, it's like getting, you know,
02:30it was up to, I think, a million hits that night.
02:32I actually hadn't realised quite how dangerous it was until I saw the footage that he'd shot.
02:37And then I was quite shocked.
02:39And I felt so guilty, because I'd been a bit moany, you know, because he's away so much.
02:43And I just sort of realised, if you can't beat him, join him, really.
02:48In quick time, Alison found herself face to face with the perils of the bush, dispatched
02:54to help out in another extreme of country life, flood.
02:59It's such a challenge and adventure.
03:01It was amazing.
03:02Amazing experience.
03:03And, you know, I kind of see now why you love it so much.
03:07So, given their experiences, you'd think it might make sense to maintain their city base
03:13and keep the country life to camping sorties and volunteer work.
03:17But no.
03:18Alison and Christian are going bush.
03:21Big time.
03:22Full time, in fact.
03:23With this.
03:26A cavernous, heavyweight, Depression-era pumping station outside Dungog in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales.
03:34We're just on a big trip through the outback.
03:37We're on our way back and saying, oh, this is really nice countryside.
03:42And I wonder how much property is around here.
03:45So, we're literally driving along, got my phone out, had a look, and this place popped up.
03:51Alison and Christian were instantly engaged by this intriguing structure
03:55and decided to road test it the best way they knew how.
03:59They camped out, or rather in, the stark, cold industrial space.
04:04We slept in there overnight.
04:05It was just awful.
04:06It's kind of glamping, isn't it?
04:08It's not glamping.
04:09You've got four walls and a roof.
04:11It was full of, like, rusty old pipes and actually it was really spooky.
04:16It wasn't great, was it?
04:17But then in the morning, it just looked different.
04:21It just looked lovely and we could kind of see the possibilities.
04:24I loved it and I thought it was great, so we bought it.
04:28But then we go, oh, shit, what do we do with it now?
04:32I just wanted chickens, really.
04:34I only want chickens.
04:35Why do we buy a pumping station so I can have chickens?
04:39Yeah, apparently goats are quite smelly.
04:40Yeah.
04:43The Wirragala pumping station sits dominantly
04:46on about 4,000 square metres of land, an acre on the old scale,
04:51re-roofed and modestly refurbed after a fire gutted it in 2009.
04:56Alison and Christian, partners in a media services company,
05:00bought it in 2022 for $525,000,
05:04the bordering stretch of giant pipeline not included.
05:08When you first see it, it is a shock.
05:10It is massive.
05:11It is the biggest pipe you've ever seen.
05:14I think we'll probably tone it down somehow,
05:17but it doesn't worry me.
05:20And I think, you know, it is a part of the pumping station.
05:24It is a stunning building and it's got a lot of history to it.
05:27The people in Dongog are really friendly.
05:29It's just gorgeous, love the town,
05:32really want to move out to the countryside and live out here.
05:35It's three pubs and a brewery
05:37and it's not a dying country town, which is really good.
05:41The pumping station is something of a local icon,
05:45an integral piece of local infrastructure
05:47nobody wanted to see crumble and fade away in retirement.
05:51So, I guess, to be able to restore it,
05:53it had to be somebody's home.
05:57I guess they're just waiting for somebody stupid enough to buy it
06:00and give that a go, so...
06:02How to restore a 100-year-old brick pumping station.
06:06Gotta watch more on YouTube.
06:11I'm not surprised Alison and Christian
06:14eventually happened upon Dongog and the old pumping station.
06:17It is, after all, one of the main routes to Barrington Tops,
06:20a breathtaking piece of high country
06:23that attracts pottering families and serious campers alike.
06:28I am surprised that they took one look at an old,
06:32redundant and very particular industrial building
06:35and the miles of giant pipeline that it once used to serve
06:39and thought, dream country home.
06:42A DIY dream home at that.
06:44Because neither of them have any of the attendant trades
06:48or even any of the necessary experience
06:51to set them up for the giant task
06:55that they've given themselves.
06:56Oh, boy.
07:01I've built bits and pieces before and small things.
07:05Lego sets. Mainly Lego.
07:07But it's good grounding.
07:09But it can't be that hard.
07:11And you're just going to look it up on the internet how to do it.
07:13You just follow instructions, follow the code,
07:16and you're fine.
07:17Well, there's no doubt in my mind that we'll get it done
07:19and that it'll happen and...
07:21Well, the sooner we can get chickens, the better.
07:24Yeah.
07:29The pumping station.
07:31That's a tough little nugget of a building,
07:33not as pretty as I'd hoped.
07:35Good bones to work with, I guess.
07:40Alison.
07:41Christian.
07:42Hi. How are you going?
07:43There you are.
07:44My God, what have you got for yourselves here?
07:47I know.
07:47Welcome to Aragolla.
07:48Thank you very much.
07:49That's lovely.
07:50This is our 1930s original brick pumping station.
07:54Okay, okay.
07:55How many people can say they've got a pumping station, right?
07:58Yeah, probably not that many.
07:59Not that many.
08:01So this at the time was a critical piece of infrastructure in the area.
08:05We think it was decommissioned in the 1970s.
08:07Well, I'm glad you fell in love with it because I'm not there yet.
08:11But I'm getting there.
08:13I can see you've got some really nice features to work with though.
08:15The circular window up there, a really beautiful little pediment that you've got there.
08:19The brickwork is really nice.
08:20Yeah.
08:21But it is a piece of infrastructure.
08:23Yeah.
08:23It's nowhere near a house yet.
08:24I mean, it's an elaborate shed.
08:26Yes.
08:26A warehouse.
08:28A warehouse.
08:29So this really isn't a restoration so much as an adaptive reuse project.
08:33I just love that it's such a solid building and it's got such history as well.
08:38That we can make it ours from what it is now.
08:41The challenge will be how to make this all look kind of luxurious and beautiful in a family home.
08:49Yeah.
08:49And keep the pipe.
08:50Yeah.
08:51So kind of blend it in a bit but don't hide it.
08:53The pipe is a monster, still chugging huge amounts of water to regional centres downstream
08:59and onto Newcastle, 80 or so k's away on the coast.
09:03It's all gravity bypassing the old redundant booster station but it can't be ignored.
09:10It's part of the landscaping.
09:11I mean, we will probably plant bits of it out and with grasses and things and hide some
09:15of it but it goes on for kilometres so we're not going to hide it all.
09:19Yeah.
09:19Exactly.
09:20The landscaping around here and how you create a curtilage that really presents that building,
09:25I think that's part of the design side here that you really want to keep in mind and be
09:30comfortable with up front.
09:31Yeah.
09:31You know, it's not an afterthought, it happens right now.
09:33So the inside supports the outside rather than the other way around.
09:37It's winter, it's cold.
09:39Yeah.
09:40I'm in the wind.
09:41I want to have a look inside.
09:42Should we go inside and have a look?
09:43I thought you'd never ask.
09:44Thanks Christian.
09:45Come on in.
09:46It might be a gruff old box of a building but a heritage order means it pretty much has
09:52to stay that way.
09:53Certainly it's hands off the facade.
09:56So welcome inside.
09:57Oh, look at this.
09:59It's like the ultimate men's shed, isn't it?
10:02It is at the moment, yeah.
10:03It's a big men's shed.
10:04What a great workspace.
10:06But this over-engineered workspace needs to become a comfortable home space.
10:12How to do that and still celebrate all the aggressive and distinctive pumping station energy.
10:18There's so much beautiful detail in the room that you can still work with.
10:22The industrial bones are very proud in here, which is great.
10:25I mean, that's exactly why you bought this place, right?
10:27Yeah.
10:27The trusses are fantastic.
10:29They're really beautiful geometries to work with.
10:32The corbelling on the brick, for example, is great.
10:34You can see some of the marks where the old ceiling joists were.
10:38These kinds of things are really great design opportunities, I think.
10:41Yeah.
10:42Yeah.
10:42So you've got some really strong, beautiful bones to work with.
10:46Yeah.
10:46The space itself, I mean, it's...
10:48I thought it would be a little bit bigger from the outside, to be honest, coming in.
10:53Yeah.
10:53Well, I guess it looks bigger without all the stuff in it, but...
10:55Yeah.
10:56Yeah.
10:56It's quite a big space to work with.
10:58We've got the original plans of the building from the waterboard from the 1930s.
11:04In those original plans, we've discovered there's a basement as well, so...
11:07Oh, really?
11:07Which none of the locals or no-one else seems to know about, so...
11:11Yeah, we couldn't believe it when we saw it.
11:13We were looking at these plans and went, wait a minute.
11:14Yeah.
11:14There's a basement.
11:15A secret basement.
11:16We think there's a secret basement.
11:18Yeah.
11:19So we're not sure what exactly is under there, or whether it's filled in, or bones under there,
11:24or who knows what, but...
11:25Oh, you've really got my attention now, though.
11:27That's such an interesting thing to try and explore.
11:29Yeah.
11:30I mean, yes, there's, you know, spatial opportunities for you, but I just want to know what's in it.
11:34Yeah.
11:34Yeah.
11:34I mean, so we, yeah, I mean, it could give us another room, so...
11:37Secret basement or no secret basement, Alison and Christian plan to maximise the known internal
11:43space by cleaving it in two.
11:47The ground floor will be configured into an open-plan living and dining area.
11:51There'll be a vast kitchen and a large enclosed family room.
11:55Then, above, a mezzanine floor will be home to a couple of bedrooms and a bathroom at one end,
12:01a study under the raked ceilings, and then, at the opposite end, Christian plans to punch
12:06through the wall and float a big tin box master bedroom out into thin air.
12:12Below, timber decking, new ground floor windows and access to a pool and entertainment area complete the picture.
12:20Materially and aesthetically, let's call that boxy second floor addition a bold move.
12:25There'll be no hiding from it unless, it turns out, there is a secret basement.
12:31So this, though, is where the bedroom's gonna pop out from this wall here.
12:35And I think this is a really difficult problem from a design point of view for you guys.
12:40I think it needs to be as minimal and as abstract and as lean as possible
12:45because you want to let all the detail to come from the existing building.
12:49Yeah.
12:49It's a really interesting project because it sort of seems very simple at one level,
12:52but there are a few moments where you've got some very tricky design decisions to make
12:57that are gonna make or break this.
12:58Yeah.
13:00Christian appears pretty single-minded about his jutting steel box bedroom,
13:04but it might end up a bit of a sore thumb sticking out from this period industrial canvas.
13:10Still, they'll both need to be single-minded, tackling this project hands-on with next to no experience.
13:17What are you most stressed about? What are you most worried about?
13:19Yeah.
13:20I think I hadn't expected that we'd be doing so much ourselves.
13:24It does, yeah, it's scary.
13:26Yeah.
13:26You know, sometimes I walk in and go, oh my gosh, it's just this big empty building.
13:30We've got to do so much to it.
13:31Yeah.
13:31You know, I hadn't kind of, I hadn't really thought about that when we bought it.
13:35Yeah.
13:36Doesn't stress me out.
13:37I'm terrified.
13:38I'm completely terrified.
13:40Yeah, no, it doesn't really worry me.
13:43I think it can probably quickly spiral out if you're not planning ahead enough
13:47and not getting things done quickly enough or big gaps of time which will end up costing money.
13:56Talking about expense, how much money are you going to spend on this project?
14:01So we're at 685 at the moment and we started at about 500.
14:05So it's blown out a little bit, or quite a bit, mainly because of steel and concrete.
14:11But yeah, 685 at the moment.
14:12If it does go over.
14:14Yep.
14:15Yes.
14:16That's my retirement plan.
14:17Sorry.
14:17When it does.
14:18Okay.
14:18Is that stressful?
14:19Can you handle that if it goes over a little?
14:21It could go over a bit and it will be okay, but we don't want to go over too far.
14:26Well, how long are you going to take to do this?
14:31Three years.
14:32You think three years.
14:34I want to try and be in, in some form, by the end of summer.
14:40Boy, that's a pretty big discrepancy there.
14:43Three years, six months.
14:45I mean, come on.
14:47A year.
14:48Let's say a year.
14:48Okay.
14:49So we'll settle on a year and a half.
14:50Well, look, I think you've got an amazing little project here.
14:53It's a fascinating project from a design point of view because you've got some real curly ones to try and
14:57deal with here.
14:58Despite the fact that you're doing it on your own.
15:00Yeah.
15:00I'm pointing now at you, Christian, which sort of adds complexity to the whole thing.
15:06Yeah.
15:06But the idea of bringing back something like a pump house for a town like Dungog, who's going to see
15:11it every time they drive out of town.
15:13That's a heroic kind of task to take it on.
15:15So I'm very excited about this one.
15:19Yeah.
15:20So are we.
15:21Yeah.
15:21Yeah.
15:22Be excited when it's done.
15:23Yeah.
15:23No, it's exciting.
15:25Yeah.
15:26You know, for me, what I don't want is that this becomes such an awful challenge that you hate it
15:31by the time you're in.
15:35It's clear we have two very different perspectives here.
15:38Christian seems focused, very can-do and optimistic about it all.
15:42Alison seems worried, intimidated by it all, and has a slow and steady approach to the project.
15:49This place was meant to pump water, not to house tree changes.
15:53So if Alison and Christian want to make a home of it, and that's a very big ask, they're going
15:57to need a clear, unified approach and a singular purpose.
16:02All the more important, when neither of them have done anything like this before.
16:20So how does a novice learn as he goes pumping station saviour and rookie shed-to-home converter get underway
16:29on this most daunting of projects?
16:31How else? He gets to work on an entirely different house, and he starts from scratch.
16:38The Shepherd's Hut is our, will be, our temporary accommodation.
16:43Christians building a tiny house modelled on Shepherd's Hut, he and Alison have stayed in while visiting her native England.
16:51A little bit nicer accommodation with toilet and shower and heating and hot water and all that sort of thing.
16:58That will sit up on the top of the block, that we can stay in whilst we're continuing the build.
17:06It's no flat pack, join the dots, Alan Key kit home.
17:11Christian's building his Shepherd's Hut from UK plans and inspiration grabbed here and there.
17:17He's even curving the roof with laminated beams.
17:20It's all pretty technically tricky, and it's on wheels.
17:25We've painted them, although they've got muddy drag in it up here, but it weighs a tonne.
17:30So we'll kind of pre-built the rest of the panels.
17:33A few windows, a little fireplace goes in there.
17:37And yeah, stairs will come out this way and see the view.
17:41It'll be nicer to come to somewhere that's not full of tools and dust and crap around us.
17:47Christian reckons he's saving a bundle building the Shepherd's Hut himself and hopes to land it for around $65,000.
17:55That's on top of the $700,000 or so for the pumping station makeover.
18:00The additional twist is that time spent on the little hilltop wagon is time not spent on the main event.
18:10And time spent sleuthing around a deep pumping station mystery is also distracting Christian from the substantive restoration and building
18:19work.
18:20No-one seems to know what's under here.
18:23I mean, we know there is something there because there's an old step.
18:27It's an old step going down.
18:29So this whole area is supposed to be a basement.
18:31So it's like a huge mystery of is it there or is it not.
18:35But hopefully there's something under there.
18:37There could be skeletons and all sorts of stuff, but who knows what.
18:40Hopefully it's something big.
18:57His surgical concrete saw investigation might reveal a giant useful space hidden under the concrete slab,
19:05or it might just end up a giant waste of time.
19:29So it looks like we've just made an expensive hole.
19:39It's just got more concrete underneath.
19:41So who knows what that means.
19:45Do we keep going or not?
19:47I don't know.
19:48Might have to speak to Alison and see what she thinks.
19:51How much time and money do we spend wasting on doing this when I could be getting on doing something
19:56else?
19:59Hello.
20:00Hello.
20:01Hiya.
20:02Hiya.
20:02Alison's holding the fort back in Sydney, working as the mainstay in their media business and shuttling to Dungorg when
20:09time permits.
20:10Yeah.
20:11How thick is it?
20:12I don't know how thick the next bit of concrete is, but yeah, so I don't know what to do.
20:20I'm thinking about just covering it back in and leaving it for now.
20:23Okay.
20:24That sounds good.
20:25Yeah.
20:33Alison tries to come up every kind of second week or something.
20:37For Christian, the opening phase of this enormous project is proving a slow and solitary endeavour.
20:44The balance is not with me.
20:45It gets a bit lonely and it's a bit quiet.
20:47But as it becomes more comfortable, and that's part of the whole reason of building the Shepherd's Hut, then, you
20:53know, she'll come up a lot more.
20:55Beyond the long days on site, there are long nights carrying his end of their business from his campsite office.
21:02It's tiring, but it's not too bad.
21:05We usually stay here two or three nights a week.
21:07It's not that comfortable.
21:09It's okay.
21:09It's warm.
21:10You know, you can't walk around in bare feet and socks and the toilet's kind of quite exposed and, yeah,
21:19so it's not that comfortable.
21:21If Christian has any chance of keeping to his ambitious timetable, then he'll need to get a wriggle on.
21:27Otherwise, I suspect Alison's prediction of a drawn-out three-year slog is probably more accurate.
21:33It might even be longer.
21:47Finally, some breakthrough progress on the tough old shell of this hard-as-nails pumping station.
21:53And some support.
21:55Shane's a third-generation builder and he's very respected.
21:59Because this is such a special project and everybody knows it in town.
22:03You know, he wants to come on board and just give us some advice and thank goodness.
22:08Like, we're not doing anything without him.
22:10So these are a lot harder than normal bricks?
22:12These are a lot harder than normal bricks, yeah.
22:14The kiln's been a lot hotter.
22:16Any other bricks that have this age or haven't been fired enough would be all crumbly.
22:21Probably.
22:21And the mortar would have a lot more lime or clay in it.
22:24This one's got a lot of cement in it, so the bones are good.
22:27Local builder Shane's making himself available as special counsel, a casual sounding board for Christian.
22:35But when the assignment has structural implications, like today's drive to cut new window spaces in the high brick walls,
22:42then he'll take the lead.
22:43With old buildings like this, everything's an unknown.
22:47You just don't know what's under there until you start ripping things out.
23:04Divide them into three.
23:06Imperfect.
23:07Slightly imperfect.
23:09Very imperfect.
23:12The plan is to salvage as many of these original bricks as possible for repair work elsewhere in the building.
23:19We need 300 to fix the roof.
23:22Suddenly I'm a brick expert.
23:25When you're the least qualified worker on site, chances are you're going to get the least enjoyable assignment.
23:31This can go in there.
23:33No idea quite.
23:35Alison's drawn the short straw.
23:38I'm seriously thinking this is an impossible task.
23:41And I want my first brick.
23:48I just broke the brick.
23:53It's not quite what I expected.
23:55I honestly did think I'd be in an English country cottage with flowers in Oxfordshire.
24:01But, you know, I married an Australian.
24:05Actually, I married a crazy Australian.
24:07You know, I haven't used one before.
24:09So, see how it goes.
24:12My British friends think I'm completely mad.
24:17I think they might be right.
24:18All my friends have got their nice handbags and things and my money is going on bricks.
24:23I've done five, I've got 295 left to go.
24:27And they're not even that well done.
24:32This is a terrible job.
24:39The new array of windows should really spark up the mood inside, flooding in natural light from the north.
24:48But this little porthole might steal some of the limelight.
24:54It's not budging.
25:02If Christian can extract it in one piece, the sweet round window crowning the front facade is off for a
25:10tidy up and a spanking new stained glass treatment.
25:14It's not too bad a condition.
25:27Oh wow, that fire's pretty fiery.
25:31Yeah.
25:33For Alison, the job of fashioning a utilitarian rural service building into comfy, quirky country home comes in a wider
25:42frame.
25:43Mmm, look at Milky Way.
25:47Amazing.
25:48This project is about finding a gentler rhythm of life and tapping a deeper sense of community.
25:56I might start looking at that tomorrow as well.
25:58Yeah.
25:59Her camping treks with Christian have taken Alison to and through countless country towns.
26:04But none captured her heart quite like little Dungog.
26:17So, as a new spring day breaks bright and sunny, Alison's escaping her brick cleaning duties and chasing something she'd
26:24really like to do on her way to becoming a local.
26:29Hi Alison.
26:30Hi Brian, how are you?
26:32Oh, I'm good.
26:32Thanks for dropping by.
26:34Hi.
26:34I met this lovely gentleman called Brian who runs the Dungog cinema, the theatre here.
26:40It actually began with open air screenings in 1912.
26:45Wow.
26:46It is quite, it's a stunning building.
26:48It's amazing.
26:49And it's so different to all the other buildings.
26:50Yeah.
26:51So it's all the historic buildings down the main road, but this is completely different to them.
26:55Happy to do anything, but it'd just be amazing if I could help out and just meet a few more
27:00people and help the community.
27:03Dungog's James Theatre was built in 1912, screening movies through the silent era.
27:09And not long after the advent of talkies, the original open air cinema was enclosed.
27:15That was around the time the pumping station was being built.
27:18This beautiful old movie veteran is the oldest continually operating cinema in the country.
27:25It's really well preserved, isn't it?
27:27The local council owns it, but Brian leads the volunteer group that keeps the lights on, the movies rolling and
27:34the popcorn popping.
27:36We're all volunteers and we put on the films for free.
27:40Yeah.
27:41Well, in terms of we don't get paid, but people pay to come to the films.
27:46Yeah, but we don't get paid.
27:47Yeah.
27:48Which is the only way you can put on films anymore.
27:51And any profits that we make go back into the building to keep the building going.
27:56Alison's hoping her media experience might prove useful to the Friends of James Theatre.
28:02My background is television program acquisitions.
28:05So I've bought television programs for a couple of broadcasters for the last 15 years or so.
28:10So it's not film acquisitions, it's slightly different, but it's still the same sort of world.
28:15So if there's any gap in your room in that area, I'd love to help out.
28:19Look, would you be interested in doing the film negotiations with...
28:26..the distributors, the film distributors?
28:28Oh, I'd love to do it.
28:29We would be very, very happy to have you on board.
28:33Great, I'd love to.
28:34And how many, and what kind of audiences do you get normally?
28:38In terms of, like, demographics and, you know, what kind of films?
28:41I've noticed you have family films outside and the posters.
28:44Look, our biggest audience is family films.
28:48We're trying to engage the community to tell us what films they want.
28:53It's sort of like movies on demand.
28:56For many people, this is a very special place.
29:00It's a community space, and that's its strength.
29:04One of the quotes that I just love was,
29:08uh, it's been the heart of Dungog since forever.
29:11Oh, really?
29:12Yeah.
29:13That's lovely.
29:13Oh.
29:14You should have that somewhere.
29:16Yeah.
29:17That should be the opening for every event, every movie.
29:29Back at the pumping station, it's become a clear contest of priorities.
29:34Big versus tiny.
29:36So I know that boom there goes across here,
29:38that boom there goes there,
29:41and the other one goes back that way.
29:43The hefty steel framework that will underpin the second floor
29:47and the new extension has arrived on site
29:49and is being assembled and fitted by a specialist installation team.
29:54You can't put that in.
29:55Yeah.
29:55You can't put that in.
29:56But even with the acro, it'll hold it up.
29:59Yeah.
29:59But at least we can tie that into it.
30:00That's right.
30:01Yeah.
30:02Here's where all of Christian's measurements and calculations,
30:05checked and double-checked and dispatched to the fabricators,
30:09will finally be put to the test.
30:11Let's hope it all slots neatly into place.
30:15There's 13.
30:1711.
30:1812 in that corner there.
30:26I'll pass them up and you just hold them from the inside.
30:29These?
30:29Yeah.
30:30The wooden frames?
30:31Yeah.
30:32But up on the hill...
30:33It looks a bit heavy.
30:35It's just awkward.
30:37The timber framework for the Little Shepherd's Hut is also going up.
30:41Hold it there.
30:43It's a test.
30:44If we can do this, we can do a pumping station.
30:46If we can't do this, forget about the pumping station.
30:56Are you fastening this on first?
30:58No.
30:59We'll get them all up and then I'll fasten them together.
31:01OK.
31:11There's a lot of rain forecast for this week.
31:13We just can't get water in all the insulation, so...
31:16It's got to go up today.
31:18It's got to go up today.
31:18In the heat.
31:20In the wind.
31:22The cosy little period caravan was supposed to be finished well before the main project.
31:27But, Christian, how are we going to make it watertight if there's no roof on it?
31:32Um, tarp.
31:32We're not putting the roof on it, hey?
31:33Putting a tarp on it.
31:35Are we going to put tarp over the top of this?
31:36Yeah.
31:37OK.
31:38A comfortable retreat for Christian and Lux Bait to attract Alison for longer, more productive
31:44periods on site.
31:46Let go?
31:47Yeah.
31:48Woo!
31:50The timetable's not going according to plan, depending, of course, on whose plan you're
31:56following.
31:57So, Christian and I have probably about three discussions a week over the timelines, the
32:02schedules, when we're doing things, when we're due back here again.
32:06I'd like it to go a bit slower, I'd like it to do more things at the same time, like,
32:11not devote so much time to this so fast that it is to the detriment of everything else.
32:18Christian will try and book stuff in really quickly.
32:21Then I'll say, well, let's slow down a bit.
32:23Why do we need to do it then?
32:23Let's move this to here or however it's going.
32:26And Christian will kind of agree, sort of agree.
32:29But then the next minute, I find I'm in the car heading up here.
32:33Well, we've got to get this done before the weather.
32:36Yeah.
32:36I think Christian's just, Christian's defeating me through stealth.
32:42But Christian's not the only stealthy character making a home on their acre of bush.
32:50A large, red-bellied black snake has taken up residence metres from the pumping station.
32:56And Alison's not happy.
32:58No.
33:00A highly venomous snake quite close to the house is not really my cup of tea.
33:06You don't get them in Manchester.
33:10Spiders and snakes, I'd say.
33:13I really don't want to share my living space with either of those two things.
33:21It was there a few minutes ago, but now it's kind of gone again.
33:23I think it's in a tree.
33:24So she's shaken the dungog grapevine and found snake catcher Mary, local school teacher and red-bellied wrangler and relocator.
33:33So he's there now.
33:35I don't mind them.
33:36Alison doesn't like them.
33:37What?
33:38It's a venomous snake.
33:40Like literally standing outside having my coffee, look out the door and see a big fat snake quite close to
33:46the house.
33:47It's not my...
33:47It's not going to do anything.
33:49Well, what if it comes in the house?
33:52Red-bellied black snakes are venomous, but pretty timid.
33:57You've seen me.
33:58Oh.
33:59I've seen it.
34:04Oh, there it is.
34:05It's gone.
34:07How are we going to get it out of the hole?
34:09Well, we'll just have to leave it.
34:11I mean, I could stand here and wait for it to come out again, but it's warm now and it's...
34:15It's active.
34:16Yeah.
34:17Yeah, okay.
34:18That's not more than one.
34:19Do they have eggs or anything or...
34:21Like, they're not.
34:22Like, would it have...
34:23They could.
34:24He could have.
34:24That could be like a nest.
34:26Do they have nests?
34:27Yeah.
34:28Okay.
34:29God.
34:30Okay.
34:30Great.
34:33Don't worry.
34:34It's not going to hurt you.
34:35Really?
34:36He'll be fine.
34:36Just keep your eye on the dog.
34:37The dog, yeah.
34:39Alison's just going to have to live with the realities of bush life and cope with another surprise.
34:45Looks like she and Christian are not the only couple on the block.
34:55It's the Australian bush.
34:57Of course you'd expect to find snakes at home throughout this verdant, wildlife-rich landscape.
35:02But what about this gargantuan serpentine monster?
35:06This is a beast.
35:08This thing.
35:09Well, it is.
35:10And it was a beast to build and a beast to run.
35:11I bet it was.
35:13And how long is it?
35:1485 kilometres.
35:1585 kilometres?
35:1785.
35:17It's a long way.
35:18Enormous.
35:19Enormous.
35:19The Chichester trunk Gravity Main runs from its namesake sauce dam north of Dungog all
35:26the way to Newcastle in the east.
35:28Local historian Cameron Archer is the full bottle on it.
35:32It's been a great thing for the district and essential for Newcastle and the Lower Hunter.
35:37And Newcastle was expanding in the 1920s and 30s, so it had to happen.
35:41This is BHP, our iron and steel industry, and they needed water.
35:45Yeah.
35:45And they needed a lot of it.
35:49And most of the time, down came the rain thundering into Chichester Dam.
35:54And gravity alone would convey millions upon millions of gallons of water to thirsty industries
36:00and communities.
36:01It's such an important catchment.
36:03Yeah.
36:03And the dam fills up every time it rains, and away you go.
36:06But sometimes it doesn't, so people get a bit agitated.
36:09Yeah.
36:10In drought times, when the dam got low, they needed to get more water through, so they
36:15had to build this booster station.
36:17OK.
36:19And so, for £33,000, the local water authority built the Wirragulla booster station to propel
36:26a vital resource through good times and drier times.
36:31Anyone in a drought in Australia knows what it's like to think, well, is it going to rain
36:34again?
36:34What's going to happen next week?
36:36So, this was so important for thousands of people, their jobs and everything in Newcastle,
36:40and it gave them confidence.
36:42Yeah.
36:42Boosting the supply.
36:44The pipe remains a vital conduit, but upgrades and technological leaps made the Wirragulla
36:50station redundant.
36:52Abandoned, but not forgotten.
36:54Is there a sense of pride?
36:55I think so.
36:56They're very proud of the district's history, but to see buildings like this preserved and
37:00used is just fantastic.
37:02Well, that's very good to hear.
37:03It's reassuring.
37:04Great support for it.
37:05Yeah.
37:05And everyone's looking forward to seeing it all happen.
37:08Yeah.
37:09Somehow, and at some stage, Alison and Christian hope to screen out or soften the impact of
37:15the giant pipe.
37:17Hi, Alison.
37:18Hey, Christian.
37:19Hi.
37:19How are you going?
37:20It's been a year since I've seen you.
37:22We've aged 10 years.
37:23On the inside, at least.
37:26But there's no hiding Christian's floating, jutting bedroom box.
37:30The framework is up and it's out there, loud and proud, but mainly loud.
37:36The box.
37:37The box.
37:38Yes.
37:39Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun.
37:4112 months into their agreed 18 month schedule, it's the box that's sharpened as the space of
37:47contention.
37:49Christian's rusted on.
37:50Alison's not a fan.
37:52If it sticks out and it's too intrusive, I probably won't like it.
37:57But if we design it well enough in terms of the cladding and the covering, then I think,
38:01and all the different textures, I'll probably like it more.
38:04Yeah.
38:04A big factor will be the materials that we use.
38:06We've still undecided exactly what to clad it in internally and externally.
38:13We've managed to push the box in.
38:15So there's less of the box sticking out than there was.
38:17There has been a negotiation.
38:19I was going to say it's a small victory.
38:20No, it was meant to be sticking out more than this first.
38:23It's always been there.
38:25I thought we compromised.
38:29It hasn't been.
38:31This is what we call a journey of discovery.
38:34Don't tell me that.
38:35So my little bit of advice in there would be only let the building do the talking.
38:40Don't try and speak louder than the space that you fell in love with in the first place.
38:45Yeah.
38:45By adding all the bells and whistles and colour and lights and all that sort of stuff.
38:49Come back to first principles.
38:50What's the most important thing in here?
38:52While we're celebrating this industrial building that we bought, how do we do that with the minimal means possible?
38:57Yeah.
38:58Yeah.
39:07It's just ground water that keeps on coming in.
39:09I mean, it never comes up above the floor, but it's just very sloshy.
39:13If I get down there to dig anything out, it just keeps on sloshing.
39:16Looks like the pumping station could use a pumping station.
39:20I've got a basket in there that the pump's sitting in.
39:22It's extra quiet because it's hidden by all the water.
39:25Christian has been persisting with his excavation down into what he still hopes is a usable basement.
39:31He hasn't found it yet, but if there is a basement, it's far from usable as it is, flooded by
39:38recent rains and sending the water bubbling up through this hole in the floor.
39:43I did think the basement would be waterproof, but obviously not.
39:46So we're going to have to put some other walls in and waterproof it and seal it to make sure
39:51the water doesn't come in or it goes around underneath.
39:55The weather's been annoying me, but other than that, you know, still getting up and getting into it and keeping
40:01keen and keeping going and there's always something to do.
40:12Hiya.
40:13Hi.
40:14How are you?
40:15Good.
40:15Good to see you.
40:16Yeah.
40:17Wow, this is the frame?
40:18There it is.
40:19That's it.
40:20There is a bright spot.
40:22It was a bit of an effort getting it out.
40:23I think it's fantastic.
40:25So we cleaned it all up.
40:26We cushioned it all up.
40:28Yep.
40:28I cleaned it.
40:29You painted it.
40:30Excellent.
40:31Well, we need to go and choose some colours.
40:32Yep.
40:33The little round window frame plucked from high on the pumping station's facade is ready for its new stained glass
40:40heart.
40:42That's a little fairytale place.
40:44It is, isn't it?
40:46Alison and Christian have commissioned local lead light artist, Marion, to turn their humble little disc into a bright and
40:53cheery beacon.
40:54I love repurposing old glass.
40:57Yeah.
40:57Um, so I did pick a couple of colours, but if we want to look at others as well, we
41:02can.
41:03So this was, I just think one of the most beautiful, beautiful blues.
41:07Oh, I love that colour.
41:09And this was the other colour.
41:12Oh yeah, I love those.
41:13And then clear.
41:13Now they both come out of a building in Dungog.
41:16Right.
41:16So they're both hundred-year-old glasses.
41:20With the window, we hadn't quite realised until I think it was once we put some lights in, security lights,
41:26and we were driving past one night, and we saw that window lit up.
41:30And it's the first time we'd actually really appreciated it from the outside when we saw it lit up.
41:35It was just amazing.
41:36And so I think that kind of started as well our enthusiasm for really, you know, doing the right thing
41:41by that window.
41:42Mm.
41:43I think they're gorgeous.
41:44They're beautiful.
41:45Do you like this one, Christian?
41:46Yeah.
41:46Yeah.
41:47The really lovely thing about that is you would have really old glass.
41:49It's still local.
41:50Yeah.
41:50From here.
41:51Yeah.
41:52I guess it's about the same age as the pumping stations.
41:54Very similar.
41:55They're both from Dungog.
41:57They're from the same kind of era, so it all fits in.
42:00Yeah.
42:01So do you want to go with those colours?
42:03Yeah, definitely.
42:04Yeah.
42:04No, I think that's really good.
42:05I really like that.
42:06Alright, so now I'll get some paper and we'll draw a template for that and do a bit of cuts.
42:12Dungog's got quite an amazing array of stained glass windows and lead light windows.
42:16The main street and also in a lot of the houses around the area.
42:20So to have old glass that I've been able to purchase or receive from people that they
42:27find or if they're doing their own restorations and the glass they have is no longer needed.
42:31It's fantastic to be able to bring that back into old buildings like the pump station.
42:36If you listen, you might hear just a small click.
42:40Yeah.
42:41Did you get that?
42:42Yeah.
42:42Tiny.
42:43Just starting the break.
42:44It's the same age and it just feels more authentic and it feels like the right thing to do.
42:50And we hadn't thought about collard at first, but once we saw it, we were really enthusiastic
42:55about it and it just adds that little kind of our own touch to it.
42:58And the way we were going to get to do this is the final road.
43:06Emerging from a wet, cold winter, the pumping station is still a long way from guest ready.
43:12So this is going to be the main door here?
43:14Yeah.
43:14But that's fine for this visitor.
43:17So what do you think? Wow, it's amazing. Really? Yeah. It's bigger than I expected. It's huge.
43:23Daughter Bonnie isn't here to check in. She's here to check out firsthand the crazy project
43:29she's been following in far off England through photos and updates. And then there'll be a bathroom
43:34over here in front of this window up there. So that'll be the bathroom. To go from photos to
43:39seeing it in real life is incredible. I don't think you can really do this place justice in
43:45photos. I think you have to kind of be in it and see it and feel it and feel their
43:48excitement.
43:50But while the big house remains a work in messy progress, the little one is ready for its close
43:55up. Cute as a button and comfy to boot. Oh my God, it's amazing. Can you believe it?
44:05Yeah, no, it's turned out all right. It's good to, I guess, validate that we can build something
44:11and that, you know, I think particularly for Alison that she's confident now that we'll
44:15be able to do the house, so, which is good. So, she's not worrying about that as much.
44:22Now I see it, I'm like, it makes complete sense. Like, all the work that you both have
44:27put in and how much, yeah, how much time and effort you guys have dedicated to us. I think
44:31it's amazing. Oh, that's lovely.
44:36I'm really proud. I think that, yeah, I think it's, yeah, completely insane, but I think
44:42it's really paid off. And to see them focus on their dreams, I think is the best part about
44:47getting to this age. To see them really invest into their future, I think is so, so lovely.
44:53I guess it would be devastating if it failed. Obviously, it's not, like, now I've seen it.
44:57I just have full confidence that this is, yeah, going to be amazing.
45:15Well, I'm not going to call it a tug of war, but all the way along, there have been some
45:19pretty robust differences of opinion between Christian and Alison about how this bold reinterpretation
45:26of the pumping station should play. Right at the very beginning, they couldn't even agree
45:32on a timeframe. Christian said six months, Alison said three years. Well, we've landed somewhere
45:39in the middle, and I wonder, now that they're ready to unveil the fruits of their hard work,
45:44whether they'll actually agree on the result.
46:11Hello, hello. Hello. Alison and Christian, how you doing? Good, how are you? From Pump House
46:17to Country Palace, yeah? Yeah. This is looking fantastic. Thank you. Yeah, we're getting there.
46:22Yeah. It's beautiful. We love it. The big question, though, is are you still talking to each other?
46:26We've only just finished. Yes. We only finished, so about two days ago, we still weren't talking
46:31to each other, but we're fine now. You're back together again. Yes. Finished now, so yeah,
46:35talking again. I'm happy. I'm very glad to hear that. I mean, and it's not an easy building
46:39to work with. You had to kind of battle it out a little bit with the place. Yeah, yeah.
46:43It doesn't have easy solutions. It did fight us every step of the way, though. It really did,
46:48didn't it? She did. Oh, it's a she. It's a she. Okay. Yeah, she fought us every step of the
46:52way.
46:53So have you reconciled your differences now? Are you on good terms with her? Yeah. She's happy.
46:58Yeah. It took a while, but she's happy. I really like that you haven't tried to hide what it was.
47:02Yeah. Yeah. You've kind of, you've lent into that rather than lent away from it. You haven't covered
47:06it up and sort of prettied it up too much, even though it looks really neat. It still looks like
47:11a very utilitarian, you know, building, a pumping station, so you haven't lost that vibe. I can see
47:16the new front door, though. Yep. Yeah, no, so the door's new, but it's not the operational one.
47:21That's the entrance. That's the front door where the roller door used to be? Yes, yes. Okay, that's
47:25looking great. The new steel door. Our amazing front door. So a nice entry, but we kind of slip in
47:30around the side here. Yeah. Yeah. So can we have a little look inside? Yeah, can we have a look?
47:34Great. It's great that the pumping station facade is heritage protected and will remain an enduring
47:40reminder of the building's original industrial purpose. But like great theatre, behind the curtain,
47:46the magic awaits. Come on in. Look at this. What a surprise. This is absolutely phenomenal.
48:02Well done. Completely different to what it was first time you can visit. It really is a kind
48:06of a very different expression in here. This is feeling very urban, very contemporary, really
48:11beautifully put together. I can tell already the balance of materials, the composition, the thinking.
48:15You know, it's not kind of just, let's just kind of get this old shed and give it a lick
48:20of paint. No. This is a real kind of, yeah, wonderful moment. It deserves something really
48:24special. Yeah. Yeah. Well, well done. I think we're in awe ourselves, aren't we? Yeah. We keep
48:29looking around going, wow. Yeah. All that new light that's coming in here, I think that's
48:34a big part of the surprise when you come through here. Not a dark room. Yep. The view is amazing
48:38and the light makes it feel just really comfortable and welcoming, I think. Yeah. So much more
48:43light. These are all the original bricks, right? Yep. Alison's painted them all, or lime
48:49washed them all. I had to do every brick individually because I didn't really want brush marks on the
48:55bricks. I had to do each. So every single brick in the whole place has been lime washed by me.
49:00So I know every brick in here. Right, right. You're quite proud of that, I can tell. I'm very proud.
49:05Wow. From begrudging brick cleaner to fanatical brick decorator, Alison's become something of a brick
49:11obsessive. But not anything like Christian's absolute fixation with that mystery basement.
49:19It is a little bit crypt-like. It is. When you see it like this, right? And what do you
49:25know,
49:26his perseverance has paid off? Well, we, yeah, we knew there was something there. What I didn't
49:30realise is there's a double slab in here. That's what it was. You got to the first one. Cut the
49:34first
49:35one. It's like, yeah. Up in here. But then we cut again and you kept going. Because the basement is,
49:41it's probably four, five times as big as that. All right. So you could have kept going. Could have
49:45kept going. Yeah. That was enough. This is enough. This is as much wine as you had. Yes. Yes.
49:51It's a little cramped and a bit, let's say, rustic, but it's another acknowledgement of the pumping
49:57station's origin story. It's heart and soul. Pipes once pumped through here doing their booster
50:04best for the major line outside. I'm going to get out of here. Come on up. Bring some wine
50:11with you. Bring some wine, yeah. That automated glass roof, or floor, depending on where you
50:16are, set Christian and Alison back 16 grand. Watch your head on the way up. Okay. The challenge
50:25was always use the space, but don't lose the space. And the new second floor does that deftly,
50:32with two comfy bedrooms and a main bathroom beyond one end of this clever void. What a fantastic
50:40view from up here, yeah? Yeah, it's a great view from up here. You kind of get to see the
50:44whole place. And beyond the other controversy corner. So this is a muster bedroom. Oh, one
50:52of the things I really like already is coming in through the metal facing there and under
50:57the beam. So we're really right up in the rafters and you get that, you're up close to
51:01the history, which I think is really great. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's nice to have the new
51:05build, but you also can see the old building poking through. So this is the little nest that
51:11you created in all the old stuff. This is the one moment of new stuff for yourselves. Yeah.
51:17Yeah. We're inside the project's most argued over space, the box, the provocative jutting
51:25addition poking through the old industrial fabric. Christian insisted, Alison resisted. And here
51:32it is clad in weathered steel. I'm really happy with the choice of cladding because it still
51:39ties in being the metal kind of look with the old building. We negotiated. We had a love
51:44the box, hate the box. And now we have a in the middle kind of box. Yeah. So yeah, I
51:49like
51:50the box now. I've been worried about this addition from the get go. It could have been disastrous,
51:55but I'm relieved. Christian's landed a new space that's pretty well delineated from the
52:01old. It's aggressive, but in a different way to the tough old station shell. It works.
52:07And of course, there is our old friend, the pipe. Look at that. Never too far away from
52:16that particular... No. Right. Full on. Yeah. And the whole backyard out here. This is looking
52:22really quite accomplished. Feels like we're in a nice boutique hotel.
52:27Alison and Christian have started planting bottle brush and larger natives in an attempt
52:32to soften the outlook to the pipe, but it is indelible. There's no erasing it, no ignoring
52:38it. And frankly, when your new home has been such an integral part of it, why would you?
52:44So this pipe's here to stay. It's kind of a friend for life. It's been here for a long
52:48time. It's not going anywhere fast. The pipe aside, the most striking feature overall is
52:55the quality of the work. From the finish on the little wagon to the detail in the pumping
53:00station, this amateur project has landed some real polish. So you've moved from the Shepherd's
53:07Hut into the pumping station. What's going to happen to the Shepherd's Hut? It will probably,
53:11you know, rent it out or overflow for guests and things like that. Short-term holiday
53:16rentals for adventurous souls. Yeah. I'm really proud of it. I think because until we did the
53:21Shepherd's Hut, I wasn't sure if we could do any of this. Right. So once we'd done the Shepherd's
53:25Hut, I was so proud of it. And I was like, okay, we've got a chance. We're in with a
53:28chance.
53:30Do you think knowing what you know now that you would do this, you would have taken on this
53:33project? If we started back there again and knew what we know now, we wouldn't have done it.
53:36Yeah. But lessons learned, if we knew what we knew now, you could do it again quicker.
53:44What? Because you know what you're doing. No ideas. When we first met you, Kristen,
53:49you said six months. That's how long this would take. Alison, I think you said three years.
53:53Yes. I was realistic. I see. And then we kind of went backwards and forwards and you settled
53:57on 18 months. Yep. So we've ended up actually with how long? Two years. Two years. But I
54:04was closer. Yeah. I hate to say it, Kristen, but Alison was closer. So I went. Let's talk
54:10about, though, then the money for the pump house. You said $685,000. It's a good number.
54:15We ended up at around $900,000. Ooh. Okay. Yeah. Don't do the ooh. That's a little more
54:22than I had thought. Yes, it's a little more than we thought. Where did all that come, where
54:24did the extra come from? Well, I mean, building costs went up, but the steel and the concrete
54:30were a lot more than what we thought. And the landscaping. Yeah. You're done here for
54:35$900,000. You bought it for how much? $550,000. Call it $5,000. So we're at sort of like
54:401.4? Yep. For this. Yep. All of this. Yep. Yep. I reckon that's pretty good. It's pretty
54:46good. Yeah. I actually can't believe we've made it look like this. That is quite special.
54:49It's an absolute, I think it is quite special. It's a remarkable story. And I'm glad of your
54:53naivety at the beginning of this, because you did this and it's brilliant. So well done.
54:57Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Don't cry. I'm not going to cry. You're going
55:02to cry. Look. Oh my goodness. I'm not crying. You have something in your eye. Oh. You're
55:10making me cry. You're making me cry. You made a big Roman cry, Christian.
55:18That's true. I'm not crying.
55:26Oh my goodness. Yeah. So you cut the concrete to size and then you drop the lid in. It took
55:38about eight of us to move it. Oh really? It weighs a ton. Yeah.
55:41Yeah. Who'd have thought that an abandoned old box of pipes and secret subterranean spaces
55:58could come to find such beautiful new purpose? Well, Christian never doubted it. And Alison,
56:04she came to love the idea as well. It's been an incredible effort. So much focus and determination
56:11from a pair of pretty green do-it-yourselfers and some local help. But it is proof, if you
56:17needed it, that sometimes, with a will and a way, pipe dreams can come true.
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