Welcome to Auckland’s original ‘Municipal Destructor’. Everyone, like me, know it as Victoria Park Market – a super popular open air market through the 80's to 2000's – a great place to buy your crystals and tie-dies etc! I've always known that it was originally the city rubbish dump – when the city was waaaay smaller). There is more to the story, of course. It was originally created in reaction to a bubonic plague scare in Sydney. For sanitary reasons it was built to burn Auckland’s rubbish and waste while using the heat generated to provide electricity to power the city. Sounds pretty clever eh, and I guess we were plague free. However, we must have been breathing some seriously toxic smoke fumes! That 38 metre tall chimney must have helped a little but don't forget all the horse manure and night carts, they were definitely smellier times. The municipal destructor is now a gentrified place that's home to restaurants and businesses, like the superb Milenta restau...
I'm kicking myself for not going to more of these Caffeine & Classics events in Takapuna, there is just so much interesting stuff that turns out.
Just look at this selection in my first sketch below; A '53 Cadillac Coupe de Ville, '57 Pontiac Star Chief, a '42 Dodge Staff car and a '42 Ford van. Nice!
Just on the other side of the Dodge Staff Car was Chris' 1942 Jeep, complete with a Browning 1917A1 water cooled machine gun mounted on the back...
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