January 2022
Forty Kilometres south of Melbourne CBD the oldest house in the suburb of Frankston was built in 1855 for the Liardet family. Surrounded by gardens it is a French-style farmhouse that would once have had views of Port Phillip Bay. On the hill above an old windmill stands, a rusted pipe leading down to the house. The farmland is now an expansive recreation reserve with sports fields and an adventure playground. In my meanderings, I counted at least 4 games of cricket in play on a summer Saturday.
Life for the pioneering Liardet family would have been vastly different to today. The small fishing and farming community has grown into a busy suburb of 147,000.
itchingforhitching 
My kind of house!
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The fossicker and relic hunter in me would love to gently explore for all the stuff that gets dropped, buried, or tossed out as was the way of things back in the day.
Would they be upset if I did this with a bobcat and some big screen sieves?
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Ha, ha. Have you met the chap who started the Age of Dinosaurs up in Winton? While the uni team were on their knees with toothbrushes, he brought in the tractor and just scraped off the topsoil. I think he had a fair idea of where to look.
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I read about the fossil finds but hadn’t heard about him and the tractor. I reckon he knew alright and like most cockies got annoyed at the cityslickers screwing around.
My best finds were in a cow paddock while waiting to get into a rail corridor. Middle of the night and I got bored waiting so got my detector out and found I was parked next to an old house site, not that anything was there except the ground was a bit more level. Dug up old tokens, coins and a cartwheel penny. Went and saw the property owner the next day and he just said to keep my finds and he had no idea that any other dwelling had ever been on the property besides the main house and sheds.
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Have you seen The Detectorists on Netflix?
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Yeah it was a good show
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Stunning house!
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It is gorgeous isn’t it.
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Yes it is!!
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