This continues a series of caches that highlight quarries, current and past, around the greater Dunedin area. The hides are all straightforward and are small containers so BYOP. Please disregard the number in the log and/or container. This was for a final additional cache which has since been archived.
This is the Saddle Hill quarry, probably one of the better-known quarries in the Dunedin area. There was small-scale quarrying and coal extraction on Saddle Hill as early as 1890. However, large-scale quarrying only took off from about 1960 when aggregate from here was used to build the Momona airport and the Green Island motorway. This is still an active quarry operated by Saddle View Estates Ltd. However, it has been operated by a number of different firms over the years including such well-known companies as Downers, Fulton Hogan and Delta. For many years the quarries were owned by the Scurr family which granted rights to various operators to extract material.
There are actually two quarries here, the upper and lower. As the names suggest one (the larger pit) is above Saddle Hill Road and the other is below it. The larger is on the smaller of the two "humps" that make up Saddle Hill. This smaller hump is named Jaffray Hill.
The edge of the quarry workings is clearly visible above GZ and more of the workings can be seen by continuing south on Saddle Hill Road. Unfortunately, cache proximity rules mean the cache can't be any closer to the quarry entrance.
Random Quarry Fact - Did You Know? According to the NZ Aggregates & Quarrying Association the construction of a new house, on average, requires around 50 tonnes of quarry-derived aggregates.