Hi, frogwell. I have some questions about your drive, but please don't feel obliged to answer them!
- Did anything change your ideas about the case? (e.g. surprises; contradictions; questions you hadn't thought of before)
- If you drove through Kendall first, which streets did you take and why? (e.g. because of GPS navigation; or working it out on a map beforehand; or following street signs; or just heading in the direction that seemed most likely)
- When you drove up Benaroon Drive, was it easy to see FGM's house while driving, or did you need to stop first? If you stopped, where did you park?
- Did you notice the slope of the driveways at FGM's (both the upper one to the carport and the lower one to the garage)? Do they go up or down to the house? I can't tell from photos.
- Was there an obvious place on the street to turn around, or is the road wide enough to do a U-turn wherever you want?
- If you went past Nos. 51 and 52, could you see FGM's patio area where the Spiderman photo was taken?
- When heading back out past FGM's, is it possible for a driver to see FGM's house when looking through the side windows, or would that only be visible for a passenger?
I'll do my best
- I came into Kendall via Kew after exiting the Pacific Highway. Kew and Kendall seem like a street away from each other, they are very close.
- I used my memory and expected to come into a main street that way but I didn't, the 1st place I came across was Miss nellies cafe, which sits alone and is not near other shops, stopped there, and then followed that road which took me uphill to an established residential area, after a while that didn't seem right so I headed back to the cafe, just before the cafe was a turn off, 2 street names were familiar, Batar Creek Rd and Albert Rd. I knew i wanted to go down both those streets, so i took Albert Street to the cemetery. Upon my return from there I went to Batar Creek Road. It was shorter from the beginning of BCR to Benaroon than what I expected it to be.
- Benaroon drive has a slight kink in it but you can see the FGM's property by the time you have passed the 1st property on Benaroon Dr. I noticed the trees but could not see the house well behind the tree tops as I approached up the street. I did not stop but drove slowly. Most of the observation of the house was from the side to rear of the house where the sundeck is.
- the lower driveway is pretty parallel to the street, it might rise slightly at the roller door, I remember the last time I saw the most recent photo of the driveway for a sales campaign it was more defined and the hedges around it had been cut back, it had become more overgrown again. The driveway leading to the carport is parallell to the road as well. The boarder between the FGM's back yard and the last house on Benaroon drive has a chicken wire fence running along it.
-I turned at the end of the street, There are tire marks heading into the forest, I did a 3 point turn as it was single lane at that part of the road. It does not widen at the end of the stree like a lot of dead end streets do.
-I guess the main part of Benaroon Drive you could do a u turn, but I would more likely do a 3 point turn, there are no cars parked on the street, but i am mindful that you could park on both sides and drive in one lane down the middle, if that makes any sense.
_ the last house on the street, 52? I couldn't say whether you could see into the backyard patio from the house, I believe you can stand at points close to the fenceline and see the porch. the house opposite sits up very high and would have to be able to see over the carport roof, it's not the height, it's the angle of the house, again it may be possible to see into the back yard.
_ When leaving, it is possible to see the house from the driver's side of the car.
Overall impressions, was the town is very quiet, I might have passed one person on the street, but it is mid summer here and people may be away, all the streets are smaller and closer than what I imagined. Being my 1st time up the street it occurred to me that I still needed to concentrate on what I was doing, I couldn't imagine spotting a child near the road and deciding to take him within seconds. i couldn't imagine parking on that street out the front of that house and observing it for any length of time without seeming conspicuous or expecting someone to come up and ask me what I might be doing there, but then again i felt suspect just going into the street. The estate has been talked up a bit in the media, it is quite unremarkable, it doesn't stand out to me as being quite different from the rest of the town. On Albert road and a couple of other streets there has been the construction of a lot of houses that was happening at the time WT disappeared. Whilst in the cemetery, I remembered WT's FGF is buried there and BS's stepson and brother in law. For some reason that always bothers me. I believe I understand the cause of death of that stepson and wonder about the reasons why. Also, I imagine although it is an assumption that BS would be familiar with the area because of the cememtery and I think about his interest in 4 WD.
