You know, whether you like the comfort of getting from A to B in your own car, you’re
an avid cyclist, or you prefer public transit, the fact is that most people depend on some
sort of vehicle to get around.
But what happens when these human-made objects are left abandoned?
Well, that’s when nature starts claiming what was once ours…
______ For example, have you ever heard of the tree
that ate a bicycle?
(Sheesh, sounds like one of those trees from Harry Potter!)
Anyway, there’s actually a touching story behind the famous “bike tree” on Vashon
Island, Washington.
A young man supposedly left his bike chained to a tree in the woods before heading off
to fight in a war.
Over the next hundred years or so, the tree grew, engulfing the bike and lifting it right
off the ground.
But there’s another, less heartfelt version of this bicycle’s backstory that seems to
be a little closer to the truth.
It was simply abandoned in the 1950s by a boy named Don Puz, who stated that he’d
left it because he was “too big” to ride the small bike.
American cartoonist Berkeley Breathed even wrote a book that was inspired by the strange
sight.
(Some say he even left it there himself when he was a kid growing up on Vashon Island!)
Whatever the true story behind this odd sight is, it’s still a spectacular example of
nature conquering over a human-made object left in its way.
______ People don’t always get to choose to abandon
their modes of transportation.
Sometimes the circumstances are beyond their control, like in the powerful waters of the
ocean!
It’s known for claiming countless seafaring vessels.
You’d think that most shipwrecks would be underwater, but believe it or not, there are
some abandoned ships whose journey was cut short right on land!
One of those is New Zealand’s SS Maheno, which met its early demise due to a cyclone.
The ship was headed to Japan in the 1930s, but Mother Nature had other plans.
It ended up on a beach on Fraser Island in Australia, where its ruins can still be seen
to this day.
______ Another spectacular view of a decaying ship
can also be found in Australia, and that’s the SS Ayrfield.
This one, however, isn’t a shipwreck.
It was simply abandoned after being contaminated with toxic waste.
People may have been scared off, but nature definitely wasn’t.
Not only has the rusty ship been completely overtaken by greenery, it’s actually home
to a full-on forest of beautiful mangrove trees.
I think I’m gonna have to add this one to my bucket list!
What about you?
______ Toxic waste isn’t the only reason people
“abandon ship” and leave their precious metals for nature to claim.
Sometimes we simply have no more use for what was once considered irreplaceable transport.
One of the most spectacular finds is that of a mountain of old cars discovered in a
cave in Wales.
(No, not the animal, the region in the UK!)
This car graveyard is made up of around 100 abandoned cars in varying degrees of decay
left here in the 1970s.
It was discovered by urban explorers making their way through an old slate mine that was
closed in the ‘60s.
One theory of how these vehicles ended up in such an unlikely place is that they accidentally
drove off the road and simply crashed.
But for now, the truth behind this mind-boggling car cemetery remains a mystery.
______ In Uyuni, Bolivia there’s another graveyard
of abandoned vehicles that are succumbing to the harsh forces of nature, only this time,
it’s an entire fleet of trains!
They’d been imported from Great Britain as part of the Bolivian government’s plan
to turn Uyuni into a hopping transport center.
Unfortunately for these choo-choos, the plans were changed before the project even really
took off, so they were just left to decay.
Today, you’ll only find the rusty, graffiti-covered skeletons of what were once probably some
pretty pricey vehicles!
______ Another vehicle that’s no stranger to graveyards
is the airplane.
Just take a look at this aircraft graveyard in Benin City, Nigeria.
Here, you can see how the harsh elements are conquering the fleet of planes once flown
by Okada Air.
The airline was established in 1983 but ended up closing just 14 years later.
Apparently, there are so many of these graveyards in Nigeria that this country has actually
become known for it.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has now started ordering the owners of these
discontinued airlines to remove or destroy the abandoned airplanes.
Yes, it’s plain to see that the planes are a problem!
______ Speaking of airplanes, (and I was) Southern
Bali is home to a mysteriously abandoned Boeing 737.
It’s sitting in a field next to what appears to be an old limestone quarry.
The strange thing is that no one seems to know how it ended up here.
Wouldn’t someone missing an entire Boeing 737 speak up and reclaim their property?
What’s even weirder is that the plane isn’t even hidden – it’s right next to a busy
highway and the popular Pandawa Beach.
Yet none of the locals noticed this giant aircraft finding its way to this odd location.
The plane hasn’t really been taken over by nature yet, but that’s probably just
because it hasn’t been there long enough.
So, if you’re missing a jet, maybe this is it?
______ From the skies back to the seas, let’s talk
about submarines, shall we?
They’re an incredible invention, really, allowing us to explore the ocean depths.
But when the first submarines were made and tested, people weren’t yet aware of the
effects of the bends.
No, not the Radiohead album – the decompression sickness that any deep-sea diver has probably
been warned about many times.
The crew of this 1860s mini-sub had to abandon it off the coast of one of Panama’s Pearl
Islands after they all got sick from resurfacing too quickly.
With no one on board to bring it back, it just sank to a watery grave.
It was only discovered again in 2000 after having been underwater for well over a hundred
years!
At least in this case, people are trying to find a way to safely move what’s left of
this piece of history, hopefully to a museum where it belongs!
______ Hey, how would you like to be stuck in traffic
for over 70 years?
(I don’t know about you, but sounds like my typical Tuesday!)
Ok, so this isn’t a real traffic jam (and I might be exaggerating my commute a bit),
but it sure looks like one!
This is one of the biggest car cemeteries in the world, and it’s located in Châtillon,
Belgium.
Why and how all these old cars ended up abandoned here is still unclear.
Some say American soldiers left the cars hidden in the forest after World War II since they
couldn’t ship them back to the US.
Locals say it was simply a car dump for unwanted vehicles after the war.
There were reportedly about 500 retro cars in 4 graveyards, but all have been cleared
out due to environmental issues.
But before they were removed, nature had made it clear that these cars wouldn’t stand
in the way of the growing forest.
______ And if you had any doubts that nature can’t
be stopped, then how about these Russian tanks that’ve been almost entirely swallowed up
by the surrounding greenery?
You can find these abandoned vehicles on Shikotan Island, a tiny territory Russia and Japan
have been playing tug-of-war over since the 1940s.
It’s currently part of Russia, and I guess these rusting Soviet tanks serve as a reminder
of that.
And believe it or not, they were left there on purpose!
Hmm, seems like such a waste.
Speaking of tanks… ______
You’ll find an abandoned US tank on Puerto Rico’s Flamenco Beach.
So what on Earth is it doing there?
Well, the beach was once used for US Army training exercises years ago.
More specifically, soldiers would have target practice with the tanks!
As you can imagine, the noise and violence didn’t please the locals too much.
So, after years of voicing their concerns, they were finally rid of the soldiers-in-training.
But the Army forgot just one thing when they were packing up: this tank sitting right on
the beach!
But that’s okay.
The locals decided to decorate and brighten up this eyesore, turning it into a pretty
popular tourist attraction.
Hey, when life gives you a tank, you uh, just say “well, Tanks a lot”!
Hey, It’s not just soldiers who can be highly decorated!
Which of these abandoned vehicles would you like to see in-person?
Let me know down in the comments!
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to always stay on the Bright Side of life!