turning rubbish into treasure: the alchemy of time

While I hate seeing rubbish strewn around the place, I find it funny how over time rubbish can turn to treasure.  Things the Romans or Chinese threw out thousands of years ago are now super valuable and presented in beautiful displays in museums.  Even graffiti, (not the stuff I found on my fence on Saturday morning) when it gets old gives a fascinating insight into what people thought was important to say and how they say it. 
The image of ships left on the beach at Quail Island in Lyttelton Harbour are an example of rubbish into treasure.  Built in the mid 1800s, these ships were dumped on the beach here at the end of their livespan and are slowly decomposing and rusting down.  Rather than an eyesore, I found them somehow quite appealing and a human feature on the landscape.  Cultural history comes in many shapes and forms and respecting this is an important aspect of Leave No Trace.
Not that I want to leave a lasting mark on the landscape myself - it seems far too many people are interested in doing that one way or another.  But it is interesting that turning things into gold was the dream of many alchemists and time can sometimes do it for us.