eldest nephew, Giacomo (Jack) Bombardieri (his sister's son) and his younger brother Bortolo (Bob) Bombardieri. Jack came to Australia around 1914, followed by his brother Bob in 1920. Valerio would have been told to travel to North Queensland to meet up with his other cousin Jack, however it seems as though he disembarked in Port Pirie SA by mistake, and his sole adventures began. His uncle Bortolo would have also mentioned Broken Hill, where Valerio went to earlier on. Creating a Utopia in a cave Deciding to stay on the hill and unaware that his old Italian colleagues, Ceccato and Bicego, had settled down nearby, Ricetti believed himself to be the only Italian in the area and so he kept entirely to himself, living in the cave as a home. His need for reclusiveness saw him keep a couple of places to hide in the event of people coming by and for one of these he built a stone walled circular cave around a large tree that had a peephole in it. This hideout was set amongst shrubs so that he could hide without being spotted but keep watch until the people had left. His industrious nature assisted by his background in dry stone walling saw him clear the site and create massive stone galleries, pathways, cliff side gardens, and floral painted rock walls. By hand Ricetti moved hundreds of tons of rock over a number of years without anyone in the area ever becoming aware of his presence. During this time he lived off the land – no doubt by scavenging from the tip, as well as the vegetable and fruit gardens nearby. In 1935, after he had been in the location for six years Ricetti had a fall breaking a leg and badly bruising his ribs. Luckily he was found by a passing swagman who notified an ambulance, and he was taken to the nearby Griffith hospital and treated by Dr E W Burrell. It was this accident and the requirement to provide an address to the authorities that moved him from a state of reclusive obscurity to that of instant celebrity partly because of his hermit nature but particularly when the sheer size of his work at the cave was discovered. Following his recuperation in hospital, he returned to his cave and Ricetti, without any money but anxious to pay Dr Burrell for his services sneaked into