The Golden Triangle

Golden Triangle Victoria

The Golden triangle in Victoria would be our last opportunity to detect for gold before reaching home. The world renown area is from Bendigo to Ballarat in the south to Stawell in the west, roughly speaking that is, as there has been finds in other area's outside of the triangle such as Echuca.

The gold rushes of the 1850s and 60s made a powerful impression on this region especially in its lavish buildings, which are still in use today. Did you know that the Eureka rebellion in Ballarat in 1854 was the first step towards establishing our democratic principles and the notion of "a fair go for all" ?

Its surprising though how many pioneering stories are woven into this nations history and culture. Bendigo is now a city of some 100,000 people, yet continues to prosper from its golden past through tourism. Although when I asked where we could go to do some gold detecting, no one really knew. I was given the official Goldfields touring map which ironically had nothing about gold detecting in it, just a tourist drive and natural heritage trails.



Tarragulla



So off we went blindly into the bush along some tracks  just outside Tarragulla on the Goldfields tourist drive, thankfully they were wide tracks which made pulling our 20ft caravan though the bush a lot easier.

Salt and Pepper ground a gold indicator

Looking for what we call salt and pepper ground, that's Quartz and Iron stone and the dirtier the Quartz the better, we found a promising site and with a camp spot close by.
There was plenty of evidence that the area was well worked over and it had a lot of trash, and the noise through the head phones can blow your eardrums, if you go out for too long.



GPX4500





The following few days were spent swinging my way through the rough bush terrain, considering the detector weighs around 5 kilo's I should have built up a few muscles, but no joy at all was to be had at that location.

Onward to Dunolly a quaint little village with well planned gardens overflowing with roses and manicured lawns, a little piece of Britain. The folk here were more than happy to give directions to local areas one could detect, along with some good advise and knowledge about my detector GPX 4500.
Hard Hill was apparently producing some recent finds, so off we headed 3kms out of town, but hilly it was not, just gentle slopes which is my favorite terrain, I felt certain this was the place I would   strike the big one.

Trash

After setting up camp I headed off across the railway tracks into the bush in a search for virgin ground. The detecting was not easy with thick undergrowth baring my way, but its these places which are hard to access were the finds are made.

I was taught by the old-timers in West Australia to check around tree stumps and low and behold it finally paid off with a 7gm nugget on my first day!

You can bet I never left an inch of that ground undetected after that, I patiently gridded the entire area, but there wasn't another piece left with my name on it. Not this time anyway.

The Emmy Lou

The weather started to crack up on the fourth day and our water supply was running out so it was time to pack the detectors away and head for the Echuca on our homeward journey.
Echuca is a vibrant bustling city with that old town country feel, we found a beautiful spot right beside the Murray River were we could free camp. The river however was a very dirty brown colour and the river banks were bare of any living vegetation, with the exception of the Red River gums which clutched desperately to the steep banks to exist.




 

Land slip



We parked our van very close to the edge for the view and on that first night while sitting admiring the sun set and skiers on the river a huge river gum not 10 foot away went crashing into the water, along with a huge segment of the embankment. We did very quickly moved the van away from the edge, even though I thought our spot was secure.




The steam engine

The following day it was off to the port of Echuca to cruise the mighty Murray River on board a genuine old paddle steamer. The Emmy Lou was built at the turn of the nineteenth century to cart cargo up and down the river, today it is a licensed   cruising boat with an exceptional menu of fine food and local wines.

We were surprised at how smooth the journey was and impressed at the size of the steam engine that drives the paddles. I even spent some time with the Captain in the wheelhouse getting exclusive info on the Emmy Lou. Another surprise was how many luxury house boats were on the river. It was a great day out !

Luxury house boats

Following the lunch time cruise we browsed the many shops adjacent to the wharf finding a distillery of fine wines St Anne's. After sampling quiet a few of the wines thanks to our host Georgia , our favorite was Jack's Barrel although it was a tough choice, and the barrel we just had to have, has been sent home awaiting our arrival.

As much as we enjoyed Echuca the fishing was not good and the gold was too deep so we moved on. Surveying camp spots all along the Murray at Cobram we popped into the tourist centre to ask for some local knowledge, only to find out that fishing was totally banned this time of year between the weir at Lake Mulwala and the bridge at Tocumwal due to the Murray Cod spawning season. Either side of these places we could fish but not for cod.

Carp

So here we are at Bundalong well above the weir enjoying the beautiful weather and clean river water  clean enough to give Mylee a long awaited B.A.T.H much to her disgust.



Murray Cod



Although it's not the Murray but the Ovens River, the Carp are just as big and I just let go a beautiful Murray Cod.

So we'll be here for a few days I think.

so until next time

Warm regards to you all

Alan and Laurie



The Nullarbor

Our journey around Australia is into it's 15th month and as I sit back relaxing on the mighty Murray River, in Victoria , I can't but help acknowledge its been an unique and privileged experience to see this remarkable land that we live in , and its not over yet! there's still the golden triangle. But first let me recall our encounter with one of Australia's most demanding of outback roads "The Nullarbor".

Leaving from our bush camp near the pink Lake, Cowan in Norseman WA heading to Ceduna which is still really out in the sticks, is roughly 1670kms, and boasts the longest straight stretch of road, anywhere in the southern hemisphere, being a 146.6 kms long, and dead straight.

Our first night of the journey began like any, Its usually a bird bath of a shower if you know what I mean, no time to heat up the solar bag before dark, for a full shower, so it's a Billy can job. Even on the Nullabore with day time temperatures in summer reaching 40 degrees Celsius + you still need to wash/bath before sundown, as its gets cold and windy as soon as the sun disappears. After dinner and chores are done, its time to settle back in bed with an DVD episode of some TV mini series. I bet you thought I was going to say "settle back around the camp fire" didn't you? but hay that's the time when all the bugs come out, so we're tucked up safely inside, and therefore I must confess: I hate misquotes and flies.

As I said the night began like any other, each of us performing our chores for the common good, it was just on dark when this weird noise began. Sort of like a howling from across the desert plain. No joke! We listened and waited for cars and trucks to pass on bye, but no it was not the cross wind of traffic on the highway, it was a mournful howling from nowhere ? out across the wilderness that surrounded us.

It was not an animal noise although we did spot an Owl nesting, the noise continued and was constant late into the night. There were no lights or green headed aliens, but it was like there should have been, it was the perfect noise for such a scene as "alien arrival", even though this was for real.

The following day we quizzed other travelers about the noise, who confirmed they too had heard it, even after sunup that morning, so it definitely was not the red wine. No one knew what IT was, but it stopped as sudden as it started and we didn't hear it again.

On the Nullabor Day one became day 2, became day 3, became day 4 , before there was much of a change in scenery, or we saw any thing like civilization. But we done it, we survived "The great Nullarbor Plain", it truly is the loneliest and longest stretch of road I have ever traveled and would not want to do it in summer, when temperatures are over 40 degrees Celsius every day.

The abundant wild flowers which we had become accustomed to in Western Australia, ceased quiet dramatically at the boarder with South Australia. I must say we do miss them, but are thankful to have our noses and sinus's back to normal.

The Nullarbor officially ends at Ceduna, but hey there really isn't much to look at other than wheat and grain silo's until you reach Kimba and the giant Galah, which apparently is the marker for being half way across the country. I wonder why we Australians love big things.

Some where along the route we came across this recycled water tank, the concrete crappa, takes recycling to a whole new level.

Next is Iron Knob and the gigantic man made mountains of Iron Ore mining waste, or tailing's as they are called which loom out of the skyline for hundreds of kilometers. An iconic symbol to modern day mining processes, the numerous flat top mountains which change our landscape forever. Then finally you reach Port Augusta and Adelaide, civilization and life! after such a very long drive.

But the trip is really about what you make it, now waving rigorously to the on coming traffic and keeping stats on who returns the wave, can be entertaining for a while, but have you ever thought of playing golf across the Nullarbor?

That's right with tee off in Kalgoorlie WA and the 18th hole in Ceduna South Australia, some 1365kilometers away. The Nullarbor Links as it is called, is the worlds longest golf course. Each town or roadhouse along the Eyre Highway contributes to the 18hole par-72 golf course, which can make for a very different Nullarbor crossing with scheduled  pit stops. A novel idea!

Someone told us way back before we started to travel that in going anti- clock wise around Australia, you'd be following the sun and more importantly put the wind at your back, let me tell you that it did not work for us across the Nullarbor, we had strong headwinds all day every day, which took its toll in fuel, at $2.30 per liter and you car't exactly go across the road to get it cheaper! bye jingoes!

Neither of us knew much about Adelaide (other than being the city of Churches)  having only passed through it on our way west or North, but this time it was going to be different. I had family to visit and they love Adelaide.
So day one started at a cracking pace along Port Noarlunga beach to walk the dogs just on daybreak, then home for a hearty breakfast, for the dogs that is, two beautiful huge German Sheppard guard dogs and our own little Staffy girl Mylee.

Then it was off to the Asian markets in the city, we parked close to the museum and took the tram to the markets. It was a unique experience on a modern day tram , no hanging off the rails here, you can sit down and listen to nice soothing piped music, and a recorded conducted tells you when to get off, how civilized! and free.

While we were waiting for the tram low and behold along came the first Solar powered Bus, and the first car to finish the Darwin to Adelaide solar race, the way of the future.

The markets did not disappoint with fresh produce of every kind, specializing in all things Asian, so there was a lot of strange delicacies. Following a huge smorgasbord lunch in the food court, we tramped back to the inner city via the tram to visit the museum.

We particularly loved the gem stone collection , featuring some very nice specimens including opalised fossils from around the globe.

  

We recognized many of the stuffed birds (exhibits) from our adventures around  the country.

But the real treat of the day, was being taken into the State Library, and adjoining Mortlock centre, what an awesome old building with almost an angelic atmosphere, what stories it could tell. The Mortlock centre was being used for a wedding function that night

The next day was family time and it was wonderful catching up with the now grown up nephews and their partners and children galore. Our family sure does breed well.

Somewhere during the day we went to Hugh Hamilton winery in the McLaren Valley.Tasting some remarkable good Merlot and Muscat, equally as good as any from the world re noun Barossa Valley, and with out the extended mountainous journey to get there. Lunch in the old tavern was followed by a visit to the Chocolate factory, which I think was in Willunga, all I do know was it was a very pretty place with quaint old houses and thriving rose gardens everywhere. It seems there are less nasty rose bugs in South Australia, and they certainly do flourish, and yes we did buy some very nice decadent chocolate munchies.

We were well impressed with the whole southern wine growing, and market garden region, such a beautiful and relaxed part of the country, and may visit again.

Before we knew it though, Tuesday had arrived, my family were back to work and it was time for us to leave. Refuel both diesel and food supplies, check the tyre pressure, fill the water tanks 180 liters and "we're on that road again" heading for the mighty Murray River and a spot of fishing.!

So until next time keep adventuring, 

and remember look after those gems! 

Alan & Laurie

alan@gemseek.com.au

www.gemseek.com.au