Australian gold fields are varied and set in the remotest parts of the country where you hardly see anyone, so its risky business just being in these areas as anything can happen snakes and poisonous spiders plus the heat being a worry.
I usually travel into these regions by myself as us gold seekers like to keep our finds to ourselves and thereby hang onto all the gold we find.
One of the best areas to do some prospecting in is about 1400 kilometers north west of Melbourne the capitol of the state of Victoria.
This particular area covers a large amount of land and is hard going even for my 4wheel drive but its worth the trip as the chances of finding payable gold is very good.
Once you get to the area you hardly find any drinking water as it’s an arid region of Australia like most of the country, except for a few rivers in the coastal belt on the eastern seaboard.
The roads are dusty and full of pot holes strewn along the way, and some so deep if you drove into it you would need a compass to find out what direction to take to find you way out!
I usually only go for a couple of days as it’s nice to get away from civilization even for a short break before going back to work. On one particular trip I made myself up a nice hot curry with meat, potatoes and some sultanas in. This is just enough to have on an overnight stay and heats up easily on the camp fire at the end of the day. Besides that your too busy scraching around looking for gold to want to waste time making up some tucker.
On one of my trips I went to a not so remote area but one place that it’s rare to see anyone unless another prospector turns up then its eye to eye conflict!
My first day, found me digging most of the day into some ancient dried up riverbed that still had some water left in it from previous rainstorms.
I managed to find some small nuggets and at the end of the day before it got to dark I started a nice campfire and put my enamel basin with the curry in to heat up while I panned out the dirt to find the gold.
Some how I had this sixth sense of someone watching me but couldn’t see anyone!
Suddenly out of the bush at the end of the small clearing I was camped in came what we call a Swagman with his dog. A swagman is an aussie name for a drifter who just meanders around with a pack on his back never having much to do with anyone and keep to themselves.
Obviously the smell of my curry heating up had got the old fellow and his dog to come out of the bush and towards the campfire.
I asked him did he want some and he nodded and his dog nodded as well!
These swagmen don’t usually talk just keep silent no conversation at all from most of them. Doesn’t worry me I enjoy the peace and tranquility.
I put some curry in a small bowl one for him and one for the dog leaving myself a bit short but felt sorry for the two of them.
I noticed while eating the curry, the old swagmen would put pick out a sultana suck all around it then carefully place it on the end of his thumb. Then suddenly flick it into the bush!
When he had finished licking the bowl and the dog of course did the same, I asked him, ‘Didn’t you like the sultanas?’ to which he replied, ‘ Sultanas were they, I thought they were bloody Blowflies !’
About the Author:
Garry is a world traveller and loves visiting countries that have great beaches and natural resources. Interest are in Australia and Thailand travel and is a resident of Australia. I suggest you have a look at http://you-make-money-online.com for information also on a New Buddha now believed to be reincarnated in Nepal.
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