Recently weve been a bit bogged down with moving house and sorting out a rental property. The move of nearly 900km to a smaller premises took a lot of scaling down. Mrs M took it upon herself to have a giant garage sale to get rid of a lot of excess odds and ends.
On one of these trips from Capel to Cue we decided to take a quick diversion into the goldfields. By the time we reached our destination it was late in the day and the temperature had soared to an unbearable level. Fortunately, we found an old miners shelter that gave Mrs M some protection while I went for a quick swing with the SDC2300.
It didnt last long. I was only out there for about 20 minutes before I decided that I couldnt handle the heat while Mrs M was just sitting in a chair withering away.
A couple of weeks later, while our 40e permit was still current, I decided to give it another go. We were sitting about in the air-conditioning in Cue just passing time away and I really needed to do another run to Capel and back. I figured a quick overnight diversion into the goldfields might just break up my journey.
I quietly slipped the quad into the back of the van before shooting off at about 5pm in the Capel direction. Just 2.5 hrs later I was looking for a track off the road where I could sleep the night. I had the planned location as a way-mark in the GPS but finding a track in the dark was a hopeless task. I ended up about a kilometre from the spot I wanted to be but far enough off the road to be out of sight of any passing traffic.
I woke at 4:28am, downed a quick breakfast and fired up the quad. I only had a kilometre to travel but in difficult unfamiliar terrain in the dark it took me about a half hour to find the spot. The sky was lightening and I could almost see the sunrise over the horizon by the time I parked the quad and pulled my prospecting gear on.
One thing I hadnt planned on was the amount of junk left at this old mining site. The rusty cans may have originally been piled up but the machinery used here had spread the metal far and wide. I soon gave up and headed off to a nearby hill that looked inviting but showed little signs of mining activity.
I never just walk off, I swing the 14 Elite ahead of me on the chance that I might stumble across a little patch on the way. I wasnt quite that lucky but I did collect a lot of nails, rusty can fragments and the odd bullet. By the time I found a decent looking rocky outcrop the temperature of the sun bearing down was really noticeable.
It proved to be a good spot because before long I had a nice little 0.25g nugget in my hand. I worked my way back and forth on reasonably clean ground but couldnt raise another. It wasnt too long before I decided to return for a drink. Considering the size of the little nugget I had and the rough rocky surface I figured that the SDC might be the better choice. This time I jumped onto the quad and took it off to the new spot where I got to work with the little detector.
Before long I had a second little nugget, a little smaller than the first but still a nice bit of gold. Then I got a signal right down in a crevice in solid rock. I hadnt come prepared for such an event so I had to search the box on the quad for something to use as a crevicing tool. I ended up with something Mrs M had picked up somewhere sometime, a reed from a harmonica, but it did the trick.
By the time Id retrieved the last nugget the heat from the sun was getting way too hot. I was wet from sweat and it was clearly time to get out of the sun.
The trip back to my campsite was more straight forward in the daylight and I passed another spot that I earmarked as a potential prospecting patch in the near future.
By the time Id boiled the kettle and loaded the vehicle I was glad to be able to switch on the air-conditioning. The thermometer on the dash was reading 40C and it felt every part of it. I hit the road at 10:40am with the thermometer reading 42C.
I enjoyed my little diversion and drove off for the next 700km leg of my journey with a smile on my face. Id already decided that Id find some way to squeeze in another little swing before my 40e permit ran out.