- Joined
- Sep 11, 2014
- Messages
- 12
- Reaction score
- 16
Hello all!
After my spectacular first post I know you are all keen to learn more about me.
I am a New Zealander, but I live and work as an English teacher in Tokyo.
THE BEGINNING
I travel three or four times a year, because I like to get out of Tokyo and have pretty long holidays-being a teacher. I have visited Australia a few times on holiday, and a few years ago, probably spurred on by TV programs like Gold Rush, and many youtube videos, like those posted by WalnLiz, I decided to give detecting a go and went and did a one day course in Bendigo with Gold Prospecting Australia. I found a tiny tiny nugget (I think it was 0.07 grams) and loved every moment of it
I had confirmed that I wanted a detector and to detect as often as possible. Not being rich (largely due to travelling three or four times a year, and partially due playing poker) I spent quite a bit of time researching detectors and grudgingly decided to buy the GPX5000. It was big purchase, and I had to save for a few months, something I am particularly bad at. I ended up purchasing from Rob who is based in Arizona and had a 4-5 days detecting in Arizona and a few days detecting in Kalgoolie/Leonora, by myself.
THE END
Well, I quite enjoyed the detecting, but I didn`t find any gold. In Arizona, near Rich Hill, I found some interesting trash, but that was about it. I didn`t expect to find much, maybe a small nugget or two, but I found nothing. I was a bit frustrated and decided to sell. I figured I had given it a go, and if I could spend a solid week without finding even one small nugget, then it was tougher than I expected.
SLUICING
Back in Japan I kept watching the shows and videos, and had a go building a sluice and found some tiny specks in the rivers near Mt. Fuji. I enjoyed the challenge of designing and building a small sluice, and then the challenge of choosing and arranging the components to go inside it to capture as much gold as possible. Still, I would only get a few specks and now and then a tiny picker. I would be interested to see what someone who knew what they were doing could get out of those rivers. In Japan, virtually noone sluices for gold and if I see anyone in the river it is an occasional fisherman.
REBIRTH
Recently, I have been remembering those days when I was wandering around not finding gold. I remember the dessert heat in Arizona, and the huge Cactus, the big Tarantula that I nearly stepped on on my way back to the car after sunset, and the wide open spaces in Australia, using the southern cross after dark to keep my bearings, and seeing the emus crossing the road. I love the hunt, the buzz of a target, and I really want to find some gold! but I have also realized that I really enjoyed being out there, it was beautiful, it was peaceful, , and yet exciting.
THE DETECTOR DECISION
So now, I am back in Tokyo, back watching videos on youtube, and reading reviews articles and manuals. I decided I didn`t want to make the same mistake twice, so this time I decided I would start with something cheaper- the gold bug 2 looked good. Sure, it might not find the deep stuff, but if I went to the right area, there was no reason it wouldn`t pick up a few small nuggets near the surface. So I started doing research, and asked Rob a few questions, and he said I should get a PI. So I looked for some budget PI and found good things written about Whites TDI, TDI SL, TDI Pro, and the ATX. Now I was up from my $800 to a possible $2100, but if I was going to find that monster nugget in Australia, then I would need the Deepseeker package, so that is about $2500. Of course, the SDC2300 is there too, but it is nearly twice as much, but recommended by two people I know- Rob from Arizona , and Mark from Gold Prospecting Australia. But if I am going to spend that kind of money, maybe I should just get the GPX5000 again- at least if I don`t find gold and sell I will lose less than $1000, which is a lot, but pretty good resale value. So, I basically decided to get the GPX5000 again, but I am having second thoughts, maybe I should get the Goldbug 2 and get the GPX5000 a year later if I am still detecting?
NEXT TRIP XMAS 2014
At Xmas I will head to Vegas. I will pick up another detector, and do some detecting in Arizona and Nevada. I will have about 10 days car rental so would like to detect a few places. This time, I want to make sure I get further into the wild and off the most hammered plots. I think that will help. I am planning to pack into somewhere more remote and detect around that area. I am also thinking of getting a backpacking sluice and might do a little sluicing. Not sure how realistic my plans are considering it will be winter.
AUGUST 2015
I would like to come back to Australia and have another go. This time I will do it properly and get those 40E applications in, get some prime areas, and try my luck. I don`t really know what I am doing- that is the problem. I think I am good at swinging a detector, but I think I am pretty average at getting the best out of a GPX5000, and I think I was terrible at choosing good spots to detect last time I was in Australia. Plan A was to join a tour so I could learn a bit more, but GPA sold out all 2015 tours in less than 24 hours. lol, so I missed out on that.
Did you read all that?
After my spectacular first post I know you are all keen to learn more about me.
I am a New Zealander, but I live and work as an English teacher in Tokyo.
THE BEGINNING
I travel three or four times a year, because I like to get out of Tokyo and have pretty long holidays-being a teacher. I have visited Australia a few times on holiday, and a few years ago, probably spurred on by TV programs like Gold Rush, and many youtube videos, like those posted by WalnLiz, I decided to give detecting a go and went and did a one day course in Bendigo with Gold Prospecting Australia. I found a tiny tiny nugget (I think it was 0.07 grams) and loved every moment of it
I had confirmed that I wanted a detector and to detect as often as possible. Not being rich (largely due to travelling three or four times a year, and partially due playing poker) I spent quite a bit of time researching detectors and grudgingly decided to buy the GPX5000. It was big purchase, and I had to save for a few months, something I am particularly bad at. I ended up purchasing from Rob who is based in Arizona and had a 4-5 days detecting in Arizona and a few days detecting in Kalgoolie/Leonora, by myself.
THE END
Well, I quite enjoyed the detecting, but I didn`t find any gold. In Arizona, near Rich Hill, I found some interesting trash, but that was about it. I didn`t expect to find much, maybe a small nugget or two, but I found nothing. I was a bit frustrated and decided to sell. I figured I had given it a go, and if I could spend a solid week without finding even one small nugget, then it was tougher than I expected.
SLUICING
Back in Japan I kept watching the shows and videos, and had a go building a sluice and found some tiny specks in the rivers near Mt. Fuji. I enjoyed the challenge of designing and building a small sluice, and then the challenge of choosing and arranging the components to go inside it to capture as much gold as possible. Still, I would only get a few specks and now and then a tiny picker. I would be interested to see what someone who knew what they were doing could get out of those rivers. In Japan, virtually noone sluices for gold and if I see anyone in the river it is an occasional fisherman.
REBIRTH
Recently, I have been remembering those days when I was wandering around not finding gold. I remember the dessert heat in Arizona, and the huge Cactus, the big Tarantula that I nearly stepped on on my way back to the car after sunset, and the wide open spaces in Australia, using the southern cross after dark to keep my bearings, and seeing the emus crossing the road. I love the hunt, the buzz of a target, and I really want to find some gold! but I have also realized that I really enjoyed being out there, it was beautiful, it was peaceful, , and yet exciting.
THE DETECTOR DECISION
So now, I am back in Tokyo, back watching videos on youtube, and reading reviews articles and manuals. I decided I didn`t want to make the same mistake twice, so this time I decided I would start with something cheaper- the gold bug 2 looked good. Sure, it might not find the deep stuff, but if I went to the right area, there was no reason it wouldn`t pick up a few small nuggets near the surface. So I started doing research, and asked Rob a few questions, and he said I should get a PI. So I looked for some budget PI and found good things written about Whites TDI, TDI SL, TDI Pro, and the ATX. Now I was up from my $800 to a possible $2100, but if I was going to find that monster nugget in Australia, then I would need the Deepseeker package, so that is about $2500. Of course, the SDC2300 is there too, but it is nearly twice as much, but recommended by two people I know- Rob from Arizona , and Mark from Gold Prospecting Australia. But if I am going to spend that kind of money, maybe I should just get the GPX5000 again- at least if I don`t find gold and sell I will lose less than $1000, which is a lot, but pretty good resale value. So, I basically decided to get the GPX5000 again, but I am having second thoughts, maybe I should get the Goldbug 2 and get the GPX5000 a year later if I am still detecting?
NEXT TRIP XMAS 2014
At Xmas I will head to Vegas. I will pick up another detector, and do some detecting in Arizona and Nevada. I will have about 10 days car rental so would like to detect a few places. This time, I want to make sure I get further into the wild and off the most hammered plots. I think that will help. I am planning to pack into somewhere more remote and detect around that area. I am also thinking of getting a backpacking sluice and might do a little sluicing. Not sure how realistic my plans are considering it will be winter.
AUGUST 2015
I would like to come back to Australia and have another go. This time I will do it properly and get those 40E applications in, get some prime areas, and try my luck. I don`t really know what I am doing- that is the problem. I think I am good at swinging a detector, but I think I am pretty average at getting the best out of a GPX5000, and I think I was terrible at choosing good spots to detect last time I was in Australia. Plan A was to join a tour so I could learn a bit more, but GPA sold out all 2015 tours in less than 24 hours. lol, so I missed out on that.
Did you read all that?
