how to wreck Grabben Gullen for others

[Explorer385]

Hi all,

Not normally prone to rant, but, I went to Grabben Gullen on Friday last for a quick day trip from Canberra. Was disturbed to see the damage done to the river bank at the public fossicking area that someone had done most recently.

The pictures below don't tell the full story, there are lots of other holes that don't show in the photos.
I will let the pictures speak for themselves though:

Pictures 1 & 2 show two very dangerous undercuts, one under the track and the one to it's right is cut right through the track.

How hard is it to put some fill back into the holes - notwithstanding that they shouldn't have cut into the bank in the first place. If it was on private property you would expect not to be allowed back. Its such a shame to treat our public areas like this.

Terry

 

[aussiefarmer]

disgusting !!, that's how these great spots get fenced out and why we cant blame locals who are blunt or rude when we greet them , whoever it was I hope the locals noted there vehicles and take it further not that anyone polices these matters . Could it be reported to a ranger or similar ?

I spent a couple nights last week flicking through half a dozen forums and all the great spots mentioned on here are mentioned and raved about on all forums , I know there's no secrete spots anymore but we aren't just telling one or two people how great it is we are telling the world.

I predict with the recent influx of new prospectors and the ease of buying high capacity equipment, most places will be defaced and fenced out and within ten years we will need lenience's and permits to dig anywhere.

Its sad but its human nature to stuff it up for the honest blokes that know the rules.

This rape and pillage method is just a greedy form of environmental terrorism and if anyone seen vehicles at these sites at the time the damage was done we should name and shame .

 

[nucopia]

Wow thats just wrong on so many levels.
Disgusting vandals.

 

[AtomRat]

Its a shame..I really want to dig there too one day. Way too close to the path..well through it ..geeze..and then no attempt what so ever to fill the hole.
Sad thing is, they probably found barely nothing digging there and won't be returning fast

 

[Eldorado]

I was out there Saturday 8th Aug.My son and I seived maybe a bucket load of gravel from behind those big boulders in the creek.In the top photo,the hole to the right was not there.Regarding the 2nd photo,the hole to the very left below the curve in the track was not there either.Met up with a member out there and he expressed disgust at the condition of the creek.There is some very dangerous holes around to the right of these photos as well.

 

[Explorer385]

Eldorado,

You are right. There are lots more holes in the steeper bank around to the right which I did not photograph.

Some are actually dangerous to have been digging in, going back into the bank far enough that you would have your body nearly completely in the hole in order to get at the gravels.

In fact it is a lot worse than my photos show.

It is all pretty new diggings - maybe only a day or two before I got there.

Such a disgrace.

Terry

 

[AtomRat]

There's one thing I know, and that is I fill in holes now if they are mine or not. If I saw that I couldn't bare to walk away knowing that others would also leave it as it is so I just put in half an hour of my own day to fill in someone else's mess for the better if the prospecting whole. As much as it sucks and gets me angry, I just fill it in so it is fixed before its noticed or someone is hurt.

If its not too bad or it looks like the water flow will fill is the only time I'd really ever leave them now. I dug at least a meter deep hole at Daylesford today and it took no less than 5 minutes to fill and then toss my sieved material off the bank back into the hole.

 

[phantom83]

Hi Terry

You beat me to it.

I was out there on the 9th August - I trekked well up the creek (with the permission of the land owner) and found myself a nice little patch to sieve and had a brilliant day that produced a couple of nice little blues and greens. I ran into a couple of other blokes and had a bit of a chat about how much of a perfect day it was to be out in the creek.

When I headed back to the parking area about 4 pm I passed some of the excavation work that these clowns had done that day. By that stage they had moved their highbanker around closer to the bridge so I didn't go up to them. I snapped a pic of their station wagon and have their number plate. Not sure what (if anything) we can do with that info though.

As a young bloke myself I was furious when I saw what some other young guys could do to a place like GG. GG is the kind of place that I want to bring my kids one day and it is this sort of disrespect that might mean that never happens.

Cheers

Pete

 

[shivan]

We have only made it out that way twice now, but thought it was a beautiful spot. It is such a shame to see this being done.
We saw a couple of big holes in the bank the first time we were out there but that is just stupid.....

Maybe as members visit the area they could start throwing a bucket or two of washed rocks back in the hole to fill her in a bit?

 

[Heatho]

I've been there a few times but not for quite a while, it is a shame to see the damage as it is a beautiful spot. All the glass and rubbish in the creek and the crappy nappies that some scumbags left there turned me off so much I haven't returned. I much prefer other spots now, problem is GG is such a small area. I'd much rather head north a couple of times a year to the much larger gemfields and pay $20 a day to dig on private property. Anyone the property owner doesn't like they simply ban them and never let them back.

 

[Explorer385]

I like GG because it is so close for me.

You are right about the glass and rubbish though. Even on the farm adjacent, people leave crap, despite the generous nature of Owen the landholder.

I take my rubbish with me, and often pull other rubbish out and take it home as well.

I have sieved lots and lots of glass out of the creek there and a lot of it is freshly broken with still sharp edges.

Doesn't take much effort to look after our favorite places.

Terry

 

[Heatho]

I'm not sure what kids are taught these days but a few weeks back I saw a kid riding his pushbike with a plastic bag full of drink bottles, the bag broke and he just threw it on the ground. I walked over to the little #$%&er and said pick it up or else!!! Kid looked at me with contempt, his bottom lip started quivering and he was just about to tell me off when I said "I aint your f'ng parents kid, pick it up now!!!" He did pick it up quick smart and he copped an earfull as well about the propper way to dispose of rubbish.

 

[Karen]

Hi all,

As a newbie to all this and the etiquette that goes along with it, if I had seen these banks yesterday while I was out at Grabben Gullen I naively, wouldn't have thought

anything of them. Perhaps these guys who left the holes did so because they were ignorant of fossicking etiquette and what's expected (and they didn't belong to a forum

where you can find out these things) - of where to dig and what to do with your holes once you've made them.

Being new to a hobby it would be great if there was a permanent folder or post on the forum that plainly states what is expected when taking up this new hobby (along

with information about permits and out of bound areas that we "newbies" tend to ask on the forum).

A small sign at Grabben Gullen creekside and any other fossicking areas where people frequent would be very helpful so people can "do the right thing".

I also went out to Tuena yesterday to do a bit of detecting but was too unsure of where I could detect so the detector stayed in the car.

There were no signs showing me the areas that were "out of bounds", or "ok" to detect in and I didn't want to do the wrong thing.

As someone who likes to look after the environment while I'm out in it, I'd be willing to make a donation towards any signs to be put up where people could see them, then

if someone does do the wrong thing they deserve the penalty.

As a group of hobbyists surely we could band together to put up a simple fossicking etiquette sign to help preserve it for the future.

I'm curious who would be in charge of getting signs erected. Council? Another reason why we should do something ourselves.

P.S Hi to the guys I talked to out at Tuena yesterday. Appreciated seeing the finds of both gold and sapphires.

 

[Explorer385]

Hi Karen and thanks for a different perspective,

Filling in the holes you dig is pretty standard sort of etiquette - most especially on private property.

In terms of the public areas, I guess from a common sense point of view, there is the safety aspect in that you wouldn't want to injure someone by leaving a hole that they could fall or trip into. In the case of these particular holes - the one that cut across the path is especially problematic in that one could easily trip or fall as there is no other way to traverse this particular spot.

This bank used to come out a lot further toward the creek. If you look closely, you will see some of the longer grass and weed has actually collapsed over time from the bank above and become deposited just to the left of these holes. This happens because people dig directly into the side of the bank and leave exposed holes. When the next flood or high water level occurs, the area gets scoured out till it eventually collapses. This is exactly what has happened to the left of the holes.

Grabben Gullen is a small fossicking area bounded by private property and the road. The more ground that collapses into the creek the less area we are left with.

The second important point about these holes (more evident in others not photographed) is that the bank is formed by alluvial deposits. Most of this is soil and silt with a couple of gravel layers through it at different depths. The bank is also very steep. If someone was to stand near the edge over the undercut bank, there is a good chance that the bank, if weakened sufficiently, could collapse causing injury to them and possibly anybody below. That is if the bank hadn't already collapsed on the person doing the digging below because they had left soil and silt overhanging dangerously.

I completely agree with you that we cannot expect newbies to know all of this stuff, however, the safety aspects should pretty much be common sense. I am sure that you wouldn't dig like that in any event, and you have demonstrated excellent judgement already in not detecting in an area you are unsure of.

 

[user 1769]

I'm not sure what the NSW regulations are, but here in Tasmania it is officially a condition of Fossicking Areas that you re-fill any holes you dig. It is also written on all prospecting licences that any excavations must be restored to normal soil level.
Is it any different across the ditch?

 

[Explorer385]

The people who did this are not newbies. They obviously knew to target the gravel layers, were equipped with a highbanker and spent some considerable amount of time and energy destroying the bank to run it through the high banker. They left all of the spoil in the creek bed, there being two huge piles of larger gravels deposited midstream, and lots of smaller spoil both midstream and strewn along the grassy banks.

There are two consequences of concern here, the damage to the banks as I have talked about, but also the interruption to the normal flow of the creek and the siltation that occurs as a result.

I have a highbanker and I love to use it, but I try to leave the areas that I work in as close to the condition that I found it in as I can.

I like your sign idea, I too would be happy to donate, but I fear it would do no good.

Thanks for your post, and thanks for being part of our forum and Giving us an opportunity to share our knowledge.

Terry

 

[shivan]

G'day Karen, the NSW guiedlines can be found at http://www.resourcesandenergy.nsw.g.../A-Guide-to-Fossicking-in-New-South-Wales.PDF
The internet and prospecting forums have mad it a lot easier to be able to find out information on the rules for each state, but unfortunately have also aloud people to find out prospecting areas without having to do much, if any other research. This can lead to people not knowing the area they are going to, such as private from crown land and leased from unleased crown land. Or not knowing where or how to dig for what they are looking for.

If you jump over to the maps and resources page there are many post about what maps or software to use for different states https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewforum.php?id=49

 

[aussiefarmer]

I fully agree with the sign idea, if anyone has pictures of signs at fossicking sites that we could use as a reference and maybe even a government body that might supply such signs I might be able to follow this up as I have contacted my friends in the grabben gullen area and they have mentioned there is a grabben gullen progress association and a hall committee that both deal with tourism.

On a happier note, my friends are going to get some information and contact details regarding camping at the hall , which has hot showers toilets and cooking facilities and as a bonus its next door to the pub , so once I receive the details I will post the information for the use of members.

So if anyone has any information regarding signage pass it on to me and I will forward it to the committees to see if we can get it erected atleast the un educated will be aware of the rules and the ignorant greedy buggers might think twice with any luck.

 

[nucopia]

Thats a great idea aussie
If we can get the locals on side and show them we are not all like those idiots that wreck it for every one we would be better off in many ways. The key is getting the locals on side and showing them positive reasons to give mutual support.

 

[aussiefarmer]

If we can get signs through a government body we could supply them to all the community trusts to be erected by locals , but anyway I am sure someone on the forum will know the ins and outs and members that have contacts in these areas can help make it happen.