For me it was the fact I've always loved camping in the bush since I was a kid, always fossicked around for quartz crystals and old relics.
As soon as I got my drivers license I went on a trip to Walhalla with a mate where we had spent a week at year 8 camp (1982), this time we camped on the banks of the Thompson River where the train station is now located (nothing there back then), we fly fished the Thompson and tried panning but no success.
Over the past 30 years I've spent many trips each year camped in the bush, along mountain streams fishing for Trout or up on the Murray River fishing for Cod but the past few years my interest in fishing has slowly diminished but my love for camping in solitude in the bush remained, it's where I feel most comfortable and at ease with the world.
In 2013 when my wife and I stated dating she had always wanted to go bush camping so I started taking her to some of my old favorite spots, her son had a couple of old steel pans in his garaged and that got me thinking about trying panning again, we bought a couple of plastic pans and did a trip up to Store Point (past Walhalla) in 2014 and I joined this forum here same time to get some pointers to help.
We found 5 specks of gold that trip and I was hooked.
I started meeting up with Prospector B from this forum (which I still do) and we play in the creeks in West Gippsland every month or two, sluicing and exploring.
8 hrs a day in the creek moving rocks etc. took it's toll on my aging body and it takes 3-4 days to recover from those big days in the creek, so I started to look at detecting so it wouldn't be as taxing on the body, I bought my GPX4500 in Nov 2017 and have been totally addicted to getting out when I can, living in Melbourne metro so it's only the odd weekend I get away, usually take a week annual leave twice a year to detect and fortunately work takes me to Bendigo, Ballarat, Maryborough, Castlemaine, Ararat, Stawell and Avoca, sometimes just a day trip and sometimes 2-4 day trips so as long as the weather is good I get out for a couple of hrs a day after work.
As much as I'm addicted to prospecting I think it's more just the excuse to get out in the bush, I don't care if I come home empty handed, I still feel better for just being out there.
The wife found her first gold last trip using the GM1000 just before the latest lockdown, camper is packed and ready for the green light to go.
I'm working in Ballarat this Monday and staying in a motel, very frustrating not being allowed to detect after work because I'm from metro :/ , only managed 3 trips this year because of lockdown 1.0 and then 2.0, going stir crazy and really needing time in the bush soon to get my head back to normal again, bush therapy can't be substituted and it's making for a looooong Winter :awful:
