Kate's Ramblings ....

I had so enjoyed reading pommeis100yrslate post, entitled "Steiglitz 1st Outing", that I thought I'd jot down a bit of a diary on my first serious trip away with the new GPX4000 ... hope some of the newbies get enthused enough to just 'get out there and do it'!

If the old timers could come half way around the world to a strange continent, filled with unknown and possibly dangerous critters, unknown native peoples, barely any mapping, unpredictable water supplies, armed only with picks and shovels, and subsequently open up vast tracts of our sunburnt land, then why would we question our ability, with all our technological advances, to walk in their footsteps?

So with this 'pearl of wisdom' in my mind, I decide to take my newly acquired GPX4000 to the Triangle and dig up small mountains of Victorian gold! I've got this 'beaut' machine that sees into the ground. I've got a 4wd so I can get into most places easier than the old timers could on foot. I've got the GPS so I can find the places where gold was proven to be (and I can't get lost!). There's a mobile phone, a laptop computer, 12/240v fridge for fresh food and drink,a gas heater if it's cold, and all the mod cons of home. Crikey! I've even got an air mattress and a 12v electric blanket!

Well, you know the old line 'the best laid plans of mice and men'?
It's been a howling gale for the past 2 days here in good old SA. The forecast isn't for much better for the next few days and I'm supposed to be leaving here around lunch time! So now I've got visions of having to chain down the tent, or end up in Sydney ... the fast way! Maybe I'll see if the Laanecoorie Caravan Park has a cabin available instead of pitching the tent? So much for 'walking in their footsteps'!

It's almost 1am and today is the day ............ to be continued!

As Nike would say, "Just Do It". You'll have fun Kate, it's an adventure. Good luck,cheers Pete.

Have fun Kate. Hope you find heaps and make us all jealous!

Can't wait to hear your continuation Kate... Hope you find heaps, just leave a little for us when we get back pleeeeeese

Cheers.

Mike.

"FORTUNE FAVOURS THE BRAVE".
Napoleon.

Hi all,

Half your luck Kate, I'm looking forward to reading how your trip to the triangle pans out..........

Jim.

Hi all ... and thank you so much for your posts! I got a real kick out of knowing my little diary had been read

It's also a special day ... my eldest son, Daryl, turns 40 today ... God! I'm OLD

FRIDAY 7th September 2012

As usual, late leaving the office yesterday afternoon! I managed to get the camp trailer and 4wd all packed up well before time and was congratulating myself for being 'super woman'! Nope!! The office phone rang and one of the prime movers had done an oil pump gasket and now we had a load coming in from Newcastle via Broken Hill, having to stop every few hours to drain the water, and oil, out of the radiator! Fortunately it was 'da man!" Peter, and he's not one to panic .... so limp into Adelaide he did!

Finally I got to leave and head off for my big new adventure!

From the ferry crossing just out of Tailem Bend I drove just past Warracknabeal to the next little town, where I stopped, had coffee, and then climbed into a nice warm (remember the air mattress and the 12v electric blanket?) and slept like a baby in the back of the wagon. Just before 7am I came to life and headed for bacon and eggs on toast and percolated coffee ... and someone else made
it for me AND I didn't have to wash up the dishes! O, sweet heaven!!

The night drive had not been the easiest with a trailer dragging behind. The wind howled for the entire evening, and the rain went from miserable drizzling, to hammering, and back to drizzling again. I had gone to sleep to the sound of rain on the roof of the car, but awoke to a not too bad a day!

By Friday 1pm I was into the Laanecoorie Caravan Park and really beginning to feel excited about the weekend. I've bought a couple of new maps, a new skid plate for one of my coils, and a new main lead for the detector. I think I'd better stay away from the detector shops from now on ... I just can't help myself!

This is my second stay at the Laanecoorie Park this year and I REALLY have to recommend it to anyone wanting any kind of accommodation in the gold fields area! The only draw back that I've ever found is that mobile phone and internet coverage isn't consistent within the area ... but hey! The whole idea of taking time out is to stay away from the phone and the computer, so there's no complaints about that! When I want full access I just head down to the lake, and Voila! Must be something about the water!?!?

Well, the detector battery is charging whilst I type, so I'm just about ready to start my 'big weekend' first thing in the morning ... wish me luck!!

PS: I've rung home and Peter and the truck finally made it into Adelaide, and the customer didn't even know that his load was very close to being a day late! Whew!! Repairs will be done at home in the workshop ... parts so far $2500, labour ... don't ask!!!!
If anyone is looking to ring me, I'll be down near good reception tomorrow morning in/near Bendigo buying a gift for the No.1 son then into the gold fields by 11am

Hi Folks , Hi Kate, Sounds like your having fun already good weather and good luck to you! get some big ones!!!!
Regards
Wayne.

Hi Kate good to hear you have made it over i hope you haven t been blown away with the wind it has been shocking east of Melbourne.Lets hope you find some gold to top you little trek off have a good weekend cheers Terry

What a massive day! The morning was family time, catching up with my son, daughter in law, and grand daughter.
Gifts for the birthday boy, the return of 'bits 'n pieces' left after their last trip to SA, and a surprise family gift ... their clothes drier had given up the ghost and was down the list on their priorities. So Nanna Kate came to the party with a new one! Surprise!!

Lunchtime. A quick coffee and sandwich and off to Hamiltons Gully over at Tarnagulla. Here comes those 'plans of mice and men' again! The darned detector would NOT turn on. I knew the battery was fully charged because I had done that the evening before. I turned it off. I turned it on. I unplugged. I re-plugged. I turned it on. I turned it off. Expletives becoming audible now! Not what an old lady should be saying!

OK! Don't panic, just do something! Where is the nearest detector shop? Maryborough! The boys there were brilliant! They tried this, they tried that! A Ha! The battery needed re-setting! I kid you not!! Apparently there are occasions when the battery has been charged, that 'something' in them 'trips out'. Merely plugging the battery back into a charger re-sets the battery 'thingy', and everything is back to normal. How cool is that? But something that is really worth while remembering for the rare occasion that your detector refuses to turn on.

By this time it was well into the afternoon, and there was no way that I was going to make it back to Tarnagulla, set up again, and get a couple of hours of detecting in. So as I drove back toward Laanecoorie, I kept my eyes open for likely spots to have a bit of a go, and found a signed area named 'Havelock'. From the road it looked a bit interesting so I turned off onto Anglo Saxon Track and had a bit of a drive around.

This is a park that doesn't look like it's had a great deal of attention. Only the maintained tracks are clear. All other tracks have young saplings growing through them, and there are no signs of recent activity. However, once you do locate the minimal number of old diggings, you realize that every single hole is filled with junk. Tin cans, broken bottles, and all manner of old rubbish. This is not new rubbish ... most of it showing enough rust and corrosion to suggest that it's been there for years. It's red gravel ground, with quite a bit of carbon deposit/old fire places, and many of the deeper diggings show a white/grey retrieved soil. In half an hour I discovered a pocket full of shotgun shells, shotgun pellets, .22 shells, old nails etc. Funny thing is, I didn't find any ring-pull tabs!

By this time it was after 4pm so I decided it was probably time to head back to camp, so I emerged from the diggings onto the Carisbrook Eddington Rd, and headed back to Laanecoorie for a T-bone steak, potatoes, and onions ...a True Blue Aussie BBQ, followed by a quick cat-nap, then the footy on TV!! You can't get much more Aussie than that!

Tomorrow I plan to return to the Burnt Tree/Hamiltons Gully/German Gully area ... and re-start my search. If the detector doesn't turn on this time, I'll know what to do!

Hmmmmm i wondering if Kate has hit it big time and still out digging gold as it is dark now cheers Terry

TTT wrote:Hmmmmm i wondering if Kate has hit it big time and still out digging gold as it is dark now cheers Terry

i'm on tenterhooks too... I've been sitting in a Maryborough c/van park all day, wondering why we're not "out there". woke up to cold and grey, and Tony decided to make wages at Crown casino instead. and then, of course, the sun came out and it's been a beautiful day, just right for digging. so I want to live vicariously thru Kate right now. Come on, Kate!

Hey Kate, great to hear you hooked up with family. Hope you hooked up with a tad of gold
regards Phil

Another big day ... starting at 10am and not finishing until 4:30pm. I didn't know I had so many places that could ache!
But had a great day wandering around in the bush. Over 30 pieces of metal of every shape and description from
depths ranging 1cm to over 12 inches, including an old lock (rusted into three parts), old nails, .22 bullets, and
what looks like an old .303 shell.

I got a bit excited when I finally dug out a beautiful mellow sounding target (even jotted down the co-ordinates) ...
to find it was a small lump of melted lead! Drats!! Maybe tomorrow?

Shouted myself a decadent ice cream from the shop here at Laanecoorie, and savoured every bit of it. I'd just
finished it and was doing my 'office duties' on the internet when 'Big Fella' pulled up and said 'Howdy'. Had a lovely

chat about all things detecting, and he confirmed that my beautiful gold nugget was indeed lead. An invitation to
his family 'camp' for an evening yarn rounded my day off perfectly. Good company, good yarns!

oh were hoping you would find some of that gold stuff but thats the way it goes it is good to see that you are doing your bit for the enviroment and cleaning the rubbish up hope today is a better day and you find that elusive gold , it was good to see you caught up with big fella and had a yarn around the fire with him hopefully he gave you some tips to land you on the spot , fingers crossed today you find some cheers Terry

Well, here it is Thursday 13th September. Do you want to hear the good news? Or the bad news?

OK ... good news first! I had a brilliant time away, sharing company with BigFella (and his lovely family) around the camp fire, and also out in the field. We met up with the four American boys who are currently visiting Australia and staying at Laanecoorie, and are all out there detecting for gold Great fellas, just genuine nice guys! Hope they continue to enjoy their stay here in Oz, and get some of our gold to take home with them

My last day of detecting was Tuesday, and I only managed to keep detecting until mid afternoon. We had changed fields and once we arrived at the second field my detector decided that it would not turn on. I thought it was a flat battery, so raced off back to camp and put the battery on charge .... but it only took half an hour and the 'fully charged' green light remained solid. Beauty! Hook everything up again and drive back out to the field. Nope!! Still would not turn on! Drats, and double drats!! So that was the end of Tuesday's detecting for me.

So, turned on the laptop ... to find that the battery charger for that had died ... no internet for me! O NO!! DISASTER!!! Even worse was to come ... NO Mobile Phone Connection!! Better go down and have a few beers around the campfire at BigFella's ... where the American boys had brought a few bottles to have with a BBQ ... great night! Made me forget my woes for awhile ... and had lots of laughs and good times.

Wednesday morning I dashed off to Coiltek where the boys did some tests on my control box ... Nope! No good! Gotta go back to Minelab! I was really disappointed, but hey! what can you do? Just get on with it, send it away, and see how much the account is going to be! And of course, I had to also go buy a new charger for my laptop!

Wednesday afternoon I started my trip back to SA a bit disappointed ... but still planning my next trip away

About 30kms short of Nhill <KABOOM> A blow out on one of the trailer tyres. No problem, pull off the road and drag out the spare and the jack, jack up the trailer, put the spare on ... just to find that it was 75% flat! This is the spare that the boys at home had organized for me, checked and OK'd So now it was out with the compressor and pump it up. Then off to Nhill to find a tyre sales place. The original tyre was completely shredded, and I wasn't going to take the chance of having to keep stopping to pump up a deflating spare! SOOOooooooooo .... I had to buy 2 new tyres! EEeeeek!!

WRAP UP OF MY DAYS AWAY
To tell you the truth, despite all of the dramas ... I had a fantastic 'get a way' ... loved it ... and have proved to myself that I can definitely handle anything!! No, I didn't find any gold, but I know I will ... it's just hard for me to spend the hours required to become truly proficient. Am I going to continue to look ... you betcha!!

well it was a trip to remember anyway!

Well Kate, after all that, you have remained positive...................Well done.

Hi Kate,

Great yarn, thanks for sharing it with us. Don't you hate it when all of those little niggling things start to happen (they say its character building lol)you've managed to stay positive, keep swinging and you will get your share

PS my coils arrived yesterday..........all good thankyou

Jim.

Have spoken with Minelab today about my poor detector The verdict? A broken wire inside the control box! But all is fixed now and it is on its way back to me via Aussie Post.

Wow!! Now that's what I call brilliant service!! Thank you to the boys at Minelab ... You are the BEST!!

G'Day Kate
A Good camp report and it was great to have you around always welcome,We will have to do it again goes to show how good an unplanned get together can be, with you,Wombatroo and the Americans and throw in a few locals,as you know i was sorry about your detector however is going to be a good outcome,One of the Americans detector wasnt working correctly so has been sent to Minelab,But hey they are haveing a great time Thanks also to your warm welcome,Will keep in touch.
Big Fella.

Oh no! That's not good I hope the detector is back 'a beepin' real soon! Please let the boys know that I send my regards, and thank them for great campfire camaraderie I hope their vacation really is the 'lifetime dream trip' Have already had a good chat with Wombatroo ... and we'll definitely catch up again one day!

My thanks to you, and your family, for friendship, laughs, good food, and good times!

read all the rambling's, great read. Hope you have better luck next time.

Thanks stilltrying ... already have my next trip in the pipeline ... just can't help myself