TIBOOBURRA

We are at Tibooburra at the moment waiting in vain for the Qld border to open. It seems the story changes every day, maybe the 10th of July, maybe not until the virus has been wiped out, maybe sooner, who knows with that premier.

While waiting we have been doing a bit of detecting and finding some very small gold 70 bits so far. The caravan park is pretty well full every night with many being prospectors, some being a bit disappointed with their finds, but everyone enjoying the great warm weather. As do the flies. Millions of the little beasties. A fly net is a must.

At the moment the Common is closed and doesn't look like opening for at least a month. The Common Committee consists of 7 people. They voted 4 to three to close the common because of fears of the covid19. Maybe we can catch it off the flamin' goats.

The problem is that the Family Hotel has 4 people on the committee and they all voted to close the common. As a result all prospectors have voted with their feet and have sworn not to patronise the hotel for anything.


Mount Stuart is open to prospecting for a fee of $15.00 a detector operator per day and an extra $5 a night per caravan. And the owner patrols every day to make sure you have paid up. Payment is at the Roadhouse.


Gumvale Station is Open for the same amount in fees.


Warrie Gate 50km north of here is the Qld border. Every second day the local copper has to go up and replace the lock or chain because people have simply cut their way through to Qld. One truckie didn't bother, he simply drove his rig over the gate. Some people are getting desperate.


We leave Tibooburra on Monday and will wander east while hoping for some common sense from a person who seems intent on turning the holiday state into the dead broke state. Most tourism industry outside Brisvegas has collapsed with the Whitsundays hit the hardest. Tour boats are being repossessed every day as the owners cannot even make enough money to pay for fuel and other costs let alone bank repayment.


We continue to loiter in the warmer weather of northern NSW with diminishing hopes of seeing our families this year.

Both sad news & not looking good at all Jim. The government themselves don't know whats going to happen, from one day to the next. Here in Vic there has been a rise of COVID-19 cases testing positive, once again throwing government & the medical profession into panic mode. Government figures clearly show, Australia is heading into a major recession.

Kon.

Just to keep us confused, the Western land council overturned the common committed decision and the common is now open again for a ten dollar a month fee. Common sense has prevailed

That is good news, the wife and I were up there last week for a week. In our 7 days I got 5.25 grams and she got 7 and a half. So even though it is very tough these days there still is a bit there. I must say it is nice up there.

Sparrowfart wrote:That is good news, the wife and I were up there last week for a week. In our 7 days I got 5.25 grams and she got 7 and a half. So even though it is very tough these days there still is a bit there. I must say it is nice up there.

Which detectors were you using?
Interested in the coils being used if not an SDC

Sparowfart, you did well to get that much gold. We are here more for the weather than the gold. We spend only about 2 hours in the morning and one in the afternoon. We also only work about every second day. We've got lazier as we've got older. So far for the week we have 97 bits for a staggering 5.4 grams. But the weather is fantastic as usual up here. Blue skies with a nice breeze but the flies are loving too.

Hi bicter, we were both using sdc's just the 8" coils. I suppose we have been going there for about 8 or 9 years now, mostly since the sdc came out so I have a lot of patches where I know there's gold. We look for new patches of course but also re-hammar our old ones which is where we mostly find it.
Hi Jim, sounds like you are doing pretty good considering. I will no doubt be back there again as soon as I can organize it. I think I must miss the flies when I get home or something.

Thanks Sparrrow, we'll be there in early August hopefully. Dependent on border opening up before then.

Coming from QLD, I was considering heading across from Wanaaring rather than from Nockatunga but unsure of the track condition. Have you or Jim heard any condition reports about the cut line across from Wanaaring?

Driving a Prado with lightweight camper trailer so ground clearance isn't a big issue

Hi bicter, I don't have any data on the Wanaaring rd, sorry. There may be some recent data elsewhere on this site.
Have a good trip, hope you find something.
Sparrowfart.

As of three days ago I heard the waarnaring road was pretty good at each end but a bit rough in the middle with the road bed material showing through in places.

Hang in there Dave/Veronica, A clunker may be under the next bush.

davsgold wrote:The gold is still small  and not that plentiful, but the weather is fairly good so that is a bonus.

Four half days detecting, (the gold rush is over) 30 micro nuggets for 3 grams  so you get the general idea  

cheers dave

Not a lot has changed then

What areas have all you vacuumers flogged, so I can avoid them?
Are Gumvale/Mt Stuart getting much traffic?

June 1st. Travel restrictions lifted in NSW. My wife had been home for 3 months so I said let’s do the trip to Tibooburra we had thought about for some time. I had previously contacted Mavis at the roadhouse who had sent a copy of Jim Fosters book. We arrived on June 3rd after overnight stays at Dareton and Packsaddles. We set up camp 4kms east of town near NuggetyGully. 3 days of total silence except for the flies and beautiful days and freezing nights. 2 small nuggets 10mtrs from camp total tally 0.5grms 20minutes after setting up camp was all we got. Beautiful scenery and roads in top condition all the way there (5kms of dirt) thoroughly enjoyable week. Nuggets were 0.37 and 0.13 using Whites GMT.
Cheers blackbird

Great photos Dave/Veronica,
The huge gum reminds me of Marshall Pool minus the water.

Christ I miss those flies!

Thanks all for the feedback on current conditions art Tibooburra. One question I'd love to know the answer to, is whether or not the Warri gate will be opened post 12 July or whether we need to take the long way around, crossing the border at Goondiwindi?
If anybody has been chatting to the local constabulary, I'd love to know the answer. (and I'm guessing the answer will be that it'll remain locked)

Thanks in advance.