Steiglitz 1st outing

Hello all, new to Oz and new to detecting. Gold fever struck me last month I hadn't even thought of it before I got here.
Just wanted to give you all a laugh, a snigger, or an "I could have told you that" moment.
I bought a goldsnoop pro last thursday and planned to get to a goldfield if it arrived by Saturday- good planning!.
It didn't arrive, and as I was off Monday I was praying for it to arrive early.
11.30 I signed for a box, assembled it without even looking had a quick read of the beepbeep ding and dah sounds, and shot off to Bunnings in my Ford falcon to buy a trowel and a small pick. By shortly after 2 p.m. I was parked up at Stony Creek, after researching the proper place to have a poke around.
It took a good ten minutes to stop detecting the metal in my safety boots and after three hours of seemingly endless beeping and after about 8 holes dug around and among the water i found three pieces of old iron barbed wire a bucket bottom and a small keyhole plate from and old box.I filled every little impression back in, as i've read. I soon figured out i wasn't going to learn much about how to use it in what looks like a well trodden path. I picked up every can, bottle and packet i found and was disappointed to see a bit too much litter.
I was happy to find something old though adding a bit to the atmosphere, a beautiful place and so glad i got out there to see it.The light was changing so I knew to go home soon
I then slipped and fell a few feet landed on rock broke my phone and little finger with a three inch gash in my leg.
As I struggled to recover I felt I was not on my own and looked up to see a small mob of kangaroos were peering down at me as if to say have a look at this nutter. A bit more spooked that the light was going I struggled up a rise in the direction I thought my car was and ended up more than 500 meters up the road before the bend in to the peppercorn place. I walked even quicker all the way back to the church to get off home.
Still sore today at my job especially with a snapped digit. Funny thing is though I loved it battered and cut i didn't care the country is breathtaking, I just have to remember to look where my feet are going.
I promised all my mates at work I'm gonna find gold, so I have to, and they are already taking the piss proper in a fun way.
If you've all seen that show that's been on "an idiot abroad", that's me I'm from Salford Manchester so talk like him and to be honest get where he's coming from most of the time.I'm not shy of having a go and so I had a funny thought maybe some of you experienced guys might want to send me off to a spot and I could tell you the next week what happened.
I've been reading and know I can't go there but as i can see the you yang hill top from my house I just want to run up it and dig like mad.
SO the long and the short of it is i'm going to be patient and find a new spot within 1 hour or so drive of Wyndham vale every week that I can and try again and again and again until I dig up a yellow lump.
Dolly creek looks do-able next Sunday if the weather and the missus is willing.I have never given up on anything so can't wait to report my first find.
Good news though, despite all the injuries I did find gold on Saturday without my detector.
Unbelievable but true, I was printing off the miner's right in a library shut my eyes while the slow bandwidth caught up and opened them to spot a 20 gram 18 karat gold bangle staring back at me tucked behind the p.c.
Signs???? I thought so. but maybe it was a sign to go find Jewellery at the beach and forget dreams of nuggets.
Any tips on localized crown or open land close to Baccus Marsh where I can go and not worry about upsetting a landowner or forest ranger would be gratefully received, I am after all the 100 years to late idiot abroad who's gonna keep running into the hills.
Good on you all who read this far- my new Aussie mates are all ace, and i'm loving it even without the weather, been here six months .I think you'll suss me out if you meet me out there, I sound a bit thick apparently, and i'll probably be the one being chased by a Roo or an Emu or climbing out of an old shaft i didn't see.
Cheers Steve

GDAY STEVE
welcome to OORSTRAALIA
good scratchin
cheers the speciman

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Thanks for the advice goldstalker, its good to know i'm not that far driving away from Ballarat and the likes of Meredith. I saw some advice on the forums to just consider land that's fenced off limits but that would seem to include a hell of a lot.If I don't try dollies creek i'll try to find out where around Meredith it is permitted, and i'll look up the exact places south of Ballarat. A good bit of research seems like a real time saver.I'm just keen to walk and feel free from interruption and knowing i'm okay to be there.
I think i read of Steiglitz it is only permitted for 200m south of the bridge, so its probably not worth the trip for the serious, and designed to encourage recreational visitors as it is a historic site of significance and a designated park.
Similar with the You Yangs its not permitted anywhere anyway as it is a state park and aboriginal site,and its still shut officially. I am worried now though as I knew all about the bunyip and was ready for that bad boy but the dropbear I had to google :affraid:now I'll be looking up even more I will need a spotter just for my feet
Thanks specimen can't wait to learn how to scratch properly there's gold for me somewhere here
can't wait to find it. Still feeling like the idiot abroad but thanks for the encouragement.
Steve

GDAY STEVE
youll be right mate sounds like ya got a sence of humour and a desire to be in the bush well done
good scratchin
cheers the speciman

Been a while, But please skip to the end if you can help!!!
But I was right the bug won't go away.When it's okay to get out i'm off and running. No gold yet but one day I will.
I did go to the creek at steiglitz again because I couldn't find Dollies creek ( is it on the Meredith/Ballan road anyone? ). NO injuries or tales to tell, just more uncertainty about what all the beeping means, and nothing dug up.
On the 3rd and 4th trips I found Slaty creek at Creswick easy enough. First time at Slaty creek i enjoyed the company of trail bikes but quite liked people being around as it goes. I found a bullet and again not much else to talk about. Rained quite heavy on and off on my return 4th visit but I enjoyed that walk a little more though I became convinced I wouldn't know good gold ground if someone lead me to it pointed and said dig there.I brought homes some reddish coloured rocks that react quite well to the detector are they ironstone?? maybe?.
Undeterred. visit 5 saw me following some of your advice when i ended up in Ross creek and drove in to Enfield forest and found and old tow bar cans and bottle tops. At the end of the trip though I came across the Jubilee mines quite by accident had a walk around read all the signs and got a feel for just how much digging there has been and on what scale.
Took heed also that there is no fossicking on Historic sites and wouldn't dream of not following the rules.
Trip 6 took me back to Monkey gully and Watson's Hill armed with a gold field map showing the old gully diggings I bought on the net.
I reckon when i saw the extent of earth moved at Watson's hill and some quite deep and dangerous looking pits that have been sunk I felt closer to gold here than at any time before.

Here's the thing I've read plenty on the forums about newbies asking for quick fixes that aren't there, this much i get,there aren't any quick fixes and the next nugget could be anywhere ( behind a school house in Kingower ).
I would love some advice about good gold ground if anyone can sum it up and i've read plenty. I do feel that walking around in forest isn't right and I have yet to walk in the scrub,with fields and low hills with a good view, this all seems fenced.
I would also like to know where you can get to Dollies creek, if someones reading.

MY main question is advice on not getting lost.
on my 5th trip i got lost in just a few hundred meters at Monkey gully with my head down waving about off I shot and realised too late I couldn't re-trace.I only found my car again after what seemed a long hour or so, and even then I felt very lucky even finding a road again. Honestly I got scared that what was at the back of my mind, getting lost, was now actually going to happen. The silence and changing light reminded me to seriously think about what i'm doing when I got home.
NOW I know i've got the gold bug, but my sense of humour got sorely tested when after finding a great place like Watson's Hill late in the day with all it's diggings and "potential" I did it again.I was amazed by the holes in the ground but was at more ease because the trail bikers were there again. So after waving around again and wandering off but still hearing the bikes I didn't pay much attention to where I was. I had parked next to a really tall mobile phone mast and thought miss that landmark if you can.
Light was changing and the mossies were out so late afternoon means home time. I turned around and thought I was back where I started only to find it wasn't the same red earthed embankment and the bikers were quiet.
I couldn't believe I hadn't learned such an important lesson in the space of a few hours. I stomped around for 15 mins but soon found the site wasn't that big and found my way back up but as for seeing a phone mast through the trees, no chance.The trees are so disorientating.
Seriously any advice on not getting lost so I do get home to the missus would be greatly appreciated.
I'm worried enough about snake season coming to be buying gum boots next time, but wandering off seems like my biggest problem!
Thought i'd report back in and ask for some advice . I'm not going away any time soon and as i've said your beautiful country has got me good and even though i'm mad to dig up some gold, i'm very easily distracted by the unbelievable scenery.Hope I don't die in the hills but if i had to it looks like god's country to me.
Cheers Steve

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Hey Goldstalker thanks for the reply and the heads up with dollies creek I understand why I missed it now but I might do a couple of trips over the next few weeks as it is nearer than where i've been recently. Forest road looks like it gets me there.
Yes gps is coming for father's day as my son can't believe i'm off wandering around without even a phone sometimes.
Will I find gold? yes I think I will. When is a different matter and I don't mind about the wait. All the ground is good and just can't wait until i'm off again.Hope it's this weekend

Hi Steve, I luv yer accent mate

3 good places for newbies Waanyarra, Waanyarra, Waanyarra

Google it mate - just reading about the place is a buzz.

cheers ... Onebob

Hi Steve, 3 more good places for newbies The Whipstick, The Whipstick, The Whipstick.

Get a entry level GPS to track your movements or if you have an iPhone get a navigation App ie one that leads you back to your car in a car park is perfect. Beawre that The Whipstick is very, very dis-orientating but lots of tiny nuggies are still being found in there though. Get onto GEOVIC learn how to use it and use the Regolith Layer to guide your prospecting in the Whipstick, your 10th nuggie is mine okay!

good luck ... Onebob

Onebob

R.E. navigation.
The sun and moon and stars are also a big help

Best of luck Steve, and good post/replies.

Billy wrote:R.E. navigation.
The sun and moon and stars are also a big help

Great stuff onebob
Funny you have mentioned the whipstick north of Eaglehawk and Waanyarra just south of Tarnagulla.
Both places have been recommended by new work mates and both old timers (neither gold detectorists)

So I even type in a pommie accent as well what a bummer all my forkie mates think I sound as thick as and that I'm totally nuts running around forests with no phone blankets flares etc etc.
Night and day i'm thinking about the buzz i'm gonna get digging up yellow and of course typing my victory on here in my best English accent.(( oh and dumping a big lump of unwashed gold on the canteen table at work)).

AND if I ever have to use the moon and stars to find my way home I know the games up with the missus

I did find the geovic early days but couldn't understand how to get the geology on it. - now your recommending i'm having another go at it right now.
There is gold for me and you'd be welcome to my tenth nugget or a slab if that's greater.

Cheers all Pomme Steve

Billy wrote:R.E. navigation.
The sun and moon and stars are also a big help

Best of luck Steve, and good post/replies.

tried that once fishing on open water, it just lead us to rocks and sand bars as the tide had gone out too much, had to sleep in the boat and wait for daylight.

cheers

koeh

NO pics yet i'm sorry, still trying to clean my bits of rock up with household stuff to dissolve away amalgums. Pomme is back online after quite a while but I never stopped looking.
Trust me they are not very big stuff but gold color keeps shinning through.
Yep I did dollies creek lots of times and met a couple of guys who were repeat attenders which I thought was interesting why would they keep going back??
A guy from Perth with his two boys showed me the color in his pan that he had earned over two days without much effort so I tried the panning quite a bit. But with buckets,pans spades detectors my tools i'm hauling around are growing.
I'm still going to go to Ballarat for the sovereign hill tour and see if I can learn how to be patient with the pan.
I did notice though it hurts the old back and knees a bit more.
I couldn't find any panning and got a bit bored with it to be honest.Kangaroos kept me entertained again, apart from a very close encounter with the biggest fella who came around a tree saw me leaning on my spade and at two meters away he didn't look chuffed I was there. He skipped in an instant to the side and shot off nearly backwards up the hill round another tree and his whole mob followed from their evening drink, all eyeballing me real close as they shot passed. Even armed with a spade I didn't move and that was probably the best thing to do.

Had a few weeks off and then got to talking to someone in a bar as you do. Incredibly he told me that he knew of gold being found on his land and i was welcome to go and see if I could get some.
Lots of my problems have been walking too far, getting lost and not concentrating on smaller pieces of ground.
So to be on a plot fenced in so I couldn't get lost was brilliant.
No long stories I promise.
But i fought my way through some pretty harsh scrub to get down to a river/creek which was quite high with water. I noticed after all that effort i couldn't get down the steep sided last few feet so had to turn back up the hill. Ouch that hurt a lot. But I got back down the hill on a gentler slope which led to low sided banks with access to not so deep water.
With the lay of the land I had left his property and crossed to Crown land which was okay as I couldn't stray with a river like that as a barrier.
Lovely sunny day with a dodgy noisy koala up in the high trees competing with the cockatoos. I didn't wait rolled up my trousers and tried not to picture leeches, cut feet etc. and got in.
Within one minute - you all know that sound - unlike all other noises I had been getting on my humble little gold snoop ($275 dollars delivered). There it was a clear note. And after sifting very carefully the rocks at the bottom I knew I had it in my hand a lump of amalgamated funny colored rock that sung.
I couldn't see the gold but I just knew
I am going to find more gold and days like this one is why I will.
Can't touch that feeling, and now I KNOW WHAT I'VE BEEN READING ALL ABOUT!!!!
It binged again as I saw my bucket and sieve thing fall from the bank and float off down the river so I couldn't get it back.Who cares I thought I don't like that panning anyway. The second small lump of a thing I pulled out looked a bit like a crushed rim of a tin can and again I couldn't work this one out, but it felt metallic and wouldn't bend. This one is shining some gold color up through the salt and vinegar too.
Now i've found it the gold what to do, quit my job?- get a tent? - do it full time?. All the blokes at work have stopped the bagging after my stories of detecting my steel capped boots first time out. A couple have half invited themselves out on my next day trip, and a few said i told you so its out there.

I have read plenty on these forums for all the newbies out there. Its all great advice but if you enjoy seeing the land and animals the way I do you should be getting richer EVERY TIME you go out. Gold will come if you believe it.
It has for me, not a lot yet, but it's mine for keeps I thinks, and I will have to still work for a living, I know that.

Still haven't got a GPS ( silly sod ) I might yet die in the hills, I need a phone, roadside cover, a big hat for not burning the old head, and to remember to take some food and water.Trouble is come the day I know i'm going to escape I turn into a kid again and shoot off into the distance.
Where to go next????
You'd all say back to the same place i'm sure, but I don't know about that, i'm feeling lucky know, and it could be anywhere.
It just occurred to me the question I would ask if I had read this WHERE did you find the gold ???? - In true tradition I can't tell you that but it wasn't where near the G.T. - perhaps I've found my own G.T.
To all you boys - cheers
still love the place and can I be an Aussie now please!!
Pommeis100yrslate

Priceless, absolutely priceless is that narrative! .... and you survived the encounter with the "boomer" t'boot!

I feel your excitement and if you ever tire of prospecting you could well make a living writing rollicking yarns, there's talent there......

thank you

onebob

pommeis100yrslate wrote:still love the place and can I be an Aussie now please!!
Pommeis100yrslate

Bloody oath Mate >> your in

Enjoyable read shagger

Cheers
ARARAT

hey I'm new to this site and new too prospecting i went down to steiglitz this past weekend in search of gold with a gpx4500 I'm living in tarneit so if your looking for company some day on a weekend your going prospecting let me know

G'Day
Wayno Welcome aboard please check regulations for a very limited area at Steiglitz don't want to see anyone in trouble.
Big Fella.

G'day pommeis100yrslate (Steve) I'm an Aussie sheila ... Kate ... sounds like you're learning to be an Aussie bloke

Rarely do I read and re-read a series of posts, but yours really "cracked me up" ... what a bewdy ... good on yer mate

Seriously though ... you really put a "smile on ma dial" ... I really enjoyed the read, and could imagine the entire episodes in my minds eye! Now THAT's GOLD

Thanks big fella my partners mum actually owns some land down there so I thought I'd have a look there first to see what it was like

G'Day
Go get it, i am from Geelong but thought most gold there is deep and nuggety so check mullock heaps other gold was very fine for panning,Either way there was a lot found so all the best low and slow and it is yours
Big Fella.

All I found were lots of little bullets and old fence wire although there was a heap of quartz around none of it set off the detector I was thinking of doin the bendigo goldfields experience to learn a bit bit more has anyone here been on it if so was it any good