Barrington River and area around it.

Hi guys i am a total newbie to fossiking and was plannning on trying my luck at panning for gold in the barrington river and creeks around there as well. I am hoping to spend a few days up there and also near copeland. Does anyone have any usefull info that might help me as it seem so daunting starting out. I do know how to pan and have watched umteen vids on how to but there is nothing much on where to lol. Any info is greatly appreciated as i live in the newcastle area and have two weeks to kill.

G'day
Copeland is off limits these days and the surrounding area does have gold but was famous for reefs more than alluvial so access and good areas can be hard to get. IMHO you may be better going a bit up the road to Nundle if you are new to it all as you will get better results
Again, just my humble opinion

Hi MR-COMFY,
CHIMPY is right on the money regarding the Gloucester, Copeland and Barrington areas.
He also mentioned Nundle as being a better bet, A couple of us were up there for a few days before the country music invasion really got into gear.
The Peel river downstream of the Nundle caravan park, a great place to stay by the way, down to Bowlingally Point is well worth a try with the pan.
A couple of things you should be aware of though; the area up there may have some flood issues with this current rain activity.
Secondly, State Fisheries and to some degree the Mines Department are not really happy with the way the river bed and banks have been dug out by prospectors, there is a NEW sign on the gate to the river in the caravan park drawing would-be prospectors attention to the rules and regulations that apply to said hobby and the penalties if you step out of line.
If you are not up on the above rules etc look-up the DPI site and then under the prospecting sub menu for all the information.
Hope the above is of some help.
Cheers, AUoptimist.
PS Keep an eye out for snakes and leaches, there is no shortage of either of them, one of the mates had a rather irate red bellied black snake swim between his legs and pan in the river; you recon JC was the only one to walk on water.

Wow thanx for the info guys.. Because of the weather and the rain everywhere north and west is flooded lol. I will now have nundle in my sites for the future
I am heading down to the shoal haven and west from there, more for a road trip with the wife than for a propper fossik. I have seen heaps of vids on the river down there and i got a tip off a mate about a little feeder creek with a nice high bank and some good craggy bedrock
I am on the hunt for a sluice at the moment but dont know if there are any place where i can get one fairly cheap except ebay in the us and have to pay $100 bucks for postage.

G'day
If you are heading south from Newie, you could swing by the Miners Den in Sydney and check out their sluices

Cheers

Chimpy