Laanecoorie 2012 Wrap Up

Hi All,

Well another Laanecoorie passes and what a success it was.

From the Forum Management which I'm part of, I thank all who attended, you all are such a pleasure to be associated with, friendly, fun and all of you have the passion of Gold. We have set a new attendance record with just over 100 people ( 101 for the purists ) that attended in all or part of the weekend.

From Elsie and myself a very big warm thank you in helping us raise just over $4,500.00 in cash for the Royal Children's Hospital, a very close personal cause to both of us. It is allot of work pre and post this event, but to raise that type of money it is all worth every late night.

There are a few individual people I must also publicly thank,

Wombat ( Bill ) as if it was not for his efforts we would not have had half the prizes we had. Also his willingness to pass on his knowledge of prospecting was just fantastic and very much appreciated.

Goldnomad ( Robert ) Again this is a person that gave up his time to come on over and help out on Saturday at the test pit. I sat in on Robert's talk and was very impressed and I'm sure all who attended his talk gained valuable knowledge from it.

Big Fella ( Tom ) Thanks mate for all you help over the entire weekend including being responsible for many sore heads on Friday, Saturday & Sunday mornings??????

Golden ( Enio ), Goldminer997 ( Sean ) & Ararat ( Paul ) For all you help leading up to and over the weekend, with out you it would not have happened.

GoldDiggerDave ( David ) For taking the time to attend on Friday night and for all your support.

John Gladdis & Tony Mills for attending on Saturday night and providing us all with some great stories of the good old days.

Geoff Strang for putting on your PMAV hat and attending on Saturday night.

Desertgeorge ( George ) for your very informative talk on mapping and electronics ( sorry about the projector ).

All those wonderful sponsors that donated their time and or prizes that allowed us to raise $4,500, I still cannot believe what we have raised.

Morris, Gully Hunter ( Glen )& The Golden Child ( Manny ) for allowing us the privileged of releasing the " Morris Reef " DVD

Now a very special thanks to Robyn, Jim and their staff for making our stay in the park an absolute pleasure. They have spent many many hours preparing for this and without them it would almost be impossible to hold an event like we have just experienced.

To Jim for all his efforts outside the park, the tour on Sunday and the organisation of John & Tony to be there on Saturday night.


I have included below, the information that will be passed onto the media in the coming days and weeks. I will also post up all the photos I have taken into the Photos Area on the forum.

There is much talk about a camping weekend to be held later this year, nothing like this weekend, just a weekend of good old fashioned detecting so keep your eyes out.

Mariner3800



The Gold Detecting & Prospecting Forum

Laanecoorie Bash 2012

This years Laanecorie Bash was held over the weekend of the 25,26 &27 of May at the Laanecoorie Lake Side Park and attended by well over 100 people which was more than double from last year. Members ranged from absolute Newbess with no prospecting experience or equipment right through to seasoned Gold junkies with 30 plus years of experience and boots full of coils, detector and maps.

The weekend is run on the same principles as our Forum and that is to pass on and share knowledge that has taken many years and thousands of hours to obtain, onto like-minded people who enjoy prospecting, meeting new people and form long and lasting friendships.
The weekend kicked off on Friday night with nibbles and drinks supplied by Laanecoorie Lake Side Park and then followed by a welcome address with an out-line of the weekends activities & proceedings. The night was filled with friendly discussions, renewing old relationships and making new ones.

Bendigo Gold’s owner David Watters came across to demonstrate the new Minelab CTX-3030 detector to members and talk about its applications and function for coin and relic hunting. This was followed by the international release & screening of a new prospecting DVD call Morris’s Reef. A locally made & produced adventure of finding of a gold reef in the ‘ Golden Triangle “ and subsequently removal of the gold and how the founder and his mates went about it.

Saturday started with a very long convoy leaving the Park and heading out to the Laanecoorie test pit where we broke up into smaller groups for some tuition on detectors, how to tune them and general detecting & prospecting information. This was followed by members actually using and tuning their detectors to test their skills on targets that had been placed into the test holes, with some very interesting results obtained.
From the test pit members dispersed into smaller groups and headed out to try their new found skills in the gold fields. I’m please to advise that there is still gold in the Triangle with some great finds for the day.

Grumpy57 was kind enough to set up this sluice at Waanyarra and invite those members interested in sluicing and panning down to try it. With 30-40 pieces found in a couple of hours the participants were very happy and keen to expand their knowledge.
Saturday night’s events were kicked off with a static display by some prospecting suppliers and the PMAV, the organization set up so that prospectors and miners have a united voice when talking to Government. This was followed by a wonderful Hot Roast Dinner provided by Robyn Stuart and her band of helpers.

Desert George then gave a very informative discussion on prospecting in the modern times, using technologies such as Google Maps, Oz Explorer and the internet. This was followed by a panel type forum that was made up of Tony Mills ( Gold Search Australia ), John Gladdis ( Coiltek Maryborough ) & Jim Stewart ( Laanecoorie Lakeside Park ). Collectively these 3 have over 100 years of prospecting knowledge between then which made for some great discussion topics, from remembering the prospecting days of the 70’s & 80’s through to the modern day detectors and the tools we have available now. It was a night full of laughs, history and stories of absolute amazement, which then continued on around the fire places outside until the wee hours of the morning.

Saturday night’s formalities finished off with a monster raffle & conclusion of the silent auctions. All prizes were donated by sponsors of the event and we raised over $4,500.00 for the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal, an outstanding effort by all. Prizes ranged from 12 Day trips to WA, Minelab Detectors, an assortment of Coiltek coils & Accessories, Picks, Pans, Accommodation, Training Tours, Nugget Finder Coils, Prospecting Equipments, Maps, Shirts, Hats, Gift Vouchers, Subscriptions & magazines. All up we had over 200 prizes to give away and I’m sure all participants walked away with a prize or two.

Sunday started off with a 2 hour tour, of the Lannecoorie gold fields lead by well know local identity & prospector Jim Stewart. We visited such places as the site of the Poseidon Gold Rush, Nick Of Time Lead, Poverty Reef Tarnagulla & the Morton’s Hotel Waanyarra. This tours consisted of explanations of what actually took place in these areas, the gold that was extracted and the size of the gold fields and its history. All who attended certainly came away with a different view of the area and the history associated with it
The afternoon was then left to members to head out into the gold fields and try their luck and I think there are a few lucky ones still roaming the area for another 2-3 weeks.

The money raised for the RCHGFA would not have been made possible without the full unconditional support of the following sponsors, Founding Sponsor Of this event, Coiltek Manufacturing SA, Kambah Car Care ACT, Nuggets From Down Under Mudgee, Nugget Finder Coils, Gold Gem & Treasure Magazine, Aussie Detecting Echuca, Sunraysia Vegetation Management, Laanecoorie Lake Side Park, The Gold Detecting & Relics Company Of Australia Clunes, Gold Search Australia Dunolly, Jonathan Porter & The Out Back Prospector, Jim & Robyn Stewart, Coiltek Maryborough, Bendigo Gold & Minelab Australia

More information on the weekend, pictures and stories can be found on our Gold Detecting & Prospecting Forum https://golddetecting.forumotion.net

Mariner3800

Congratulations on a top effort Peter, Enio and company. It is a real credit to you.
A huge thank you to Jim and Robyn Stewart for their marathon efforts too.

Now... have you started planning next year's event yet. Well... GET CRACKING!

Thanks Robert,

It made it easy having quality people around and helping, as for next year I have you name on top of my list so I will be in touch.

Any members that would like to get involved with next years Bash please let me know as it has grown to a size where we need a committee and be able to deligate the different events.

Peter

Peter , you and all the others you mentioned are to be commended for a good weekend
well done
cheers dave

there will be a thousand words written about the weekend, so all i will say is........ great people , great stories, great weekend......thanks everyone who was there...cheers

What a fantastic weekend, it was great to catch up with everyone and pick up some valuable information,
A big thank you to Peter and all the crew, your hard work in organising this event is truly appreciated by all who attended, and Jim you are a living legend.

Thanks
Golden Slumbers

Thanks Peter and everyone involved organising the weekend.

Thanks to the sponsors for the fantastic prizes.

Had a top weekend in great company and ended up picking up 10 for 1.9 Grams.



Cheers DINGO

Hi everyone just my quick report on a fantasic weekend and how I saw it. I arrived at Laanecoorie caravan park on Thursday at about 10am and there was hardly a soul around. Bigfella (Tom) came and introduced him self. What a nice bloke he is . While I was setting up the caravan my old mate Flyspeck (Garry) turned up. He was heading up the hill into the non-powered sites to set up a tent for the weekend. After all that, the 3 of us headed out for a detect to a spot that Bigfella had his eyes on for a while but never detected. We kept at it until the clouds closed in and it started to rain and it didn't stop until about 11am the next day. Thursday night was not the only thing that got wet, the 3 of us also got a bit wet, from the inside, as well, starting of with Kentucky Bourbon with our tea, then finishing of 2 bottles of Red Wine, 2 bottles of Port, some Beers and some sort of Rocket Fuel that Bigfella called Red Label Stones Green Ginger Wine. This stuff was so potent that I'm thinking of using it to clean my nuggets in instead of Hydrochloric Acid Friday morning I awoke with a head that only a Mother could have loved and the way I felt, she was welcome to it. But one good thing was, the rain had stopped and the sky was clearing. In the arvo I set up my Highbanker for a static display in the dining room and then helped Peter and Elsie get everything ready for that night. During the day there were members moving in, with vans, tents, and into on site cabins, including Flyspeck as he got washed out of his tent during the night and had to sleep in his truck
At about 5.30pm things started to kick off with Peter welcoming everyone and thanked our sponsors for their great donations. Then we got stuck into nibblies of cheese,cabana, bickies and all sorts of party pies. There was that much that most of us treated it more like tea than nibblies, including myself. All complements of our gracious host Jim and Robyn that own the park. "Thanks Guys" After nibblies David from Bendigo Gold deminstrated the new Minelad CTX3030. Boy what a great coin and relic machine. David was saying that he has not had the chance yet to see if it can pick up gold, as it only came out about 3 weeks ago. Then we had the opportunity to sit down and watch segments of the new 2.5hr DVD, Morris Reef. Well done boys. I bought one so I would have something to watch on a rainy day. The night finished early for me as I was still trying to get over the night before
Saturday we woke to a bright day and met at the front gate at 8.30am for a trip to the test patch. There would have had to be between 50 to 60 body's turning up with cars parked very were to the extent that it would have put a shopping centre car pack to shame. Goldminer997 (Sean) shown us all the different aspects of coils and there uses. Good bit of learning there mate for newbies and oldies alike including myself. Well done. We then all broke up into different party's, depending on what machine you were using. I took the members with Extreme's and GP3000's, and what a pleasure it was. I hoped they learnt something that will get them on to the yellow stuff.
In the afternoon it was mainly designed for everyone to get out and try and put into practise what they learnt that morning. Bigfella, I, and I think his call sign was Rangirock went to a spot that Bigboy said he had found gold before, but no gold for me that day. But I suppose it do's not help when you are walking around swing away thinking "this ground is nice and quiet with very little junk" and you then realise that you must have knocked your detector into "counsel". And just that morning I was teaching others how to use and set up their detectors properly
Saturday night kicked of with a banquet of fine food of Roast Beef, Carrots, Peas, Greens and Potatoes done in their jacket, rapped tin foil and all covered with a nice beef gravy sauce All thanks to our hosts again and for only $12.50 you could not go wrong. "Thanks again Guys" Geoff Strang from Prospecting Supplies then gave us all an informative talk after tea on the history and the reason why we should all belong to the PMAV, and by doing so, would help them, with our membership fees, so they can keep fighting for our right as our fore fathers did at Eureka, keeping our gold fields open for generations to come. Then after that informative talk we had Desertgeorge also keeping us on track, so to speek, with info on the technical aspects of Oz-Explorer, the internet and GP's. Very interesting stuff mate and a real help for the modern day prospector. Then came one of the main high lights of the night, a pannel of the 3 Wise men. Tony Mills, John Gladdis and Jim Stuart. These 3 chaps have been around since detectors first came out in Australia to the extent that I think they arrived on Noah's Ark with detectors in hand. With lots of laughs and information given on the why's, where's and has beens of detecting, it made it a light hearted but enjoyable panel. Thanks Guys. Great job. Then came the main reason for our sponsors coming on board, the raffles and silent actions. With over 200 items up for grabs that raised over $4500 for the Royal Childrens Hospital it was a great effit by all. I even known people buying a $100 worth of raffle ticks. How generous is that "Thank You" Some people came away with one or two prizes and others had luck on their side and won many prizes, to the extent that they were giving them away or throwing their winnings to the bystanders who had no luck. That's what I call "un-selfish people". Give your selves a pack on the back. "Thanks" But if it was not for our Sponsors and their open hearted generousity the Royal Children's Hospital and the Children that attend their clinics may have miss out on some very important treatments. So I Thank You and the Children "Thank You". This brought our long night to a close with everything finishing at about 12.30am Sunday morning.
Next day again we were to meet at the front gates of the park for a pleasant 2hr trip around the local gold fields with Jim Stuart at the reins for an early start but this time about 9.30. With everyone biting at the bit to get going, and all we had to do was to wait for Jim to tune up. But pore old Jim was suffering from some sort of body disorder type hang over. I think he may have met Bigfella and his Rocket Fuel the night before. But being a trooper as Jim is, he lead a great convey of cars and 4X4's out the gate and down the road. Along dirt tracks where the farmers may have being thinking of putting a road toll on the road and make some money for them selves by the number of cars going passed. They would not have seen this many in a month. Dodging stray cows and barking dogs we got to see some very interesting places, including old mines and some very wealthy leads, in there hay days. An old pub at Waanyarra were I think Jim use to drink at one time as a young lad. He also showed us how to read the lay of the land and were to look for gold in any given area, something I got a lot of info from. You never stop learning in this game. This was the last of the main agenda's for the weekend as many had to get back home to start (that horrible word) work on Monday morning. but some of us stayed on and had a detect in the afternoon. So Bigfella again took a few of us Gents and a couple of the fairer sex to "The Secret Spot" 3 nugget were found that afternoon and the first to snag one was one of the ladys and she was a newbie to top it off. "Well Done" I was lucky to snag a 0.6gm for the weekend. And one of the other chaps got one as well."Good Going."
Monday was departure day for me, so after saying my goodbyes I headed back home with caravan it tow. But what a great weekend with great people, great sponsors, and a great lot of knowledge shared. Next year I'm sure it will be as good or even better that this one But before I sign off I would personally like to thank Peter & his wife Elsie, Jim & Robyn, The 3 Wise Men, our Sponsors,and all the other crew members that helped and gave their time and knowledge to make this one of the greatest weekend that I've had for a long time "THANK YOU ALL!!!"
So much for a quick report
wombat

nicely said wombat .... and to dingo, well done on finding some nuggets

Thanks for everyone involved.I definitely enjoyed the weekend and was nice to catch up with new and some old faces.
Great report there from Peter and Wombat and some nice photos from Paul (Ararat).
It was a pleasure to be involved and spend few days doing what we love.
Have a great personal setisfaction to be part of the fantastic group and to be able to rise some money for our World class children hospital.
Will make a little bit more effort for next year and get some extra sponsors for the Bash.

Thanks for attending and making the event fantastic experience.
Would also like to thank wifes behind the every great men on the weekend as without them lot of things wouldn't happen.

Thanks to our hosts Jim and Robyn for providing memorable weekend,all sponsors and everyone involved who made this great event possible.
Wishing all new members and new prospectors/detectorist luck in goldfields.

FOR THE NEXT MEET LAANECOORIE 2013:

I will sponsor Laanecoorie 2013 Friday evening get together BBQ =Will kick the night for a next meet and will organize the BBQ for everyone in Community Hall.Will support some local butchers and bakeries (maybe from Dunolly) so we return some hospitality for fantastic people who make Golden Triangle pleasant experience for us.Your job will be to turn up and bring the drinks for yourself and have fun.


GoldEN

For all those Laanecoorie participants who wanted Desertgeorge to post all the info on the what he discussed, well here is the link to it all,


https://golddetecting.forumotion.net/t9320-buying-a-gps-a-laanecoorie-follow-up

Enjoy

Peter

G'Day All
What can one say,Great weekend and a big thanks to every one for supporting such a great outing,it has grown so large in a short time for all the right reasons and makes me wonder what is going to happen next year,its gunna rock,keep focussed and will catch up with a lot of members bettween now and next years get together.
Tom

Hi All

This is a photo Nugget sent through from the weekend.



Peter
Mariner3800

That's a very nice nugget there Peter Mariner3800, what did it weigh and thanks for sharing.

Cheers.

Mike.

Hi Mike,

Not sure I will get Nugget ( Who found it ) to let you all know, I only gave him a hand in loading it up

Pete

Thanks for that Peter will keep an eye out on it.

Cheers.

Mike.

PS congrats to Nugget as well.

Thanks peter for posting pic.Yes Mike54 The larger one 5.5 grms found at Talbot last year,and the smaller one is 0.25 found at Lannecoorie weekend

Howdy,
Good to see some colour found from the weekend.

A big thanks to mariner3800 & missus, goldminer997, golden, ararat, wombat, Jim & Robyn and the other 2 wise men, desertgeorge etc.
i hope i didn't miss anyone?!

To all the sponsors, your genorosity was great to see, a big thank you.
I ended up with a external GME speaker from Nuggets Down Under (thanks Kim/Linc), some wine (not sure who put those in) A Coiltek beer cosy & hat, a necklace plus more.

Was good to meet a bunch of members and I think a week could be in order next time instead of just a long weekend.

Cheers, FF