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Gday People,
Its amazing how the mid week weather can be great leading up to a trip away,yet as your packing the Car,it always seems to go Cactus
This last weekend started no different.
Heading over the Blue Mountains we were met with Heavy Sleet around Mt Wilson which turned to a Gale Force driven Blizzard between Bell and Lithgow.
The Snow flakes were huge and it was near white out around the Zig Zag Railway. Hairy driving conditions indeed
Arrived at the Cockies place around 9.30 and it was patchy light rain. Old mate stuck his head out the front door and said" We have had about 35mm of rain in 12hrs,and its bluddy freezing,you Blokes are keen!"
And that we were!
Quick Tarp set up and swags rolled out,my mate jumped into his and left me to get the fire going.....NICE. Any of you who have ever spent alot of time out bush will know how hard it is to get a fire going when everything is saturated. No fire starters for this Little Black Duck,but I Had it Cranking after about 40 mins of hard work and Bush Craft.
I could pretty much tell straight away there had been a fair drop of rain by the roaring sound the creek was making in the distance,fun times as it meant we were going to be wading across in the dark sometime in the AM.
Up at 4am and on our way by 5am,we navigated the creek doing the Numb foot shuffle,up Hidden Valley and into the headwaters of Secret Creek via Headlamp. You may think we are Crazy,but I cant get away that often,so we make use of our time well.
Everything was either Soaked,Sloppy or plain Top Cake Moisty,with a high Squelch factor underfoot.
Went up and started where I left off the Previous trip,hoping the run would continue or maybe I was just clumsy last time and missed a few. Well,missed a few I did! seemed I didnt trace the run properly and started pinging them near some Blackberry bushes. Working around I could see the direction the Gold had come down a previous water course,as all the nuggets were lining up in a 5mtr wide run that lined up perfectly with some workings about 100mtrs further up the valley.
The ground got deeper once I crossed some rock bars up hill,so the Gold was out of range of the Coiltek 10 x 5 Joey Mono. Still,managed to pick up a few here and there on the Mullock of test holes or inamongst rock piles from the surfacing.
With all the rain,the Hot Rocks were playing up bad. I`d say the rising salt with the surface water had impregnated them and some were really singing on the 4000. Ended up with about 18 bits for the day with a total of just over 2.5 grms.
Day 2 dawned a cracker, and ended up being fairly warm in the arvo. I worked about the area picking up bits of trash,lead shot and a nugget here and there. My mate was doing as well as me,and we both got fairly good wages for a weekend of swinging.
The amount of Ounces that must have come out of this place is daunting,as we have been going there for over 8 yrs and still manage a fair few each time.

The Biggest bit is .79 and the next biggest .51 so it gives you an idea of how small some of those little ones are.
Total weight was 5.87 grams Un-cleaned.

That's great mate , what can I say
The weather cleared up , you had a great time with good company . and found some nice nice gold as well
And as usual you put up a great story to go with the weekend

Well done

Well done nice pick up on a cold week end, It all ads up for a good pay day.
Cheers bren.

Good on you Gus. You & your mate were well rewarded & deservedly so for the effort you put in. Success comes to those that go that extra mile. Thanks for sharing a great adventure.

Good luck out there

JW

Great story Gus, 5.87 grams is still 5.87 grams no matter how small the gold is, nice effort

Thanks Fellas,
Sorry if I ramble on abit with my posts,but I hope to put the reader into my shoes and give them an insight of what it takes to get the gold.
We are not always successful,and there are plenty of days where you just have to enjoy the bush instead,with a few small nuggets an added bonus.
All the best
Adam

Great story, along with a nice haul of nuggets to go well done Gus top effort

Ren...

Great report Gus. You did well to get that fire going. Did you have some dry paper in the car or something. Can't beat a good fire in the conditions you described. cheers Pete.

ps Good Gold

Well done Gus !! You are keen - and I liked the report.

Annie

Hey Gus with the amount of gold that you have found it won't be called "Secrect Creek" much longer. Well done mate
wombat

terrific pieces mate

Thanks everyone
I allways carry a few spare newspapers in the car PB,just for this kind of situation. Swagging it without a Fire just isnt the done thing
And the Date Roll supply is too valuable to use up as a fire starter

There are plenty of Secret Creeks North,South and West of Bathurst, Wombat.
This one is on Private Property and we are lucky enough to have exclusive access. Must be all the Boxes of Beer and Groceries we give to the owners
The Property owner has a good Policy: Trespassers will be shot,survivers will be shot again.

Ha ha, I like the land owners policy
Small cut up pieces of car or bike tyre innertube make great fire starters. Small & light to carry around or left in your glove box for just an emergencey.

Good luck out there

JW

Nice finds Gus & a great story loved it