Hi to all on the road to nowhere in particular!

[gudachi]

Hello to everyone at forum PA, my name is jef im originally from SA, and my prospecting/fossicking journey began with a humble little bit of gold panned from jupiter creek in south australia and soon led to more serious gold-hunting in victorias castlemaine region panning and sluicing regularly, when a local showing us his latest bit of colour, being a 14 ounce nugget of gold and quartz from the dunolly region changed everything there was no going back the bug had bitten and it wasnt long before i was armed with a minelab 2000 on an extended holiday bushcamping in the state forests of victoria for weeks at a time somewhat obsessively and glad about it. Later on a trip to clermonts goldfield in queensland with a bypass and stop over at anakie sapphire and rubyvale which led to the gemfields of central queensland and sapphires and zircon joined the hunt, with the beautiful winter weather and budget camping on offer the transformation was complete,In the first two seasons i spent about 9 months just digging for gems and camping on the fields it was an easy choice to make, being completely single minded about it and in excellent company with all we met, the gold previously found was soon put into setting sapphires and zircons into jewellery happily worn by my partner kel,who could now suddenly see the point of it all,So what had started out as a bit of fun soon became a passion an adventure and a lifestyle for us both.Having a love for wildlife nature and photography was a real bonus too,and if im not out in the field having a dig or taking photos then hearing about others stories and adventures and finds is a good second choice!

 

[Guest]

Great story Jef, sounds like you got bit good and proper, certainly is a good way to spend ones time out and about. Cheers Balx

 

[trenchfighter]

living the dream

 

[axeman]

G'day Jeff. Welcome, trenchfighter summed it up by saying "living the dream". I was at Ruby vale for 3 weeks (should have been 3 months) on a short holiday and the life style is unbelievable. If this was a taste for a life on the road well sign me up for it. As mentioned on this forum before, I'm building a canopy for my ute which will not only turn it into a capable off road vehicle but also a home away from home. Hopefully I'll have it finished and be ready to go by the end of June. First stop, the gemfields and Clermont area for a few months until the weather gets to hot. From there, who knows?.
Hope to hear more stories of your adventures and don't forget the pics.
Mick

 

[gudachi]

Great story Jef, sounds like you got bit good and proper, certainly is a good way to spend ones time out and about. Cheers Balx

Hi Balx, yeah definitely got the bug full on proper bigtime, the dreaded rock-lurgy with the only treatment being out in the field having a good dig or planning the next trip.....cheers jef

 

[gudachi]

living the dream

Hi trenchfighter well said and dreaming the life whoever gets the most buckets gets the most gold/gems we learnt to camp on the dig early in the game...cheers jef

 

[gudachi]

G'day Jeff. Welcome, trenchfighter summed it up by saying "living the dream". I was at Ruby vale for 3 weeks (should have been 3 months) on a short holiday and the life style is unbelievable. If this was a taste for a life on the road well sign me up for it. As mentioned on this forum before, I'm building a canopy for my ute which will not only turn it into a capable off road vehicle but also a home away from home. Hopefully I'll have it finished and be ready to go by the end of June. First stop, the gemfields and Clermont area for a few months until the weather gets to hot. From there, who knows?.
Hope to hear more stories of your adventures and don't forget the pics.
Mick

Hi Mick ,Yeah the time factor is a bigun when your out on the hunt and all the info you can get is such a bonus , 3 weeks is a good recon but 3 months will get you some nice stones , we came away with about 20 cut stones the first year more than happy to share any and all insights,as its one of the qualitys of CQ gemfields i was well impressed with, just how helpful everyone was with sharing their storys, the best on the job training ive ever had left me with a pay it forward attitude, we never did make it to clermont for a detect so will be keen to see how you go,the gold there is stunning have seen some top shelf crystalline nuggets from the area, my pick of the gemfields would have to be tomahawk creek a special place to be lost in it all....cheers jef

 

[axeman]

The thing that amazed me with some of the lease holders at Rubyvale and possibly elsewhere, they didn't worry about the gold. I put a bucket full of wash through the cresswell concentrator and found fine gold and this x- lease holder told me that there's not enough to worry about.
Mick

 

[gudachi]

The thing that amazed me with some of the lease holders at Rubyvale and possibly elsewhere, they didn't worry about the gold. I put a bucket full of wash through the cresswell concentrator and found fine gold and this x- lease holder told me that there's not enough to worry about.
Mick

Yeah i was a bit surprised at the attitude about gold too, especially with clermont on your doorstep, we also did some panning at washpool creek(part of the divide field) where there was an old gold mine we got a bit of colour but just fine alluvial dust really and ive not ever seen anything of size,there are a few locals into it some of the manufacturing jewellers do chase the gold for their own findings as such and eyes lit up when i pulled out my little jar of victorian gold but only in regards to smelting it for a sapphire to sit on, that seems to be the attitude for gold in the area for sure,i think its really a case of the most returns rule the day,funny thing is you dont see many detectors on the field but divining with a wire is quite common...go figure, i tried it but couldnt work ut where to put the batteries in....cheers j