Hi Folks,
Just had one of those days where I shouldve stayed in bed. The plan was to go to a new area and detect a spot that, in theory, should contain gold. Seemed like a good idea at the time but when I got into the zone I found that the ground was not suitable. It was deep country with a thick covering of alluvial soil. The clay layer was a long way down and there was no bedrock was visible. The old timers were digging four to six feet to get into the pay dirt. Had a look around for a while to see if the country would change but it didnt.
Time to move on. Started following a run of quartz that was shedding off a small ridge line and finally got a very good signal. Reached over to grab my pick but it wasnt there. What the!!!! How could this be? I wouldnt have left it lying on the ground, would I? OK, a plan of attack was required. Priority number one was to sort out the target and when this task was completed, Id back track and find the pick.
Ever tried to dig a hole in hard ground with a plastic scoop? What a bugger of a job. And the end result.... the tip of a miners pick. Someone upstairs was playing head games with me and I was beginning to feel a gentle rise in the blood pressure. Anyway, I retraced my steps and carefully worked my way back to my starting point with no sign of the pick. Frustrated and cranky, I had no choice but to repeat the procedure. After twenty minutes of searching, swearing and kicking the ground, I still came up empty. Once again BUGGER. I had made a $100 donation to the gold gods. Decided to go home, have some lunch and return in the cool of the afternoon for one final look.
The captain coach kindly offered to come out and help in the search for the lost digging implement. I thought that was really nice of her considering the rough country that we were about to enter. My mistake was not providing a detailed description of the territory we were entering. Walking across ridge lines, pushing through tea tree scrub, crossing creeks and jumping up high banked gullies was not mentioned at the time. Anyway to cut a long story short, the pick was eventually recovered at the bottom of a vertical drop into a gully. It must have fallen out of its holder as I eased my way down into the creek bed.
All was good. The pick recovered and it was time to get back to the Ute. We were just crossing a creek (within sight of the car) and the coach tripped and fell into a muddy, sloshy bog hole. She was wet and covered in sh#te. Had to come home in her undies, sitting on a bee suite I had in the back of the tuck.
Anyway, to finish the day a storm blew up a few kms from home. It started to rain and there was a lot of loud thunder barking at us. The gold gods were obviously angry at their loss. The final straw that broke the camels back was the flat tyre one k from home. Changing a tyre in the rain, covered in dust, mud and all sorts of crud really topped off the day. So, two grown adults made the final trip home dressed in undies and very little else. Thankfully there were no flashing blue lights or random breath tests to finish the day. We finally made it home where the coach found the biggest blood sucking leach attached to her leg that Ive ever seen.
In conclusion, one $95 pick found, one $250 tyre lost. It was just a pick of a day.
Cheers
Les
Just had one of those days where I shouldve stayed in bed. The plan was to go to a new area and detect a spot that, in theory, should contain gold. Seemed like a good idea at the time but when I got into the zone I found that the ground was not suitable. It was deep country with a thick covering of alluvial soil. The clay layer was a long way down and there was no bedrock was visible. The old timers were digging four to six feet to get into the pay dirt. Had a look around for a while to see if the country would change but it didnt.
Time to move on. Started following a run of quartz that was shedding off a small ridge line and finally got a very good signal. Reached over to grab my pick but it wasnt there. What the!!!! How could this be? I wouldnt have left it lying on the ground, would I? OK, a plan of attack was required. Priority number one was to sort out the target and when this task was completed, Id back track and find the pick.
Ever tried to dig a hole in hard ground with a plastic scoop? What a bugger of a job. And the end result.... the tip of a miners pick. Someone upstairs was playing head games with me and I was beginning to feel a gentle rise in the blood pressure. Anyway, I retraced my steps and carefully worked my way back to my starting point with no sign of the pick. Frustrated and cranky, I had no choice but to repeat the procedure. After twenty minutes of searching, swearing and kicking the ground, I still came up empty. Once again BUGGER. I had made a $100 donation to the gold gods. Decided to go home, have some lunch and return in the cool of the afternoon for one final look.
The captain coach kindly offered to come out and help in the search for the lost digging implement. I thought that was really nice of her considering the rough country that we were about to enter. My mistake was not providing a detailed description of the territory we were entering. Walking across ridge lines, pushing through tea tree scrub, crossing creeks and jumping up high banked gullies was not mentioned at the time. Anyway to cut a long story short, the pick was eventually recovered at the bottom of a vertical drop into a gully. It must have fallen out of its holder as I eased my way down into the creek bed.
All was good. The pick recovered and it was time to get back to the Ute. We were just crossing a creek (within sight of the car) and the coach tripped and fell into a muddy, sloshy bog hole. She was wet and covered in sh#te. Had to come home in her undies, sitting on a bee suite I had in the back of the tuck.
Anyway, to finish the day a storm blew up a few kms from home. It started to rain and there was a lot of loud thunder barking at us. The gold gods were obviously angry at their loss. The final straw that broke the camels back was the flat tyre one k from home. Changing a tyre in the rain, covered in dust, mud and all sorts of crud really topped off the day. So, two grown adults made the final trip home dressed in undies and very little else. Thankfully there were no flashing blue lights or random breath tests to finish the day. We finally made it home where the coach found the biggest blood sucking leach attached to her leg that Ive ever seen.
In conclusion, one $95 pick found, one $250 tyre lost. It was just a pick of a day.
Cheers
Les
