For the past 18 months or so I have been doing some gold prospecting, mainly using a Garrett Infinium metal detector, I'm not rich yet but I have found a little gold and enjoy the hobby. The following is a short, light hearted, story I wrote in June 2006 when camped near Heathcote in Victoria.

The Golden Days of Radio

Perfect, I thought, I like visiting remote bushland and I like camping so I'll buy a metal detector and combine them all into gold prospecting, it can't be that hard to find gold, can it? I think it was my old mum who was fond of the expression "Fools leap in where angles fear to tread".

My new, and rather expensive, purchase arrived. I had the four wheel drive packed before, my partner, Suzy had unwrapped the detector. A few hours later we arrive at my carefully researched location which, I had every confidence, was certain to contain gold nuggets in abundance. As it was late afternoon I decided to start prospecting in the morning and set up the camp and radio antenna first.

Antennas in the bush

Inverted vee of course! Only one high point needed, easy. As an ex. Pom it was clear to me that the old Robin Hood trick was the answer; an arrow with some string tied to it fired over high branches. I tie one end of an enormous roll of nylon string to the arrow pull back my trusty bow and... phut... the arrow, weighed down and pulled off course by the string lands about 10 feet away Suzy tries, but fails, to suppress her merriment - I'll deal with her later.

Plan B

String too heavy? No problem, out comes the fishing rod and I tie the end of the line to the arrow and instruct Suzy to hold the rod pointing in the direction I'm about to fire the arrow - phut... the arrow lands 12 feet away this time. OK it's true, I didn't tell her to take the brake off the fishing reel! Third time lucky: Suzy at the ready, brake off, bow drawn back to maximum tension, this time I know it will work, I release the bowstring... zoooooom... the arrow virtually goes into orbit (I fear phone calls from Air Traffic Control "Melbourne Airport here Sir. It's about Quantas flight 742...."). Twenty minutes later I find the arrow about 12 trees and 200m away, oh well at least I have a good high point for the antenna.

OK, let's get the gold

The following day, immediately after breakfast finds me striding into the bush detector at the ready. I'd given it a good talking to before I left: "Now look detector, you cost me a damn fortune so I don't expect any messing about, OK? All you have to do is show me where the gold is and I'll do the rest" Three hours later and it seems the detector has failed to heed my words however I am the proud new owner of five bullet heads, three pieces of rusty tin and a horseshoe. I may have to put a little more research into this prospecting thing than anticipated....

Day two

Deep gullies! That's the answer, it's obvious - gold, being so heavy, always falls to the bottom of the land so if I detect at the bottom of a deep gully I'm certain to find gold, can't imagine why I didn't think of it before.

Fearlessly I beat a path down the steep slope of Cemetery Gully, one of the deepest, darkest and dampest in the area; I can almost smell the gold... or is it mildew?

After three hours detecting in the dank and dark recesses of Cemetery Gully, finally, the detector emits a noise into my headphones so loud it would make a Heavy Metal rock band envious. This has got to be one and a big one at that I can feel it in my bones. I don't have to dig very far before seeing an odd shape poking through the soil. Excellent! Interestingly shaped nuggets fetch a much higher price than the boring ones. I dig further and uncover more of the nugget’s flattish and curved shape. This could even be a "specimen" nugget perhaps a geological museum will want to buy it? Finally I'm able to pull the nugget from the ground in it's magnificent entirety - even better than I had imagined: a huge gold nugget in the exact shape of a horseshoe, most unusual. Disappointingly, tests with a magnet reveal the "nugget" is magnetic and is, in fact, a horseshoe. Oh well... all I need now is to find someone who owns a horse with two wooden legs and I can start making a profit from this gold prospecting thing.

War wounds

Back at camp that evening (goldless - again!) Suzy asks; "What's that big dark stain on the leg of your jeans?". "Probably blood from when I had to fight off the giant man eating spider of Cemetery Gully" I reply, hoping to regain some male pride. "I think it is blood", she says "take your jeans off". "Really darling" I reply "it's not even six o'clock, do control yourself". Despite my protests off come the jeans and, sure enough, it is blood - lots of it along with three very fat leeches of which even a divorce lawyer would be proud. I thought I felt a tickle on my leg when digging for that really big nugget (the horseshoe) in a particularly deep damp section of Cemetery Gully. I'm astonished my leg has any blood left given how fat the leeches are and the amount soaked into my jeans - I'm sure my left leg seems thinner than my right but Suzy says I'm just looking for sympathy; it's alright for her she hasn't nearly died from blood loss!

Time for a shower

One of the simple pleasures of camping is my daily shower. I fill a bucket with water and hang it over the fire until it reaches the right temperature. (NB. Do not try this with a plastic bucket - my tests prove, conclusively, it won't work). With the addition of a battery operated pump and a shower rose tied to a tree branch a delicious shower awaits. On those days I'm feeling particularly decadent I have a two bucket shower - luxury!

The evening had turned a little cooler and a light wind arisen, never mind, the water was ready, my soap, towel and fresh clothes prepared. Anyway the blood from my fight with the giant man eating spid... errrr... leeches had to be washed away. I strip off and switch the shower pump on; hmmmmm the wind seems to have strengthened a little and it's suddenly turned rather cool. I notice Suzy having a fit of barely suppressed schoolgirl giggles; "Very funny!" I admonish her "it's just the cool of the evening and a perfectly normal response". The warm water starts to run and I luxuriate in it's flow as I lather my hair with shampoo. It is well known that gum trees will drop branches without warning and it's a perfectly normal desire for a young tree not to be the odd tree out. Unfortunately it was this moment when my tree chose to establish it's credentials as 'one of the gums' by dropping the branch to which I had attached the shower at my feet knocking over the bucket of shower water in the process. For reasons which escaped me, as I stood naked looking like an advertisement for soap suds, Suzy seemed to find the situation hilarious.

The aftermath

OK, so maybe gold isn't that easy to find but I'm not downhearted and will be out to the deepest bush again before you can say "horseshoe" continuing my search for the yellow metal.

However I am a little concerned about Suzy; with me gone for some hours each day prospecting it can't be too much fun for her waiting around camp by herself so I suggested she may prefer to stay home on the next trip but she would have none of it insisting she wouldn't miss one under any circumstances, she's a trooper, I think....

June 2006



Page last updated June 2012