Today I set off in the dark at 06.30 (without breakfast) to drive to the Talbot goldfields. I was meeting my mentor Damien, and one of his friends, Ian a professional gold-hunter from Castlemaine.

Stu had warned me to watch out for kangaroos. When I got past Bung Bong a huge buck leaped across the road in front of me, causing me to slam on the anchors and nearly shit myself. One of those leaping buggers, illuminated by the car lights as I’m doing 50mph, is quite disconcerting, as it narrowly misses landing on your bonnet.

I made it to the McDermid Bushland Reserve by 07.10, just before Damien arrived, and as light spread over the land. He led me to the most productive area of the reserve and spent the first half an hour coaching me, watching what I was doing and giving me fantastic tips. My hero!

Then he left me alone, after pointing out the likeliest gold producing spots. And within an hour, using his improvements to my technique, I got this! My first Aussie gold.

I wasn’t certain that it was gold and I took it to Damien for verification. He used his magnifying glass to confirm it was small, but perfectly formed Aussie, frickin gold. Gold I tell you!!! I was so happy.

Then Ian arrived. He gave me some great advice. A real gent.

We moved up to Nuggety Gully, but it wasn’t any good and, as Damien, me and Ian had all found gold, we decided it was time to split. Damien had been up at the same time as me, and with the warmth it becomes tiring.

I’ll see Damien next week. Today I need to do some housekeeping in Maryborough.

Washed the skiddies.

Bought some provisions.

Washed the car.

KFC for breakfast at 15.30. I parked facing towards the traffic on a proper parking spot for 15 minutes last Friday in Maryborough whilst I bought fish and chips. Sixt contacted me to let me know I got an electronic parking ticket.

Back at Moonambel the bar regulars were delighted with my find. Let’s get some more!

Night night.

It’s the highest point on the south coast of England. I’ve climbed it twice and it’s a bugger when you’re carrying a rucksack. Today I’m carrying a fair weight up the highest point in the Redbank Nature Reserve to find gold. Amazing analogy? Carefully crafted comparison? Pretentious prattle?

Any road, Stu cooked breakfast at 8.30 this morning and I pushed off an hour later. Just a short drive, around two miles, north to Redbank. Then a steep and lengthy five hour climb, detecting on the way where I could. Aiming for the summit, marked by the Red Cross.

It was raining. I liked it. It was cooler. I loved it. The forest felt greener as a result. It would rain for the rest of the day.

I climbed and I climbed. All the way up were periodic gold workings from the 1850s. The key to gold is quartz. Where we find reefs of quartz we can find gold, and there was plenty of quartz on the surface.

However as I climbed higher the gold workings became deeper and deeper, until one was so deep that I couldn’t see the bottom. It had to be at least twenty metres deep. One slip and you don’t get out.

The mullock heaps around these workings were huge, like mini-colliery slag heaps, but cleaner. I realised that the quartz reefs were deeper underground and that the quartz that I had seen on the surface had been brought up from below and run down the mountain from these mullock heaps, over the last hundred and seventy years. This meant that the gold would not be lying about on the surface. It was down below.

I thought that if I climbed higher the reefs might come up, or there may be other reefs close to the surface. I was right. As I climbed up towards the summit the workings became shallower and the mullock heaps lower.

I detected all the way up. Without any gold. But loads of shotgun pellets, bullets and old timers’ nails. Again. At the top the views were great, if a bit cloudy.

Over the back of the summit the ground fell away even more steeply.

And incredibly there were gold workings on the top and most of the way down. I couldn’t believe that I didn’t cop some gold. There were quartz reefs appearing down the side of the mountain as I slid down.

I followed a gully, using my detector on the descent. Towards the bottom the gully became too steep, so I climbed up over a ridge to the west and dropped down a more manageable slope. It was still raining and I was comfortable with the freshness of it. Reaching a track I turned westwards and walked on a winding uphill and downdale route back to the car. No gold yet, but a wonderful day of exercise in decent weather conditions. I was soaked!

I’ve collected a lot of scrap from the old timers. This is just a small part of it.

Tomorrow might be the day!

Night night.

It’s Sunday the 15th of March and I am going to find gold. If you are bored with the repetitive nature of this blog then bugger off. Because it’s not going to have any broader scope than this – gold, Gold I tell you, GOLD!!!!!

Today Stu conjured up fried eggs, two spicy sausages and bacon on toast for breakfast. It keeps me going for the full day. The pub is fed water by a bore hole, so we can’t drink the tap water, but he leaves jugs of drinking water lying around within easy reach.

Back to Landsborough today and it was clear and sunny. I parked up on the main road again but the Reserve was a couple of miles away. A slog with my gear and long, heavy trousers.

It took me an hour to get up to the Reserve and I decided to head eastwards, along the low line of the hills, towards some old gold workings.

These areas have been detected probably hundreds of times. I didn’t find anything. Nevertheless I am learning each trip. I know that these workings, in more remote areas, are well worth detecting around. And you never know. I might strike lucky.

I wandered around the gold workings, making my way gradually south westwards into the hills. I followed a dry gully and had three strong signals in succession. Three shotgun cartridges including one which hadn’t been detonated. I chucked it away. Be a bit painful if it went off in me trouser pocket!

There was clearly a lot of gold found here by the old timers in the 1850s, judging by the extent of the workings. It’s not only people who make workings. Ants do too but this revealed diddly squat.

This is a Puddling machine that horses drew around to separate fine gold from the clay. Apart from the trees growing in the outer walkway it looked usable nowadays!

These features were on the lower slopes. I decided to head higher into the hills through the forest to see if I could find any quartz reefs on the surface that might contain (or have released) some gold.

It’s very isolated here. I haven’t seen anybody all day and I don’t think anyone would be here for anything other than sad Pommies popping over to try to teach the locals how to detect gold. And fail miserably. And some of these workings feel spookie.

I cut directly uphill, not too far from private land on the way up and I crossed it to take this shot towards where I was prospecting in the forest yesterday.

Nipping back into the Reserve I cut eastwards along the side of the hills to see if I could find any evidence of quartz reefs which might contain gold. Detecting along the way the only beeps were bullets from the old timers.

The heat was ratcheting up to over 30c and with no wind I was beginning to sink, as the sun decided to start doing the same.

Someone had been camping in the park and had left evidence of a fire. A bit risky in a forest of eucalyptus. Fire spreads here faster than you can run.

Tony the trainer had said that he often finds gold under this type of tree. Bully for him. I din’t.

So a long two mile slog carrying my gear and I was back at my car, straight to Moonambel and a couple of VB stubbies with spicy chicken strips. Asleep by eight. Knackered but not dejected. I will find gold.

Night night.

No it isn’t the 26th of January but it feels like a recurring theme. No gold so far.

Great breakfast in the Moonambel Resort Hotel; bacon, eggs and mushrooms on toast. Perfect. Served by the owner, Stu. He was a good sport and had been invited to a hen party’s breakfast. Good lad!

I set off for Landsborough Nature Conservation Reserve at 10 am in the morning, hundred hours. It looks small but it isn’t.

I found a place to park the car on the main road. Sadly the car hire lease doesn’t allow me to drive on tracks. If I do and it get’s stuck then it’s quite expensive. But walking is my pleasure.

Walking up into the Reserve I saw some old gold workings from the 1850s over to my left, and had a detect around them. Lots of targets but all bullets or nails.

The weather was clear and hot. By 13.00 the temperature was pushing 28C. The bush was becoming breathless. At this level of breathlessness it’s difficult to keep swinging the detector, then slicing down through hard earth with the pick, and then using the scoop to whittle down the source of the BEEP!

There was nobody here.

I made my way slowly up towards the hills and then I came across an old dam. I detected around it but only old timers’ metal.

I thought this was gold as I got quite deep. Morefool I.

Distant views in the bush are quite rare. Australia is mostly flat and covered in forest or desert, like this.

I’ve got a Camelbak. It’s a rucksack which takes all my gear and a plastic sack full of water with a tube so that when I’m digging away in the heat I can suck water out of the back. Lifesaver!This bloke didn’t have a camelbak.

The day wore on and I wore out. The pub is closed on Monday so I wrapped up at around 16.30 and trekked back down to the car. Avoca is the nearest village of any size so I headed there to buy some food for Monday, as well as bog-roll, which appears to be in short supply.

Back to Moonambel, an early dinner and an early night as a group of young women rolled in and cranked up the jukebox. Nevertheless it didn’t keep me awake.

Night night.

Thanks Cat.

Well I finally made it to Australia after Trump’s Folly in Iran. Switching flights from Emirates to Cathay Pacific and undertaking a 45 hour journey from home to hotel, via Manchester, Heathrow and Hong Kong. Melbourne was warm and noisy. People are young and anywhere indoors is incredibly noisy.

I am here to find gold. That is my duty as a husband and my necessary purpose as a man. It is our Golden Wedding Anniversary on the 6th of November this year, although it feels like we’ve been married longer than that. In-joke not a derogatory remark, which is remarkable for me. I’m going to find Margaret Smith, nee Lomas, enough gold to make her a ring to celebrate that occasion, so I am here Aussie gold hunting.

I spent the first three nights in Melbourne, meeting my good friends Damien and Maria at Donovan’s in St Kilda for a slap up feed. Such a joyous occasion.

Then this morning I escaped in a motor car at 05.30, driving up to Maryborough in the old goldfields to hire a metal detector from Coiltek Gold Centre there, and become trained in its proper use.

Tony was my trainer.

Linn and Ian were my fellow undergraduates. This photo was taken late in a warm afternoon when we required rest and rehydration, and the pose that I caught them in, with a surreptitious snap, is not reflective of their benign demeanours. Nice folk.

We didn’t find gold but the trainer did. Boooo! A tiny piece but at £3700 an ounce out here then every bit counts.

Then tonight I had fish and chips in Maryborough before scooting over to Moonambel. A cute village which you miss if you blink and which has an array of folk visiting each day. This is the bush, dotted with vine growing farms.

It’s lovely here. This is the view from my hotel window.

The people are friendly and funny, if a little eccentric.

One bloke brought in a small scorpion in a plastic jar. Apparently its sting releases the part of the brain that controls pain. He was stung by one and had three months of agony.

I’m happy that this is my base. English breakfast and very reasonably priced meals. The owner’s father was from Sheffield. Small world.

The water is from a bore hole so is not drinkable but there are jugs of drinking water around. The communication is direct.

I’m all kitted out and ready to go!

Tomorrow is a later breakfast at 9am then I’ll be off into the hills.

Night night.