#TripBlog: The day the gold detector died in the middle of gold country

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Our travels had thus far taken us far and wide, but finally we were here at the raison d’etre of our trip: GOLD COUNTRY. After a quick tour of the historical gold town of Ballarat, where we went for a nice jog around the large Lake Wendouree, we headed north to check out a fossicking ground.

We had been excited about visiting Sovereign Hill, in the early gold diggings area of the town. The town is an outdoor museum that recreates the early days of the great gold rush. However, we were a bit surprised at the $42.50 price tag for an adult and decided to give it a miss for the real thing.

We soon found ourselves scanning the hard, rocky ground at Paddy’s Range, near Maryborough. The earth is pockmarked with signs of others having scoured it for gold. We searched for a couple of hours – just long enough to give us a hell of a time finding the car again.

Over the next couple of days we would try out a few different spots in what is commonly referred to as The Golden Triangle for its mineral riches. But just like the hard times of those early miners (well nothing like it really), we were to hit hard times. Our thus-far trusty blade of a metal detector decided it had had enough and packed it in. It is probably simple to fix, but not in the middle of nowhere.

After a night at the friendly Inglewood Caravan Park, we decide to notch it up as a learning experience and venture on, sadly without a large nugget to shine.