Sheppo

It’ll probably be the lifestyle more than the gold that’ll make you want to stay (though the gold is a huge help). I miss the FNQ lifestyle, it’s so much more laid back than anywhere I’ve been, but work has drawn me away unfortunately.

It was a great time out and time away, and much needed. Just a shame I had to come back to reality 😅😂

Well, I’ve just recently returned from my 6 week jaunt away. As it turns out, COVID put the stop to my plan on going to Western Australia, so I had to put a Plan B in place. Turns out it was probably one of the best things I could’ve done as I had an absolute blast. I got to catch up with family as well as spend 4 full weeks out in the bush detecting with mates. The first 2 weeks away was a bit of a struggle for me in getting my head around new ground and only managing to find about 10 grams. Not to worry though as one mate had an absolute cracker of a trip and managed to snag himself a PB nugget and a PB day, and the other mate snagged a reef/leader next to a quite sizeable quartz blow. The intermission between time out bush was great as I used this to catch up with family and old friends in the tropics of FNQ. I only wish my boat was running as the weather for fishing was superb. Next up, we spent another 2 weeks out in the bush this time on some different ground. With the guidance of a well revered prospector (thanks again mate, you know who you are) I managed to do much better though my mate struggled quite a bit getting his head around the new ground. I managed 37g (approx, there were a few specis in this lot), managed a PB piece and PB day. All up for the trip I snagged 47g (approx, there are specis in the mix). Highly recommend anyone thinking about basing a trip away solely around prospecting, just do it. This one was an absolute blast and I can’t wait to get out again. Our first camp set up. And a cracker sunset on the hill we had phone reception. Gold from the first trip (I thought it was about 10g, there may be a nugget missing in this photo) Second camp and trip, not as nice spot as the first but still a great spot. The first 3 that got the monkey off my back on the second trip and after receiving the much needed guidance. My total all up for the trip away. Again, had an absolute blast.

I generally only go two wraps, this gives me a time frame that once the tape is starting to look battered, it’s time to rotate my skid plate anyway.

Yes sure can, were you anywhere near Georgetown? I just came back from a trip up there for a month. Some of those benign looking granite grounds can be ridiculously hot. Look for the iron pebbles! This generally gives away what‘s going on underneath.

I honestly haven’t chased it up, I probably should but it hasn’t caused me any major problems.

Got to make sure those pins stay in place too, mine have already tried to come out a couple of times and my detector is only about 7 mths old, and is used less than most.

Unfortunately wouldn’t work for me, I can drink 3L of water in about 6 hours when out prospecting.

Someone spend the $10 or so to see what it can do 🤣

I think the chorus sums up how I feel about it... 🤣

I know it’s not a hip but a mate is currently in WA with a steel knee and doesn’t appear to be having problems with it. He uses it to make sure his pin pointer and detector are working after fire up too 😂

Yep, try finding it with your metal detector or shovel and pans though. Much of it will be extremely deep in the ground, or in countries we can’t access.

WA mate, other side of the country. Though he doesn’t intentionally scrape the coil either. Will be checking his channel out.

Yes. It occurs especially in highly saturable ground. My GPZ does it (less so with the NF ZSearch coil) and my GPX5000 did aswell. Coil control is your friend, try very hard not to scrape and bump to achieve the best results and keep the coil off the ground (approximately an inch). Slow steady swings help aswell. Hope this helps.

I’d be wary of a few of those for sale on the list, there’s one bloke in there that carries on like a used detector dealership, which he isn’t. But yes, the secondhand market here has a healthy supply of detectors all demanding good prices.

Luckily my local butcher sources local meat so I can’t see a problem there.

Price inflation is a very real thing and is taking hold very quickly on things second hand and brand new on this side of the pond. The secondhand car market has gone gangbusters on pricing and trying to get a house for a reasonable price is the same.

I thought I recognised those purple flowers in the background. Jacarandas are horrible trees. Those flowers when it’s wet just turn to mush, same with Hibiscus flowers. As for the bush patina on cars, that’s exactly why I just bought a plain white four wheel drive. That poor things is going to see some horrible conditions in the near future but having the white paint will help hide a bit of damage. Great ideas for the blowers too.

Definitely not recommended where I am, especially if hunting an prospecting exist together.

I check all those targets regardless, I’m yet to have any turn golden but the possibility is always there. Either a quick scrape on the pick or a thud with the pick sorts them out.

Sardines (especially the ones in tomato sauce) on hot toast with a sprinkling of pepper make for a fantastic filling and nutritious breakfast (no I’m not being sarcastic, I grew up on the stuff and love them, plus they have the benefits of eating fish) Also spread on crackers while out and about make for a good belly filler. Just don’t let the missus near you afterwards or she might gag. Back on topic, that’s a great little write up @Northeast and full of great information once again.

That was a brilliant video showing how similar the performances are though I feel if the swings were slowed down on both coils a bit, they would’ve yielded better results. Take that with a very big grain of salt though as I’m still perfecting and slowing down my swing.

As I said yesterday on another post, it’s a great weapon to add to a good prospector’s arsenal. I was impressed with it in the very small amount of time I got to see it and cannot wait to get my hands on one. Lookout gullies and creeks!

Nearly ready!

That is exactly the way a good friend is acquainted here though. Much of our banter here would get a gun drawn on you in other parts of the world.