blackjack

Well done Eric, "a bit of a bush bash to get there" 200mtrs from Pacific Drive through the dunes ? Is that 'resort style bush bashing' next you'll be telling us you needed a guide 🙂 Well done old boy, I'm just envious.

Hey Ethan Tibooburra is where I'm planning to go, It's the nearest one for me that would have warm weather in winter, also there are a lot of options, the gold fields are spread over a wide area and most people find gold, however it's not known for having large nuggets. You may have more chance of finding SOME gold than in W.A. this may be disputed by West Australians, but I grew up in W.A. and have done a lot of prospecting there. I'm not suggesting W.A is no good, obviously, it's one of the best places on the planet, but the gold fields are spread out over a large area and without local knowledge or contacts, I believe Tibooburra is easier to find gold. As to where to go there, go to Min View put Tibooburra in the search bar, look in Add Layers go to mineral resources and then click on mineral occurrences. Change the base layer to NSW base map, bingo your own treasure map. As Dave said for a small fee you can get access to the common an area close to Tibooburra, but you can also get permission to camp and prospect on Mt.Stuart station for a daily fee, from memory its not much $/day. It's way easier than the permissions you need in W.A. also Adelaide to Tibooburra 847klm. Adelaide to Leonora 2,400klm.

I agree, the 800, with the standard coil is a bit tricky when pinpointing, I think Steve answered this, DD coils aren't as accurate for pinpointing. I haven't fact checked this so I'm sure someone will correct this If I'm mistaken. Also the link is not answering your question directly, but I think it's a good tip and seems to work for me so I've included it.

Hey Ethan, take a look at Min View, It's what I've used and I'm old and not very 'Tech' savvy. It's got all the 'layers' you need, you'll figure it out. As Dave said Tibooburra is a good starting point for over winter and close for you, the drive from Adelaide is great. I'm planning a trip this winter, I'd love to meet up and have someone to camp with ? What detector did you end up with ?

Nice, slow is the way to go you get to see more, send some pics when you get an outboard motor for it.

Garrett ground hog for me as well, I found quite a few hot rocks before I found my first lead bullet. I was convinced by the sound I was digging a nugget, it was pretty disappointing to dig lead, I had to find two more before I found gold. Honest answer is at least 100hrs over a two year period, 23 grams.

Hey Chuck, I'm the same as you, my wife is insisting I get to Tibooburra this winter, she gets sick of me complaining about the weather here over winter. I'm going alone if I go, I know I will meet people when I get there so I'm sure I won't be camping alone. Just do it old boy. Cheers John.

Hey Bootscrape, to see the Flinders ranges, approaching Port Augusta, after crossing the Nullarbor is a sight I never get tired of. Fuel and maccas in Port Augusta then left through Horrocks Pass to Wilmington, does life get any better than that !

I think I will stick to travelling in Australia, great stories from everyone, thanks. Over here we pay fees and licences, having travelled in Indonesia in "another life time" when I was young and brave, I'm familiar with the system that seems to operate in Mexico. A friend of mine, Carl, grew up in Monterey, now a native Tasmanian, he's told me many stories of his travels in Mexico. He found himself "talking" to the local policeman in a small town, when the policeman announced that it was Carl's lucky day and that he had arrived in town on the very day that it just happened to be the police mans "Ball' night and would he like to make a donation for the event ?

Great photos, as an ex West Australian I know about the flies after rain, before rain, during rain, no rain..... For me the desert areas are much better without the rain. Great after rain, but it's dried, especially in late winter for the wild flowers. Pretty ordinary when it's wet, nothing sticks like that red dirt when it gets wet !

Dam it, I can only see one, in profile.

No not poppies, I would much prefer them to gorse, a really terrible weed here in Tasmania and Victoria.

I've not been to California, but from photos and film parts of it are remarkably similar to parts of Australia, you even have gum trees. {eucalypts}

Nice, I'm planning a trip this winter, August, I need to book the ferry soon.

Interesting point, I guess the point is all finds are historical. It would depend on the significance, historically and that would depend on your point of view. It seems in Great Britain this issue has already been debated and from what I can gather somewhat resolved. But I will leave that to our pommie mates to comment on, what the situation is in the U.S. I have no idea, but would like to know. As far as I'm aware in Australia, finds belong to the government, this I'm sure applies to shipwrecks at least. A strange thing happened when the the government announced that all finds from ship wrecks belonged to them, people suddenly stopped finding shipwrecks. From what I can gather in Great Britain, detectorists report their finds, the "experts" decide its significance and depending on that verdict you can keep it, or they claim it and compensate you. Seems fair to me, it encourages people to report their finds, unlike the system we have here. Yes I would like to start a discussion on this vexed issue. To be honest from my point of view if I found a tin of gold sovereigns, I wouldn't be making any phone calls to my state museum.

I'm good with that, anyone that reads my off the cuff, overreactive at times, post's would know I'm only human. However I'm a bit worried, my grammar is always perfect..... mineralization or mineralisation hmm.

That's great Aureous, people were lifting the floor boards in their houses. The shire president said the gold is better in peoples pockets than in the ground, you can dig up the main street as long as you put the dirt back ! Those were the days !

Me too, maybe I've got one of those gold sovereigns..................I just checked, I haven't got any gold sovereigns.

We all wish we had a backyard like this

Yes, that helps, thanks for taking the time to reply

Hello everyone, I'm wondering if any one has advice on the title topic. One of my sniping partners and myself want to go to the mainland this winter for a detecting trip, and to get a break from our Tasmanian winter. We are at loggerheads as to the location, the Kruzer is his first detector and the couple of times we've detected together hot rocks were so bad that I even had to notch disc. my Nox 800. He wants to go to Victoria to a location that a youtuber has success with his Kruzer, it's pipeclay with very little mineralization. I don't want to be limited to one area in Victoria and camping in an area that has an average maximum of 11 degrees c [ 51f ] and 14 rain days for August, is hardly a break from winter in my opinion. I've suggested Tibooburra as from what I've heard VLF's do okay there, although there are some areas that do have ironstone, generally the mineralization is not too bad, plus the weather will be much better, average maximum of 21 degrees c [70f] and 1.8 rain days for the month. I have suggested that as a last resort if his Kruzer, turns out to be unusable then he can use my spare, an Xterra 705. He remains unconvinced about the location and the capabilities of my Xterra. Any comments on all of the above would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, John.

I just can't get a mental image of Barry Humphries as Dame Edna, out of my head, hello possums.

Well said Chuck, some may think I'm going 'off topic' but the the principle applies to both, bureaucrats, lawyers, insurance companies and a work force that is over educated with narrow qualifications are to blame. I'm building my third house as an owner builder, first time it cost $350 in permits and I was able to draw the plans myself as well as doing the engineering specs from a set of framing tables. This time around I had to employ a "building designer" to draw the plans and "engineer" to approve them at a combined cost of $15,500 for work that I could of done myself in a weekend. Add to that a BAL rating {bushfire attack level} and an an archaeologist, and a small army of other "experts" and the cost is $30,000 so far and we are still in the "planning stage" and are yet to be issued with a building permit. To get a building permit I have to complete an online training course on how to be an owner builder and in order to do that I have to have public liability insurance. I think the same applies for small scale mining, governments want to squeeze out the small operators and just deal with large companies.

A bumper sticker I recently saw sums it up for me " I love shooting deer and drinking beer " a dangerous mix that can only end one way, in my opinion.