Steve's 2022 Australia Adventure, Part 1

[Steve Herschbach]

This is a callback to my 2011 Australia Gold Adventure. I put a lot of extra travel detail into that story, to aid others who might be thinking of doing a detecting trip to Australia. If you are thinking of doing this, and have not, I encourage you to look at that previous story. In the story that follows, click or double click the photos for full size versions.

A few things changed in the eleven years since that adventure. First, the $1500 air fare I paid back then has basically doubled. Second, Australia now requires a visa even for tourists. You can’t complete travel without one. You can apply for one using an app on your phone, to take pictures of yourself and your passport. Details here. The real zinger came when I went to check in on New Zealand Air in Los Angeles. Even though I was merely passing through the Auckland airport on my way to Perth, I was not allowed to check in without a New Zealand visa also! Panic ensued, but luckily this also was done easily with a phone app while I was in the airport. However, although results are usually had in ten minutes, they note it can take up to 48 hours. Do this in advance and avoid the possibility of being denied boarding at the airport.

Third, my final destination was Meekatharra, and this required making the switch to local Skipper’s Aviation, and an additional $600 round trip fare. On the previous trip we had driven a vehicle from Perth to Meekatharra, but this time I was going to meet JP directly in Meekatharra. The connections were such and the flight over so long, I ended up booking a room for the night in Perth, to ease the switchover. I stayed in the Country Comfort, Perth, which is affordable and nice, and which has a free shuttle service from both the main airport, and to Skippers Aviation.

On a brighter note, the roughly even exchange rate from eleven years ago, changed to one hugely in favor of U.S. travelers at this time. I got $1.60 Australian for every U.S. dollar spent. A good thing, as prices are skyrocketing in Oz, like everywhere else. The exchange rate softens the blow.

A little back story. I had spent a month of detecting in Australia in 2011, hosted by Jonathan Porter. I went home with a couple ounces of gold, which frankly did not impress me much. I think I sort of hurt JPs feelings when I said I saw no point in ever returning, if gold was the goal. I’ve relayed that information to other travelers since then, and not yet has one ended up telling me I was wrong. There is still great gold to be found in Australia, but frankly, it’s for the locals. Visitors with short time and minimal access should just be happy to find gold, any gold at all. For quantity, however, I’m better off on my own home ground here in the U.S.

JP and Steve in 2011

JP and I talked about my returning someday, but for quite some time it was just that typical vague “someday” thing, that I never tried to make happen. Then things changed for me the last few years. I developed severe arthritis in both hips. It got so bad, that a couple years ago I thought my prospecting days, even my metal detecting, were about over. I was suffering enough last year, that I got both hips replaced this last winter. And miracle of medical miracles, I got a new lease on life! I feel better now than I have in many years.

This experience changed my outlook on life and made me very aware the end of the tunnel is in sight. I’m good now, but I’m not getting any younger, and stuff just starts failing. You never know when, or how fast it will happen. Suddenly going back to Australia was not a matter of going to find gold, but just to go see an old friend. That’s exactly what I told JP, and I meant it. The gold no longer matters at all. I just wanted to have a nice visit and enjoy myself while visiting a friend. And JP, bless him, made it happen.

A second layer to all that is I am celebrating metal detecting and gold prospecting for 50 years now. I got my first metal detector in 1972, and my first gold dredge right after that. I’ve been at it ever since, and now it’s been a half century of grand adventure. I decided an Australia trip was a perfect way to celebrate that fact. Also, out of the blue, Garrett Metal Detectors asked me to go along with them to Australia for the Axiom introduction. Boom, I went from never really planning on going back to Australia, to going twice in one year!! Part 2 of this story will chronical my upcoming return visit to Australia at the end of this month.

I’ve been working with Garrett since last year on fine tuning the Axiom for release. This trip seemed an ideal way to get in some major hours with the detector, plus see how it handled mineralized ground conditions in Western Australia. JP thought I was nuts, and maybe I am, when I told him I planned on using the Axiom exclusively on the trip. I don’t know what to say, other than that it seemed like a fun thing to do. I can find gold with most anything, so I was not worried about that. After my last visit to Australia, I knew I was not going to find a ton of gold in just two weeks anyway. The point for me became to just use the Axiom, come what may, and go home happy regardless of the amount of gold found. Like I said, my perspective on life has shifted entirely from where it was years ago, when it was all about how much gold I was finding, period.

Other than my little New Zealand visa surprise, the trip went smoothly, although the flights and layovers were a little long. I arrived in Meekatharra with everything I needed in one 50 lb suitcase, as another bag would have cost another $100 on every airline leg, and I set a record on this trip by traveling on six different airline. One bag was free, except for a small weight surcharge on Skippers.

A bonus on this trip was that JPs son Tim was along. I thought this was great, as JP and I can be like an old bickering couple at times, so having another face along, and with a younger perspective, seemed like a fun idea to me. One that turned out great, as Tim is a prematurely wise young man. It was fun talking life and philosophy with him, and… wait for it…. our shared interest in computer gaming. Yeah, I’m a computer nerd for sure, and that extends to an interest in playing and modding computer RPGs. JP and I of course talked about detecting and detectors for endless hours, with not a small dose of the fact neither of us is getting any younger, and pining for the “good old days”, when gold nuggets just jumped out of the ground.

Tim Porter - Gold finder supreme!

Anyway, having Tim along was a highlight of the trip. It did mean that camp was full up, however, and JP had informed me to be prepared to tent camp, just like I did in 2011. I had planned on going a bit more deluxe this time, with a stand-up tent. I wanted to bring my own, as, trust me, you do not want to be shopping in Meekatharra for stuff like that. Then came my desire to limit myself to 50 lbs, including detecting gear. I ended up sleeping for two weeks in a one person, four-pound backpacker tent, on a pad in a sleeping bag. Luckily, very luckily as it turns out, the weather favored me. It only rained a couple times, and briefly. If it had rained like it has been, starting the day I left, it would have been a different story. As it was, it was no big deal at all, and I was quite cozy and happy in my Tiny Tent. All the rest of my camp needs were provided by JP and Tim. Tent shower, rides when needed, and they cooked every single meal. Thanks to both of you!

Steve's "Tiny Tent"

How did it go, you ask? The location was one of the same places we detected eleven years ago, and the place was already well hunted back then. It was a bit more about convenience than being where the most gold might be. We stayed camped in one place the entire time and made short runs with JPs side by side to different patches in the area every day. Unlike eleven years ago, it was far more about being relaxed and having fun. So no “up before the crack of dawn, detecting until dark” stuff. In fact, it was more often quitting early, to go sit around camp and chat. Excluding other stuff, I ended up doing thirteen days of relaxed detecting.

The long story short is I found gold every day I detected but the first. But it was very slow going for me on very well pounded ground, just a few nuggets a day. I enjoyed every bit of it though, as the Axiom handled the ground and hot rocks just fine and is a real pleasure to swing. I do just enjoy using new and different detectors, to see how they can do. Finding anything when I’m doing that is almost secondary. It’s all about the ground handling, and how any target responds, even the trash targets. The weather was perfect, the company great, I was finding gold every day. It’s impossible to ask for more than that.

Photo by Jonathan Porter

"Steve's Gully" - found a few nice bits here

They key to finding weight is finding larger nuggets. Try as I might, I could not get over anything of real size. I ended up with 13.5 grams of raw finds, with just a couple weighing in over a gram. I hit this with Whink 1% HF on my return, and once the enclosing laterite was removed, my take shrunk to 12 grams, with only one nugget over a gram, at 1.15 gram. The nugget had weighed 1.68 grams before, so that tells you how much laterite it had on it. It was worth the cleaning though, gorgeous little nuggets now, rather than the dirty lumps some started out to be.

When you get to be my age it becomes obvious that life is all about the memories we create, and I will have very fond memories of this trip. JP and Tim were perfect hosts, and great detecting partners. I did not appreciate quite until now just how lucky I was with the weather, which really was perfect for days of wandering in WA. Even the travel, though overly long, went as well as I could hope for. The icing on the cake is I will return in just a couple weeks, to see parts of Australia I have never seen before, and to have another shot at finding some Aussie gold nuggets. Stay tuned for part 2 of this adventure, coming sometime in early November.

Again, thank you JP and Tim, and best of luck on your continuing gold adventure! Viewers can see Part 2 of my Australia Gold Adventure here.

12 grams of Aussie gold after cleaning, largest nugget upper left 1.15 grams

[flakmagnet]

I love this...

The change in your point of view provides an enlightening comparison to two stages of detecting; one where gold nuggets are the purpose and two where the gold in the experience is the point. 

And your company on both occasions was perfect.

Looking forward to hearing about your next experience.

Safe travels and say hello to JP for me please.

 

[Swegin]

I wonder how JP likes the Axiom?   Congrats on the gold but sometimes the real gold is with the company you keep.

 

[geof_junk]

Well Steve that's life. I see a few more trips back to West Aust. The weight is only a side benefit and by the way it only gets left in a jar/safe. Only spent when the grand kids get  their inheritance from good old grand dad. Your description should at least warn the first times that all their hope of taking our gold 😉 is not easily achieve with out a lot of luck.

As for the currency a $160 AUD nugget is only worth $100 US nugget. So you win one way and lose the other way. 🙃 

[Steve Herschbach]

On 10/10/2022 at 1:32 PM, Swegin said:

I wonder how JP likes the Axiom?   Congrats on the gold but sometimes the real gold is with the company you keep.

The elephant in the room, I suppose! JP was clear he did not want this to end up being a "Garrett vs the Minelabs" thing. Rightfully so, as the Axiom I am using is an unfinished prototype, with the machine still undergoing improvements before release. Due to my feedback from the trip, in fact, there has been a significant bump in overall sensitivity, and other improvements to the platform. Until the detector is actually released into consumer hands, this is a bit of a "jury is out" sort of thing.

Both JP and Tim were using the GPX 6000 almost the entire time. JP did fire up the 7000 a couple times, but mainly stayed with the 6000 himself. It was not just a detector thing, but coils. I was really hurting for weight when packing, literally at 49 lbs of the 50 allowed, so I only packed three coils, both 7"x11" types and the 13" DD.

The star of the trip was the new Nugget Finder 10"x16" mono coil. That coil was perfect for this scenario, where the big gold was basically gone, and the surface gold also. The sweet spot was more or less in the half gram at depth range, and the 13" DD was no match for the 10"x16" mono, both for depth on that stuff, but also for sheer ground coverage. I was hunting low and slow, and JP and Tim were zipping around by comparison.

As I noted, I had 13.5 grams gross weight at the end of the two weeks. Tim had 25 grams, and JP just over the 31 gram one ounce mark. The largest nugget by far was found by JP, a 1/4 oz piece at about 15", that I could barely hear with the 13" DD, whereas he had inches to spare with the 16" mono. I'd say Nugget Finder has hit a home run with that coil, based on what I saw. If I had one wish on this trip, it's that I had packed more coils. A big mistake in retrospect. I don't know that it would have made a huge difference, but it sure would have helped. And with the latest software - well, I'll know more in a few weeks. 

A bigger picture take can be had from this however. Three people hunting for two weeks, two with home ground advantage. Both JP and Tim are not newbies at this. We ended up with 70 grams, or 2.25 Troy ounces, and largest nugget at 1/4 ounce. I can honestly say I'd expect no less from areas here in Nevada or California, even if I'd have found twice what I did. I'm not saying that to take a swing at the Australia goldfields. I just want people that are dreaming of visiting there and finding pounds of gold to have a reality check. If you visit, you will be competing with decades of heavy hunting by what I think are generally a more numerous, and probably more serious, class of gold prospectors in Australia. There are not virgin patches everywhere, stuffed full of huge nuggets. Those days are basically gone, and even more so for a visitor. If you want to have a really great time in Australia, do what I did. Go to enjoy the land and the people, and treat any gold as a bonus. Do that, and you will be set for a fabulous time in a great country!

[abenson]

Steve sounds like you had a great time in Australia! Very informative write up for anyone wanting to go there and a reality check to go along with it. I already decided long ago that if I ever went to Australia it would be first and foremost for the sight seeing and experience and gold found would just be icing on the cake. Looking forward to seeing what improvements Garrett will make to the Axiom as far a sensitivity goes and what that will do for depth.

[afreakofnature]

Steve out of curiosity, did JP say at all in your conversations that he had the EMI fix done to his 6k or was he using a new one?  Thanks.  We haven’t heard from him in so long.

[Steve Herschbach]

On 10/11/2022 at 5:42 PM, afreakofnature said:

Steve out of curiosity, did JP say at all in your conversations that he had the EMI fix done to his 6k or was he using a new one?  Thanks.  We haven’t heard from him in so long.

As far as I know he just bypasses the external speaker, and uses either headphones, or his booster with separate speaker setup (pictured above). We talked about the update, and he never mentioned getting it done. But bottom line is I do not know for sure. He is the primary field tester for Minelab, so he may have tested and approved it, for all I know. He also may not be able to talk about that. He and Tim are still out and about, and he may or may not chime in at some point.

[中国 张]

精彩的旅程，超棒的收获，重温户外探测黄金的回忆！！

Translates:  Wonderful journey, great harvest, relive the memories of outdoor gold detection.

 

[Rivers rat]

HI super write up as per usual.I thought the same when i went to Oz in 2019 thought about big chunky gold and gear at a much cheaper prive.End up getting a SDC on a free loan ,followed @goldrat everywhere ,found  2 pieces!So small i wanted to cry......but i detected 1.5 days and trip was cheap as wife was traing for work there.

BUT GOLD WAS THE EXPERIENCE,the people ,the terrain,the culture around gold(met 1 gold miner) and the food(had some weird berries jams).

 

I will be back 

 

 

RR