Diving in the deep end

[Matti69]

G'day to All,

My name is Matt I am 52 and my partner is Cat (I am not allowed to disclose her age). We are simple (not simpletons) hard working folk who are not liking where our lives have lead us. After following forums, reading blogs, watching vlogs and having many (sometimes heated) discussions, we have decided to make a lifestyle change. So, Cat and I are in the process of selling up all we own (which isn't much), quitting our jobs. We have invested in an old 14' 70's caravan, a 4WD, a ML gold panning kit and we are heading to the goldfields. Most of our friends and family think we are crazy, and maybe we are, but there has to be more than just working to pay somebody else's bills.

Neither of us have any experience prospecting and we have very little savings. However what we do have is the courage to let the universe guide us on a new exciting adventure. Don't get me wrong, we are not dreamers and don't have any expectations of striking it rich and living comfortably off our findings. We just decided if we have to go through a daily grind why not make it adventurous.

We are just about to invest in our first detector. Our budget is limited so we are tossing up between the Gold Monster 1000 and the equinox 800 and would love to hear your thoughts along with any other advice (tools, clothing, locations, training, honest gold buyers and equipment suppliers etc.) you may offer. It would be greatly appreciated.

We are currently living on the Mid North Coast of NSW and are planning to be on the road heading to the Vic goldfields by the beginning of June 2022. In the meantime we will be doing some prospecting around the Coffs Harbour area to get familiar with our equipment and work out what other stuff we may need.

We are looking forward to taking on your advice, hearing your experience and possibly even catching up for a beer or a coffee in the very near future.

 

[Mackka]

Firstly, Welcome Matt and Cat.
All i can say is "Best of Luck" with your plan for the future. My 2 cents worth from what i have read on the forum is, i would buy a 6000 as it is going to give you the best chance of finding something, my opinion only. Secondly, do as much research as you can, PRIOR, to the big adventure in Vic.
To go from Mid Nth. Coast to Vic. Goldfields, gee mate it must have been a shit of an occupation.
Stay Safe
Mackka

 

[Matti69]

Thanks Mackka for your welcome and your advice.

We would love a 6000 or even better the GPZ 7000 however our budget is limited. Unfortunately the 4wd we bought is a Disco 3. Thought I was getting a good deal, turns out we bought a pit to throw our $$ into and we have way to much invested in it now to recuperate the cost. And the more I do to it the more we love it. Lol.

As far as work is concerned, not a shite occupation, but very taxing mentally (social work in Kempsey). Such a disadvantaged community and a system intent on keeping it that way.

Time for a change.

Thanks again for your welcome.

Cat & Matt

 

[Mackka]

Ah yes Kempsey, say no more.
Stay in touch and stay safe you two.
Cheers
Mackka

 

[deepblue]

When your down in the GT give a shout out a few of us will give you the heads up on a couple of camping grounds and where to start out looking. Best of luck in your new adventure.
cheers DB

 

[Mackka]

Very generous Deepblue and i am sure they will appreciate your help. What a great forum.
Mackka

 

[Matti69]

When your down in the GT give a shout out a few of us will give you the heads up on a couple of camping grounds and where to start out looking. Best of luck in your new adventure.
cheers DB

Thanks DB,

We most definitely will shout out. :Y:
Is it weird that I almost teared up then?? :8

Gratitude plus

Matt

 

[Gem in I]

Good luck guys i would recommend always a simple plan B.

Carry a simple tent on board, food and water always. Things often go more south than you anticipate travelling and i have found and witnessed it is an expensive hobby before it is a lifestyle but having said that i have also witnessed success when people are searching for and have found more than just gold.

Sounds like the get away is what you need and just curious have you looked into searching for sapphires as an alternative ?
Stones may be harder to sell on the market but entry level outlay could be considerably cheaper to help with that lifestyle adventure yous are seeking.

 

[Matti69]

Thanks Gem in I,

We will start researching sapphires now. If we are going to knee deep in creeks, we may as well take advantage of everything they have to offer. I will add sieves to the list of things we need to get.

Cheers

 

[grubstake]

We are just about to invest in our first detector. Our budget is limited so we are tossing up between the Gold Monster 1000 and the equinox 800 and would love to hear your thoughts along with any other advice (tools, clothing, locations, training, honest gold buyers and equipment suppliers etc.) you may offer. It would be greatly appreciated.

Frankly, neither of those two detectors is a very good choice, given the levels of ground mineralisation present in many productive Victorian goldfields. If you really intend to undertake this new venture seriously, you'd be better advised to buy a cheap, older generation Minelab pulse induction detector. They're sturdier than either of those two, well-proven in all Australian goldfields and even your very minimal ~$1,000 budget should be enough to get you started with a more suitable tool for the task ahead.

Good luck, you'll need it. ickshovel:

 

[Harald Hardrada]

G'day to All,

My name is Matt I am 52 and my partner is Cat (I am not allowed to disclose her age). We are simple (not simpletons) hard working folk who are not liking where our lives have lead us. After following forums, reading blogs, watching vlogs and having many (sometimes heated) discussions, we have decided to make a lifestyle change. So, Cat and I are in the process of selling up all we own (which isn't much), quitting our jobs. We have invested in an old 14' 70's caravan, a 4WD, a ML gold panning kit and we are heading to the goldfields. Most of our friends and family think we are crazy, and maybe we are, but there has to be more than just working to pay somebody else's bills.

Neither of us have any experience prospecting and we have very little savings. However what we do have is the courage to let the universe guide us on a new exciting adventure. Don't get me wrong, we are not dreamers and don't have any expectations of striking it rich and living comfortably off our findings. We just decided if we have to go through a daily grind why not make it adventurous.

We are just about to invest in our first detector. Our budget is limited so we are tossing up between the Gold Monster 1000 and the equinox 800 and would love to hear your thoughts along with any other advice (tools, clothing, locations, training, honest gold buyers and equipment suppliers etc.) you may offer. It would be greatly appreciated.

We are currently living on the Mid North Coast of NSW and are planning to be on the road heading to the Vic goldfields by the beginning of June 2022. In the meantime we will be doing some prospecting around the Coffs Harbour area to get familiar with our equipment and work out what other stuff we may need.

We are looking forward to taking on your advice, hearing your experience and possibly even catching up for a beer or a coffee in the very near future.

If you have no ming or prospecting experience, my advise would be to forget the whole idea, it is not as easy as it appears on "reality" shows.Or at least keep your jobs and do it on weekends or holidays, then run the numbers as to if you could even put food on the table with your finds.Nowadays you would be lucky if you made more than beer money with either of those detectors or a panning kit.
Sorry to be disparaging but that's the truth, I do wish you the best whatever you do.

 

[Diablo]

Totally agree with you Grubstake....
Cat and Matt
Stay safe and cover the ground carefully, you must not miss any. Swing low and slow.

Cheers
Diablo

 

[RM Outback]

G'day Matt and Cat welcome to PA :beer: Good on you for taking the risk :Y: you will be happy you did, if you need to earn a quid there are jobs everywhere. Working here and there to supplement your travels is a given, maybe check out registering with an employment agency to help you find the work that suits you.

Best of luck with your adventures :beer:

 

[aussiefarmer]

Your going to love June weather on the Goldfields, I hope you are a snuggle up type of couple , especially in a caravan, cook in summer and freeze in winter , must be reverse cycle sardine cans :lol:
Good luck and always be ready to do casual work as finding consistent payable gold is everyone's dream and most days panning only add up to 1 to 3 meals.
Not being mean but if you can pan more than 0.1 grams a day you are kicking butt.

 

[HarryHoudini]

And at a gold price of around $80gm thats $8 good luck

 

[Matti69]

Thank you all for your wonderful advice.

Cat and I have considered the whole we may need to work thing. Luckily for us we have experience in a wide range of occupations. I spent my teens and twenties travelling with circus and showgrounds. Between us we have picked everything from our noses to watermelons and we can pour anything from coffee to our hearts out.

We had a good yarn about tools required last night and have taken on board Grubstake's comment in regard to VLF vs PI detectors deciding to expand our budget to include nothing less than a GPX 4500. This just means we may have to delay leaving for a couple of weeks until we find the right deal.

We would like to get your thoughts on buying 2nd hand. I have seen some people selling on here. How risky is buying without testing 2nd hand gear? What are the pros & cons? Who are the reputable dealers? Are we better off holding out until we hit GT? Would we get a better deal there or would we just be considered dumb tourists with false hope?

Again, we welcome all advice. Even that of the naysayers.

Cheers
Matt

 

[Mackka]

If the item is being sold on here, i think it would be a safe bet that all would be good because on a number of occasions a member has picked up on something and after all , a lot of members have huge amounts of knowledge on tectors.
Mackka

 

[RM Outback]

Here are 2 of the best deals on the market, just so happens there both listed here for now. You can check serial numbers with Minelab directly which I've done and wouldn't purchase without doing so on any 2nd hand machine.
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=38853

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=38828

Either one of these GPX5000's and the SDC are without doubt very well priced and worthy of consideration :beer:

 

[Hawkear]

Add my two bobs worth for some courageous people. I second Grubstakes advice about a PI machine and think maybe try for a top of the series 5000 rather than the second last 4500.
I have had most of the Minelab detectors including the 2300, 7000 but not the 6000 (too expensive) and have recently repurchased a 5000 and used it successfully (as a hobby as opposed to profitably) on the Victorian goldfields.
The WA goldfields offer better prospects because of much greater expanse of the goldfields there but you need to observe tighter prospecting regulations. permits etc rather than just a miners right.
Nothing wrong with coming to Victoria and staying at one of the many goldfields caravan parks. There you will also have the opportunity to meet with other detectorists and hear of their successes and failures and learn from those willing to help.
The first thing I would do however is buy some land somewhere, even anywhere, so that if all fails you can have somewhere to come back to to start again. Never lose your ownership of a place you can call home however modest or primitive.

 

[gcause]

Hey Matt and Cat, I suggest you stick with the Gold Panning kit for now. Get used to panning for gold and working a stream before you outlay big bucks on a metal detector. See if this is the life for you first. It is a lot of hard work. Once you get enough gold from panning for gold, then you can upgrade to a high banker or rocker cradle. Once you get enough gold together from that then you can upgrade to a metal detector. By doing it this way your outlay is minimal only a pan, a pick and a shovel and some buckets to start with. Paddy's Flat in NSW near the old Tank Traps has good gold in it so make your way to that location. Enjoy the new lifestyle.