Inglewood Victoria information and questions

[Sam501]

Was thinking about heading out to Inglewood tomorrow, can anyone recommend any spots to try? North South East of West

 

[Mattem]

I was out there for a couple hours on Monday with no luck, bought a map from coil tek on the way through there's heaps of diggings off the main road when I came in dunolly way can't go wrong !

 

[David s]

Hi ya all, I am new to the gpx4500, I previously owned a gs 15000,and a xt17000,what my question is what is the best settings to find small gold with. The gpx4500, and any direction as to where I should have a swing at Inglewood, am not asking for secret spots just general area to get me started and hopefully to jag a bit.AM heading up there at the end of this week, I will be travelling up to there from east gippsland.. Thank you very much DAVID

 

[Dignit]

Hi David
I spend a bit of time at Inglewood. I find it central to a lot of goldfields, plus its a good Goldfield in its own right. A lot of Gold historically came out of Inglewood, and there is still an operating gold mine there. Mind you the bulk came from deep mine shaft alluvial.
All you have to do is jump in the car and head along Inglewood Powlett Rd and or Inglewood North Road and you'll find dozens of tracks lined with diggings. Its a big area.
Its just a matter of trying your luck, just like anywhere.
Good luck.

 

[HarryHoudini]

Hi David
I spend a bit of time at Inglewood. I find it central to a lot of goldfields, plus its a good Goldfield in its own right. A lot of Gold historically came out of Inglewood, and there is still an operating gold mine there. Mind you the bulk came from deep mine shaft alluvial.
All you have to do is jump in the car and head along Inglewood Powlett Rd and or Inglewood North Road and you'll find dozens of tracks lined with diggings. Its a big area.
Its just a matter of trying your luck, just like anywhere.
Good luck.

Anywhere you can get in. Just go low and slow.

 

[A-team]

Spent a day at Inglewood today, all on the east side. Did some research and also checked out Dtrackoz maps and GeoVic locations. For most of that place, angry bush is an understatement. Not 10 meters in and lost site of the car, the wife, the gold and my bearings. Thank goodness I was carrying a drink, my UHF and GPS!

Climbing over, under and around with virtually every step - I can see why people say there is still good gold in some parts there, but my body is more attuned to flat lander status since my neck and back conditions have dictated.

There are some areas not so dense, but alas - that means easier access for all so those areas were not so fruitful. Plenty of hot rocks kept the day interesting too.

I understand now that those "fit adventurers" would do well the deeper you dare go into some parts of the bush. There were MANY scrapings everywhere you turned but I still managed to collect my fair share of lead shot :/

We tried a few places, a couple of hours each - most areas have had sections raked and pretty well gone over, but it is a big area to completely cover.

One disappointing thing we found was at Ally Slopers Gully where a section of land - about the size of the MCG between the reef and the gully had not only been completely raked, but also immaculately "pushed" by some sort of mechanical means....dingo or bobcat probably. Surprisingly, what was left had minimal scratchings so looks like not such a rich area.

The main trees had not been touched but there was zero foliage left around them. VERY obvious "push" indicators, looking like a mini bulldozer had been there. There was a 4WD track coming in from the opposite side of the marked main road with a camp spot that had a pristine rock fireplace, and drink containers scattered around. I also uncovered numerous buried "Red Bull" cans (empty).

I understand people have gone crazy of finding gold with the price increases, but unless I'm wrong, you are only allowed to use hand tools - nothing mechanical? It certainly put a spoiler on for us as bush loving hobby prospectors. If we dig some lead shot, a bullet or nail - we are happy. Gold is the bonus, but a section of a gold field made barren in the name of greed.....

 

[A-team]

1). Ally Slopers Gully - area we found pushed and heavily worked. There were not a great deal of scratchings and we found very little trash and no gold.

2). Big Timber Gully - an unplanned stop en-route so a quick swing around pulled out a few lead shot and other trash. Looks like a large camping area so didn't expect much.

3). The most promising area - we had every intention of venturing "deep into the jungle" but OMG - it was THICK!!! Put on your smallest elliptical coil and push around under the scrub. We got plenty of signals, but were all predominantly shot gun pellets. We figured if we slowed down a bit next time, we'd find other (yellow) targets that were missed.

Also, we were lucky to get 30 meters deep in this area and didn't even get to the good stuff - (colored in yellow for obvious reasons). I don't mind sharing this information because I doubt we'd be trying to get in there again, unless a bush fire cleans it out. I'd suggest coming in from the other side and make your way in best you can. Your 2WD will be okay in summer, but expect a severe, deep paint scraping. Take water, UHF and GPS if you want to survive the outing.

4). A nice little area, dug a hole around 70cm to find a piece of rusted tin with the 7000. A bit of a gully and looked partially surfaced. Plenty of interesting directions you could wonder of looking. Would re-visit this area for a better look around, particularly south of the area as the bush was thicker. Obvious signs of having regular prospecting.

Lots of iron stone in this part of Inglewood but found detectors only reacted to specific individual stones and not the ground in general.

Detectors used today: SDC 2300 with elliptical coil, Modified GPX 5000 12x8 NF coil, 2 X GPZ 7000's with standard coils.

 

[Booney]

Inglewood can be a very frustrating area to work the country is very harsh . it can be a long way between targets just try and remember a lot of gold has come out of this area .nobody gets it all Low and slow is the way to go . Eventually something will turn up if you have the patience.

 

[dam it]

:lol: :lol: I got misplaced in inglewood a few years ago now ( Left of screen of your #2 :argh: :argh: :|
Walked around for about 5 hours in that real THICK oop: .
Found a road then walk about 5 km,s back to the Ute . Was a scary experience .
On other occasions have done Very well there .
Good report Thanks for sharing :Y:

 

[A-team]

:lol: :lol: I got misplaced in inglewood a few years ago now ( Left of screen of your #2 :argh: :argh: :|
Walked around for about 5 hours in that real THICK oop: .
Found a road then walk about 5 km,s back to the Ute . Was a scary experience .
On other occasions have done Very well there .
Good report Thanks for sharing :Y:

Holly crap - that is serious stuff! If that was in W.A's heat - you'd probably be close to dead? Must have been hard to keep calm....sometimes I'd walk about 5 meters then look down at the same target digging I just made 5 minutes ago. Had to chuckle to myself, but in all seriousness - I ended up asking the wife to hit the car horn so I could find my way back.

I did have my GPS and marked my waypoint before I left. For those of you unfamiliar with a hand-held hiking GPS - get one NOW, buy an older used one if you have to, but get one before heading out of site of your car Imaging getting a snake bite and needing a direct route back to the car! Also, carry a 5w UHF hand-held and if by yourself, leave it on emergency channel 5, JUST IN CASE! These 2 life saving items are light and batteries last the day with ease.

Also got myself lost at Malmsbury a while back, wasn't particularly deep in the forest but it was thick. Had to get the wife to hoot the car horn which helped bring me to a road half a kilometer from the car. Didn't have a GPS back then...

 

[dam it]

:lol: Yeah I had a few quiet talks with Jesus in Between Punching Mozzie,s the size of sparrow's .
When Im in WA I carry 2 1 litre bottles on my belt . But you are right it would have been a different ending over there .
Thought I new were I was till I wanted to go back to the ute .
Yeah then I thought OH oop: Not again :lol: :lol: Not the first time I have Misplaced myself in VIC :|

 

[dam it]

:Y: And A PLB when in WA

 

[condor22]

I go to Inglewood regularly, have found several nice pieces at Big Timber, but it's a large area. In fact I've rarely stopped to detect there and not found something, even on the surfaced/ripped areas, I've done well. All SDC2300 finds.

I always carry, Handheld GPS, 5W Walky and a KTI PLB as I'm often by myself. A small hydro pack with water and 1st aid kit with snake kit, cos you never know.

Re GPS, I have 2 waypoints permanently in the memory "CAR" & "CAMP". I have a static camp a few kms from Inglewood and the CAMP waypoint is located there. If I move, I reposition it. The CAR waypoint gets repositioned each time I stop to detect before I leave the car, also check battery level. Most GPS units have this function - sub menu to reposition a particular waypoint.

That way I always have the car located, but I turn the GPS off when I leave the car to save battery. Doing this gets me well over 12 months from the battery. I also take note of my general direction, sun position etc as I also have carry a compass.

Why do I mark the CAMP, well if someone in the future locates my lifeless form, they'll know where I was staying, lol. The PLB will hopefully avoid that necessity.

 

[Katabatic]

That way I always have the car located, but I turn the GPS off when I leave the car to save battery. Doing this gets me well over 12 months from the battery. I also take note of my general direction, sun position etc as I also have carry a compass.

I always leave the GPS turned on whenever out bush, fishing or detecting.

Don't know what your terrain is like, but in the hilly/mountainous country I venture into there is often need for significant detours.....fallen timber, dense bush, overgrown or boggy gullies, mine shafts, and, my personal favourite, blackberries.

The problem, in this sort of country, is that if you turn the GPS off upon departure, when you turn it back on to head back to the car waypoint, the GPS can only give you a straight-line route, and you can end up going straight back through the same obstacles, and having to take the same detours.

If the GPS has been running the whole time, you have a track record that clearly shows where you had to detour, and you can even punch in a waypoint on the bad ones. You can also use Backtrak, and return the way you came.

If you are trying to get back to the car in a hurry, a straight line is not always the quickest way in our neck of the woods.

 

[condor22]

If you are navigating obstacles, it would then become difficult to detect.

I find walking with a detector in use, in one hand and sometimes a pick in the other, I run out of hands to navigate , lol. Yes, I only get line of sight, but most of the VIC areas are relatively flattish. So, if I carry my GPS switched on in a pocket, it often loses satellite anyway. As a guesstimate, in 7 years of detecting, I've only needed to used it 1/2 dozen times. When I have, the furthest I've been from my car is around 600 metres.

However, if I'm just wandering around the bush as in a walk, I would leave it on.

I don't advocate either option to others, only what I do as an option, it's up to the individual.

 

[BigWave]

I use my iphone with Handy GPS; mark my car's position, then turn it off to save battery and to not interfere with my detector.
I only turn it back on if I get "turned around" - happened only once, but that was enough :argh:
I can certainly understand how it could happen at Inglewood, and at Slaughter Yard Tk just North of Maryborough.

 

[StoneTheCrows]

My first time out I thought I would use trees as a marker
Yeah right good idea until you notice all the trees look very similar
after 5 or 6 hours I realised all the advise I was given about GPS was very good indeed
Bought one the next day

 

[Solid Luck]

If its the GT I just blindly walk around. People always know where I am and know if they do not hear from me by sunset, or cannot track me anymore, I've probably fallen down a mineshaft.
If I lose my bearings that bad I'll just stay put with my Mars Bar. Anything to get away from the kids. :zzz:

 

[Katabatic]

My first time out I thought I would use trees as a marker
Yeah right good idea until you notice all the trees look very similar
after 5 or 6 hours I realised all the advise I was given about GPS was very good indeed
Bought one the next day

Been there, done that.

How can that tree that looked so unique and memorable just a few minutes ago, end up looking like every other damn tree in such a short space of time

 

[Katabatic]

If you are navigating obstacles, it would then become difficult to detect.

Some of the best detecting can be had in the vicinity of obstacles....'cause every other bugger goes around them