Looking for advice on creating gold finding experience for enthusiastic partner Melbourne Victoria.

[Opalbaby]

G'day prospectors!

My partners birthday is coming up and he has always had a interest in gold hunting.

As a present I wanted to try and give him the experience of going for a hunt for some gold and would love your opinions on how best to achieve this.

Here is some basic information

We are located in Melbourne
He has never been before
He has some Gold panning equipment
We have the capacity to hire a Minelab detector
Able to drive a few hours to hunt

With these parameters in mind, would you recommend hiring a detector or going for a local river option?

Or is there a place where he could do both?

Do you have any recommendations where he could go to find some fine gold?

Any advice is most welcome.

Thank you!

 

[OzzieAu]

Why not gift him a voucher from a place like this.
https://goldandrelics.com.au/There are others as well.
Good luck.

 

[Dave's Office]

I did a couple of trips to Lannacoorie with my brother who's an experienced detectorist, and I hired a detector each time, the first from Dean at Dunnolly and the next from Coiltek at Maryborough. Dean's not there any more but the guys at Coiltek are great and very helpful, and it's not far from Melbourne.

 

[Hawkear]

Slatey creek Creswick, Sailors Creek Daylesford to the west, Reedy Creek El Dorado to the north are mostly available. To the east, most of the rivers and creeks running south from the divide in Gippsland have gold but you would need to check wether any restrictions apply. Also don’t forget a miners right.
I think panning is your introduction seeing you have some gear. As you get more involved and with greater knowledge maybe only then look at metal detecting.
Go get your first bit (speck) of gold first.
Good Luck.

 

[sand surfer]

i am with hawkear ,you already have the pans ,hit the creeks when they go done after all the rain you have had down there' there will be plenty of new gold washed in them from the rain
learn the what, when where and how of gold then move into detecting

or as ozzie said go on a prospecting tour
or join a club or facebook group in your area ,they will take you under their wing and teach you