AuzeeSheila
New member
This is a tale about our first BIG trip away on a nugget hunt. After packing and repacking our Camper Trailer for two weeks we finally departed home at 5 am and travelled all day to a town in central Queensland. About 3 pm, we pulled into the home of the owner of the property we had arranged to camp and detect on. After an old fashioned afternoon tea we left about an hour later and made our way with the help of a GPS to the closest site to where we wanted to explore. It was an idyllic camping spot with close cropped, level ground that had every thing a camper could ask for. There were shade trees to keep us cool, lots of dead timber for campfires and that most rare thing of all these days . . . peace and quiet!
I should mention that it got a bit crowded at times, usually around sundup/down, when a rather large herd of cattle would meander through on it's way to or from the creek we were camped alongside. There was also a family of horses who galloped through periodically. We were warned of these visits by our step-dog, who thought it was his duty to warn them off each and every time they arrived. This involved strident barking from about ten feet in front of the nearest animals, which caused them to stop and stare at him. He would turn his back and they would then follow him back into camp. He would trot back and sit in front of one of us expecting a reward for a job well done, while a sea of bovine faces watched our every move, from tent peg distance, for about five minutes. It seems these creatures were invisible to the dog during this time.
We stayed there for a week and, unfortunately, no nuggets were found at this site. On the eighth day we packed up and decided to camp at a public camping area next to a dam. This place was quite beautiful and, after paying $5 per person for three nights at the office, we went for a drive around the camping area to find the 'right' spot for our needs. There were quite a few caravans already set up and some tents in a specified area. This park had hot showers, septic toilets and unrestricted water on tap--although it was suggested that the water be boiled before drinking.
We were sitting in the 4wd at the side of the track, discussing where we ought to set up camp when suddenly, as if by some hidden signal, one vehicle after another streamed into the camping area and all the best possible spots (for us) were taken. There was one site left and we quickly backed the camper into it and started unpacking. This site was so close to the dirt track, we had one of our tent rope pegs actually on the edge of the track. Although we had a nice view of the lake from our camper, we also got mouths full of dust every time a car travelled past our door.
By 2 pm we were settling down to an afternoon siesta, when a ute pulled up on the other side of the track with a screech of tyres. Well, it would have been a screech on bitumen, but on dirt it was a cloud of dust. Out spilled two young blokes, who proceeded to set up an old generator that was then umbilically attached to a 'boom-box.' Once started, they proceeded to give the whole park a headache with the noise that the young folk call music these days. If we hadn't been so tired, we would have packed up and left right then. Apparently, this was a regular thing for the youth of the nearby town on the weekends and it was just our bad luck to arrive on Friday. All the other campers who arrived that day were miners from the district and they also came every weekend with their speed boats to water ski all day long. In fact, the mining company they worked for sponsored some of the facilities at the park.
One of the park rules were that all dogs had to be on a leash at all times. Our poor dog, Cooper, didn't understand this at all. After spending a week in the bush he thought he owned the world. Being novices at this, we were rather surprised when a very small lap-dog type of canine, without a leash, sauntered past and our dog went nuts at the end of his rather long tether. We didn't realise at the time that a dog on a leash can break a camp in five seconds flat when another dog passes by!
I will continue this saga soon as it is now 11:30 pm here, that is, if I'm not boring you all to death.
I should mention that it got a bit crowded at times, usually around sundup/down, when a rather large herd of cattle would meander through on it's way to or from the creek we were camped alongside. There was also a family of horses who galloped through periodically. We were warned of these visits by our step-dog, who thought it was his duty to warn them off each and every time they arrived. This involved strident barking from about ten feet in front of the nearest animals, which caused them to stop and stare at him. He would turn his back and they would then follow him back into camp. He would trot back and sit in front of one of us expecting a reward for a job well done, while a sea of bovine faces watched our every move, from tent peg distance, for about five minutes. It seems these creatures were invisible to the dog during this time.
We stayed there for a week and, unfortunately, no nuggets were found at this site. On the eighth day we packed up and decided to camp at a public camping area next to a dam. This place was quite beautiful and, after paying $5 per person for three nights at the office, we went for a drive around the camping area to find the 'right' spot for our needs. There were quite a few caravans already set up and some tents in a specified area. This park had hot showers, septic toilets and unrestricted water on tap--although it was suggested that the water be boiled before drinking.
We were sitting in the 4wd at the side of the track, discussing where we ought to set up camp when suddenly, as if by some hidden signal, one vehicle after another streamed into the camping area and all the best possible spots (for us) were taken. There was one site left and we quickly backed the camper into it and started unpacking. This site was so close to the dirt track, we had one of our tent rope pegs actually on the edge of the track. Although we had a nice view of the lake from our camper, we also got mouths full of dust every time a car travelled past our door.
By 2 pm we were settling down to an afternoon siesta, when a ute pulled up on the other side of the track with a screech of tyres. Well, it would have been a screech on bitumen, but on dirt it was a cloud of dust. Out spilled two young blokes, who proceeded to set up an old generator that was then umbilically attached to a 'boom-box.' Once started, they proceeded to give the whole park a headache with the noise that the young folk call music these days. If we hadn't been so tired, we would have packed up and left right then. Apparently, this was a regular thing for the youth of the nearby town on the weekends and it was just our bad luck to arrive on Friday. All the other campers who arrived that day were miners from the district and they also came every weekend with their speed boats to water ski all day long. In fact, the mining company they worked for sponsored some of the facilities at the park.
One of the park rules were that all dogs had to be on a leash at all times. Our poor dog, Cooper, didn't understand this at all. After spending a week in the bush he thought he owned the world. Being novices at this, we were rather surprised when a very small lap-dog type of canine, without a leash, sauntered past and our dog went nuts at the end of his rather long tether. We didn't realise at the time that a dog on a leash can break a camp in five seconds flat when another dog passes by!
I will continue this saga soon as it is now 11:30 pm here, that is, if I'm not boring you all to death.
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I figure there is little difference for a person of my age.
But I'm with you! Lookin' forward to the next part.