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Published: January 14th 2007
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Blue Mountains in the distance
Too much Haze to really see them clearly Orange
Just as an aside ,heard on the news yesterday about an amazing escape by some chap who was snorkling off the Darwin coast in the ocean.He was attackedby a "Saltie" (saltwater crocodile )who grabbed him by the head and tried to drag him under ,his wife managed to get him free and and he survived with some cuts to his neck and ear!!
A truly amazing escape.
After the experience of the previous hotel in Dubbo I was looking forward to a little better accomodation in Orange .Info centre was the 1st stop Lonely Planet didn't give much in the way of info.
It seems although tourism is way down because of the effect of the drought, prices were not so I decicded to try a campsite and managed to get a cabin all fully fitted just 5mins outside the main drag.
Orange although an important fruit growing area it doesn't grow oranges ,.rather it was named after 'William of Orange' yes the very one who has created problems in Northern Ireland (Prodestant Paisley and his marchers )
So what did Orange have to offer of interest?
Two things appealed;-
1.Mt Canobales an ancient Volcano
2.The Ophir
Ophir Reserve
Too much Haze to really see them clearly Reserve
So off to Mt Canobales and according to the blurb,from the top 1395metres you get a 360degree view of Orange Cabonne Blayney region and you can see the Blue Mountains in the distance.
At the summit, spoilt by a mass of communications masts you do get a 360degree view, but as in Tenerife when it's very hot the heat haze comes in to play and obscured the Blue Mountains.
So next was to go to The Ophir Reserve to experience "Fossicking"; gold panning.
I am really amazed by the intrepid men of the 1850's.and thier determination. Orphir is in the middle of nowhere and remember there were no roads not even dirt roads, just a vast exspanse of land and sporadic trees with a few rivers and creeks.Temperatures in the summer 40+c
Gold was 1st found here in 1849 but nobody was reallyy interested,but after the Californian Gold Rush of 1850 the impoverished Government put up a reward for anybody to discover a payable goldfield.On the 12th February a Californian digger Edward Hargreaves found gold in Radian Gully 4Klms from tthe junction of Lewis Ponds and Summerhill Creek.
An associate William Tom Jr. who on the
7th April made the Key find at Ophir.On the rock bar just below the junction he found a heart shaped nugget 1/2oz in weight.
With this encouragment he and his mate John Lister spent 3 days cradling and panning from the creek bed near the 1st find ,further down the creek at Summerhill purely by chance
Lister found snagged in a tree root a 2oz nugget..In the 3 days ;4oz of gold was recovered, proof of a payable goldfield.
The 1st payable goldfield in Australia.
It was from here those words 'Digger" and Diggings" evolved
"Not a lot of people know That"
It was Hargreaves who took the gold to Sydney and the discovery ,he also took the public credit and the reward !!(I think I have seen this before)
The Gold Rush was on.
By mid 1851 2000 diggers were in Ophir, even a town had sprung up ,however it was exrtremely hard arduous work and mostly no reward.A large amount of luck involved and there were easier fields to work at the Turan Goldfields
By 1852 the rush was over.However there is still gold to be found there at Ophir. On the 2nd September 1979
the "Fathers Day Nugget" 5.22kg weight was found.
Value at todays prices 87,624 Euro !!!
So off with my pan to make my fortune at Summerhill Creek
Fortunatly for me there was a chap called Bob and his wife Margaret there Fossicking at Summerhill Creek,he showed me how to pan and where the best places to try .They go regularly purely for relaxation ,he showed me some tiny specks of gold that he had in his pan,yes they were minute but you never know that big nugget is there to be found.
The only thing that wasn't so good was whilst panning with my feet dangling in the water I felt what I can only descibe as a bite (No not a Saltie) but a "LEECH"! ! ! stuck to my leg UGH !!
From then on I was a bit more careful where I dangled my feet. After 3 and half hours I hadn't made my fortune .Its hot and can be tiring each pan takes about 20mins to get down to the end.
But it was a worthwile experience and indicated to me how hard the "Digger" of the 19th century had to work and how
much luck played a part in that "Magic Find"
Phileas
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