Castlemaine - Sailors Gully and the Welsh Village
(through the Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park)
Leader - Gordon T.
Participants - Mark, Anne, Jan, John, Alan, Janet, Terry
A smaller than average group today was welcomed to Kirk's by a wet, wintery, gloomy morning and the seemingly miserable prospect of a long, drenched day ahead. However, this was not to be, as our eventual arrival at the departure point of Pennyweight Flat Children's Cemetery in Castlemaine was greeted by cool, but fairly rain- and wind-free conditions that inspired optimism in us all.
The walk took us though fairly undulating countryside of light woodland with an elevation of approx. 150 metres. Along the way we encountered the foundations of the once mighty Garfield Water Wheel (constructed 1887 to power a quartz-crushing battery) and a water race which would have been more pleasant had it not been for its slippery clay top which required care and concentration to manage safely.
En route we encountered a number of fenced off mine shafts, as well as the remains of a puddling machine (used by miners to separate gold from heavy soils), an old Blacksmith's shop and some massive open-cut mines.
Throughout the day, the dull green of the Australian bush gleamed and glittered with frequent bursts of youthful wattle yellow. It lit up our path as we went.
We were lucky to spend our lunch time at the remains of an old Welsh village ('Golden Gully'), settled early in the gold rush period, and to contemplate how life would have been back then.