Since the 1850’s gold has been mined in Australia. Many have lost their lives mining for gold in atrocious conditions. And many people still mine gold today - either for work or as a hobby.
Areas of Australia are still known to have gold on their land - and it is big business! People are finding gold every day - so why not us??
When we were at Cairns we became friendly with a couple called Mark and Deidre. Mark shared with us that they had been fortunate in finding a significant amount of gold over the past few weeks and showed us two lumps weighing approx 5 oz and a tub of little nuggets which he’d found. We decided to try our luck and bought a second hand machine from Cash Converters. (Bearing in mind that machines cost on average $5,000+ our little machine at $100 was probably a bit wishful thinking!) We tried out luck at Herberton and at Janice and Charlie’s place at Rocky Creek - but unfortunately all we found were bits of wire and a couple of old bullets. We tried other places where we were stopped and picked up a dollar coin and more bits of wire!
Areas of Australia are still known to have gold on their land - and it is big business! People are finding gold every day - so why not us??
When we were at Cairns we became friendly with a couple called Mark and Deidre. Mark shared with us that they had been fortunate in finding a significant amount of gold over the past few weeks and showed us two lumps weighing approx 5 oz and a tub of little nuggets which he’d found. We decided to try our luck and bought a second hand machine from Cash Converters. (Bearing in mind that machines cost on average $5,000+ our little machine at $100 was probably a bit wishful thinking!) We tried out luck at Herberton and at Janice and Charlie’s place at Rocky Creek - but unfortunately all we found were bits of wire and a couple of old bullets. We tried other places where we were stopped and picked up a dollar coin and more bits of wire!
We decided to do things properly when we were in Clareville and bought the necessary Fossicking Licences and the relevant maps showing areas where we were allowed to look for gold. It was so hot, the sweat was pouring off us, there were so many mosquitoes we had bites on our bites, the spiders webs that you walked through were so thick it was like fishing line - and you just had to wonder what spider had been able to spin such a web. It was not a good experience! And what did we find?? Nothing but bits of wire and rubbish!Mark put us in touch with friends of his who happened to live in Claremont and who were into gold detecting in a very big way. We met up with Bob and Olive and they invited us to their home to show us their finds. It was totally mind-blowing to see their treasure trove - and to listen to their stories. They took us out in their car to show us areas which they believed would be lucrative for us and had we been staying in the area longer - would have taken us out with them and helped us find some gold. And I have no doubt whatsoever that we would have found some with their help.
So - we’ve found nothing (yet) and no - we’re not upset - we’re not jealous of those who have found gold and we’re not mad that we’ve not been so fortunate.
We’ve actually realised that we are soooo very rich in so many other ways. The experiences we’re having while here in Australia - the amazingly warm, friendly people we’re meeting - total strangers inviting us into their homes. Sometimes eating with us, or taking us out, family and their extended families welcoming us into their homes, making us feel so much at home and at one with them. But most of all - to know that God our Father has given us these opportunities - to know that (as the song goes) He is more precious that silver - more beautiful than gold - and our desire is to know Him more because, although a little bit of gold would help us financially throughout the year we know that our God will supply all our needs!
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