Off To Australia


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As of this afternoon, I am leaving for a trip to Australia for a month to prospect for gold in the Australian outback. I was invited by Jonathan Porter to join him in the remote Aussie interior. With gold at $1800+ per ounce, how can I say no? For centuries prospectors have traveled around the world in search of those golden nuggets, and I guess its my turn. I've never done anything like that before - other than Hawaii, I've never traveled outside of North America. I'll teaming up for this prospecting adventure with Steve Herschbach from AMDS in Anchorage. He's a great guy and very experienced prospector, but its his first trip to Australia as well. Steve and I will be meeting up in LA for the flight across the pond to Oz. We've got a 16 hour flight from LA to Melbourne, then a short layover and anther 4 hour trip across Australia to Perth. I'll be in transit for maybe 48 hours. I am sure when we arrive we'll be pretty well jet lagged.

Once we get our footing, we will head out several hundred miles into the Western Australian Desert.

While I am sure the majority of our time will be detecting with the GPX 5000, I also bringing my Gold Bug Pro in case we get into some little ones in milder ground. Hopefully we will find a good amount of the yellow metal - JP has been pretty successful in the past. Will I be able to pay for the trip? Well, we will just have to wait and see. I'm going to have a darn good time no matter what.

I'll take some pictures and put them up here when I return at the end of September. Should be pretty interesting.

If I am pretty quiet for the next month, you will know the reason why.

Chris

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Chris I am sure that it will be the trip of a lifetime for both you and Steve.

You could not have better companions that is for sure.

I wish you well and hope all your dreams are realized.

Also hoping for the best of health and not too much jet lag!

Please give our best to JP and Steve.

Bon Voyage!

Flak

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As of this afternoon, I am leaving for a trip to Australia for a month to prospect for gold in the Australian outback. I was invited by Jonathan Porter to join him in the remote Aussie interior. With gold at $1800+ per ounce, how can I say no? For centuries prospectors have traveled around the world in search of those golden nuggets, and I guess its my turn. I've never done anything like that before - other than Hawaii, I've never traveled outside of North America. I'll teaming up for this prospecting adventure with Steve Herschbach from AMDS in Anchorage. He's a great guy and very experienced prospector, but its his first trip to Australia as well. Steve and I will be meeting up in LA for the flight across the pond to Oz. We've got a 16 hour flight from LA to Melbourne, then a short layover and anther 4 hour trip across Australia to Perth. I'll be in transit for maybe 48 hours. I am sure when we arrive we'll be pretty well jet lagged.

Once we get our footing, we will head out several hundred miles into the Western Australian Desert.

While I am sure the majority of our time will be detecting with the GPX 5000, I also bringing my Gold Bug Pro in case we get into some little ones in milder ground. Hopefully we will find a good amount of the yellow metal - JP has been pretty successful in the past. Will I be able to pay for the trip? Well, we will just have to wait and see. I'm going to have a darn good time no matter what.

I'll take some pictures and put them up here when I return at the end of September. Should be pretty interesting.

If I am pretty quiet for the next month, you will know the reason why.

Chris

Good Luck Chris:

Boy what an opportunity of a lifetime! :)

Having crossed the pond a few times myself, heres some tips...

Usually the first couple of days your running on adrenaline from the excitement. After that you have to force yourself to conform to the new time schedule. Dramamine helps on the airplane ride over.

Try going to Denmark in the summer when the sun doenst set but for a few hours. Talk about getting all screwed up. Plus they wanted us to turn jets for sorties....the nerve of them!

Have fun and hope you find a lot of stuff...be it memories or gold.

Tom H.

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If, prior to this trip you have not tried vegemite I suggest strongly you resist the urge--------------had a employee from "down under" that convinced me one day while we were in Zapote Costa Rica that I need to have a sandwich of it-----------never been the same since

Good luck with the hunting, great place and lots of great gold there.

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G'day all, am in Perth as we speak organising a few things before I pick the blokes up tomorrow afternoon. :rolleyes: Have two motel rooms at the ready for what will no doubt be a couple of heavily jet lagged bleary eyed American prospectors who are in for a life changing experience. Next morning we'll take in a few of the sites and maybe do a little shopping then it's a BBQ at Reed's prospecting for a 'meet and greet', a great chance for Chris and Steve to meet a few local West Australian Aussie prospectors and an opportunity for the Aussies to get Chris to sign there copies of his "Fists Full of Gold" book which has become very popular here in Australia.

Sunday we will be getting our gear organised and hitting the camping stores for swags and other camping ancillary equipment then depending on how we go its off into the wide blue yonder to try our luck at hitting our fortunes in the Outback. :blush:

Wish us luck :blush:

JP

PS Vegemite is a requirement here in OZ :lol::girl:

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G'day all, am in Perth as we speak organising a few things before I pick the blokes up tomorrow afternoon. :rolleyes: Have two motel rooms at the ready for what will no doubt be a couple of heavily jet lagged bleary eyed American prospectors who are in for a life changing experience. Next morning we'll take in a few of the sites and maybe do a little shopping then it's a BBQ at Reed's prospecting for a 'meet and greet', a great chance for Chris and Steve to meet a few local West Australian Aussie prospectors and an opportunity for the Aussies to get Chris to sign there copies of his "Fists Full of Gold" book which has become very popular here in Australia.

Sunday we will be getting our gear organised and hitting the camping stores for swags and other camping ancillary equipment then depending on how we go its off into the wide blue yonder to try our luck at hitting our fortunes in the Outback. :blush:

Wish us luck :blush:

JP

PS Vegemite is a requirement here in OZ :lol::girl:

How many greenbacks to get in on the next trip JP, or do you have to write a book to get an invite? For real do you do a guide type service?

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How many greenbacks to get in on the next trip JP, or do you have to write a book to get an invite?

Hi Jason,

I'll guess you haven't read Chris' book Fists Full of Gold. The thing is a masterpiece and the best book ever on prospecting (not just my opinion). If you ever write a book of the quality of Chris' I'm pretty sure JP and half of the Australian prospectors will show up to greet you and show you their best patches. :lol:

Seriously - get a copy and read it, it will change your whole view on prospecting for gold. Rob can hook you up I'm sure.

clay

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Awesome, probably smart to do it in a team, duo or trio, especially with all of you being experienced prospectors and JP specializing in the local lay of the land. The interior eh? That sounds like quite the adventure, even for an Aussie let alone a couple non-Aussies. I'm getting restless in front of the computer just thinking about it, take a little video or two when you have time and the batteries still are running. Best of luck to you all, and may pleasant adventures and gold await. :excl:

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Hi Jason,

I'll guess you haven't read Chris' book Fists Full of Gold. The thing is a masterpiece and the best book ever on prospecting (not just my opinion). If you ever write a book of the quality of Chris' I'm pretty sure JP and half of the Australian prospectors will show up to greet you and show you their best patches. :lol:

Seriously - get a copy and read it, it will change your whole view on prospecting for gold. Rob can hook you up I'm sure.

clay

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Clay - Don't miss understand, I didn't say "JUST write a book". I do have a copy of Chris' book and read it in it's entirety. It's the most complete book on prospecting I've found and have reread many parts of it. I surely did not mean to belittle his work. The book is worth far more then the sticker price I paid for it. A week in the Land of Oz hunting with a some really pros may be worth alot to some guys too. Now you put guys like JP, Chris and the rest of the fellas on this trip together and I'm sure alot of us would really love to be a fly on the wall around that campsite. But as you said somethings you just can't get with something as common as money........you have to do something more...like write a book..Cheers :)

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Enjoy...i am truly trying not to be jealous!!! :rolleyes:

Have a blessed trip and find a, 'bloody ripper..."

paul

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The Bible (if you believe that thing) states:


  1. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.
  2. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's (goods), house or fields, nor his male or female slaves, nor his ox or ass, or anything that belongs to him.

It says NOTHING about "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's nugget hunting trip to Australia"... you're all safe. :)

Come to think of it, it mentions wife and ass but in separate sentences, can we covet they neighbor's wife's ass then? :wub:

Jen

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Through the magic of the internet. I am here in Perth in a hotel room getting ready to head out in the next day or two. Tomorrow, Reed's, the local prospecting shop will be holding send off barbeque for us.

Will take lots of photos, no dry washing this trip - just detecting.

Landon - I have lost sleep over the last several days before we took off.

Will treat the vegemite like a dangerous snake and try to avoid it.

I've seen plenty of posts about other folks' trips to Australia, Alaska, etc. that I wished I could have been a part of, glad to be a a part of this one.

Thanks for all your well wishes, Will post photos as internet service is available

Chris

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