Lovely
morning, 17 degrees and clear sky.
Steve
put brackets on the water tank at the back of the truck as the other brackets
had cracked.
Mike
in Tassie rang to see if we were prospecting yet.
Kev
and Linda got a few last things then we drove over to the Mines Dept so we
could show them how to find out about pending leases etc and to get maps
printed.
Back
to the van and we hooked up and went around to top up with water. Unfortunately
a chap was there from a drilling company filling up his big containers so we
had to wait for a half hour before we could start.
At
last we headed north to Broad Arrow – big trucks on the move.
Broad
Arrow was an old gold mining town, not much left there now. Will check it out
later as Tonia said they went swimming in the old mine hole there – floated
well with the salt and mineral content.
Turned
east. A truck came up behind us and Steve pulled over with his blinker on to
let him pass but the chap said he was turning off. We said where we were going
and he said to call in and see him if we needed anything – that was a nice
start.
Found
the turnoff into Ross’ lease and followed the track. I had put the boundaries
in the Hema so we knew where we were going. The track took us onto another
lease and a camp so we stopped to say hi but no one was there. Continued on
till we found a nice area to camp – hopefully on the gold!! So nice of Ross to
offer for us to stop here.
There
is some pending ground nearby too which we will check out. The flies have found
us too so my fly net is permanently on my head when we are outside.
Got
set up then off with the detectors. Unfortunately we aren’t camped on the
gold!! But we are cleaning up Australia and the lease!!
Steve
made a big firepit and got the fire going. Late drinks around the fire as we
watched the full moon rise. Tiny little mosquitos are buzzing around so using
my 2 ½ year old mozzie coils which seem to be keeping them away.
Cooled
off by 7pm as we headed into the van to cook dinner. Mopoke (or whatever they
are called) owls were calling out – lovely sound to go to bed listening too,
and all the crickets too.
Broad Arrow History From
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Initially
called Kurawah, gold was first discovered there in 1893 which
triggered a gold rush in the region north of Kalgoorlie. The Broad
Arrow Goldfield was gazetted on 11 November 1896, and in 1897
the municipality of Kurawah was declared.
The town derives
its name from the markers, in the shape of a broad arrow, left on the ground by
a miner, Reison, who left them to direct his friends who were following him to
a gold discovery he had made. His mine was also named Broad Arrow.[1]
Extensions to
the Eastern
Goldfields Railway line from Kalgoorlie to Menzies was
begun in August 1897, and reached Broad Arrow on 6 November the same year.[2] The railway station
included a 350 ft (110 m) passenger platform.
At its peak the
town had 15,000 residents, eight hotels and two breweries as well as a stock exchange. Other facilities included a
hospital, three churches, Salvation Army Hall, a chemist, two banks, police
station with resident magistrate, a mining registrar, a post office, a cordial
factory, six grocery stores and two draperies, and blacksmith and bakers'
shops. The town was the administrative centre for smaller settlements in the
area including Ora Banda,
Smithfield, Black Flat, White Flag and Grant's Patch.
A
10,000,000 imp gal (45,000 kl) dam was built for the Public
Works Department in Broad Arrow in 1897.
By the 1920s the
gold had run out and the town had been abandoned.
The movie Nickel Queen was filmed there in 1971,
using the town's remaining hotel, the Broad Arrow Tavern. The Tavern remains
open for travellers today and is noted for having almost every wall covered
with handwritten notes from past visitors. In recent years the area has had
renewed life with mining companies re-establishing operations, like the Paddington Gold Mine.
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