Sunday 17 July 2011

Gold Fever!

A few years back, whilst on holiday in New Zealand, Bob suffered his first attack of Gold Fever. We were trundling round the South Island in our hired camper van and came across a road marked on the map with what we eventually deciphered as a gold nugget symbol.  We decided to follow the road, which became a track, which itself then dwindled to a trail and eventually we parked up in a leafy glade, surrounded by beautiful 'Lord of the Rings' type forest.  We set off to discover the old mine workings - there were tunnels, diggings and mysterious sluices - and the ghostly evidence of miners, long gone, and their attempts to find 'The Colour'. 

The fever came on quite quickly. One minute he was fine, the next he was ransacking the camper's kitchenette for frying pans and sieves.  Then he was down in the stream, a-slooshin' and a-swillin' 'til nightfall.  Next day, he was up at sunrise and down there again - I swear he'd still be there now if I hadn't insisted that he return that frying pan. I needed it to cook breakfast.

Fast forward a few years and we are in our own little leafy paradise, where the waterfall tumbles over the rocks to fill the stream and lake at Fisherman's cabin and here the fever struck again.  In the shaily banks can clearly be seen the bright and shiny flecks of Iron Pyrites or 'Fools Gold', which often goes hand in hand with the real stuff. He was spurred on by a book a friend had recently sent him, called 'Gold Panning is Easy' by Roy Nagel.   Well, Bob never found his golden nugget, nor even a flake but he reckons it's down there somewhere, and as Mr Nagel is fond of saying, 'People ask me where to look for gold, the answer is: Gold is where you find it!' You're welcome to try your luck if you come and stay - I'll get a back-up frying pan just in case!!


"Oi! is that my frying pan you've got there?"
 

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