INTRODUCTION

Castlemaine and Bacchus Marsh are historic towns in South Central Victoria, founded by European pastoral settlers, and rapidly developed with the discovery of gold in 1851. We had 42 members in Castlemaine Caravan Park, and 27 in Bacchus Marsh Caravan Park, half in cabins, and half in their caravans. The leaders were Ainslie and Mike, who researched the locations and starts and finishes of the walks in July 2008. They arranged for 3 grades of walks, Easy/slow, Easy, and Medium and several members offered to lead them. Maps and details were provided by the leaders.

The Great Dividing Trail provided the basis for the majority of the walks, on the Dry Diggings Track running for 57 kms from Castlemaine to Daylesford; and on part of the Lerderderg Track near Bacchus Marsh. All walks were completed except for the last 2 near Daylesford when rain, cold and wind tempted us into the Chocolate Mill and The Convent for delicious hot drinks. Apart from these two days, and a gale on our moving-on day, we had lovely autumn weather.

We had a lay day in each week when people could choose their own activities. In the first week many people explored Castlemaine further, including historic Buda House, Castlemaine Botanic Gardens, and the old historic cinema. The very fine Castlemaine Art Gallery had an excellent exhibition of 1850's etchings of the goldfields. Others took the opportunity to visit nearby Bendigo, and in the second week, Ballarat, both towns at the heart of the famous gold rush in Victoria. Some of us took the train the 50 kms from Bacchus Marsh to Melbourne for the day.

A visiting speaker, Brian McCormack, gave us a talk on the history of Castlemaine and the Mount Alexander Goldfields, and arranged for a group to visit an original cottage. On Wednesday evening we took over a restaurant with one of Lyn's marvellous entertainments - a Wink Murder Mystery. Bob B made a fabulous London bobby, and topped off the evening by arresting a real local cop who had only come in for a cup of coffee!

Our delightful final dinner in the second week was at Back to Bacchus Restaurant, where Noel led us on the piano in a sing-song. On our second last walk we further indulged by having lunch at the excellent cafe at the well-known St Erth Garden at historic Blackwood. We brought the whole camp to an end with a Picnic at Hanging Rock in the Macedon Ranges National Park........Ainslie

Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple, alias Geoff and Joone Click on thumbnail to enlarge photo	Bob B impersonating an English bobby Click on thumbnail to enlarge photo	Local cop attempting to be overpowered Click on thumbnail to enlarge photo	Barry, Joone, Bob C, Mike Bob B, Geoff with local cop Click on thumbnail to enlarge photo

Castlemaine

DAY 1

Easy Group: 10 walkers departed Caravan Park at 8.30am for our first walk of this camp led by John and Jill over 9kms.

We met at the Tennis Courts in Castlemaine to commence a walk along the Great Dividing Trail to the Water Wheel. The track was clear and well signposted - the area was extremely dry. The water wheel was VERY interesting - there were many photographs taken. We returned to the tennis courts and had our lunch. Jill contacted Elaine at Chewton and agreed to meet her at the Old Town Hall where it had been arranged for her to give us a talk on the history of the district. Three members of the Historical Society were on hand to give a very informative talk; folders were available to view information on a number of subjects. It was very well displayed. We watched a video on the history of the goldfields of the area. All in all it was a very pleasant walk and a very interesting talk. Many thanks to our very capable leaders for a most enjoyable day.

At the beginning of the walk a couple of people noticed a quaint cottage on the edge of the canal. Photographs were taken and on the return trip Meriel decided to detour to look at the front of the cottage and take more photographs. Following the visit and talk from a local history group person during Happy Hour this evening we were invited to visit the cottage on Tuesday evening to have a look inside. .....author unknown

Medium Group: Our first day on the Great Dividing Trail (GDT) and starting at Castlemaine we walked along Forest Creek, past Tute's Cottage and out to Chewton. From there we left the GDT and walked through the Poverty Gully diggings. The trail mainly followed an extensive water race which carried water from a dam at the top of the hill (our lunch spot) down through one of the richest gold claims in the area. Lots to see - most of the ground has been turned over or tunnelled into so that it looks like a giant rabbit warren. Forest Creek soon lost the forest running along its banks, and shortly after was diverted to allow more land to be explored. All in all we walked about 13kms led by Ainslie and Mike. We went back to Tute's cottage with a local historian later in the camp. It is an historic 5 room cottage built of local stone with attached weatherboard kitchen, bathroom and laundry, The garden has been restored and is particularly attractive.....Karen Mac

DAY 2

Easy Group: Blue skies and beautiful sunshine began an adventureous and extremely enjoyable 7.5km walk led by Margaret and Hugh. Our first stop was on Fryers road to explore the remains of a tall engine house and chimney, followed by a walking tour of the village of Fryerstown with its history of once 25 pubs and 1 butcher and now a stone cottage for sale.

As we walked the trails of history we passed Sage Cottage B&B with its very own mini railway and station before shortly discovering a restoriation in progress of a once magnificient stone 1860's 13 room, double storey hotel plus brewery on Nuggetty Hill where we all met the friendly owner/restorer.

Lunch was much enjoyed at Vaughan Springs with some loving the huge slippery slide before we concluded a fantastic walk to see Fryerstown Cemetery where the headstones were dated from 1859 to 2007 - resting at peace in the quiet bush.....author unknown

Medium Group: Continuing our walks along the GDT, 23 walkers headed off from the Vaughan Springs entry statio under gloriously sunny skies. The Vaughan Springs area was ablaze with autumn colours. The terrain for much of the morning was fairly flat and again the group was able to view, up close, just how extensive the diggings were in this area from the 1850's right through to the late 1930's.

The Spring Gully Junction mine had extensive brick ruins and huge mullock heaps. Later, several quite deep mine shafts could be seen. There were some steeper sections of the track here.

We passed several ruined cottages made from the local stone and at one point what appeared to be a brand new cottage made out of the same stone in Fryerstown. As we neared the end, and our car swap vehicle, slight confusion reigned in the area of The Monk, but the confusion of road directions was soon sorted out by our leaders for the day, Mike and Ainslie. We discovered that our trek was closer to 14kms than 10, and so the rest, waiting for the return vehicles, was welcomed! .....Noel

Anna at the top of water race on GDT Click on thumbnail to enlarge photo	Medium walkers at Spring Gully Junction Mine Click on thumbnail to enlarge photo	Mary tries some hopeful prospecting Click on thumbnail to enlarge photo	Some much needed rain near Daylesford Click on thumbnail to enlarge photo

DAY 3

Easy Group: Coliban Main Channel Walk, 13kms

Medium Group: Day 3 of our progress along the Great Dividing Trail (GDT) started at the lovely Vaughan Mineral Springs. This site had been planted with a wide variety of deciduous trees that were wearing their superb autumn colours. The 12 medium walkers were led by Betty for 11.5kms along a varied and interesting track passing by mining sites and crumbling infrastructure. We saw a good example of a Cornish Flue. This inspired the comment that 'perhaps Cornish flu is contagious - if so, perhaps those infected may appear a little 'pastie'.

After jokes like that, we were lucky to end our walk at Porcupine Ridge Road with our full complement of walkers. Many thanks to Betty and to explorers, Mike and Ainslie.....Bob Mac

DAY 4 : Lay Day

DAY 5

Medium Group: 14 hopeful bushwalkers drove in the rain to start a walk from Hepburn Mineral Springs to Porcupine Ridge Road along the GDT. After a delayed start we trudged along a path winding through the bush in pouring rain. After about an hour it was decided by all that we were wet enough so we retraced our steps back. Luckily for us a Chocolate Mill was close by to the walking trail so we all piled in there and treated ourselves to a lovely chocolate drink to warm us up after feeling cold and wet. It was a much appreciated end to the day.....author unknown

DAY 6

Medium Group: The next day with the weather report being similar to the day before, 14 of us still ventured out and started a walk from Daylesford Lake. We were surprised to find it to be quite picturesque and enjoyed walking along the winding path through beautiful trees with coloured leaves.

We walked through to Tipperary Springs delighting in the beauty of the place as we went. From here we turned back to the start of our walk. Since the weather was fine, several of us walked around Daylesford Lake, feeling we were in a European country as we ambled through avenues of beautiful trees which overlooked the lake. We finally returned back to the start again and enjoyed a well earned lunch. Thanks to our leader Geoff......author unknown  

back to Top  

Bacchus Marsh

DAY 1

Brisbane Ranges - Steiglitz Historic Park and Anakie Gorge: Steiglitz is a deserted historic town named after an aristocratic Irish(!) pastoralist Charles von Stieglitz. The town retained his name (although misspelled) even after he returned permanently to Ireland a year before gold was discovered there. Poor Charles couldn't take a trick.

The whole group did a key swap walk at Anakie Gorge, which is an indentation in the Brisbane Ranges cut through by a small creek.

DAY 2

Werribee Gorge: The Easy walkers climbed to the 2 lookout points along the top of the gorge, and then walked into the gorge as far as the rock scrambling. The Medium walkers walked the Gorge Circuit which although only 6km in length, was full of interest from start to finish. We started at the Quarry and walked up the hill to the rim of the gorge where there were stone ruins of an old farm and fenced orchard. There were two viewpoints along the gorge rim from where we could see as far as Melbourne and the Dandenongs.

Then we headed down into the gorge where the track followed the Werribee River, really a series of large pools. There are some interesting rock formations in the gorge and a couple of sandy "beaches" - we stopped to have lunch on one of them. A wire rope attached to the rock wall assists navigation over some of the more difficult rock scrambling, and eventually we found ourselves following the route of an old aqueduct back to the carpark.

One memorable feature of this walk was the foul smelling mint bush growing along the track - deceptively called "fragrant mintbush" on one of the explanatory boards.

Geoff, Elizabeth and Ainslie in Werribee Gorge Click on thumbnail to enlarge photo	Rock scrambling in Werribee Gorge Click on thumbnail to enlarge photo	Combined group stand on the tunnel diverting a creek Click on thumbnail to enlarge photo	Ruined miners cottage Click on thumbnail to enlarge photo

DAY 3

The Tunnel/Lerderderg River Circuit: This proved to be a very exciting walk and not quite as described in the notes provided by the Ranger's Office. The entire group set out from O'Brien's Crossing in the Lerderderg State Park and walked along a well contoured track to the Tunnel. The Tunnel is a huge cut in a hill designed to divert water away from the gold diggings. The plan was then to walk back to the starting point along the Lerderderg River, but the track had not been maintained and was very rough, almost non-existent in places.

However, experienced bushwalkers that we are, we were not to be deterred. We pulled out our GPS's, compasses and topo maps and sent out advance parties to scout the route. Meanwhile the team rallied to help our easy walkers over some of the more difficult obstacles (track washaways, rock scrambles, deep ditches and almost vertical hills). It's a credit to the group that everyone got back unscathed and excited by the challenge of what had been described in the literature as a fairly uneventful stroll in the bush.

DAY 4 - LAY DAY

DAY 5

Lerderderg Trail and Blackwood Historic Walk: The Easy walkers set off on an 8km tour of Blackwood township, which probably ended up being a more difficult walk than that attempted by the Medium walkers. The Medium walkers wandered along a very well contoured trail through manna gum forest from Blackwood back to O'Brien's Crossing, meeting in the middle for a key swap. The highlight of the walk was a tunnel dug several metres into the hillside by miners, at the end of which a big old wombat had taken up residence.

Both groups met back at the cosy St Erth Garden Cafe for lunch and a wander around these lovely gardens.

Jill with torch at the entrance to the wombat hole Click on thumbnail to enlarge photo	And a very surprised wombat at the end Click on thumbnail to enlarge photo	Noel and Karen with snow gums at Mt Macedon Click on thumbnail to enlarge photo	Bob on top of Hanging Rock Click on thumbnail to enlarge photo

DAY 6 - LAST DAY

Mt Macedon and Hanging Rock: Both groups explored Mt Macedon on several short walks and enjoyed its many picnic areas and lookouts up among the snow gums. Then we drove down the hill to Hanging Rock (of the Picnic fame). After our own picnic at the base of the rock, several walkers set out to climb to the top, while others repaired to the cafe. The Rock is a fascinating landform with numerous nooks and crannies to explore. There are also many vantage points looking out over the surrounding countryside which was finally starting to green after recent rains.

Our grateful thanks to Camp Leaders Ainslie and Mike who made a couple of trips to Victoria to find and explore the walks for this Camp, as well as putting together a wonderful team of walk leaders and social organisers. All of the walks were interesting and varied, and that part of Victoria is rich in historic and natural wonders. There was so much to see and do, that many of us will no doubt go back to visit the places we missed this time around, or to explore further.

Mike has put together a DVD of video footage he took on the camp - available from Mike for purchase, or it can be borrowed from our Archives Officer.  

back to Top