The gold bug bit again and we returned to one of our favourite campgrounds, the location of an old gold town called Waanyarra. It has a basic but pleasant campground and a great vibe. There is very little left of the old townships (it moved with the gold diggings) and the cemetery together with thousands of mine sites are the only tangible reminder of of the gold days. There were only a few of us camped there, but the company was good and we learned a lot about gold detecting from our neighbour Graham while Flash spent his time with his new best friend “Pluto” the 14 year old mutt with a heart murmur who accompanies his owner around the goldfields across Australia.

The cemetery is quite neglected now and many of the graves are unmarked. There are a number of graves scattered in the bush outside the perimeter, they are rumored to belong to those who were not eligible to be buried in the real thing due to colour, race or lack of baptism. ​Someone seems to care for these graves better than the ones in the actual cemetery.

This area is very rough, all that is left of the township is a few bricks and thousands of mine shafts.

Nonetheless some people are very possessive of their land. Most impressive gate complete with lock, pity there is no fence!

We went for a bit of a drive to the site where the “Welcome Stranger” was found. Alas only junk, a shotgun shell and a screw detected on the day. Sigh – one day…..