U3A Ballarat Hikers

 U3A Hike No 16 Hike Report By Tim Bosher 10 walkers met at Kirks Reservoir for the penultimate stage of this walk.   Unfortunately, a Tim who shall remain nameless charged off to Glenlyon instead of Guildford - thanks to everyone for waiting for me.   The walk commenced at Vaughan Springs in beautiful calm winter weather with a touch of sunshine and wended its way for 10 easy kilometres past the old brewery sites to Fryerstown and on to Spring Gully.   This was a particularly interesting and scenic walk with lots of historical interest along the way, even including a couple of errant trams which had escaped to the country. The Spring Gully mine site was most impressive in scale with huge mullock heaps and much evidence of significant building infrastructure. This is described as one of the most famous mines in the Castlemaine district, operating from the 1850s to the 1930s.   After a car shuffle the group enjoyed lunch at Vaughan Springs with a number of people remarking that th

 U3A Hike No 15 Hike Report by Anne Ottrey A lucky 13 hikers set out on the first day of winter, for the third stage of the Dry Diggings Track. It was a cool start as we set off downhill through bush showing signs of regeneration after fire. The track wandered up and down through sluiced gullies, sometimes following water races and passing stone chimneys – the only remaining sign of the gold miners’ huts once scattered through this area. Layers of clothes were removed as we hit the first hill, and the day turned into a sunny day ideal for walking.   Around Sailors Gully we passed heavily mined country with deep mining holes to either side of the track. We approached Vaughan Springs via an old bridle path, following the contour high above the Loddon River. At only 12 kms, this was one of the easier walks we have undertaken, and it finished at the very attractive Vaughan Springs picnic area.   LINKS DOWNLOAD A GPX ROUTE FILE FOR GARMIN ETC INTERACTIVE MAP