17. Goldfields-Dry Diggings Track Stage Five 8.2km
U3A Hike No 17
Hike Report By Gordon Talbett
This was the Hiking Group’s first outing in the absence of Andrew, our highly organised Leader. We must have learned from him because we were able to complete the walk, the car shuffle and the lunch without a hitch.
The approach drive was through layers of fog and mist, reminiscent of a Chinese mountain landscape, but by Guildford we had clear skies and sun. The first section of the hike was up another mined-out gully, passing occasional mine shafts by the trackside and the spectacularly eroded creek bed.
The track then led around and up the northern slopes of ‘The Monk’: a local highpoint with 270-degree views west, north and east. We had a good look at Mt Alexander and the way ahead on the Bendigo section of the Goldfields Track.
The second section of the walk was along the Poverty Gully Water Race. This was a much grander affair than the miners’ water races of previous sections of the track. It was built as part of the Coliban Water System to supply Bendigo and Castlemaine, probably in 1870 to 1880, and was still in use until quite recently. (Now it is part of the storm water system for Chewton.) As with all water races, it contoured across the box forest hillsides and around the ridges, descending so slowly that it was impossible to guess which way the water would flow when in spate.
The final section was a walk through Castlemaine to the Station and the cars, followed by lunch at ‘Das Kaffeehaus’.
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