Dingo-Cobblers, Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park Circuit - 9.4 Kms
U3A Hike No. 243
Hike Report by Leona
Did you know that the Castlemaine Diggings became the first National Heritage Park in Australia? I certainly didn't. It's very fitting really, when you consider this unique landscape and all that it tells about the story of the goldfields and it's water supply.
Let's start with Eureka Reef. Meandering around mining remnants 12 adventurous walkers observed extensive areas of tunnelling, scattered quartz rock, mounds of earth and a plethora of mine shafts. Some of these were readily visible and just waiting for the inevitable rock throwing antics, while others were obscured by grass, shrubbery and accompanying mounds.
Droughts plagued the diggings and understandably a lack of water brought a halt to proceedings, hence the fascinating water races. We walked along a channel bank, negotiating some slippery clay sections and observing mainly grasses, wattle and eucalypt bushland.
As we continued through gully and bush we encountered relics of buildings, mining infrastructure and an earth and rock chimney. The highlight however, was a rock Cornish chimney which was built sloping up the hill. This is the DIY version of the more costly and challenging to construct vertical version we'd seen minutes before.
A sign labelled 'Dingo Park Rd' was an obvious clue to what was coming up next. But first we explored the surrounding bushland, with gentle slopes and yes, more mine shafts. Quite suddenly we became an audience - the dingoes began howling, a large number of dingoes mind you, not just the odd one or two. The cacophony of sound was amazing. How would it be though, for an unsuspecting tourist, in a tent, here, in the middle of the night with the dingoes deciding on a full voiced serenade? So, we walked back to the Dingo Park and enjoyed a well earned morning tea break perched on rock wall remnants.
Resembling a large sculptural installation that any gallery would be proud to own was our next mining remnant - a rather large rusted metal boiler and chimney. We then proceeded to a former mining/processing site. This was not a pretty picture as high toxicity levels have left the area devoid of native growth and able to support only large quantities of pampas grass.
We walked in single file along a water race bordering the swampy processing area for about three kilometres, dodging overhanging eucalypts, clambering over fallen trees and avoiding tumbling down the soft edges. A couple of impressively large spiders hanging in mid air provided a fitting end to this section of our walk. Onward we rambled to reach our cars and lunch which we enjoyed perched on a levelled grassy platform, as a voice from behind was heard to say 'We couldn't have gotten a better day!'
Many thanks to our leaders and spider web clearers (there were a lot of spiders) Jan and Gordon.
Photos by Andrew
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Had a bit of a listen to the Eureka Reef Walking Tour. It's terrific. Now I want to do the walk again listening to the descriptions at each point of interest. Thanks for including it.
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