Quartz Hill - Dirty Dicks Gully, Castlemaine National Historical Park Circuit - 10.2 Kms

 U3A Hike No 261

Hike Report by Teena

After meeting at Kirks Reservoir ten of us carpooled to Castlemaine. We then travelled in convoy to Chewton and parked at The Garfield Wheel car park. Setting off, just 50m North, we came to the foundations of the Garfield Wheel. The wheel had been constructed in 1887, used until 1903 and then dismantled in 1904. It was quite impressive to see how high it would have been when the water wheel was insitu.

Continuing North after 200m we then followed the Goldfields track for about one kilometre. We reached the Manchester Mine, and, heeding Gordons advice, we kept away from the edge as it had a very deep shaft! Walking on we crossed Sailors Bridge, where Gordon informed us that this was where the Troll lived. Not wanting to disturb the Troll we carried on, leaving the Goldfields track and followed Fairbarn road along the vehicle track to a dam. We skirted the dam and walked to the junction where we turned right and 100m later came across a ruined chimney. 

After another 200m we found a ruined hut with a terraced hillside. Gordon thought this could have been a market garden in its day. We retraced our steps back to the ruined chimney and turned right to walk uphill.

Heading northwards we passed several deep shafts before reaching a water channel which crossed the track, this channel comes all the way from the Garfield Wheel! Walking along the water channel was an interesting challenge, watching our feet so we didn’t slip and wrestling with the young saplings and climbing over and under fallen tree trunks. We emerged, some of us bringing parts of the bush with us, onto Quartz Hill track. We sat at the Quartz Hill café for our morning tea and enjoyed a short break.

There was an abundance of Wattle trees throughout the bush showing us that spring was just around the corner, it was an amazing sight as we hiked our way around.  Following the track, we turned left onto a water channel which was a continuation of the water channel we had previously walked. Coming across a tunnel that held mine shafts within it, Geoff decided to explore the entrance to see if he could reach the other side which travelled under the road. He found a ‘Do Not Enter’ sign and changed his mind, joining us across the road where Leona was waiting for him at the tunnel exit. We walked on to Dirty Dick’s gully. We crossed Toby’s Track, where there were two footbridges, the remains of a puddling machine and a water race crossing the gully. 

After this we came to the remains of ‘The Blacksmith’s Shop’. We all smiled for the group photo and then followed the track back near Quartz Hill track. Turning left, we headed east for 150m, crossed a small gully, and reached the Garfield Wheel area. Some of the group explored this for a second time and found a few free gifts of cards, all sealed, with the Garfield Wheel picture on them. We sat near the foundations of the wheel for a welcome lunch, and all felt very lucky that we escaped the rain during our walk.

Welcome back Gordon, thank you for such an interesting walk and to Rob who, I think, enjoyed being the whip and making sure he didn’t lose any of us!

Photos by Alan, Geoff, Gordon and Teena



























Click on the links below for further information relating to:

Garfield Water Wheel:



and

Quartz Hill Walk and Welsh Village:


















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