298. Easter Monday Mine - Blackwood

 U3A Hike No 298


Hike Report by Joan Brick


Our hike, lead by the capable Mark Hawley, took nine of us to a very historical gold
mining area located in the Wombat State Forest surrounding the quaint township of
Blackwood. The tracks that we followed on our adventure were the Easter Monday
Track, the Wheeler Track and the Lerderderg Historical River Track all having their own
interesting features that challenged and yet awed us in different ways. 

The descriptionin the notes was spot on when we were warned about the LONG STEEP ROCKY climb
up Easter Monday Track at the start. Of course, being the troopers that we were, we
just took it in our stride and made our way to the top. While we stopped to catch a
breath, have a drink and take in the views, we were told a bit of the story about the
Easter Monday Mine. This mine was named by Joseph Skinner and his brother Alfred
who discovered the mine on Easter Monday in 1907. The Easter Monday Goldmining
Company was formed and continued until about 1918. 

We continued on our way taking in the first burst of pink heath, the rusted colored moss around the trees and the obvious signs on the track that let us know WOMBATS had been there. Along the way Andrew
spotted a beautiful red breasted robin that luckily most of us had the chance to see
before it was off. 

We arrived at McLaughlin’s Lookout which was a nice place to take in
the surrounding views at the top before we ventured off on Wheeler’s Track which was
mainly a vehicle track . We found a nice place to stop for a morning tea break and
again a chance to enjoy the surrounding bush. 

We started our descent down into the valley leading towards the Lerderderg Heritage River Walk . We enjoyed the appearance of lush ferns and beautiful green mossed gullies. This was truly a great
place to be on a hot summer’s day or for a us a nice crisp autumn afternoon. 

As we meandered along the track which consisted of walking along old water races, we again
came across another relic of the mining era , an old mine shaft. In viewing the
remnants, we can appreciate the efforts and hard work that would have gone into
mining knowing that for many there would be no gold. But as the saying
goes...”nothing ventured ,nothing gained” which I am sure was a driving force for those
early miners. This can be true for all of us on this hike...luckily we have all ventured out
and have surely gained the rewards!

Thanks to Mark for leading this walk and to Gordon for his valuable knowledge of the
area. Thanks to Andrew for his amazing organizational skills. Thanks to all fellow
hikers for sharing a nice walk in the park!

Photos by Andrew Parker






















LINKS

DOWNLOAD A GPX ROUTEFILE FOR GARMIN ETC.

INTERACTIVE MAP

HISTORICAL NOTES - BLACKWOOD AREA - INCLUDES EASTER MONDAY MINE

BLAST FROM THE PAST






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