307. Vaughan Springs - Helge Track 12.3km

 U3A Hike No 307


Hike Report By Joan Brick

Our hike today took six of us, under Mark and Gordon's leadership, through the lovely quaint town of Guilford to the area known as Vaughan Mineral Springs. Alluvial gold was discovered there in July 1851 and with an influx of Chinese miners a township called The Junction was formed together with a market garden. By the end of the nineteenth century gold mining had declined in the area. However mineral springs were discovered in 1910 and the area became a popular destination for health and recreation as well as for the historical reminders of the goldfield era.

While we started under overcast conditions there was no wind which made it a perfect for a hike that took us through various sections of the gold mining era of this particular part of the Goldfields Track.

As with other tracks in this area we were able to see remnants of what was involved in the many stages of gold mining from digging a number of huge deep mine shafts with the hope of finding a gold vein, to constructing walls to make dams to contain the water needed in the sluicing process as well as the number of water channels dug out and used to transport water to various parts of the gold field. We were able to meander in sections where there were traces of former stone chimneys including one that was an horizontal chimney! We walked along beautiful gullies such as Sailor's gully and up and down tracks scattered throughout this area especially the ones that followed along the Loddon River. One interesting side track we took was to see an interesting huge stone called the Nerine Stone due to the Nerine flower that grows around it which were lucky to see in full bloom!

The people who worked these fields put in a lot of hard yakka with some striking it rich, others who left empty handed and this area is evidence of their stories.

Thanks to Mark and Gordon for keeping us on track and to the rest of the group for their company and sharing this adventure!

Photos by Gordon Talbett

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