Hi Folks.
THE PANCAKE ROCKS.
Down behind the farm at Inangahua Junction is an area locally known as " The Pancake Rocks" its a large outcrop of papa which sticks out of the Buller River, the area is also known as " Three Channel Flat". I had heard from a local that wasn't a gold person. That there was gold down there, many of these leads from none gold people have I followed up over the years, most have been met with disappointment and lowered lips. But hey I love an adventure. So first thing contact the farmer, to get access. A very importaint thing that access. But just be honest, none of this I am just going in there for a play or a tinker around. I get straight to the point. I look, I prospect, and then I dredge. Ya just gotta be straight up. Cockys respect honesty. And as I always say, all gate found opened shall be left opened, all gates found shut, shall be opened then shut. I will drive slowly across your paddocks and stick to your roads where I can. Should I need to go across a paddock, I shall ask you first. I will not scare your cattle, calves or heifers in anyway, and I will respect your property. Only once have I been refused access, and that was at New Creek, when a new owner took over the farm I had access to.Yes Keith I have dredged New Creek, been to Chinatown, and I used to know where the formed track started. And I have been up Tinchborne and Victory Creek. Old Trev used to get around quite a bit when he was younger. But anyway back to the Pancake Rocks. Access granted. So in I go for a recce. Yep looks good. We have a mission.
Next days off, we lug the gear in, me and two mates. We take two six inch Suitcase Dredges in. Like I say they are portable, chew through the ground. Ok they spit the fines. Thats just the price you have to pay. So away we go. A blue papa botttom, and lots and lots of potholes, some bloody huge and some small. Waters pretty swift but we can handle that. We are swift water dredgers, but more on that in another story. And yep straight onto gold. And thunky gold, 2 to 3dwt pieces. Few and far between but they are there. Some potholes barren as an ancient ole crone, and some at the very bottom a few trinkets for us. And do eels love living in potholes, little bootlaces flying everywhere, and a few bigger ones also. Trouble is trying to get a suitcase dredge nozzle down a pothole is somewhat difficult. But I developed a flexi nozzle for that, kinda like an extension, you just tie on. Well the first day was lotsa fun. Maybe half an ounce, but bloody nice thunky gold. And that stuff is kinda rare in the Buller. Most of the bits we just picked out with the fingers,
if ya can see them and grab them. Then I grab them I always say. Surface and into the Tip Top Icecream container they go. Cleaned up the dredges, a few fines, but not a helluva lot. It was picken gold. Next day much the same, but we got onto a bit of cemented gravel, that had flakey gold in it. About three quarter of an ounce that day.
But Monday was back to work for me, well actually I had to head for Wellington for a week. So I left the lads with me ole Series 2A and buggered off on the plane. And that is when the shit hit the fan. Now I am not going to crow here, but I was and am pretty good at locating gold, more on that in another post. As such, other gold seekers, keep an eye on me. They know my Landy, and they seem to have a way of finding where I am. And damm we were way down the back of this farm. Maybe one of my mates had loose lips, and we all know loose lips sink ships. But they also bring the blowflys and parasites. And the bastards arrived. No doubt didnt even get permission to access the farm. The first was
well, lets just say his surname started with L, he was from the Grey Valley and you wouldnt want to buy a bucket off him.
He breezed up, taking all in, my two mates dredging, just waiting for them to surface. And then it was the usual bullshit, doing any good bla bla bla. Well the boys werent onto much gold that day, this area like many was bloody spotty.
So he got an honest answer, well kinda I guess. Stuff all here, sure looks good tho. All the time his beady eyes are darting around taking all in. The trouble with blow flys is they can see up down and sideways at the same time. But on that day there was little to be seen. So he buggered off. But in another story back he comes back to haunt us. And on my claim, would you believe. More of that later.
The next days me mates get another visit, but this was the arch blowfly, the ultimate parasite, the parasite from hell.
And he came back to haunt us again and again and again. This fellow had no morals. And do you know I had dredged with him and befriended him. And what he was about to do to us was beyond imagination, but ya can take a guess.
I will post this now. A few times I have written a rather large story here, and somehow there seems to be a button I hit somewhere on this bloody puta and the whole message just disappears, so now I copy and copy just in case. But I shall send this now and contine another day. Yep Carrot Danger, thats me.
Cheers Trev aka " The Hatter"
