New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

What a great result MW and picking up a new permission at the same time
you lucky what not. :-)


MK

Totally awesome.

.

Was replaying yesterdays swimming hole hunt over and over in my mind last night, and the more I thought about it, the more I convinced myself I had cherry picked and that not all the "rude noises" in the phones were indeed rusty bottlecaps.
With a substantial amount of leave owed (as my boss frequently hints) I skived off for the day and headed back to the new found honey hole.

Yesterday I was in T shirt and shorts, and 4 Hrs was about my limit with the big, heavy shivers making simple tasks such as 'just put the damn coin in the bag' very slow and deliberate actions.
Today, I had the wetsuit.

Kitted up and waded out like a man possessed straight in up to my neck, literally. It was like working in zero G using the scoop, so a quick trip back to the car and 30lb of lead later things were decidedly easier.

The plan was to start deep and work parallel lines back to the edge. Nah. I was over the place as usual. I have little discipline :)

So there I was wandering aimlessly (more or less in parallel lines) as I'd move the coil away to the side to dig a target, it'd hit another to my right. Pulling two, or three finds out of one scoopful wasn't uncommon.
Best was a gold and silver ring in the same scoop - and they weren't the target I was chasing at the time!

It was insane action, so much so that I happened to glance at my watch and was startled to see that it was 3pm. I'd been in the water for over 6Hrs!
About then I realised that yes, I was cold, and sore, and tired.

I had no idea at that stage what I'd pulled up, a couple of rings for sure, I knew I had one gold, and a few bucks. Was quite surprised when I tipped the pouch out for the kill-shot.

Ended up with another $42 in goldies alone (I don't target the clad, but did get a 10c as bycatch), so that's $84 (and 10c) in two days, from one spot 10mx15m ! Unreal.
Then there's the gold - Another four 9k rings, and one plated. Total of 6 'proper' golds from the hole.
Five silver rings, brought that total to 13
...and a few badges and things

Next time, I'm taking the SCUBA... and a couple of Thermos's of hot coffee :)

But now...Sleepy time.


"Hi, I'm Mudwiggle, and I'm Addicted..."

Edited by user Wednesday, 15 April 2015 5:12:14 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Edit totals as just discovered one of the 'silvers' is actually a white gold...

Just had a brain wave...I think someone should be compiling a metal detecting book of stories, would make good reading

good on yer flog it till its dry.

OMG........I am speechless!

Cheers guys!

Just had the dive tank filled, doing a few DIYs and kit conversions for crawling in serious eel territory, then counting the hours for trip 3 :)

All tingly with anticipation.

No such luck, just an ID tag or something. Gurgle hasn't turned up any hits on the details anyway.

MW

Finally got some wave action to start carving the coast!
The big northerlies we had today looked promising, so as soon as the rain eased, I headed off for a couple of hours between high water and dusk.

There was a definite cut at the high tide mark, only 4", but enough to stir things up.

Ended up with a 925 ring (very corroded), junk bracelet and ear ring. 3d, 6d, 1p and a copper dancer figurine.

Oh...and an eyeball find of a boat :)

First of the winter storms :)

After checking SwellMap, planned a cunning session yesterday.
Found a spot with a crosswind and offset swell. Have found that a strong longshore wind can often scour well as it pushes the wash sideways across the beach, particularly if there's a good longish period to the swell.

Loaded the car in torrential rain and headed off, already wet and demisters on full blast.

Arrived at Destination L, and sure enough the deep sand that has been piling in since the end of last year was starting to cut out. A quick reccy to check the sand wasn't fluffy and aerated revealed two recently released $2 coins lying on the surface. Time to get the gear out!

Followed the water down as the tide receded and progress was generally slow, except for one exciting moment when a surge caught me before I could scramble up the cut. Wave first went up inside the leg of the waterproofs...then down inside the wellies! Bugger.
Despite the sand still being deep, sporadic pockets turned up often enough to keep the interest.
Usual bag full of old decimals, grey matter, fishing lures and melted ali blobs. Very, very few bits of space junk for a change.

But the best bit was it became an "Olympic Day" - with Gold, Silver and Bronze awarded for diligence.
A huge 9Ct ring (24mm inside diameter!) tied for first place with (the remains of) a late 30's Dinky 23b Auto-Union Racing car.
Then in second place came a '35 6d, and a couple of fine .925's
and in last place a couple of rotten pennies.

...And an eyeball find of a small pounamu necklace. Nothing flash, just a scrap offcut of stone.

Bring on the crap weather!

MW

Edited by user Sunday, 24 May 2015 2:40:38 PM(UTC)  | Reason: typo