Pot 'o Gold... 2trips, 10Hrs, 19 rings and $84 in change
We recently had a cyclone skim past, and as it only served to fill the beaches with yet more sand
I headed inland to a) Hide from the worst of the weather, and b) try and save a wasted journey and scope out some new ground.
Ended up finding a swimming hole tucked away in the back blocks off the main drag, and had a quick scoping sweep for an hour or so.
Definitely promising, lots of coins from the 1970's onwards - and a gold dolphin ring.
I ended up bailing out as the storm was getting downright unpleasant, and made a note to return once things calmed down.
Skip forward a couple of weeks... And I was keen to have another crack.
Made the usual excuses, packed the car and headed off.
Was onto the goodies as soon as I turned the magic wand on, and from there it was unrelenting.
4 hours later, I staggered back to the car, pockets bulging.
$42 in $1 & $2 coins (paid for gas, plus profit = win)
1 14k Gold Ring
7 Silver rings (plus necklace and ear ring)
and 4 junkers
A 1939 .303 cartridge added a few more years to the age of this place, that's 76 summers-worth of swimming.
Got talking to an old Maori fella who had sat the whole time, just smoking his 'medicinal herb' and watching. As a result I now also have a new permission for grounds of pre-1920's villa. Yesss! (punches air)
Pics taken of swag, straight out of the pouch:
And after a bit of TLC:
Was replaying the swimming hole hunt over and over in my mind that 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 my new friend.
The previous day I was in T shirt and shorts (End of summer here), and 4 Hrs was 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. In my haste, I hadn't bothered to take physics into account and it was like working in zero G using the scoop. 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) and as I'd move the coil away to the side to dig a target, it'd hit another. 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 realized that yes, I was cold, and sore, and tired - The icy rain wasn't helping either..
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 ooze.
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
"Hi, I'm Mudwiggle, and I'm Addicted..."
We recently had a cyclone skim past, and as it only served to fill the beaches with yet more sand
I headed inland to a) Hide from the worst of the weather, and b) try and save a wasted journey and scope out some new ground.Ended up finding a swimming hole tucked away in the back blocks off the main drag, and had a quick scoping sweep for an hour or so.
Definitely promising, lots of coins from the 1970's onwards - and a gold dolphin ring.
I ended up bailing out as the storm was getting downright unpleasant, and made a note to return once things calmed down.
Skip forward a couple of weeks... And I was keen to have another crack.
Made the usual excuses, packed the car and headed off.
Was onto the goodies as soon as I turned the magic wand on, and from there it was unrelenting.
4 hours later, I staggered back to the car, pockets bulging.
$42 in $1 & $2 coins (paid for gas, plus profit = win)
1 14k Gold Ring
7 Silver rings (plus necklace and ear ring)
and 4 junkers
A 1939 .303 cartridge added a few more years to the age of this place, that's 76 summers-worth of swimming.
Got talking to an old Maori fella who had sat the whole time, just smoking his 'medicinal herb' and watching. As a result I now also have a new permission for grounds of pre-1920's villa. Yesss! (punches air)
Pics taken of swag, straight out of the pouch:
And after a bit of TLC:
Was replaying the swimming hole hunt over and over in my mind that 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 my new friend.
The previous day I was in T shirt and shorts (End of summer here), and 4 Hrs was 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. In my haste, I hadn't bothered to take physics into account and it was like working in zero G using the scoop. 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) and as I'd move the coil away to the side to dig a target, it'd hit another. 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 realized that yes, I was cold, and sore, and tired - The icy rain wasn't helping either..
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 ooze.
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
"Hi, I'm Mudwiggle, and I'm Addicted..."
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