Sunday 27 August 2017

Entering the little known Bimberamala National Park

Visitors Tom and Gay on the lunch log with Mark and Rob

Photos by Amanda & Denise

Prior to starting out along the fire trails, the leader Mark read to us the following precis of the mine’s history, supplied by Val: “The Bimberamala Mines were worked between 1890 and 1915 from shafts and adits up to 100 m long.  The veins were of various strikes.  Approximately 2000 tonnes of ore were raised, and if all of it were crushed, yielded 93.595 kg of gold, average yield 0.046 kg/ tonne.”

After investigating several smaller mines along the way and at exactly 9.98 kms (thanks Rob) into the walk, we arrived at the Bimbermala Mine, at the same time as the drizzle. The idea of sheltering in the mine was short-lived on discovering that its floor was under water. Further exploration of the vicinity revealed numerous decaying remnants of the mining process.

All those who had believed the weather forecast, took the opportunity to don waterproof gear, the rest had to endure increasing dampness as the rain intensified.

Needless to say, the lunch break was a brief affair and the 5.8 km walk back to the cars was achieved in record time, though the conversations didn’t flag.

The bedraggled five members and four visitors thanked Mark for the interesting walk into a fascinating area, before scrambling into the cars for some warmth.

Mark and Rob earned further merit points by safely navigating the, now very slippery, roads to the highway and delivering us back to the coast.

Amanda