Wandering off while travelling is something I can’t wait to do, just me and my day pack, exploring the area I find myself in. Seasoned backpackers reel off amazing stories from moments about when they got lost or just went for a walk. I too want those same adventures and stories but knew I must wait my turn.
Then the other week I found my first story, and all I did was wander off for a walk on a nice sunny day. No I wasn’t in some fancy place overseas, I just headed off for a walk in my local town. Not 10 minutes into this walk I happened across this.
Yep that’s gold panning. It was the 16th Annual Australasian Gold Panning Championships, how freaking awesome is that? For some reason I grabbed my camera when I left the house (had to be fate) so I rushed back to my ute to get it. It was just meant to be I think, as I spent a good 45 minutes watching and clicking away with my camera.
Beyond excited to have discovered something so cool in my own backyard I hung around right till the end and gave up on my walk, this was just too interesting. They had custom t-shirts, trophy’s and the winner won a trip to the Czech Republic for the World Championships. I almost picked up a pan to try and win me a trip, that was until I saw just how quick these guys find their gold.
The winner got through a bucket of dirt in less than 3 minutes and found 10 specs of gold. It was fascinating to see them work their magic and pick out the ever so tiny specs of gold from such a huge bucket of dirt.
For all of you who have never attended such an event here is a little video just for you, enjoy.
How cool! I also love just wandering while traveling — you are always bound to stumble upon something cool like this. I’ve bumped into all kinds of festivals and performances, and even some great street art in action. You can plan things to a T, but sometimes this unexpected discoveries are the best parts of traveling.
.-= Emily @ Maiden Voyage´s last blog ..Guest Post: Two Days in Paris =-.
hey Emily, your so right. I want to make a point of just taking at least one day to just go for a walk. No agenda or direction, just enjoying the day and the fact I’m in another country.
I wanna go! I wanna go!
.-= Poi´s last blog ..5ive Months to go! =-.
hahah love it Poi. It was so cool to watch, Ballarat where I live is a big gold mining town. We have an complete attraction to gold mining at http://www.sovereignhill.com.au/
How crazy that this was happening in your hometown! I love coming across random things and I expect to get get lost a lot on my trip
.-= Adam´s last blog ..Wombat Wednesday: Niagara Falls =-.
Adam mate it was so crazy. I was like no way am I going for a walk when I have this right in front of me. Oh and it was at that moment that I realised blogging has taken over. The second thought that went trough my mind after thinking this was awesome was that it would make a great blog post 🙂
Yes, now I finally know what this is!
.-= Lauren´s last blog ..Wake Me Up When April Ends =-.
hehe hey Lauren, yes now you know. You would have loved being there I can tell.
I’ve done panning for gold at the summer exhibition in Edmonton (locals call it K-Days though technically it’s Capital Ex). Anyways it takes me forever to find any gold, 10 specks in 3 minutes is pretty good. And wandering is usually the best way to have an adventure.
.-= Alouise´s last blog ..List #1 – Things That Will Never Be 🙁 =-.
Hey Alouise. I remember trying it as a kid and did I ever suck. Mind you that could have been my complete lack of patience also. I spent an hour and got some in the end much to my parents joy.
Totally have never seen anyone panning for gold, awesome find!
.-= Candice´s last blog ..Sampling Beers at the NLC Beerfest, or One Girl’s Mission to Drink All the Beers in the World =-.
Hey Candice. Really never seen it? wow. Glad I could show you something new then 🙂
That is absolutely freaking awesome! I have to say that when I first saw the photo, I thought he was pulling some type of sea creatures out of murky water, as if to later eat. But he’s panning for gold! That is an incredible event to run across right in your own backyard – or anywhere.
.-= Sabina´s last blog ..The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado – Haunted or No? =-.
Hey Sabina. haha sea creature that’s awesome. I can’t believe how many people that don’t know what gold panning is, maybe I just grew up too close to gold mining territory or something.