I still had a big chunk of the Goldfields Track to complete so I took the train to Creswick and hiked 115 kms to Castlemaine, finishing the Wallaby Trail which starts in Ballarat and doing the Dry Diggings Trail between Daylesford and Castlemaine, over four days. It was raining when I arrived in Creswick and the rain continued until late afternoon, getting heavy for a while.
I had to retrace my steps to St George’s Lake outside Creswick, where I had my only (temporary) confusion of the whole hike about which way to go. The website for the Goldfields Track leaves a lot to be desired but the signage on the trail is first rate. Immediately I entered a ferny forest, quite muddy from the recent rain. I was pleased to see water in most of the creeks and lots of puddles, just in case of emergency, as the information about water availability on the trail was limited, just as it had been for the Leanganook Trail last year.
The rain stopped as I emerged from the forest for a long section of road walking, paved and unpaved. I came to a junction which seemed to be the settlement of Mollonghip, but was much fewer kilometres than I had expected - the distances given on the website and on the signs for the sections of this trail seemed to be all over the place - and I looked for the hall which is supposed to be available for hikers to camp and cook, but apart from a ramshackle timber building I saw nothing. I kept going anyway as I wanted to cover much more ground before stopping for the night.
After another couple of hours and 29 kms hiked I came to an open sided timber rotunda and the start of an elevated former logging tramway, deep in the forest. This looked a nice place to camp and I found a secluded spot near the tramway, out of sight. It was very windy so I couldn’t cook but I still had a roll with Nutella that I had brought with me for lunch. I heard some really weird animal noises in the night. By the early morning the wind had dropped and there was a beautiful starry sky.
The second day was very long, almost 40 kms. Walking along the tramway through a high sided railway cutting was nice and soon after I passed the only other hiker I saw on this trip, then a couple of women riding horses. I took a short detour to a mineral spring near Sailors Falls and made a cup of coffee by the creek; unfortunately the mineral water pump wasn’t working so I had to replenish my water supply from the creek. Closer to Daylesford I passed more mineral springs pumps and they were all working so I could rehydrate on sparkling water.
When I got to Lake Daylesford I didn’t intend to walk right around the lake and I started on the Dry Diggings Trail, then I thought I might regret not having circled the lake so I turned back and did the lake circuit. As I was finishing I came to a cafe so I decided to go in for lunch and I ate a falafel wrap. This was a good move since I had not gone into the town so I had not bought any more food, as I had originally planned, and I was on schedule to run out. I was now banking on seeing a shop in Hepburn Springs.
The next section of the trail was probably the most scenic as I followed Sailors Creek on an undulating path in sparse forest, a dry forest and very different from the earlier one I’d been walking through. There were lovely views over the creek and interesting rock formations.
Along the way I came across an echidna. At first it stopped what it was doing and froze on the path. Then as I approached it covered up its nose and clearly thought it was hiding from me. I also surprised a few kangaroos.
I was quite tired by now but I wanted to get to Hepburn Springs Reserve where the route notes said there was a camping area. On the way I passed more mineral springs and went up a lookout tower to see lots of trees and a few clearings with farms. When I got to Hepburn Springs Reserve I couldn’t see anyone camping and I trudged around for a long time looking for somewhere I could camp safely; eventually I walked up a steep hill and camped among the trees high above the reserve. I hadn’t seen any sign of a shop so I had to make my remaining food last for two evening meals. I ate a pouch of tuna and beans and saved the noodles for tomorrow. In the night I heard even weirder wildlife noises and again there was a beautiful show of stars.
In the morning I had a lot of gravel road walking with views of Mt Franklin, paddocks of cows and sheep, and then came back into the forest. Some of the going was quite rough and hilly. Then I came to Vaughn Springs which seemed to be a hamlet without any houses, just with several mineral springs. It was extremely hot and I sat under a rotunda and made coffee and generally relaxed as I thought I was finished for the day. There was supposed to be riverside camping here by the Loddon River but when I went to look I found a rather stagnant looking river and a lot of families having a barbecue.
So I went on and planned to camp at Fryerstown, where, again, the route notes said there was a campground. The walk was nice, crossing farmland with open views and in forest, but when I made it to Fryerstown I certainly could not find a campground. In desperation I was nosing around among some pine trees on the edge of the town when a car pulled up; thinking my behaviour might look odd I went to speak to the driver, who was looking for the start of a hike and had a guidebook to the area. No mention of camping. I walked on out of the town and once I came onto a track only accessible to walkers I found a spot and put up my tent among the trees. I slept very soundly with no animals in earshot. 34 kms hiked.
Since I had done so much extra by continuing beyond Fryerstown I only had a short 12 km hike to Castlemaine on my last day. I had some hilly bits on a ridge through the forest and passed many gold mining remnants - chimneys, tailings heaps, old mines. At one point a trail runner caught up to me and we walked up a hill together.
I stopped for a while to make a coffee since I was in no rush to finish. It was a pleasant temperature but warming up fast. The last part of the hike was along an abandoned water race. When I came into Castlemaine it was very busy with people having late breakfast and milling around. I had forgotten it was Australia Day.
I was very hungry, having taken food for only one evening meal and made it last for three. I had lunch before midday at a Greek cafe, then cake and another coffee at another cafe, then I bought chips and chocolate to eat on the train back to Melbourne. When I got off the train I bought sushi. We had fish and chips for dinner.
