Finding Gold

There it was, bush as far as the eye could see. Trees, scrubby looking, spikey, not quite what you'd call green. Actually, there wasn't anything like the green he was used to. Europe was a long way away from this odd mining town he was to call home for the next 6 months.

The promise of adventure and money had lured him to the land down under and the great outdoors. The Aussie Outback had looked pretty cool on TV. Aussie gold hunters finding nuggets and making bank on the back of world crises sounded too good to be true, but the lure was irresistible.

Luca had packed his backpack and booked a ticket anyway. He hadn't much to lose anyway.

A fresh start in a place no one knew his past or his name would be welcome. He was ready to be a traveller. Stepping off the plane—a relatively small plane packed with blokes (that's Aussie for men) and sheilas (Aussie for women) he had arrived in Kalgoorlie-Boulder, the place with two names and a history to match.

The sea of fluro orange and yellow was really something else.

He in his jeans and black T-shirt wasn't the only civilian—but he certainly felt like the odd man out, a stranger in this town.

Exiting the tiny terminal he looked around. The immediate quiet of the area was apparent and so too the hills in the distance—or were they something man made. Yes, he thought, they weren't natural, a relic of mining, the texture of the rock reds and a little grey unusual.

He found his way around making it to the centre of town, Hannans Street. Broad and spacious, from another era where architecture was grand and majestic. He took in the shiny gold dome of a clock tower, the tan and brown bricks and the patterns of the workers in their orange and yellow and the civilians like him, wondering the street about their business.

He popped into a local shop and bought a bottle of icy cold water which helped quash his thirst. Despite it only being 32°C he was sweating. When he’d hopped on the plane in France 3 days ago it was snowing.

He wasn’t prepared for it to be so hot!

Then he spotted the gold detector shop, his pulse raced, fantastic, this was exactly why he was here. But really he needed wheels before he would be ready for the gear needed to find his first nugget.

He really should have booked the car at the airport, but he was so preoccupied with getting out and seeing his new home he hadn’t been thinking straight.

Luca checked his phone and found a free wifi that he could use to check Google Maps and find the nearest car rental place.

There wasn’t a huge selection but Luca wasn’t fussy. He set out walking in the direction and after 45 minutes he dripping with sweat, his water bottle drained dry, and entering the car rental place.

He dropped his backpack and slumped into a green plastic chair as the door bell alerted the store person of a customer.

A well tall mountain of a man with a thick black beard in a singlet, shorts, and boots came out and quickly assessed Luca’s situation.

“G’day mate, you ok? You look terrible.”

Luca grimaced and held his empty bottle up and managed to croak, “Water, merci.”

The bloke quickly trudged back through the plastic fringed doorway and a few minutes later returned with the water and a wet rag.

“Here ya go, put the rag around your neck and sip the water slowly.”

After a bit of time Luca started feeling a bit better and then he stood up ready to do business and practice his broken English.

“I want to get a car, merci.”

The bloke chuckled, “You don't have a booking?”
“Sorry, no. Do I need one?”
“Er yeah mate, we're in a mining boom. All my utes are out.”
“You don't have anything?”

The bloke shook his head, “Nah, but I know a guy who might be able to help you. But really, you don't want to go out on your own. You might get lost. Dying out there isn't much fun, there's no water. And no offense but you’ve probably been here five minutes, and already had a near death experience. Heat stroke can kill you, you know?”

“But I will go find gold—ah, I want to?” Luca struggled with the nuances of English.
“Oh yeah, you and the rest of the world want to find gold mate. Not as easy as it looks. But if you want to go out prospecting, well that I can help you with.” Luca nodded, thrilled someone knew what he wanted.

“Yes, yes. Merci!”

Luca took the guys’ hand and shook it, finally deciding to introduce himself, “I am Luca.”

“Well Luca mate it’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m Matt.

“How does tomorrow sound for your first prospecting adventure? We can go out at the crack of dawn, do some prospecting and then be back in time for either lunch or dinner—depending on our luck.”

Luca agreed and after some brief arrangements were made he left Matt and headed to the backpackers. The next morning Luca was dressed in his jeans and a t-shirt and ready to go, Matt rolled up in a rusty, roaring white ute caked in orange mud.

There was nothing shiny about Matt's ute inside or out. Just a plume of orange dust that rose like a cloud when Luca got in.

“We're going to go out not too far from here, I have a small lease, which you have to have to go prospecting, you can’t just go anywhere.”
They drove and then without much warning, Matt slowed and turned off the road and onto the bush track. Luca had been mesmerised by the colours and the atmosphere of the bush, then they stopped and got out.

Luca stood still, it was unlike anything he had ever seen. The atmosphere calm, peaceful, barren and isolated. He walked a little into the bush and knelt down taking the crusty red dirt in his hands. It crumbled like rust in the palm of his hand.

“Amazing isn't it, almost pure iron oxide out here?” Matt said as he hefted the prospecting gear—some metal detectors and small shovel out of the vehicle.

They spent a few hours together with Matt teaching Luca the finer art of metal detecting. Luca became the collector of everything but gold nuggets. Metal bottle tops, old screws and washers slowly rusting to become one with the dirt again, but not before Luca could find them.

“This is harder than it is on TV,” Luca finally said, and Matt chuckled, “Too right old mate, it makes it look too easy. But the gold is out there, you just have to be stubborn enough to find it. Anyway, c'mon, let's take a break.”

They returned to the ute though Luca had no idea how, he was so disorientated by the time they arrived back at their safe haven he was lucky he hadn't been left to his own devices.

“Go collect some wood, just keep in sight of me ok, I'm going to start us a fire. If you get turned about and feel lost don't move stay where you are and yell onto I'll come find you.”

Luca did as Matt instructed collecting twisted pieces of eucalypt. Once he had a pile Matt lit the fire. “Never light a fire in the bush Luca, except if you're with me, there are times when fires just aren’t allowed, too risky where the bush could catch alight and then in a very short space of time everything including us could be up in flames.”

Luca nodded somberly, the Australian bush was turning out to be a more inhospitable place than he had imagined. Those TV shows made it look tough, but reality was tougher.

Matt popped on the billy (that’s Aussie for metal campfire kettle) and some damper (an Aussie kind of bread), and after the billy had boiled Matt made them each a cuppa (that’s either coffee or tea) and they sat having a yarn (that’s Aussie for a chat).

After a long day Matt dropped Luca back at the backpackers exhausted but full. Luca had arrived in Kalgoorlie Boulder a stranger and after just a few short days been welcomed in, adopted, befriended. He knew he was still French but the warmth and no frills mate Matt was something that would make the gamble worth it.

He may not have found gold just yet, but if it was out there Luca with the help of his mate Matt would give it a proper go (that roughly translates to never giving up and being stubborn as an ox – Luca already knew these traits to be very Aussie and more than likely the character of the Kalgoorlie and Boulder people).