Strike me rich! Gold nuggets galore.

There’s a forested area of central Victoria called the Golden Triangle. Look at the map and find the towns of Dunolly and Tarnagulla. Back in the 1850’s and 60’s they found gold nuggets the size of footballs around here. Australia’s largest gold nugget, the Welcome Stranger a 66 kg monster, was unearthed on a hillside near the hamlet of Moliagul.
Gold rush church Moliagul

There are two good reasons to explore the Golden Triangle. You can still find gold nuggets around here and the cycling here is pretty good. In fact it’s the best way to explore the old mines, townships and early buildings. The ironbark forests are laced with delightful gravel tracks just made for cycling, leftovers from the mining days.
The mines and landmarks ring with history; Murderers Hill, Grumblegut Gully. You can thread your way down the Catch Me If You Can Lead or search Painkiller Gully.
Today’s explorer on a bike will come across old tunnels, ruins of townships that once housed 9000 people and the odd bicycle wreck.

One cyclist we know even bought an old Dunolly house and shop and, between bike rides, restored both as a weekender. You don’t hear much about the Golden Triangle, mainly because there’s still a lot of gold around here and nobody’s saying a word. It’s the cyclists who are doing all the talking.

Historic bicycle bits