Into the Gold Mines
Visiting Walhalla, Victoria, Australia and the Long Tunnel Gold Mine
🇦🇺 🇦🇺 🇦🇺 🇦🇺 🇦🇺
Walhalla is a beautiful little town nestled in a quiet valley of Australia’s Great Dividing Range.
Photo by: dfinney 2005
Rotunda. Photo by: dfinney 2005
Entering Walhalla takes you back in time. The entire township is protected as a historic park with restored and reconstructed buildings throughout. It was founded in 1866 at the height of Australia’s gold rush. During the town’s heyday, approximately 4,000 people lived here prospecting and mining. Today Walhalla’s permanent population hovers around 20, with tourism being the main employer.
Cemetery. Photo by: dfinney 2005
Want to see better pictures of Walhalla? Visit: https://www.travelvictoria.com.au/walhalla/photos/
Railroad ride. Photo by: dfinney 2005
Three main attractions currently bring visitors to Walhalla.
Bushwalking: The township is on the outskirts of Baw Baw National Park. Walhalla is also the starting point of the Australian Alps Walking Track. This trail winds over 400 miles from Walhalla to Canberra, Australia’s capital city.
Heritage tourism: As mentioned above, the entire town (though tiny) is a preserved historic site. In addition to soaking up the quaint Victorian architecture, visitors may ride the restored Walhalla Goldfields Railway. This narrow gage rail, initially opened in 1910, fell into disrepair before closing in 1954. Reconstruction began in the mid 1990’s and the railway reopened in 2002.
The Long Tunnel Extended Gold Mine: More to come.
Alluvial gold was first discovered in the area in the early 1850’s. However, the huge influx of prospectors depleted surface finds. To capitalize on the region’s mineral wealth, mines were quickly developed to access underground gold veins. One of these mines, located in Wahalla, is the Long Tunnel Extended Mine.
For the first several years of operation the Long Tunnel Extended Mine mainly produced quartz. After being sold to a new ownership group in the 1870’s, a deeper shaft was excavated and the amount of gold retrieved increased dramatically. “By the time the mine closed, a total of 859,540 tons of Quartz had been mined from which 13.7 tons of gold had been extracted.” Source
Mine entrance. Photo by: dfinney 2005
Today tours take guests nearly 1000 feet into the mine. Here visitors can see the underground machinery chamber and one of the exposed reefs. These tours operate daily excluding Christmas.
Inside the mine. Photo by: dfinney 2005
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Hi. Great pictures. Did you love Australia as much as I did ? We were a bit more north in Mansfield Victoria visiting family. We took a sabbatical for 3 months.
@goldrooster I have mixed feelings about Australia. It is beautiful, with tons of unique things to see and it’s own cultural vibe.
But I lived there for 5 years.
My husband and I met while he was traveling (he is Australian) and dated long distance (me in the US, him there). He was going to move here after we got married, but 9/11 happened. I had been working in tourism so my job opportunities lessened as a result. He had a good job in Australia so I ended up moving there. Leaving my family and friend was very difficult for me and I felt very isolated. And sad, while I was there 3 of my grandparents passed away, I missed all of my friend’s weddings & life milestones. It is hard for me to separate those feelings from how I think about Australia. Even though all of that has nothing to do with the country itself.
All that being said, I do have favorite places there, friends that I miss now that we have returned to the US & my husband’s family are all there, so I do enjoy visiting. Flying into Sydney after 15 hours crossing the dark ocean is a beautiful sight. ☺️
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That's so cool. Me and @monchhichi23 want to do stuff this kinda stuff. I really want to go where you can mine gold, gems, or fossils.
I have been to Walhalla and another place in Australia called Ballarat. Both were cool but it has been a long time since visiting so my memories of both places are dependent to looking at my old photos now. There is a place just outside of Vancouver Canada called Squamish that is an old mine/museum you can visit. I have driven past heaps of times but have not gone in.... yet. ☺️ You two should definitely check out a mine one day. They are fun.
Australia remains on my bucket list. I need to reach out to you Australian adventurers when I finally do visit. Looks like fun. We have a tunnel in SC that was never finished, interestingly, it is near a place called Vallhalla.
I think I saw your Vallhalla while trying to find something on google about Walhalla! 😄 Australia is a LONG trip from South Carolina, but if you can make it happen definitely go! But try to go for 3 weeks. Our US vacation time is the worst, but with such a long journey & so much to see you’ve got to stick around long enough to soak it all in. ☺️
As for South Carolina, I might be heading to Charleston later this year. Last time I went I was 7! I remember loving all the forts, history and old buildings. The last place I visited in SC was South of the Border!!! Back in 2000. That place is nuts. But entertaining nuts. ☺️
Thanks for stopping by.
Man Im jealous! That is too cool
@pit-bullion, have you visited any mines in Nevada? Maybe time for a little drive to Virginia City? Only difference... less kangaroos. 😉