AUSSIEPICS

Cassilis Historical Area.


A ghost town in Eastern Victoria near Swifts creek.
Easter 2012, A run into the high country.




.jpg

(c)
A pretty easy drive, East out of Melbourne, turn left after an hour or so and go up another hour through to Licola, then a third hour (might stretch out a bit, especially if you stop to admire the country you are in) along Moroka road and you get to The Pinnacles. Seriously, you can't argue with the view.








..back to the menu at the top..




.jpg

(c)
We turned north and went down Billy Goats, (you won't be doing that in everyday cars), then over to the Northern end of the Cassilis Historic Area where we found this old truck. Best girl couldn't resist taking it for a lap but hardly broke any speed records.








..back to the menu at the top..




.jpg

(c)
After crossing the top we hit the main drag, and I certainly didn't expect to find this 'house' on the road up to the cemetery. Someone with an idea who has since moved on. (The cemetery road is a no-through-road, but the local council has seen fit to signpost it "Dead End". Hmm)








..back to the menu at the top..




.jpg

(c)
Up at Kings Mines, the first thing I did was wander into the interesting bits. There are signs that warn about contamination (presumably the Cyanide that was used in the gold mining operations) and I did find them, when I came up the bank after going through pretty much all of the 'restricted' area. I'm not dead and the photo's are good so I guess it's not the end of the world.








..back to the menu at the top..




.jpg

(c)
Part of a complex complex of tanks and waterways (water?) that would seem to have been involved in washing gold-bearing rock down in some sort of cyanide solution.








..back to the menu at the top..




.jpg

(c)
Wandering all over the place, this materials shed is up the track again. There's a sign and a couple of pics describing the creeping vandalisation that some people can't seem to hold back from. Probably the longer you leave it the less there will be to see. Go now, and leave everything where it was is the best advice.








..back to the menu at the top..




.jpg

(c)
Going right round the back this time trying to look over the whole of the lower site I found trees blocking nearly all views but did manage to come up with this. These are four tanks at the top of the whole washing-down complex.








..back to the menu at the top..




.jpg

(c)
A couple of gratuitous tree shots, this one from down spring track near an active mine.








..back to the menu at the top..




.jpg

(c)
.. and this one from way back up at the Pinnacles. Got to love snow gums.








..back to the menu at the top..




.jpg

(c)
ok.. back to the Kings Mine at Cassilis.. old equipment getting very contrasty light through the scrub.








..back to the menu at the top..




.jpg

(c)
Some of the guages off an old and heavily modified 'McCormick Deering' tractor.








..back to the menu at the top..




.jpg

(c)
No badges, any car buffs want to email me and tell me what this is?..

:Update:
(A couple of years later). Prompted by an email from a viewer we dug into this and it seems the elegant curves above belong to an Austin A70








..back to the menu at the top..




.jpg

(c)
One of the huts we called in at.








..back to the menu at the top..




.jpg

(c)
.. and a very well hidden engine rusting away quietly at the end of an overgrown path at the bottom of a dead end track. The path might be a bit clearer now, I hacked away at some of it after we had quite a bit of difficulty finding either the engine, or the path itself.








..back to the menu at the top..




There is a lot to do up that way and the populated area of Cassilis is growing into a unique and interesting community. I hope to get back and spend more time there before it becomes too well known. Wikipedia has some more info on the Cassilis Historic area, and I also found an OmeoRegion page, and a Omeo Historic Society page buried under 'other places' then 'Cassilis'.








Out There 4x4 Warragul Mark A. Biggs, Author