Name: Garfield Water Wheel to Welsh Village, return via Forest Creek.
Start: 2024-12-07T10:31:00+11:00
End: 2024-12-07T16:49:00+11:00

To BOOK you must GET a TICKET from the Nomads website by following: **[http://thq.fyi/se/72c2c1472ef3](http://thq.fyi/se/72c2c1472ef3)** Click on **Get Tickets.**
***Note:*** *An RSVP on Meetup is **NOT** a booking.*
*Please visit the Nomads website for full details of event.*
Travel by train or car to Castlemaine, and enjoy a day walk in the historic Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park and your BYO picnic lunch. We will also invite members of 'The Alluvians' , Castlemaine's gay mens social group to join the walk.
**GRADE \| LENGTH \| TYPE**: Medium walking - approximately 10 km circuit walk on paths that are at times rocky and steep (graded according to the [Leaders Guide - Appendix A: Activity Grading Guidelines](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iUHg6cAovIVt83ivwCuXjJ6b0RjvwrxrGbrK6c8GmI8/edit)).
**ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION**: Meeting at 10.31am ouutside the Midland Hotel (2 Templeton Street, cnr Templeton & Kennedy Streets) just opposite the Castlemaine Station car park. If you are travelling to Castlemaine by train, PLEASE tick the 'public transport' option when you register.
We introduce ourselves and then car-share with those who have driven from Melbourne or are Castlemaine locals. If insufficient cars, then a taxi mini bus will be pre-booked (small extra shared cost). There are NO lunch shops near the railway station, so you will need to bring your lunch, snacks and water with you.
It is about a 15-minute drive to the Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park. We leave our cars, admire the ruins of the massive 1887 Garfield Water Wheel, and learn from the information boards the scale of development that was once there.
We commence the walk uphill through the Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park and past the remains of many mines, some surprisingly deep. We are heading for the stone-hut ruins of the Welsh Village, and here we will take a break to inspect the remains of a once-thriving community. Continuing to gain height we reach our highest point, the banks of the Expedition Pass Reservoir, the source of water for the waterwheel, and locally known as ‘The Rez’, named after it was noted on Major Mitchell's 'Australia Felix' expedition. We will stop for lunch at a suitable spot along the way.
The walk is easier now, returning downhill on the easy Forest Creek Track, and at Chinamans Point Road taking the track back to the Garfield Water Wheel.
We leave the Garfield Water Wheel by about 4pm, and we travel back to the Castlemaine Station where some will board the 4.49pm train to arrive at Southern Cross at 6.24pm, and others drive home.
**BOOKING**: By Monday 2nd December, and indicate if you are driving to Castlemaine Station or travelling by train (public transport).
To BOOK you must GET a TICKET from the Nomads website by following: **[http://thq.fyi/se/72c2c1472ef3](http://thq.fyi/se/72c2c1472ef3)** Click on **Get Tickets.**
***Note:*** *An RSVP on Meetup is **NOT** a booking.*

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Garfield Water Wheel to Welsh Village, return via Forest Creek.

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Garfield Water Wheel to Welsh Village, return via Forest Creek.

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