Montreal Goldfield in Bermagui, New South Wales | Landmark & historical place

Montreal Goldfield

Locality: Bermagui, New South Wales

Phone: +61 2 6493 3054

Address: Wallaga Lake Road 2546 Bermagui, NSW, Australia

Website: http://www.montrealgoldfield.org.au

Likes: 460

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• Landmark & historical place
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23.01.2022 Montreal Goldfield Management Committee wishes all its friends and helpers, especially on Facebook, who have supported the Committee so willingly through the past year (and before then), a very Happy Christmas and a great 2020. Thank you.

22.01.2022 Thank you to everyone who has sent likes to our site. It has been a time of catching up with Montreal administration, future ideas and projects ahead when the world becomes a safer place. Our Kids Days have been postponed so hope to share them later in the year and there are other projects to be considered, and so it goes. While we wait for normality we are working on keeping the goldfield looking good. The sun through the trees shows us the way to go! #Australianlandscapes,#visitbermagui,#Autumnviews, #montrealgoldfield

21.01.2022 A new day in a brave new world! The popular tours round the goldfield will start again next Friday, 12th June. The goldfield site looks absolutely fabulous with some of the bushes starting to flower and while we need more rain, the tree ferns down the shafts are healthy and green. Small birds check out their lunch in the raked up leaves. Look forward to seeing you there. #visitnsw, #visitbermagui,#Montrealgoldfield, #Restandrecreation #wildlife Photo by Malcolm Halliday

21.01.2022 Good morning to all, the day has come when the Montreal Goldfield tours are again available to the world - hopefully for ever!! Guided tours as usual at 2.00 p.m. each day. What a year! Maybe we have all found hidden strengths in our makeup. But the rains have given us the best wildflower season at the goldfield for years. It really is a lovely place to be. And we have put in some new signs with a photo and bit of information about some plants, birds and animals that have been seen there. This little orchid is a special event each year. #Wildflowers #goldfield #themontrealstory #relaxation #education #allages

20.01.2022 Well, it's all a bit quiet at the moment so I had time to take this photograph. As a left over from the fires it has its own story. Left in a pile in a shed before the fiery furnace came through these aluminium racing-horseshoes will gallop no more. But, they have become an art form all their own. Art on the run as you might say! #fireball #devastation #newlife #montrealgoldfield #visitbermagui

20.01.2022 A big thank you to all you lovely people who keep supporting us. Montreal is still looking good thanks to the fire-fighters and wind changes at the last minute. We hope it continues but think there is more apprehension to come. But, we are looking ahead and planning 2 Kids Days in April, Easter Sunday and Monday and maybe in the school holidays. More of that to come later. We wish you all a great 2020 for the months to come. #Friends #Community #Thanks #environment

18.01.2022 Thanks Grey Nomad Awards. Great story of the five missing men mystery. You can hear more about this mystery, which is still unsolved, at 2pm each day at Montreal Goldfield. Bermagui Visitor Information Centre

18.01.2022 What happened to those five men? And how could such a spectacular place hold such dark secrets? Welcome to the aptly named Mystery Bay. To 'dig' into this conun...drum you have to go back to 1880 when Henry Williams from Montreal in Canada, along with another chap, discovered gold in shale on the beach about seven kilometres north of Bermagui on the Sapphire Coast NSW. The wee village of Wallaga Lake is adjacent to that beach these days. Within three weeks there were 2,000 miners scurrying around on the beach and in the dunes, digging for their dinner. They dug long tunnels back from the beach into the ancient riverbed that contained the gold, and some of those tunnels still exist under the main road today. A shaft at the inland end would be chiselled out to give direct access to the ancient deposits*. Men toiled, a township grew, gold was hauled up and the NSW colonial government grew very curious: How much gold was at Montreal? Enter Lamont Young, a geological surveyor with the Department of Mines. He was tasked with answering that question. So together with a field assistant and botanist, Louis (or maybe Max) Schneider, Young arrived in Montreal on 8 October and lunched with Senior Constable John Berry. Schneider then excused himself to rest while Young examined the goldfields. He was seen by miners later that day walking back to his camp. That was the last anyone saw either man. Three days later a farm labourer named William Johnston noticed something shiny amongst rocks 15 kilometres north of Montreal - it turned out to be a boat on the beach. Police thoroughly examined the boat in situ, having assumed it was a wreck and the inhabitants had drowned. However, what they found made their brows furrow. Inside the eight-metre boat were two books that clearly belonged to Young, in addition to potato sacks, bedding and personal items belonging to "others" such as spectacles and a pocket knife. Among those items was a pipe and coat owned by Schneider. A large pool of vomit was also at the stern. Four holes in the hull had been obviously made from the inside. The anchor and stern lines were missing, and boulders had been placed in the boat, presumably to scuttle it. In his police statement Johnston wrote that there were only his tracks leading to and from the boat. Furthermore, the police identified that the boat had been carefully navigated through jagged rocks. It seemed they had a real mystery in their hands, and it deepened. Confoundingly, the vessels' owner, a seaman named Thomas Towers, and two crew who'd sailed with him from Batemans Bay 100 kilometres to the north to sell potatoes and freshly caught fish in Bermagui, were also missing. None were ever found. There were no obvious signs of struggle. No blood. With search efforts maximised, the remains of a campfire and meal were found close to the wrecked boat some days later, but no conclusions could be drawn. The case attracted international attention, with the London Metropolitan Police offering a 300 reward for any information relating Young, Schneider or the boatmen. Why were Young's books and Schneider's coat on Towers' boat? And what happened to the five men? The only thing I know for sure is that Mystery Bay was named for this incident and that you can walk among the same rocks where that boat was discovered. Even today this destination is a little known gem. The native treed beachside campground with cold showers and drop toilets is the perfect place to get away. Patchy connectivity and a necessity to make your own fun means that those travelling with children and teenagers are less inclined to make the dead-end detour to Mystery Bay. Here's hoping that this Eurobodalla Shire Council lower cost option remains a mystery to them. * With those shafts still posing a danger, the only way to see the goldfield is via a tour with Montreal Goldfield. They run daily at 2pm and you'll be guided along boardwalks through native forest that's re-grown since the days of the gold rush moonscape. #greynomadawards #greynomads #greynomadsaustralia #ontheroad #regionaltourism #regionalaustralia #seeaustraliafirst #awards #tourism #AOA22 #aussieadventures #exploreaustralia #vanlife #travellingaustralia #seeaustralia #wonderoutyonder #wanderlust #adventureseeker #goexplore #mysyerybay #bermagui #eurobodalla

17.01.2022 Bob was really great guide and this goldfield is worth a visit. It operates at 2 pm everyday on a guided tour. Highly recommend it!

12.01.2022 Unfortunately, Montreal Goldfield is closed again until further notice. The conditions for Covid safety involves some new hardware we need to obtain, so for a short time we can't fulfil our contact details. Until then, have a great Christmas as much as we can; keep the connections going with family and friends however we can, and say goodbye to 2020 in style!!

11.01.2022 Children’s days at Easter------- EVENT POSTPONED Until it will be safe to hold the event. ... Date to be advised:- Montreal Goldfield’s Discovery Days are offering something to stir the imagination of kids living on, or visiting, the Far South Coast. From 10 am to 12 noon, children can take a walk back in time with activities of the 1880s. Write out your Miner’s License with pen and ink; dress up in costumes of the 1880s; play some great games of days gone by. Take a mini tour of the Goldfield and learn how to pan for gold! And lots of new activities this year! A fun day for all, young and old. $5 per person (children must be accompanied by an adult).#Childrensactivities. #crafts #Montrealgoldfield #visitbermagui #Saphirecoast #heritage

11.01.2022 We have been busy at Montreal Goldfield hosting special events. Remember we are open everyday at 2 pm for tours. Bermagui Visitor Information Centre

11.01.2022 This wood duck with her brood was at Montreal Goldfield this morning. It is optimism of the highest order for her to get all her ducklings about a kilometre to water. The ground is covered with sticks and leaves and the going is hard. I really hope she makes it. Maybe we could do with her commitment in our own endeavours!

11.01.2022 Hi Everyone, This is becoming a see-saw for us all. Outbreaks of the covid-19 virus are getting closer and we have decided to stop the tours through the goldfield until we feel it is safe for our guides and visitors to join a tour again. Hopefully the Corona virus won't last for long and we can all stay healthy during its progress as there is no end in sight. As entry to the goldfield site is only with a guide we must sit this pandemic out. Time for reflection! #coronavirus #pandemic #publicrisk #lossoffreedom Photo. Malcolm Halliday

09.01.2022 Hi everyone, we hope you all have a Happy Christmas and that we can see you in 2021 without any concerns. We expect to be open soon, still with cash only, until we get a card machine we can work at the goldfield. Cheers!

08.01.2022 Sorry to have to do this but due to the change in the COVID situation we have closed the tours around the Goldfield until further notice. It is sad but the location of the goldfield does not have a business phone connection and strong enough signal as yet and we can't adhere to the new regulations. Hope to see you all soon.

06.01.2022 Hi Everyone, these uncertain times come to us all and we have decided to stop the tours through the goldfield until we feel it is safe for our guides and visitors to join a tour again. Hopefully the Corona virus won't last for long and we can all stay healthy during its progress through this area. As entry to the site is only with a guide we must sit this pandemic out. #coronavirus #pandemic #publicrisk

03.01.2022 On again - off again. This is unbelievable! And yes, we are planning to open the Goldfield again for guided tours from this coming Saturday, 9th January. Lots of people have been disappointed at not coming and we can only say it has been out of our control. The main thing is that we all stay safe and well and to come back and enjoy this beautiful place in the world. A new kid on the block; I haven't seen this one before. A Fanflower (Scaevola-albida?) #wildflowers #beautyinthebush #comeandsee

03.01.2022 We will be closed on Good Friday but back again for the usual 2pm tours from Saturday.

03.01.2022 One more sleep!