For many the road to the diggings began with mixed feelings as gold seekers left home, hearth and all that was familiar to start the long journey, seeking their fortune in the gold fields of Victoria.

Image: Marco Polo
Artist: Thomas Robertson

Text: Letter to his father 27 Sept 1857
Author: James Cooper Stewart
'I took my luggage to the pier, had it measured and put on board the steam-tug which was lying out in the river. You can scarcely realise my feelings when I felt myself leaving the shores of Great Britain, for I was really downcast but I put the best face upon matters that I could, and a feeling of confidence possessed me as we neared the noble ship.'
Arrival in Melbourne presented even greater challengers as would be diggers gathered supplies, made travel arrangements with new companions and hoped for last news from home before setting out on their long journey.

Image: Diggers on the way to Bendigo
Artist: S.T. Gill

Text: The gold-finder of Australia: how he went, how he fared, and how he made his fortune
Author: John Sherer, ed.
'The route which we had chalked out for ourselves extended over about seventy-five miles of ground, and as neither our circumstances nor our inclinations were such as allowed us to hire a dray-cart, we determined to load ourselves as lightly as possible, and walk the journey. Thousands had already done this, and many were daily coming and going over the same ground. There was no fear, then, of our losing our way, however thinly the region through which we were about to pass might be peopled.

The road to the diggings presented very real dangers. Safe arrival was itself a cause for celebration.

Image: Golden Point, Ballarat, 1851
Artist: David Tulloch
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