A Bacchus Marsh resident’s unique hobby has led him to television success, with Adventure Gold Diggers due to air on 7mate this October.
Adventure Gold Diggers follows a cast of five adrenaline-fuelled prospecting and mining teams as they search for gold in remote areas of Australia.
Kerry Toner has long spent his weekends abseiling deep into the shafts and tunnels of Victoria’s historical gold mines, including near Blackwood and Castlemaine.
Up to 120 metres underground he documents long-untouched artefacts that date as far back as the 1880s.
He said what began with an impromptu 4-WD trip after an argument with his now-wife, has turned into a life-changing hobby.
“It was amazing, it opened me up to a whole new world underground. Something that was astounding that I knew nothing about,” he said.
The Victorian Facebook group for Mr Toner’s hobby has just 12 members, and between rockfalls, lost ropes and thinning oxygen, he doesn’t recommend it for people who don’t know what they’re doing.
“It is extremely dangerous… We have had some close misses and scary stuff,” he said.
Mr Toner’s four-person group make up the ‘Mineshaft Hunters’ crew on the show.
The group are no strangers to dark, confined and dangerous spaces, but he said getting in front of the camera is what took him out of his comfort zone.
“Doing the show is really cool, we can show more people what is under their feet that they don’t know about. There’s tunnels and mines everywhere underneath them,” he said.
“We pushed ourselves harder to get the gold and give the viewers more thrill and insight to what we do.”
