You could come and practice at Sovereign Hill at Ballarat. They have a stream where you can try your luck.
http://www.sovereignhill.com.au/Small historical note. One Bendigo mine produced more gold than the whole of the California gold rush!
And just to whet your appetite from earlier this year:-
"A Victorian prospector could spark a new gold rush after he found a gold nugget worth $120,000 — one of the largest discoveries in recent times.
The prospector, identified only as Caz, made the lucrative find under an old riverbed in Ballarat by using a metal detector.
The gold, which was found inside a 4.8kg hunk of quartz, is believed to weigh close to 76 ounces.
With recent economic turmoil sending the price of gold to $1600 an ounce, Caz was overjoyed but keen to keep his identity and the location of his prize discovery a secret.
A week after his find Caz dug up a smaller nugget worth $20,000.
Caz told the Ballarat Courier about his excitement at finding the larger quartz piece.
''As soon as my finger tips wrapped around the rock and I started to lift, I knew it was way heavier than just stone, '' he said.
Ballarat's Mining Exchange Gold Shop owner Cordell Kent said the find had prompted hundreds of others to take to Victoria's gold fields.
''The gold rush is still on,'' Mr Kent told Nine News."
