Jupiter Creek - the place
Yes, there is a place called Jupiter Creek. It's near a town called Echunga in the Adelaide Hills, not far from where I live.

Please note: My business isn't actually located at Jupiter Creek, but I've taken some images and paraphrased some of the info on the Battunga Country Website of the Battunga Country Tourism Association. Other images come from Yvonne and Southaustralia.com. My thanks to those people and organisations, especially the Battunga Country Tourism Association.


When I was a teenager an Aussie band called Stars had hits with "Jupiter Creek" and "Last of the Riverboats". Both songs were kind of folk-rock ballads featuring Andy Durant on vocals and Mal Eastick on lead guitar. "Jupiter Creek" was a song about a guy who'd left his wife and home to seek his fortune on the goldfields.

When I started making solidbody electric mandolins people asked why there was no name on the headstocks, so I decided to call my fledgling operation Jupiter Creek Music.

So, if you want to read on, here's a brief historical background to Jupiter Creek, the place...

Gold had been discovered in the Australian state of Victoria in the 19th century, and many South Australians went east to seek their fortunes on the goldfields. In an attempt to reduce this outflow of citizens from the fledgling state, and in the hope that the discovery of minerals would help the sate's economy, the South Australian Government offered a one thousand pound reward for the discovery of a payable goldfield.

Gold was discovered at Echunga and the field was proven in August 1852. By the turn of the century, with an area extending from Chapman’s Gully to Jupiter Creek, the Echunga Goldfields had become South Australia’s most productive goldfield. Chapman’s Gully was the first area to be worked at the Old Echunga Diggings and proved to be the richest. The total production of the Old Echunga Diggings is estimated to have been around 3,100kg.

The second major diggings in the Echunga area opened up after payable alluvial gold was discovered at Jupiter Creek in 1868. By September 1868 there were about 1,200 people living at the new diggings and tents and huts were scattered throughout the scrub.

A township was established with general stores, butchers and refreshment booths. A school was opened in February 1915 but was twice destroyed by fire – the latter being the 1939 bushfire. It was rebuilt but closed in 1943.

By the end of 1868 the alluvial deposits were almost exhausted and the population had dwindled to several hundred. During 1869 reef mining was introduced and some small mining companies were established but all had gone into liquidation by 1871.

As with the Old Diggings, small amounts of gold continued to be found over the years with three distinct periods – from 1884-1890s, 1904-107 and during the 1930's. 

Since being ravaged by bushfires, the Jupiter Creek gold diggings are gradually being reclaimed by natural bush, and these once bustling areas are now silent, but some relics of the era still exist.

Bushwalkers can visit the old diggings at Chapel Hill and follow the sign-posted path to find some of these relics then on to Jupiter Creek to follow the heritage trail which has signposts and information boards describing successive phases of mining at the site. It includes the 1869 chimney associated with the Beatrice Gold Mining Company, 1906 sluicing dam and the 1930 New Phoenix Tunnel.

The diggings are a part of the Kuitpo Forest conservation park and registered as State Heritage Items so they'll be preserved for future generations.