Wathen next sailed about 1850 to Port Phillip in Victoria, Australia, arriving prior to the 1851 Victorian gold rush, and explored the gold fields in the colony. This resulted in a short paper published in 1853 by the Geological Society of London, which was followed by his second book, "The Golden Colony, or Victoria in 1854", which again was sparsely illustrated with some of his own sketches. Despite his lack of training as either a geologist or mining engineer, the release of the "Golden Colony" was perfectly timed to capitalise on the excitement of both the Australian and Californian gold rushes, and it was widely read by "arm-chair adventurers" in both England and the United States. As a consequence, he was elected in April 1855 as a fellow of the Geological Society.