Week Fifteen: The Gemfields

Fossicking for sapphires near Emerald

This week we got down and dirty on the Gemfields near Emerald. It was lots of fun although backbreaking for GK as he was the one lugging the buckets of rocks and stones up and down the hill to the sorting area. He reckons he is a bit of a mug because he paid forty dollars for the privilege. ‘No pain no gain’ I say. Below is the measly collection of sapphires we found over four hours of fossicking. The largest one was valued at forty-five dollars and the rest were ‘rubbish’ as they had fractures in them. There goes my stud earrings and matching pendant. So we were down thirty-five dollars for the day. Even the ‘smoko’ was disappointing as we were expecting billy tea with scones, jam and cream and got teabags, instant coffee and Granita biscuits. Hmmph. Not what we are used to.

Our motley collection of sapphires

GK sieving our stones

The lady fossicking a metre away from us (seriously!) found a sapphire within fifteen minutes of starting and Keith, our ‘experienced miner’, valued it at over two thousand dollars! Just our luck. Never mind. We had a great day and met some lovely people. It is easy to see how fossicking can become addictive as, like gambling or fishing, there is always the chance of winning or catching the ‘big one’ with the next bucket, punt or cast. We found it amusing to watch human nature, as the really committed didn’t even stop for smoko or lunch. Then again, maybe they don’t like Granitas. 

CK washing our stones

Despite being absolutely filthy we called into the little towns of Sapphire and Rubyvale and had a wander around. The two towns make up the Miners Common, which is an 11,000 acre property that combines the two towns, which are 6kms apart. Within its boundaries miners are able to mine, build a dwelling and run a few livestock. The dwellings cannot be permanent therefore they are virtually ‘humpies’ but it doesn’t seem to worry the locals. Animals roam freely on the Common and we were surprised to see cattle lazing on the bitumen outside the pub. Only in Queensland! 

On the diggings

The world's biggest Van Gogh
'Sunflower' painting is in Emerald

Emerald was a huge surprise to us. We were expecting another small Outback town but found a bustling city of 14,000 people. The huge Harvey Norman store on the outskirts of town should have warned us. It was like approaching Joondalup. The town has three large shopping centres with all the usual suspects, Big W, K Mart and Target. The chap at the Visitor Centre told us Emerald has seven primary schools, a senior high school and a Uni campus. Wow! It also has fifty flights to Brisbane every week. Hardly the small town we were expecting. We will do more research next time.

Another surprise was you will never find an emerald in Emerald as it was named after the lush green pastures that surround the town. With the drought they may have to consider a name change, as the countryside is very dry and dusty. The town flooded in 2011 and hasn't had rain since. It is ironic that Emerald is the gateway to the Gemfields with not a gem in sight. Who knew?

We spent three days pottering around the town and its surrounds and drove out to Fairbairn Dam and Lake Maraboon. Unfortunately the lake is only at thirty percent capacity but still supplies irrigation to new industries around Emerald like cotton, vineyards and citrus orchards which are the largest in the southern hemisphere. They employ Tongan labourers, as they are very reliable, don’t drink, work long hours and send their wages home to their families. Their only vice is ‘scratchies’ and the newsagencies in town are run off their feet on Fridays when they get paid. 

After Emerald we spent two nights free camping on our way to Cania Gorge. The camps are usually rest spots in paddocks along the side of the road where Grey Nomads gather in numbers for safety. The better ‘stays’ may be on the banks of a river or alongside a lake. We weren’t so lucky this time but our stays at Dululu and Lowgie Hall were very quiet and we had two good nights sleep. If there are ablutions, they are usually run by volunteers and you pay a small fee into an honesty box. The bathroom in Dululu left a lot to be desired as you can see by the sign on the wall. You have to laugh. 

Black and smells!! Guess where Cher Cher showered. Not here that's for sure

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Aha! An empty bottle of Houghton's White Classic! I
know who has been here!

We are now staying at a fabulous campground at Cania Gorge in Central Queensland. Its abundant wildlife wanders around the park including the little bettongs, which are similar to our quokkas. They roam around at night cleaning up the birdseed from the nightly bird feeding. They are very timid unlike the kangaroos and wallabies, which are very curious and wander right up to your door. The kookaburras are deafening in the early hours of the morning and nearly threw us out of bed the first day we were here. 

Aren't they gorgeous? Such beautiful faces.

There are some fantastic bush walks around the gorge but my plantar fasciitis has returned with a vengeance after our 12km trek through Carnarvon Gorge. I had forgotten how painful it is and am nursing my foot back to normal by resting it, massaging it with Voltaren and popping GK’s Nurofen like Smarties. I have to be ready for the Gympie Muster in two weeks as I have packed my boots and I am ready for some serious scootin’. Yeehah!

Who's a pretty boy? The one in stripes of course!

This morning we went out to Lake Cania, which is a very popular picnic and swimming spot for locals. We could see the water level was well down but it was still very pretty and would be a great spot to visit in summer. GK hasn’t had his Bunnings ‘fix’ since Darwin so we went into Monto for a ‘much needed’ fitting for our water filter. Unbeknownst to us, it is a public holiday today in Queensland as its annual agricultural show, the Ekka, is on and everyone downs tools, shuts their doors and travels to Brisbane for the show. Monto was like a ghost town so we fueled up and drove 30km back to the Gorge. Again, we require more research on local events in future. 

 

Lake Cania

We are counting down the sleeps until we go to Gympie for the Muster so are marking time in Central Queensland. We tried to book some accommodation on the coast but it is all booked out. There are bloody Grey Nomads everywhere! Haven’t they got homes to go to? We will keep trying and hopefully get a booking somewhere with a nice view and Internet. Fewer kookaburras too! We do love them but not at 4am. Will be in touch next week but until them keep safe and lots of love.

Another pretty boy