Charters Towers Qld 28/29 July 2019

Charters Towers Qld 28/29 July 2019

The only highlight to break the uneventful run up from Clermont was a few hundred head of cattle grazing the long paddock, attended only by two dogs, a jilleroo and the drover, both on horseback. One could hardly believe ones eyes as you are cruising up the Gregory Highway at 103kph: you can see them but not believe that it could be real. How could the road be completely blocked by a bunch of cows? It's bad enough to have random cows grazing on the side of the road, or a bunch of 'roos (15 was my count) bouncing leisurely across in front of you. The rule is to  slow right down obviously and then to just drive forward slowly and expect them to just get out of the way. Having been given a friendly hurry up on the two-way I started to move through them, but my 'slow' was too slow for Mr B-Double Driver who came past us a bit faster, so we just tucked in behind him and let him clear a path. And then followed him for 60km to Belyando Crossing...

'Beware of Cows' the sign should have said, if only they had bothered with a sign!

After setting up for the night we tried to do some shopping, but hadn't counted on it being Sunday afternoon when everything is closed. Back at the van park I was silly enough to go and have a swim in the pool. It's 27 here, but the pool is only 20 odd, so it is cold. Not snap-frozen cold, but cold enough to really be looking forward to getting out! Later we sat and watched the Magpies, three local singers, sing their way through and hour's worth of rock and roll, as they have done every time we've been here. Quite an enjoyable way to finish the day.

Today we went to the show, which was memorable in that it had a huge 'carnival' content and a not so huge area for the country things such as horses, cows, tractors and the like. We sat and watched the show jumping for a while before sliding out back to the park for lunch. Later we went for fuel, bought ice creams and went down to look at the Burdekin Weir.

Show time. Charters Towers Qld

JB checking out her next sports car! Charters Towers Qld

Show jumping. Charters Towers Qld

The weir, Burdekin River, Charters Towers Qld

Clermont Qld 27 July 2019

Clermont Qld 27 July 2019

After our lunchtime start from Rubyvale, we took what we thought was the short-cut up to Clermont, avoiding the return trip back into Emerald. However, we came out on the highway at Capella still some 60km short of the target. We had thought we were going via Therese Creek Dam or thereabouts, but all we saw was the dry bed of said creek somewhere outside Clermont.

We took up our spot in the caravan park in this pleasant, quiet town and had some lunch. In the afternoon we went to find the Therese Creek Dam, which is about 20km out of town on the road that we obviously missed. On the way we stopped to look at a brick chimney at the sight of what was a productive copper mine in the 1880s. All that is left is the hole in the ground, the chimney and the tiny general store which was once a museum. As the whole place is surrounded by a tall chainlink fence to keep the idiots and vandals out, all I could do was take a few quick snaps and head off for the dam.

Remain of Coppermine. Copperfield Qld

We were expecting to see an earthen dam and a bit of water, what we found was a pretty huge 'free camp' (at $15 a night its hardly free), a boat ramp and a picnic area. And a large body of water, but no sign of a dam anywhere.

Picnic area, Therese Dam, Clermont Qld

Lake Therese. Clermont Qld

Back in town we looked for life, there was none, it was Saturday afternoon and the local races were on, leaving the town mostly deserted. We did find an open bottleshop and so we entertained ourselves with our very own happy hour.

Rubyvale Qld 26 July 2019

Rubyvale Qld 26 July 2019

More fossicking today, but done the genteel way. Just down the road there is a place called The Miners Cabin, which is someones house, but down in the backyard they have set up a shed and a range of sorting tables, sieves and Willoughbies all set up and ready to go. You give them $20 and pick your bucket of wash, receive two pair of tweezers and are shown your table. The whole process is explained and away you go. It took us an hour and a half to work through our bucket including taking time out to to eat the complimentary coffee/tea and scones. Anything you find you pick up with your tweezers and pop the stone into your dish. When you are finished you take your dish to the checking stations where experts examine each stone, sort them, and give you advice as to what to do with them. The advice ranges from putting them into 'Show and tell' bags, to 'Polish' and best of all 'cutters'. They even give you documents and instructions on how to get them cut, in Thailand of all places, for almost nothing.

We ended up with a bag of 'show and tell' dross, which was a bit disappointing given the list of daily hero finds they had up. Anyway, it was a lot easier and and lot more fun than yesterday's hard slog.

Miners Cottage. Rubyvale Old 

Miners Cottage. Rubyvale Qld 

Judy pouring over the fines. Miners Cottage. Rubyvale Qld

Sorting and assessing. Miners Cottage. Rubyvale Qld

Hero finds of the day. Miners Cottage. Rubyvale Qld

The experience was so good, we went back this morning to run another bucket through before we head off for Clermont. This time we had a bit more luck, scoring some Polish stones and a couple of interesting Cutters, one of which was 12 carats in its uncut state. We'll be sending them off for sure to see saw how they scrub up!

Rubyvale Qld 25 July 2019

Rubyvale Qld 25 July 2019

Today we join the ranks of the fossickers and miners, all chasing that elusive bit of colour. We decided to go on a tag-along tour, mostly because they know where to go and what to do, and they have all the equipment. We went with Fascinations Tours, organised through the Fascination Gems shop in Rubyvale. So at 830am we met the tour guide and the rest of the hopefuls at Anakie, back out on the highway.

Meeting fellow fossickers, Anakie Qld
Note Treasure map behind!

 Maybe half-a-dozen vehicles followed Keith out and onto the Capricorn Highway for 20 km, then down a side road for 11 kilometres to The Willows Fossicking Grounds

Road down to The Willows Gemfields, Qld

And then another turn down the side of a side road to the 'diggins'.

Track into the actual diggings. Willows, Qld

Once on-site Kieth gave us a very thorough run-through of the basics: dig, tumble, wash, examine. Repeat till exhausted. The theory is that we are standing on the site of a 'flow' of gemstone from a prehistoric outpouring of some long dead volcano. The stuff is supposed to have gushed out and flowed down the countryside where it cooled and crystals formed. A zillion years later, this flow has been covered by anything from nothing to an unknown depth of dirt and rock as at the surface of our planet changed. I'm thinking 'ancient mountains whittled down', I guess the rock and dirt had to go somewhere.  Anyhow, this area is kept especially for surface pickers like us, as the 'wash', as that thin layer of gravel like stuff is called, is 'close' to the surface.

OK, so here's what the ground looks like:

The Willows Gemfields Qld

Well that's what it looks like after its been dug over by the passing parade of pickers, but still, you take your pick and shovel and bucket and go and find a spot, as if you know what you are looking for. Then you dig dig dig like Judy, and shovel the detritus into the buckets like Brian. (my back suggests that it may have been the other way around!)

Can she dig it? Willows Gemfields Qld

Yes she can! Willows Gemfields Qld

And maybe a bit from here. Willows Gemfields Qld

Sixteen tonnes and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in  debt.
Willows Gemfields Qld

Scrape, scoop, shovel. Willows Gemfields Qld

Willows Gemfields Qld

You then clamber over the spoils left behind by everyone else to the Trammel, which is a device used to seperate the dirt from the rock, the big rocks from the fines. Your pour your bucket of wash into the Shute on one end, turn the handle on the other, and watch as the smaller stuff comes away and is collected in another bucket. But, keep an eye on those big ones fall out the end, you just never know when a giant crystal will fall out.

A trammel, or cylindrical sieve. Willows Gemfields Qld

One then takes one's bucket of fines to the wet sieves, or Willoughbys, as they are known. You stack the two sieves on top of un upturned bucket, fine one on the bottom, and pour in some of your dirt. You place the sieves in the Willoughby and jiggle it up and down for a minute or so, with the sieves under the water. This, in theory, washes away the last of the dirt and allows the smaller stones to fall into the bottom sieve. Anything that goes right through is rubbish. You take the top, course, sieve to the hessian bag 'table and up end it. In theory (there's lots of them out here) the gems will have fallen to the centre and be on the bottom of the sieve, which is now your pile of stones. ready to be picked up. 

Judy washing her wash. Willows Gemfields Qld

Into the Whilloughby they go! Willows Gemfields Qld 

Pump it up and down, give it a good wash. Willows Gemfields Qld

Onto the tables for inspection. Willows Gemfields Qld

Picking through the course stuff, you never know what you might find. Willows Gemfields Qld

 

When you're done with the course sieves and your bucket is empty, you repeat the process with the fine sieve, and if you are lucky, you will find some colour!

And back you go tomorrow for more! Well, maybe next time, I need to get a lot fitter first, all that digging and sieving and stuff is hard work.

Rubyvale Qld 24 July 2019

Rubyvale Qld 24 July 2019

Rubyvale is 60km west of Emerald, in the heart of the gem fields, and just as there are no Emeralds in Emerald, there are no Rubies in Rubyvale. There are Sapphires in Sapphire, 6km back down the road and possibly anarchy in Anakie, which is where the turn off is on the main road. But for now we have come to Rubyvale for a few days, hearts set on finding a big chunk of sapphire. That's the plan anyhow.

Heart of the 'throbbing cattle country' as it was described in days past.
Rubyvale Qld

Today we went on a tour of a walk-in mine, right around the corner and very interesting it was too. Now we know where the gems come from, how they were made and how to find them. We would have stayed and run a bucket of 'wash', which is the gravelly stuff in which the stones are found, across the table, but the 130 school children pretty much took up the entire area. Travelling back into town we thought we'd try our hand with a bag-o-wash at the Bobby Dazzler cafe and mine, but as it was past 3pm they had closed up for  the day. For $20-25 you can buy a bag-o-wash and use the purveyors facilities to wash and sift through the stuff, and you get to keep any gems you find. You then go away, maybe happy, possibly not.

Not to be put off, we went looking for coffee instead and found a bonus 'gem': authentic Austrian apple strudel and a decent mug of coffee. Yum!

Rubyvale Qld

Poor old Jack, stuck down the Miners heritage mine for 50 plus years
Rubyvale Old

Miners Heritage Walkin Mine, Rubyvale Qld

Bobby Dazzlers. Rubyvale Qld

Bingo! A gem at last. Strudel Hut, Rubyvale Qld

Roma Qld 19/20 July 2019

Roma Qld 19/20 July 2019

Leaving Lightning Ridge and heading north, the road continued to be a bit of a struggle, not as bad as before but not quite right either. However, past Hebel, which is in Queensland and on to St George it is in much better repair and makes for a safer more enjoyable trip. And you, it weren't to safe for the literally hundreds of 'roos splattered all over the place, mile after mile, some in groups of ten or so. As J Williamson sings, 'Birds flying round with a knife and fork, dam good feed for an eagle hawk'.

We had lunch in St George at a cafe that derives its fame from having engraved emu eggs, if you like that sort of thing. One reason I wanted to stop here was to see if the Town Fathers had paid any tribute to Len Waters, Australia's only Aboriginal fighter pilot, who earned his stripes flying a    Kittyhawk he named 'Black Magic' in New Guinea during World War II.

We ended up at the Info place and I asked the nice lady if she had ever heard of Len Waters and if there was a monument to him in town, and was surprised by her enthusiastic, 'Yes of course'. I was even more surprised when, upon asking for directions to see the monument she smiled and pointing through the front door said, 'No problem, it's right outside'.

John Johnson (left) & Len Waters (right) memorials. Surat Qld

Now fortunately for us, we like to read the local papers during lunch, and the one we read had the Surat service station up for sale, and it looked permanently closed. As we were about to pull out and head for Roma via Surat, a distance of some 240km, prudence dictated that we fill up before we leave as we wouldn't make it on less than half a tank. And a good choice too as there were no signs untrue way out of town to alert one to this situation, and sure enough it was closed. Surat is home to a rather nicely restored Cobb and Co coach, 'the last one to run' (in this area). We didn't stop so I'll sneak an old snap in for fun.

My main objective in Roma was to participate in their Parkrun event, which starts in the park right next to the van park, at the unseemly time of 7am in winter when it's zero or fewer degrees. I wore my Canberra Winter Parkrun kit, thank you. Actually it wasn't too bad as there was no wind and the sun started sneaking up at about half-past seven. The run itself is quite pleasant being a proper path that runs along the creek, down a long road, back, and out again up another bit of the creek before returning to the start.

There is not a lot of sights-to-see in Roma, especially if you've been here before, so we knocked over the Biggest Bottle Tree (in Roma), checked out the Roma Bush Gardens (a 20 year work-in-progress) which has been formed around the original water supply for the steam trains, drank coffee, and of course, wandered around the shops. The farmer's market as advertised in the brochure we found,  wasn't on. Puzzled, we asked the Info people about it who were perplexed until they discovered that the brochure we had found at the cafe was from 2014! We chuckled about this as apparently we were the fourth enquiry about this very thing this morning.

Roma Bush Gardens. Roma Qld

Bottle tree. Roma Qld

Emerald Qld 22 July 2019

Emerald Qld 22 July 2019

Lovely relaxing day sitting in the sunshine. Wandered around to the Info place and had a chat about fossicking and how much 'it' was going to be worth when we find it. Wandered down to the shops, drank coffee, bought food, wandered back to van for lunch.

While we were waiting for the 'little man' to come and have a look at our door, we went down to inspect Fairbairn Dam and Lake Maraboon, reputedly 3 1/2 times the size of Sydney Harbour. Last time we were here in 2012 the dam was overflowing, today, not a drop. In fact it looked pretty alarming the water level was so low. Here's the then and now snaps.

THEN, 2012. Lake Maraboon, Emerald Qld

NOW 2019. Lake Maraboon, Emerald Qld

According to Dave, our caravan repair man, the lake has come up a few percentage points over the last 3 months and might even be at 10-11% capacity.

Speaking of Dave, he is David Morris, of Minor Caravan Parts, Emerald and I can recommend him to anyone who wants things fixed on their van. He reckons he had to call it MINOR Caravan Parts to stop people asking hime to replace the entire side and the like.

Emerald Qld 21 July 2019

Emerald Qld 21 July 2019

Aren't we supposed to be in Carnarvon Gorge? Yes, well we got away from Roma in good time and made it up into Injune safely where the instructions are to fill up the fuel tank before going into the gorge. It was here that we discovered the caravan door had basically smashed its way onto the wrong side of the door jamb , inside the van, and wasn't coming out anytime soon. It looked like if I could remove the three striker plates from the door jamb, that would allow the door to come back out, but, all my tools are in the van, aren't they?

Fortunately a Good Samaritan had a full tool kit in the back of their truck and we could get the plates off easily enough, only to reveal bits and pieces of broken plastic door lock parts. I was able to secure the door after a fashion with gaffer tape and an occupy strap, but not good enough to lock up and leave for hours at a time while we went walking into the gorge. What to do? Find the only cafe in town and drink coffee and consider our options.

Now, Injune is a very nice little Queensalnd town, where 'little' is the operative word, so staying here and expecting help wasn't one of the options. Our only two real options were to go back the 90km to Roma or go on the 300km to Emerald. After consulting the inter web, Emerald seemed like the better destination, so I added some more tape and set off, stopping only at Rollinstone for lunch.

Fortunately we had booked a place in one of Emerald's van parks and soon found ourselves parked up and heading to the pub for a well earned refreshment. I had taken a few minutes to pull the door apart and inspect it thoroughly before reassembling it with the best of the bits, so that it now works like a door at lease. We'll call the local van-man later and see if he has any bits, failing that I'll order them through CaravansPlus.com.au and have them sent to Cairns.

Ah, the joys of caravanning!

Lightning Ridge NSW 17/18 July 2019

Lightning Ridge NSW 17/18 July 2019

This is our fourth visit to the Ridge, just a quick two-night stop-over, mainly to catch the tour and show put on by Mel and Susie, the bush poets we first met in Winton ten years ago. Before I mention the Mel&Susie tour, I have to say that the road from Coonamble up to Walgett and on to Lightning Ridge is still rubbish. Looking back through this blog, it's been that way since our first trip here in 2011. Even though it is sealed, you could use this as practice for the Gibb River Road and travel at 20kph for the 240k.

The tour.

We were picked up from the van park at 630pm, just 10 of us. Mel and Susie moved to the Ridge about 5 years ago, when they bought the 'camp', as houses are called, which was set up by John Murray, the famous local artist. The tour started with the girls giving us an hour long show of material all about Lightning Ridge and its inhabitants, which was very entertaining. They followed this with a tour of the old 'house', which was made entirely out of recycled material, as were most thing on the fields. One of the favourite materials used is wine and beer bottles, of which there seems to be an over-supply, I can't imagine why! They followed this with a view of the new house, which having been built after John Murray started to sell a few bits and pieces, is made from new material and is very comfortable. One of the things about this town is that the houses are kept looking like junk heaps from outside, but many are very nice on the inside.

Backside of a bottle wall. Lightning Ridge NSW

Dinner was served outside as we sat around a campfire, which was showing some blue and green flames, as the star attraction. We were told we were eating stew with dumpling, but in the pitch black one couldn't tell, however it was quite delicious, As was the something and pineapple pudding served up to finish.

Weird fireflames.. Lightning Ridge NSW

Today was a bit of a slack day, our highlight was yet another self guided tour following first the yellow and then the red car doors, cunningly placed all those years ago by the same John Murray, who can claim to have started tourism in the Ridge.

Coopers Cottage. Lightning Ridge NSW
This one is as crook on the inside as out!

A big hole. The first open-cut mine on the opal fields. It started out as standard holes dug down to the opal bearing dirt. As it was an additional 60 metres down, on top of a hill, it was rightly called Lunatics Hill. Then they just dug one big hole and were done with it. Lightning Ridge NSW

One of many quietly rusting to death in the scrub. Lightning Ridge NSW

Like most things here, it is anything but what it looks. It was built as a movie set for the  film Godess of 69. Lightning Ridge NSW

Bit of junk lying around. A small motor winds a laden skip up from the  bottom of the hole, up and over the top and dumped into the waiting skip. Lightning Ridge NSW

I meant to add these before we left this morning, but time got away on me as I went for a wander up the road to the Artesian bore spa pool.

The steamy environ of the 40C artesian spa where I had my meeting with my very own spook.
Lightning Ridge NSW

One other thing that I have noticed out here in the scrub is that a certain ancient technology is literally being resurrected to support the newest of technologies, the NBN. It made me smile to see this cable being connected to all the camps that pride themselves on being off-grid.

Old meets new - telegraph poles and the NBN. Lightning Ridge NSW