Holiday Gems
18 January 2012
Prosperous Emerald is Capricorn Highway's hub. Whether driving between north and south or east and west, travellers find it a rich source of mechanical and medical services, supermarkets, specialty shops and caravan parks.
Backing it is the 'Big Easel', the world's largest reproduction of Van Gogh's sunflower painting. At 25m high, it's hard to miss. A pioneer complex nearby showcases a cottage built in 1880 as a shop, an early Presbyterian Church, a communications museum and a chilling lock-up containing both padded and lead-lined cells.
The town's National Trust listed railway station (c1900) is a photo favourite. Richly festooned with iron lace, the chamferboard structure's portico is supported by elegant columns and adorned with greenery.
Emerald is true-to-label, courtesy of Fairburn Dam and the resultant Lake Maraboon, which justifies being described in capitals as 'BIG'. The lake's area of 15,000 hectares is a whopping 3.5 times that of Sydney Harbour! Its irrigation output nurtures Emerald's surrounding sunflower farms, citrus orchards, grain farms, vineyards and sheep and cattle pastures. The lush 42 hectare Emerald Botanic Gardens offers freshwater fishing in Nogoa River and 7km of walking tracks winding through rose gardens, palm groves, rainforests, exotic plants and fruit trees.
Emerald Cabin and Caravan Village is a well-equipped, peaceful place to recoup from fishing and walking exertions. It is mainly a quiet haven, except at Rainbow Lorikeet feeding times. Then there's a volume duel between bird chattering and human squeals of delight!
Before heading west to the gemfields, we usually take the Gregory Highway 18km south to Lake Maraboon. Big barra, Silver and Golden perch and Murray cod catches are the magnets for most visitors. Others, like us, just lust for the succulent red claw crayfish. A tinny is handy, since red claw are mainly caught in water over 3m deep. Wildlife lovers need take only half a stroll out of Lake Maraboon Holiday Village to spot diverse bird species. 'Maraboon' is Aboriginal for 'where the black ducks f y', but the oasis hosts a variety of ducks, plus pelicans, black swans, hawks and lorikeets. In the evening, possums and wallabies enter the park grounds to feed.
Running late on our eastern states odyssey, we had to forego the side-trip this time.
CHEAP TREATS
Fishing and fossicking after buying appropriate licenses.
Buying a bag of 'wash' ($5-$8) to ease gently in to fossicking.
Vegetables and takeaways at Sapphire's markets.
FREEBIES
Fishing and walks, Emerald Botanic Gardens.
Browsing Sunday markets, Sapphire Camping in Sapphire township Wildlife watching throughout the gemfields area.
Browsing gem galleries in fossicking area townships.
So, after collecting a fossicking guide and license from the Emerald Mining Registrar, we zipped straight off to the gemfields.
We stopped first at Anakie, on the south side of the highway, 44km west of Emerald. This laidback township busts loose every August when it hosts Gemfest, the nation's biggest gem festival, drawing enthusiasts from around the globe. Like other local parks, Anakie Gemfields Caravan Park offers first timers easy options for learning to fossick.
The easiest way to fossick is to buy a bag of 'wash' (potentially gem-bearing gravel). Equipment is provided and staff demonstrate how to sift the stones, swirl the sieves in water and identify any sparklers. True story, people have struck it lucky this way! Alternatively, guests can take a guided tour to Glenalva fossicking area 20km south-west, or else drive out to try their luck independently. At happy hour, successful treasure hunters like to encourage new-comers by showing off some of their best sapphires. Anakie has contributed to Australia's list of supersized icons with an eye-catching 'Big Sapphire' statue outside a local shop.
Crossing over the highway, we went 9km north to Sapphire, which has remarkable claims to fame. Firstly, Australia's biggest ever blue sapphire was found there: a beautiful stone of a staggering 2,303 carats! This was reduced to 1,318 carats when it was carved into a bust of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln for permanent display in the White House, Washington. Also, sapphire produces around a third of the world's blue, green and yellow gems. With these credentials, it's not surprising visitors have high hopes of striking it rich!
Sapphire Caravan Park, west of town, provides all the mod cons, making this a delightful bushland retreat for a few days or more. The hospitable township also allows free short-term camping in a grassed area next to a BBQ- equipped park, modern toilets and a dump point. Three gem shops cater for jewellery buyers, and other facilities include a post office, medical centre, tyre service, and mechanical and hardware businesses.
It's only 8km north to the larger township of Rubyvale, but don't rush it… wallabies, brolgas and bustards ignore all road rules. Besides, by taking it easy there's a better chance of seeing cottages built of 'billy boulders' (rounded quartzite rocks that indicate sapphire-bearing ground) and tiny timber dwellings, including 'Buckingham Palace', a true replica of an early pioneer's home.
Rubyvale's Miners Heritage property boasts the 'Bobby Dazzler', Australia's biggest walk-in underground sapphire mine. It also has above-ground fossicking areas with work tables provided so guests don't have to bend over to sieve and sort their 'wash'. Staff will happily demonstrate the tricks of the trade, explaining that likely stones must be rinsed and held up to see whether the light shines through. If it does, the 'stone' is a sapphire. These gems can be blue, yellow, orange, green, pink and parti-coloured (two or more colours). Here's a little known fact: 'rubies' are actually red sapphires!
We couldn't leave without visiting the nearby Willows gemfields. A big attraction of the Willows is that corporate mining has never been allowed in the area, only hand mining is permitted. This means greater potential for amateurs to uncover treasures, and they do!
We (and other hopefuls) were first drawn to the Willows by a July, 1997, newspaper report of amateurs from Wollongong, NSW, finding a superb 301 carat green and yellow sapphire, then worth $10,000. They hadn't even started digging; they just picked it up off the ground! The same season, a Victorian not only unearthed sapphires, he scored a diamond that Elizabeth Taylor wouldn't have passed up! Since then, there have been a multitude of extraordinary finds made by amateurs and old hands alike.
On this trip, a fellow showed us a beautiful 17 carat green he'd found a fortnight earlier. One regular visitor reckons the road to the Willows should be called the Super Highway because, as he put it, "A lot of us have significantly lifted our superannuation with the treasures we've found here".
Another 'fossicking addict' added his opinion, "I never work as hard as I do when we come out here on our holidays. But then again, I've never been so fit either!"
There are two local parks: modern Gem Air Village Caravan Park and the original Willows Gemfields Caravan Park. Both abut fossicking fields and offer advice on finding sapphires. Gem Air has superb facilities, is set in natural bush and is bordered by umpteen hectares of fossicking land. Guided tours can be taken or people can simply do their own thing. Gem Air closes from October to March in deference to seasonal temperatures. Kangaroos, top-knot pigeons, lorikeets and blue-faced honeyeaters stay practically all year round. After busy digging days, Gem Air's campfires are the social hubs. It's where folk swap tales (some of them true!) of their field experiences and general travels.
Willows Gemfields Caravan Park is more rustic, with simple fireplaces and a useful forge for sharpening spades and picks. There is also a skilled gem cutter nearby. The park draws a wealth of wildlife (especially potoroos) and certainly attracts delightful 'human' characters. Most guests like to fossick all day and gather for morning and afternoon smoko out on the field. At happy hour they gather in the parks, where beginners are given plentiful advice on sapphire seeking. Actually, advice comes from all directions and there are as many opinions as fleas on a dingo's back: dig in creek beds; look for billy boulder sites; excavate on the highest ground; carry a four-leaf clover; find the gems using a pair of aluminium divining rods... and so on. One wag recommended we simply ask the most successful fossicker exactly where he was digging. Yeah right! Then there was the young (non-fossicking) lady who swore by the 'teasing ants' method. She'd teased a line of ants by running a twig across their trail. The twig dislodged a stone that looked 'different'. After rinsing it under a tap, she found the stone was a gem; a flawless six carat yellow sapphire! "Smartie pants make you sick, don't they?" said an old-timer, with a mock scowl. A big thing we've noticed about this region is that either the place attracts visitors with a good sense of humour, or else the place brings out the best humour in its visitors. Either way, humour, fishing and fossicking make the Emerald to gemfields area a big hit with travellers.
GETTING THERE
Emerald is located 270km west of Rockhampton on the Capricorn Highway just north of Carnarvon National Park. The Gemfields is located 61km west of Emerald. Follow the Capricorn Highway west for 43km then turn right into Anakie-Sapphire Road which is signposted, Sapphire/Rubyvale/Central Highlands Tourist Route. Follow this a further 20km to get to The Gemfields.
TOURIST INFORMATION
CENTRAL QUEENSLAND INFORMATION CENTRE
Clermont St, Emerald, Q 4720
Ph: (07) 4982 4142
MINING REGISTRAR
Government Building, 99 Hospital Rd, Emerald, Q 4720
Ph: (07) 4987 9372.
PLACES TO STAY
EMERALD CABIN AND CARAVAN VILLAGE
64 Opal St, Emerald
Ph: (07) 4982 1300
www.emeraldcabinandcaravanvillage.com.au
For information about pets, contact park
LAKE MARABOON HOLIDAY VILLAGE
Fairburn Dam Access, Emerald
Ph: (07) 4982 3677
No pets
ANAKIE GEMFIELDS CARAVAN PARK
Richardson St, Anakie
Ph: (07) 4985 4142
Email: anakiecp@bigpond.com
Pets subject to conditions
SAPPHIRE CARAVAN PARK RETREAT
57 Sunrise Rd, Sapphire
Ph: (07) 4985 4281
www.sapphirecaravanpark.com.au
Pets allowed, subject to conditions
RUBYVALE MOTEL AND HOLIDAY UNITS
35 Heritage Rd, Rubyvale
Ph: (07) 4985 4518
Email: rubyvaleholiday@bigpond.com.au
No pets
RUBYVALE CARAVAN PARK
16 Main St, Rubyvale
Ph/fax: (07) 4985 4118
www.rubyvalecaravanpark.com.au
Pets on approval
GEM AIR VILLAGE CARAVAN PARK
Willows Gemfields
Ph: (07) 4985 5124
Closed Oct-Mar annually
Dogs on leashes allowed
WILLOWS GEMFIELDS CARAVAN PARK
Willows Gemfields
Ph: (07) 4985 5128
For information about pets, contact park
MUST-SEES
THE BLACK QUEEN:
(On the Red Car Door Tour)
Open: March to November Performances Daily: Matinee
1pm and sunset 5pm Cost: Adults $25 bookings essential
Ph: (02) 6829 0980
CHAMBERS OF THE BLACK HAND:
(On the Yellow Car Door Tour)
Open: April to November 10.30am and 3pm (seven days a week)
Open: December to March 10.30am only (seven days a week)
ORGANISED TOURS
Black Opal Tours
Departs: seven days a week 8.30am, 9.30am and 1.30pm
Prices: $30 adults, $25 seniors, $12 children, $68 family (two adults, two children)
Ph: (02) 6829 0368
Or
OUTBACK OPAL TOURS:
Departs: seven days a week 9.00am and 2.00pm.
Prices: $30 adults, $25 seniors, $12 children, $68 family
AUSTRALIAN OPAL CENTRE:
Morilla Street, Lightning Ridge
Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 1pm-5pm, Saturday 9am-5pm
Free entry
GARRAWAL ABORIGINAL ARTEFACTS SHOP:
29 Nobby Rd, Lightning Ridge
Opening Hours: 8:30am – 5:00pm
(Mon-Fri)
WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY GORDON & PAMELA MAY ADDITIONAL IMAGES BY CAPRICORN TOURISM
