Well we made it to Sapphire in a hope of making a fortune by finding that elusive large gem stone; not to be but we did have a great time looking and finding several smaller stones.
Sapphire has 3 caravan parks and a further 2 are at Rubyvale another 6km down the road; we stayed at the Blue Gem and we were pleased with the park, it amenities and the great social atmosphere of the owners and other campers. We originally booked for 3 nights but extended this to a week, the cost here is $20 p/n or $120 p/w so very good value. The park had activities on most days and in the early evening which made for a very enjoyable stay.
Above shows one area of the park; we are on the left about half way down. No slabs but good grass underfoot.
No, Linda has not shrunk; outside the park is a giant shovel, pick and sieve. The normal sized ones of these are used in abundance in this neck of the woods and it is very tough going. You can buy buckets of wash from the miners and wash and sift for your own stones; it was a heap of fun but can be expensive if you get the bug.
After the sift and washing the remaining stones are tipped onto hessian and the keen eye takes over looking for sapphire's; stories are that the miners keep all the big stuff found and the use the small stones to “salt” the buckets of (dirt) wash. They say it is like sideshow ally for kids; hand over your money and everyone gets a prize even though it maybe only 1 tenth of what you paid (roll-up, roll-up).
No chance of getting pissed at this RSL as it is only open 3 days a week on limited hours; there is a bottle shop and pub at Rubyvale. I was going to buy a carton til I saw the price, I decided to get the roast off lay-by instead.
Barry and Anne above were also hot on the trail of gems; they were a little luckier than us as they probably got 12% of their money back.
This is known as the “Thong Tree” just out of Rubyvale and is set amongst some of the hundreds of mining leases; the people who own and mine these are very wary of trespassers and whenever you see the white lease markers it pays to stay out.
A mechanical repairer in Sapphire; not sure how much work he gets mechanically or sexually but the sign says it all.
We are now at Ilfracombe but following this post I will finish and upload Alpha, Jericho and Barcaldine; Alpha & Jericho we passed through but both places have some great history and sights to see and photograph. We stayed at Barcaldine for 3 nights for the “heritage trail”.
We are moving from Ilfracombe tomorrow (13th July) on to Winton for 2 nights before we head to Boulia, we did the Longreach tour from here rather than stay in Longreach itself.
Will post again soon
Regards – David & Linda – The DavLin Rig
