A reasonably short travel day today and not too sure about exactly what we will find at Emerald , no internet has made doing a quick bit of research very tricky!
We left Barcaldine, these little villas were really lovely
Photo courtesy of Lewis
We decided to make the most of our short travel distance and to take a few stops on the way, first stop, a wee break at Jericho.
Next stop was Alpha where we had morning tea (tough lamingtons from the bakery) and checked the information centre and met a lovely lady who told us quite a great deal about the area and showed the kids a variety of rocks (Quartz, Boulder opal and others) she then gave them a pretty piece of fairy opal, the kids were very chuffed and most grateful.
Searching through the rock fossicking garden
Another stop at a lookout on the way
We also chose to head off the track and visit Sapphire and try our luck at fossicking, $12 for a full bucket of rock/dirt/gems & we were taught how to go about the process. It was fun and hot and the kids were great for a couple of sieves full and then it became mum and dad's job, we scored several pieces of sapphire, had an ice cream and then headed off to Emerald.
The big ring!
Removing the sand/dirt
A Van Gogh Sunflower reproduction on a large scale in the parkland beside the Tourist Information Centre
Emerald was a much bigger town than we expected although that didn't stop it from closing down early because it was Saturday. Our digs here are much more basic but effective for what we need. We had a picnic take away Chinese dinner tonight and saw the painterly sunset.
Early to bed ready for an early rise.
We did the Sapphire fossicking, think the kids lasted about 10 minutes cause it was as hot as...think I lasted about 2 minutes longer than them...$$$ v's comfort and comfort wins every time.
ReplyDeleteBahaha, I hear you Leanne! It was damn hot! Aimee took every opportunity to wash the sieve and left me standing sifting through in the sun!
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