Sapphire and Charters Towers

Sunday 27 July

We woke at about 6am again and waited till dawn to get up.

After breakfast we drove to Armfest sapphire fossicking centre where we washed and searched a bucket of scrapings. This provided us with a great learning opportunity about gems of the area and we found some of our own in the process.

Back to the cabin to find maps and have coffee then off to Rubyvale to visit the Miners' Heritage walk-in mine. We had plenty of time to browse the shop first. The mine tour was another chance to learn a lot about mining gems – sapphires and zircons – in this area both in the past and now.

We followed this with lunch at the Rubyvale Gallery then drove back to Sapphire visiting M&M Sapphires and Pat's Gems (where I bought two matching star sapphire for earrings to match my ring). Surrey and I bought the stone for the ring back in the 1970s when we were here and had it mounted at The Rocks in Sydney.

Back home to pack away the tent which is now dry and all the big things so we can have a smoother pack in the morning. I also had time to update the blog. I did dinner duties then we both had an easy evening watching TV.

Monday 28 July

Kathy and I were out on the road before 8am and took the direct road to Clermont where we had morning tea and bought some sandwiches for our lunch later. On the road again and somewhere between Clermont and Belyando Crossing we stopped to watch a huge flock of brolga on a property dam. There were over 500. Across the road there was a stubble field and there were lots feeding on the dropped seeds. There was another car stopped as well and we chatted to them for a bit then leap-frogged along the road with them as we saw brolga closer to the road. A little further along we also saw an emu.

At Belyando Crossing we ate our lunch and met the couple again so another chat ensued. We had to top up with fuel but at 200.9/L we decided we did not need to completely fill the tank!

On again north where we passed a large mob of cattle feeding on the long paddock and in really poor condition.

By 4pm we arrived at Ernest and Robbie's home at Charters Towers. Unfortunately Robbie is away. Our guided tour of the garden was fantastic with so many new tree and shrub plantings and a great vege patch.

After a chat and cheese and biscuits we enjoyed pumpkin and sweet potato soup followed by Weiss Sorbet.

As both Kathy and I were rather tired we were off to our beds soon after 8pm in two beautifully appointed huge bedrooms.

Robbie and Ernest's fridge magnets of note:

“Old ain't dead”

“Blessed are the cracked for they let in the light”

Tuesday 29 July

Ernest alerted us to the news that the Charters Towers Agricultural Show was on so after we breakfasted together he left to judge the horses and then we left to spend time wandering before the heat and crowds arrived. We watched a bit of the horse judging and were pleased that the horse I loved most actually won.

We bought strawberries to eat whilst there and also some to take with us and some to give to Ernest. Kathy bought a hat and a scarf. I bought a 3-in-1 handbag that even fits my wallet in it.

We then headed to the Venus Battery – a gold mining site that is now a museum. We were just too late for a tour so decided to fill with fuel and do some shopping at Foodworks then returned for the 11am tour. It was amazing to hear about the gruesome conditions for the workers and the legacy of pollution left by the processes that used mercury, cyanide and arsenic. It is very lucky that the once very full creek has now silted up as the water would have been quite toxic.

Back home to get lunch and soon after Ernest arrived home. During the heat of the day I was able to catch up on emails and photo downloading ready to update the blog tonight.

As we drove out for our afternoon activity we noticed a large crack in the windscreen. As nowhere is open to even think about fixing it, Ernest says it will be easier to fix it on the Tablelands so we'll be trying to find something when we get there.

Out to town to find the museum closed and most other things closed as it was show day. The Information Centre was open so we collected a few leaflets for the next part of our journey. We then drove up to the Tower Hill Lookout to the fantastic views.

Home to browse through the leaflets to organise the next few days then some diary typing before dinner.