Emerald Botanic Gardens and Emerald Parkrun

Saturday 13 July 2019 – 268 177

Up early and packed down in time for Emerald Parkrun. 

https://www.parkrun.com.au/emerald/ 

The local council has provided a sign with a map as well as numbered bollards along the course.  Despite the complexity of the course it would be difficult to get lost.

Then homeward bound.  We stopped off in Dingo for burgers and hot showers.  Sharing the drive, we got home just after 7pm.  A great trip!!

Home 268 974

Miners Heritage Walk in Sapphire Mine and more sapphires

Friday 12 July 2019 – 268 099

First stop today was Policeman’s Knob, believed to be where the volcano that created the sapphires in the area was centred.

The Miners Heritage Walk In Sapphire Mine was our second stop today. 

http://www.minersheritage.com.au/

We took a tour of the underground sapphire mine which was closed in the early 2000’s.  I learnt that sapphires come in an amazing variety of colours – in this area blue, green, yellow and particoloured are most common.  The tunnels are tall enough to walk through and generally do not have supports as they are created in a keystone arch style, as originally trialled in Roman times.  Prior to machinery, the side tunnels were “tummy tunnels”, arched like the main tunnels but only high enough to be slithered in and out of.  Throughout The Gemfields the depth of the sapphire bearing alluvial wash varies greatly, from 50cm to 20m plus below the surface.  Most of the commercial gem mining is done at the greater depths.

We then had a look at a variety of beautiful jewellery and gemstones in Rubyvale before enjoying a picnic lunch.  This afternoon we returned to Bobby Dazzler’s to finish washing and sorting yesterday’s diggings.  I found an eleven-carat particoloured sapphire!

Next we drove through Sapphire looking at some of the unusual dwelling styles.

We took a walk to the Sapphire Wetlands – which are currently completely dry.  We also had a drive through Anakie, before heading to Emerald. 

We are camped for the night at Emerald Botanic Gardens.  This is a lovely free camp beside the Nogoa River. https://www.queensland.com/attraction/emerald-botanic-gardens-56b26004aeeeaaf773cf2acb

The Gemfields - Sapphire Fossicking!

Thursday 11 July 2019 – 267 903

After packing down we continued east toward Emerald. On our way we had to pull over to allow some wide loads of mining machinery parts through.  We also stopped at a lookout as we crossed the mountains.

We turned north at Anakie, to Rubyvale.  We are staying the night at Gemseekers Caravan Park – great service and lovely caravan park.

http://www.gemseekers.com.au/

 

We spent the afternoon at Bobby Dazzler, where we did a fossicking trail boot camp. 

https://www.bobbydazzlerminetours.com.au/ 

A guide took us along a nearby creek bed and explained that sapphires accumulate in the outer bend of creeks, below the moist layer.  We got to dig up our own buckets of wash from the creek bed.  The tour guide showed us a unique wooden construction that was lined with logs and used as a base for a machine to pass material across the creek for processing.  We then took our material back to the building and were shown how to sieve, wash and sort it.  I found lots of little sapphires and a few zircons, Drew found several medium sized sapphires and Hayden found several small ones and one sixteen carat sapphire!

Longreach Powerhouse Museum, the"Tree of Knowledge" and Australian Worker's Heritage Centre

Wednesday 10 July 2019 – 267 689

This morning Drew and I went for a run on the Longreach Botanical Walkway.  After showers and packing down, we went to the Longreach Powerhouse Museum.  This has the generators from the electrical plant which were in operation until the late 1980’s, as well as older models.  Some of these had been cut open so that the inner workings could be seen.  There was also a variety of other historical objects.

 http://www.magsq.com.au/museum/details.asp?ID=648

We then had a quick look around Longreach Cemetery, where we marvelled at how short life spans were in the 1890’s and 1900’s.  We then drove east to Ifracombe where we had a picnic lunch.

Next, we drove on to Barcaldine. Our first stop was the Australian Worker’s Heritage Centre 

(http://www.australianworkersheritagecentre.com.au/)

Five new things I learnt today

• ·        Many of the men who were imprisoned for conspiracy regarding the sheep shearers strikes went on to seek change through the political system.
• ·    The railway skill progression was fireman to driver to guard.  I had always assumed the driver was the highest level.
• ·        The first attempt for equal wages for female teachers was in the early 20^th century.
• ·        “ducks in the pond” was shearer’s slang for ladies approaching.
• ·        There is a tree called “Young ‘Un”, which is a clone of the “Tree of Knowledge”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

We then went to the “Tree of Knowledge” Memorial – I think the way they have created this is quite innovative. 

http://www.treeofknowledge.com.au/history.htm 

Hayden had a play on the thong-a-phone and I admired the D’arcy Doyle mural.

We have camped tonight at the Redbank camping area in Jericho, beside the Jordan River. 

https://www.outbackqueensland.com.au/attractions/redbank-park-jericho/

QANTAS Founders Museum, Longreach

Tuesday 9 July 2019 – 267 681

QANTAS Founders Museum was today’s destination. https://qfom.com.au/ It was again a very full day with an enormous amount of information available.  We started in the museum part.  Hayden loved the flight simulator and even managed to master take off and landing.  We did a jet tour, which included an external look at a DC-3, internal and external detailed tour of a Boeing 747, and of a Boeing 707 that had been kitted out like a luxury yacht.

The original 1920’s QANTAS hangar is still in place at the museum (which is not surprisingly at the Longreach Airport).  After exploring this we returned to the museum to explore some more.  Five new things I learnt today

•         There was a system of lights (rotating beacon style) on the top of a windmill style frame between Cloncurry and Longreach to enable night flying
•         QANTAS was the first airline outside the United States to order a Boeing jet aircraft
•         The first paying passenger was 84 years old and had undertaken the same trip by bullock wagon when younger
•         QANTAS built their own planes under license from De Haviland for a period
•         The Boeing 707 on display had been sitting idle in a field in England and was completely restored before being flown to Australia.  It took approximately 15 000 volunteer man hours to achieve