Come Melbourne's winter, it was time for many "serious" gem fossickers and rockhounds to head to far north Queensland for some serious r & r in the sun, including five lucky members of the Essendon Gem & Lapidary Club. Well, there wasn't too much rest and recreation to be found once our fearless tour leader, Daryl, arrived and we got down to some serious digging.

First we went fossicking for topaz and lovely smokey quartz at O'Brien's Creek. We chose to make our base at Mt Suprise and took advantage of the tropical atmosphere and good facilities on offer at the BP Caravan Park. It was a 40km drive each way to the diggings, but the great showers at the end of the day were definitely worth the drive. We had some success, however the creek was pretty dug over and in need of a good rain to stir things up, bringing some of the much sought-after stone a little closer to the surface.

Then it was off to Agate Creek for serious outback travellers only. As the Butlers discovered, caravans needed to be well screwed together to make this little trip as some 140kms of rough roads were covered from Georgetown. Thankfully, between us we were able to get the damage repaired and get down to the job at hand, of finding agates. Everyone is at Agate Creek for the same reason, and all were ready to share their experiences and knowledge. The camping ground, provided by the generosity of the "Robin Hood" station owners, is isolated. There is one ablution block, consisting of a loo and a shower. Hot water is supplied by a donkey boiler and it is the responsibility of the campers to return each day with a supply of firewood. The wood is also used for nightly campfires, where many a story is told of experiences in the rockhound wilds.

Payment is very reasonable and is on an honour system. We were only onsite for a week, but other people were there for a much longer stay, sometimes up to 3 months. We spoke to one lady who had come to Agate Creek with her husband for the past 15 years. I wondered how many buckets of rocks does anyone really need? Once you get home and start to seriously inspect your collection, you realise that maybe there were some better ones left out there. On the day we pulled out, we were told of an area that we had not visited and they were getting some excellent specimens, so maybe next time!

We headed back to Mt Suprise to recuperate for a few days. The gentlemen in our party (Daryl, Don and Stan) decided to take a trip to Chudleigh Park in Daryl's camper. We had been told the road was rough and the nights were very cold. The ladies (Elma and Jan) wisely chose to stay at Mt Suprise and mind the caravans. It was a sensible choice, as after 3 nights, the fellows arrived back, frozen. They had managed to find a small amount of peridot, so they were not totally disappointed.

We headed south, staying at a few places on the way. We spent 5 days at Sapphire, which was not long enough, as we were on a schedule to get back to Melbourne. We had a couple of days fossicking, discovering a few likely pieces and speaking to some regular visitors who were having limited success. One thing I learned, is that there is always someone who has just found "some beauties".

Further south, we stopped off at Springsure and found a few nice specimens of laboradite. At Miles, we managed to find some good samples of petrified wood along the sides of a newly graded section of Ackers Creek Road. The locals at these small towns are more than happy to tell you where and what can be found in their area.

We left sunny Queensland and headed for one last dose of fossicking at Inverell and surrounding areas. We found that this was an area you could easily stay at for 3 to 4 weeks as there are lots of places of interest and different types of gemstones to be found. We had a couple of days at Billabong Blue, a commercial fossicking enterprise, where the lady in charge was very helpful and we found some good looking specimens. We were able to purchase a couple of sapphires, so when our faceting skills are honed we will be able to fashion these into glamorous gems. We went for a drive to Stannifer, where we specked in local creeks for Jelly Bean Crystals. The Tourist Information Centre at Inverell is a must-see. They have all the details of where to try your luck fossicking, plus a beautiful display of local stones and other produce.

Overall, it was a great trip and we are now deciding where to go to next year. Western Australia? Or Gemtree (north of Alice Springs) to get into garnet and zircon fields. Fossicking is definitely addictive. One word of warning - don't leave it too late as older bodies take a bit of a pounding and you need to plan for rest days along the way. Maybe even a week at a seaside resort!