Following a busy few years, we managed to get away for the month of October 09 to have some well earned R & R.  Of course there would be “some” fossicking done. Our first stop was Oberon on the western side of the Blue Mountains, about an hour’s drive south of Bathurst. This is supposedly a sapphire and zircon area, however we did not have any luck and to add to the challenge “it snowed”. The area is very interesting and we may go back again some day a little more prepared and informed.

Fossicking at the old Prase Mine, Nundle.

We then journeyed slowly up to Nundle, a delightful spot about 55kms south of Tamworth, also looking for sapphires and zircons. Once again lady luck was not on our side. There were some very small pieces, not worth bringing home. We were, however, lucky enough to be staying at the Nundle Fossickers Rest Caravan Park at the same time as a large group on an extended field trip from the Newcastle Lapidary Club. They were very generous and included us in their social activities and also invited us to join them on a visit to the old Prase Mine, which is on the outskirts of Nundle. There was definitely plenty to be found as long as you were handy with a crowbar and heavy hammer. We brought home some great specimens; already some “slabbing and cabbing” has been done.

The Newcastle Lapidary Club included us in their trip.

Our next move was to Glen Innes, we met up with friends from Essendon Gem Club who now live at Corowa, they were also having a week or two fossicking, after an extended stay on the NSW coast.

We went on a field trip, which was organised by the local Baptist Minister; it was some 40 kms north of Glen Innes looking for Garnets and Zircons in a creek, so to have any chance, it was necessary to get wet. We did manage to find some interesting specimens, however the one who had the most “luck” was our organiser. Maybe he had more than luck on his side ?

We purchased a few bags of sapphire wash which are readily available in these areas, with a small amount of success. Actually when sieving through heaps of other peoples discards we came up with a few nice crystals and smoky quartz. One lucky fellow doing the same thing came across a really nice dark orange zircon. A lot of travellers must only be looking for something that is shining and blue.  

We moved onto Inverell. This was a good time to be there as it was the annual Inverell festival, which incorporated the Inverell Gem Club show.  It is always interesting to see how other clubs go about things. We took an afternoon off from “rocks” to visit the local Quilters Exhibition. There were some spectacular pieces on display, plus they provided a very nice afternoon tea at a very reasonable cost.

Fossicking for smoky quartz at the Tinga Sands Mining Company.

Our friends headed home and we spent a couple of extra days at Inverell as we wanted to try our luck at Stannifer and Tinga. Stannifer, which we had visited in 2004 and found some lovely “jelly bean” crystals was disappointing. They have had very dry weather and the only thing of interest in a very well sieved dry creek bed was a brown snake showing off his beautiful golden colour having recently shed his skin - which was laying nearby. Our preferred option was to move on. A visit to Tinga, south of Inverell proved more fruitful. We visited Tinga Sands, a sand mining company. You are able to stay there all day, for a small charge, and speck for smoky quartz. If the machinery is working fossickers can stand near the rubbish shoot and fossick with long handled shovels and hopefully collect some nice pieces of smoky quartz. This can become more entertaining as the day goes on if more people arrive, it is a case of shovels at the ready and keep your eyes peeled. We came away with several nice specimens.

Someone else at work at the Tinga Sands Mining Company.

We moved on to Bellata, between Moree and Narrabri. This is a good place to find a variety of agates, mainly small but some of the colours polish up very nicely.

We spent a couple of days making our way south to Mt Hope, by now the Oberon snow was completely out of our mind as we were regularly experiencing days in the mid to high 30s. We successfully dug for some good quality crystals that are found in this area. A lot more time could have been spent at Mt Hope, but with a few more stops needed to visit family and friends, and the increase in temperature, we chose to head south and eventually home.