Mon, 13th Apr, 2015 Derby Park (Gemstone fossicking)

6 degrees at 8am, on goes the heater so we can have breakfast!!

Headed off to find some gemstones in the Weld River at Moorina. Stopped first to read the information about the Tin Dragon Trail. Very interesting reading.

In the cemetery we found the memorial to the Chinese and the Burning Tower, where they burnt paper to help the deceased go on to a better life.

Turned off opposite the golf course onto the road that went to the Power Station. Stopped at the Weld River bridge.

Grabbed our pans and shovels and started digging around the rocks.

I found a bit of smoky quartz in the sieves. Steve is using the gold pans and has found a couple of little pieces of blue sapphires and lots of tin.

It is a beautiful day with no breeze so that I actually took a few layers off. Some young guys came up from further down the river and they had only found one small topaz. Steve started digging in a hole that had been dug in deeply. I then found a few blues, a couple of topaz and lots of black stones that we think are Black Spinel (BlackJack).  I said we will go when I got a red one – zircon and in the next batch that’s what I found – yeah!! All small but we were happy to find something.

This is a bit of tin stuck in the granite.

Steve’s collection.

A couple of other guys arrived and they put full waders on to work in the river. Oh yeah, I had my thick washing up gloves on as the water was freezing!!

Back breaking so after a cuppa we headed back. Logging trucks had been going past all day. Near the main road a truck had dropped some timber so we collected it for our fire.

Saw a potato harvester at work. The trucks laden with potatoes come through Derby.

Showed our finds to the chap next door (from St Helens) and he said I had some nice stones. The black ones make nice stones when polished.

The English Oak beside the van is constantly dropping its acorns.

Steve cooked tea in the bush cooker. I rang Wendy and Kaylene for a chat. They had just been for a walk. Rang Sue to say hi and see if Charles was at the Palmer. Had a great chat with Pete and Penny too. Not as cold tonight so we have enjoyed being outside by the fire.