Xmas 2012–Yamba to Oberon

It has taken some time but i have finally found time to finish the blog for our Christmas 2012 holiday.

From Yamba we travelled to Tamworth, via Grafton and Glen Inness. The day started out cool and slightly overcast but after a few quick stops to ensure the Kayak was properly secure we made it through Grafton and on our way up through the hills to Glen Inness.

We had travelled this way in the past with the caravan being towed by a Commodore, so we did not expect any issues with the Colorado and none were had.  Once we made it to the top of the past we stopped for a quick break, and to let the car rest, before heading into Glen Inness where we stopped for lunch, and to purchase a bag of Sapphire Wash from the Information Centre. This was to be the only fossicking i was to see for the whole trip   (found a few sapphires, but no cutters)

 

The weather in Glen Inness was still cool, around 24deg. The reason i stress this was that pulling into Tamworth, we thought that maybe our temperature indicator on the Colorado was playing up, the temperature had jumped up to 40deg. Wow, it was really HOT.

In Tamworth we stayed at the Austin Tourist Park which turned out to be a great park on the outskirts of town. The Country Music Festival was not due to start for another couple of weeks but people had started arriving already, in small numbers.

Once the van had been setup and we had a quick break we took off into town to get some photos of the Big guitar and stock up on some groceries. Not much else was done in Tamworth due to both the heat and the fact this was only an over night stop for us, on our way to Oberon.

Yet again we fell victim to our GPS navigation, although again in this case i did pick some of the path. The poor van was pulled through some very hilly country on our way south to Oberon. We made it fine but i am sure there were some better roads around we could of used.

One concern we started to have was the real beginnings of the severe fire risk season and bush fires. We monitored the risk via the NSW Rural Fire Service website. Lucky for us there were no real fire risks in the Oberon area.

Arriving in Oberon we were greeted to a great country park, The Jenolan Caravan Park,  that had first class amenities and very spacious sites. We were well located near the main street, allowing us to walk in when the weather cooled down in the evenings, and not far from the regions main attractions, Jenolan Caves (45 min) and Katoomba (1Hr).

Ill post more on this in the next post – Oberon.

Glen Innes - The Sapphire Hunt

Hi All, As the title suggests we have finally made it to Glen Innes, traveling from Emerald beach through Grafton and up through the mountains. The Car performed very well pulling the van up some steep slopes and the tight turns were not as bad as i thought they might be.

We took off on the First day, Tuesday, and visited the Glen Inness Standing Stones, a monument erected to honour the regions Celtic heritage. We had then planned to visit some local commercial sapphire places, but just our luck they were closed today. A quick visit to the office and we were told the other places available were not much good and that we should try our luck at Wellingrove. so off we went with all the equipment i have to wellingrove. It was here that i caused the first damage for the trip, coming of the edge of a cattle grid. The commadore is not a real off road performer, so it was my fault :) i should be able to fix it up. Anyways, wellingrove was to prove outside of our capabilities as we did not have the correct tools of experience. So it was back to the park and a bag of wash for the girls to sieve through. We did find some small sapphires in the bas, as well as a seeded quartz crystal and some amethyst samples. the kids had fun.

We had planned Wednesday to be on a guided tour. John from the Baptist Church fossicking group runs guided tours every Wednesday, and we did make it along but... I started raining HARD on Tuesday night, and only let up in the morning. This meant most of the "good" sites were inaccessible. We ended up going to swampy creek (i think) and we had great fun both in the creek and in the rain, that started again just as we arrived. The trip out to the fossicking site also marked the second time i caused damage to the car, hitting a raised section of dirt, caused but ruts in the dirt road we were on. Again, the commadore does not have off road clearance ;) anyways, i now have a very annoying rattle coming from under the car that i can not locate at the moment. The car seems to be OK, so we should be good for the trip home.

Upon arrival we were greeted by the paddock guards, a heard of about 30 steer. They were well behaved and i think they though they were to be fed. We left them to guard the cards and when we came back we found some of them inspecting the cars, with their tongues.

Anyways, we did find some sapphire, all very small, and quite a bit of quartz and black tourmaline, but nothing worth cutting. Caitlyn and Sara managed to find some lizards as well, but no snakes.

Thursday, our last day, was a trip out to Stannifer creek where quartz jelly beans and crystals can be found. This area was easy to access so the kids did most of the work, and we did manage to find some nice specimens.

Ill post photos of the finds in another update.

Anyways, that's it for now, we are off to Peak Hill tomorrow, which marks the beginning of our return trip.