So we headed to emerald first to the information Center to find the best location, now we were that eager that we were prepared to pay for a permit and go out on our own , this happens, but unless you know what you’re looking for its a blooming big place, and you could be picking up stone thinking it’s something and it’s nothing and visa versa. 

They suggested to us Bobby dazzlers tours, now you can either just buy your bag of dirt and sieve through it or you can go fossicking  for it yourself.

  
So first we did the sapphire mine tour, this was quite interesting as it showed what a fossicker is looking for, little squishy down there. They still mine this , however they can only do it certain times of the year and constantly have inspections.

   
    
 We then headed of with shelly to a spot recently turning up lovely gems, Kieran putting a little elbow grease in to it, bloody baby got a blister though, baby hands, haha!

   
 Now this next bit really started of fun, but we had 4 buckets to go through…this took time and our patience was wearing thin by the end as you try and focus so much on making sure you don’t miss anything.

   
    
  
 Luckily our patience paid off!! We found lots!!.. Kieran mistook broken beer bottle pieces for gems, he quite literally put anything shiny in his dish, but that too paid of he found a parti-gem which is when two colours are present!! His was yellow and blue, plus it’s big enough to have polished and cut, naturally it’s mine now ;). Great day and the old lady ruby-Fran was lovely.   

  
Then made a little stop to anakie as there was a gem festival on, we’re warned but was funny just had cows roaming on the road… we were a little late so something’s had been packed away but wow some of the gems there I could only dream of, so beautiful and big!! If there was a place to rob that would of been it, would of been worth it so shiny!! We then headed back to emerald to then head up to Whitsunday in the morning,