We had planned to do a couple of days fossicking for sapphire at Lava Plains over the long weekend, and as there is no camping permitted on Lava Plains station nowadays, we thought we would give Pinnarendi Station Stay and Cafe a go. I contacted Nadine on Facebook to book our sites, and as we were a party of 7 or 8 vehicles who wanted to camp together, she was very obliging in giving us the larger sites so we could all fit comfortably. The camping areas are so new that they were running cables for power and water the day we arrived, with trenches and conduits having to be negotiated with care. There is a new amenities block that was yet not operational, but we all managed to share the one toilet/shower room with all the other campers/caravanners -a surprising number for a very new enterprise. The cafe offers a home-style hot meal every night if you book it in the morning, and Saturday night is wood-fired sourdough pizzas- amazing gourmet varieties, all you can eat for $18, and you can be sure some of the young men in our party got their money's worth! Altogether, I would highly recommend Pinnarendi and we will certainly stay there again.
So, back to sapphires. We made the 45min drive towards Greenvale on the first and third days of our trip. There is a parking area with a locked gate to stop vehicular access, although the road is wide and well maintained (albeit very rocky and uneven to walk on), and leads through the permitted fossicking area to privately-owned mining leases. The parking area has a turnstile that gives you enough room to squeeze yourself and a wheelbarrow through, and from there it is a 15-20 minute walk to the fossicking area of Whyandotte Creek. The creek is very seasonal and was dry to look at, but damp a few centimetres below the surface. The soil is clay and sticky when damp, actually quite hard going to get enough wash to fill a sieve.
I am an avid 'specker' myself, and find that I pick up as much colour as the die-hard dig and sieve brigade, which makes me a bit unpopular at times. It appears that the creek has been commercially mined in places at various times, which means that finding the original gem-bearing wash is almost impossible, and the majority of the good stones are gone. Overall, we had an enjoyable time, and each found a handful of predominantly blue chips and bigger flawed bits, but only one stone, found by my son-in-law, is a possible cutter. It is amazing how the trip walking back to the cars, although downhill, always seems much more tedious than the one going in!
The middle day of our weekend was spent looking for topaz and aquamarine at O'Brien's Ck, which is more than an hour's drive from Pinnarendi, and definitely requires a capable 4WD vehicle to reach the best gem areas. To be truly successful at O'Brien's Ck, you need to have a local hunter show you around and point out the 'secret' spots, as the whole field- which is quite a large area- has been sporadically mined for tin and aquamarine in the past and bears evidence of being well picked over by fossickers since it was opened as a permitted area. The long drive to and from O'Brien's from Pinnarendi meant we had limited fossicking time, we found nothing but some lovely smoky quartz crystals, and we all agreed we wouldn't bother to do it again. O'Brien's Ck has a lovely camping area on the banks of Elisabeth Ck at the entrance to the fossicking area, so it makes much more sense to stay there if you are wanting topaz. There have been some very impressive aquamarine crystals, both gem-quality and specimens taken from this field in the recent past, so it is worth the effort with the possibility of reward!
. Went to Tassie 2 years back to see the sights, in low season (August), because that was when we could get away. Marvelous snow, dramatic winter scenery, but majority of the good tourist attractions were closed for the winter which was quite disappointing. Not keen to repeat that mistake...
