- Joined
- May 25, 2014
- Messages
- 97
- Reaction score
- 14
Hello Everyone,
My name is Daniel and I am hooked on reading your posts and watching your youtube videos. I watch all the gold and gem shows and always thought, I really want to do that one day. As a child I grew up on farms in the bungendore, tarago, collector and yass area's and you could find me every weekend by the river picking up rocks and admiring their beauty and sometimes catching a glimpse of gold in the sunlight. I look at my own son now and he sits inside and plays games about adventure and think he would have more fun getting out and making his own adventure. My son loves gems, rocks and crystals and he is addicted to minecraft and always talking about sandstone, obsidian, gems, diamond's and other minerals and I asked him if he wanted to go and find some real samples. His face lit up and said "YES, but they are buried deep in the earth". I told him we might be able to find some small bits and pieces if we go to the river and take a look.
I live in Queanbeyan, NSW (just outside Canberra) so yesterday, armed with a container and a shovel from the garden we went down to the river and started to dig around. My son's face was priceless and as we shifted sand and gravel, dug a few holes and sifted thru our pile. We found a few insignificant stones, but to him he liked them and put them into his container to show his mum. As we went back to the car, he asked if we could try another place so I drove around and found a trail into the bush near googong and we hiked into the bush, up and down hills and he was constantly asking me if we could look at every rock on the trail. This to me is something that memories are built from, not sitting in front of a computer and playing a game that will eventually fade from his memory. Anyway we hiked along the track, but could not find water. However we found where the water from the top of the hill runs down the mountain when it rains. "Why are we digging here" asked my son to which I replied, "If there is anything up the top of the mountain, this is where it will run thru". With that he started to frantically dig and dig until he hit a HUGE piece of quartz, "dad I found a BIG one" he said. His face lit up and he dug out the fist size piece of quartz to take home. It now sits on our kitchen bench and he constantly looks at.
I am a "SUPERIOR NEWBIE" and would love to be able to TAG along on a trip or two to Wee Jasper or the surroundings of Canberra with some of you guys if possible. I understand there is a Gem and mineral show next weekend and we are hanging out for that, my son is saving his pocket money. I want to become a member of the canberra gem club and do some of their trips. But I think going out on the weekend in the rivers with like minded people like you guys is where we will learn the nitty gritty.
I am not out to find a 60 carat sapphire or become the next Parker Schnabel, I just want to get my son out in the fresh air and show him that if you look hard enough then you might find something. He can have his own treasure hunt and celebrate in his own success when he finds something.
Anyway enough from me.
Look forward to seeing you all out there in the creeks.
Daniel & Jayden
My name is Daniel and I am hooked on reading your posts and watching your youtube videos. I watch all the gold and gem shows and always thought, I really want to do that one day. As a child I grew up on farms in the bungendore, tarago, collector and yass area's and you could find me every weekend by the river picking up rocks and admiring their beauty and sometimes catching a glimpse of gold in the sunlight. I look at my own son now and he sits inside and plays games about adventure and think he would have more fun getting out and making his own adventure. My son loves gems, rocks and crystals and he is addicted to minecraft and always talking about sandstone, obsidian, gems, diamond's and other minerals and I asked him if he wanted to go and find some real samples. His face lit up and said "YES, but they are buried deep in the earth". I told him we might be able to find some small bits and pieces if we go to the river and take a look.
I live in Queanbeyan, NSW (just outside Canberra) so yesterday, armed with a container and a shovel from the garden we went down to the river and started to dig around. My son's face was priceless and as we shifted sand and gravel, dug a few holes and sifted thru our pile. We found a few insignificant stones, but to him he liked them and put them into his container to show his mum. As we went back to the car, he asked if we could try another place so I drove around and found a trail into the bush near googong and we hiked into the bush, up and down hills and he was constantly asking me if we could look at every rock on the trail. This to me is something that memories are built from, not sitting in front of a computer and playing a game that will eventually fade from his memory. Anyway we hiked along the track, but could not find water. However we found where the water from the top of the hill runs down the mountain when it rains. "Why are we digging here" asked my son to which I replied, "If there is anything up the top of the mountain, this is where it will run thru". With that he started to frantically dig and dig until he hit a HUGE piece of quartz, "dad I found a BIG one" he said. His face lit up and he dug out the fist size piece of quartz to take home. It now sits on our kitchen bench and he constantly looks at.
I am a "SUPERIOR NEWBIE" and would love to be able to TAG along on a trip or two to Wee Jasper or the surroundings of Canberra with some of you guys if possible. I understand there is a Gem and mineral show next weekend and we are hanging out for that, my son is saving his pocket money. I want to become a member of the canberra gem club and do some of their trips. But I think going out on the weekend in the rivers with like minded people like you guys is where we will learn the nitty gritty.
I am not out to find a 60 carat sapphire or become the next Parker Schnabel, I just want to get my son out in the fresh air and show him that if you look hard enough then you might find something. He can have his own treasure hunt and celebrate in his own success when he finds something.
Anyway enough from me.
Look forward to seeing you all out there in the creeks.
Daniel & Jayden
