Emerald, Sapphire and Rubyvale

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As we were already inland, it was a foregone conclusion that we would continue driving to Emerald to explore the Central Highlands and the Gemfields.Emerald, Sapphire and Rubyvale are all sapphire mining towns and that’s what the area is famous for.



Emerald itself is a curious place: the first thing you see when you drive into town is a zillion backpackers camping under a railway bridge. It’s actually a 20-hour free camping area provided by the council. We realised why it’s free when we woke up in the middle of the night: the bridge is used around the clock by freight trains and heavy trucks drive past on the adjacent highway. Nevertheless, it was a cool little place with running water and a BBQ.



The next morning we went for a wander around town. Despite being the heart of agriculture country, it has little soul. The fact that there seemed to be roadworks everywhere probably didn’t help. There is a fair amount of artwork on display though. There’s the tiny gallery, a few modern sculptures around the CBD and the “Centenary of Federation Mosaic Pathway”. This measures exactly 100 metres and represents 100 years of Central Highland culture. 21 mosaics depict the beginnings of time, Aboriginal perspectives, the arrival of the first white settlers, farming/industry/mining in the area, and speculation of what the future holds. The path ends at a giant easel featuring Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers”, as the town of Emerald lies in amongst numerous sunflower fields.



We enjoyed that but found that there wasn’t much else to do, so headed onwards to the village of Sapphire. You wouldn’t really know that you were in a village as there are really only a few handful of houses and a small general store. Bizarrely, cows and horses roam free in the area, so you bump into them wherever you go. Lucky for us Sapphire also has a free camping area (which is also very popular with all sorts of birds!) so we set up there and put up our make-shift awning as heavy rain set in.



Our next stop was the town of Rubyvale, which has much more character than Emerald and Sapphire. It’s only tiny too, but it’s geared towards tourism with plenty of little gem shops and gem fossicking opportunities.



We went on a tour of an underground sapphire mine and learnt all about the process of mining these precious stones which, by the way, come in every colour of the rainbow. The sapphires are contained only in a small portion of the earth, named “wash”, which can be located near the earth’s surface and/or at a depth of around 90 feet. Fossicking is different from mining as it is only permitted to a depth of 2m into the ground. Virtually every house in Rubyvale is a mining claim (you can buy one, complete with a shed to live in, for AU$37k!) and people really do seem to come here to try their luck. The area certainly doesn’t appear to be very wealthy (everywhere you look you see rusty old mining equipment, and the locals live in run down sheds or caravans) but then I suppose people come here for the sole purpose of finding valuable gems, the proceeds of which they spend elsewhere. Then again, we learnt of a local, affectionately referred to as “Old Mick”, who lived on the sapphire fields for 55 of his 91 years. He is famous for the large green 195 carat sapphire that he found. Despite having a small fortune in savings and a handsome collection of sapphires, he lived a Spartan life as a bit of a loner.



During our mine tour we also learnt about the crazy conditions that miners used to work in. They only dug their tunnels high enough to be able to access the wash, so they would have been much too low to stand upright in. There was also “tummy tunnels” into which they would crawl before scraping away at the wash and dragging the scrapings back out, also on their tummy. The miner that conducted our tour explained that not every day’s work was fruitful. On one occasion, she and her partner had dug a mine for seven months, only to find that there was absolutely nothing there. Disappointing to say the least! I really cannot see the attraction of trying to make a fortune this way but she insisted it’s a case of “being bitten by the bug”.



Unfortunately the weather wasn’t very good while we were in Rubyvale. It poured down non-stop on our first day, meaning that there wasn’t going to be any fossicking until the ground had dried out. It also meant that we stayed in a caravan park. Whilst sheltering in the camp kitchen we met a lovely couple from Perth. They got married four years ago, retired in January and hit the road with their motorbikes and a trailer in February. They’ve ridden much further in 5 months than we have driven in that time! It got me thinking that biking around the country would be a lot of fun, but then you wouldn’t have all the comforts and space that you have with a van. Also, they’re traveling on 1300cc and 750cc bikes and I’d be much too scared of dropping a beast like that!



I also made good progress researching my options of going back to studying and my visa possibilities. My Australian visa is due to expire in April of next year, so it will soon be time to do something about that. Sadly, there doesn’t seem any way for me to get permanent residency here (short of being sponsored by an employer, and that certainly isn’t going to happen if I go back to school and work part-time) so we will have to go for another temporary visa. Who knows what the future will bring, so that will be fine for now. Funnily enough, if Dean had been on Australian soil on 26 February 2001 (even just for the day) I would be eligible to apply for a permanent spousal visa. Strange laws they have over here! On the study side, I’ve found a college that provides my chosen course as a distance learning option at a price that I can probably afford. Funnily enough, I am now procrastinating… so I just need to muster up the courage to make the decision and go for it!

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