Try your luck at striking rich at the largest sapphire-bearing area in the southern hemisphere. Covering Anakie, Sapphire, Rubyvale and Willows Gemfields this four day itinerary will teach you all the tricks to the fossicking trade.
Sapphire Reflections artwork, Anakie, Central Queensland Highlands
After arriving in Anakie, start your day with a locally roasted coffee at the Anakie Crossroads served beneath the towering Sapphire Reflections artwork. Continue into the Anakie Railway Station and discover the 140-year-old bottle tree, engraved with the initials of the soldiers who were on their way to war.
After learning a little of the local history it is time to start fossicking, head 10km north to Sapphire, and spend the afternoon searching for gems at a fossicking park.
Finish your day at the Sapphire Gemfields Wetland Reserve. The 14-hectare protected area is filled with walking and cycling tracks, a restored historic fossicker’s home, a boardwalk and a bird watching hide.
Pats Gems Tourist Fossicking Park, Sapphire, Central Queensland Highlands
Now you have the fossicking basics down pat, take it a step further and spend the morning on a tag along tour out in the ‘fields. An experienced miner will be your guide as you dig, sieve, wash and inspect your diggings.
While your fossicking finds may not be large, the Big Ring, Big Spanner and Big Pick, Shovel and Sieve located in and around Sapphire certainly are.
Go back in time by taking an underground mine tour in Rubyvale [8km], venturing 16 metres beneath the surface into a network of winding tunnels to see how pioneer miners extracted sapphires.
Finish your day with an icy-cold schooner of Fossicker’s Ale at the Rubyvale pub.
Policeman’s Knob, The Gemfields, Central Queensland Highlands
No matter your success in the ‘fields’ you are sure to find a winner at the local gem shops and galleries, make sure to spend some time admiring the beautiful jewellery on display.
Take a drive around the mining claims and see some of the unusual short-term dwellings built with recycled materials such as billy boulders, bush timber, and even glass bottles. Be sure to stop at Policeman’s Knob to spot rock wallabies and watch the sunset.
The Gemfields, Central Queensland Highlands.
You’re ready to step out on your own! Hire the equipment, buy a licence, and spend the day fossicking at Willows Gemfields [55km from Rubyvale].
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Southern Queensland Country Tourism acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands and waterways that run through these regions. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders past, present and emerging.
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