Views From O'Briens Creek and Mt Surprise

If you haven't been to Mt Surprise or O'Briens Creek before, here are some photos to give you an idea what its like.

 

This is the old tin miners shed at the claim out at O'Brien's Creek where we take people on tour to dig topaz. It would have been quite comfy in its day and even now its a welcome respite after slogging it out all morning in the sun digging topaz.

Morning tea is supplied. By 10:30 everyone is pretty knackered and tea, coffee, homemade biscuits and muffins are the go.

From the old tin shed we take the track down to O'Briens Creek to were we will be digging topaz. Its beautiful bush around here with amazing old pink granite hills which the geologist say are over 300 million years old. The topaz were formed at this time and that makes them some pretty old stone.

This is me digging a big hole. I had been working on this hole for about two weeks and moved alot of dirt and rocks. Found a few nice topaz which made it all worthwhile. There is something strangely satisfying about moving big rocks with a crowbar. The idea is that topaz, being a heavy stone, works its way underneath big rocks and gets caught in crevices. So to find them you've got to move the big stuff... there's no easy digging here!

Here's a fellow that I took on tour and a few others in the background. We're all in the creekbed which is very rocky and now full of big holes.

Heading back up the track to the tinshed.

Here's a group of happy diggers after a day of hard labour. That's me on the far right with my trusty crowbar. They all did pretty well that day and everyone found some nice topaz.

Great kombi that! Here it is at the O'Briens Creek campground on the banks of Elizabeth Creek. This is a pretty lush spot and during the winter season, from May thru August its quite busy. People setup camp for up to three or four months and each day they get up at the crack of dawn and head off into the hills looking for topaz and they're back by lunchtime before it gets too hot.

Here's another great camping spot on the banks of the Einsleigh River. Good deep swimming hole... I don't think there were any crocs.

Me and the mighty blue kombi livin' the life!

My tinshed... its not much to look at but its quite comfy inside.

That's Pete and Pam erecting the sign that I had just finished painting the day before. That's Rocky the rockhound in the foreground.

The shop... Mt Surprise Gems.

So gear up for a dirty weekend and come topaz digging!

 

 

 

 

 

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