Visiting Family and the Queensland Gemfields - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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We are doing a trip this weekend that is very different and could be very interesting. We are going to central Queensland in Australia to an area where Opals and Sapphires are mined and sold. This trip is in part a trip into my past as explained below.
I grew up near Edinburgh in Scotland with a mum who was from a large Edinburgh family. Her parent's died when she was very young (15 for her dad and 29 for her mum) so her Aunts and Uncles became surrogate parents. Especially two sets: Auntie Jean and Uncle Bill who lived in Edinburgh and Uncle Davie and Auntie Mary who had emigrated to Australia when my mum was a young girl but who came back and visited June-August most years. When I was a child we spent most summers in Edinburgh with both sets of Aunts and Uncles.
Fast forward 40 years or so and all these Aunts and Uncles and indeed my mum have passed on. Auntie Jean and Uncle Bill had no family but Uncle Davie and Auntie Mary had two son's John and David who grew up in Australia.
We moved from Scotland to Brisbane Queensland in July 2014. I knew there was a large family here but I thought they all lived down in Victoria. Just before Christmas David contacted me and advised they actually lived in Queensland in a place called Sapphire near Emerauld (which has an airport). David asked us to go and stay with them with the advice not to go in the summer.
As the name suggest they live in the Gemfields and while they worked they were prospectors very successful ones as I understand.
We are going to visit them for a long weekend this weekend. We are me Hazel 48, hubby Graeme 50 and son Rory 11. Rory is fascinated with mining here and David has sent him some tiny samples of gemstones and I'm hoping he will show us the mines.
We leave Brisbane at lunchtime Friday and have 3 nights with them. David has asked us to stay with him and Jan his wife. It is a strange feeling as I have never met them but have very fond memories of his parents.
David's brother John emailed me yesterday to say David was looking forward to meeting us. He also said he met me in 1975 when he was in Scotland. I have no memory of that.
How lovely to reconnect with the sons of some important people in your life. Sounds like a fascinating place, too. I don't think I've ever known a prospector, and definitely not a successful one! Should be a very educational and fun trip for Rory.
I was working from home yesterday and made huge progress in the morning. Early afternoon I was waiting on another person's contribution so Graeme and I went for a coffee at a local shopping centre and the jewellers was selling rings and earrings with beautiful Australian sapphires.
They are really dark almost black and very opaque. Quite beautiful.
Anyway you can look for sapphires at the Gemfields and if you find one you can get it cut an set. Or alternatively you can buy a stone and get it set......
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Sounds like a fun trip! Hope you're able to do some mining! Maybe you'll find a giant sapphire and make enough on it to retire!
Oh wow early retirement now wouldn't that be cool.
My uncle who came to visit us in Edinburgh had a box of Opals under his bed as his pension. His sister came out to visit him in Australia and he pulled the box out and asked her to choose one which he set for her in a ring.
Now isn' t that more exciting than a portfolio of stocks and shares.
Oooh, I hope you do get something, Hazel! I'm a bit leery of buying any gemstones because I know nothing about them and could easily be told something is very high quality when it is not. You'll be very lucky, having your cousin there to guide you! Of course it would be really exciting to find one in the field and have it set!
We have a gift for David and his wife Jan. When we were in Scotland in April we met this photographer who prints our photos or some of his own if you like onto Canvas. He had a gorgeous picture of the two bridges near Edinburgh one road one rail taken at night. We had it printed onto canvas.
David lived in Edinburgh until he was 8 years old so i am hoping he will like it.
Well in terms of resisting buying jewellery the weekend is already off to a bad start. I was browsing the US Disney Store site and they have the disney Pandora Charms. I have been wanting some of these for ages. They also deliver to Australia.
I ordered three, it cost a fair bit for delivery but they remove the tax so it wasn't too bad. I have wanted some of these for ages so I'm a happy lady.
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finding a sapphire. 
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