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We left Inskip and after shopping in Maryborough, then headed for Woodgate. Three years ago when we were last here we were told that there was a good camping spot north of Woodgate. The only information I had was to take the road north into Burrum Heads National Park which will lead you to a camping area on the beach. We found the road and followed a couple of tracks which lead to private properties and we had to back out, caravan and all! We followed the main track and eventually came to Palm Beach but found the access track over the dunes too soft for us. Continuing on we eventually succumbed to the soft sand and buried the car and van. I tried to wedge some planks under the rear wheels but only made a lot of noise with the wheels spinning and no forward movement. The A frame of the van was so low it was grading the sand. I then tried to lift the rear of the car to get some clearance but the jack bracket I bought in Perth for the Nissan started to bend without lifting the car. As I was scratching my head wondering what to do a couple of guys and their children came by on the way to their camp. They had to get the children settled in their camp before dark but they promised to return and try to help us get out. Meanwhile Sandy wasn't looking too good, I don't know why! My last attempt was to disconnect the car and tow the caravan out with a snatchem strap. I wasn't sure if we would get the van reconnected to the car if this didn't work. Well the car, with tyres deflated, drove out easily without the caravan. The caravan was a different matter, the A frame just dug in deeper when I tried to tow it. So I placed a plank of wood under the van coupling / A frame, looping the chains around the wood, which held it in place and stopped it sliding away. It worked great. I towed the van around 150 metres to firmer sand. Thirty minutes after the guys left I had jacked the caravan up ready to reconnect it to the car when the two guys returned. They were surprised to find us out of trouble as they thought we would be stuck for longer. They recently got their camper trailer bogged on the same track and with a lot of effort and two vehicles they extracted it. They followed us for a couple of kilometres to make sure we got through another soft section, which was very nice of them. By this time it was two hours after sunset so we found a place on the edge of the track where we could camp the night. A quick flannel wash saw most of the dust and dirt removed before I cooked pizza for tea. I didn't get any photos for the web as our minds were on other things at the time as I'm sure you can understand.

We arrived at Norval Park after shopping in Bundaberg. This free camping area is maintained by the council with bins, toilets and washing water. Not too bad for a layover, if the weather was kinder we could have launched the boat, as we were told of a couple of reefs offshore with good prospects for catching some fish.

Big fluffy layers of cloud cover the Carnarvon Gorges like a doona.

Next stop for us was two days at Carnarvon Gorge.

Mickey Creek

The only campsite is at the caravan park at $30 a night! We hiked a few trails to check out a sample of the gorges, Mickey Creek, Ward's Canyon and Moss Garden.

Moss Garden

Carnarvon Creek was flowing and it was very green near the water but the rest was tinder dry. We were told that further up the gorge the walls closed in but near Ward's they were still hundreds of metres apart. It didn't make it as interesting as other gorges we had seen on out travels and camp fees were more expensive. We would have stayed longer if the fees were reasonable.

Via a shopping stop in Emerald we made our way to Sapphire to meet up with fellow travelers, Lyn and Trevor, who we have previously come across in Cairns and Port Hedland. We settled into the park and the next day travelled to Glenalva to try fossicking for sapphires. Using their equipment we dug a few buckets of wash but found nothing. The next day we hired some gear from the park, Blue Gem, then went to the same place we were at 3 years ago, when in two days we found a yellow and a blue sapphire. We think we were close to the same spot and set up the rock slide and willoughby and started digging wash. We found a couple of small sapphires and quite a few zircons.

We had Lyn and Trevor and a few of their friends join us and over the next two weeks on the days that it didn't rain we moved buckets and buckets of soil. Almost everyone found a gem quality sapphire that was large enough to be faceted. Except us! Most of the stones we found were only 1/2 to 1 carat in size with a few zircons at 3 carats. We found 85 zircons, 11 green sapphires, 4 blue sapphires, 4 sapphire bombs and 1 quartz crystal about 15 mm long.

Except on the last day of digging when in the afternoon we dug up a massive 33.5 carat green sapphire, woo hoo!!!!! It has too many flaws to be faceted into a large gemstone but will look great if we ever have it polished for a pendant.

The 30th of June arrived, my 50th birthday. Sandy woke me with a heap of cards and a surprise birthday greetings video from everyone at home in Perth. My niece Melinda was the photographer and editor. It was a great way to start the day, tears and all. At Happy Hour that night we had our group of fossickers turn up, Lyn and Trevor, Zelda and Phil, Lorraine and Tom, Maureen and Les and about 20 other campers from the park. I received a loud rendition of Happy Birthday from all. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy. Later, after a big T bone steak and chips at the camp kitchen for tea, Zelda had made me a chocolate mousse and Sandy made me my favourites, Vanilla Slices. I had a great day with thoughts from home and company from new found friends here at Sapphire. Another 50 years to go!

Were good, hope you are too.

See you next month.

Peter and Sandy