Exploring the Queensland Outback
The Central Queensland towns of Emerald and Sapphire have evocative names. Still, at both these places you can actually fossick for these gems yourself.
Sapphire, related to Rubies except in colour, is the most valuable of blue gem stones, although it comes in other colours, including yellow, green and the elusive orange pink. Emerald is of course green, deep green is the most sought after. Both are hardy stones.
If you wish to buy these stones, purchase them from reliable dealers. If you wish to fossick for them, contact the Central Highlands Visitors Information Centre. Phone: +061 7 4982 4142
In Sapphire, they like things big - Big Ring, Big Spanner and the Big Pick and Shovel.
Barcaldine Queensland
To the West: Barcaldine was the place where the Australian Labor Party was born in 1891, when a thousand shearers stopped work during the Great Shearer’s Strike. Barcaldine Tourist Information Centre: Corner of Beech & Oak Streets, Phone +061 7 4651 1724.
Longreach
Located on the Thompson River, Longreach has the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame and the Outback Heritage Centre: About the early explorers of the Queensland Outback, the stockmen and the traditional owners of the land, Aborigines.
Another notable Longreach attraction is the Qantas Founders Heritage Museum. They have a restored 1922 hangar with displays and exhibits relating to the early days of the second oldest airline in the world.
See more about the Queensland Outback.
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