Lifestyle and Leisure
Strike it rich in Aus
A plane ticket to the other side of the globe certainly isn’t cheap, so Kate Waite finds out how you could strike lucky and make it rich on a tour around Australia
Searching for Opals
Set in the sun-scorched desert, the town of Coober Pedy has been the set for many apocalyptic themed films. When you stop to survey the hot, barren surroundings dotted with mining holes and machinery you can understand why the town is so well suited to portraying the after effects of a nuclear fallout and might wonder why anybody would want to visit, let alone live, in such a hostile environment. The town's population hovers around 4,000 and the majority are there for one reason – opals. The landscape is featureless apart from the mullock heaps (waste excavated from the mines) and the scattered dust clouds which indicate active digging. Mining is big business there, an estimated 70 per cent of the world's opals come from this area and the locals are only too happy to stop and gossip about big finds and the dream of striking it rich.
Aside from its opals, Coober Pedy is probably best known for its unique style of underground living. With searing year round temperatures, the residents' cave homes remain a comfortable temperature throughout the year. There are, of course, other advantages to underground housing. As the locals blast through the rock (often with home made explosives) to add a new room, there is always the chance to find opals. With significant opal finds increasingly rare, many of the residents have embraced tourism and there are plenty of activities to keep you busy, most revolving around opals and mining in some way.
As you wander around the outskirts of town you can't miss the huge mounds of abandoned dirt. Hidden in these mounds you should be able to spot small specks of opal. Look hard and you might even find something valuable yourself.
Sapphire hunting
Queensland has always been a popular destination for tourists who flock to the coast to take advantage of stunning beaches and the Great Barrier Reef. Looking at a map and you may notice a cluster of towns with names including Sapphire, Emerald and Rubyvale. With names like that it won't come as a surprise that you have discovered the Queensland Gemfields, a unique outpost in Central Queensland, world-famous for its high-quality sapphire fields.
There are plenty of attractions for visitors to the Gemfields. A good introduction is available through the Information Centre, where you will learn to wet and dry sieve pre-dug Sapphire Wash, looking for uncut sapphires. As you wash away the clay to find the gems you are taught how to pick out sapphires from the ironstone. You can even buy a guarantee that you will find at least one sapphire of faceting standard and size. For the more adventurous family there are plenty of places where you can do your own fossicking. A month's family licence, available through the Gemfields Information Centre will allow you to fossick anywhere in Queensland and costs AUS$8.20 for a month. Family camping permits cost from AUS$2.80 a night.
Gold rush
Gold. The mere mention of the world's most precious commodity has a history of attracting feverish would-be hopefuls all hoping to strike it rich. It's not called a gold rush for nothing and the discovery of gold in Victoria was responsible for shaping the whole region's future and firmly placing Melbourne on the map. Between 1851 and the late 1860s, Victoria dominated the world's gold output, dramatically increasing the population of Australia, and in particular the number of people living in Victoria.
While the days of picking up gold nuggets without even having to dig are long gone, there are still plenty of gold related activities for visitors to get involved with. One tour for the brave is a two-and-a-half-hour underground adventure through a mine, working the drills and searching the quartz pieces for gold. For the less intrepid, there are plenty of opportunities to try your hand at gold panning. Who knows, you might strike it lucky, just like many other migrants who headed to Victoria long before you did.
Sovereign Hill
Central Deborah
Pearl diving
Long before Europeans settled in Australia, coastal dwelling Aboriginies harvested peal shell from the shallow waters and had a well established trading network for their finds. Broome, in Western Australia is recognised as one of the major pearl capitals of the world with a well-established industry including hatchery and culturing facilities. The pearling industry is now carefully managed to maintain the pearl oyster resources and a quota of wild collected shells is strictly allocated between 19 pearl farming licences in Australia.
Pearl Luggers in Broome offer a variety of tours to allow visitors the chance to view two of the last surviving pearling luggers and learn more about pearling. While you won't find your own pearls to keep, you do have the opportunity, to taste some pearl shell meat, a rare and expensive delicacy. Willie Creek Pearls offers visitors the opportunity to visit a culture farm. The tour includes a boat cruise on Willie Creek to view pearl farm operations and a demonstration of how pearls are cultivated.
Diamond mining
In the far north-west of Western Australia, the Kimberley is a vast wilderness region covering an area three times the size of England. With its spectacular gorges, winding rivers and rugged ranges it seems fitting that beneath the wild landscape lies the world's most romantic stone, diamonds.
The Argyle Diamond Mine produces around one quarter of the world's diamond production, including the rare Argyle pink diamond. Since opening in 1985, the mine has produced more than 600 million carats of diamonds and is a significant contributor to the East Kimberley region in employment, infrastructure and tourism. Tours of the mine are widely available, although only through prior booking as access to the mine is strictly restricted.
The four-hour tour starts with a scenic flight to get you to the mine. From there you continue through the site, including the open cut face, the various diamond extraction and processing stages, the mine control facility and the diamond display room. Lunch is provided in the miner's mess area. The Kununurra Visitor Centre is able to provide information on companies offering these tours. If you are looking for your own diamond then Kununurra is a good place to start – although you will need a credit card rather than any drilling equipment in order to secure your share of the region's rare stones. Kimberley Fine Diamonds has one of Australia's biggest selections of coloured diamonds, including the rare pink diamonds.
Getting minted
In Perth there is one place where it's guaranteed that you will be able to find plenty of gold and enough money to launch your new life in Australia in a style normally reserved for the rich and famous... and footballer's wives.
The Perth Mint has become one of Western Australia's leading tourist attractions. The grand heritage building, the heavily secured vault and the original melting house provide the cues for many extraordinary stories about Western Australia's golden history. One of the Mint's main attractions is watching the creation of gold bars. The old brick walls of the melting house are embedded with gold dust that has accumulated over many decades of refining.
The Mint is also home to the world's greatest collection of gold bars as well as a large collection of natural gold nuggets and a historic coin collection. While helping yourself to anything on exhibit may result in your Australian dream being cut rather short, you can take your own piece of gold away with you. The Mint's original gold receiving room has been preserved in Victorian style and offers plenty of souvenirs including natural gold nuggets.
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