Agate Safari in North Queensland

An Agate Safari in North Queensland

At the end of the scenic Savannah Lander railway line, a must do train trip from Cairns north Queensland is the little settlement of Forsayth. This sleepy little village with a population of 90 was our next destination and base camp for an Agate safari.

 We travelled approx. 700 kilometres from Clermont to Forsayth through torrential rain and storms on muddy corrugated dirt roads for two days, thinking perhaps left our run up north to late, but by the morning after arriving and for the next two weeks the sun shone brightly, keeping the rain clouds away and the track to Agate Creek open, how blessed were we. I might add the country side in the Etheridge Shire is breathe takingly beautiful and very green, due to winter rain which was unheard of around these parts. (The Lynd Junction, Einasleigh & Forsayth)

Forsayth is one of the few remaining towns that once made up the very rich Etheridge Goldfields, and they tell me there is still plenty of gold to be found. Relics from this past era can be seen in Caschfor Park in the centre of town.
The whole region is rich in geological  mineral treasures to explore, and some of the world’s most beautiful Agates come from Agate Creek our ultimate destination.

We set base camp at the Forsayth caravan Park and Max the owner operator was surprised to see a couple of fossickers this late in the season (November) everybody had gone home, and he offered a friendly warning about getting stuck out there ( Agate Creek) for the wet season once the Robertson river came up.

Most places we go to, the hotel or club is our first stop for a meal and to meet some locals, and gain some local information but at Forsayth we were the only ones in the hotel and there are no meals this time of year. Thankfully Kerri & Ian from the post office were more accommodating and knew all the right people to talk too about Agate Creek, and pointed us in the direction of Les & Lyn, locals from Forsayth and two extremely nice characters who became not only our fossicking guides but good friends.

We arranged to meet up with Les & Lyn who would take us to one of their secret spots up in the hills of Agate Creek, the reserve was once known as “Sinbad’s Valley” or “Valley of the gems”, due to the prolific amount of Agate found there.
It was an early start to our Agate safari due to the expected temperature of 38 degrees Celsius and the 75 kilometres of dirt road to travel out to Agate Creek, I must admit I did not know prior it was so remote. Reaching the gem fields just after first light we quickly set about surveying the ground and scratching around in abandoned holes before deciding where to dig for those special Agates.

Agate is a translucent cryptocrystalline variety of Quartz, and colours range from green & yellow to blue, red, pink and white, and is the result of a large number of volcanic Batholiths; A Batholith is a huge body of igneous rock solidified under the earth but now exposed, and “Thunder eggs” as they are commonly known can be chipped away from the basalt or volcanic rock. They certainly are one nature’s most beautiful and unique gemstones.

It wasn’t long before our buckets were overflowing with Agate, but many were discarded for better specimens as the morning progressed. By lunch time the sun was soaring overhead and it was time to stop digging and find some shade, so we headed to the Safari park camp site which is within the   reserve. This homestead lease is managed by Laurie Baron another Forsayth local we had met and permission to camp is required prior to arrival.

The Safari camp site is shaded by large trees and a cool breeze creped along the gully, an ideal spot after a hard day digging. The amenities block had clean toilets & hot water showers fired by a “donkey” not the mule sort, but an invention using an old 44 gallon drum, what a luxury in the outback.
Each day we kept an eye to the east for the monsoonal rain clouds but thank goodness they didn’t come while we were there. Our Agate adventuring was certainly not long enough so we will have to return to explore some more of this 1500 kilometre reserve another time, but for now we had the footage we came for as well as some very nice Agate specimens.
The night before leaving Forsayth we were invited to a town party, as three families would soon be leaving the area, such community spirit, is unheard of in today’s world. It was a great night with lots of food, music and people even the Lord Mayor of the Etheridge Shire council was there. Seems they are fond of town gatherings in Forsayth. That night as the party was ending the heavens opened and the wet season started in a vengeance, what timing!

We left early the following morning heading towards Mt Surprise and O’Brien’s Creek hoping the roads would still be open, as in these parts of Australia monsoonal rain raises rivers and creeks very quickly isolating cattle stations and small communities for long periods of time.

But that’s another story, so until then
Stay safe, and remember look after those gems!

AL.B & Laurie C

http://www.gemseek.com.au/