Gemfields draw crowds for August festival
CQ gemfields towns triple in size when GemFest comes to town in August
Rockhampton
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WAL and Katie Bergen were Victorians on winter holiday when they motored into the small Queensland township of Sapphire.
That was 28 years ago and they're still there.
"The people of the gemfields are the friendliest people, I reckon,” Mr Bergen said.
"They're happy to have a chat, to guide you where to go digging.”
The Bergens were on hand at Rockhampton's Gemboree over the Easter long weekend to let people know about another event, GemFest, which takes place later this year.
Between August 8-11, towns such as Anakie, Rubyvale and Sapphire will triple in size, as an average 7,000 visitors attend the 33rd annual Festival of Gems.
This is in addition to an estimated 15,000-strong horde of repeat visitors who travel north for some fun and a fossick throughout the winter months.
"The gemfields have every level of accommodation of offer from free camping on the mining field to log cabins to five-start luxury hotels,” Mr Bergen said.
"The local pub was voted Best Australian Bush Pub in Australia three years running.
"The gemfields experience and GemFest in particular should be on everyone's bucket list, especially if you live right here in Central Queensland.”
In addition to the locals, visitors flock to fossick for quartz, zircon, the odd ruby, the even rarer diamond, but most of all the brilliant sapphires.
They range in colour from yellow and green, from pale to bright blue, but this year's trending stone is the parti sapphire, which can incorporate all those colours in one stone.
GemFest's Hall of Treasures will host the Jewels of the Outback exhibition of rare and exceptional sapphires, some of which can not be seen elsewhere.
The gemfields' lapidary club held a stake-a-claim competition during Gemboree, drawing a dozen sapphire prizes over the weekend.
Contestants taped their name and phone number to a peg which was staked into a tray of sand.
Organisers drew latitude and longitude numbers out of a barrel which determined whose stake won them prizes.
But it's not just the sapphires and rubies that make their namesake towns special.
"Our mining common is one of the few places in Australia the wildlife has legal right of way over human traffic,” Mr Bergen said.
"The Sapphire wetlands are teeming with bird life including ducks and cranes, galas, cockatoos... you don't need an alarm clock out here.
"It's the kind of place kids grow up free to ride their bikes or horses out and have an adventure.”
The GemFest website has plenty of information about entertainment, tickets, trade stalls and volunteering.
Originally published as Gemfields draw crowds for August festival
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