Saturday 17th: Drove south and then east along the Gwydir Highway which took up into the Great Dividing Range.
Gwydir Highway View
It was a fantastic drive! The road climbed through farmland then up a series of hairpins into the Gibraltar National Park. The views from the summit Lookout were fabulous.
We then descended into Glen Innes, a historic town in the northern Tablelands of the New England region of New South Wales. Some of the Glen Innes buildings have the look of a northern English industrial town – churches built from black bricks and houses that looked like they had been lifted straight out of villages in the midlands. The area is a producer of wool, sheep and beef cattle since it was first settled, and was mined for Tin and Sapphires.
Three Waters
We spent two nights at Three Waters Homestead (http://www.threewatersholidays.com.au/) which is about 15 km outside Glen Innes. It was raining when we arrived (it had been for most of the day) so we booked into one of the cabins in a paddock overlooking a tree lined creek.
Sunday 18th: A beautiful sunny morning!
Steve showing Sapphires to Emily and Oliver
Spent the day at Three Waters. Walked up to the Homestead and met Steve, the owner. He told us about the Sapphire mining that used to be done along the creek, and showed us how to fossick for the gems and how to sort them from the Corundum.
Emily panning for her fortune.
Emily and Oliver immediately took on the task and within a few minutes had found some small, pretty Sapphires.
We’re rich!
Ems did most of the panning/sieving whilst Ollie, who didn’t want to get cold hands, took on the role of Quality Controller.
Quality Control
In the afternoon Steve saddled a couple of horses and we took Ems and Ollie for a ride through the paddocks and alongside the creek (happy children!).
Ollie with Milo
The landscape around the homestead is lovely – forested hills leading up to Mount Bullock (1174 metres).
Emily on Dave
The rest of the afternoon was spent enjoying the view from the Gunyah veranda.
The Gunyah (Local Aboriginal term for Meeting Place)
Later in the afternoon the temperature dropped quickly so we went inside the Gunyah, lit the log burner and had dinner.