Today, I picked through mud in search of valuable gems.

And there’s probably some kind of metaphor in that, but I can’t pick just one, so apply whichever you feel is appropriate.

I also saw some eastern rosellas in the caravan park today, so I took some pictures:

The two dull-looking ones are juveniles coming into their adult plumage.  So this is Mum or Dad taking the kids to get some food.

Now, onto the gems!  If you’re staying at the caravan park, you can fossick for free.  This is their set-up:

That white bag is 10kgs of what’s called sapphire wash, and it just looks like dirt:

As for what it is…bear with me on this explanation for a bit.  The top layer of soil is called topsoil (funnily enough), and it’s where you’ll find the roots of most vegetation.  The layer beneath is the sub-soil.  Then, if you’re in a fossicking site, you’ll hit a rubbly band of pebbles and rocks – this is the remnants of an ancient creek or river bed, and is called the ‘wash’.  In fossicking, this is where you’ll find gemstones.  Usually that means digging, but my caravan park offered pre-bagged sapphire wash – just ten kilos of dirt lifted straight from the wash layer.  Odds are you’ll find something, but whether it’s good or not is up to luck.

My fossicking tools:

That’s two sieves stacked on top of each other – a big one and a little one.  Basically I pour a whole bunch of dirt into the stacked sieves, then dip them in the water to wash the dirt away.  When I’m just left with gravel in the big one, I detach it from the little one and tip the gravel onto the hessian bag beside the tub.  I spread the gravel out to let it dry, then repeat the process with the finer sieve.

You wait for the gravel to dry a bit because water can make the rocks glisten and that’s what you’re looking for – a rock that has a bit of lustre to it (without being wet).  It’s not much lustre, but it’s very apparent when contrasted to the other rocks.

Of course, I knew nothing of this before today.  Ross – one of the proprietors of the caravan park – set me up and showed me how to recognise sapphires.  Once I’d picked up a few, he left me to it, but not before commenting that the ones I’d got were probably worth cutting.

This is my haul (with a two-dollar coin for scale):

They’re not tiny specks, but they won’t be making me a millionaire any time soon.  It was good fun though, and I found I was getting better at picking the sapphires as I went through the bag.  It’s hard to see in photos, but can you see how they’re just a bit shinier than your average rock?

I think I am going to have them cut, though I’m not sure into what yet.  It’ll come to me.