Quartzsite

We meet our friends and we all pile in the minivan with luggage and set off for Quartzsite.

This isn't the rush hour. The traffic is like this constantly. Even through the night it is heavy.

Makes me laugh when I think of traffic reports for Perth. If it takes us an extra ten minutes to get home we complain! Oh, well maybe not everyone.

I've heard some people say how ugly wind farms can be but I think they are quite beautiful.

We stopped to get some groceries at Blythe and saw this car in the car park.

Pretty neat, huh?

(Click on this picture and check out the reggo plate.)

Los Angeles

We arrived yesterday; or was it tomorrow? All I know is we left Wednesday, were in the air for days - oh, alright, a day - and landed the same day as we left. I phoned one of my sons to say we'd arrived safely and he said, "Oh, that was quick!" Sydney is 19 hours ahead of US! Almost tomorrow! All very confusing.

Also very confusing for the circadian clock. Sleeping at 8pm, awake again at 11pm, hungry at 2am, sleeping again at 3am, awake again at 9am. But at least the nausea as passed.

December

Winter (June to Sept) - go up northern Western Australia and dig the rock; get it trucked back home.




Oct-Nov:

Sort out the rock and fill orders.

Cut and polish rocks. Pack finished product plus rough rock into drums. Ship to America in time for the show.
Break it to Woody that he can't come to America.

End of December we're off to Arizona where Glenn sells the rock at the biggest rock, gem and mineral show in the world: Quartzsite and Tucson.



Mid February we return - relax. The seven weeks in America is absolutely non-stop so we deserve a rest when we get back. Especially Glenn as he has all the worry and stress of logistics; before, during and after the shows.
Soon it's winter and we start all over again.


So, the shipment that left in November has arrived in America and being trucked to Quartzsite for the first show (hopefully). When we arrive we hope all the gear from last year has also been trucked to Quartzsite to coincide with our arrival.
Organising trucking and customs clearance etc is not easy from the other side of the world. They are nineteen hours behind us. Email is a wonderful thing!

Washing rocks

When rock hunters are prospecting for interesting and/or colourful rock and they want to know how the rock will cut and polish, they lick it. It's the most convenient way to wet the surface and so get an idea of its qualities. I love to watch my partner do this. It's as if he has an affinity with the earth itself. But then, rocks are his passion and always have been. He was picking up rocks from the age of three.

He cuts the rocks in rock saws then polishes them on vibrolaps (large circular flat plates that vibrate). This process reveals the beauty contained inside the rocks.

The polishing powder needs to be washed off each polished face and slab and this is a job I can do for him. I stand in the sunshine holding each piece under the powerful jet of a pressure cleaner and watch the specimens come to life.

Then all the rocks are packed into drums and sent to America in time for the biggest rock, gem and mineral show in the world.

Sorry, Woody, you can't come!

Dig Dig Dig

During the winter we dig the rocks and in the summer take them to America to sell at the shows. It takes us a day or two to drive to the mines. Up here the temperatures during the day are around 20 to 30 degrees celcius. Warm days and cool nights. Perfect!




Partner is up ahead in truck loaded with backhoe while I follow in the Land Cruiser pulling the trailer.



As you can see, scenery on the way can be a bit 'samey' but it has its moments. I listen to the radio, cassette tapes and do the odd crossword (for hours and hours and hours!).










Beautiful skies here. Clear air. And only the sound of the birds and insects.

The only water is from windmills which pump water up into tanks and there is a pool for the cattle and sheep.

To think, I used to go to an airconditioned office every day and do 'office things'. Now this is my work place. Which would you choose? I'd choose the fresh air every time.

This is crazy lace agate.

You can see more rocks here.

Some would say the dust and flies could be slightly off-putting. I take them on as a challenge.

After a few days I was on first-name terms with some of the flies. They joined me inside my fly net. Others were just plain ignorant little buggers.

Western Australia has a huge amount of wildflowers during winter/spring. There was colour everywhere.

The dust didn't seem to bother our dog who enjoyed forraging for mice! I know it looks like chocolate but, really, it isn't.

Rock dug, sorted, packed into bags.

Truck ordered, loaded, and away it goes.

Job done!