Clermont and The Gemfields

Following the Gregory Development Road from Cape River we reached the town of Clermont by early afternoon. The town is a mix of new and old buildings and is a commercial service centre for the nearby mining industry. Our destination was Theresa Creek dam 22 Km out of town. This picturesque camping area is set along the shore near the dam wall and costs just $10 per night. There is a small shop and café where you check in and there are hot showers and flush toilets at several locations around this very large open camping area.

Theresa Creek Dam Sunset

After 4 nights at this pleasant location we headed off along, the now sealed, back road to Rubyvale in the Gemfields for a night in the neat and tidy caravan park. A walk around town lead us to some rather quirky shops, most of which were selling gemstones in various states. There are, of course, several up-market gemstone galleries where you can purchase sapphires and rubies cut and set in very attractive pieces of jewellery. We certainly did learn a lot about sapphires, not the least of which is their value. We inspected many lovely pieces valued well into the tens of thousands of dollars. Here’s a bit of trivia for you – sapphires come in almost any colour except red. The red ones are a ruby. The most common colour is blue and the most valuable is yellow. Some of the most valuable are called a ‘parti’ which is generally yellow with small evenly spaced specs of other colours, most usually blue or red.

The next day was a very long drive to the town of Sapphire, a trip of just over 6 Km’s. Of course we arrived early, which gave us most of the morning to wander through the Sunday market at the football ground. Then it was time to set up in the free camping area, would you believe, right in the middle of town. This handy location made it easy for us to walk to the shops and gem galleries, and in the evening to the local RSL. This small club has a Sunday roast for just $12 and a beer or a very full glass of wine will cost you just $3. We really did enjoy the hospitality of the friendly locals and also some fellow campers we sat with for the delicious meal.