TRYING THIS BLOGGING THING

Well, this is what you do when its raining - you create a blog!So, here we are at Willow Gemfields. It has been raining for a couple of days and the weather has cooled off considerably. Its only 16 degrees today, which is really cold now that we are well and truly acclimatised to Queensland weather. Apparently it is the coldest since 1986. Typical! We haven't found our fortune in gems but have been enjoying the search. We do have a few small ones to show off, but they are really only souveniers. Maybe a couple of them could be cut into something pretty. Willow Gemfields is a very small shanty town - no big fancy houses here! It is, however, very peaceful and nice. There are two caravan parks here and one of them also houses the post office, fuel and shop. Yeah, its a really happening place! ha ha. You also purchase your fossicking license there too, which is cheap at $9.00 for a family, for a month. We are surrounded by gemfields and bush, kangaroos, dingos and birds. Emerald is about an hour away from here. At Emerald you can get just about anything you need. Its quite a big, busy place with a large town centre and three shopping centres, and growing at a fast rate with the mining boom. There are heaps of road trains and trucks on the road into Emerald, not to mention a huge amount of caravans, campers and people like us. All seeking the warmer, drier weather. Well they wont find it here at the moment!

So thats it for my first blog. Hope everyone stays warm and dry.