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Continued:
Sapphire Bend. Riverview Road second turn left on Abercrombie Road after Black Springs. Find: Sapphires, Zircons & Occasional Industrial Diamonds. (track into site was very wet & mushy even for 4x4 so didn’t venture in too far ) Sewells Creek Causeway. Travel out Sewells Creek Road to causeway Fossicking area on right hand side of the road. Find: Sapphires, Zircons & Gold. Native Dog Creek. Two access points from State Forest Roads. Drive in at Riverview Forest road left side of road after Foleys Creek road, Drive in a short way, old mine shaft for Gold. Travel on to where you meet up with Beaconsfield road, turn right travel 1/2 km then turn left and follow the road to Native Dog Creek. Find: Gold, Zircons & Sapphires. Note: In Dry Conditions it is best to supply your own water so we had some in the Landcruiser just in case. Not really knowing what we were looking for as we had never been fossicking & armed with a small shovel, a plastic kitchen strainer, & lots of enthusiasm, we headed off to the first location on the map: Little River Fossicking Reserve along Abercrombie Road Black Springs. Apparently this is a great area for gem stones but once again we didn’t have a clue & threw away lots of what looked like rocks to us. We spoke to a lady who had been there awhile & showed us a jar that contained some Sapphires of different colours along with some Zircons, which bolstered us into looking some more. The next location that we attempted was Sapphire Bend on Riverview Road Black Springs. Having found the fossicking area within the Vulcan State Forest, the track into the site proved to be very slippery & mushy after all the recent rain, so decided not to risk getting bogged & headed out for lunch in Black Springs Park. The final fossicking area that we tried was Native Dog Creek where there were a number of mines dug into the hillside over the creek. We had lots of fun, don’t think we found anything of significance but have since gained some more knowledge and are keen to go again. While in the Oberon area, we ventured out to the Mayfield Gardens, a spectacular, world-class 65-hectare cool climate garden & had a burger in their café. Definitely well worth the short drive from town to see the gardens & surrounding area. We also wanted to look at a small community market & chanced upon the town of Tarana which is about 27 kms from Oberon when their market was on. What a fantastic place, with very friendly people & great produce on sale from the local area. There is a very popular hotel there as well. The markets are now back on as usual after having been locked down as with everything else. Jenolan Caves is also near Oberon, this is the largest limestone cave system in Australia. It is the oldest in the world & one of the most outstanding. There is a magnificent Chisolm's Restaurant, café or bar, with accommodation in the hotel, motel, cottage or backpacker lodge. For more information visit: https://www.jenolancaves.org.au/
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The Oberon to Tarana branch railway line was Oberon’s lifeline from 1923 until its operation was suspended in 1979. The branch line was largely responsible for turning the village into the vibrant town of Oberon, NSW.so the Oberon Tarana Heritage Railway Inc. is working towards re-establishing the branch line to operational standard and operating a tourist train attraction in the future. The Oberon Museum, is located in the historic Oberon-Tarana railway line precinct and has a good collection of items of local historical interest. A collection of caricatures of Oberon's "living treasures" by Mick Joffe and their stories told in their own words is on display in the Robert Hooper Community Centre. Mushroom picking in the cool pine forests of the area is another popular pastime, the visitor’s centre can supply a brochure so that the various mushrooms & toadstools can be identified as the later is not edible & can make you very ill. A good thing to remember is “If in doubt leave out.” For more information visit: https://www.visitnsw.com/destinations/blue-mountains/oberon-area/oberon
Oberon is an incredible place with lots to see and do, it is also close to Bathurst & the gold fields of Hill End & Sofala so a weekend, a week, a month can easily be filled with adventure, photography or of the many attractions on offer. You won’t be disappointed; we certainly weren’t even though we only stayed 3 days |
