Sunday, August 30, 2009

Waiting at the gate in

Waiting at the gate in Tampa

- To the airport

Safety Harbor, FL - USA

Several of you have asked for lots of details in my posts . . .

Dawn is on the way. I might say hi from LAX.

later . . .

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- Off to the Outback

Safety Harbor, FL - USA

Good morning.

In a few minutes Dawn will be here to pick me up. She's going to be taking me out to breakfast, then to the airport. . . . I probably should stop typing and finish packing!

A few short hours from now I'll be in the air, on a trip that will keep me away from home for 2 months to find treasure. I can feel that this is going to be a very productive trip and time will go quickly . . . however, I'm going to miss home . . . I'm going to miss Dawn.

. . . I'll miss her, but she is always with me, we are always together and have been together for a very long time . . . :)

I'm also going to miss my family - particularly my 3 nephews and their father, my wacky brother . . . I hope Jake continues to feel better and will be talking like crazy when I get back home.

ok, I admit it - I'm a bit sappy . . .
. . . now off to the other side of the world to find some amazing rocks!

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Saturday, August 29, 2009

- Koroit Rough directly from the Mine?

Safety Harbor, FL - USA

In about 24 hours I'll be getting on the plane and starting the almost 30 hour journey to Australia . . . . . yes, traveling for 30 hours can be a bit uncomfortable and tiring, but I'm going all the way to the other side of the planet. Call me simple, but I still think it's pretty amazing that a regular non-astronaut guy like me can get to the opposite side of the earth in only 30 hours.

I'm flying non-stop from LA to Sydney - which is about a 14 hour flight. Hopefully I'll either have an empty seat as a neighbor or someone who is painless, maybe even interesting. . . . and of course I hope they have recently showered. On my last trip back from Australia I was trapped next to a large guy who was surrounded by a rather pungent "aura".

Now to the point of this post - if you would be interested in purchasing any rough from me while I am at the mine, please email me (koroit at gmail dot com). Please remember, while in Australia I'll probably only be checking my email about once a week. . . . so if my response is not rapid or if I am not able to chat and chat and chat, please do not take it personally. I do not know how much internet access I'll have.

. . . back to last minute this & that . . . .
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Monday, August 24, 2009

- In a week

Safety Harbor, FL - USA

A week from now I'll be somewhere over the south pacific on my way to Australia. . . . off to 2 months of mining, but this time with an excavator!

It looks like it will be quite an adventure & hopefully quite a bit of opal.

I'll keep you informed.

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Monday, August 10, 2009

- Going Soon

Safety Harbor, FL - USA

Although I have not yet determined the exact travel dates, it looks like I'll be on my way back to Australia at the end of this month and mining in Koroit for about 2 months.

This could be the most productive 2 months of mining I have ever experienced. A neighboring miner will be bringing his excavator over to my mine early in September and will be digging until the weather gets too hot - probably sometime in late October.

When one uses an excavator or bulldozer to mine it is called open-cutting. Two months of open-cutting my mine will most likely yield much more opal than I have ever mined in an entire season. I plan to be taking plenty of photos and shooting lots of video. Of course this is very exciting.

I expect to be updating this blog while I'm in Australia. However, how frequently should I update it? (probably will be once a week) . . . & how much detail do you want to read? How many of you are reading this?

If there are a bunch of you out there reading this, please let me know. If I'm only talking to myself, then I might not be posting very much. (After spending time in the outback you get a little too comfortable talking to yourself.) From the emails I've received I know occasionally there have been quite a few of you taking a look. If you're reading this & are interested, please either email me (koroit at gmail dot com) or leave a comment here (please note: If you leave me a comment here, it will be anonymous. If you want me to know who it is from, please either leave your name or email).

I expect to be shipping quite a bit of rough opal home from Koroit. If you would be interested in any rough or cut stones, please let me know. Depending on what you are looking for, I might be able to send you some material directly from Australia.

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