- Color and Big Grasshoppers

Cunnamulla, QLD - Australia

. . . or should I say locusts? . . . yes, they are locusts and they are all over. Australia is a land of feast and famine. This latest plague of locusts could do serious damage to a variety of crops throughout this peculiar island continent. Even out here I have driven through clouds of the flying beasts - I'll spare you the details, but driving through such a cloud can be very noisy.

. . . back to the opals . . . yes, I have been digging and finding . . . and yes, I will be willing to share some of the goodies . . . in the next few days I'll be mailing some new material home to Dawn. She'll be photographing it and listing it - feel free to email her for details - please email her using the email address on our website (www.koroit.com) - to get to the email address on the website, please click HERE.

Opal production throughout Australia is way down. Production in Koroit is also down. I have been very lucky to be able to find some very nice rough. I have already shipped home over 5 million carats of rough this season. (I have already shipped home a bit over a ton of Koroit rough. My shipping agent said that US Customs wanted to know how much rough I had shipped and needed to know the amount in carats. A metric ton - 1,000 kgs - is equal to 5,000,000 carats.) I hope to be shipping home much more before this season is over.

Rain has been falling for the last several days which has gotten in the way of mining and has made for gloomy skies. Today the sun is once again shining.

- Tonight . . .

Cunnamulla, QLD - Australia

Shame on me for not thinking of mentioning this earlier . . . in a few ways I'm still like a 7 year old kid and still go WOW at some things . . . tonight likely will involve a wow . . . even though I've been visiting the outback for years and have a lot of work to do here, the night sky in Koroit, the southern hemisphere stars with no light pollution, the clear and bright night sky of a gazillion stars in the outback - makes me go wow . . . the milky-way looks so, so very milky here.

. . . I'm looking forward to the wow of the sky tonight and a very deep sleep and maybe a few curious dreams . . . between you and me Koroit is one of those places on Earth that has a special connection with the heart of the universe - you really can feel it here - particularly at night . . .

- Almost There

Cunnamulla, Queensland - Australia

. . . nearly there . . . I'm in Cunnamulla and soon will be on my way to Koroit. I should be out at the mine in about 2 hours (after getting a few groceries and driving for an hour).

It feels a bit warm here, a bit too warm for early September. If the temperature is this high already, the next 2 months might be a bit uncomfortable . . . hmmm . . . I'll wait and see and hope for the best.

This morning, while driving for 3 hours from St George to Cunnamulla, I saw at least 5 bearded dragons on the road - a sign that winter is indeed over . . . if there are that many lizards around, it probably means many snakes have already arisen from their hibernation.

. . . gotta run . . . keep your fingers crossed that it stays cool, I find opal and don't find any snakes!

- Arrived in Australia

Hinterland of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland - Australia

This needs to be quick . . .

I've arrived in Australia . . . the plane landed yesterday and I spent the night with Friends - thanks to Frank and Heather for their wonderful hospitality.

Breakfast is history. . . next I'll pack my 4WD and get on the way to Koroit within the hour. . . along the way I need to pick up some 55-gallon drums and a few groceries.

This evening probably will be spent in a small town between here and there . . . I expect to arrive in Koroit sometime tomorrow.

I'll try to add more soon . . .

A380

- LAX

Waiting ......

LAX

- LAX

Just arrived at LAX.... taxiing to gate, then wait for tonight's flight to Australia.

- Heading Back to Oz

Palm Harbor, FL - USA

Tomorrow I'll be on the way back to Australia.

I'm sorry I wasn't good at posting new bits and pieces here. While I was home of course I sorted and sliced and cut a few rocks . . . and I gave a nice rock to Dawn . . . on September 3 we got engaged! It's a sapphire ring surrounded with diamonds. It's the first time I ever gave someone an engagement ring - thank goodness she said yes.

During this trip to Australia I swear I'll try to be a better blogger. I'll be there for about 2 months and hopefully will have the time to post to this blog regularly.

Gotta run . . . .