Hello from Gemtree. We are not sorry to say goodbye to Wycliffe Well. It was quirky and interesting but we would not return.

We camped next to a couple from Boronia on our last night at Wycliffe Well. We are both heading to Gemtree. We pull into a roadhouse at Ti Tree for morning tea as they are pulling out and then both arrive at Gemtee at the same time. We stay in a cabin and they are allocated the camping spot next to it. We get on well with them but are beginning to feel like we are stalking them. They have left for Alice Springs today and we are going there tomorrow. I wonder if we will see them again?

We drive 300 kms down the Stuart highway and turn east down the plenty highway towards Gemtree. It is a single strip of asphalt and you have to put 2 wheels in the dirt when passing oncoming traffic. There is nothing between the highway and Gemtree. We feel like we are definitely in the outback. It is dry, dusty and there is little shade and no significant life other than the occasional bird. We only see 3 cars in the 70 kms to Gemtree.

We love the place from the moment we arrive. The staff are friendly, the park is well laid out and they do Devonshire tea and home made cakes!

On Wednesday night they have a camp oven dinner for $15 which we join. We head down to dinner at 6:15 and enjoy a cold beverage from the bar before getting a tour of the camp oven kitchen which includes a beer keg potato roaster. We collect our plate of roast beef, potatoes, pumpkin, broccoli bake, cauliflower bake and gravy. Mark and I think it is delicious, Emily agrees but William picks at it. We then watch a short video from 50 years ago about the farm and family. We love the night, it is a totally different experience. 8:30 rolls around pretty quickly though and both our munchkins are asleep so we carry them back to the cabin.

We buy a bucket of gemfield dirt and spend a couple of hours sifting through it looking for garnets. Mark and I sift for the stones while William pours the dirt into the sieve and Emily either rolls in the dirt, tries to run away from us or tip out the tin of garnets we have found so far. We find a couple of garnets that can be cut to 4 mm so we will get these made into earrings for Emily. William has a whole bag of 'show and tell' pieces.

After all the fun of 'gem fossicking' we enjoy morning tea from the shop, scones, vanilla slice and home made pie! It has been all too much for Emily who falls asleep in my arms, dusty and full of cake. She has a long sleep back in the cabin.

Mark and William head off in the car and return with some wood for a fire tonight. The afternoon is spent preparing for the fire, purchasing some homemade cakes from the shop and bug hunting. The fire is a cracker and Mark cooks us chops and crispy potatoes on it.

The nights are starting to get cool and we are pulling out the long pants and long sleeves. It is so different to a week ago!