On the weekend of the 23rd and 24th March, interested Rosny College students undertook an overnight Geology excursion to Northeastern Tasmania, in search of adventure and mineral specimens with teachers Dave Wigger, Lee Eiseman and school nurse Lucy Poulton.

After a long bus trip, students settled into the campground at Weldborough and were off for an afternoon of prospecting for gemstones. With not much luck at the first location we moved to a second area that was far more productive. Under the tutelage of Lee (our experienced geologist), students had the opportunity to search for and find, spinel, sapphire, topaz, zircon, jasper and ruby minerals. This involved digging, sieving, sorting and grading tasks which were divided up amongst the different members of the various teams.

All students were able to collect several samples of one or more of these to take home. After an evening meal and good night’s sleep, students packed up their campsites and we headed off to Gladstone for fuel and historical mining sightseeing. We visited Little Blue Lake and the memorial to Chinese Tin Miners. After a little more prospecting we headed back to Rosny. The weather was great, the company better and fun was had by all.