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The lure of the sapphire is very real in Queensland’s Central Highlands. As Roderick Eime discovered, the fabled El Dorado may have streets lined with gold but Rubyvale’s dusty pavements are littered with gemstones. “Here you go,” says Kym White with a cultured tone that seems incongruous in the Australian outback. Her finely manicured hands load a fat pile of ‘wash’ into my sieve with a rough, well-used shovel. My search for a sapphire thus begins with a pile of dirty gravel. Read full story

Queensland’s rugged Cape York Peninsula is a bush-driving destination of considerable repute. http://www.metronews.ca/ottawa/australia/article/144424

En Route Issue 8 Spotlight Eyre Peninsula Roderick Eime Named for Edward John Eyre who nearly died several times on his crossing to Albany in 1841, he and his Aboriginal companion, Wylie, were the last of a party of five to make it alive. From these harsh and foreboding beginnings, the Eyre Peninsula has quietly flourished. Port Lincoln has grown exponentially since the Japanese caught on to the excellent tuna caught and farmed there. Whyalla has always been an iron ore, steel and shipbuilding city and is the third most populous in the state behind Adelaide and Mount Gambier, while Ceduna and Port Augusta form the “bookends” east and west. Swim With the Locals For a an ultra close-up of the Port Lincoln tuna, jump aboard with Matt Waller of Adventure Bay Charters and you can dive into his net full of baby (20kg) Southern Blue Fin tuna and even hand feed them if you’re game. Matt can also offer relaxing day cruises on Boston Bay to visit the local sealions. Local Taste Temptati

Battle for Australia Few Australians realise the vast extent of tangible WWII history still visible today. But as the dust settles from the release of Baz Luhrmann’s epic Australia, with the bombing of Darwin forming its dramatic centrepiece, AT sets out to separate fact from fiction, while providing you with your own key to the living remnants of this global conflict on Australian soil . By Rod Eime