This week we visit Emmaville.
Phill chats to Bill who is the Vice President of the Emmaville Mining Museum.
The historic village of Emmaville in the Glen Innes Highlands is home to the Emmaville Mining Museum, the dream of Mr and Mrs Jack Curnow who ran the Emmaville bakery.
After closing the bakery in 1969, they used the shop to display their vast collection of minerals and photographs.
Their collection was bequeathed to the community in the hope that the town could start a museum.
The local council purchased the old Foley’s Store in Emmaville and volunteers began remodelling the building to house the Curnow collection.
Today, the Museum that houses the renowned Curnow mineral collection is also home to the Jillet, Gilbey, Ellis, Schumacher, Trethewey, Hermann and Maskey collections. In all, there are over 4,000 mineral and gem specimens.
As the collection grew, the Museum expanded. Out back is Foley’s General Store Museum, a replica blacksmith’s shop, an old wood-fired bakery, and a machinery shed filled with old mining equipment.
There’s the interior of a hessian-lined miner’s hut, a collection of over 400 photographs of the old mines, miners, and the Emmaville community, and a beautiful 1,500 bottle collection. Its a great place to visit and spend an hour or two pocking around the museum. https://emmavilleminingmuseum.com/
We spend a couple of nights in Glen Innes. What a great town this is. We camp up at the showground, great area, relatively flat sites and plenty of room, there is power and water available. Here we meet Phill and Leslie, they are full time on the road and fill us in on some of the places they have been as well as getting caught in Tassie for 20 months with Covid. They are travelling with their Jayco Silverline 21.6ft van. Its great meeting other travellers and sharing stories. also learning tips along the way.
Whilst in Glen Innes, Celtic Country take a visit to the Standing Stones.
They were created in 1991/92, the Australian Standing Stones in Glen Innes Highlands is the national monument to Celtic people, past and present.
The Stones acknowledge the contribution to Australian culture made by people from the Celtic nations of Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall, Wales, the Isle of Man, Brittany, Asturias and Galicia.
The Stones continue to attract national and international exposure and is a major tourist destination in the Glen Innes Highlands.
Next up Phill is out and about again at the Mundi Mundi Bash this time talking with Matt from Hema Maps.
Hema Maps has been running for nearly 40 years. Hema Maps is a Brisbane-based mapping and publishing company that was founded in 1983. The company has expanded purposefully to the point where today it has comprehensive Australia and overseas map coverage in a variety of forms including folded maps, atlases, guides and digital products such as apps and dedicated GPS navigation systems. With a keen focus on off-road touring, Hema Maps has steadily built its reputation as masterful map makers in the four-wheel driving and outdoor adventure industries. This reputation has come to the fore thanks to the company’s relentless pursuit of accurate cartographic detail relevant to outdoor explorers, realised by its unparalleled updating process.”
The choice is yours, either the GPS or the paper version, you can sit around and talk about the trip and see where you are going, especially in the outback. Check out their website for more information. https://hemamaps.com/
Phill once again catches up with Jeff DeAth from Check Weights this weeks topic is a run through of the business Jeff provides.
We met Jeff and his wife at the Newcastle Caravan Show and thought it was an interesting topic, that has so many experts out there tell you what is right and wrong with your van regarding weight. Jeff talks about the business starting up and some of the pitfalls that could be as simple as moving things around the van to get better weight distribution.
CHECK WEIGHT is the premier mobile caravan weighing service in NSW. Established in 2019 with its prime focus being to “help caravan owners make sense of caravan weights” and thus ensure their caravans and tow vehicles are legal and safe. The original mobile business was based in Port Stephens / Newcastle NSW but grew to currently service from Lake Macquarie to Port Macquarie – Newcastle to Muswellbrook.
Operated by Jeff DeAth (with massive support behind the scenes from his wife Juls DeAth) whose own frustration four years ago with the confusing acronyms and weight limits involved in caravan weights led him to educate himself on caravan weights. Concerned by seeing so many caravans being overweight, and owners not understanding caravan weight limits, Jeff thought there “must be an easier way”.
Check out their website for more information. Why not book them to get your weights checked. You never know it may save your life also. www.checkweight.com.au
