Emerald Escorts – Page 2

Emerald, the mining towns and the gemfields

Emerald is a farming town of cotton and grain on the Nogoa River, with a giant painting of sunflowers on an easel in the town centre and motels along the highway that fill with mine workers and contractors. Around it lie the coal-mining towns of Blackwater and Capella, Springsure to the south beneath its cliffs, and the gemfields towns of Anakie, Sapphire and Rubyvale to the west, where visitors still fossick for stones.

Much of the region works on rosters, and bookings are usually arranged around shifts and days off. Emerald escorts who live locally often host from houses with off-street parking, and touring companions from Rockhampton and Mackay stop for a few nights at a time, with their dates on the profile.

Out-calls to the mining towns and the gemfields usually carry a travel rate, and a day's notice is helpful. The roads between the towns are long, straight and dark at night, with cattle and kangaroos on the verges.

When you book, give the motel or camp name and your room number.

See Blackwater, Capella, Springsure, Anakie, Sapphire and Rubyvale.