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| Shaman Tent |
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| Chief BeCoHa |
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| Chief BeCoHa |
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| Fossilised Teeth |
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| Amethyst |
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| Zebra Stone |
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| Peacock Ore |
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| Giant Mexico Rose Crystal |
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| Fossils |
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| Agate |
I had never visited
Cooloola Rocks and Minerals before but I had noticed a giant faux crystal out the front on the odd occasion driving on the highway to Gympie. When I heard that they were having their 20th birthday celebrations I thought it would be a great time to check out their wares.
A friendly face greeted us from the rural fire brigade and we were directed to our parking spot. The first thing I noticed was an amazing teepee where I was told there was a shaman. As he was busy we set off to look at the huge variety of stalls. Most of the stall holders were happy grey nomads, some travelling from different places and had arrived in caravans and camper vans to camp over the weekend. I had a good chat to them as we looked around and I took photos of the amazing variety of rocks, minerals and fossils.
I purchased a piece of white quartz for the amazing price of $2 from a man who told me he found all of the crystals himself from a special place up North ( I promised I would not give away his spot!) He had been doing this as a hobby since his 20s and now a retiree he is still passionate about rocks and minerals and visited around 4 shows a year. Once a year he would go to his special spot and find the crystals ranging from different quartz to thunder eggs, visit the shows and then he would relax the rest of the year. He admitted he didn't really make much money but it paid for him to travel and do what he loved. His advice to us was to travel as young as possible and not wait until you are of the retiree age.
Rocks and minerals, crystals and fossils ranged from 50c each to up in the hundreds and hundreds of dollars. I was lucky to be able to find a handful of beautiful smoky quartz, amethyst and white quartz all from Australia for $3 the lot to add to my collection at home. One fascinating rock is called zebra stone and comes from the east Kimberley region of Western Australia, they say it was formed some 600 million years ago.
I noticed a man dressed in a head dress so I asked if I could photograph him and we got chatting. He calls himself Chief BeCoHa and he was a long time friend of the owners of Cooloola Rocks and Minerals and travelled to their show every year from Frankston Victoria to help them out and spread his message of love and kindness. We had a very interesting talk and he showed me the Merkabah that he made that was on the end of his staff that was given to him. He told me he makes these Merkabahs and gives them out to people.
The Kybong Rock Fest actually runs for 3 days and there is more activities including circus skill workshops, dancers, music, fire performances, crystal healings, and bonfires so you can easily spend a whole day or more there. Make sure you take some cash with you to buy yourself some goodies :)
