Thursday, March 21, 2013

TerrEstrial

We have spent our week based with Jo and Emma at the Terrestrial centre. This wonderful facility provides access to the Georgetown Library, complete with Internet access as well as the incredible Ted Elliott Mineral Collection. This gentleman is a local legend who built a world class collection over his lifetime. My initial thoughts were - minerals, fossils, gemstones....ok. Boy was I wrong! This collection is totally awesome and overwhelming in its sheer scale and coverage. For anyone it is worth a visit, let alone for this mosaic artist. So many of the specimens were beautiful in so many ways - their colour, size, the shape of some and the texture. Some of these specimens look as soft as silk - quite incredible considering that these items are rock! Unfortunately most specimens were inside cabinets for their own protection- i so wanted to touch them! My favourites were chrysanthemum rock and some white fluffy thing that looked like snow. The glow in the dark samples were pretty good too, especially the Mexican Thunder Egg....and the ammonites. I purchased an Orthocerus fossil, and a piece of black onyx as well as a piece of crackle quartz that seemed to be perfect for a birds beak, perhaps an owl. Time will tell. Moral of this tale is, if in Georgetown visit Terrestrial. The best gold coin donation you will ever contribute. 20.3.2013

1 comment:

  1. Sounds interesting! You'll have to bring them to work with you so we can see them!

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