Killiecrankie diamonds are still to found on Flinders. But if someone finds one, a visitor or a local, they have to send them away to get the faceted and polished. One enterprising bunch of locals fossicks for these beautiful gems, and then they send them overseas to get them cut. Imagine if there were someone living on Flinders who had the skill and the passion to hire out sieves and shovels; to teach visitors what to look for and how to look for it; who shared their thrill when they found something; and who helped them smile even more by cutting and setting their find into an heirloom that means more than any purchase ever could.
Imagine casting aside the shackles of retirement and heading for a sea change, quite literally. So what would a person need to do to accept this position? Be prepared to live in a truly magnificent place. Be prepared to look at those years of retirement ahead and decide to spend them enjoying island life and helping people find treasures.
Be prepared to pack up their cutting wheels, clamps and fishing rod and move to where the Roaring Forties blow. To where the golf course is a real challenge. To where there are thousands more wallabies than cars. To where friends and relatives will say, ‘You’re so lucky you live there.’
Where Paper Nautilus shells wash up on the beach, to where the Cape Barren goose shares the skies with over 200 other species of bird, to where Strzelecki challenges all ages, and to where people still search the hills and coastlines for the topaz known as Killiecrankie Diamonds.
