Opals Down Under – Gem Fossicking

An overcast day with showers rolling through ended up being the PERFECT time to try gem fossicking at Opals Down Under. We had most of the fossicking area to ourselves, and the rain made all the colourful gemstones so much easier for the kids to spot.

📍 11 Ballantyne Ct, Glenview
🗓️ Mon to Sat, 9am to 4:30pm | Sun, 9am to 4pm
💲 Entry FREE | Scratch Patch $12 small | $20 large

👍🏻 Toilets
👍🏻 Parking
👍🏻 Pram Friendly – wouldn’t recommend inside Scratch Patch
👍🏻 Enclosed
👍🏻 Outdoor – undercover + open air areas
❌ Booking Required
❌ Bites
❌ Sips
❌ Dog Friendly

The kids loved searching through the Scratch Patch and filling their containers with colourful gemstones to take home. You simply choose your container and then spend as much or as little time as you like fossicking for treasures to fill it.

Visiting after some rain turned out to be such a win because the wet stones made all the colours pop, which made spotting the gemstones even more exciting for the kids, and for me too. If you visit when it’s dry, there’s a rinse bucket available so you can wet the stones and see their colours properly.

There are both undercover and open air fossicking areas, which makes this a handy option when the weather is a little unpredictable. We visited with showers rolling through and could easily keep fossicking without the weather ruining the outing.

There are also picnic tables and a grassed garden area, so you can pack some snacks and stay a little longer. Our kids loved wandering through the gardens afterwards and spotting the dinosaur and giant frog statues along the way.

We didn’t expect a rainy day to make gem fossicking even better, but this ended up being such a fun little outing and one we’d happily do again.

We visited June 2026. While we do our best to keep our listings up to date, information can change. We recommend checking Opals Down Under’s website or social media for current opening hours, pricing and availability before visiting.