Location: | Atherton Tablelands |
Open: | MAR-JAN Mon-Fri 8:30-17, Sat 8:30-16, Sun 10-16. Last enter 1 hour prior closing time. |
Fee: | Adults AUD 10, Child AUD 5. |
Classification: | mineral collection, museum, shop. |
Light: |
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Dimension: | ar=250m², two floors. V=25,000/a |
Guided tours: | |
Photography: | |
Accessibility: | |
Bibliography: | |
Address: |
Fascinating Facets, 69 Main Street, Atherton 4883, NQ Australia, Tel: +61-07-4091-2365, Fax +61-07-4091-3285
E-mail: |
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info. |
1963 | Nelleke and René Boissevain immigrated to Australia from Holland. |
1969 | the museum De Oude Aarde (The Old Earth) opened in Giethoorn, Netherlands. |
1987 | René Boissevain sold his house to build a cave to house his collection for the whole world to see. |
1999 | won the prize for the best Significant Regional Attraction in the North Queensland Tourism Awards. |
Despite its name, The Crystal Caves is not a natural cave but a shop which sells minerals and fossils. But the extraordinary concept of this shop makes it worth an entry on our pages. It is something like a combination of museum, shop and artificial mine or cave.
The visitor gets a helmet and is then allowed to discover a magic kingdom of crystalls all on his own. Rather unusual is the possibility to touch and feel minerals and fossils.
Highlights of the exhibition are numerous calcite crystals, fossils, a 525 kg boulder of Rose Quartz, Australias largest collection of flourescent minerals, three of the largest selenite crystals in the world from the
Cave of Swords
in México.
Of course there are Australian opals and the North Queenslands own Blue Topaz on display and sold.
If the prices are true wholesale prices, as they tell, we can not confirm.
The Crystal Caves is owned by René Boissevain and his wife Nelleke, who traveled the world since 1963 and collected many spectacular items. For European visitor, their mineral museum De Oude Aarde (The Old Earth) in Giethoorn, Netherlands may be a nice alternative.