It’s had a mammoth journey all the way from Uruguay to the Crystal Castle, but the mammoth amethyst geode, the Enchanted Cave has finally arrived – and it’s on view to the public from this Saturday.
Says Crystal Castle owner Naren King: “It took seven hours and several teams of experts to ‘birth’ it from its shipping container at the port in Brisbane, who said it was their biggest challenge in 50 years. And it was then we discovered that the Uruguayans had under-estimated its weight by 5,000 kgs – meaning that the cave actually weighs in at over 20,000kg.” If you think about the fact that the average elephant weighs 5,000 kgs – that’s five elephants in one massive stone.
Top: The Crystal makes its way from Brisbane to the Crystal Castle. Above: Careful unloading of the precious stone. Photos: Toby King.
This massive geode was created 120 million years ago, in northern Uruguay, South America, when a giant bubble formed inside a molten lava flow. Through intense pressure, heat and the presence of iron, millions of tiny amethyst crystals began to grow.
“When a farmer discovered this massive geode, we just had to go and check it out,” says Naren, who took his daughter Manya with him to see the geode for themselves. “We found this geode so awe inspiring, we knew we had to bring it home. This magical creation of Nature is our gift to the Crystal Castle in her 30th year. We couldn’t have done it without the guys from Universal Cranes – who got the cave safely off the truck and into position,” says Naren, “and also to Brad and Daniel from Cargo Network International, who have been our trusted import partners for 25 years, and to Interport depot’s Mick & Kath and their team for the epic seven hours of unloading. It was truly a team effort all the way.”
