Personally, I find there is nothing quite as satisfying as faceting a gem from a stone you have found yourself. Doesn't matter if it's not a sapphire worth thousands, even a nice clean smoky quartz crystal facets an attractive stone.
Of course, fossicking can be hot, hard and not always rewarding work. But I love it. It's like a treasure hunt and we all loved a treasure hunt as kids - just some of us never grew out of it
I see you're going to the local lapidary event tomorrow - that would be your best bet for local advice.
I’ve heard that you can find zeolites and other stuff in parts of laidley creek and I know myself if you go to casuarina camping area about 40 mins south west of gatton in east Haldon you can find stacks of zeolites, crystally basalt and chalcedony. Enjoy
The mad Rockhounder
I have been out to Swipers Gully and the only people I know that have got anything decent spent a long time there and had the equipment to process a lot of material. I didn’t find it too worthwhile