Estimated to be 120 million years old, two of the world’s largest known crystals have a new home at the Crystal Castle in Byron’s hinterland. Both are 5.5 metres and are a smoky quartz geode and an amethyst geode cave. Manager Naren King says it’s the result of a ‘monumental deal with a Uruguayan farmer and long-term friend of the Castle.’ Pictured are Molly-Rose and Roxy. Photo Jeff ‘I Said Atheist, Not Amethyst’ Dawson
Latest News
Head-on crash car traveling in wrong direction
Police say that two men are in hospital after an accident on the M1 overnight, when emergency services responded to reports of a crash involving two cars near Clothiers Creek
Other News
Where announcements masquerade as action
The great secret about government in Australia is this: no-one wants to know about government in Australia.
Sprout lovers
Sprouts can sometimes be overlooked on the weekly grocery list… except for those in the know, of course!
Getting the right stuff in your bins in the Tweed
Tweed Council is asking residents to be more careful with what waste they put in which bin – a surprising amount of the area's refuse, both recycling and landfill, ends up in the wrong receptacle.
Beach Hotel gets a $6m makeover
Owners of the Beach Hotel, Moelis, say they undertook extensive repairs and updates to the tune of around $6m after COVID-19 forced closure and limited trading last year.
Mandy Nolan’s Soapbox: The New Resilience
Resilience is dead. The word has been overused. Some may say the word is no longer resilient. We broke it. It’s unfortunate because it was a really good word.
A man dead after boat capsizes on Ballina Bar
Police have confirmed that a man has died after a boat capsized at Ballina earlier today.
- Tags
- Crystal Castle
Previous articleCulture Roundup: Wednesday 29 June, 2016
Next articleCall to secure women’s lake at Broken Head
Support The Echo
Keeping the community together and the community voice loud and clear is what The Echo is about. More than ever we need your help to keep this voice alive and thriving in the community.
Like all businesses we are struggling to keep food on the table of all our local and hard working journalists, artists, sales, delivery and drudges who keep the news coming out to you both in the newspaper and online. If you can spare a few dollars a week – or maybe more – we would appreciate all the support you are able to give to keep the voice of independent, local journalism alive.

Letters
Housing crisis and Council
Paul Bibby - 0
Avital Sheffer, Mullumbimby
Population growth in this Shire is inevitable like it or not. Those who are being pushed out by the unfolding housing tragedy are...
Letters
Flawed plan
Kai Beijerbacht, Mullumbimby
For those of you who haven’t been living under a rock, I’m sure you are aware of the ever-increasing housing shortage crisis in...
Letters
Affordable myth
Paul Bibby - 0
Patricia Warren, Brunswick Heads
There is a ‘myth of affordable housing’ in Byron Shire.
Well may councillors lament the lack of ‘affordable housing’ in Byron Shire but...
Letters
Midwife quits
Paul Bibby - 1
Deb Walsh, Fernleigh
It’s become untenable for me to continue working in hospitals. I have quit. I will be deregistered soon by my own choice.
Working with...
More Articles Like This
Crystal Castle unveils dragon egg
A brand-new treasure has been unveiled at the Crystal Castle – a rare Uruguayan Amethyst dragon egg.
Rescued from slavery: Ramesh’s tale
Young children who are born into some of the poorest countries are the target of slave traders.While it’s common it’s also heart wrenching; each child’s story is different and compelling.
Toni Childs to headline Rebuild Nepal concert
Eighteen months on from the devastating earthquakes in Nepal, which claimed nearly 9,000 lives and left 3.5 million homeless, efforts to repair the physical and emotional damage continue.
Crystal Guardians ‘the tallest in the world’
Crystal Castle’s ‘managing dreamer’ Naren King officially unveiled what he says are the tallest crystals in the known world last week. They have been called the Crystal Guardians, and have travelled all the way from Uruguay.
Every time I see these massive structures all I can wonder is, what wound was left where it was dynamited, drilled or otherwise bludgeoned from someone else’s landscape? What massive carbon footprint did it leave after being flown or shipped across the world and then trucked to it’s final destination? These geodes and millions of other crystals are being torn out of the earth on a mass scale, just take a stroll around Byron shops. What’s it all for? Healing the planet apparently. It’s mining for profit, nothing more. No amount of new age pseudo-science can justify this destruction of the natural world.