Hi Pawny, good luck at the bend.
To get to the public area, turn off Abercrombie Road on to Riverview Road (note that in google maps, it's called "Riverview Forest Road". Drive slowly and after a few minutes on your right you will first see a little green sign (about waste height) that says "Fossicking Area", you will then see a larger green sign a bit further down the road - there is a bit of a clearing on the right side of the road where you can pull over off the road. You will see holes everywhere. Get in a hole and start digging out the wash layer just above the clay base. It can be pretty hard in some places, so picks, crow bars etc will come in handy.
There isn't any water at the Bend to sieve the gravel, so either pop it in the car and take it down Riverview Road to the dam on the right, or bring your own water and a tub. If you take your own water and tub, just be prepared with some heavy duty garbage bags if you need to get the tub back into the car - you will end up with a pretty thick wad of sticky clay in the bottom of your tub and on everything.
Last tip - the gravel at the Bend is pretty heavy, so check the whole sieve when you flip it out - because the sapphires won't always separate well from the rest of the rocks - unlike places like Grabben Gullen, they won't always be sitting on the top and in the middle - no matter how good your sieving technique is.
Have fun.
