What an amazing find this is! Tucked into his son’s sportsgood store in outback St George in Queensland is the most incredible display of carved emu eggs. When I left the Nindigully Pub I travelled about 50 kms north west to St George to find out what all the buzz was about these eggs…. I wasn’t disappointed!

The Outback, an R.M. Williams magazine, tells it exactly how it is upon arrival.

Story By Kerryn Suttor

“I’m going to tell you somethin’ that nobody else in the world knows,” Stavros Margaritis says with a conviction that makes you listen. “It will cost you three dollars … and if you’re not happy, well … then I give you back six,” he says, eyes twinkling.
Steve (Stavros) Margaritis is St George’s own ‘unique man’, an emu-egg carver who has an extraordinary collection of more than 150 hand-carved emu eggs tucked away at the back of his guns and ammunition shop, The Balonne Sports Store, in the main street in St George in south-western Queensland.

Steve, the emu egg carver, welcomes you to his display which is like a potted history of Australian and world events over the last 60 years. A short video fills you in on Steve’s life and decision to come to Australia from his native Greece. Can you buy his eggs? No! This is not a ‘come on’ to part with your dollars, for how could you put a price on the hours of work that goes into each of his creations.

The video explains the many layers of an emu egg and how, as you carve through each layer you reveal different colours. Steve has one on display to demonstrate this.

Imagine the perseverance and imagination to create these works of art that are lit internally with LED lights and positioned in a mirrored box so all facets can be seen.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This place hadn’t even been on my bucket list until the day before I arrived here! What better reason could there be to visit St George in outback Queensland?