There are tree changers and sea changers, but Carol and Ian Elliott's life began to rock when they bought an ancient volcanic mountain in Queensland.

For 18 years the former landscapers have been unearthing the marvels created millions of years ago by cooling lava at Wolvi, north of Noosa.

Stonemasons then use their rocks to make architectural statements in high-end homes and to build feature walls and waterfalls in the gardens of the rich.

Stone mason Ryan 'Wombat' Freeman says working with the Elliotts' rocks is a primal experience. ( Supplied: Ryan 'Wombat' Freeman )

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 5 minutes 37 seconds 5 m A Big Country: Harvesting a mountain of rocks Download 2.6 MB

"I can remember when we were kids and helping dad on the farm, we would be throwing rocks into a gully out of the cultivation," Ms Elliott laughed.

Now they earn a living from the basalt beauties they pull from the earth of their 'rock farm'.

Ian Elliott loves his job. ( ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols )

"There are lots of different sorts. There are some we call moon rocks — they've just got lots of holes all over them," Ms Elliott said.

"There are some with beautiful round holes right through them [and] we're not sure whether it was [from] molten rock flowing around a branch and the branch then rotted away.

"We've found beautiful crystal rocks [and] obsidian rocks. You never know what you're going to dig up next."

Ian Elliott is constantly amazed at the rocks he digs up on their property. ( ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols )

Their 'dish rocks', formed when the earth was erupting with channels of molten lava, are in demand for water features and bird baths.

"As you pull them out they crack off and then there's another one sitting below," Mr Elliott said.

Ian Elliott says giant basalt rocks like this come in great columns that naturally cracked as the lava cooled. ( ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols )

"The lava comes out of the volcano, 20 foot deep (6.09m) and then that just gradually cools and forms all these five or six-sided columns.

"It cracks into shapes like the mud in the bottom of a dam when it goes dry."

Stonemason Ryan 'Wombat' Freeman uses the Elliotts' rocks in his creations for wealthy clients on the Sunshine Coast and in building his own private retreat on his hinterland property.

Stonemason 'Wombat' Freeman uses the Elliotts' ancient rocks in his work for high-end clients. ( Supplied: Ryan 'Wombat' Freeman )

He made the move from Western Australia where he built work to stand the test of time in wineries, galleries, and breweries around Margaret River.

Mr Freeman buys direct from the Elliotts who sell a small truckload of landscaping rocks for around $400.

"It's awesome working with something that was created so many years ago inside a volcano's belly, it's beautiful in its own nature," he said.

"They're not using explosives to blow the rock apart, it is just naturally how it comes out of the ground."

Carol Elliott is proud of her husband Ian's inventiveness in purpose building this excavator scoop to sift dirt from the rocks. ( ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols )

An excavator scoop is just one of the inventions Mr Elliott created to free his landscaping stone from the red and black volcanic earth.

The heaviest rocks can weigh as much as five tonnes, putting strain on the truck that winds its way up and down four-wheel drive tracks cut into the mountain.

The Elliotts' 'work site' has sweeping views across the coast to Fraser Island on a clear day and is where the stresses of the world melt away.

On a clear day you can see all the way to Fraser Island from the mountain. ( ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols )

"We don't advertise, there's just a sign down the road and word of mouth," Ms Elliott said.

"We're very comfortable with what we sell. We don't need to make a massive amount of money, we just want to make a livelihood for ourselves and the kids and clean the property up.

"It's a limited market, there are a lot of fake walls they put in now that don't look as nice, don't look as natural.



"You compete with the timber retaining walls and that sort of thing, but they don't last anywhere near as long."