Wednesday 29th March, 2017
Today we travelled from Longreach towards Winton. The road between the two is long, straight and unremarkable. The scenery changes, from scrub, to savannah, and back, but unremarkable.
About 15 k's before Winton we took a turn off to the Australian Age Of Dinosaurs Museum. The beautifully sealed and maintained road, soon gave way to 10 km of road works, involving dirt, detours, gravel and a steep climb, not recommended for two wheel drives towing caravans. Bev grabbed the side of the seat, I slotted the car into 4 wheel drive and gave it a few berries......easy as, no dramas.
The museum is a most fascinating destination. A local land holder, while mustering sheep on his motorbike, came across an unusual rock in his paddock. He took a photo, and sent it to a museum in Brisbane.
The result was the discovery of a new species of dinosaur, and the largest and most complete sauropod (like a brontosaurus) fossil, discovered in Australia. We were give a tour of the laboratory, where volunteers remove the encasing rock from the fossilised bones, it is amazing to see something that has not seen the light of day for 95 MILLION years.....
It was interesting to see and hear how the fossils are found and recovered, the lab at the Australian Age of Dinosaur Museum, is the largest and most productive fossil lab in the southern hemisphere. It was amazing to see the racks of recovered fossils that are yet to be released from their rocky enclosures. When you see a fossil dig on the telly, you don't think that it may be up to 10 years before the 'bone' is released.
The area around Winton is remarkable in that no less than three new species of dinosaur have been discovered.
After realizing that we were not the fossils they were looking for we were permitted to leave and headed into Winton.
Winton is famous for being the area where Andrew Barton Patterson (Banjo) wrote a little ditty which has become an Australian standard. When it was accompanied with a Scottish folk tune...became that, which we all know as "Waltzing Matilda" (You can stop singing now!)
Thursday 30th March, 2017
We overnighted in the caravan park operated by the Tattersalls Hotel. Conveniently the hotel also does meals and cold beverages....
This morning we drove the relatively short distance (123 k's) to visit the Lark Quarry Conservation Park. Lark Quarry is the only place on the planet where you can see, preserved in stone, dinosaur footprints. Not just one or two - hundreds of them. It is the site of a dinosaur stampede 95 million years ago.
This morning we drove the relatively short distance (123 k's) to visit the Lark Quarry Conservation Park. Lark Quarry is the only place on the planet where you can see, preserved in stone, dinosaur footprints. Not just one or two - hundreds of them. It is the site of a dinosaur stampede 95 million years ago.
The large footprints belong to a small to medium ornithopod a meat eater. Scientists believe that the small tracks are of small carnivore, about the size of a chicken. (we don't know if they tasted like chicken?). It is believed that the tracks show the panic of the smaller dinosaurs, when the large dinosaur went hunting. The image below shows the relative size of the big bugger.
It is an amazing place!!
This afternoon we took a drive around the Bladensburg National Park. This park is just outside Winton. This park was once Bladensburg Station, a working sheep station. It was fascinating to drive round the park, it is hard to imaging it supporting 10 sheep, let alone tens of thousands.
However the scenery is spectacular.
Tonight we Overnight in Winton, then move north to Cloncurry.
This afternoon we took a drive around the Bladensburg National Park. This park is just outside Winton. This park was once Bladensburg Station, a working sheep station. It was fascinating to drive round the park, it is hard to imaging it supporting 10 sheep, let alone tens of thousands.
However the scenery is spectacular.
Tonight we Overnight in Winton, then move north to Cloncurry.
Very interesting!
ReplyDelete