Inland Queensland - 18 - 25 October
We decided to head inland and see some of central Queensland which having been in drought for the last few years is in desperate need of rain but is nevertheless happy to see travellers who spend a few dollars.
Providing us with a purpose is the "Dinosaur Trail" which includes the towns of Richmond, Hughenden and Winton. First stop Hughenden which hosts the Flinders Discovery Centre and Museum. The Museum's star attraction is “Hughie”, a life size skeletal replica, this 7 metre Muttaburrasaurus was cast from the original bones of a 110 million year old dinosaur found in the Flinders Shire. The centre also contained a comprehensive display illustrating the gruelling life of a shearer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
A highlight of our stay was camping in Porcupine Gorge about an hour north of Hughenden. In addition to the spectacular gorge, at night we were entertained by several rufous bettong, which is a small marsupial (rat-kangaroo). They were looking for any moisture they could find so we gave them a drink.
Providing us with a purpose is the "Dinosaur Trail" which includes the towns of Richmond, Hughenden and Winton. First stop Hughenden which hosts the Flinders Discovery Centre and Museum. The Museum's star attraction is “Hughie”, a life size skeletal replica, this 7 metre Muttaburrasaurus was cast from the original bones of a 110 million year old dinosaur found in the Flinders Shire. The centre also contained a comprehensive display illustrating the gruelling life of a shearer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
A highlight of our stay was camping in Porcupine Gorge about an hour north of Hughenden. In addition to the spectacular gorge, at night we were entertained by several rufous bettong, which is a small marsupial (rat-kangaroo). They were looking for any moisture they could find so we gave them a drink.
Winton is probably best known as the place where ‘Banjo’ Paterson wrote Australia’s unofficial national anthem “Waltzing Matilda” in 1895. Just as significantly, the first board meeting of Qantas was held at the Winton Club in 1921. The Waltzing Matilda Museum was unfortunately recently razed to the ground, however, Winton has other attractions such as its quirky Musical Fence.
The Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum is in a spectacular location on the edge of a "jump-up" 24km from Winton. It holds the largest collection of unique Australian dinosuar fossils and the most productive fossil preparation laboratory in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum is in a spectacular location on the edge of a "jump-up" 24km from Winton. It holds the largest collection of unique Australian dinosuar fossils and the most productive fossil preparation laboratory in the Southern Hemisphere.
The attraction which amazed and captivated us was the 95 million year old fossilised dinosaur footprints known as the Lark Quarry Dinosaur Trackways, situated 110km from Winton along the corrugated gravel Jundah road. This site is the world's only recorded evidence of a dinosaur stampede. The Trackways are apparently the inspiration behind stampede scene in "Jurassic Park" and Spielberg visited the site before making the movie.
Viewing the Trackways is now by guided tour only following various accidents and events of vandalism in the late eighties. One lady decided she would dig out a couple of square metres as a souvenir. Fortunately she was caught and prosecuted. In what seemed to me a classic hypocrisy, the Museum of Queensland and the University of Queensland are revered for their contribution to the find and development of the site which included one of them digging out their own patch for archive in Brisbane! To me, however, the one most shocking incident occurred during construction of the outstanding facility which now encapsulates the footprints. The whole surface area was protected by a layer of hay covered by plastic sheeting, over which the workers decided to weld the handrails together! No prizes to those in the construction industry who can guess the result. The protection of course caught fire and badly scorched the rock surface. Notwithstanding, the footprints (all 3300 of them) are a natural spectacle we were in awe of and glad we made the effort to see. Unfortunately this is one of those things that photographs cannot do justice to.
Viewing the Trackways is now by guided tour only following various accidents and events of vandalism in the late eighties. One lady decided she would dig out a couple of square metres as a souvenir. Fortunately she was caught and prosecuted. In what seemed to me a classic hypocrisy, the Museum of Queensland and the University of Queensland are revered for their contribution to the find and development of the site which included one of them digging out their own patch for archive in Brisbane! To me, however, the one most shocking incident occurred during construction of the outstanding facility which now encapsulates the footprints. The whole surface area was protected by a layer of hay covered by plastic sheeting, over which the workers decided to weld the handrails together! No prizes to those in the construction industry who can guess the result. The protection of course caught fire and badly scorched the rock surface. Notwithstanding, the footprints (all 3300 of them) are a natural spectacle we were in awe of and glad we made the effort to see. Unfortunately this is one of those things that photographs cannot do justice to.
Leaving the Dinosaur Trail it was on to Longreach the home the Stockman's Hall of Fame and the Qantas Museum where Harry and I wiled away an afternoon.
On the way back to Townsville we passed the "Tree of Knowledge" in Barcaldine, which was regarded as the birthplace of the Australian Labor Party. This was because the town was the headquarters of the 1891 Australian shearers' strike where policy and decisions were made. We also did a little fossicking for sapphires near the aptly named town of Sapphire. We did find a few small ones but nothing that would have paid our camp fees that night.
