29 May 2017 - Winton to Cloncurry

This morning the bottom fell out of the weather,  We awoke to a heavily overcast sky and the clouds stayed with us the whole 351 km to Cloncurry.  However, travelling was quite comfortable but we did miss the sun and it was cold when we left the car.  The temperature struggled to 22 degrees but it was most often in the 18 degree region.  There was a reasonable breeze to add to the discomfort.

The countryside was again flat, flat, flat with occasional low, sparsely treed hills.  The "dry" theme continued.

290517 Overcast sky and flat countryside

290517 Hills seemed to just pop up out of the flat countryside

29051 The hills were sparsely vegetated

We had morning tea at a roadside stop which was close to some interesting hills.  We photographed one hill in particular 3 years ago and again today.  The two photographs follow for comparison.  It goes to prove weathering is alive and well.

290517 Today's photograph of readily named hill (?)

220414 Readily named hill (?) off the highway near Kynuna

One point of interest was the hotel at McKinlay, which was used in the Crocodile Dundee film.

290517 Walkabout Hotel at McKinlay

290517 Correction: Crocodile Dundee's Walkabout Creek
Hotel at McKinlay

25 km from Cloncurry we left the Landsborough Highway and turned westward on to the Flinders Highway, which took us to our destination for tonight, Cloncurry.

We have been driving on roads we have travelled several times before, but tomorrow we move into areas we haven't visited, as we head north from Cloncurry to Gregory Downs.

28 May 2017 - Longreach to Winton

Another glorious day, perfect for the 180km jaunt to Winton.  The countryside was dry and flat, flat flat.  We did not see any sign of elevation until we neared Winton.  

280517 First topography after about 130 km from Longreach

As we left Longreach we crossed the Thompson River. which feeds into Cooper's Creek further south, and further along the way we entered the catchment area for the Georgina River and Lake Eyre.

The last time we were at Winton we visited the Australian Age of Dinosaurs display,  25-30km south east of Winton.  We heard their new Dinosaur Canyon was opened last Easter and felt it was worth another visit.

To put this into context we thought it wise to include the commentary (in italics) and photographs we included in our blog at that time, November 2016.

Today we had the pleasure and privilege of visiting the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Centre. The Centre is about 30km south of Winton.  It is on the top of a mesa reached via a gravel road up a jumpup.  

191116 About to ascend the jumpup

191116 The sky above the jumpup. Not only was it
windy at ground level

191116 From the top of the jumpup.  Starting the descent

191116 View coming down from the jumpup, showing
the road back to the highway

191116 Another view coming down the jumpup

The whole dinosaur process was started by a grazier David Elliot, who found some unusual rocks on his sheep property.  These were ultimately proven to be a dinosaur from the Cretaceous period. 

191116 David Elliot

Over time, the secrets to discovery, preservation and restoration of the bones have been unlocked and today, the area around Muttaburra, Winton etc has become one of the most exciting sites for dinosaur exploration in Australia.

David Elliot sought a 200 hectare site for what he saw as a place for preserving, displaying and educating people about Australian dinosaurs.  There was no place large enough in Winton.  A local grazier offered him, not 200 hectares but 4200 hectares on top of a mesa on his property.  Not only is the site and its access magical, but so is the view across the plains, from which the mesa rises.

191116 Another view from the laboratory, looking north east

191116 The view from the Reception Centre looking north
with Winton barely visible just left of centre

The Centre relies on land owners to identify potential bones.  If verified as prehistoric bones, a crew of diggers on a pre-planned program, go for a "dig" on the field.  Many diggers are volunteers.  The bones are carefully extracted and wrapped in aluminium, paper and plaster and returned to the laboratory.  The laboratory removes the rock and soil and restores the bones to a state suitable for study or display.

191116 Dinosaur bones in the field 

191116 From the field to the laboratory

191116 The laboratory building

191116 Preserved bones - 10 years work here for restoration

191116  The laboratory

191116 Painstaking removal of soil and rock to expose the bone
using small pneumatic "jack hammers"

191116 At least one months work to restore
this collection of three bones

In the reception area there is a display of recovered bones from three dinosaurs, Banjo, Matilda and Wade.  Wade is thought to be a new species. The dinosaurs are named after the people who first find the bones. 

191116  Australian Age of Dinosaurs Reception Centre

191116 A bronze statue of "Banjo", an Australovenator wintonsis

191116 Restored bones of "Matilda

191116 Matilda - 15-16m long, 2.5m high at the hip and
weighing approximately 15-20 tonnes

191116 Restored bones of "Wade"

191116 An artist's impression of a Titanosaurus aka "Wade",
a species brand new to scientists

191116 Restored bones of "Banjo" - refer picture above

What is even more amazing than the experience today is the realisation that dinosaur bones are found in the black soil plains.  When one sees the immensity of those plains, it is easy to see that the surface has been barely scratched.  What more is there to be discovered?

The Centre is being expanded to include a new display, taking visitors along a pathway alongside which will be life sized brass models of dinosaurs.  It is hoped the first section will be opened at Easter 2017.  

The Centre won the best display in the Tourism Queensland Awards 2016.

What would a day be without some humour.

191116 Even the coffee has a dinosaur footprint

Here are a few other photographs around Winton township.

191116 The promised photograph of a Winton rubbish bin

191116 The swagman - camped by the swimming pool

191116 Banjo Patterson, writer of "Waltzing Matilda"

191116 Winton's main street from the southern end

Returning now to today's blog.

We went on a conducted tour of the new Dinosaur Canyon.  A 2km drive by bus took us to the Dinosaur Canyon Outpost.  This is the start of a 300m walk along the face of the mesa.  

280517 The walkway

Amongst the natural rocky outcrops, dinosaur displays have been constructed and there is a "Valley of the Cycads", in which they are attempting to show the plant species that grew 95 million years ago when dinosaurs roamed Australia.  The cycads that have been planted there are 700-800 years old and it will take quite some time for them to be reestablished.

280517 Valley of the Cycads

280517 Valley of the Cycads

The dinosaur displays included, 

"Death in the Billabong", where dinosaur bone replicas are shown in a dried out water hole.

280517 Death in the Billabong

280517 Death in the Billabong explanation

"Pterodactylus Family", featuring life sized bronze models of flying reptiles.

280517 Pterodactylus Family

280517 Pterodactylus Family the explanation

"Dinosaur Stampede", based on the animals of the stampede as represented at Lark Quarry, another dinosaur display west of Winton.

280517 Dinosaur stampede - 24 small dinosaurs leaping
across a chasm to escape a theropod dinosaur,
Australovenator

"Kunbarrasaurus ieversi", life sized bronze models of a family of armoured dinosaurs found in NW Queensland.

280517 Life sized Kunbarrasaurus ieversi

280517 Kunbarrasaurus ieversi explanation

The walk travels down the face of the mesa and you can see the mesa cap rock underlain by a softer rock layer.  The soft rock is subject to easy erosion and the cap rock falls in large blocks away from the mesa face.   The rock colours were a beautiful contrast to the colours of the ghost gums with their white limbs and green foliage, and an azure blue sky.

280517 Blocks of the harder rock fallen down the
face of the mesa

280517 Hard rock fallen away as the soft underlying
rock weathers

280517 Contrasting colours

The future, quote "Dinosaur Canyon is the first phase of the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History building - an international centre of excellence leading in the conservation and research of Australia's dinosaurs.  The Museum will house education, research and tourism facilities, along with world class dinosaur exhibits, fossils, minerals and interpretations representing the evolution of life in Australia.  It will tell the story of the Australian continent, presenting its 4.5 billion year geological journey through deep time as a special part of the heritage of all Australians." unquote.

280517 The future

We enjoyed our third visit to this site and can thoroughly recommend it to anybody planning to visit Winton or thereabouts.

Tomorrow - Cloncurry, here we come.