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.
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| 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.
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191116 About to ascend the jumpup
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191116 The sky above the jumpup. Not only was it
windy at ground level
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191116 From the top of the jumpup. Starting the descent
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191116 View coming down from the jumpup, showing
the road back to the highway |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 191116 Another view from the laboratory, looking north east |
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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.
Here are a few other photographs around Winton township.
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.
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| 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.
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| 280517 Valley of the Cycads |
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| 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.
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| 280517 Death in the Billabong |
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| 280517 Death in the Billabong explanation |
"Pterodactylus Family", featuring life sized bronze models of flying reptiles.
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| 280517 Pterodactylus Family |
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| 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.
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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.
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| 280517 Life sized Kunbarrasaurus ieversi |
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| 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.
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280517 Blocks of the harder rock fallen down the
face of the mesa |
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280517 Hard rock fallen away as the soft underlying
rock weathers |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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