Winton Qld

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I have always been fascinated by dinosaurs, and the Jurassic Park movies just heightened my interest. Winton was, thus, a must see town, being Australia's most famous dinosaur relic location.

The caravan park we stayed in built a large camp fire each night for guests to mingle and share stories.

Our first point of interest to visit was the Dinosaur Discovery Centre, located 13 kilometres out of Winton. We first went on a tour of the fossil preparation laboratory, predominantly staffed by volunteers who have completed a ten hour training course. We then attended a lecture on recent dinosaur discoveries in the area, including one of the largest dinosaurs ever uncovered. There were some fossils on display. We then took a train ride to a covered area where a large area of rock had been disassembled and moved to this site, showing numerous dinosaur footprints. An outstanding day.

The next day we rose early to drive 110 kilometres to Lark Quarry, the home of the famous Dinosaur Stampede. It was interesting to see the footprints of the various size dinosaurs embedded in the solidified mud, with the smaller dinosaurs having been surprised by the arrival of a Velociraptor type dinosaur, with panic setting in. Another great day.

We visited the Musical Fence the next day, a collection of instruments made from farm implements, and then explored the history of Banjo Patterson's famous poem, Waltzing Matilda. There is a Waltzing Matilda Museum in the town. It turns out the version written by Banjo differs quite a bit from the version we know today. We listened to a Bush Poet speaking about the history and legacy of Banjo Patterson in the Winton area.

On the way to Cloncurry, we stopped off at Combo Waterhole, and walked through the bush to see the waterhole where the swagman was chased into the billabong by the mounted police, and drowned.

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