Hughenden, 22/07/2009 in Dinosaur country, this is one of the areas where a lot of Dinosaur fossils have been found, the town has statues & sculptures of Dinosaurs to highlight the many different species including Muttaburrasaurus. I won’t bore you with the names of other species (only because I can’t spell most).
For 5 years we have been trying to get to Porcupine Gorge, each time there has been a problem, but, this time success & well worth the wait. 2 lookouts allow views of sheer walls as well as walls leading away north & east that allow access to pedestrian traffic. Although this old fossil baulked thinking of the climb back. The road out from Hughenden has been upgraded so normal cars can get to the lookouts & camping area. One highlight was for the first time in all our travels we saw a snake in the wild, a beautiful 2 metre black who was sunning on the road, we swerved round but didn’t stop as he would have been long gone by the time got back for a pic.
Tomorrow, we travel the 215 kms to Winton where a lot of new fossils have been found & a new displays set up. We were out to Larks Quarry last time we were here where a big dig was taking place. This was the scene of a stampede where a lot of small raptor types were chased by a big fellow. The tracks were preserved in the mud as it set.
We were told before we left Hughenden that the road was OK & had a couple of dodgy sections, but, no one would say how dodgy. So with misgivings we set out, we have travelled over worse dodgy roads. We did find some cupboards came open & stuff on the floor.
At Winton we went out to the Australian dinosaur discovery centre where we were given a great tour, the guide was the same one who took us on the tour of Larks Quarry a couple of years ago. She was very knowledgeable & entertaining.
Winton was also good as for the first time Browny was so close to the loo, Normally she has a short walk, this time 4steps and she was there, any closer & the van was in the door.
As you can see being in fossil country we feel at home
At the caravan park we found it to be the most ‘people friendly’ camp, entertainment every night. While we were there they had Graham Rodger,a very good country singer & Mellanee Hall a bush poet/comedian who was brilliant. If you have a chance to see either we would recommend you do.
From Winton it was on to Alpha, the town of murals, this was just an overnight stop before a long day down to Cania Gorge, one of our favourite camps & some of our favourite people. Jill & Peter make us so very welcome.
While setting up camp we had to put the van up on a block, when Shorty unhitched it rolled off with a bang, Browny, who was in the van , flew out, she hadn’t moved so fast since her mother chased her with a frying pan!!!!!!! +:}}}}}}}}}}}}}
The army was on the move on the run down from Winton to Cania, We didn’t know we had that big an army, truck after truck ranging from 4WDs to low loaders with tanks etc.
