Day 17 Longreach to Winton

 It was a short drive to Winton which has achieved fame as the dinosaur capital of Australia due to  the efforts of David Elliot and his discovery of the dinosaur femur as well as the footprints out at the stampede. These are probably the 2 key things people come to Winton for but the other thing that is here is the Waltzing Matilda Centre. This is part of the information centre and provides an expansive history of the song Waltzing Matilda and of course Banjo Patterson and the events leading to him writing the words to a melody he heard being played on one of the stations. It also covers the general history of the area including the opal mining that goes on. I didn't realise how much opal mining is done in areas across Queensland or how long it had actually been going on. Lots of opal shops in town and you can get some beautiful pieces depending on your budget. 

Original manuscript of Waltzing Matilda

Main street of Winton

The main reason we came to Winton was to visit the Age of Dinosaurs . This complex is just outside of town and is a non profit organisation that is dedicated to the the excavation and preservation of the fossils in the area, Due to the nature of the soil type many of the fossils in the ground are at risk of being destroyed due so they are trying to preserve them . You can take various tours but we choose the dinosaur experience which gets you  into all areas of the complex to see them at work and to look at the dinosaur run that was removed from a creek bed over a period of 3 years and placed under cover in exactly the same position to protect it. It shows you the footprints made by various dinosaurs up to 95 million years ago. There is also the fossil lab where they are slowly working on all the excavated fossils and the collection room where they have completed works to look at. 

It was a very interesting day and they have plans to continue to expand the area with a world class museum. 

Fossils are encased in plaster of paris to protect while waiting to be cleaned up 

Dinosaur Run

Yes flies veils are compulsory!!!

We had a great free camp which was also very popular, It was just outside Winton called the Long Waterhole. Stayed there for a couple of nights and enjoyed the stars and yet another great sunset.

Popular Camp Area