Dinotopia at Winton

14 days away from home - and about 4 days behind already. Oh well, not in a hurry. A short drive today of only 200k and the weather warming up to over 30.

About 15k before Winton is the Australian Age of Dinosaurs which is located on a "jump up" geological formation. It has the largest collection of Australian dinosaurs in the world and is where people from all walks of life can go on Dino digs or work in the laboratory to prose the fossils from the rock. All the fossils have been unearthed from the Winton area. The local farmers are quite happy for the paleontologists to come and dig on their land as they are able to name a dinosaur - there is one named Mick because Mick owned the land where it was found - makes sense to me.

The famous "Banjo"

There are two tours, each about 30 minutes. One is of the lab where the hands on work is done and the other, the collection room where the finds are explained. Elliot is the main star, over 30 metres long (a vegetarian) and the other was Banjo - he was a fast meat eater, a nasty little critter. The whole show was very entertaining and informative.

Banjo Patterson

A short drive into town, and it was now late and hot - amazing how the hours go by so quickly. We were contemplating going to the Bladensberg National Park to camp, but it was another 45 minutes away down a dirt road, and we had had enough for one day. So off to the Matilda Country Tourist Park for the night, and from there to explore tomorrow. This was supposedly the place where Waltzing Matilda was written by Banjo Patterson, the great australian poet.
The bicycles have been unloaded as we thought they would be the best way to explore - the town ain't that big. A ride to the music fence and played some lovely tunes - very ingenious. Bits of fence wire through different baffles and you get the different notes. There were also all types of instruements made from scrap.

A tour then through the waltzing Matilda centre in the Main Street, full of memorabilia and displays and an easy place to spend a few hours. The town really plays the dinosaur card, as well as opals. Even the bins in the Main Street are dinosaur feet.

The old buildings have history and one of the pubs in in its fourth build, all the others being burnt down. There is also Arno's wall, a mortar and mud and rock 2m high wall that has everything, including the kitchen sink incorporated. Don't know why but maybe the heat has something to do with it.

Tomorrow we head to Mt.Isa via the Min Min highway through Boulia. The tales from other travelers and locals is that this way is spectacular scenery and not to be missed. Will try to early vote before heading off.