Day 03 – Winton

We have two nights in Winton, staying at the Boulder Motel. Last night’s dinner was at the Motel dining room with the rest of the travelling team.

A word about the group: The Guide/Driver are a couple - Jazza and Barbara. There are 12 travelers in the group, all our age (or even older!); only three men. We appear to get along fine (so far).

Woke up this morning to a colourful sunrise – it was a bit cold too, at 15C.

The main attraction of Winton for me (and lots of others) is the Dinosaur Museum located not far from the town. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Age_of_Dinosaurs

The ‘Age of Dinosaurs’ museum started when in 1999, a local farmer David Elliot discovered a dinosaur bone while mustering sheep on his property. Through dedicated work from large number of people (scientists, local people, farmers, volunteers, Governments etc. etc. it has been turned into a world class ‘dinosaur site’. They even managed to move a whole swamp mudflat covered with dinosaur footprints just before floods destroyed the original site permanently. The current complex is a true tribute to the vision and dedication of a band of enthusiasts from a range of disciplines. I was very impressed!

In the fossil preparation laboratory were some of the signature specimens displayed. One that really caught my eye was a crocodilian (called ‘Chookie’) and its stomach contents!

Entrance to the museum – the building itself is well designed.  The dinosaur tracks on display are simply mind blowing – the story they weave from some foot prints is amazing. [e.g. How a baby dinosaur ran in front of a big one which had to stop suddenly – showing slip marks in the mud)

We also visited the ‘musical fence’ – where old household objects were assembled as instruments for a band.

In the afternoon Marg and I had a beer at the old Gregory Hotel, the most famous pub in Winton (where Banjo Patterson wrote the famous ‘Waltzing Matilda’. The pub has some excellent etched glass windows.