In Winton

The main highlight today was always going to be the visit to Lark Quarry to see the footprints left following the dinosaur stampede. We tried to book on a tour but it was booked out which left us driving the 110km (50km of very ordinary unsealed road). It was worth the trip.
The countryside was spectacular, as is most of western Qld and we gained a new appreciation of the hardships endured by the early explorers who traveled through this spinifex country. Briefly, the story of the stampede is that a large group of small dinosaurs was hanging around (probably playing cards and drinking beer) when this huge carnivorous fella crashed their party looking for a feed. As expected, the little fellas took off in all directions and miraculously their footprints were preserved in the clay pan and quickly covered with sediment to be preserved for millions of years. (95 to be precise) It was a humbling experience looking down on an event from so long ago given we think our 60 odd years of existence seems a long time. 
To preserve the site this building was constructed over the dig. It is solar powered, thermostatically controlled and is environmentally friendly as you could possible get. They figure the footprints run for 400m in one direction and another couple of hundred in the other, but will not be excavating  any more of the site in the foreseeable 
future.
We talked to a couple from Western Australia at Lark Quarry and they pulled up after us for a cuppa at a rest area on the way back to Winton. They were from Denmark (WA not Europe) so we exchanged stories of last year's western adventure.

Back in Winton we went looking for buildings to show John's Uncle Bob who was posted here in the 1950's to the Bank of New South Wales. As well as some photos to show Bob we saw the Banjo Patterson memorial (check out Banjo Chris in her poet stance) and Arno's wall. What's that you might ask? It is Winton's answer to someone with too much time on their hands and too much concrete to get rid of. This guy, presumably Arno, built a wall about 40m long and 'artistically' placed lots of 'treasures' - motorbikes, farm machinery, household appliances, sewing machines, hub caps etc... Interesting but unlikely to become an international art sensation.

Seen today: A few spits of rain (hopefully the lead in for a downpour tomorrow - smells good though); not seen but smelt - the infamous sulphur smell of the bore water; starry skies (last night); a guy who used to play tennis with John's Uncle Bob in the old days; opals; very expensive fruit and vegetables - white grapes @ $26.00/kg (needless to say the closest thing to grapes we are having tonight is the wine!).