Winton
The most westerly point for this trip and the main reason Marilyn joined us, DINOSAURS, the unique Australian ones were not thought to exist in any numbers, but that was to change with the chance discovery in 1990 of a giant femur from a Cretaceous Sauropod that roamed the Winton area 95 million years ago.
To quote Marilyn
“Winton is a funny little town. There were 3 pubs, a movie theatre and a very few shops .The medium strip was well maintained and on the grass there were metal sheep and as it was coming up to Anzac Day they had handmade poppies dotted around. At one end there were concrete stands with the words of Waltzing Matilda and brass figures embedded in each. It was beautifully done. At the other end there was a small pond.
We did a drive around and decided it was not a place we would be moving to but talking to the locals it comes alive for many festivals etc. Carol and I are quite keen on the Opera which comes to town each May - maybe next year!”
We had already booked our tickets for The Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History and the Dinosaur Stampede National Monument as we did not want to miss out, well before we left Sydney. These tours are very popular and can easily be booked out during the height of the tourist season, though in this case we need not have worried.
I found that after speaking to the tour guides and some volunteers that we choose the right time to visit, the heat of summer was gone and the crowds (and noisy kids) had not arrived yet, this made for a pleasant visit to both places noting that in both cases the venues are well out of town.
This was the thing that filled two days the first for the Museum, the second for the stampede. While the museum was only s short distance out of town it allowed us time to explore the district near the township and finding a flock of budgies, it also allowed time to mingle with the locals who made us feel very welcome, especially the people at the Hotel Australia, who stay open for lunch later than anyone else.
While the Age of Dinosaurs was only 26km and on tar roads the Dinosaur Stampede was much further (106km each way) and most of that on dirt roads so this would have not been so pleasant if we were following a host of cars travelling on that road, as it was there was only one car that we passed.
Travelling back to Winton after our visit we decided to visit the Old Cork Homestead that was mentioned by the guide, quite a detour but worth it. The old homestead is a ruin now, and quite isolated (this means no spray cans have made it so far :-)) but would have been an impressive building when it was built around the 1880’s. Before Winton was established it was the mail distribution point.
As the homestead was often cut off for several weeks at a time, the administration centre of the property moved at the turn of the 20th Century. However, the families of the workers on the property continued to live there until the 1980s, when it was abandoned. It has since been allowed to deteriorate. :-(
This trip also took us over the mighty Diamantina River (the cause of the homestead being cut off) that although the river was not in full flow was a delight to cross and reminded me of just how much the landscape in this part of the outback can change during the Wet and Dry Seasons.
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Becoming a Grey Nomad
Winton Trip