We 💛 Winton - The Australian Dinosaur Trail & other adventures Part 2

After 4 wonderful nights and 3 glorious days at Porcupine Gorge with echidnas and bettongs and snakes (oh my!) it was time to move on. To Winton and more Dinosaur adventures We had chatted to some fellow travellers who had come from Winton and had some comments or advice. 

First comment was that the flies are pretty bad. How bad could they be? Advice was not to miss the Gregory North Banjo Paterson show at the North Gregory Hotel. It all made perfect sense.... And also that you should book the final two dinosaur attractions on our muliti-pass; Australian Age of the Dinosaurs and Lark Quarry Dinosaur Stampede National Monument.

Down town Winton - green grass gets the thumbs up from the kids. And yep the flies were bad.

More silly photo opportunities that could not be resisted.

We pulled in to Winton  about 1pm on a Monday- good timing we thought. We had fancied a bakery lunch but found that a large group travelling on motorbikes had bought the entire town out of any fast and easy take away meals.

We ended up at the North Gregory Hotel for lunch having a yummy bistro meal. The North Gregory Hotel is one of 4 hotels in Winton, a town of less than 1000 people in the 2016 census. The current, and 4th, version of the North Gregory was finished in 1955 after the previous 3 versions (1899, 1916 & 1946) burnt down. Fires are a common theme in Winton. One of the other pubs in town had sections closed due to fire. 

While in town we also took advantage of free showers ( had been in the bush for 4 nights if you recall, and swimming is not quite the same) at one of the roadhouses. We also obtained some  town water, bore, which the lady at the Visitors centre assured me would be fine if we just let the sulphur blow off ( it was ).

While at the pub I took the opportunity to call the Australian Age of the Dinosaurs to book us in for our visit. We really wanted to be there for James' 12th birthday the very next day and the lady was very patient and had to move a whole lot of stuff around to accommodate our family. But she did it, and we were very grateful! We were now all booked in for Age of the Dinosaurs and the Dinosaur Stampede the following day.

I know this looks like big flat empty nothing country. This is the drive into Bladensburg National Park, about a 20km drive from Winton where we camped on the river bank for 4 nights and used as a (not always convenient) base to explore Winton and surrounds. 
I love this type of country. The sky is just huge. I love the colours. The tough animals and plants that thrive here. Getting up early and sitting quietly is so rewarding. The smells and sounds. I love the openness. I love that for an hour after sunset the horizon blazes tangerine and mauve and blue. And then the stars - wall to wall. The camp ground was teeming with budgies, and I mean teeming. Like most Australian parrots their crazy bright plumage is surprisingly cryptic in the apparently drab colours of the outback - you really would not think a bright yellow and jewel green bird would be so difficult to see in the yellow spinifex and grey green of the gum trees. Walking up to a clump of spinifex could yield dozens of the bright green little birds, chattering and squeaking as they fly away. Big flocks of them would explode up from the side of the road as we drove along and it became a bit of a game to try and predict where the next 'big' flock would be. Late rain makes for lots and lots of happy budgies around Winton. They were everywhere - in every tree, on stumps and in the grass.

Camp set up #1 Bladensburg - we ended up moving to a better neighbourhood the next morning

HAPPY 12TH BIRTHDAY TO JAMES! Chocolate cake for breakfast!




The kids posing with 'Banjo' at the entrance to The Australian Age of Dinosaurs ( I will abbreviate to Age of Dinos). Banjo is an Australovenator wintonensnis a theropod dinosaur found with sauropod 'Matilda' Diamantinasaurus matildae on nearby Elderslie Station in 2005 by the station owner. They are dinosaurs from the Middle Cretaceous period approximately 100-95MYO.

On entering reception and checking in we were given a timetable as you cannot freely walk around the entire site. The kids were each given a special guide to complete as we went along. There are 4 different areas to experience at Age of Dinos; the fossil preparation laboratory, reception and collection room, March of the Titanosaurs exhibition and Dinosaur canyon and outdoor galleries.

Before I go on - FLIES! Winton is known for its flies. They are bad all the time. Sometimes worse than other times. The fly level was HIGH during our visit due to unseasonable, late rain.  They were super annoying and made even the simplest tasks frustrating.  Most people, and I would say 90%, had fly nets and I started to wonder if we were horrible parents for not offering them. And the kids didn't ask. So we persevered net free, like locals, just waving them off every couple of seconds.


Gross flies. So many flies.

First stop was the March of the Titanosaurs exhibition. This was a guided tour through a large made-for-purpose building to protect the 54m long dinosaur footprints, or trackway. The footprints are a relatively recent discovery on (yet another) nearby cattle station, "Karoola". 

The trackway is known as the Snake Creek tracksite and required the excavation, removal and reassembly of tonnes and tonnes of rock, like an enormous and very significant jigsaw puzzle. Our guide brought the trackway to life for us and explained that we were looking at a snapshot of an (extra)ordinary day near the river or billabong 95million years ago; it was a landscape covered in temperate rainforest - very different to the Jump-up (mesa plateau) the AODD is on today.

Footprints include 4 individual sauropods, including a juvenile, as well as tracks from crocodyloformsi, lungfish, turtles, and ornithopod and therapod dinosaurs all going about their daily business. There is no real drama in the trackway (very different to the Lark Quarry trackway to come) but offers palaeontologists insight into how these animals lived and behaved. 

Bronze statues of the titanosurs

Next we headed to the Dinosaur Canyon outdoor galleries. The kids busied themselves with plaque rubbings at each exhibit to complete their guide books. The adults shooed flies and assisted where necessary. The flies made being outside pretty unpleasant and I am ashamed to say that we rushed this part a little in order to escape the meaning flies. There were 5 exhibits in all; Death in the billabong ( photo below), Cretaceous Garden (in progress), Pterodactylus family, Dinosaur Stampede and the Kunburrasuarus exhibit, all accessed form a raised walkway.

Plaque rubbings

Above 2 photos are part of the dinosaur stampede exhibit showing a single large, predatory therapod dinosaur causing smaller theropod and ornithopod dinosaurs to bolt in an attempt to escape. More on this soon.

We hopped back on the courtesy bus to take us back to reception to eat our packed sandwiches ( and some flies) before heading for the next scheduled guided tour; the preparation lab. This was probably the part of the day I was most looking forward to, with the added bonus that it was inside and away from the bloody flies.

Big legs of sauropod found near Winton. The Winton area has produced more large dinosaur fossils than any other part of Australia, and new sites are being discovered every year. There is currently a back-log of about 10 years work in the AODD prep lab!

The preparation lab was another guided tour with lots of information about just a fraction of some of the incredible finds in the region. We were able to touch some of the 95MYO leg bones of sauropod dinosaurs.

Neck vertebra of a big sauropod dinosaur in the prep lab in the process of being cleaned and assembled. There were several volunteers working on some fossils in the lab who happily fielded questions about all things dinosaur and fossil. I learnt all about the jacketing process, and how it is done in the field to ensure the fossils are safe from breakage but also from changing atmospheric conditions so that they can be transported and potentially stored until someone is ready to prepare and study them. 

The fossil preparation lab at AODD had floor to ceiling shelves full of jacketed specimens from many dig locations just waiting to be cracked open. Years of work ahead. 

Last stop at the AODD was the Collection room, which again had a short presentation by a guide as well as a brief movie and animations to explain various aspects of the dinosaurs being studied here. the collection room contained the holotype (first known) specimens of 'Banjo', 'Matilda' and 'Elliott' Saranasaurus elliottorium (another sauropod) and Ferredraco lentoni  - the most complete pterosaur fossil found in Australia.

The Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum exceeded our expectations. It is a stunning facility in its location and presentation. I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that it isn't just a museum in the static sense, but a work-in-progress. We got to learn about why it has been built, what is happening and what is next. I got the sense that we are in a very exciting phase of dinosaur discovery in Australia. James had a fantastic and unforgettable 12th birthday - who doesn't love dinosaurs?

Jem posing with her Australian Dinosaur merchandise - super cool T-shirt, limited edition Aussie dinosaur Top Trumps game and new softy "Matilda"

After our day at the Age of Dinosaurs museum we headed to the North Gregory Hotel to catch Gregory North's fantastic live show reciting Banjo Paterson's poems. Greg North is a bush poet and his show is well worth seeing. We sang along to  Waltzing Matilda and learnt all about its origins right here in Winton, and heard some of Banjo's most famous poems brought to life. Part performance and part history lesson there was just enough to keep our 2 weary kiddos engaged.

 Birthday dinner by request was pizza at another pub across the road - also a winner. And then a night time drive back to the national park dodging roos.

Day 1 in Winton was a winner and we have 2 more days to  go

Better camp spot right on the riverbank at Bladensburg

Day 2 of our Winton Adventure - Dinosaur Stampede at Lark Quarry Conservation Park. Lark Quarry is just (!!!!seriously 110km out here is just down the road) 110km SW of Winton. There is nothing else here.

Looking back at the facility that houses the dinosaur stampede

 at Lark Quarry.

A local station manager (always) discovered what he thought were bird footprints in the 1960s. He showed them to a mate and a chance encounter years later in a Winton caravan park brought the footprints to the attention of some palaeontologists on their way to a fossil mammal dig (Riversleigh?). These scientists recognised the potential significance of the the tracks and redirected their focus to the tracks at Lark Quarry. In the late 70's 60 tonnes of rock was removed to expose an exquisite record of the only known dinosaur stampede in the world. A shelter was built to protect the tracks and research continued to interpret the story.

The interpretive tour at Lark Quarry included a short animated movie bringing to life what scientists think happened here. In short 95 million years ago 150 smallish dinosaurs - chicken sized carnivorous coelurosaurs and larger emu sized vegetarian ornithopods came to a lake to drink. A big therapod dinosaur (like T.rex but smaller) approached, began to stalk, changed direction and charged. Then all hell broke loose.

Over 3000 footprints of the panicked dinosaurs have been beautifully preserved as they tried to escape becoming the therapods next meal. 

Small chicken sized dinosaurs leaving chicken type scratches as they evade predation

Clear view of the MUCH larger therapod preador that scientists think caused the stampede

Photos of the tracks including Andy's hand with a cast of the predatory therapods footprint for context.

Winton is not all dinosaurs by any stretch. There are loads of other things to see. Day 3 of our Winton stop we visited Bladensburg Homestead (namesake of the National Park) and shearing shed. It still boggles my mind that anyone thought this would be good sheep country, especially before the bores were sunk to access the essential and reliable water source required for any type of stock. Central Queensland was the scene of significant shearers strikes and in 1891 it all came to a head. Striking shearers formed armed camps on the outskirts of towns and thousands of armed solders protected non-union workers and arrested strike leaders. 

The shearers strike was ultimately broken and the squatters/landholders won but at great cost. This led to the realisation by the squatters that they needed to work with the Shearers Union and ultimately was one of the contributing factors leading to the formation of the Australian Labour Party.

Central Queensland is now predominantly beef cattle country, and specific drought resistant types of cattle at that.

Andy and kids in the old Baldensburg shearing shed

Also in Winton is the musical fence - a free musical junkyard where you can make all the noise you like

Winton is also famous for boulder opals - here the kids are rummaging around in a free noodling pit outside a shop in Winton. James (& Andy) found lovely pieces with flecks of opal through them. Requires a bit of spit to see the true colour.

Aside from dinosaurs Winton is best known for being the birthplace of Banjo Paterson's Waltzing Matilda. The lyrics were written at Dagworth Station near Winton when he was visiting a "friend". Another friend put some music to it and the first iteration of Waltzing Matilda was born. Banjo Paterson sold the rights to Waltzing Matilda (and some other poems) to Angus & Robertson's for five pounds. In 1903 the lyrics were altered slightly and adapted for an advertising jingle for Billy Tea making it nationally famous. And is now considered to be Australia's unofficial national anthem.

There is a museum dedicated to Waltzing Matilda in Winton exploring the folklore surround the song and the process of its creation. In true Winton fashion the Waltzing Matilda Centre was razed by fire in 2015 but has since been completely rebuilt, and luckily many precious items were stored elsewhere.

Swagman with his jumbuck in his ticker bag

Tracks of a different kind. Kangaroo tracks overlaying car tracks in the fine sand at the camp ground in Bladesnburg NP. The kids liked following the clear hops of the roos tracks each morning, as well as looking for evidence of other creatures like lizards and beetles in the sand.

We had such an amazing stay in Winton and I am so pleased we were able to spend the 3 days here that we did ( original itinerary only allowed for 2 nights). It is well worth the visit. The whole dinosaur trail was a great adventure at the end of an already incredible adventure for our family.

From Winton we needed to be getting south for our stay in Bull Hut before heading to the East Coast for my dad's 80th birthday celebrations. We packed up our camp for the last time on the trip and hopped into Nissy P for several days of hard driving.

The Australian Dinosaur trail and other adventures - Part 1

This post comes with a warning - I think it might go on for a bit. 

We have been back in Adelaide for just over 3 weeks and I have been wanting to get my thoughts down for ages. I thought a fantastic opportunity would present itself when Andy went to Europe for a dear friends wedding (Capri and Rome!)...but then the kids and I got COVID. 

The risk with waiting so long to post about something is losing the presence, the excitement and that sense of immersion but I am going to give it a crack.

I am tracking back to the Dinosaur Trail, which in my mind really began once we entered Queensland back at the beginning of August.

The Dinosaur Trail is a 735km loop taking in the following towns and sights Richmond - Winton - Lark Quarry - Hughenden - Porcupine Gorge - Richmond according to the Outback Qld tourism website. I had also hoped (so much) to start our Dino adventures in Boodjamulla National Park as it includes the Riversleigh World Heritage Area: it is one of the most significant fossil deposits in the world and the richest known fossil mammal deposit in Australia. It has revealed records of Gondwanan life forms which existed prior to the break up of this ancient continent. It made sense to visit, we would be driving right past it, in a manner of speaking.

Boodjamulla NP is also known for its great beauty, an oasis in the outback. To say I was disappointed when I came to grips with the fact that we would NOT be going is an enormous understatement. On our enviable list of highlights on our amazing 9 week tour Boodjamulla was the place I was most looking forward to. Remote national park camping, extraordinary beauty, hikes, canoeing...it took some getting over. Common sense reigned as we had a seriously compromised vehicle already and heading hundreds of kms into the wild from an already super-remote place just didn't make sense.

Andy assures me that we WILL get there one day. Just to put it all in perspective Boodjamulla is in the middle of nowhere. It is 280km north of Camooweal on (dodgy we are told) dirt roads, which makes for a 560km detour. From Camooweal. Camooweal is 2000km from Adelaide give or take, and it's not really on the way to or from anywhere...so it's on the one-day list. I needed to flesh this out as I was quite disappointed - did I say that already? I just wanted it here in writing.

Where is Boodjamulla National Park?

And so we left Camooweal with hopes of having the bloody car's steering seen to, but with no idea when or where this would happen the trip was hanging on a hinge. We headed East as you know and found respite in the friendliest little town in the outback. Cloncurry - forever remembered as the place of can-do mechanics and welcoming smiles. Driving the Patrol without power steering on single lane highways populated by caravanners in a hurry and road-trains with deadlines is not an experience I wish to have again. The difference in being able to respond at speed in a fraction of second is life and a wrecked car at best so having the steering fixed (for now) took a lot of tension out of our days, and we quietly set our course  East towards Richmond: stop #1 of the Dino Trail. And we were back on track.

Celebration of the tough droughtmaster cattle breed that make it possible to raise beef cattle in this tricky country. Cloncurry wanderings while waiting for the Patrol's steering to be fixed. It was hot and the kids and I were left in town for an unknown duration while Andy got the help we needed. We ended up staying the night in a cabin in Cloncurry caravan park.

Cowboy country - Outback Queensland. Jemma = shoes optional. Quick stop at Julia Creek visitors centre and photo opp



First <literal> sign you are entering Dinosaur country, west of Richmond

RICHMOND - KRONOSAURUS KORNER (3rd August 2022)

We were excited to be back underway, back on track and on the Dinosaur Trail at last. Kronosaurus Korner (so Korny) is Australia's premier marine fossil museum. It houses over 1100 unique fossils from the Richmond area in outback Queensland. It is special in that most fossils on display are the actual fossils rather than casts of fossils. The majority of fossils are Early Cretaceous 100-115MYO marine reptiles as well as fishes, ammonites and squids that once dominated Australia's ancient, shallow inland Eromanga sea. It all began with the 1989 discovery of the most complete pliosaur skeleton in the world, on Marathon Station. Other significant finds followed and scientists convened to create a museum to prepare, conserve and showcase the fossils from the local area.

Richmond is a very small outback town, with a population of about 650 (way more galahs live there than people, way more).

Lifesize!!!!!!!! replica of Kronosaurus to greet visitors outside the museum. 

Kronosaurus queenslandicus belongs to an extinct group of marine reptiles, the plesiosaurs. It would have been the dominant marine predator of its time reaching 10-11m in length and weighing 11,000kg. For reference the dominant marine predators today; the great white sharks reach at most 5m, and weigh in at 2300kg and orcas can grow to 8m and 4000kg. Kronosaurus was big! Pretty glad they are no longer in the sea where I like to swim.

Kronosaurus mandible with saltwater croc mandible for comparison. Saltwater crocs grow to about 6m and weigh in at a puny 1300kg at the biggest

The museum had incredible displays with paleo art to bring the fossils to life.The kids were extremely engaged and interested which was fortunate as we had signed up for the $300 Dino Trail multi pass which would grant us entry into all 4 attractions. Entry to Kronosaurus Korner included a brief 10-15 minute video which gave a a really good overview of the ecology of the area in the Early Cretaceous, and who was finding what and where. It turned out that a good portion of the incredible fossils were found, and then donated, by graziers of surrounding cattle stations who chanced upon these incredible and significant fossils while spraying for weeds or mustering. 

James with the cutest ever Kunbarrasaurus ieversi an ornithischian dinosaur. Kunbarrasaurus ieversi, was a primitive member of the Ankylosauria and was a  small, bulky dinosaur with short limbs and prominent bony armour.
Also included in admission was the use of an audio guide which was brilliant; you just press the number of the exhibit you'd like to hear about and away you go. James thought this was exceptional and liked that if he wasn't all that interested you didn't need to listen to the whole thing, for example the names of the geological formations the fossil was found in. You could control how much information you took in. One thing he did find difficult to come to terms with was that the exhibits were not in numerical order. I suppose as exhibits are changed or updated they just switch the numbers rather than reordering the whole museum, and so he spent a little while trying to find #9. Once he accepted that he did not have to complete every audio entry ( he might not even have been able to!) in order he just moved happily from exhibit to exhibit. 

The above two photos are from the Richmond polycotylid or Richmond pliosaur/plesiosaur. Found on Marathon Station in 1989 it is still to be formally described. It is one of the most complete vertebrate fossils found in Australia, and one of the earliest known fossils of its type in the world at approximately 100MYO. It was a 4.25m long air breathing marine reptile of the Eromanga Sea.
It is a breath taking  and beautiful fossil.

Ammonites the size of car tyres you say! Lots of marine invertebrates including nautiloids, ammonioids, belemnites and vampyromorphs (think Vampire squid, the only species still living) have been found around Richmond and there was a healthy display of these fossils.

Ichthyosaur and baby suspended from ceiling. Ichthyosaur fossils are relatively common around Richmond and several specimens of mother and baby have been found which suggests that the shallow sea was a good place to give birth. There was also a fossil of a pregnant female ichthyosaur which showed the vertebrae of an embryo.

Kronosaurus Korner surpassed our expectations and we were now very excited to see what the rest of the Dino Trail had in store for us.

We spent the night at the Richmond Lakeview caravan park which, lucky for us, had a free dino themed water park just a short walk away. It wasn't really that hot but kids + water = happy so we spent some time there blowing off some steam and getting the wiggles out before dinner and bed and more dinosaurs tomorrow.

The caravan park was one of the noisiest places I have ever tried to sleep. Situated just off the Flinders highway and opposite a roadhouse with a truck stop area you would think it would be trucks keeping us awake. Galahs! Hundreds and hundreds, possibly thousands of galahs! They took flight at the slightest provocation, all at once, squawking and doing laps until they could settle to roost again, only to be upset by the next truck hurtling along the highway. This went on all night. They must be such tired birds.

You might have noticed that we are not doing the Dinosuar Trail in the strict order as put out by Queensland tourism but it worked out just fine for us.

HUGHENDEN - FLINDERS DISCOVERY CENTRE

Stop #2 on our Dino Trail was Hughenden, also in the Flinders Highway, is a slightly bigger town than Richmond

Never miss an opportunity to stick your head through a photo backdrop thingy.

Never!

Muttaburrasaurus replica outside the Flinders Discovery Centre. 
Found near the town of Muttaburra south of Hughenden in 1963 it is still being studied. It was a 7m long herbivorous ornithopod dinosaur. Ornithopods usually had horny beaks instead of teeth and were bipedal. Muttaburrasaurus has a spiked thumb on each forelimb, a trait is shares with iguandon type dinosaurs found in other parts of the world.

Inside the Discovery Centre - 'Hughie' -  pretty sure this was a cast rather than the actual fossil bones.
The Discovery Centre was undergoing some upgrades and expansion with some areas and exhibits closed off. One half of the centre housed the Muttburrasaurus display as well as an eclectic collection of fossils and other geological specimens from all over Australia, and the world. 
Probably the best thing at the Flinders Discovery Centre was the short film animating the deposition of the various layers of rocks in the canyon at Porcupine Gorge over hundreds of millions of years.
The other half contained a history of the sheep and cattle industry in the area. This was just a taste of what was to come in terms of the history of the wool industry in Outback Queensland, violent shearers strikes, the beginning of the Australian Labour Party and Banjo Paterson's Waltzing Matilda - we had NO idea!
As you can probably imagine, establishing a wool industry in outback Queensland was no simple undertaking with water being one of the biggest issues faced by early graziers. Towns in outback Queensland rely on bore water from the Great Artesian Basin.

The Flinders Discovery Centre was very different to Kronosaurus Korner and we really did not know what to expect from the rest of Australia's Dinosaur Trail, but that would have to wait as we had some camping to do.

With Boodjamulla off the itinerary Andy and I rejigged a few things and in hindsight they definitely worked out for the best. We were able to spend 4 nights at Porcupine Gorge National Park 60km north of Hughenden. It was on the list of must-see attractions in the area. It also gave us an opportunity to pause for a few days. We had been on the move for weeks it seemed, add in the stress and changes that came with the steering failing and time lost, we needed a break. 

Booking camp sites online is a great concept in theory but the reality is you really don't know what you're going to get; will the site be big enough? Will we be really close to other people without kids who just want peace and quiet, not giggling kids at sun-up? Will there be some jerks in our site when we get there? Most of the time it's fine, and fellow campers are generally a tolerant bunch but what do you do when your tent just will not fit on the tent pad built for that purpose? And the camp site is fully booked. 

This happened at Porcupine Gorge.

Andy very quickly decided to put our enormous (6m x 2.5m) tent up in amongst the trees to the rear of the site, and kind of on a path. Not technically the site, but what could we do? I was very nervous that the Ranger might come and ask us to move but we didn't see the Ranger the whole time we were there so after a time it seemed like it would be fine, and it was. 

The view from the rim of the gorge a short walk from the camp-ground. You can see the 'pyrmaid' in the distance. 

You can glimpse the tent off to the right amongst the trees. Cheeky! I think they are James' knees you can see in the hammock. Jem most likely playing in the dirt somewhere!

Dinner time

Quiet reading time. Jemma opted to take this enormous squishmallow instead of a pillow. It was absolutely filthy at this stage.

On our way down into the Gorge for the day. It was about a 1.2km each way walk. Steep and steppy in parts - it was hard both ways!

Our first full day at Porcupine Gorge was unseasonably hot, mid-30s so we walked down into the Gorge before it got too hot and spent the rest of the day down there with picnic lunch and chilled cordial drinks.

The kids LOVED the river. The water was crystal clear with fish and turtles and rocks and sand and overhangs. There were parts where you could easily walk across the river and deeper parts that required swimming. It was glorious. The only thing missing was reliable shade. We had the shade of a couple of immature acacia's which required regular shifts of all our gear. Even the adults swam. Well I swam, Andy partially immersed himself. We played catching games and just noodled the day away.

After hours and hours in the water the kids could barely lift their bodies to eat dinner. And guess what! We get to do it all again tomorrow!

Back in the gorge for another day of playing and exploring.

This little Rufous Bettong and its mate visited us every night of our stay. They made a sound like moth wings beating inside something which is what I thought it was when I first heard it. They are super cute marsupials about the size of a big rabbit and seemed completely unconcerned about our presence. they hopped between our legs and under the table.

Back down in the gorge, that is the pyramid in the background

Fun!

The way up in the late afternoon

And down again....

Exploring different areas of the gorge and river for the best swimming spots

Andy trying to fix Jem's beloved Frozen thong with plastic bread ties and a lighter. It was successful in the very short term.  

Porcupine Gorge's namesake - a juvenile echidna wandered through the camp ground one afternoon causing much excitement. Another native animal that seemed unconcerned that humans were around.

Porcupine Gorge was a stunning, surprising and much needed stop.

I have decided to break the Dinosaur Trail into 2 parts as this post is already pretty long.