2nd September – Wednesday
Forgot to mention that I found my gold and diamond pendant before we left Cairns. As I walked to the caravan draw bar to reverse Les, looked down and there it was on the grass!
It was lovely last night to sit outside the caravan after the sun was about to set, the temperature was a pleasant 28 degrees and the ants had gone home. We sat with a glass of wine and watched all the birds come home for the night – fig birds, blue faced honey eater, lorikeets and galahs. Then, as the sky darkened, the flying foxes appeared in their hundreds – such massive bats and so silent!
Today we travelled from Charters Towers to Hughenden, which is part of the Dinosaur Triangle. Muttaburrasaurus was discovered not very far from here, in fact.
The road was great for about 70 kms and then became quite bumpy, although the actual surface was in good repair. Long flat straights, a few small hills, not many road trains and not a great deal of traffic. Red dirt and eagles made us realise that we were definitely outback again.
As we pulled into the caravan park, there were two more caravans right behind us. We drove in as far as possible so at least one more could get in the drive and as I got out to go to reception, the woman in the car behind jumped out and ran for the door to beat me inside. I’m sure she was frightened I was going to get the last site available. The owner realised, served her then told her they would have to wait because our car was blocking the drive – justice! Plenty of sites and they were all large and drive through.
Today it is hot again – about 35 degrees. According to the locals, this is just early spring weather and an average summer day is about 50 degrees! Very dry air and the district doesn’t get a lot of rain, even in summer.
Dinosaurs are the definite theme for Hughenden, with a museum at the information centre which contains a model of the muttaburrasaurus skeleton and lots of very authentic fossils and some allosaurus footprints. Of course, there are lots of dinosaur models and sculptures around the town, as well. A short film explained, in a very easy to understand way, why sandstone can be so many different colours. Due to the heat, we decided to give 60 km drive, plus the walk, to Porcupine Gorge a miss.
Hughenden also has a coolabah tree which was blazed by people searching for Burke and Wills. The Flinders River (named after Matthew Flinders) is another upside down river.
Forgot to mention that I found my gold and diamond pendant before we left Cairns. As I walked to the caravan draw bar to reverse Les, looked down and there it was on the grass!
It was lovely last night to sit outside the caravan after the sun was about to set, the temperature was a pleasant 28 degrees and the ants had gone home. We sat with a glass of wine and watched all the birds come home for the night – fig birds, blue faced honey eater, lorikeets and galahs. Then, as the sky darkened, the flying foxes appeared in their hundreds – such massive bats and so silent!
Today we travelled from Charters Towers to Hughenden, which is part of the Dinosaur Triangle. Muttaburrasaurus was discovered not very far from here, in fact.
The road was great for about 70 kms and then became quite bumpy, although the actual surface was in good repair. Long flat straights, a few small hills, not many road trains and not a great deal of traffic. Red dirt and eagles made us realise that we were definitely outback again.
As we pulled into the caravan park, there were two more caravans right behind us. We drove in as far as possible so at least one more could get in the drive and as I got out to go to reception, the woman in the car behind jumped out and ran for the door to beat me inside. I’m sure she was frightened I was going to get the last site available. The owner realised, served her then told her they would have to wait because our car was blocking the drive – justice! Plenty of sites and they were all large and drive through.
Today it is hot again – about 35 degrees. According to the locals, this is just early spring weather and an average summer day is about 50 degrees! Very dry air and the district doesn’t get a lot of rain, even in summer.
Dinosaurs are the definite theme for Hughenden, with a museum at the information centre which contains a model of the muttaburrasaurus skeleton and lots of very authentic fossils and some allosaurus footprints. Of course, there are lots of dinosaur models and sculptures around the town, as well. A short film explained, in a very easy to understand way, why sandstone can be so many different colours. Due to the heat, we decided to give 60 km drive, plus the walk, to Porcupine Gorge a miss.
Hughenden also has a coolabah tree which was blazed by people searching for Burke and Wills. The Flinders River (named after Matthew Flinders) is another upside down river.
No comments:
Post a Comment