2nd August Winton

 Kms today 250 in a bus                  Kms to date 9100

I had booked a tour for Alan and I to the Dinosaur Stampede for my original itinerary, but Morag took my booking on her way through Queensland in early July.  I changed Alan's booking to the 2nd August and actually scored a longer tour.   I had to be up bright and early as Red Dirt tours were picking me up at 7:45 for an all day tour to Carisbrooke Stn and the Dinosaur Stampede.  Morag had a guide called Jamie Woods, who was one of the guys who rode down to Phillip Island every year for the MotoGP races.  

Jamie Woods at your service.

 The Dinosaur Stampede is 110kms south of Winton so there was a fair bit of driving to do.  Vicki was  the owner of Red Dirt Tours.  She explained the geological processes that formed the landscape. Telling us about Acacias, Gidget and black soil plains that produce the Mitchell grasses which make this place good for grazing cattle and sheep.  She also explained how the rainfall and temperature can make a difference.  The black soil was so expansive that it sheared off the roots of plants such a trees, hence the treeless grasslands around Winton.

We turned off the main road into Carisbrooke Stn and explored the ridges, which gave us magnificent views of the plains and valleys 80m below.  We saw the 3 sisters which were rock towers jutting out from the ridge.  It was like a land version of the Great Australian Bight.

 

80m above the Mitchel Plains

 

The Three Sisters: Mary, Maud and Catherine

The tail belonged to a lizard sleeping in the hollow log

We went down to Carisbrooke Station on the Mitchell grass plains, but because they are summer grasses and rainfall was below average last summer the grass was scarce and few cattle were grazing.  

Carisbrooke Station was basically a shack and one wonders why they bothered

A lot of money has been spent on the Dinosaur Stampede site

We arrived at the Dinosaur Stampede for lunch and then had a private tour.  The significance of the site is that a thin ironstone layer between the mudstone where the footprints were made and the sandstone which ended up covering them made it very easy to expose the footprints by simply leveling off the sandstone.  Lots of small prints went one way as the little dinosaurs fled into the forest and a single trail of big prints went the other as the Therapod trapped and ate a victim at the waters edge.

 

The footprints of the large dinosaur are going away from me

The footprints of the little dinosaurs were going in the opposite direction

To be truthful I was more impressed by the landscape than the Stampede but all in all a great day out.