Winton

 22 - 24 June 2025

We had arranged to meet my sister and her partner in Winton so set off after restocking and fuelling up again. The drive from Hughenden was uneventful, and we arrived just on lunch time so went and had a picnic in the park before checking in to the caravan park.

We went for a walk in town and then later in the afternoon set off to do some birding at the sewerage treatment works. Unfortunately, we couldn't get close enough to see the water so we continued on and drove down to Pelican Waterhole. After a lot of recent rain there was a fair bit of water, and lots of birds around so Mick was happy.

Late afternoon at Pelican Waterhole

One of the main attractions in the area is Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum, which we had visited 10 years ago. There has been some further development so I was keen to go again. We had booked our visit to also include a trip to Lark Quarry Dinosaur Trackways in a couple of days time. Bronwyn and John had also booked to visit both places.

We were all booked to start our tour at 9:45am with the March of the Titanosaurs, followed by time at Dinosaur Canyon. This exhibit has been added since our last visit and, as with the others, was fantastic. The dinosaur tracks have been painstakingly moved from their original location in a nearby creek bed. It's fascinating to discover how they were found, and what the tracks tell paleontologists. Dinosaur Canyon contains many models of dinosaurs with information about the habitat in which they would have lived. We could have spent a lot more time exploring this part of the complex.

One of many life-sized replicas in Dinosaur Canyon

Our next tour was to the fossil preparation room - probably my favourite. This is where volunteers process the fossils found in the local area. There are so many fossils waiting on shelves to be revealed, our guide said that it would take ten years to get through them all, without bringing in any new ones. 

The final tour was the collection room where the story of how Age of Dinosaurs came about. Graziers David and Judy Elliott had the foresight to contact the Australian Museum when they found what they thought might be dinosaur fossils on their property. Further exploration revealed some unique finds. From humble beginnings the Age of Dinosaurs was born, and continues to grow. In my opinion this is one of the best tourist attractions in Australia, which continues to grow and support research of global significance. 

On Monday night we went for dinner at Tattersall's Hotel for a celebration dinner with Bronwyn and John, and John's sister. In the morning we would head to Opalton and perhaps meet up with them again but nothing was definite.

Hughenden

21 – 22 September 2023

Leaving Boulia early we discussed our plans and both agreed to scrap the next part of the trip due to the weather. We would forego Opalton and birding near Lark Quarry, in exchange for some time on the Atherton Tablelands and along the Tropical North Queensland Coast. We both felt this was a fair and sensible swap, and that we could come “out west” during Autumn.

We made a number of birding stops, including at the old Hamilton Hotel historic site and had morning tea at Middleton before continuing on to Winton. We met up with friends Wendy and Jay who had a rare couple of hours off, so we joined them for lunch at the café in the Waltzing Matilda Visitor Centre.

After a quick round of the grocery store, we hit the road again with the plan being to stay the night in Hughenden, before moving on the Atherton Tablelands. It was still in the high 30’s when we arrived in Hughenden so we sat in the very well-appointed camp kitchen before setting up our overnight camp.

We had no need to be up so early, but we still managed to get packed up, buy groceries, meat and fuel and be on the road before 9:00am. We planned to drive to Mount Garnet, along the Kennedy Development Road, just because we’d never been that way before.  We called in to the Porcupine Gorge Lookout along the way. We had thought about camping at the gorge but with the heat it wouldn’t have been pleasant, and way too hot to walk down into the gorge.

Bladensberg National Park - near Winton

1 - 2 August 2017

"Let's try to leave early" he said, so for once we did, pulling out of the driveway at about 7:30am. I know that is not early for some but for those of us who usually manage to get away by 9:00 - it was early.

We headed out of town along the Flinders Highway to Charters Towers, our first stop for an early morning tea at Macca's. That's becoming a bit of a ritual when we head this way. From Charters Towers we continued west to Hughenden. We stopped for morning tea at the rest area near the entrance to White Mountain National Park then continued on to Hughenden. We had considered making that our first overnight stop but decided to continue on - it was way too early to set up camp so we had a picnic lunch by the river and drove on to Winton.

When we arrived in Winton we made our usual stop at the Visitor Information Centre, currently in temporary accommodation after a devastating fire destroyed most of the Matilda Centre in mid-2015. We enquired about camping and were astounded that the volunteer didn't mention Bladensberg National Park, and when we asked specifically, she failed to mention that you must book online before you arrive as there is no phone signal out there. We knew all this of course as we had visited previously and often stay in national parks.

We walked down the street and found a spot to stop and make our campground booking - a beautiful camp spot for the princely sum of $6.35 per person per night. Once booked, we drove the 30 or so kilometres to Bough Shed Hole campground and set up for the night, right beside the river. Unfortunately, the river has been reduced to little more that a few puddles. It's a magic spot anyway.

Our first night camp at Bladensberg NP near Winton.

It's always a little awkward getting back into the swing of things and this is my excuse for not having more photos from this leg of the journey. The country was very dry and birds scarce on the way in to Bough Shed Hole. Around camp were White-plumed and Striped Honeyeaters, Grey Shrike-thrush, Australian Ringneck, Common Bronzewing and White-necked Herron (very common throughout our trip). In the morning I found a flock of White-browed, Masked and Black-faced Woodswallows in a flowering eucalypt on the far side of the creek. Unfortunately, there was a fence between me and them so I had to shoot from long distance. Mick.

Striped Honeyeater.

White-necked Herrons. These were probably waiting to take advantage of the drying waterholes to get an easy fish meal.

Masked Woodswallow

Black-faced Woodswallow

White-browed Woodswallow

After a pleasant night, and a leisurely start to the day we set off for our next stop - Boulia, travelling along "The Outback Way". This road is known as "Australia's Longest Shortcut" and is a coast to coast drive from Winton in Queensland to Laverton in WA. We were only going half way - to Central Australia.

Winton

5 - 7 May

We decided to have a couple of nights in a motel in Winton as a treat for my birthday - and because it was getting too hot to camp. Even though it was nearly the end of autumn, the temperatures were in the low thirties during the day. We had a look around and chose the Outback Motel - close to the shops and pubs, recently updated and reasonably priced. We were able to check in straight away, even thought it was only lunchtime.

We spent the afternoon wandering through the shops (well, it didn't really take that long) and catching up on washing, reading and processing photos - all in air conditioned comfort.

A pair of Brolgas were hanging around the motel hoping for a hand out.

In the morning we made the short trip (about 28 km) to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs - a showcase for the local prehistoric inhabitants. This centre has only been open for a few years and has evolved out of a farmer's passion for the fossilised dinosaur bones he was finding on his property. David and Judy Elliott have embraced their unique finds and have lead the development of this special exhibit.

The building housing the collection room, gift shop and cafe is well designed, borrowing from the surrounding environment.

A view from the top of the jump up.

Visitors are taken on two guided tours - the collection room and the laboratory. This is the only place you can see the specimens being prepared. Each tour takes about 30 minutes with a 30 minute break in between.

On the day we visited, the 10.00 tour was of the collection room where real (not replica) fossils of "Banjo" (a theropod dinosaur) and "Matilda" (a sauropod dinosaur) are on display. Each is the first of its type of dinosaur to be found. The enthusiasm and passion of our young guide was amazing. It seems when you work in the museum, you are also part of the team going into the field collecting specimens and then preparing them back in the lab. No wonder there is so much enthusiasm among the staff.

The fossilised leg bones of Matilda contrasting with the thigh bone of a Brahman bull.

Grace was our ebullient guide in the collection room.

The 11.00 tour was to the laboratory, where you get to see the giant casings containing yet to be processed bones (and other fossils). The centre has an extensive and well set up volunteer program. It was a real treat to see them at work and chat to them about their passion.  Australian Age of Dinosaurs is a non-for- profit organisation and registered charity.

Guide Carlin talks us through the displays in the lab shed.

He prefers to work on delicate fossils such as small crabs and shells.

Volunteers at their delicate and painstaking work, removing the surrounding stone from ancient fossils.

Carlin shows us how it's done (slowly and carefully!).

Now there's another dinosaur in Christie's life.

This is a very interesting way to to spend a few hours and in a beautifully rugged setting.

Bladensburg National Park

4 - 5 May

We left Opalton, bound for Bladensburg National Park, not far from Winton, so it was back along the dirt road. We stopped for some bird photos of course, and arrived in time for lunch.

It was hot enough to have us seriously consider swimming in the muddy water.

We found a campsite at Bough Shed Hole Campground, right by the waterhole. Even though it was very hot, it was still a really nice place to camp. There was only us and one other couple camped nearby so it was a peaceful place to stay overnight.

In the morning we drove along the Route of the River Gums (the main road through the park) back towards Winton. We couldn't resist a stop at Skull Hole! Once we arrived back in Winton we chose a motel for the next two nights - a special treat for my birthday!

Sounds nice, let's go!

Viewed at a distance, clumps of Spinifex soften the harsh landscape but up close they are needle sharp and to be avoided.

Christie looks over the edge at Skull Hole.

Opalton

3 – 4 May

We stopped in Longreach for coffee, groceries and visitor information. Unfortunately they didn't have much on Opalton so we had to stop in Winton for more detail. At Winton we were able to find out that there is only one way to get there (despite our RACQ map showing a number of minor roads – station tracks perhaps). We had a picnic lunch in one of the town parks and set off for Opalton. It’s less than 10km to the turnoff and from there it’s all unsealed (about 105km). The road started off fairly good, but deteriorated as we neared our destination. It wasn't awful, but quite corrugated and rocky in parts.

Hall's Babbler. I now have pics of all the Babbler species.

We found our way to the bush camp provided and maintained by the community. It has toilets and showers heated by a donkey boiler, as well as a screened shed with tables and chairs which provides relief from the incessant flies. Great value for $2.50 per person per night. It was however, hot, dry and dusty – but what you should expect when you go to places like this.

These dapper looking little birds were almost tame in the camp ground.

Singing Honeyeater.

Inland Thornbill.

Mick was excited to see Spinifex pigeons wandering around the campground. We had a pleasant evening (once the flies went to bed) with only a couple of locals (opal miners we guessed) camped nearby.  Next stop Bladensberg National Park, with plenty of stops to photograph birds on the way.

Rufous-crowned Emu-Wren. Not a great pic but much better than none and a lifer to boot!

Jo, a fellow birder we met at Bowra suggested that we should visit Opalton some time. We decided there was no time like the present and took her advice. She said it was a good place to find Spinifexbird, Rufous-crowned Emu-wren and the elusive Hall's Babbler. We struck out on the Spinifexbird but found the Babblers on the way out and the Emu Wrens on the way back, two out of three ain't bad! Mick.