Fossils and a Pyramid

9/9/2018 Sunday R & R slept well and woke at 6:30am.  It was 17*C and promised to be warm again.  By 8:30am, they were on the road with several stopovers planned before leaving Charters Towers.  First, they stopped at the Sellheim store where there were two monuments; one for the Sellheim army camp and, the other, for a bridge crash in 1948 when 13 persons died as a result of the accident.  Sellheim also had its own cemetery with a roll of names rather than grave stones but it was inaccessible behind road works.  RL also wanted to stop at the place were a trawler sat high and dry on concrete blocks.  Lake Wanted - Boat Grumpy it read.  Next stop was at the Columbia Poppet Head on the bypass so that RL could fill up the water tanks.  That proved an impossible task as there was an air block preventing it taking in any more even though it was not full.  Past the industrial area, a little further on the bypass RL stopped again this time to refuel.  All that done, it was 9:40am and R & R were headed west on Flinders Highway towards Hughenden with the intention of sleeping at a rest area about 140kms away.  RA put an audio book in the CD player.  This time they were listening to a story called “Knitting” by Anne Bartlett which turned out to be set in Adelaide, South Australia, so RA was happy about that.  Generally, the road, which was well surfaced, was flat to undulating and good cattle station country with adequate grasses and good stands of trees.  In many sections, like on Southern Cross Downs, it appeared that allowing trees to regrow was a commonplace farming practice.  In some places the soil was red but more often than not it was lighter with yellow grey ant nests.  R & R saw a couple of dead black pigs, a small brown winged hawk and the Mt Stewart Ranges to the north.  They pulled into Homestead briefly at 10:45 where it was 26*C with quite a strong 21km/hr breeze from the south east, before continuing on over Cape River and stopping again at Pentland at 11:30am.  R & R walked up and down the main street, popped into a couple of art and craft shops, admired the Anzac mosaic at the memorial, looked into the Norwood Lockup, rang their daughter, S, ate lunch and had a shower.  All in all, it was a most enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours.  Shortly before 2:00pm, RL headed for the Burra Ranges and White Mountains National Park which form part of the Great Dividing Range, though not particularly steep or high at 550m.  The rest area was called Pentland West Rest Area but the Navigator had it called Warrigal for the Warrigal Creek which is nearby.  The road became increasingly hilly to 450m and continued to rise.  RA noticed many piles of concrete sleepers which were being used for the railway line and RL commented that the ore trucks with three dogs, which they had seen so many of heading the Townsville, were the ones coming from Townsville.  R & R arrived at the rest area and unhitched the camper before heading off into the White Mountains National Park to have a look at Sawpit Gorge.  Access to the park is via the track that leads to the microwave tower at the western end of the rest area.  It was about 8.2kms in, on a 4WD track that was most interesting for the way its surface changed.  In parts it was: deep red sand, soft yellow or white sand, corrugated, smooth, deep with round white pebbles, rutted with channels from water and winding though not too steep.  It only took about 15 minutes to travel the 8 kms despite RL being determined to keep to the 25km/hr suggested speed limit. There was widespread evidence of regrowth after a fire, probably only a year ago and possibly quite a severe burn, as the ant mounds, of which there were a great many large ones, appeared severely damaged.  RL wondered what impact that would have on the ant colonies below.  RA noted the round white pebbles that were, not in a stream or creek, at the height of 530m and wondered if they were reminders of the time millions of years ago when the area would have been under water.  The view from Sawpit Lookout was a good display of the white sandstone cliff and gorge formations for which the park is known.  When R & R returned to the camper they went quickly back east on Flinders Highway about 5kms to the Burra Range Lookout which they had missed on the way out.  It too had a good view of sandstone cliffs and was worth returning for even though they were only there for a few minutes.  Returning again to the camper, RL rang his brother, J, before R & R set up the camper.  By 5:00pm R & R were having coffee in the camper.  RL read and RA wrote some diary, worked on the ipad, prepared dinner and wrote some more.  It had been a long day … and RA was tired.

10/9/2018 Monday R & R slept well and woke at 7:15am to 12*C with the promise of another hot sunny day.  As they had big plans for the day, they did not delay in eating breakfast, tidying up and packing the camper down.  They were on their way along Flinders Highway bound for Hughenden about 110kms to the west at 7:45am.  No sooner were they on the road than they saw a sign Lake Eyre Catchment Area – Cooper River and mused about the sheer distance that Lake Eyre was from the area they were driving in.  R & R listened to more of their “Knitting” audio book as they travelled on a road that was flat to undulating and mostly straight at 450m.  In some areas there were good tall trees and grasses and in others it was more scrubby and, though it was cattle station country, there were none to be seen.  RL saw two sets of beehives and they noticed a short train on the rail that ran alongside the road that had only chemical tankers on it.  RL passed through Torrens Creek and by the Prairie Hotel which had a horse on its roof and several hitching rails with saddles on them.  Shortly after, R & R saw four wind turbines and acres of frames being installed for a solar power farm. To the north of the road a row of long flat-topped hills could be seen and to the south, isolated round ones.  An eagle and several hawks were seen feasting on the few carcases on the road.  It was 9:00am when R & R arrived at the information centre in Hughenden.  They asked for a map of the Porcupine Gorge National Park and its trails and were promptly given one as well as another sheet of paper called Hughenden to Porcupine Gorge – Points of Interest.  It was just like a treasure map and RA was excited to check them all out and tick them off as they went.  By 9:30am, R & R had dumped the camper for the day and were heading north, just short of 70kms, towards the park.  The National Park is a long slender corridor of vegetation that grows east and west of the Porcupine Gorge and Porcupine Creek.  Having zeroed the trip metre, R & R were able to keep an eye out for the places/sites mentioned on the list.  They crossed the Flinders River and its currently dry river bed.  It is Queensland’s longest river extending 1004kms, flows into the Gulf of Carpentaria and was named after Matthew Flinders.  They passed Mt Beckford which was where sandalwood was harvested and processed at a mill in Richmond for the Asian market.  The Dingo Proof Fence at one of the grids was not being maintained as there are no longer sheep in the district.  The road was running at about 400m with hills to 550m.  RL crossed the Porcupine River before stopping at Eaglehawk Gorge and Devils Elbow which was surrounded by acres and acres of rocky ground which made RL wonder how difficult it would be to walk across.  The gorge was a surprise, full of big black rocks and quite deep.  Just beyond it, there was a square of white rocks with four posts marking a grave; either of an old Chinaman or of a young aboriginal girl who are both to have known to have died nearby.  R & R stopped off at the Porcupine Gorge Lookout where the view looks across the gorge and down into the drop of 120m where the base of white rocks looked like a concrete path.  RA was truly fascinated with the Whistling Bore when they stopped to listen.  The capped bore, approximately 500ft deep, which never produced water, makes a whistling sound when you put your ear to a hole near the cap.  Why it whistles is a mystery, but one possible explanation is that a cave-in somewhere in the shaft of the bore had caused a wind tunnel.  Again, RA was excited to see Ebony & Ivory, two trees entwined into each other; one white and one black.  R & R had a coffee and their apple before heading down the 1.2kms Porcupine Gorge and Pyramid Trail at 11:30am.  It only took 20 minutes for them to climb down but the path was so steep with so many steps that R & R wondered how they would find the return journey.  There was a delightful cool breeze of about 16km/hr at some vantage points but at others the warmth was uncomfortable.  At the bottom there was a fantastic view of the pyramid formation, many waterholes with fish in the rock pools and crevices and overhanging ledges where no doubt birds and animals took umbrage in the heat of the day.  R& R took their shoes off and paddled a little in the water, noted the sea shells and sparkles of mica in the sand and spent about 40 minutes walking around.  The journey back up was not as difficult as RA had anticipated though it took a little longer, time wise, to achieve.  By 1:00pm R & R were back at the Ute enjoying lunch.  On the way back into Hughenden they stopped to look at a native well and another grave site.  They stopped one last time at the Belemnite locality which they had missed on the way out.  Despite scratching around and finding some poor quality quartz crystal, they did not find any belemnite (ancient marine creature) fossils.  It was 3:00pm before R & R were back down town Hughenden taking in some of the local features in the main streets.  There were several art works and statues relating to dinosaurs, a rotunda made using Comet windmills and a Coolabah tree that had been blazed by Walker and Landsborough in their search for Burke and Wills.  R & R picked up the camper and headed for Apex Park where the toilet block had been decorated with murals depicting transport history.  It was a striking example as far as murals go.  R & R enjoyed a shower and were on the road again by 4:00pm.  Their days journey out to the national park and around town had been 155kms and it would only be another 65kms west on Flinders Highway to the rest area at Marathon.  Immediately there was a change of scenery.  The road was straight and very flat with very few trees in view and the cattle and horses R & R saw looked to be in good condition so there must have been adequate grasses.  RL crossed Walker Creek where a line of trees accompanied the creek on both sides as it meandered its way from south to north.  At 4:45pm R & R arrived at the camping area, picked a level spot, set up and within the hour they were having a treat for afternoon tea.  R & R watched a train on the track nearby and counted 55 ore trucks behind the first engine with a second engine in the middle and another 25 trucks after that.  RL finished another “cowdy” while RA looked through maps to plan the following day.  RL helped RA with the preparation of dinner before they read and wrote again.  RL rang his brother S and chatted a while.  It had been an adventurous day … following the treasure trail.

11/9/2018 Tuesday R & R were awake early at 6:45am.  It was a pleasant 14*C and promised to be another warm day.  By 8:30am, R & R were on their way to Richmond about 48kms west on the Flinders Highway.  The road was flat to undulating at about 230m with the Grampian Hills in the distance to the north.  There were not many trees but the grasses appear adequate for the cattle seen.  What trees there were in the paddock, not those seen in corridors along creeks, appeared to be the weed type of acacia bush which tends to take over and drain nutrients from the soil.  R & R passed over the Namoi Creek and noted that the rail line was built up above the floodway level of the land.  They saw new blue metal in piles on the side of the road and under the rail line with stacks of old metal sleepers which had been replaced with the new concrete ones.  A few kilometres east of Richmond there was a rail workers camp and machinery working along the rail line.  Shortly after 9:00am, R & R were in the information centre which is fully focused on, the town’s main attractions, dinosaurs and fossils.  R & R could not resist the temptation to pay a $5 permit fee to the fossil dig site and armed themselves with the cheat sheet which had the site map and pictures with descriptions of the sort of fossils one might find.  Just in case they didn’t find anything, they settled on a piece of fossil rock in the shape of a pyramid to remind them of the Richmond/Hughenden area.  First, they walked up and down the main street to orientate themselves and then they headed north on the Croyden Road over the dry Flinders River, where sand had washed over the road in several places, to the Fossil Dig Sites 1 & 2 about 12kms out.  The sequence of rocks was deposited about 100 million years ago when the area was covered by a shallow sea.  R & R had a wonderful couple of hours picking and digging in the piles of rubble looking for anything interesting.  RL wasted no time and in minutes he had a handful of rock with white shells in them.  Not long after he found a Belemnite which is the internal shell of a tiny squid like creature, is black and bullet shaped.  He also found a good specimen of a fish vertebrae.  RA found some good samples of Inoceramus which was a large clam that was very thin.  It presents itself as layer upon layer (shell upon shell) of very fine crystals.  R & R were lucky that one of the volunteers who worked at the dig sites for the museum chatted with them a while, giving RA information while his wife/partner/friend gave RL a piece of rock with a fossilized fish scale in it.  R & R were only briefly at Site 2 when their daughter, H, rang and since it was a hot 32*C and nearly lunch time they drove back into Richmond as they chatted.  RL parked the Ute in the shade of a tree at the war memorial park and they ate lunch while H filled them in on all that was happening with their family.  About 2:00pm R & R went to the Cambridge Downs Heritage display which is a museum work in progress.  The building was a replica of the original homestead at Cambridge Downs which was built, in the mid 1860s, of flagstone and had bars in the windows somewhat like a fortress to protect from them from attacks.  In the shed out the back there was a beautifully restored Cobb & Co coach.  R & R took photos of the individual moon rocks in the main street roundabout and the stack of moon rocks in the park.  Moonrocks are a common find in the area; round boulders that often look like cow pads plopped and dried and smooth while not having been weathered by water. R & R walked round Lake Fred Tritton, chatted to a local while her children played under the water playground and then had a shower.  About 4:00pm R & R refuelled before heading out to Maxwellton (about 50kms) where they intended to sleep the night.  Immediately out of town there was a mob of sheep, the only one R & R had seen anywhere recently and after that it was back to open flat cattle country with few trees and, although there appeared to be adequate grasses most of the time, cattle raised dust as they walked.  RA was not happy to find that recently the rest area had become closed for free camping.  That required RL to drive another 100kms before dark and take pot luck on there being space at the Julia Creek caravan park.  At one point the land was so flat and low lying that the road required lifting with a concrete wall to avoid being flooded too often.  Thanks to the “Knitting” CD the journey did not take too long.  Shortly before Julia Creek RL had to slow down to a crawl, as did a truck from the other direction and a train on the railway track, for a herd of cattle in the long paddock.  They were being driven by two men on horses with one of them leading a second horse as he wielded his stock whip. Nearby, there was a horse float behind a utility and, in a spot between the road and rail, there was a water trough on a trailer at which the cattle drank as they passed.  Dust rose and settled on the windscreen as the late afternoon sun shone in.  At 6:15pm RL pulled into the caravan park and RA paid for a spot.  The manageress offered R & R an 8:00pm appointment in the spa baths and RA was not about to refuse but it did mean that they would need to set up and have dinner in quick time so as not to miss out.  R & R were eating dinner when their daughter, S, rang so they warned her that they would have to terminate the call.  At the appointed time R & R were on the spa deck.  It was still 23*C.  RA thoroughly enjoyed the experience of lying in a warm tub only partly sheltered with half the roof open to the night sky.  What shelter there was, was for privacy.  The pleasure was only temporarily interrupted by a cricket that landed on RA’s knee which caused her to startle.  She had to make an effort to stand up and remove it!  In half an hour, by the time R & R had prune-like crinkles on their fingers, they hopped out and returned to the camper to read and write for a while before bed.  It certainly had been another day full of surprises … fossils, nowhere to sleep and a spa.

12/9/2018 Wednesday R & R slept well enough though it was relatively warm.  It was already 15*C when they got out of bed at 6:40am.  There was a delightful screeching of thousands of tiny pale green budgies as they swarmed overhead and gathered with other flocks in the distant sky.  R & R had no need to hurry so they rang to arrange for both the Ute and the camper to have a service done in Mt Isa.  Unfortunately, the work could not be done until Monday and Tuesday of the following week which meant that they had nearly a week to get to Mt Isa which could easily be achieved in one day.  R & R would need to rethink how to fill in that amount of time in an area with which they were already familiar.  They thought that it would be best to ask at the information centre.  The lady there suggested all the free camp spots, especially the Mary Kathleen mine site ruins and, maybe, garnet fossicking.  R & R would have to think about all that!  The visitor centre was a great place to spent an hour or so looking at all the videos and listening to the audios all about the history of the town, the dunnart, artesian water, industry and the geography of the area.  Julia Creek is part of the McKinlay Shire and the area was first explored by John McKinlay in 1860 and then the following year by Landsborough.  The McIntyre brothers first brought cattle to the area in 1862.  The dunnart is a small mouse like creature which was thought to be extinct until about 20 years ago.  What makes it unique is its ability to adapt to the dry conditions by keeping cool in the cracks in the soil, storing food for lean times in its tail and being able to hibernate if necessary.  The Great Artesian Basin is one of the largest supplies of underground water in the world.  Originally bores were allowed to flow continually but more recently there have been initiatives to cap old wells and to control the flow as to minimize wastage.  Although sheep were many in the region in the past, cattle are the most common stock in the area.  Graziers practice what is called cell grazing which means that pastures are rested for about three months at a time to keep feed vibrant and healthy.  The prickly acacia bush was introduced into the area as fodder but had proved to be destructive to the good growth of other plants and grasses.  Cannington Mine to the south is the world’s largest single mine and the lowest cost producer of silver and lead.  Redclaw, a freshwater crayfish has become an aquaculture pursuit.  The level above sea falls from Julia Creek to the Gulf roughly one metre every 4-5 kilometres.  Julia Creek, Cloncurry River, Saxby River and Flinders River are all waterways in the northern part of the shire and all drain northward to the Gulf of Carpentaria, while the other waterways which begin in the south of the shire all drain southwards towards Lake Eyre.  After all of that, R & R needed a cup and a snack before walking up and down the main street.  They took the Ute to a park and enjoyed lunch at a picnic table undercover.  It was 31*C at 1:00pm and breathless.  RL rang his friend, N, to see how he and all the family were going.  Well after 2:00pm, R & R headed back down town to the Duncan McIntyre Museum and then to the library where they were able to exchange a couple of books.  They had been waiting for 3:00pm for the pool to open.  Right on time they used the tokens they had been given at the caravan park to head in for a dip.  The children’s pool had bubbles in it like a spa so R & R enjoyed lying in it as well as swimming in the pool.  Only prune fingers was enough to make them get out and get going.  By 4:30pm RL had driven the 69kms from Julia Creek west on Flinders Highway to a rest area at Oorindi where they sat for a cup in the car before even contemplating setting the camper up.  Once it was up, they rested a while as it was still very warm.  RL read and RA finished some diary before dinner.  As they were preparing dinner, their daughter, S, rang to chat for a while.  After dinner, R & R read and wrote again.  Both R & R were excited with their find for the day … a hard copy Louis LÁmour book to add to RL’s collection.