Winton, Queensland: Dinosaur Capital of Australia.

Did you know approximately 95 million years ago

there were Dinosaurs in the Australian Outback?

Did you know you can see the site of the only known Dinosaur stampede on the planet?

Visit Winton to learn about it’s pre – historic history.

Experience the outback lifestyle, the amazing landscape, and the legend Winton has on offer. But, for us, the dinosaurs were definitely the big draw card.

Where is Winton?

Winton is in the central west of Queensland.  Here is a list of the distances you will need to travel to get to Winton:

Longreach 179 kilometres

Hughenden 214 kilometres

Cloncurry 340 kilometres

Mt Isa 459 kilometres

Brisbane 1,355 kilometres

I guess you’re getting the picture. Winton is isolated, remote, definitely outback, and yes, a long way from anywhere. But,as retirees enjoying travel, we found it is so worth the trip.

Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History

The Australian Age of Dinosaurs is a working museum, plus an education resource, research facility, and a tourist attraction. This museum has the world’s largest collection of fossils from Australia’s largest dinosaurs.

We visited the Collection Room at the museum and saw fossils from three different dinosaurs. Researchers believe these fossils are about 95 million years old.

Two of the dinosaurs on display have been named Banjo and Matilda. It is believed the two died about the same time, at the edge of a billabong.

The first dinosaur bone was found in the area back in the early sixties, and it was a toe bone. This dinosaur bone is as big as a woman’s forearm, yet thicker.

The dinosaur statue out the front of the museum (in photo below) is how researchers believe Banjo would have looked like. They believe he would have been 1.5 metres high and 5 – 6 metres long. Bamjo was a meat eater.

Matilda was a long necked dinosaur and believed to be 4 metres tall and 16 – 18 metres long. This dinosaur ate vegetation.

We also enjoyed a tour of the laboratory at the museum. We saw more dinosaur fossils and observed staff and volunteers cleaning dinosaur bones.

Work commenced on cleaning the dinosaur bone (pictured below) in August 2016. The volunteer working on cleaning this bone estimates it will take another month before the bone is completely clean. He said the cleaning process was slow and tedious.

Did you know you could become a volunteer at the museum?  People can join the Dig- a – Dino program (dig for dinosaur bones) or learn how to clean rock away from the dinosaur bones. For further information about the volunteer programs.

Dinosaur Stampede National Monument, Lark Quarry Conservation Park

We travelled 220 kilometres (return trip) to Lark Quarry Conservation Park, to see the site of the Dinosaur Stampede. 120 kilometres was on a gravel road. Yes it was a long way. And yes, it was totally worth travelling all that way. We saw something we will not be able to see anywhere else. We thoroughly enjoyed the interpretive guided tour of the site.

A large building covers the dinosaur tracks. The building is kept at a constant 23 degrees. This is all in an attempt to preserved the dinosaur tracks.

Over 3,300 dinosaur track marks have been found, from an estimated one hundred and fifty dinosaurs. Researchers believe there was a stampede when a dinosaur, such as Banjo, attacked two different, smaller types of dinosaurs.

Researchers believe there must have been a weather event, that resulted in the track marks becoming fossils. In lay persons terms, a thin film protected the track marks, between two layers of rock. It is extremely hard to comprehend that the dinosaur tracks made 95 million years ago have survived for us to see today. Yet, big chicken like track marks are very apparent, as is the very large track marks of the attacking dinosaur. The tour guide pointed out where they believe the large dinosaur turned around, as the track mark suddenly point in the opposite direction.

Home of Waltzing Matilda

It is reputed that Banjo Patterson recited his first public rendition of Waltzing Matilda, at the North Gregory Hotel, in Winton.

There is a monument to Banjo Patterson in the main street of Winton.

Unfortunately the Waltzing Matilda Centre burnt down and is being rebuilt. There are some displays available to see.

Landscape around Winton

After leaving Longreach we saw a road sign telling us we were entering the Lake Eyre Basin. Amazing to think water flows all the way from here to Lake Eyre.

We travelled from Longreach to Winton. As we left Longreach we observed the landscape change and flatten out. We mean really flatten out. And there was hardly a tree to break to scene. The landscape was minimal, flat grassed plains and blue sky. The sky seems so huge when there is nothing to disturb it. We marveled at this simplistic beauty.

Can you see the homestead on the horizon? This was a rare sighting of any buildings. We are guessing this homestead would be considered close to the road.

At times we saw what the locals call a “jump – up”. These are steep escarpments that suddenly arise from the flat landscape. These were like hills with a table top. These “jump – ups” looked really pretty against the flat landscape.

When we left Winton and drove to Cloncurry, the flat plains went on and on… Like the flat grassland in the first photo in this section about the landscape around Winton. We stopped at Kynuna and spoke to other travellers. They said the only things they saw between Winton and Kynuna (158 kilometres) were two Emus. That’s exactly what it was like, apart from a few vehicles travelling on the road.

Where to stay in Winton?

Winton’s accommodation options are good, given the town is so small. There are motels, hotels, and caravan parks offering accommodation.

We stayed in our caravan out the back of the North Gregory Hotel. It was $10.00 per night for an unpowered site, no water. We could access free internet, and amenities, in the hotel. The sites for the caravans were small, and people are not allowed to put there awnings out. Basically, there is no room to do so. The yard was dusty, but so was anywhere else we could stay. Having said all that, we enjoyed our stay. And hey, we only paid $10.00.

The North Gregory Hotel is installing an out door stage out the back, so they can offer entertainment to the tourists.

Others grey nomads we have met on the road stayed in there caravans at the Tattersalls Hotel. They paid $30 for sites with power and water.

Both the Tattersalls Hotel and the North Gregory Hotel impressed us as great country pubs doing a great job catering to tourists.

Winton is embracing tourism, and in our opinion, the community is doing a great job.

As retirees enjoying travel we give Winton a big thumbs up. We thoroughly enjoyed our dinosaur experiences at Winton. Both venues we visited were very impressive and we highly recommend people visit.

If you are really into dinosaurs you could go continue on the dinosaur trail. Nearby Hughenden and Richmond are also rich in world class fossils.

The surprise for us has been the raw beauty of the landscape around Winton. The landscape has continued to change. While it, at times, it looks incredibly dry and barren, at the same time it is incredibly beautiful. We believe photos cannot capture the ongoing, majestic scenery we have been enjoying.

We totally recommend you experience Winton and all it has to offer.

Travel safely

Cheers from Estelle and Greg – Retirees Enjoying Travel