From Mount Isa to Richmond in Sheep, Cattle and Fossil Country

Christina at entrance to Kronosaurus Korner

Welcome to Australia's Dinosaur Trail

Hundreds of millions of years ago, dinosaurs, fish, turtles, and other sea creatures lived in the western region of Queensland. Ever since humans inhabited the area, they have been finding fossilised evidence to prove it; tiny fossilised teeth from small fish species and huge heads, backbones, tails and limbs that once propelled gigantic sea-dwelling swimmers through the ancient waterways.

Most of the ancient species have become extinct, but a handful has evolved into more modern animals. 

This cornucopia of ancient plant and animal life has sprung into a much needed tourist attraction in numerous regional towns included within a triangular dinosaur trail between Richmond, Hughenden and Winton. Traditionally sheep and cattle country, these regions have undergone a lengthy drought and rely on alternative forms of income to survive ... enter fossil tourism.

Our interest in staying overnight at Richmond was to visit the local dinosaur display called, Kronosauras Korner, a museum of fossil remains. At Kronosaurus we saw the complete fossilised bone remains of several different dinosaurs and various other smaller creatures.

Overhead projection of dinosaur

The road between Mount Isa and Richmond is bituminised (asphalt for Canadians), but isn’t in good repair so our caravan bobbed up and down for much of the journey and I had to travel slowly quite often to make sure our foodstuffs and cupboard contents didn’t get scrambled or worse still, spread all throughout the caravan.

Richmond has a large caravan parking area for overnight stayers. The photo herein shows how popular it is at this time of year because it’s free. It just needs a toilet block to be perfect.

Richmond's free caravan park

After spending some time at Richmond, we headed east towards Charters Towers and 60 km short of our destination decided to do another free camp at a roadside stop (this one with a toilet) called Reid River rest area. 

As it was Sunday, we couldn’t see any reason to continue to Charters Towers when nothing would be open. 

We pulled out our camp chairs and sat around reading until dinner time, watched television for an hour or two and went to bed.

Ah, the life of a frequent traveller.

Robin

From The Alice to Cawnpore Lookout (Queensland)

When you drive east from Alice Springs to Queensland, there are only two ways to go; via Tennant Creek, 500 km to the north and then east along the Barkly Highway to Mount Isa or via the Plenty Highway. The Tennant Creek route is bitumenised (asphalt) 400 km longer and, when you've driven it hundreds of times, exceedingly boring. The Plenty Highway is a mostly gravel road that commences about 70 km north of The Alice and although rough in parts, is suitable for four wheel drive vehicles and trucks with high clearance.

With diesel fuel at $1.75 per Litre at Alice Springs, it's cheaper to go via the shorter dusty route and of course, a little quicker. As we hadn't been across the Plenty Highway for quite a few years, we decided to go that way saving money and revisiting the route we had taken two or three times previously, a good opportunity to see if anything had changed.

As you turn from the Stuart Highway (named after explorer John Stuart) into the Plenty Highway, you face a number of signs telling you about the road condition and the need for 4 wheel drive, this time after Jervois Station. (See photo at left). For at least a few kilometres, it was bitumenised, something new since our last trip. The Northern Territory Government extends the bitumen a few hundred metres or kilometres each year, depending on what funding is available. By 2090, or perhaps a little sooner, it will be fully bitumenised, but by then it will be of little benefit to me.

For this first leg of our journey, we had decided to travel to Cawnpore Lookout, an idyllic spot (well, idyllic by our standards) somewhere between Boulia, the first town in western Queensland and Winton, the next along the track. The lookout is on top of a little hill and the surrounding views are magic; ancient hills turned into buttes and other rugged shapes by millions of years of wind, rain and sun. Cawnpore is about 950 kilometres from The Alice and therefore, a good day's drive away.

When we arrived where we thought Cawnpore should be, it was pitch dark with a miniscule quarter moon revealing very little of the surrounding hills. We had a little trouble finding our way, but eventually located the lookout and drove up the steep slope to park on the top. Not a sound could be heard except for some crickets. As is common in outback Australia, the display of stars in the sky was outstanding. The Southern Cross and Milky Way were particularly bright and a cool breeze came from the south.

We boiled the billy for coffee and tea, had a cold dinner and then sat for a couple of hours enjoying the isolation, peace, tranquility and the beautiful heavenly display before pushing back the seats in our Prado and going to sleep. As morning broke, a lone road train (truck with five trailers) rumbled along the road below towards Boulia and we prepared for another day's drive, this time to Emerald, a coal mining and cotton growing township close to Rockhampton near the Queensland coast.

Our new Landcruiser Prado handled the rough, dusty roads very well and was much more comfortable than our previous, beloved Toyota Forerunner. We still have a long way to go.

Robin

PS: Double click graphic to see larger size.