Day 81 Winton, Dinosaur Stampede

 We spent more time chatting with Clipper Club friends Don and Sandy, before heading into Winton to do our washing. Unfortunately it took longer than we hoped for, as we had to wait for a washing machine, and then the dryers. But we made use of our time and walked around the Main Street and read some of the history boards and also talked with others who were waiting at the Laundromat, and all of them were travelling as well. I had a look through an open air cinema near the laundry that dates back to the 1890s which also doubled as a roller skating rink in the 30’s.  Current owner has done a great job restoring it and updating it and runs movies there most nights form all eras. The town centre / Main Street has a lot of art deco buildings  and has a lot of character . Also, there was a character called Arno who has passed on, but left a concrete wall around his property that would put most Greeks to shame . I don’t know how it’s still standing as it has 0 structural design, it’s just concrete and all the things his wife probably wanted him to chuck out. Generators, petrol tanks, ovens , vcrs, engine blocks, cylinder heads , motorbikes ,a massive air compressor, toasters .. you name it. I can hear his wife now, “when you gonna get rid of those old motorbikes  they don’t work , and what about those old engines …” thinking to himself … “If I encase them in concrete I’ll have them forever” and now the town has a massive concrete wall full of junk.  Looks interesting tho. 

We headed off after lunch, and went to the Lark Quarry Conservation Park, 110km down the road, and visited the museum on the Dinosaur Stampede. Here we got to do a scenic walk and enjoy the views of the area, where they have found footprints from dinosaurs. We then went on the tour and heard all about how they found the footprints and what they can ascertain from them. Apparently they also inspired a scene in the first Jurassic Park movie, where the little dinosaurs scatter and try to escape when the big T Rex came along and bent down and ate one. From what they can tell from the footprints, a bigger dinosaur came along and all the little ones ran away to escape being eaten. It was very interesting. They have enclosed the fossil footprints area to be protected and inside a building, to help it last longer.

We headed back to the free camp site and camped up in time for the sunset.