Monday 14 August Winton - Belmont Station Day 8
Up at 6 am and packed. Breakfast delivered at 6:30. I was to travel out to the dig site with Allan and Marion. We met everyone at the Bakery. Searls clothing shop opened especially for us so that others could buy long sleeved shirts so I also bought another field shirt. We left by 8 am in close convoy on the bitumen then spaced convoy on the dirt road.
We eventually arrived at Belmont Station (home of Judy and David) and settled into our accommodation for the week. We are in the shearer's quarters and I am rooming with Penny. Les is doing all the cooking but we vollies wash up of course.
After our induction talk and smoko (even though there is no smoking) we were taken in staff cars to see how the Super Seiver works to wash all the dug soil ...
and then out to the dig site.
Wow! What a size this dinosaur (called "Judy") is. It was already partially dug earlier in the year and the grader and mini digger had already been at work and taken off most of the black soil. All exposed bones are already covered in plaster so they can be lifted out later.
After another induction we all got down and dirty either expanding the dig or starting a bit further out.
We've got a large marquee for rests, smokos and lunch and lots of food and drinks.
The day was reasonable even though it was hot as there was a pleasant breeze.
After a long day, lots of small finds and lots of dirt we returned home to cool drinks and nibbles. Dinner was followed by a talk by Adele Petland on Australian Pterosaurs.
Tuesday 15 August - Belmont Station - Day 9
After breakfast (and an early false fire alarm!) I was put on the washing team. We walked to the site (only about 1000 steps) and had a great time in water and mud washing the gravel from the Judy dig. We washed about 6 loads and spread them on the drying tables to search for small treasures after smoko.
Back to camp to toilet, tea and tucker.
By lunch time I had found just one convincing piece of bone but lots of tiny plant fossils. I had also found a patch with a few different grasses so photographed them all in the hopes of working out what they are.
We went down to the dig for lunch and joined the others. We then swapped activities so I was back in the hole. After a while I found fern and other plants in the same layer as one of the bones. This is apparently quite significant.
Jill and I then spent the rest of the afternoon clearing overburden from a small area. This proved quite difficult as the black soil on top was quite solidified.
Curly Mitchell Grass (Astrebla lappaceae), Hoop Mitchell Grass (Astrebla elymoides), Bull Mitchell Grass (Astrebla squarrosa), and Barley Mitchell Grass (Astrebla pectinata). There was also Feather Top (Aristida latifolia) and Vine Tree (Ventilago viminalis).
Wednesday 16 August - Belmont - Day 10
Up and out again by 8 am. I was on the washing tables again this morning and I enjoyed the bit about getting wet. Jill found a tooth tip which was the excitement of the day (no photos here as it is all confidential until published). Of course we found lots of tiny bits of bone as well.
We joined the others for lunch at the dig site and swapped jobs. Again Jill and I spent the afternoon trying to chizel through the overburden which in our area was extremely hard. More bone was found by others.
The temperature was over 35 C (quite hot for this time of year) and has been around the mid 30's since we arrived on Monday. Tomorrow is forcast for over 36 C. So far I have not succumbed to heat stress as they've provided shade at the dig site and lots of drinks. However, I am exhausted each afternoon and a bit stiff from continual bending or standing.
After dinner our talk (or rather video) was from Tricia on Dinosaurs to Dunnarts. Then Jenny gave me a back massage with my Fisiocrem so now I am feeling much looser.
Thursday 17 August - Belmont-AAOD-Belmont - Day 11
Today was the hottest day so far but it was our day off to visit the Australian Age of Dinosaurs (AAOD) Museum on the other side of Winton.
After breakfast we set off in convoy again for our 1.5 hour drive. A quick download of emails as we passed through Winton with some reception.
At the museum, after smoko, we were given a tour of the lab and a tour of the collections room display (both of which I saw last month on the BCA trip). Then I had a new experience with a trip out to Dinosaur Canyon, displaying full size bronze models of the dinosaurs outside in the bush. No Sauropods yet though.
Back to the museum for lunch then over to the lab again. Here we were set up at prep-ing tables where we used mini jack hammers (large dentist drill size) to drill away the unwanted rock deposits around the fossils of Matilda (another Sauropod).
Back to the cars for our 1.5 hour trip back to Belmont arriving just in time to watch the beautiful sunset. No photos ever do it justice but they do bring back memories.
Time before dinner to catch up on diary.
Dr Steve's talk tonight was about the whole group caulled Archosauromorphs which includes dinosaurs, crocodiles and birds along with lots of other ancient and extinct groups of animals.
Friday 18 August - Belmont Station - Day 12
Everyone went out to the dig site this morning. We had visitors - paleontolgists from Melbourne (Pat and Tom) and some people writing articles and photographing our progress.
I spent time in the pit but after smoko had a bit of time on the jigsaur table trying to piece together bits of bone without any luck. Today was extremely windy but we were treated to a flock of cockatiels flying over.
After lunch Jill and I went to the super siever with Adele, Harry and the visitors. We had a lovely time in the water and mud and after smoko at the camp with Les we did the job with just Adele as the others all had to leave. Jill even got to drive the Flying Falcon (an old and sometimes temperamental unregistered farm car). What fun! There have not been so many midges today. The last few hot dig days have left me with rather large bites.
Everyone arrived back at camp for showers and drinks by about 5:30 pm.
Although it was hot again today there was a warm wind which threw dust at everything including my camera which will need a good vacuum when I get home.
The talk tonight was by Matt who showed us video of his research into the footprints at Lark Quarry. He showed lots of hilarious video clips of dissected emu feet and their CT scans then the making of a larger model to experiment with. Then the foot had to be "run" into a mud tray to create the footprints.
Jenny and I did a load of washing and it was crispy dry in the morning.
Saturday 19 August - Belmont - Day 13
This morning I woke to watch a magnificent dawn with Penny and Les.
After breakfast we all went out to the dig site for a group photo and kept working out there until lunch. We also looked at another area of the paddock with dinosaur bones at the surface as well as some fossil pine cones. These spots have been staked for future digs.
After lunch Jill, Adele, Harry, Tim and I went back to our washing job in the Flying Falcon and had lots of laughs when we got absolutely soaked and had black soil mud caked thick on our shoes and all over our clothes. Unfortunately we only found small bits of bone but did find a few nice plant fossils.
Back to camp for showers, washing our very grubby clothes, and drinks before our BBQ dinner.
Sunday 20 August - Belmont-Lark Quarry-Winton - Day 14
This is our last day with the dig team and we packed and headed back to town in convoy to join the Red Dirt Tour 4WD bus for a trip out to Lark Quarry and the dinosaur stampede. Some of the team stayed at the dig site to plaster the finds we had made ready for lifting and research in years to come.
On the way out to Lark Quarry we drove to the edge of the jump up ( xxxx Range) in a few places to see beautiful views of the gullies and wide vistas. We had smoko at our first lookout.
Lunch was at Lark Quarry before we had our tour of the trackway. It is amazing how the facility has changed since my last visit with Surrey and the kids in about 1986. I'll have to look back at our photos and compare but it is certainly a lot darker covered in a building and I am sure the tracks have deteriorated (which is why they have put the building over it).
After our tour and a welcome ice cream we headed back towards Winton. I sat in the back seat of the bus all day and clocked up 13700 steps for my journey. The trip back was very interesting chatting to the mum of a young family from Adelaide who are travelling for 3 months. She is a teacher and it sounds as though she has got some innovative teaching going on at her school.
Back at our motel we had time to shower and settle in before heading to the Winton Club again for the meet and greet dinner with the next group of diggers.
After all our goodbyes I walked back home absolutely exhausted from a hot day bouncing in the back of the bus.
1 comment:
I've enjoyed reading about your trip, Betty. It must have been quite a time in that heat and dust, but you found some good stuff.
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