Fleeting visits to Underhill

Our visits over the last few months have often been rather short while Geoff and Jen bought a new home and moved in. Last Saturday Geoff, Ivy, Ponyo and I  did a half day trip.

A lot of thought was given to the circular fenced orchard and how to manage wombats in that. We realise that we cannot manage anything really so all we can do is manage the trees themselves. Geoff sorted the watering system so that they get plenty of water at least after the rain fills the watering tank. The fruit looks good this year so I hope the birds leave us some.

Ivy loves Underhill and busied herself with all her familiar 'toys'. She is so happy to just potter.

Geoff and Ivy planted quite a few acorns in the hope that one or two will sprout, or maybe even a lot!

We retrieved the comfy brown chair for the new house too. It might look awful but it is comfortable. If anyone knows an upholsterer who could give it a makeover of good quality then let one of us know.

On the way out we stopped to show Ivy an echidna that had just crossed the road in front of us. She had a really close up view.

Underhill in September

Last weekend a crowd of us spent two days at Underhill.

One big job we did was to cut all the old trees that had been felled long ago. They are now in movable pieces and can be burnt off next winter. Four of us had proper helmets for chainsawing and we even had a pair of earmuffs for Ivy.

The funny part about cutting the log near the shed was that two small rabbits had made it their home and made their escape soon after Nathan started up the chainsaw through their home.

The 'horizontal tree' is now in pieces.

Lots of small pieces are now ready for burning off but no more burning off until next winter.

This apple tree had one half that was eaten out by termites.

This is the log near the Apricot

the far dam is quite low.

We were pleased to see that the apricot flowers had actually been pollinated before the frosts hit too severely.

Geoff even got a little more of the fuel stove organised and space is now clear there for more layers of bricks to be done next time. Maybe by this time next year we'll be cooking on it!

Thanks to all our helpers. It is great to be able to have friends down that are happy to work hard.

Outback Queensland Dino Dig - Days 15-16

Monday 21 August - Winton to Longreach

A slow start to the day followed by a few hours filling in time by updating the blog then sipping a drink at the bakery.

I caught the bus to Longreach with Dana and Peter. I called the taxi again when I got there and Judy was there in no time to take me to the Abajaz Motel.

I spent time on email before walking back to town to meet Dana and Peter for dinner at the Chinese Restaurant near their motel. They then walked me home to settle in for the night.

Tuesday 22 August - Longreach to Sydney

A lazy morning with delicious waffles for breakfast again. I was going to walk to town but my leg was playing up so I decided to spend my morning catching up on blog, photos and email.

Then I had time to charge up everything and read while I waited for my taxi to the airport.

More waiting at the airport then a surprise at security when they found a tiny pair of scissors in my handbag. They had not been picked up on the way to Brisbane and I'd forgotten I had them in there. However, they were allowed through.

Another surprise at Brisbane security when they found a tiny penknife in with my thumb drives that had not been picked up on many trips. It was broken anyway so they threw it out. The fun was trying to convince them that my swiss army knife look alike thumb drive was not actually a knife when I was not allowed to touch it to open it to show them. Nevertheless, they did eventually allow it and pointed out that there is also a biro within the thumb drive that I had not known about.

Home by 8:30 to sleeping girls and a slow wind down with Geoff, Jen and Arianne.

What a great experience it has all been and all done by public transport!

Outback Queensland Dino Dig - Days 8-14

After a week without reception at all...

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.

I eventually came across a bit of rock around which I brushed and scraped until I revealed what was thought to be a bit of siltstone so Tricia said to prize it out. It broke in doing so into 4 pieces as I did so revealing part of what is thought to be a rib bone. I'm so excited that I found something on my first day.

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.

On the drive back Bob Elliott gave me a quick lesson on the grasses we could see in the paddocks...
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).

After dinner Dr Steve Poropat gave us a talk about his research on the Sauropods of Australia. The finds and work at Winton Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum (AAOD) have greatly increased the current knowledge of dinosaur records in Australia.

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.