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Home > Travelogues > 2009 Travelogues Index > Eromanga Sea > Winton > Winton continued

Winton - More about fossils of the Winton area, the Opal Walk, Deck Chair Theatre, Musical Fence, Arno's Wall and Artesian Water.

Winton Timeline

 

600 million years ago the earliest forms of life appeared according to fossil finds

93 years ago the dinosaur tracks were formed – see Lark Quarry

10,000 years ago shows the first evidence of humans (Aboriginals) in the area

1860 the first explorers, including Burke and Wills came and were soon followed by pastoralists

1875 the first town called Pelican Pool was at Pelican Waterhole, although due to flooding the townsite was relocated to the present townsite with the first building being at the location of the present bank 

During the 1880s the first hospital and school were constructed

1888 opals were discovered in the area, and due to inadequate water supplies, an artesian bore was sunk

1871 was the year of the shearer’s strike

1898 to 1899 drought caused the loss of 75,000 sheep and 4,000 cattle

 

Corfield and Fitzmaurice Building Displays

 

Aside from the Matilda Visitor Centre, other places to visit in Winton include the former shop building Corfield and Fitzmaurice which now houses a museum displaying fossils and the centerpiece; a representation of the stampede at Lark Quarry with models of the dinosaurs at the size they would have been.  This display is good introduction to the Lark Quarry stampede story.  There is also a comprehensive display of opals.  Corfield and Fitzmaurice was the first general store in Winton. 

 

While most of us think of animals of the dinosaur era, be they marine or terrestrial, as being huge, there were many more of the smaller species and the average dinosaur size was that of a sheep. 

Deck chair theatre

 

Built in 1938 on the site of the original picture theatre which dated back to 1918 is the open air picture theatre – one of the oldest still in operation.  A small display showcases film projection equipment through the times the Theatre has been operating in Winton.  They also boast the world’s largest deck chair. 

The Opal Walk

 

On the way to theatre, you can take the opal walk at Wookatook Gift and Gem. The walk is a passageway that features a display on western Queensland opal fields, and leads right into the theatre.     

Musical Fence
 
Near the site of the Qantas landing strip is the musical fence, a novelty with wires of a fenced tuned as a giant musical instrument together other pieces you can play.  There is also some large percussion instruments.  We found this modern feature uninspiring in a town with a long and significant history. 

 

Winton’s Musical Fence

 

Winton’s Musical Fence was commissioned in July 2003 by the Queensland Music Festival with the Winton Shire Council and the generous support of Ergon Energy.  It was created by artist Graeme Leak with assistance from the Winton Community. 

 

Arno’s Wall
 
Just behind the North Gregory Hotel where Waltzing Matilda was first played, you can see a seventy metre long wall containing all sorts of junk including lawnmower parts, boat propellers, vintage typewriters, plaster figures, copper pots, sewing machines, motor cycles, car parts, and all sorts of other junk set into the concrete wall by private citizen Arno Grotjahn.  Arno works his claims at Opalton.  The nearby North Gregory Hotel offers customers free caravan parking at the rear.  

Winton’s water supply

 

Artesian water is brought to the surface from 1,200 metre below at a temperature of 83º.  It is cooled in large tanks and used as the town water supply.  The sulfurous odour of the water is unpleasant, but leaves no residue when used for showing or washing clothes.  Allowing the water to stand for a while in an open container produces water suitable for drinking.  

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Elliot – a sauropod dinosaur

 

The fossilised remains if a massive dinosaur, nicknamed Elliot, were found on a remote sheep station near Winton, central western Queensland.

 

Based on the size of the thighbone, palaeontologists estimate Elliot to have been almost four metres at the hips and an incredible 16 to 21 metres long.  At this size he would have weighted about 20 – 28 tonne; as much as five African elephants!

 

This makes it the largest dinosaur ever discovered in Australia.

 

Elliot lived about 95 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period. 

 

Elliot was uncovered by grazier David Elliott and hands on fossil experiences can be undertaken at the Age of Dinosaurs.  Tour fees apply. 

Since the discovery of Elliot, further discoveries of larger dinosaurs have been made in an area rich in fossils near Eromanga, including a femur of 1.8 metres and indications that the dinosaur may have been 36 metres in length and speculation is that this animal could have weighed as much as 100 tonne. 

The recreation of the stampede shows the massive flesh eating Carnosaur towering over the fleeing smaller Ornithopods which were plant eating animals the size of sheep when fully grown, and the tiny chook sized Coelurosaurs which were hollow boned like birds and left somewhat bird-like tracks.    Carnosaur means flesh (eating) lizard, Ornithopod means bird footed and Coelurosaur means hollow (boned) lizard.

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Much smaller than Elliot, the sauropod this right tibia belonged to was estimated to be two metres high at the hip and ten to twelve metres long. 

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