Property near Nelia 22 – 28 August 2015

We were invited to stay with our friends on their station, so after a night at Julia Creek we drove out to camp. They are very proud of all the improvements they have made to the property, and although they are still in a drought, they are optimistic about their future. The homestead is a real oasis, with lots of trees planted around it, watered from their bores. Peter was keen to help with the work and got stuck into on a project he was most suited for – demolishing a bathroom!

Rob took us out to his dig site to show us where he found a fossilized Kronosaurus jawbone a few months ago. The jawbone is 1.6m long and is estimated to be 120 million years old! 170 million years ago, this area was once underwater and many marine dinosaurs died and sunk to the bottom of the inland sea. Over millions of years, the silt has been compressed into mudstone and the bones have been turned into stone. We had a dig around and much to Peters surprise, he found what appears to be a jaw of a dinosaur.

Peter thinks it may be the lower jaw of a Platyptergius that grew to 6 or 7 metres and looked like a cross between a shark and a dolphin, but we will have to wait for a palaeontologist to identify it. We were all very excited, as it demonstrates what a rich area this is for fossils. The next day we went out again and we found a Kronosaurus tooth and some fossilised worms and shells – all very exhilarating!

In the afternoon, Cass took us around to help top up the lick pans for their cattle. Properties have to be big around here to support enough cattle to make a living, however the entire northern region of Queensland is in a 4 year drought and most farmers have destocked their land and only kept the best of their breeds. While we were here there was a round-up to brand and sort their steers in what they call one of their paddocks – 40,000 acres! They used helicopters, quad bikes, trail bikes and horses – an enormous job.