Monday 8th June - Hughenden

Monday 8^th June

On Monday we went to Porcupine Gorge. At Porcupine Gorge it was really windy. So windy that my hat blow off my head. After Porcupine Gorge we went for a walk into the gorge. It was a long walk into the gorge. In Porcupine Gorge there is a shade of brown rock shaped like a triangle on the side of the gorge called Pyramid Rock. Also in the gorge there are snakes and a billabong.

This is the gorge from above.

This is Pyramid Rock.

This is me with Pyramid Rock.

After Porcupine Gorge we went looking for belemnites. (Belemnites are fossilised  squid bones.) There was lots of them so it was easy. After we went looking for belemnites we went to the playground with the low monkey bars because we were good so we could scoot on the pretend road.

This is me scooting.

This is Caleb scooting.

This is me and Caleb scooting.

Mum's note:
Today we went for the drive out to Porcupine Gorge. A very pretty spot indeed.

A waterhole at the bottom of Porcupine Gorge, looking toward Pyramid Rock.

We saw lots of butterflies in Porcupine Gorge.

We then went fossicking for belemnites in a creek bed near Hughenden. Belemnites are the fossilised remains of ancient squid from the Triassic period - a bit like the cuttle bones you find on the beach. This was our first experience of the self-mulching blacksoil that we heard about in Winton. The fossils were indeed just sitting on the surface where rain had washed the soil away.

A belemnite sitting on the surface of blacksoil.

While not as exciting as an ichthyosaur, this sort of fossicking was more entertaining for the kids, as they could spot their own fossils here without much difficulty.

Fossicking for Belemnites near Hughenden.

At the end of the day we went to have a look at this historic Coolabah tree, which had blazes cut into it twice, in 1861 and 1862 by Frederick Walker and William Landsborough respectively as they were looking for Burke and Wills' ill-fated expedition. The original blazes have grown over.

Historic Coolabah tree.

Surveyors peg with monuments showing the two carvings that were blazed on this tree.