5 June 2021
We have reached the tropics and have set down in the town of Winton for a few days. It’s always nice to get off the road for a couple of days so you get a chance to explore the local town and what it has to offer. In Winton its dinosaurs and the annual Show.
Dinosaurs
We have discovered that 95 million years ago the place was crawling with huge beasties that were either herbivores or carnivores. The herbivores were enormous and the carnivores were also of a size that would have been terrifying if caught in your headlights on a dark night.
The fossilised bones and trackways left by these giant lizards is something to behold. What’s more the local graziers are kicking up more bones every year. The dinosaur museum has a 40 year backlog for conserving and preparing the bones currently dug up. And still they come!
The scientists tell us that until the mid 1970’s Australia was never thought of as a place to find dinosaurs. This perception has been clearly corrected in recent years. Of course we all know if the scientists had asked any 5 year old they would have told you of course there were dinosaurs in Australia.
The Winton Show
It seems every country town has its own agricultural show. It’s a place for local farmers to have their cattle and sheep judged not to mention chickens and other farm animals. It’s also a place for the local kids to have their cake baking skills judged and displayed. There was also the obligatory reptile show with all sorts of venomous snakes and the petting zoo with baby farm animals for the little kids.
We enjoyed watching the cattle judging and the sheep shearing demonstration. Did you know a shearer earns about $3.25 per sheep and depending on the type of sheep they might shear 200 in a day. My haircuts cost about $30 but I don’t relish the idea of being thrown down between the legs of a shearer and twisted around as I am stripped of my hair even if was to cost less than a cup of coffee.
In Thargomindah a new world record was achieved when a sheep was shorn in less that 30 seconds. I am guessing that’s a speed that could not be maintained all day.
Did you also know that in Italy they shear the sheep in the paddocks, in the open. In the USA they shear straight through an 8 hour day without stops. In Australia they shear in a shearing shed in four, two hour blocks. This is the stuff you learn at the Winton Show.
We didn’t buy any show bags but we did get free handouts from the Queensland Ambulance Service and the Winton Community Support group. I now get excited about a free thumb drive, a flash light and hand sanitiser. Comics, chocolates, liquorice and samples of Heinz products no longer catch my attention.
And so the journey continues…..
A Traveller's Tale 