McCulloch Family Giant Leap: Starting the Dinosaur Trail

Another day, another big drive ahead of us! As if, we aren’t exactly exerting ourselves here. We only had to go to Prairie, well that was the plan. However when we arrived in Prairie it was a tad umm warm and the thought of free camping without the air-conditioner just didn’t seem right. Of course we still stopped and said hello to the random people standing out the front (I knew one of them from Longreach). Honestly you can’t go anywhere without running into a Moffat girl.

Out the front of the pub.

Change in landscape.

Out the front of the Prairie Pub.

Unfortunately when we arrived at Prairie we found that the electric brake controller in our car wasn’t working. These aren’t our car brakes, but the brakes to the caravan so that when we put on the car brakes, the caravan also brakes. They sorted themselves out after a little while and just came back on after Jason played with them for a bit. So we definitely thought we should continue onto Hughenden for the next two nights as it was only 45km or so away. Then we could get someone to look at them.

Inside the pub there are heaps of little displays.

Obviously a few people left their hats behind.

On the drive to Hughenden we thought we would just go there, un-hitch, rest and then return to Prairie as their local horse races that were on. We would be a little late but it would also be cooler for the kids which means more enjoyable for us. However by the time we arrived in Hughenden, and had set up we were just a bit more on the relaxation side, so went for a swim in the pool instead. We had tried to get into the caravan park, but when we pulled up there was a sign saying they would be back at 12:15pm and it was already 12:50pm. After trying to call and waiting around for a while we decided to go back to the servo on the way into town. He had some spots out the block beside his servo for about 5 caravans, had the power we wanted and the all-important pool.

By the time we had rested and felt ready to go sight seeing the information centre and Dinosaur centre was closed, but noted the opening hours so we wouldn’t miss out the next day. Just a slight bit of bad planning on our behalf, but we still enjoyed a drive around town and had dinner at a lookout 10 kilometres out of town.

Hamish checking out the view.

Beautiful place to sit back and relax.

Lots of different lookouts.

So quiet and peaceful.

Looking back over Hughenden.

We were up early the next day with the intention to arrive in Richmond just after opening time at their Kronosaurus centre. I thought it would feel like a quick drive as we weren’t towing so could do the speed limit. How wrong I was, sometimes I think the length of the trip has a lot to do with what is in between the towns to see. Being open grazing country there really wasn’t much to see or changes in the outlook during the hour drive.

Naturally the first thing we did when we got to Richmond was to get the kids photo taken in the Krono statue’s mouth. Hamish and Kayla were not overly impressed with this idea, even though we told them that it wasn’t real. Inside the air-conditioning was beautiful, yet alone the displays of dinosaur bones. I think what was also amazing was how some of them are discovered and how each year they are finding more and more.

Dare you to put your rubbish in.

Two not so happy kids.

This was more their thing.

After the centre we took the kids to the man-made lake outside town which happen to have a little water park for the kids. We thought if we let them run around there for a while they will be happy to hop back in the car and Kayla would hopefully have a nap on the way home. Some local residents were there to celebrate a birthday and they offered the kids icy poles, sausages from their bbq and even said if we had stayed longer we could have had some cake. That is one thing that is awesome about the country; they are ever so welcoming and generous. We never caught your names but thank your friendliness.

The water park by the lake.

Checking out the museum.

The kids making their fossil discovery.

So back in the car we hopped and back to the Hughenden Information Centre we went. I had been told that their dinosaur display wasn’t as good, and it wasn’t but they certainly made up for it with information around the towns first settlement and the once thriving sheep industry. Best of all they had an amazing kid’s corner set up so once Hamish and Kayla had found that we were left in peace and quiet to read everything and watch the videos.

Two cute dinosaurs.

Awesome displays.

The sections of green are the stations that had sheep in 2006.

Compared to 1895 where all the light brown was sheep stations,

Later that afternoon we had another swim. Another vehicle had pulled up to the camp also, but he didn’t have the luxury of aircon, only his trusty swag. I am grateful though he was pulled up for the night as he had about 3 beers and some rum just while we were in the pool alone and he started before that. Mind you he went and rolled out his swag at about 5:30pm and went to sleep. I am guessing he may have just passed out but he was up early and was gone before we woke up.

Beautiful old pub that no longer operates.

Riverside walk.

Big windmill beside the river.

My the kids have changed.

The next morning we got up early to get to Winton before it got too hot. There wasn’t anyone in Hughenden who could look at our brakes so we continued on.