22nd July
Today we drove out to Riversleigh to a World Heritage Fossil site (about 45km from Adel’s Grove). It was pretty impressive! There were only a few fossils to see, but they were very clear and easy to see. The best part was that they were still in their natural state and not behind a piece of glass in a museum.
The first one we saw had a piece of a leg of an ancient freshwater crocodile and the shell of a turtle also from that era. They estimate the fossils are around 25 million years old. The most impressive fossil was the leg of a bird estimated to have grown up to 2.5m in height. You could see a whole leg section in the rock as well as river pebbles that would have been in its stomach to help it digest food.
All the rock formations in the area are amazing too – a great place for any keen geologists to visit.
There were also great views of the surrounding landscape, from the rocky outcrop we climbed. It’s hard to believe when you look out at the scenery today, that it was a big flowing river.
The Travelling Dixons 