Off on the Flinders Highway today and a section of the ‘Overlander Way’, which is what the road from Tennant Creek through to Townsville is named.  The 147 kms through to Richmond was somewhat boring!  It was a long straight road with little change in the flat countryside.  We travelled beside the railway line for much of the journey.  The countryside was so flat that the power lines actually looked like a picket fence, stretching away to the horizon in a straight line.  Our morning tea stop was at the Maxwelton Rest Area, which is 49 kms from Richmond.  There is nothing now at Maxwelton, but they do have a race meeting each year.  

Richmond is often referred to as an ‘Outback Oasis’ and it did look very appealing as we drove into the town.  The population is approximately 650.  We stopped for a photo shoot in the park near the Pioneer Cemetery. The bougainvilleas made a lovely back drop to the Dinosaus and there was signage promoting the start of the ‘Dinosaur Trail’.  

Kronorsauras Korner was not difficult to find and this huge and amazing complex is the main reason tourists stop in Richmond.  It is certainly the reason we have decided to do the ‘Dinosaur Trail’.  Our appetite was wet four years ago when we visited Winton. We tracked down another 'BIG Aussie Icon' at Richmond and this Dinosaur is named Kronosaurus Queenslandicus and he sits on 'Kronosaurus Korner'.  He only rates 6/10 on the BIG Aussie Iconmetre, his date of birth is 1995 and he is 15 metres long. 

Kronosaurus fossils were first discovered in Queensland in 1889.  They are the largest and were probably the most ferocious of the ancient marine mammals called plesiosaurs.  Kronosaurs had a strong sense of smell and massive jaws lined with rows of teeth the size of really big bananas.  Kronosauras Korner is Australia’s Premier Marine Fossil Museum.  There are over 1,000 registered fossils from the Richmond area.  The fossils on display provide a fascinating insight into the creatures that survived in the ancient Eromanga Sea over 100 million years ago.  Kronosauras Korner displays the largest known collection of fossils.

We paid $86.00 each to do the ‘Dinosaur Trail’.  Our ticket enables us to go to five locations on the trail and by purchasing the ticket there is a saving of about $70.00.  At Richmond there are three rooms and a theatre to the complex.  Viewing is with the aid of an audio and each exhibit is numbered.  You just punch in the number of the exhibit you wish to learn more about.  There was the usual written information for you to read and if you are like me, you take a snap so you can refer to it.  Certainly helps when it comes to naming photos and putting a bit of info to them.  Especially with all those fossils!  

We watched the video in the theatre to start with as was suggested.  Marathon Station, home of the Ievers Family and it is one of the significant areas where the fossils have been found.  I think it is probably Robert Ievers, who is Deputy Mayor of Richmond and one of the main volunteers and drivers of the Museum, that talks throughout the video.  Not sure about all of the audios, but certainly spoke about the main exhibit in the 'Rob Ievers Gallery'.  When I walked into the third room, Peter was already in there listening to the audio and my response at what was in front of me was “Wow”!  Peter said to press number 13 to listen to the audio and I couldn’t believe it when the audio started with the word ‘Wow’.  I wonder how many other people doing the tour say the same as I did when they see the cabinet in room number three.  It definitely has the ‘Wow’ factor.  The specimen was donated to the Queensland Museum by the Ievers family. It has since been loaned to Kronosaurus Korner as the centrepiece of the Rob Ievers Gallery. 

We had lunch in the Cafe attached to the Marine Fossil Museum.  There are free fossil hunting sites 12 kms north of Richmond and as we were leaving the museum, a group that had been ‘hunting’ came in with their find.  The family of Mum and Dad and two little boys had been with the ‘Kronosauras Korner’s’  resident palaeontologist and they had made a significant find.  It was quite a large fish, well about 15 inches long and looked to be quite complete.  I wish I had had the courage to ask if I could take their photo.  I had been looking at the photos on the wall of people who have found fossils on the hunting sites a little earlier. 

You can do a self-guided historical walk along the main street of Richmond to discover the rich history of towns past.  The streets are so wide and there is parking in the middle as well as the sides.  We found enough bays to park on the side of the street with the caravan and there beside us was another CWA Centre.  This centre even had a TV aerial.

Before we left Richmond to travel the 112 kms to Hughenden, we checked out Lake Fred Triton.  The caravan park overlooks the lake and there is a pathway all around it.  A guy at Julia Creek told Peter it was a lovely park and it certainly looked like you could relax and enjoy a couple of days there.  They do put Barramundi into the lake and there is a Bush Tucker garden somewhere on the banks of the lake.  The brochure also says it is a quiet retreat for bird watching.  We didn’t look for the Cambridge Heritage Display Centre or the Mary MacKillop House, but time was moving on and we had decided to travel onto Hughenden today, where we will stay two nights.  A two night stay is a chance to do so washing and give our little homes a clean.

The ‘Dinosaur Trail’ brochure says a visit to Richmond and Australia’s premier marine fossil museum is an unforgettable prehistoric adventure.  I have to say if you didn’t believe that this area of Australia was covered with  40 metres of water 110 million years ago, leaving behind an intriguing story of the marine creatures from the Cretaceous Period of the Earth’s evolution, a visit to ‘Kronosauras Korner’ will make you change your mind.  And you get to see ‘Krono’  Kronosaurus queenslandicus – the 10 metre giant marine reptile and ‘Wanda’ Australia’s largest fossil fish.  And I’ve found another of Australia’s BIG Aussie Icons, taken a photo or two and ticked him off the list.  I now have eight snaps of the fifteen 'Big Aussie Icons' in Queensland.   

I used the word 'Yay' on the Karumba blog and Heather commented with a 'Yea'!  So I decided to do a google about the spelling.  I found that the word for 'Yes' can be spelt any of three ways Yay/Yea/Yeah, but the correct spelling is 'Yeah'.  But I also did find something else on 'Mr Google' to make me decide I am not going to spell the word as 'Yay' again.  YAY means "Cocaine" or "Exclamation of approval".  So for the Karumba blog it is definitely 'Exclamation of Approval'.