I’ve yet to meet a Calcareous Concretion I didn’t like.

Although there’s some confusion about exactly where that magical Moon Rock meeting is likely to be. My first sighting in Outback Queensland’s Richmond was supposed to be ‘unique to the Richmond Shire’ according to the town guide.

BUT … I’d clocked up several hundred Moon Rock sightings before heading a few hundred kilometres south-west, where a data sheet from Boulia’s Stone House Museum outlines the geological forces that formed – yes, you guessed it – the BOULIA Calcareous Concretions!

Richmond’s dubious claims of Moon Rock uniqueness are weakened further by calcareous concretion presence in the Gogo formation of the Kimberley, Western Australia. Happily, my razor-sharp mind immediately resolved this discrepancy!

Calcareous Concretions are a feature of the Toolebuc formation, left when Australia’s vast inland sea dried up after covering much of what is now Outback Queensland – including both Richmond and Boulia!! QED …

Of course the most common form of calcareous concretion is the pearl – I therefore stand by my opening sentence – but other than formation method, the pearl and the Moon Rock are completely dissimilar …

However, although Moon Rocks can be seen in Boulia and the Kimberley, the fossil fossicking grounds of the Richmond shire, where FOSSILHUNTER once roamed (and shall roam again!), is their heartland.

Ranging in size from tiny to immoveable, you can’t throw a fossil-bearing rock without hitting some evidence of Richmond’s widespread exploitation of the Moon Rock’s decorative qualities.

The commemorative cairn, a grim or happy reminder (depending on your politics and point of view) of ex-Queensland premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen who opened the Flinders Highway that bisects the town, is made of various smaller sized Moon Rocks.

But there’s no evidence that they in any way resemble the pumpkin scones made famous by Sir Joh’s wife, Lady Flo Bjelke-Petersen …*

A scattering of larger Moon Rocks lurk in the gardens below the Lakeview Caravan Park around the wonderful Fred Tritton Lake (above), a feature of Richmond’s ingenuity and an understandably popular local gathering spot.

But if you want to see Moon Rocks in their natural habitat, drive out to Cambridge Crossing on the Stawell River, 40 km from Richmond.

The riverbed, mostly dry on our June, 2011 visit gave no clue to the forces that pushed these Moon Rocks up against the crossing bed when the river flowed.

Luckily, the temptation to crack open a Moon Rock’s hard casing and cut through the limestone layer to discover the fossil or crytal that formed its nuclei was thwarted by the absence of a rock pick. Well, actually a jackhammer …

So here’s one someone prepared earlier!

A pile of Moon Rocks cleared from the riverbed and crossing didn’t look THAT big – until I stood next to them!

And remember I’m not a small person … although I’m still wondering how Pilchard’s photo of me and the Moon Rocks (below) was mysteriously photo-shopped to make me look fat …

While I salivate at the memory of top notch Bakery goods from the mysteriously named Moon Rock café at world class dinosaur fossil museum Kronosaurus Korner … they’ve really got nothing to do with the rest of this post  Just put it down to Moon Rocks in my head …

Richmond residents clearly come by THEIR Moon-Rocks-on-the-brain obsession honestly because it’s here, during the biennial Richmond Fossil Festival that the World Champion Moon Rock-throwing competition is held!

SO … if you’ve got the $AUD5.00 entry fee, and can throw a 23 kg (50 lb) Moon Rock more than 5.04 metres, you just MIGHT topple 2011 World Champ David Ievers in May 2012 and grab yourself a world championship title!!

Me, I think I’ll take my chances with the pearls …

Want more information?

• FOSSILHUNTER
• Moon Rocks
• World Champion Moon Rock-throwing Competition, 2018
• Kronosaurus Korner and Richmond

* Forgive me the indulgence of this gratuitous history lesson – Although Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen and his wife, Lady Flo Bjelke-Petersen were Queensland’s first couple 1968-87, these controversial and colourful figures were well known throughout Australia. He for his policies that allowed controversial development unsullied by such considerations as standard approval processes, and allegations of corruption; she for the fabulous pumpkin scones for which she will always be remembered despite later becoming a senator in her own right.

The post Only in OZ #19 – Moon Rock-Throwing World Championships, Richmond, Queensland appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

The dim yellow light cast a long dark shadow flickering balefully over the seeping rock as we descended deeper into the gloomy cavern. Treading carefully over the uneven rock floor, we dodged the oozing columns towering high above as we rounded the corner to leave the daylight behind.

Channelling ‘Becky’ to Pilchard’s ‘Tom Sawyer’ in a weird re-enactment of Mark Twain’s classic*, I half expected ‘Injun Joe’ to materialise from the shadows and scare us witless. But here, the menace was far more sinister …

Did I mention we were in a cave?

A light flickered to life and I gasped involuntarily as an ominous silhouette emerged from the semidarkness.

Thylacoleo carnifex, Australia’s own lion, bizarrely amplified by the shadow of his skeleton, face frozen forever in a snarl of despair. As it would if one’s prehistoric life had been cut short by falling through the roof of this subterranean system of limestone caves. At least, that’s probably what happened …

Did I mention we were on a tour??

Those who, like me, find the concept of Ice-Age Megafauna both fascinating and terrifying will likely find the Naracoorte Caves National Park – and Australian Fossil Mammal site – an intriguing glimpse into the past. And one not seen by many! Despite its World Heritage Status, this little-known National Park with Australia’s most complete fossil record of Pleistocene megafauna tucked away in the wilds of South Australia is unknown to many Australians.

Did I mention that megafauna are now extinct???

But it wasn’t megafauna that posed the biggest threat to our equilibrium during our April 2009 visit. Just down the road from the Wonambi Fossil Centre, the well maintained campground has all sorts of native fauna up close – including the voracious and unwelcome mosquitoes!! Plugging the gaps in our camper trailer canvas with tissues kept most of them out in the end – although happily, Pilchard’s mosquito magnet qualities kept them from me anyway …

Although the nearby – and aptly named – ‘Mosquito Creek’ should have provided a clue when we set up camp for a few days!!

While it’s unknown why megafauna no longer roam this corner of the continent, the well preserved skeletons of over 120 vertebrate species found so far in the caves may one day provide a clue. However, while the risk of death by megafauna is now nil, the good old Aussie Wombat– smaller descendant of Diprotodon – provides a more subtle threat to the unwary. While this benign looking marsupial is unlikely to attack**, stepping in its underground burrow may result in a nasty injury!

Far better to explore the four main caves and Wonambi Fossil Centre – part of Australia’s biggest Volcanic Province, the Kanawinka Geopark; and all within easy walking distance of the campground. The variety of self-guided and guided tours will meet most visitor requirements. With the possible exception of the very claustrophobic …

Back in the Victoria Fossil Cave, we left Thylacoleo behind to admire a mirror-like pool and the magical stalagmite and stalactite formations. The malevolent megafauna menace had passed. Peace reigned.

Until we emerged back into daylight and to a nasty yapping little dog disturbing the peace in the carpark, and we wished that the megafauna would arise once more!

Just for a moment …

Want MORE?

• Naracoorte Caves National Park
• Wonambi Fossil Centre
• Naracoorte, and Naracoorte Visitor Information Centre
• Australian Megafauna
• MORE things to do on the Kanawinka GeoTrail
• MORE Limestone Coast Adventures
• MORE Photos on Flickr HERE!

The post OZ Top Spot #12 – Naracoorte Caves National Park, South Australia appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

The ancient landscape of OZ, eroded by time, long disappeared sea beds and a harsh climate has given rise to weirdly unique and bizarre creatures. Well … their remains, anyway!

I knew this. But I DIDN’T know the present day Outback fossil fields near northwest Queensland’s Richmond, would engender a creature more fantastic than any of them.

And I was there when the Bermuda Trianglesque alignment of mystical forces during our July 2011 visit to the Richmond fossil fossicking fields coalesced to spawn an almost-alien almost-super heroic life form.

Where else could the trappings of an ordinary life of relative civilization be thrown aside so fecklessly – to transmogrify into the fabled and fearless, frenetic and frightening …

FOSSILHUNTER!!

I blame the ‘Honour Roll’ exhibit.

As we left Richmond’s Kronosaurus Korner, inspired by an array of wondrous fossil finds worthy of removal by study at Harvard University, an exhibit near the exit catalogued some exciting discoveries. We stopped for a closer look. An honour roll of significant fossil finds – unearthed by tourists, many of them children on family holidays, at the nearby fossicking fields!

Yes, the fossil force-field started to stir …

Then again, maybe the blame lies with the ‘dig’.

Armed with our photocopied ‘Fossil-Hunting Guide’, map from the Visitor Information Centre and shovel, we arrived at the fields ready to kick some serious fossil-finder butt. Only to be trumped by a pair of Canadians who’d discovered a rare, almost complete fish skeleton (cick HERE for the story) that even made the news – although incomprehensibly claimed by Queensland’s premier as a great personal triumph. We watched the plaster cast being lifted from the ground for the bumpy trip back to the lab.

The odds of finding fossils are astronomically high on this Toolebuc formation – an ancient limestone sea floor, where almost every rock yields animal remains. We couldn’t miss, right? SURELY we could outdo the Canadians – after all, this was virtually our home turf! And Pilchard’s gemstone fossicking skills, well developed from countless hours on the sapphire and opal fields, were transferrable to the fossil medium, weren’t they??

But the final blame for FOSSILHUNTER lies with junior FOSSILHUNTER.

Part of the ‘dig’, a young lad casually wandered up to one of the staff with something in his hand. ‘What’ve you got there?’ she asked, bending over for a closer look.

‘Fish jaws,’ he replied nonchalantly as she got out her fossil-hunter kit – magnifying glass and preservation liquid.

‘Fish jaws, huh?’ Pilchard snorted, and I could sense his competitive urge rising, along with the hot, green bile of envy.

And right then, right there, FOSSILHUNTER emerged, fully formed and frantic for a frenetic fossil finding frenzy!

The uninformed may well believe FOSSILHUNTER’s foiled attempt to join the fossil-finding elite*** was due to lack of expertise.  I blame lack of equipment – ie only two (map, shovel) of the guide’s 14 suggested field equipment items!  My discovery of a Scenic Public Toilet only partly made up for the disappointment of remaining amongst the millions of Australians who haven’t yet found a major fossil …

But where FOSSILHUNTER failed, many others have succeeded – a list of Queensland fossil hotspots reads like an Outback who’s who! And Richmond, along with Winton and Hughenden, forms the Dinosaur trail – although impressive fossil credentials in other towns (eg Muttaburra, Eromanga, Mt Isa, Isisford and Boulia)  put them on the map for fossil enthusiasts*.

Where else in the world can you see such fine (and in some cases – only) examples of Plesiosaur, Isisfordia duncanii, Richmond pliosaur, Muttaburrasaurus langdoni, Minmi** and more?

Of course transmogrifying into FOSSILHUNTER isn’t a requirement for appreciating Australia’s fossil finds – but Richmond, aka ‘Fossil capital of Australia’, is one of the few places that FOSSILHUNTER and his ilk can actually join the hunt.

Thanx to FOSSILHUNTER’s superior skills (yes, he’s probably reading this …) I’m betting that although we’ve already seen more fossils in Queensland than the average person, we’ll be following the fossil trail to other states!  Bet you can’t wait either …

For now, following the fossil finding failure in the fossicking fields, FOSSILHUNTER is dormant. But who can say when fossil force field fever will once again activate FOSSILHUNTER and trigger the next awakening??

*Click on each town for more information

** Click on each dinosaur for more information

*** No, other than the rock fossil in FOSSILHUNTER’s hand, not one of the exhibits above had ANYTHING to do with either of us … unbelieveable, huh?!

The post Aussie ABC – F is for Fossils! appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

At first glance, the setting of these conveniences in western Queensland’s Richmond is far from exotic.  It’s nowhere near as scenic as Lord Howe Island’s #15 – my favourite to date!  Unlike Largs Bay’s #12, there’s no colourful loo-art adorning the amenities block either.  And it also lacks a quirky connection, like the poetry of Gunnedah’s #8!

Fossicking fields – loo in the far distance!

Sitting atop an ancient inland sea – in past millenia this loo (and those who sit thereon) would have been 40-50 metres under water!!





Pilchard’s find!





Richmond Pliosaur at Kronosaurus Korner, Richmond!



But, during a hard day’s dig on the Richmond fossil fields, you’ll more than likely use the amenities building at least once!  And in so doing, rest easy in the knowledge that you could be contributing potential coprolites for future generations – or even alien life forms – to unearth, study scientifically or turn into jewelry!!  As you do …

So don’t be fooled by its ordinary exterior – this public toilet is WAAAAAY more significant than it looks!!

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