Out of Camooweal we rolled early heading towards Winton. Not much excitement this day we rolled up on Mount Isa town around noon and saw our first McDonalds in weeks but not to worry we passed that and kept the pedal to the metal. The road got a bit twisty threw the small hills we were passing between Mt Isa and Cloncurry but once we made the Matilda Highway it was flat out again. *
** Somehow I had read the map wrong thinking Crocodile Dundees bar was south of Winton, we started seeing signs for it and should not have been there for another two days. We wanted to stay the night but it was still to early in the day and Winton was two and a half hours south. We compromised I would have a drink at the Pub and Joy would finish out the day. Meeting the owners of the Pub they were a wealth of stories about the bar and the making of the movie. The truck in the movie was out front and the stage set for the bar was out back. We took many pictures and then jumped back in for the final miles to Winton. ***

Now Walkabout Creek Pub was good but Tattersaws in Winton was the real deal. AS I walked in the door there sat a guy looking like a John Wayne movie right there in front of me. His name was Ron and after talking to him we had a connection. He had lived in Davey Florida like myself back in the 60's riding rodeo and had also rode at Cowtown in New Jersey. He was now doing a trick bird show in Winton during the season. He was genuine outback for sure, his hat was sweat stained is Wranglers well worn and he was a gentleman I was honored to meet him. **

* Okay while drinking with Ron I was also checking out if anybody could give us a ride to the Dinosaur tracks 100km down a dirt track. Everybody said that we could do it in our motorhome no problem, even asking if I had ever driven a dirt road. Thinking Fair Hill is a dirt road Joy and I unhooked the motorhome from power the next morning and headed off.

***. Well it started out good, the road was paved for the first 30 km with a cattle grid here and there no problem. Then the sign, Gravel Road Ahead. No problem 25 years of the Fair Hill Two miles in and out 200 times a year that's 400 miles. After 10km they must have run out of funds for gravel as it became really ruff. Then a 2km paved part for passing? Then back to a sand gravel mix for another 10 km and again a 2km tease of pavement. We looked back and our camper now looked like a earthquake had hit as anything loose was now on the floor. Then the grand finale, the last 4km was some sort of red clay black cinder looking material. It was beyond washboard surface, yet in the end we were in a area of Jump Ups that were dotted with small bushes. ***

. Once inside the exhibit we were treated to a private showing of the Dinosaur stampede. It's worth a look on the internet as its a fossilized group of Dinosaur tracks frozen in time 95 million years old. It's the only stampede know on Earth and is in the Lonely Planet top 100 things to see. The only bad thing was the two and half hour ride back to the main road loomed over our heads. Back in town we went back to the Pub from the night before to announce that we had done it and drink a couple with a new batch of characters that had blown in the door. ***

*. The next day we woke and headed in the direction of Longreach but we had one more stop and the was along the way at the Dinosaur Bone exhibit. This challenge was an easy one as the museum was only 10km off the main road and paved halfway. Oh we had this hands down until we got hit with a surprise washboard around one turn and then a 12 percent uphill grade. Old Icy spun her wheels once or twinge in the gravel but we made it and today's reward was once again a private tour of the bones and where they clean them. Our guide allowed us to handle some of the bones but they pretty much look like rocks. Sweaty and ready for some a/c we turned Icy southbound for our easy run to Longreach and the Quantas Museum.