We drove for an hour and a half to the Dinosaur Stampede site. The road is bitumen in some places but not others. A sign on one sealed section says NO PARKING NEXT 1.5km EMERGENCY AIRSTRIP.
A large building protects the footprints of a number of dinosaurs that are believed to have stampeded when a very large one was looking for something to eat. The story of how the prints were found and why the dinosaurs stampeded is initially told in a video presentation. Then you enter the large room housing the footprints and a tour guide explains the different size footprints and how they were preserved. Continue reading
As we are coming back via Longreach we decided to push on to Winton. I booked accommodation from Longreach as a Festival is on next week and the town is likely to be full. Sure enough I couldn’t get into the first motel I tried but I managed to get a room in the second but it was the last room.
During the Welcome to Carnarvon Gorge presentation we were told that despite culling, 4,000 brumbies lived in the park. I awoke in the middle of the night and heard one cantering around our cabin neighing. We were also told that platypus were best seen in the early morning so I woke up early. It was very cold but I stood very quietly near the Rock Pool for about half an hour watching the surface. I saw a couple of ripples every now and then as some creature broke through the water briefly. I was just about to give up when I saw ripples near the big rock. Something was swimming around the edge, then went into a small cavern and disappeared. It looked like a platypus. A few minutes later a 30cm platypus surfaced about 4 metres away from me. It swam closer, poked its head up, seeming to look straight at me then hid behind some reeds. I moved to get a better view. It surfaced saw me move and ducked straight back into the water. I have only ever seen platypus once before in the wild but due to a series of coincidences over many years these strange creatures have become my mascot. 
Many of the concerns raised in objections to the Narrabri Gas Project have also been raised by the Commonwealth Government’s Independent Expert Scientific Committee. The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Project lacks baseline data and reveals an inadequate groundwater monitoring system, leading to modelling uncertainty.
Santos’ Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Narrabri Gas Project received 22,700 submissions against it, well over the previous record of under 10,000 received by the NSW Government Planning & Environment Department. Submissions closed on May 22. I assumed the government would be assessing the submissions before allowing further developments but no, on July 3 they they granted APA the right to survey for a pipeline for the unapproved project. 
If the proposed Narrabri Gas Project is to go ahead, it has to connect to existing gas pipelines. APA has entered into an agreement with Santos to work with regulatory authorities and local communities towards the development of a new pipeline from the Project to the Moomba Sydney Pipeline near Condobolin. 
The 
Gas GAB Tours 