Hunting for Dinosaur footprints - Broome, Kimberley, Western Australia

 Hi all, this week I am sharing with you a little more from our trip to the far north west of Western Australia in 2021.  

If you missed the previous two posts you can catch up with them here:

Gumbanan - Cape Leveque - North West, Western Australia

Cape Leveque, Part 2

Years ago we had seen replica dinosaur prints embedded in concrete at Gantheaume Point – Minyirr – in Broome. The real tracks were way down on a cliff ledge, only visible at extremely low tides, and extremely difficult and dangerous to reach, hence the replicas.

Just before our trip in July 2021, I researched more about the dinosaur tracks. I discovered that in fact there are thousands of tracks along 100 kilometres of coastline, preserved in the Broome sandstone from Roebuck Bay in Broome, north to Coulomb Point on the Dampier Peninsula in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

We were in Broome for a week on our way to Cape Leveque, and one of my must-does was to search for dinosaur tracks.  

My husband downloaded to his phone the Dinosaur Coast Track App Guide found on the Broome Dinosaur ManagementGroup website. 

There are numerous locations where you can hunt for dinosaur tracks, but we decided that the easiest place for us was Entrance Point near the Broome Port. We parked at the car park and then walked north of the second boat ramp towards Reddell Point.

Of course the easiest way to see dinosaur tracks, is to actually join a tour, but we wanted to be intrepid dinosaur footprint hunters. We spent an interesting hour or so wandering over the rocks at Entrance Point. As we explored we checked with the app when we found what we thought were dinosaur footprints.  

Far from experts, we however decided that the prints we found were possibly Sauropods, gigantic long necked plant eaters, and Theropods, meat eaters that ran on two legs, which were documented to be found here.

It was very exciting to be walking in the area where dinosaurs once trod.

 The dinosaur prints have been part of the cultural heritage of the Yawuru people, the traditional indigenous owners of this part of the Kimberley, for thousands of years and there is a strong link to their creation stories. Three-toed dinosaur tracks trace the journey of a Bugarrigarra (Dreamtime) creator being called Marala, also known as Emu man. You can read more about the cultural significance here: Cultural Significance

 According to the Dinosaur Coast website the landscape was very different to what it is today, dominated by ferns, coastal marshes and swamp forests. Footprints along the Dinosaur Coast range in size from 12cm to more than 1.7m. Over 21 different types of tracks have been identified and thousands of examples have been recorded, estimated to be between 127 and 140 million years old. Whereas Dinosaur fossils in Australia’s eastern states are estimated to be between 90 and 127 million years old.

 It is no surprise that the Dinosaur Coast is included in the West Kimberley National Heritage Area.

 Due to the massive Kimberley tides, many of the tracks are often underwater, so the best time to go hunting is at low tide. Weathered and exposed rock layers break off easily. You can help protect them by not clearing sand from the tracks, not stepping in or on the edges of the tracks and not driving over the tracks. Repeatedly cleaning out sand wears away the tracks.

Where is it: The Dinosaur Coast is located around the Broome area on the Dampier Peninsula in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

 Best time to see tracks is at low tide. Most track locations need a tide of less than 2.4 metres. Check the local tide charts.

 For more information go to: Dinosaur Coast.Org– where you can also download the Dinosaur Coast Track App Guide to your phone, and print a pdf of their pamphlet. There is lots of information under the Discover tab, including locations and learning about the various dinosaurs and seeing track examples under Broome Trackmakers.

 Tours: There are several tour operators offering dinosaur track tours, school group tours and activities, and activity packs for families. Refer to the website.

My article about the dinosaur footprints was printed in On The Road Magazine, Summer 2021-22 edition. 

Thank you so much for stopping by. Have you ever seen dinosaur footprints? Perhaps you would like to tell us about it in your comments. 

I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
   
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf
Sharon's Sovenirs 
Our World Tuesday
Pictorial Tuesday 
ThroughMy Lens 
Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity. 
       and Little bird - Pienilintu
Thankful Thursday 
Welcome to Nature Thursday

Skywatch Friday

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

Exploring Felting - and making a felt flower

 Hi everyone. I hope you and yours are well. In the northern hemisphere I know there have been very hot summer temperatures and devistating fires, while down here in winter-time Australia we have had a lot of rain in the south and floods on our east coast. It is cold and wet where I live in the south west of Western Australia. But I am grateful for the rain though it does sometimes interrupt my daily walk.  

I have never been much intersted in felting. But a few weeks ago I "discovered" the Felting Pot Sudio in the lovely Fullers Coop - basically a big shed with lots of artisans in their own lock up spaces. They are mostly open Thursday to Saturday - with the cafe open Monday to Saturday. It is our new favourite place for lunch with friends. Only about 15 minutes from my home by car and no problem with parking. There are even comfy chairs with knee rugs if you are feeling the cold. 

Anyway after I discovered the Felting Pot Studio which I must say is full of deliciousness for crafters, and chatted to the owner Natalie, I liked them on Facebook and then saw an advertisement for a beginners felting workshop - a day workshop where you make a felt flower. So I enrolled. What a great day I had with a lovely group of ladies. Natalie went through the steps so clearly and we all came home with a felt flower. 

Now I am not going to pretend I know much about felting - you would need to go to a workshop yourself - and there are You Tube videos - but I think a hands-on workshop is a much better idea. 

Felting is I discovered very labour intensive! There is a lot of pulling, rubbing, pounding and rolling, soap and water involved. And surprising to me - bubblewrap! 

Starting with a selection of "wool top" (top left below) we all ended up with a beautiful felt flower! Below you can see my finished flower on the right. I added some gold thread stitching and some little beads I had at home left over from some other long forgotten project. I was really happy with the result. 

I am sure there will be more felting in my future. Thankyou Natalie for introducing me to this craft. 

I can highly recommend Natalie's beginners felting workshop. She also runs a felted hat workshop and other workshops. You can find the Felting Pot Studio on Facebook @ Felting Pot Studio and on Instagram.  Some of the photos below have been borrowed from Instagram. 

And the Paper Route Cafe on Facebook @ Paper Route Cafe and on Instagram

Those of you who have been following me here will know that I dabble in botancial eco-printing. I have been following some You Tube "Bootcamps" from Nicola Brown in Clasheen Ireland. She is an experienced eco printer and felter, and I am keen to learn about combining the two.  You can find Nicole on Instagram and find out more about her workshops. 

However I do recommend a hands-on workshop if you have one near you!

Thank you so much for stopping by. Do you do felting? I would love to hear about it in your comments. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
   
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf
Sharon's Sovenirs 

Pictorial Tuesday 
ThroughMy Lens 
Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity. 
       and Little bird - Pienilintu
Thankful Thursday 
Welcome to Nature Thursday

Skywatch Friday

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

Wild Orchid time is starting!

 Hi everyone. I hope you and yours are well. 

Just a short post from me today as we are busy helping our son and daughter-in-law paint their new house. Very exciting times for them. 

It is winter here in Australia and some of the wild orchids are starting to appear in our bushland. Orchid hunting is one of my favourite things to do especially as it gets us out into natural bushland. We are lucky to have a few places to find orchids in our area. 

Last Friday we went walking through the Manea Park Reserve as a fellow orchid hunter had told me where to find the helmet orchid - Corcybas recurvous. This is an orchid we have been unsuccessfully searching for for years. So I really felt lucky to have someone tell me where I might find them. Even with directions it took a little hunting, and then there they were!

They flower from June to September and only in a relatively small part of the south west of Western Australia. We found these in dry leaf litter under tuart and peppermint trees. 

These orchids are tiny, and like to hide in leaf litter so you really need to look carefully and then be careful where you tread. The leaves are only about 8-20mm across. They grow in large colonies, but only a few flower each year, so I think we were very lucky to see so many flowers. 

Below here you can see the flower head close down by the leaves. Evidently once they are fertilised the flower stalk elongates by as much as 300mm to aid seed dispersal. We will go back in a couple of weeks to hopefully see this. It was so exciting to finally find this orchid and add it to our list after so many years. 

Other wild orchids we have seen in the last few weeks at Manea Park you can see below here - clockwise from top left - Bunny orchid, Scented autumn leak orchid, Hare orchid, Banded greenhood orchid, Midge orchid, and the Shell orchid. These, especially the hare orchid and the midge orchid are so tiny it is difficult to find them. Also their mostly green colouring makes them difficult to find. 

Above is the midge orchid. It looks a bit like a mosquito - midgie! 

You often have to get down in the dirt to photograph our wild orchids. I should carry a kneeling pad and a small tripod might help too. Here I am using my 100mm macro lens. A tripod would have been handy as it was low light in the shade, and hard to hold the camera steady while on my elbows! Next time! 

Only a few other wild flowers were blooming, including this sticky Sundew. But spring will soon be on its way and each time we visit we will see more flowers. Lucky for us it is only about a 15 minute drive from home. 

And if you are lucky you might see a kangaroo. This was taken last year, I think she has a joey in her pouch 

Thankyou so much for visiting today. Do you have a favourite bushwalk to see wildflowers. Perhaps you would like to tell us about it in your comments. 

You might also like:

Going for a walk? Take your camera

Manea Reserve - Down in the Western Australian bush this week - December 2021

Hunting for wild orchids - Western Australian wheatbelt - September 2021

Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf
Sharon's Sovenirs 
Our World Tuesday
Pictorial Tuesday 
ThroughMy Lens 
Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity. 
       and Little bird - Pienilintu
Thankful Thursday 
Welcome to Nature Thursday

Skywatch Friday

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

June Art trail and bush walking

 Hi everyone, I hope you and yours are well. June has been such a busy month for me and I still feel like I am tryng to catch up. Where did winter days sitting in front of the fire with a book go? 

The first part of the month was filled with getting ready for and attending the Dardanup Art Spectacular and Art Trail. Various artists had art displays and sales throughout the town and also in the Ferguson Valley. 

I and three other artist friends again hired the lovely old heritage listed Anglican St Mary's Dardanup church to display our wares. Whilst the other girls had beautiful paintings, I had my photography prints, greeting cards, cushion covers and totes, and my botanical eco printing scarves, upcylced tops, tote bags, greeting cards and prints. Unfortunately due to the wet weather we didn't have as good a weekend as last year, but it was still ok. It had taken me several weeks to get organised and I felt exhausted by the end of it all and needed a couple of days to recover. 

In the pic below you can see me with the other three artists - Sylvia, Sandra and Christine, and the beautiful church. 

And below some of my botanical eco-printing products. - upcylced shirts, prints, notebooks and greeting cards printed mostly with local eucalypt leaves. 

And some cynoptype greeting cards - a craft new to me in the last few months - but so much fun! 

As well as the Art Trail - the Art Spectacular art competiion is held every year in the Dardanup Hall. I entered three pieces - 2 photographs and one of my framed eco-prints. I am happy to say that this top image of the autumn leaves which I took in May at the Balingup Tree Park was award a Highly Commended - ie equal second. 

Here is a happy snap of me accepting my award. Two fellow photographers from the Photography Group of Bunbury won 1st prize and the other Highly Commended prize. Sorry about the poor quality of this photo. 

Since then I have been unsuccessfully trying to catch up with life. Some family issues, trying to walk every day, complete some writing projects for my writer's group and a magazine I write for, and I have also been doodling drawing some botanical sketches with pencil. There never seems to be enough hours in the day. Somewhere along the line I need to do some housework! I think my husband thinks so too! 

It was lovely to go bushwalking on the weekend to the Crooked Brook Forest in the beautiful Ferguson Valley. We picked up some morning tea from the Dardanup Bakery first. A must visit. 

Crooked Brook has walks from relatively short easy walks on wheelchair and pram friendly paths to a more challenging 10km walk. 

There were not many wildflowers out yet, but they are on their way. I really need to start a catalogue of wildflowers I have photographed. Clockwise from top left - ground hugging Banksia nivea, commonly known as honeypot dryandra, one of the dryandras, one of the grevillias, the red jug flower, prickly hakea, and jarrah tree buds. 

Gosh we have a lot of prickly plants in the Australian bush. All of these except for the red jug flower and the jarrah are prickly! 

We were also fascinated to see a Mountain Marri - Corymbia haematoxylon - a variety that I have actually photographed before I have discovered - but obviously it hasn't really registered with me before. It doesn't flower till October to March so I will have to go back then.  They call this bark - tessellated bark

I think that is it from me for now.

You might also like:

The wildflowers are starting to pop at Crooked Brook - 2018

Crooked Brook Forest walk - 2017

Dardanup art Trail & Spectacular - 2017

Dardanup art Trail 2021

Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 
I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

   
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf
Sharon's Sovenirs 
Our World Tuesday
Pictorial Tuesday 
ThroughMy Lens 
Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity. 
       and Little bird - Pienilintu
Thankful Thursday 
Welcome to Nature Thursday

Skywatch Friday

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.