102 caravanworld.com.au
FROM TOP The beautiful O'Shannassy River is a
tributary of the Gregory; meet 'Big Bird'; an artist's
impression of Riversleigh's marsupial lion“Many specimens are the oldest
known ancestors of unique
Australian fauna such as possums,
wombats, platypuses and koalas”
A
bout half-way between Mount
Isa and Hells Gate, as the crow
flies, lies Boodjamulla (Lawn
Hill) National Park, an oasis
of emerald waters and lush
vegetation deep in the remote Gulf savannah
country of northwest Queensland.
The park’s central feature is a spectacular
red sandstone gorge carved by Lawn Hill
Creek through the parched and rugged
labyrinth of the Constance Range.
This splendid landscape attracts some
40,000 visitors each year, many of whom
come and go without realising that, tucked
away in an easily accessible corner of
the park, is a fossil field of such rare and
outstanding quality that it holds a special
place on the World Heritage List.
The 100 square kilometre Australian
Fossil Mammal Site at Riversleigh, 50km
south of Lawn Hill Gorge, is the richest and
most extensive known mammal deposit in
Australia and few, if any, other fossil fields in
the world have contributed as much to our
knowledge of prehistoric mammals. If you’re planning a trip to the Riversleigh Fossil Fields, an interesting preview to
this amazing prehistoric world is the
Riversleigh Fossil Centre in Mt Isa, 250km
south of Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill)
National Park in northwest Queensland.
Even if viewing ancient fossils is not high
on your bucket list, the Centre will change
your mind.
The Centre is part of the ‘Outback at
Isa’ experience and is designed to
educate visitors about the fossils found
at Riversleigh. Its wide-ranging collection
spans everything from tiny bat's teeth to
the bones of a huge flightless bird and
other mega-fauna ancestors of our
modern day mammals.
Beginning with an audio-visual
presentation in the theatrette narrated by
David Attenborough, a self-guided tour of
the Centre proceeds through a series of
dioramas in which the prehistoric
creatures are reproduced in life-sized
models set in authentic reconstructions
of the Riversleigh landscape as it was
millions of years ago.
Emerging from this ancient world,
visitors step into a collection room where
fossils of all kinds are carefully laid out in
specimen cases and interactive displays
that explain what they are and how theydepict the development of early
mammal megafauna over the past 30
million years.
A small additional fee on your entry
ticket will get you behind the scenes into
the laboratory where expert guides show
how specimens are extracted from their
rocky casings, sorted and cleaned for
display. Visitors also have the opportunity
to handle prepared samples and to
examine tiny specimens through
microscopes.
This is ‘fossil tourism’ as you’ve never
seen it before — an awesome experience
for kids of all ages. TripAdvisor gives the
Riversleigh Fossil Centre 4½ stars (out of
5) and rates it as #1 of the top 16 things
to do in Mt Isa.More information:
Outback At Isa Visitor Information Centre
19 Marian Street, Mount Isa Qld
Ph: (07) 4749 1555
Email: [email protected]
Open 8.30-5.00pm, 7 days a week,
closed Good Friday, Christmas and New
Year's Day.
Riversleigh Fossil Centre Laboratory Tour
10am and 2pm daily.
Bookings are essential for guided tours as
places are limited.RIVERSLEIGHFOSSILCENTRE