Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
fromthenearesttownofWinton,withoutfood,water,blanket,toilet,orotheramen-
ities, and would not be rescued until mid-morning the next day, and in front of an
audience of about a hundred people. On the bright side of things, I was not locked
in overnight with a voracious predator, although I was concerned about a fitful
sleep filled with bad dreams taking me back in time to that Cretaceous lakeshore. It
looked to be a long night.
Fortunately for everyone, I recalled how the tour guide had used a portable PA
(public address) system during the tour. I quickly commandeered this unit, cranked
it up to its highest volume, and commenced hooting and hollering into the micro-
phone. This commotion managed to attract the attention of the tour guide, who was
about to leave for Winton but luckily was still talking with a visitor outside the
building. When she opened the door with a bemused (but amused) expression, I
thanked her, introduced myself to her and the other visitor who had stayed behind,
and we all had a good laugh about how this crazy Yank paleontologist got himself
in such a predicament. Ihad been saved. Hallelujah! Sohowever appealing it might
have been in a spiritually enriching way to spend a night with these much-adored
tracks, I was also happy to say “good-bye for now” and hope that I would see them
another day.
As mentioned before, I did see them again, twice more in fact. The next time
was with my wife Ruth in 2010, when we passed through while doing a grand tour
of the paleontological and cultural riches of the Queensland outback, and the most
recent time in 2011 was with students from that year's study-abroad program. It
was a proud educational moment to be there with my students at the tracksite and
to discuss its then-refreshed notoriety with them. Adding to their educational ex-
perience, a graduate student working with Romilio and Salisbury was there, and he
graciously volunteered to talk with my students about other research he had been
doinginthearea.Evenbetter,mystudentslaterwitnessedhimengageinadisagree-
able discussion (one might term it an argument) with our tour guide about the “old”
versus “new” stories of Lark Quarry and its tracks. This squabble served as a living
