This post is a bit different as it does not have any birds in it. This post is more about the prehistoric life of Canberra as seen at two sites, Woolshed Creek Fossil Site and the fossil collection at Geoscience Australia. I blogged about the birds I saw at the Woolshed Creek Fossil Site here.
I find evolution so fascinating; thinking about how the earth has changed as well how life on earth has developed. So I think it is fantastic there is a site that is so easy to visit, which still has fossilised life visible to all of when Canberra was covered by an ancient sea.
Before getting to the actual fossil site I just wanted to highlight Geoscience Australia has a National Mineral and Fossil Collection, which is open to the public. It is conveniently located in the foyer of the main building at their main campus and is completely free. I have some iPhone photos below as I was not thinking about blogging when I visited the collection, I was there to purely see the fossils.
Bryozoa, about 240 million years old
The partial jaw of an Ichthyosaurus
The skull of a diprotodon, the largest marsupial ever to have lived
Turning now to the Woolshed Creek Fossil Site itself. It is really unfortunate there is not more readily available information on this site. A quick Google search turns up media articles rather than any official or semi-official information for people interested enough to look for more details. There is not much information on the ACT Heritage Register. Fortunately there is a freely available paper about the brachiopods, which are the creatures that make up the majority of the fossils at this site.
To get to this site I recommend driving into the Royal Military College Duntroon, do not worry, as it is a suburb of Canberra it is open access to the public. If you take the Fairbairn Avenue entrance follow General Bridges Drive before taking the first turn left on to Hopkins Drive. If you enter from Morshead Drive, follow Morrison Circuit around the college headquarters, it is the bus route so there is a bus stop to confirm you are on the right road. Turn left into Parnell Road, which becomes Robert Campbell Road. As you start passing the golf course turn right into Hopkins Drive. Do not worry about signs saying the road is closed, it means the road is a dead-end. Keep going all the way to the end, under the overpass, but watch out for cyclists as it is a major bike path through the overpass. After driving under the overpass you are immediately at a t-junction, so turn left to the dead-end. There is a brown sign on the street sign on the road under the overpass pointing to the direction of the Woolshed Creek Fossil Site. You can either park there at the dead-end or drive along the dirt, there is plastic matting underneath, to the start of the path. The path, seen on the map in this post, commences at a signposted entrance through a fence and follows a cement path for 200 metres under the road bridge before emerging at the fossil site. There you will find the encased fossils pictured at the top of this blog post and the information sign I have a photograph of later in the post.
This site is very easy to access, you don’t even need decent walking shoes as it is along a footpath. The area is not extensive but if you have an interest in fossils or evolution, or you are the parent of a budding palaeontologist, then here is place to visit. Looking around and reading the signs will take a maximum of 30 minutes if you moving at an easy pace or you could do it under five minutes if all you want is a photograph of you at the information board. Please do not try to hammer out any fossils, leave them there to inspire future visitors.
The general layout of the site seen from under the Fairbairn Avenue bridge looking to the north
A sign on the central support of the Faribairn Avenue bridge over Woolshed Creek, with the creek water preventing me getting closer or straight on to the sign
The very detailed information board at the site
One of the fossils at the site
A larger grouping of the fossils
Another grouping of fossils