Building a retaining wall

Lots and lots of photos of John's groyne. We only just finished before the tide drowned us.

We carted equipment down and cleaned "the hole".

We erected some rock bolts and measured the pipe.

We drilled holes in the pipes and built a wall.

 

And the water came rushing in.

Early morning starts

The starts may be early but the site sure is pretty...

(thanks Travis for the photos)

Jesse's tooth

Jesse's tooth has been partially prepared
- it appears to be a ornithopod premaxillary tooth.



Mike wields the rock saw...

(thanks Kathryn for the photos)

Pip's exceptional feet

Last night Pip showed us how she draws pictures with her amazing prehensile feet...

We're here!

Finally the 2010 Inverloch dig has begun (yay!)...

We settle into the house (it's very clean):

Unexplained signs appear...

First day at the beach:



Bone of the day awarded to Jesse for a (probable) ornithopod tooth.

Happy New Year to all our Dinosaur Dreamers

It is less than two weeks before the 2010 Dinosaur Dreaming field season commences and all the last minute preparations are being made. Steel capped boots, generously donated by Blundstone, have arrived as have the hand lenses ordered by new crew members. The 2010 dig T shirts have been ordered with Bluegum, the official dig T shirt people. This year we decided on another theropod dinosaur theme, following on from last year's very popular "Popcorn of the Cretaceous" design.
The 2010 design is a cheeky version of a theropod dinosaur crawling up the back of the T shirt, created by a talented young artist - Jeremy Kool. We think it will look great. Will post images of it on the T shirt when we get them. In the meantime, here is a sneak preview -
We hope it will bring us luck and produce the long awaited theropod jaw, or dare we "dream" for a theropod skull. Here's hoping.

Inverloch times and tides

I get a few queries about likely Flat Rocks beach times so thought I'd include an overview based on tide times. Weather and other variables mean that these are subject to change at short notice.
Immediately we Dig In on 30 January, we are straight into on site at dawn for a few days.
By the time we get the week 2 crew, on 6 February, we'll be sleeping in for an 8 or 9 am start.
Then back to early mornings for the week 3 crew on 13 or 14 January. The sunrises are very beautiful at site.
Week 4 starting 20 January will see us later and later until we Dig Out on 27 February.

Most likely change-over days (where we stay at the house or spend only a couple of hours at site):
Sunday 31 January
Saturday 13 February