Skenes Creek

Travelling on along the Great Ocean Road, through Wye River, Kennett River and Wongarra, you will arrive at Skene’s Creek, approximately 6 km north-east of Apollo Bay. Skene’s Creek was first settled in the 1800s and is the major road junction between Apollo Bay and Colac. On the flat rocky shore platform one can find ancient ripple marks in the sandstone. In the 1980s a local resident sent photos of what he thought might be theropod dinosaur footprints on the shore platform, but despite an intensive search, they were never relocated. However, a subsequent search in 1989 led to the discovery of a small ornithopod footprint and possibly the heel impression of a second footprint. These specimens were collected and are currently housed in Museum Victoria’s Department of Vertebrate Palaeontology. In 2010 Dr. Anthony Martin, along with Dr. Tom Rich and others, conducted his “Great Cretaceous Walk” along the Bass Coast and Otway Coast. On arriving at Skene’s Creek he discovered some fossil crustacean burrows in the sandstone. These burrows have been found in a number of sites on both the Bass and Otway coasts and are important indications of the environment at the time the rocks were deposited. No fossil bones have been found at Skene’s Creek, but it is definitely worth a visit for the possibility of finding more dinosaur footprints! References: Douglas Stone, Greg Dunnett and Derrick Stone. Explore the Great Ocean Road (Geelong to Mount Gambier). Published by See Australia Guides 1991 pp 128. Cate Cousland and Sharyn Madder. Travelling the Great Ocean Road… a journey through time and place. Petticoat Publishing 2007 pp 143.