Hi Jill

Thought I would through in my two cents worth here, having spent a
while looking for fossils in and around Sydney.

Firstly, good fossils are few and far between and its a matter of
checking every excavation that you can and its a then a matter of
odds, luck and ability to identify the right signs. I always carry
around a hard hat, fluro vest and boots so that if I see a site I can
put on the fafety gear and ask if I can look around. You get a lot
of knockbacks but sometimes you get lucky, especially if you are only
asking to look at rock dumps and not work face areas. Turning up at
knock off time often worked as well.

A lot of operators are paranoid about OH&S or that you will find an
aboriginal relic and have their site closed down.

Some actual sites I'm aware of and are probably not listed elsewhere
include:-

- A friend of mine was shown fish fossils from an oval excavation at
a school around Epping, I'm pretty sure it was Epping Boys High.

- I found fish fossils and some cartlige shark fossils at the cnr of
Pennant Hills Rd and the M2 during its construction.

- I found another nice complete fish at Baulkham Hills in brick
quarry leftovers and some Unios nearby in some rubble being dug up to
lay a water pipe

- I also found a large piece of conifer at Leighton Pl, Hornsby at
an excavation for a factory

- other plant fossil locations are numerous but few of the specimens
would make it into a display cabinet.

- A work friend found a fish fossil at Horsley Park in Western
Sydney while digging for a fence post.

- I've heard that Labyrinthodont footprints were found at Berowra
during construction of a home and were not formally identified untill
15 years after they were reported to the museum.

- The Hornsby Heights Quarry is a shale lens in sandstone and had a
mortality layer of fish near its base. Much of it is still there but
buried under about three meters of huge boulders, put there by the
Quarry mamager to stop people comming in after hours. The odd fish
was found at other levels in the quarry. It is now part of a public
reserve.

Great fossils will be dug up and destroyed or reburied in Sydney
tomorrow but almost no one is looking. It is up to us enthusiasts.

Do you have a copy of the old Fossil Club publication "Finding
fossils in Sydney" Compiled by Peter Watson ? While it is small it
gives a good overview.


Regards
Paul