Lying flat on the ground sifting through rocks and dirt might not sound like fun to everyone, but for a group of intrepid volunteers it is a dream come true.
The Australian Opal Centre has hosted its annual dinosaur fossil dig in Lightning Ridge in outback New South Wales.
People travelled from as far away as Western Australia to spend time sifting through opal mine tailings in the hope they might find a precious fossil.
In other years, the dig even attracted people from overseas.
A dig discovery can change the course of lives, as Timothy Frauenfelder knows.
"I got here and one of the very first fossils that I found was a dinosaur tooth," he said.
Eight years later, he has nearly finished his PhD and did his honours on that tooth.
"I am basically just a dinosaur dentist.
"If we have a whole bunch of different teeth, it can tell us how rich the species diversity of animals was in the area."
Mr Frauenfelder said volunteers were treated to more finds this year.
"This year [we found] a lot of plant material, quite a few mussel shells as well.
"We also found quite a few little bits of bone, possibly dinosaur bone, and a snail and quite a few other bits and pieces."
It only took the smallest fragments to reveal prehistoric flora and fauna, he said.
"Even just from the smallest bits of bone, you can still paint a picture of what that particular animal would have looked like."
Palaeontology student and self-described "dinosaur kid"' Hayden Henderson is researching a sauropod that was discovered near Lightning Ridge.
The team of dig volunteers have found tiny fragments of bone that will ultimately be used to piece together the puzzle.
He said the hunt for bones could be hit-and-miss.
"It's a bit like gambling, but maybe not as a bad."
It can be meticulous work; the rocks have been mined from an underground opal mine then left in a pile, waiting to be sorted by eager hands.
Plant matter, fish jaws and turtle ribs have also been uncovered throughout the dig.
For volunteer digger Helen Ward, examining rocks was second nature.
"I was brought up on opals because my mum was a geologist; she trained at Sydney University and she used to bring students out here.
"Opals have sort of been part of my life, so when I had the opportunity to come out here, I thought, why not?"
It took Ms Ward two days to drive from Brisbane to Lightning Ridge, but she said the journey was worth it.
"I picked up what I thought was a bone, but when we got back here the experts told me it was actually part of a fish jaw.
"It had really nice little markings on the outside of the jaw.
"It's the thrill of the find, you know."
Organiser, palaeontologist and Australian Opal Centre chief executive Jenni Brammall has always had the feeling she was onto something special in the opal town.
"Lightning Ridge is one of the most important mammal fossil sites in Australia; even though we are talking about the dinosaurs, we find here fossils of plants, of turtles, fish, the flying reptiles."
She said a small but exciting discovery was made during the dig.
"This week we have found a tiny yabby button.
"There are only three places in the world where fossilised yabby shells have been found — it is so bizarre — Texas, Japan and Lightning Ridge."
And this type of fossil was unique to Australia.
"These are the only opalised yabby buttons in the world," Ms Brammall said.
"Australia is the only place in the world that dinosaur fossils have been preserved as opal."
She said the mining fields had a lot going for them because of the tailings.
"They [opalised fossils] are absolute national treasures."
