Tues 13 Aug 2013 – Aboriginal Rock Art Appreciation

Just got up when Rachel and Richard’s children, Emily Lachlan and Cody (who we met at Gumlon), rode over on their bikes to say hi – chatted with them all and thought we were having an easy day as we were going to visit two Aboriginal Art Sites. However, by the time we arrived at Nourlangie the temp was already 37 degrees and so climbing a steep path up to the paintings was hard work.

However, it was worth the effort, there were heaps of paintings at several different sites and all painted on top of each other. They were all still intact because they'd been painted in sheltered caves while the people took refuge there from storms, rain and heat.

On the way to the next site we stopped at the Anbangbang Billabong for lunch and watched the birds playing.

We also went to the Visitors Centre, where there was a good exhibition and information about the Park and called at Jabiru, the mining town for a bit of food.

By the time we arrived at Ubirr, the next art site, it was 38 degrees and there was another steep climb.

This time we were there for a guided walk with a Ranger who gave us lots of good information about Aboriginal culture and the background to some of the paintings. Some of them are very old. One is a drawing of a Tasmanian Tiger which has been extinct in this area for 2000 years.

We watched the sun set up on the escarpment, sitting next to a dear little French boy ( about 18 months old) who had a broken collar bone. Our Ranger guide reminded us of Amy, our daughter-in-law, in looks and the way she spoke.

By the time we got down, it was almost dark so we drove to the nearest camping ground, called Merl.  This time we were prepared, having gathered some firewood at lunchtime. However nothing could have prepared us for the mossies! There were clouds of them everywhere we went and even when we retreated into the van, behind the fly screen, they still got in ! Also tonight the temp didn't drop much so it was a hot and itchy night.